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[Graknorke]

I haven't really found that it matters too much about the CMs unless you're already used to optimising them.

[Lycaeon]

> On dust storms
I can remove them if there's a general consensus, as I do see how the notifications would be annoying for an insignificant threat. You can also edit them out yourself by deleting the last interaction in the interaction_region.txt. file (This requires a world regen).

Removing the actual alerts is possible, but impractical for the reasons Replica mentioned.

> I read through the whole thread, and now i can't get a decent embarking team.
I agree with Graknorke, for the following reasons:
A) Ordinary ponies are perfectly capable of handling most labors (Some fine-manipulation and magic-based skills require unicorns).
B) The wasteland is an equal-opportunity death dealer.
C) Valuable talents are rare, and even if they do show up, see B).

Red Eye got that much right at least...a Stable is built upon the cooperation of all, not the talents of a few. Even if some of that cooperation is forced labor.

> Also in my last stable i had an earth pony mare who couldn't drop her synth-cola barrels.
Sounds like a vanilla hauling bug. You could try rezoning the stockpiles or putting her in a burrow.

[P(ony)SI]

A question about magic.

I've seen two versions of spells in the raws: the normal spell, and an "offense" spell.
For example, the Bind spell has this:

Code: [Select]

[INTERACTION:BIND]
[I_SOURCE:CREATURE_ACTION]
[I_TARGET:A:CREATURE]
[IT_LOCATION:CONTEXT_CREATURE]
[IT_AFFECTED_CLASS:ENEMY]
...
While the offensive form of Bind only has this:

Code: [Select]

...
[INTERACTION:BIND_OFFENSE]
[I_SOURCE:CREATURE_ACTION]
[I_TARGET:A:CREATURE]
[IT_LOCATION:CONTEXT_CREATURE]
...
From what I see, the offensive form targets every creature, while the normal form only targets creatures with the [ENEMY] syndrome class.

Also, regular unicorns and apprentice-level unicorns that aren't apprentice level in the school (say, a restoration apprentice learning the Bind spell, an alteration school spell) will only learn the offensive form of the spell.
Apprentice level unicorns of the school (and adept unicorns not belonging to the school) will learn both the normal spell and the offensive spell.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that the offensive spell will also target Stable citizens.

[Lycaeon]

The offensive version of each spell is coupled to [CDI:USAGE_HINT:ATTACK], meaning the unicorn will only use the spell against a target it's attacking, whereas the base version of the spell is used spontaneously against any ENEMY tagged creature within range. The end result is that ordinary unicorns can only use their spells to attack, while apprentice and above unicorns can also use their spells while fleeing.

The downside fun result of this is that unicorns will use their spells against their fellow ponies if they tantrum or go insane.

[Pokon]

The downside of this is that unicorns will use their spells against their friends and family if they tantrum or go insane.

Downside? I love Miss Insaneo, who is my forts version of Screw Loose. Sure, her entire family died and she is certant to die from radiation poisioning in the next few months, but in the meanwhile raider corpses are pileing around her.

Also, the "Seal the unicorns in" plan has actualy gone great. 67 ponies, with more than half of that being unicorns. The mud ponies are pretty much entirely underground, either farming or digging, with most of the surface already sealed off besides a strategic passage with a turret at the end of it.

[P(ony)SI]

The downside fun result of this is that unicorns will use their spells against their fellow ponies if they tantrum or go insane.

Downside? All I see is fun on the horizon!

Being serious though, it only teaches you to take better care of your ponies.

[Zangi]

Waterfalls and Legendary Dining Rooms really do help.

[Indigo_Surprise]

No, I like the dust. Just wish it wouldn't force my camera to look at them when they spawn.

[Maklak]

> Dust
Wait, are you telling me there are two kinds of dust storms: Some do nothing and some are irradiated? This is confusing. At first I just ignored the storms altogether, but after a while I noticed that my ponies outside got sick, went to the hospital, but healed on their own on the way, then returned to their tasks. How does this work anyway? I'd like information about not savage and not evil places.

> The end result is that ordinary unicorns can only use their spells to attack, while apprentice and above unicorns can also use their spells while fleeing.
Ah, I didn't catch that one. Writing a comprehensive spell guide would be hard.

