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Author Topic: Alarm System  (Read 1072 times)

Alarm System
« on: December 06, 2012, 03:27:13 am »

In the event of a siege or ambush, how do I get all my dwarves indoors to either a safe zone or just out of harms way?
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XXSockXX

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Re: Alarm System
« Reply #1 on: December 06, 2012, 03:39:28 am »

Create a burrow that encompasses the area of your fort that you consider safe. For me that is pretty much the entire fort except for entrance areas. Name the burrow "Inside" or something. In case of alert, you hit m (military), a (alert). Select your burrow and hit enter to confine civilians to this burrow. After the alert is over you have to to that again to end restrictions.
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djsmiley2k

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Re: Alarm System
« Reply #2 on: December 06, 2012, 04:11:39 am »

PRACTICE THIS WHILE NOT UNDER SIEGE.

Nothing is worse than messing this up, trying to run away and realising you've got everyone crowded in to a 2x2 space on a drawbridge or something ;)
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Re: Alarm System
« Reply #3 on: December 06, 2012, 04:20:54 am »

Thank you, this is a great help
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XXSockXX

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Re: Alarm System
« Reply #4 on: December 06, 2012, 04:32:09 am »

PRACTICE THIS WHILE NOT UNDER SIEGE.

Nothing is worse than messing this up, trying to run away and realising you've got everyone crowded in to a 2x2 space on a drawbridge or something ;)

Right, that's why I make the burrow to include the entire fort. Life can go on as if nothing happend while 100 goblins roam the surface.
For the very beginning it is important to at least include food and booze stockpiles in the burrow.
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Dwarfotaur

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Re: Alarm System
« Reply #5 on: December 06, 2012, 05:59:05 am »

I wish I'd remember to practice my last burrow.

Everyone was outside gathering items I'd just got from the depot when an ambush hit. I set the civ alarm to get everyone inside. What actually happened was everyone then spammed "area inaccessible" and stood still right in front of the approaching ambush.

Turns out I'd missed a single z-level worth of stairs in the entrance...
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Tirion

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Re: Alarm System
« Reply #6 on: December 06, 2012, 04:30:47 pm »

I wish I'd remember to practice my last burrow.

Everyone was outside gathering items I'd just got from the depot when an ambush hit. I set the civ alarm to get everyone inside. What actually happened was everyone then spammed "area inaccessible" and stood still right in front of the approaching ambush.

Turns out I'd missed a single z-level worth of stairs in the entrance...

That shouldn't cause this problem. Burrows restrict where dwarves can take jobs, they don't restrict where they move between point A and B as long as the end points are in the burrow.
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Mishrak

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Re: Alarm System
« Reply #7 on: December 06, 2012, 04:44:18 pm »

http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/User:Khearn/CivilianAlertBurrow

Thanks to the brilliant person(s) who put this in the wiki.  I reference it pretty often and it does exactly what it says.
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Slyjoker87

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Re: Alarm System
« Reply #8 on: December 06, 2012, 05:27:13 pm »

I like to make a burrow of my entire walled off fort. But I also create a tunnel system underneath the ground level that all leads to my maze trap. I use high traffic designations in the tunnel system so that, at least in theory, dwarves caught out of position will use the maze and stand a better chance than running above ground.

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ChuckWeiss

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Re: Alarm System
« Reply #9 on: December 07, 2012, 01:05:30 am »

Am I the only person for whom the search function still works? Because the answer to this question can be found after at most ten minutes of searching.
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djsmiley2k

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Re: Alarm System
« Reply #10 on: December 07, 2012, 07:10:18 am »

I wish I'd remember to practice my last burrow.

Everyone was outside gathering items I'd just got from the depot when an ambush hit. I set the civ alarm to get everyone inside. What actually happened was everyone then spammed "area inaccessible" and stood still right in front of the approaching ambush.

Turns out I'd missed a single z-level worth of stairs in the entrance...

And ^^^ is why I said test, even if you've selected the whole fort, the only way to test it safely, is to test it.... safely.
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This is Dwarf Fortress, everything has a fetish for socks.