We're going to an island, so don't bother coming around to trade or immigrate! Well, actually we're not taking over the entire island plus surrounding waters so somehow it is easier for you to find us.
We are dwarves who are not completely satisfied with the dwarven way of life at Mountainhome, and we're setting out to do something better. Changes from normal embark:
* No digging tools
We reject the ideology that a dwarf's primary purpose is digging, and his/her place underground. Rock is a useful substance, but by limiting the supply we plan to elevate other means to the same ends.
* No anvils, metal bearing ores, metal items or ingots
We also reject the means of creating digging tools. If an immigrant brings his own, that's fine.
* No seeds
Obviously, with no digging we won't be able to plant underground farms. The embark site has plants, and caverns (if we ever get to them) can provide seeds.
Post embark, we want no contact with Mountainhome. This is difficult as dwarves are stubborn and will keep trying to trade every year. Therefore, post embark:
* No trading.
We reject the idea that a fortress cannot or should not be self-sufficient. We also reject the idea that skills such as lying, storytelling and appraisal should drive the economy in even the smallest way. If we ever trade, it will be out of kindness not necessity. Until the council decides otherwise, no Depot and no trade agreements of any kind.
I tried some of these ideas earlier with a full-island embark (no caravans, no immigrants). Eventually, I ran out of RAM because the site was too big. This time with a 2x2 I should get farther. It took the better part of two years to fully wall the map. We were on the slope of a volcano
so the walling and flooring to create a significant flat area took some material. Local wood ran out long before the walls were finished (wooden walls have since been replaced with glass or olivine blocks, for an all-green look). Power up the glass furnaces? If only it were that easy. We gathered plants but came up empty on rope reed. No cloth. Turkeys would eventually provide us with leather to make bags, if only we had bags for sand to run the glass furnaces. When some miners showed up with their own picks, I had them remove some ramps outside the walls and dig for the first caverns.
Barren. The second caverns were also dry as toast, with lots of silk lying around but not safe and not the hundreds I'd need for a fast-growing fortress.
The third cavern level was more generous. Embark was at level 117, and the third caverns were at -25. All caverns were breached, then immediately walled off. We have almost no metal armor or weapons. Zero military.
After a few years, caravans started dying outside the walls leaving gifts. After we breached the third cavern level in about year 5 they left a supply of leather and cloth.
So we built a door, but mostly we keep it closed. I considered not allowing immigrants, but I'd just have to make coffins for the poor saps when they died of dehydration. My dwarves are bleeding hearts, and when an immigrant died of dehydration outside the walls they made an artifact statue to memorialize him.
Currently in year 7, more traders are dying outside the walls. This time they're leaving
meat and wood. The meat was lying on the ground, guarded by a trader and his camel who both went crazy. Now it's gone.
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Topic: going green (Read 5302 times)