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[Barek Longboe]

Hi there,

I've been playing DF, and the 3rd wave i always get around 30 migrants, i know it has to do with wealth. Maybe im creating things too fast or should wait and dig out more

[Telgin]

As far as I know, nobody but Toady knows for sure how this works.  Wealth is believed to a lot to do with it, but I've read claims that the amount of space you've dug out has a connection to it too.  That would at least partially explain why I always received fairly small (less than 20) migrants per wave in my above ground forts.  They also have low wealth though.

If you want fewer migrants, about the only thing you can do to reliably lower the number you get is to set the population cap in your init file.  That won't stop the first two waves, no matter what you set it to, unless you use hacking tools.  However, once the dwarven caravan arrives and leaves your population cap will be applied.

[Kumis]

To be honest, it's kinda what makes me stop playing the game.
I'll play the game for a few weeks, build a few nice forts, perfect a few ideas, but then one of my better forts takes off just a little too fast and I feel like I'm slipping behind on micro-management, including the military and then I go back to something else, like university work.

Shame, really.

[Lich180]

Yeah, I would recommend editing the population cap in d_init to something much lower, like 15 for the first year or two, so you can get a good start on bedrooms, dining areas, industries and such. The hardcoded waves should bump you up to 15 or so dwarves, and the autumn diplomat will limit your migrants to just those.

Works well for me, then after a year or two I bump up the cap, to 50 or so and end up with plenty of labor.

[spook54321]

There is probably a lot of SCIENCE that could be done regarding the first two migration waves.
Maybe someone with more time on their hands could do some.

[Telgin]

There is probably some left to learn, but the reason that they always come despite the population cap is actually already known: until the dwarven caravan arrives your civilization doesn't know what your fort's population is and will assume it's below the pop cap.  You can use DFHack to notify your civ of your fort population and prevent these migrant waves, I believe.

Learning just what determines the sizes of these waves would be interesting though.  I suspect that things like fort wealth aren't known by your parent civ either until the caravan leaves, so the first two waves might represent the base line for a migrant wave.  Presumably wealth and other factors would add to these base sizes.  Disassembling the relevant functions inside DF might be the only way to learn this for sure, but it would be a very interesting thing to know.

[Akura]

I would agree with the caravan informing the parent civ of your wealth, and thus influencing migrants. Starting a new fort, first two migrant waves together only had about 15 migrants, both coming before the first caravan.

Before the caravan, I had two artfacts made, as well as more than my usual rock goods and mined-out areas. The first migrant wave after the caravan left had over 60 migrants.

[slothen]

I'll play the game for a few weeks, build a few nice forts, perfect a few ideas, but then one of my better forts takes off just a little too fast and I feel like I'm slipping behind on micro-management

Adjust your pop cap, or adjust your perspective.  Nothing wrong with having a few nicknameless cheesemakers loitering about your dining hall, provided your dining hall is bigger than a closet.  You're not alone though, asking about large migrant waves in year 1-2 is like... the #1 topic that gets posted for about as long as I can remember.

[Barek Longboe]

Yeah, i usually tend to just make enough bedrooms for my current situation, and already start smelting after the first caravan. Im just assuming i've got to take it a little bit slower, the first fortress which was doing reasonably well, my fort got 39 immigrants, which wasn't very fun. Same happened to my next fortress.

[Psieye]

I thought it was known it's the caravan that acts as an advertising vehicle, drawing everyone to your new settlement. Has that been disproven? If you want a tiny population, don't do anything in the first year beyond basic sustenance. On the flip side, if you want a large population, accelerate your industries - I work hard to get as big a migrant wave as I can on 2nd spring as my forts aren't designed to run on tiny labour pools.

[slothen]

Im just assuming i've got to take it a little bit slower

going slower is a bit futile.  Unless you take very drastic measures, you will hit the population cap in 2-3 years.  Especially if you have a decent cook, a metal industry, or have started making clothing.  Its just inevitable.  Just start planning for 3-tile wide hallways, leave room to expand your meeting hall, and use dormitories.

[Telgin]

I thought it was known it's the caravan that acts as an advertising vehicle, drawing everyone to your new settlement. Has that been disproven? If you want a tiny population, don't do anything in the first year beyond basic sustenance. On the flip side, if you want a large population, accelerate your industries - I work hard to get as big a migrant wave as I can on 2nd spring as my forts aren't designed to run on tiny labour pools.

I know it used to be a pretty widespread belief that it was the liaison / diplomat that conveyed that information, not the caravan itself.  Arguably there's little difference since they arrive at about the same time, but it can be an important distinction if one or the other gets killed / wiped out.

[Barek Longboe]

Alright i'll try the dormitories, i don't care if they have to see each other naked, they will do my bidding....Alright im pretty sure that when im not awake yet. That im a weird person.

[sweitx]

Alright i'll try the dormitories, i don't care if they have to see each other naked, they will do my bidding....Alright im pretty sure that when im not awake yet. That im a weird person.

Being naked (aka having clothes rotten off) do provide a fairly heavy penalty happiness. Which means likely tantrum spirals.

[Akura]

Alright i'll try the dormitories, i don't care if they have to see each other naked, they will do my bidding....Alright im pretty sure that when im not awake yet. That im a weird person.

Being naked (aka having clothes rotten off) do provide a fairly heavy penalty happiness. Which means likely tantrum spirals.

Note that it only causes such feelings in the naked dwarf. Apparently nobody but Urist McStreaker is bothered by Urist McStreaker.