> The fun result of this is that unicorns will use their spells against their fellow ponies if they tantrum or go insane.
As far as bind goes, I want my tantruming or insane ponies restrained. Some other interactions are more problematic, like "Rage" (IIRC makes enemies Enraged, which means +4 to fighting skills and dodge), "Implosion" (as a punishment for tantruming) or, worst of all, a Flamer shot in a crowd, in the soil layer.

I once said that the VRS should train Dodge in addition to weapon skills. Actually, I'd like things like wrestling, striking, kicking and so on too. That could mitigate both the slow learning rate for them and inefficient demonstrations when those skills are low. The normal terminal could use teacher and student training.

I once made a 16 pump mist generator over my dining room. It took a lot of time to make, but by setting up social zones where the water goes, it helped to train some of the children in drowning swimming. A 4 pump one, powered by a dual wheel water reactor is not that hard to make.

Well, whatever I do, the soldiers like to go very unhappy from training or fighting. They get a thought from having a room, drink and food, but they normally eat out of their backpacks, so they don't go to the dining room. A mist generator over the main barracks outside or over the entrance might help.

[gzoker]

If you don't want the camera to recenter on the weather then change the following line in the ..\data\init\announcement.txt file:
[STRANGE_CLOUD:A_D:D_D:P:R]   ->    [STRANGE_CLOUD:A_D:D_D:P]
If you remove the P too, then it won't pause the game either.

[Replica]

>Well, whatever I do, the soldiers like to go very unhappy from training or fighting. They get a thought from having a room, drink and food, but they normally eat out of their backpacks, so they don't go to the dining room. A mist generator over the main barracks outside or over the entrance might help.

If you have uniforms set to replace clothing they will unequip all of their clothes even if they dont have uniforms to wear.
Gives them a crapload of bad thoughts.

Argh, what happened with me? I read through the whole thread, and now i can't get a decent embarking team. I'm trying to roll one for the last three hours, but no, not even a few good enough ponies. My rule of thumb isn't that strict, give me four useful from the seven and I'm good to go. Reading the skill learning rates was a mistake. With all those cutiemarks, stats, and personalities the team just can't get good enough.
I guess I have to take the worst trash of the wasteland with me, and make it work.
Oh boy.

Did the last update change the frequencies of the castes, or am i just unlucky with the embark lottery?

Oh hell, if you are going to try and roll it that way you might as well roll forever.
The castes only give bonuses, no penalties, so an earth pony who is a master mason is just as shitty with firearms as an earth pony who is good at cooking.
Think "caste gains are a nice bonus" instead of "good god, I cant make glass without glass making castes!", you wont lose much if you use someone else to do a specific job.

For the record, the social castes are very common (higher rate), the military and general castes are infrequent and the specialist castes (priests, mages, etc) rare.
So dont try to roll for 7 sorcerers, or you'll go nuts.

[Maklak]

Well, if you feel like cheating, you could always look at the way slaves are turned into ponies, then mod in some reactions to get what you want. Otherwise, what Replica said. Make due with what you have and wait for migrants. Cutie Marks give *1.5 to *3 learning rates, but you can make due without them.

> Stable is built upon the cooperation of all, not the talents of a few. Even if some of that cooperation is forced labor.
Yeah, I have a problem understanding how CMs and Equestrian economy work together.
+ A lot of ponies get ice cream or something for a CM, but some ponies have to work in mines and factories for this level of technology.
+ Unless there is a way to influence CMs, such as often getting them for helping mom with her job, or better yet, there being a general 20 year plan for which souls with what talents will be needed and should be born, I just don't see how job demand and special talents can realistically be balanced.
+ Some ponies just have to do odd jobs and fill the holes, like the protagonist of "Welcome to Ponyville", or otherwise work in areas only loosely connected to their special talents.
+ Yet it all seems to work perfectly. This is almost as much of a mystery to me as Equestrian economy after watching Spike paying for so many things with what he got for one day of work.

[tahujdt]

I have fixed how to get all the CMs you want with dfusion.

Here's what you do.

