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[Oaktree]

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Ok I think I understand why every time my fort goes bad. I seem to focus to much on the fortress layout that it postpone the point where I get enough stability to seriously dig into a steady metal industry leading to a military force that will let me overcome the third or fourth invasion without having to rely on an insanely trapped corridor.

I tend to make the first year or two doing nothing more than initial defenses (walls/ditch and some traps) and setting up infrastructure.  I also make it an early goal once initial storage rooms and such are dug out to have downward exploration mining shafts going.  I want to know where the caverns are and discover how deep magma is located.  (I also tend to use world gens were magma is fairly shallow; e.g. <50 levels down.)

I try to avoid using game features that I find game breaking, atom smasher, quantum dumping, danger room, trap overuse (especially cage trap which are insanely powerful) and so on... So I'll make a new game and try a new embark based on your generous tips you guys all gave me and get a steady military.

About the one potential game-breaker I use is mine cart based storage dumps - which are a form of quantum dumping.  They basically save digging out a ton of space for just storage, annoying object in bin behaviors, and also IMHO save on FPS.

But before all this, more questions, always questions...

1) I've seen that 2 dwarf sparring is the fastest way for efficient training. Is there any way to train a huge military force that way without having to make one squad for each training pair of dwarves? Squads are buggy and it get mind blowingly difficult to memorize which dwarf haven't been assigned yet to a squad as it does not tell you if they already are.

EDIT : I found this :
___________

For organizing the military, put them in squads of two and reduce the "minimum soldiers required on duty" to 1 in their schedule. This ought to have them sparring (and thus training MUCH faster than by demonstration) a lot more. Make the squad leaders have the teacher skill, if they have it.

You can always sort them into proper larger squads later

No no no, you'd want to have squads of 3 with it set to train for 2 or 3. Set to 1 would be one Dwarf on their own teaching to their self. Set to 2 or 3 would allow for much larger sparring rates (including on occasion 3 Dwarves sparring altogether simultaneously).

It's a moot point though, since multiple training orders can be given. So you can give 4 training orders for 2 in a squad of 9-10 for example, and it'd have the same effect as splitting the squad into smaller squads.
__________

How do you set multiples training order in a single squad to make them train in pair in a squad of 9-10?

Military screen. (m) - Schedules (s). 
Give order (o) - takes you to new screen.  Press (o) some more until the listed order is Train.  Use +/- to set number training to 2.   Shift+Enter to exit back.
Repeat 3 more times.  Also edit the initial train 10 order down to 2.
Use (C)opy Order and then (P)aste order to assign it to other squads and months.


2) In the game I just made, I had surface and deep metal. I only found lead and gold at the surface. I haven't dug to deeply yet, but the lack or armor valid metal bar is a bit inconvenient. How deep should I dig to reach the "Deep" metal layers? -50?

Varies by embark.  My currrent fortress has "deep metal" and it ended up roughly 40 levels down mixed in with a cavern.  In other forts the deep metals have been in the low 30s in depth and mixed in with the Magma Sea.

3) You guys mentioned that that clothes eventually wear out, making you obligated to craft new one at a clothier workshop. How does item damage work out? Do they lose in quality over time? Or just simply break and "disappear"?

Clothes wear out and take damage much like something burning or a building destroyer taking out a door will.  x->X->XX wear.  Clothing (and some other items) put on a refuse pile will rot away and disappear.  Base quality remains as wear appears to be a separate value not related to quality.

4) Does the quality of a pickaxe influence the working speed? What's the advantage of high quality, aside from global value or combat effectiveness for military items?

Pick quality does not affect working speed.  Quality mainly affects value.  For military items crossbow quality is supposed to affect base accuracy and edged weapon quality is supposed to affect the actual edge value of the weapon.  And masterpiece and artifact items get a bonus.  More dwarf science is needed in these areas.

5) At what year do you guys usually pump out magma from the depths? Is it eventually required to do so or can you rely solely on wood, charcoal and worships built on top of magma chimney in caverns? Pump staking lava is a must in every steady games or a "not so required" mega project? The only time I used magma powered workshop was with surface flat volcanoes.

I look for it early and try to get some moved up to make magma-based workshops by the second (or third year).  If the Magma Sea is shallow I will establish forges down there initially.  For moving small amounts I use magma-proof mine carts (iron or steel) and a screw pump set up to load the carts.  Two cart loads is enough to power a magma forge or other such workshop. 

