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Author Topic: A few gameplay questions.  (Read 859 times)

Sicily

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A few gameplay questions.
« on: January 25, 2013, 11:51:21 pm »

Hello,

I've just started on DF after watching a tutorial/LP of it and honestly, I think DF is great. Well, except vanilla graphics, I have Ironhand graphics pack which makes being a newbie so much easier. But anyway, I digress. Here're a few questions.

1. Can pets and enemies move through clay? I had two doors fully locked towards my Hen Pen, yet when they laid baby chicks, some got out somehow. Is it possible to maneuver through the clay? And the same for enemies, would or will this be a problem and can they maneuver as well?

2. What pets and domestic animals can effectively live underground like chickens? As far as I know, chickens scavenge everything and can live anywhere. But I remember recalling that most animals can't and need grass to graze. I also, have a Turkey Pen set up too, and I believe they're the same as chickens in terms of scavenging, since they've survived so long.

3. How do I use the Bowyer? What I mean is, what kind of logs do I need, cause I have freshly chopped down trees in my stockpile yet it says '' need logs '' still.

4. How to link up levers? Do they have to be a certain distance away? I tried linking up a lever to a cage to release an animal, yet it didn't work and would say '' no link can be found '' or something.
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Aaarrgh!

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Re: A few gameplay questions.
« Reply #1 on: January 26, 2013, 12:03:52 am »

2. Any animal that needs to graze needs grass - cows, yaks, pigs, etc. You can set a grazing area through 'i' ->n, and assign animals to it with N.
3. No special logs -  is the bowyer's workshop linked to any stockpiles?
4. Cages have to be built under the build menu before they can be linked to a lever.
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Sicily

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Re: A few gameplay questions.
« Reply #2 on: January 26, 2013, 12:08:37 am »

2.Any way to set up a grass or such underground? I know you can farm in clay, that any way to get animals to graze down there?
3. Oh, you have to link it up? I figured it worked just like other workshops. That would explain it.
4. This was a bought cage from a merchant caravan, I should've specified. The lever wouldn't link up.
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Aaarrgh!

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Re: A few gameplay questions.
« Reply #3 on: January 26, 2013, 12:13:46 am »

2.Any way to set up a grass or such underground? I know you can farm in clay, that any way to get animals to graze down there?
3. Oh, you have to link it up? I figured it worked just like other workshops. That would explain it.
4. This was a bought cage from a merchant caravan, I should've specified. The lever wouldn't link up.
2. Grass only grows on the surface, I'm afraid.
3. No, you don't, but if you had then the Bowyer would have ignored logs not in his own stockpile. Okay, did you order a lot of buildings or constructions using wood lately? They would have reserved the wood for themselves.
4. b -> j will allow you to build a cage somewhere. Once you choose a location, make sure you select the one you want opened. Build that, THEN link it up.
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Sicily

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Re: A few gameplay questions.
« Reply #4 on: January 26, 2013, 12:28:51 am »

2. Ah, oh well. Then if I may ask, what do yaks yield when domesticating them? Milk?
3. That's probably, it might've reserved. I'll have to check up on it.
4. That's probably it too, alright, thanks, I'll check on that as well.
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Aaarrgh!

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Re: A few gameplay questions.
« Reply #5 on: January 26, 2013, 12:35:29 am »

2. Ah, oh well. Then if I may ask, what do yaks yield when domesticating them? Milk?
In case you didn't know - http://dwarffortresswiki.org/. DF wiki, live by it. I'm not a livestock sort of player, but they are apparently milkable, and consume enormous quantities of grass. Frankly, I assign them to pasture and hope they all die off, but that's just my playstyle.
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Garath

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Re: A few gameplay questions.
« Reply #6 on: January 26, 2013, 01:00:11 am »

pigs don't graze

fungus can grow underground after breaching a cavern, animals can graze on that

things can't move through clay walls. It's possible the door wasn't locked as tightly as you thought

do you have surplus mechanisms for the lever link? otherwise, physical reachability/distance doesn't matter between the lever and the object, it's a miracle of dwarven engineering

and really, really use the wiki. It's a good wiki, most Q&A can be found there plus some play guides and engineering suggestions and more

As a last thing, just a general note. If something doesn't work or goes wrong or whatever, First and Always assume it was something you did or didn't do. It's not a bug, it's you. 99% of the time this is true. Important first check therefore is always "what could I have done to screw this up", with a nearly undisputed #1 being "did I block a passage, door or demolish stairs by accident and blocked the pathing in the process?"
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Quote from: Urist Imiknorris
Jam a door with its corpse and let all the goblins in. Hey, nobody said it had to be a weapon against your enemies.
Quote from: Frogwarrior
And then everyone melted.

Finn

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Re: A few gameplay questions.
« Reply #7 on: January 26, 2013, 01:44:07 am »

This is the list of all animals that require grass (or moss) to feed.

http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Pasture
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I thought 'complained about the draft lately' meant they didn't have a door to their room.

Baccar Wozat

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Re: A few gameplay questions.
« Reply #8 on: January 26, 2013, 06:55:04 pm »

1. No. As for a "fully locked" door, I seem to remember you have to make sure they're also not "pet-passable". Also, any new chicks have to be kept in the pen manually like the hens/roosters were. Press {i}{N}.

As for whether enemies can move through clay, they won't be able to until 0.35.01 or whatever the next version will be called, at which point many invaders will have tunnelers.
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Vndetta

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Re: A few gameplay questions.
« Reply #9 on: January 27, 2013, 07:30:21 pm »

1. Can pets and enemies move through clay? I had two doors fully locked towards my Hen Pen, yet when they laid baby chicks, some got out somehow. Is it possible to maneuver through the clay? And the same for enemies, would or will this be a problem and can they maneuver as well?

Nothing can move through solid walls, however it is possible for an animal to "sneak through" even a non-pet-passable door if it happens to run out in the short time a dwarf has it open. So if your dwarves are moving through the door, it's possible they let a hen out by mistake. If you have the baby chicks assigned to the room with a pasture zone (i) the dwarves should drag them back to it if they do get out.
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