Open the dfusion folder, then open the embark folder, the open embark.asm, which is an ordinary text file. I used Notepad++, but you can use anything you want. Change

Code: [Select]

.intel_syntax
mov eax , [esp+0x1C]
caste:
movsx ecx, word ptr[eax*2+0xdeadbeef]
race:
movzx eax,word ptr [eax*2+0xDEADBEEF]
ret
to

Code: [Select]

.intel_syntax
mov eax , [esp+0x1C]
caste:
movsx ecx, word ptr[eax*3+0xdeadbeef]
race:
movzx eax,word ptr [eax*3+0xDEADBEEF]
ret
This will let you get three diget number CMs. You still have to go through and count all the CMs to pick which ones you want. I'll post my countings later.

[P(ony)SI]

Minor bug: there is a cutie mark missing in the cutie mark descriptor file.

Code: [Select]

...
[COLOR:CM59a]
        [NAME:three fleur-de-lis]
        [RGB:0:0:0]

(CM60a should be here, but it's not.)

[COLOR:CMWCa]
        [NAME:a cloud and sun]
        [RGB:0:0:0]
...
CM60 is a cutie mark that goes with the 60th caste, a social caste with the description: "Her natural charisma allows her to convince others easily."

EDIT: It also seems that the 60th caste uses DM60 ("burnt away", the cutie mark you see on slaves) from the evil cutie mark descriptor file:

Code: [Select]

...
[SELECT_CASTE:EARTH_F60]
[SELECT_ADDITIONAL_CASTE:EARTH_M60]
[SELECT_ADDITIONAL_CASTE:UNICORN_F60]
[SELECT_ADDITIONAL_CASTE:UNICORN_M60]
[SET_TL_GROUP:BY_CATEGORY:LEG_UPPER:SKIN]
[TL_COLOR_MODIFIER:DM60a:1]
[TLCM_NOUN:cutie mark:SINGULAR]
[TLCM_TIMING:ROOT:8:0:8:1]
...
Also, updated my magic guide with some information on learning spells.

[gzoker]

I was thinking a bit about posting, but here is a stable report about my first year. If it bothers anyone i will remove it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

So after hours of playing the slot machine i finally got a few ponies i didn't want to immediately atomsmash from the pure hatred of seeing their abysmal stats and mismatched cutiemarks. Of course first thing I did was checking the name of the group: The Plan of Smiling. Great.
Then i checked the name of the stable: something-something the completely forgettable. I hit R a few times until the RNG god gave me something i liked a bit more. I stopped at Mindspear. Awesome.
Then i wanted to check the problems with my embark profile but i accidentally started the game. Oopsie.

With lingering effects of the minor concussion i got from the desk, i was staring at my seven hopeless peasant ponies blinking at me in the middle of haunted forest. Okay i won't abandon you just yet, let's see what got in from the profile.

pine logs(70)
prickle berries(60)
rock nuts(9)
synth-reed seeds(27)
aluminium toolbox(2)
mottled leather(2)
iron anvil(1)
bronze hacksaw(1)
bronze power drill(1) Yes we can mine!

There was also a male cat, a breeding pair of dogs, a sprite-bot, and the two obligatory bighorners. I unpaused for a few seconds to see what deadly creatures the wasteland will throw at me. Seven feral pegasi, two even glows like a lava lamp. 2x2 embark the edges are close, my ponies had to dig fast. My miner has the name VOLCANO.
I designated a staircase right under the wagon and a room from it to the south. Shelter first supplies second. At the bottom of the staircase ( a whopping two Z-levels ) got a garbage stockpile, and i marked everything in the wagon for dumping. The first mined out tiles got a pasture zone to buy some time, the cat and the sprite-bot would have pulled the ghouls to us sooner. The dogs and bighorners stayed outside on meat-shield duty.

Half our supplies got down when the ghouls spotted the ponies. I made a burrow in the partially mined room and ordered everyone there. After a minute of Yakety Sax the seven ponies and the surviving bighorner were down with the cat and the sprite-bot. One lucky filly got herself the carpenter's hammer, and set up shop. Two doors have been ordered, then made then installed to block the entrance. Just in time as one of the ghouls came down the hole to say hello. They can't destroy the doors so we are safe.