[Kumis]

At one point I was embarking with 4 miners. Now I just have 1 and do everything in the soil layer at first, including bedrooms (they later become stalls for the geese once the goose population explodes). This helps free up the other 6 for production and defence.
I also like to set up some workshops above ground and secure them with a ditch. A ditch is quicker to dig than a wall is to build, and as most early threats are merely kobolds or goblin snatchers it's sufficient. Later on I like to reinforce it with a wall and a guardhouse outside the front entrance.

Code: [Select]

.....  .....
.   w  w   .
.   w  w   .
.   w>>w   .
.   wwww   .
.    >>    .
.   stuff  .
.          .
............Stylised layout, where w is wall, . is ditch > is downstair and stuff is workshops, animals, etc. Top >> is the entrance to the fort and bottom >> is the entrance to fortress from the livestock/workshop area. Be sure to not have the ditch interfere with your digging below ground.

And to actually be useful: I often like to take an iron anvil along with me if I can. It may have been useful in your case as, despite the lack of weapons-grade metals, you could have made some gold crafts and traded them with the first caravan for weapons and armour.
I also like to take a pick instead of forge one, as I can get to digging faster.
Also, a wooden training axe is a lot cheaper at embark and just as good at chopping trees.

[Marble_Nuts]

I'll soon be updating with a new batch of question and the new fortress I made. I followed you guys advice for my new embark and it goes WAYYYY better that way

One thing tough, I can't seem to be able to create a new schedule order. I can modify one thats already made, but I can't save a new one it just does nothing when I press shift-enter. Whats the trouble here?

[Oaktree]

I'll soon be updating with a new batch of question and the new fortress I made. I followed you guys advice for my new embark and it goes WAYYYY better that way

One thing tough, I can't seem to be able to create a new schedule order. I can modify one thats already made, but I can't save a new one it just does nothing when I press shift-enter. Whats the trouble here?

It may be working.  There is no message when it saves the new order.

When you go back to the schedule look to the left below the list of months.  If you are adding additional orders you should see them there - like "Train, 2 minimum" listed four or five times.

[Marble_Nuts]

It actually does not, and it's why I'm worried. I know how it works, I used to do this just fine when I played 8-9 months ago...

[hiroshi42]

2) In the game I just made, I had surface and deep metal. I only found lead and gold at the surface. I haven't dug to deeply yet, but the lack or armor valid metal bar is a bit inconvenient. How deep should I dig to reach the "Deep" metal layers? -50?

3) You guys mentioned that that clothes eventually wear out, making you obligated to craft new one at a clothier workshop. How does item damage work out? Do they lose in quality over time? Or just simply break and "disappear"?

4) Does the quality of a pickaxe influence the working speed? What's the advantage of high quality, aside from global value or combat effectiveness for military items?

5) At what year do you guys usually pump out magma from the depths? Is it eventually required to do so or can you rely solely on wood, charcoal and worships built on top of magma chimney in caverns? Pump staking lava is a must in every steady games or a "not so required" mega project? The only time I used magma powered workshop was with surface flat volcanoes.

2) All hail Quietust:

"Deep" metal likely just means that it isn't in the topmost stone layer. It most definitely does not refer to adamantine, since pretty much every embark location has adamantine.

[edit] Just checked disassembly, and it appears that the first 6 geo layers (most of which are generally soil) are considered "shallow" while the rest are "deep".

3) Been answered but: Clothes rot over time but you can usually get away with not making or otherwise acquiring clothes for the first year or so-it generally takes at least a year if not longer for rot to be a serious, fortress killing problem.  And yes a lack of new clothes is possibly the fastest way to kill a fort that does not involve a dragon in the meeting hall.  Clothes rotting off generate a negative thought and you can get one for each article of clothing, plus the three naked thoughts.  On the other hand armor never rots so you can save a lot by giving everyone who is not an active miner, woodcutter, or hunter boots, chest armor and leg armor and call it good.

4) Covered already, but quality just improves military potential which in the hands of a skilled miner is bloody impressive.

5) I shoot for magma as soon as I have moved everyone inside.  I dig a 2x2 central shaft on a embark-tile corner (on a 2x2 or 4x4 map it is dead center) and generally don't have to worry about caverns or accidentally hitting the magma sea in the wrong place.  Transporting ore and sand down is as easy as digging a vertical shaft (again using edges) and making a safe dropzone at the bottom.  transporting stuff up can be a pain, but by then I usually have more dwarves or have set up a minecart magma moving ..method? so I can relocate.

[Lielac]

5) I shoot for magma as soon as I have moved everyone inside.  I dig a 2x2 central shaft on a embark-tile corner (on a 2x2 or 4x4 map it is dead center) and generally don't have to worry about caverns or accidentally hitting the magma sea in the wrong place.  Transporting ore and sand down is as easy as digging a vertical shaft (again using edges) and making a safe dropzone at the bottom.  transporting stuff up can be a pain, but by then I usually have more dwarves or have set up a minecart magma moving ..method? so I can relocate.

