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Happiness

Efficency

Violence

Science

Art

Challenge

Wealth

Constructions

Military

Traps

storytelling

[Ruhn]

I don't think my typical selection is on this list, that being security. I make my fortresses just that, fortresses. I spend a long time overdesigning aspects of my fortress that are insignifcant and ultimately boring in the long run. I will say that I have never had my security fail, ever. I also have boring forts by comparison.

I'm also in the security camp, but chose military since it is my #2.
Efficiency, happiness, wealth ... all are impacted by the efforts to make the fortress a military stronghold.
The time planning this is where I get my enjoyment, excitement comes when trying to get the caravans inside alive.

[Button]

Traps.

I enjoy the challenge(?) of automating my defenses/operations as much as possible. My ideal fort is one in which I never lose a dwarf to an enemy, and never let an enemy live/leave alive. (With the exception of tamable megabeasts. Which I like to tame, obviously.)

[Catsup]

I don't think my typical selection is on this list, that being security. I make my fortresses just that, fortresses. I spend a long time overdesigning aspects of my fortress that are insignifcant and ultimately boring in the long run. I will say that I have never had my security fail, ever. I also have boring forts by comparison.

I'm also in the security camp, but chose military since it is my #2.
Efficiency, happiness, wealth ... all are impacted by the efforts to make the fortress a military stronghold.
The time planning this is where I get my enjoyment, excitement comes when trying to get the caravans inside alive.

this too, i almost forgot.

i plan to have hatches for every stairway and doors for every hall leading away from a stairway. My stairs are 2x2 and hallways are 2 tiles wide so i can always lock down any section of my fort should the need arise. This is essential to help me survive against in-fort animation of undead from the evil biome and also slows down forgotten beasts that manage to get in by alot.

All entrances to my fort are connected by hatches in the current design, including caverns so i can simply forbid hatches instantly should a threat arise instead of needing to pull any levers. My trade depot is in a sealed air lock that i only connect to my fort once im sure its secure. I have various forgotten beast traps ready, most of them being a air-lock to store beasts as fresh food for when my fort is hungry, or if its awaiting weaponization. Beasts deemed too dangerous to live, or just a hassle to kill, but not so strong that it could be weaponized, are caved-in by the trap design in my sig.

[Saraias]

I chose "Happiness." The goal of my fortresses is to develop a thriving, diverse civilization that endures travesty with irrepressible good cheer and good old dwarven quirkiness. Security is a factor, of course, as is the wealth and treasure and art so beloved by the dwarfs themselves. The fortresses themselves are megaprojects, each unique constructions. Sometimes, there is savage (and often interesting) violence. So it all ties in, of course.

But at the root of it, my civilizations must prosper, their people living in the golden age that I (try to) engineer, reciting their proud lineages, those of their heirlooms, and living on as the envy of their neighbors.

My forts often gift vast wealth to foreign caravans, or purchase trifles for inestimable riches. It's not tribute or bad bargaining. It's because the wealthy, happy dwarfs pity their squalid, sad neighbors and want to uplift them just a little bit.

[xaritscin]

wait, no FUN option?

[Jervill]

I'm guessing "Violence" is equivalent to Fun in this case, xarit.

[Catsup]

I'm guessing "Violence" is equivalent to Fun in this case, xarit.

no, challenge is equivalent to fun, violence means you run your fort in a violent manner. Having a military does not necessarily make a fort violent, but overkilling or extending enemy's suffering usually means you have a violent fortress. Other things such as if you have dwarven daycares/child smashers also determine if you run your fort violently. A standard example is my old-fort's map-wall-in system (that is not yet built in my current fort due to delays caused by huskifying fog). A system consisting of raising bridges surrounding the whole map that can completely cut off escape should goblins try to run away. A less violent fort might instead simply have walls and fortifications with marksdwarves that shoot goblins, who promptly retreat after taking some casualties.

[Dwarven War Boar]

What about just curiosity, or just going where the game takes you? Even if my fort has a purpose, underneath that I'm usually more interested in coming up with concepts of culture, and how they'd evolve and adapt in whatever situation or environment I place them in. I'll usually try to hit certain goals in such a case (constructions, science) including creating monuments to events that have passed or represent those dwarves. One of the driving forces for the game was storytelling, and it seems more interesting when you try to give the dwarves some substance beyond being shallow automatons.

[PDF urist master]

you know i didn't think about storytelling when i was making the poll, but you're absolutely right. it's big part of the community and very important for DF players.

i thought about security as a whole, but i broke it up into military and traps because I feel like each provide a different essence of satisfaction when you use it.

i've added it to the poll (storytelling i mean) i might combine military and traps into security if i get enough requests (constructions do provide security, but i don't want to mesh it in for obvious reasons)

[Broseph Stalin]

Storytelling. Always storytelling. My fortresses are all built so that occasionally one dwarf may do something interesting enough to build a narrative around.

[thegoatgod_pan]

Storytelling for me. I imagine a concept and develop around it. Science colony on an iceberg, glass tower. Necromancer cult. Shaolin monastery. The needs determine the developments. Towers rise and get expansions. Domes are built to isolate fauna etc etc. I am always befuddled by how people can be as organized as to plan their whole fort beforehand, rather than improvising on the fly.

[Jenniretta]

I voted story, but it's close between that and art. I like fortresses that are interesting - where things happen that I laugh at, or that make me kinda sad, stories that I tell my friends with when I mention I'm playing DF.
Usually I run somewhat peaceful forts, and the stories come from just things the dwarves do, like engravings of a dwarf being elected mayor... being placed in the former mayor's home, or a dwarf passing out on a cage trap and getting stuck inside for 3 months because the engineers won't prioritize setting up his release lever.

Art, too, though, because I like to make my fortress look nice. I smooth and engrave all of the walls and floors, place statues and caged animals all around, sometimes I pattern the digging so the room layout looks nice, I make walls out of metals and stones of interesting colours. Even in my current fort nourished cobalt, despite all the undead, I managed to make a rainbow wall at the entrance. I build rooms with windows with a view into the caverns or out over the land sometimes, etc.

I make happyness a goal too, though - happy dwarves tend to make the best stories, and if their needs are met than I can work on aesthetic projects. I think my dwarves are an extension of the fortress' beauty, as well, so keeping them clean and well clothed (or trying too) is important to me.

[FourierSeries]

First, build a functioning fort and defeat all challenges on the map.

Next, build a giant goal post.

Third, everything else on the map that can be dug or otherwise converted into boulders is converted. Everything.

Finally, set up a catapult battery and shoot it all through the goal post, off the map.

Abandon fort, and visit in adventure mode ...

[RenoFox]

I'd almost say storytelling, as I use military instead of traps to create more heroic stories. However, both the best stories and greatest enjoyment stem from gratuitous violence, making bloodbath the most important measure of success.

[Loud Whispers]

The narratives are the epitome of what world gen can truly inspire.