A few barrels have been made, and half of the berries have been brewed. A gentle-colt named Cream is responsible. Let's drink to his long life. As the room has been dug out, a farm has been set up as well. It will grow syntreed till the end of times. Those two earth ponies will make excellent farmers. They will swiftly butcher my remaining bighorner as well. Those few berries are too important to be simply eaten. The last two ponies are supposed to be my military, and as they didn't have anything to do, i set them to train. Wooden training knife + wooden riot shield should be enough. Uniforms and schedules have been set properly. I made them two pumps to train in their down time. From now on they are going to be known as Captain Love and Private Pine.

...As the ghouls circled the side of the map the brave farmer pony Honorcraft was sent outside to grab the bag of rock nuts. He returned triumphant despite the odds, but without rock nuts. Then we noticed the other barrel of prickle berries on his back. Okay better then nothing. Those two lava lamps came back in an instant, and they made camp next to the wagon.

Slate 26. pegasus ghouls gone, got 2 necromantic instead. Volcano dug additional rooms. Also struck limonite. Volcano breached the cavern. There are two protectapony down there. I guess they are far enough. Let's get some salvage.

Felsite 21. Two broken terminals and a vendor machine. That's my loot from underground. Ghouls showed up so i ordered everyone into safety. At least the breach is walled off and sealed off with hatches. A second try with the rock nuts. Success. Food problem solved. Set Tusk as my bookkeeper.

Wee no casualties, and summer is here.

Hematite 11. Built electronics bench. Couldn't make anything, there were no charged batteries. Built a flux converter.

Hematite 22. Cream died in the caverns. Thought a Robobrain wouldn't be too aggressive, so I sent her to scavenge a few scraps. I was wrong. Robobrain got the name Spitespell.

Malachite 10. A group of bighorners came on the surface. Time to build a bit of an entrance. Everyone set to masonry. Corpse recovered from caverns. Also the hackaxe.

Malachite 20. Migrants. Six bonehead and a mudpony. Three couples. Nothing really special. Two unicorns females have good stats, they are drafted to the military.

Galena 7. As the bighorners left we finished the entrance.

Galena 8. Hehe, another group of bighorners. Let's make a sniping tower!

Autumn came.

Limestone 23. Captain Love, and Private Pine were very unhappy. They were ordered to charge a few batteries. A few weeks of unconsciousness will make them some good. Earth pony reaver reaves in the cavern, and the outside is filled with necromantic canterlot ghouls, so we are staying put.

Sandstone 1. Pegasus reaver turned up outside. The caravan is going to be massacred.

Sandstone 23. Migrants. They came from the south next to my safe entrance. These are smart ones. And lucky. All the ghouls were on the north side so everypony made it inside. They even brought a protectapony and a Mr Hooves. Skill wise there are two accomplished weaponsmiths and a high master gunner.

Timber 16. Merchants arrived. An entranceway had been dug out for them, it's not entirely safe, but if they die at least they can be looted in peace. Well, no to that. They all got butchered on the surface.

Timber 22. We are low on drinks.

Moonstone 20. Pegasus Reaver broke down two doors unnoticed. Luckily the protectapony was in the right place at the right time to slow it down. The syntreed has grown, cola were made. Almost everyone were thirsty.

Moonstone 22. Monk Carminbravery the Protectapony won. Most of his bodyparts are red, but nothing got severed. I think it will repair itself with time. Also the ghouls are hunting vultures outside.

Opal 1. From the spare parts an arcane terminal had been made. Clearbreath the weaponsmith got himself the nickname Arcanesmith, and was ordered to create restoration lens from our supplies of eight citrines. There was a coalbox in the civilian create i missed earlier, now we have 25 coke.

Opal 17. The cavern seemed safe enough, so a few scraps had been scavenged from there. Two medium salvage, three destroyed terminal, and a soda vendor. We got two ministry of image crate and two civilian create. Poster, poster, battery, coal box, poster, BB gun.

Obsidian 21. Right side of the map has burned down.

Spring has arrived.

I'm going to turn off stable merchants in the raws. Their guards get buggy and my first pony fort died because of an unslabable (heh) murderous ghost, whose body got burned away in the raider's bush fire.

Also when you only have the first two migrant wave and your starting seven, then you might want them to be special. Nobody cares about nameless faceless cannon fodder, and nobody wants to play with only those either. Of course, i understand that those less then perfect ponies/dwarfs can become the heroes i want them to be, but still why not start with interesting ones from the get go? Well it's my problem anyway, so don't worry about it.