Your method of embark-tile corner usage intrigues me. Do you have science as to why it works?

[Brilliand]

5) I shoot for magma as soon as I have moved everyone inside.  I dig a 2x2 central shaft on a embark-tile corner (on a 2x2 or 4x4 map it is dead center) and generally don't have to worry about caverns or accidentally hitting the magma sea in the wrong place.  Transporting ore and sand down is as easy as digging a vertical shaft (again using edges) and making a safe dropzone at the bottom.  transporting stuff up can be a pain, but by then I usually have more dwarves or have set up a minecart magma moving ..method? so I can relocate.

Your method of embark-tile corner usage intrigues me. Do you have science as to why it works?

I'm guessing it does reveal caverns sometimes, it just never hits open space.  I'm pretty sure the map I'm on right now has an exit just one tile away from the corner.

My guess would be that DF's map generator always puts as tile of wall in every corner of every cavern level for whatever reason.  The way to test it would be to do a bunch of 1x1 embarks and use reveal to check if there's any open corners in the caverns, I suppose...

[hiroshi42]

5) I shoot for magma as soon as I have moved everyone inside.  I dig a 2x2 central shaft on a embark-tile corner (on a 2x2 or 4x4 map it is dead center) and generally don't have to worry about caverns or accidentally hitting the magma sea in the wrong place.  Transporting ore and sand down is as easy as digging a vertical shaft (again using edges) and making a safe dropzone at the bottom.  transporting stuff up can be a pain, but by then I usually have more dwarves or have set up a minecart magma moving ..method? so I can relocate.

Your method of embark-tile corner usage intrigues me. Do you have science as to why it works?

Alas I have no science on he subject.  All I can say is that I play with 100/100 min/max cavern openness and 0/0 min/max passages and there always seems to be stone on the embark-tile(48 dwarf tiles) corners.  You still might expose one or more caverns, although I find this rarely happens, but you should be able to quickly seal the stairs back up with walls.  This is especially useful for long drop shafts as you should not lose a miner to collapsing caverns or falling due to digging-out-the-cavern-ceiling disease.

If I had to hazard a guess this is to prevent massive cavern collapses on embark.  With wide open multi-embark-tile caverns you could have a situation where massive chunks of cavern are unsupported

[Marble_Nuts]

Here is the next big batch of questions :

1) I can't seem to find how to remove all weapons and clothing's from my goblin prisoners. How can I achieve this?? I tried everything I could think of... I want to use them as target practice for marks dwarves and keep a couple for dogfights

2) Aside from metal weapons and armors from captured invaders that I can melt, can I keep and use their shirt, hood, mitten, shoes and other clothe for my dwarves? Human and elven should be to big, but goblin should fit dwarves... Right?

3) I found a flat cave at -50 and a really crazy shaped cave at -130. Where is the third one? It should be near the surface, like -10 but I can't put my iron pick on it...

4) I haven't found any magma tube in any of my 2 discovered caves. I really don't want to make a pump stack of a 150 Z levels. Would the mine cart lava trick be less power demanding and easier to make to get some lava up there for my forges?

5) How many bolts can a quiver hold?

6) Whats the best way to dispose of forgotten beast contaminant in a cave? So far I've been able to fight them before they reached my main shaft, but if one died there with a really nasty poisoned blood, it could be one hell of a pain...

7) What's your favored Worker/Hauler/Soldier ratio in your fortress when you reach 125 dwarves? What's your worker composition?

8) Do I really need justice and a hammerer? What advantages does it present?

9) What will happen if I don't fill nobles demands entirely? Could my mayor become nuts over that?

10) I have a fully equipped hospital with a full skill enabled chief medical dwarf. Why do I still have wounded sleeping in their respective bedrooms?

11) Can dwarves stumble in stairs while carrying rocks? I have some battle logs between a miner and granit that initiated twice in my main shaft... Maybe a mimic? Thats be sick!

12) What structure can dwarves see through? Fortifications, windows, gem windows and what else? Dwarves benefit from seeing nicely crafted objects, artifacts, engraving and such... How far from them do they detect them?

13) Is it true that artifact furnitures are safe from building destroyer?

14) what is the best way to regulate pressure from a river to create a nice underground waterfall that won't push dwarves? I'm not sure how to handle pressure well enough to avoid a critical flood...

15) 120 dwarves and it's almost fps killing it already... I caged all puppies, restrained most of my war dogs, butchered systematically anything that isn't owned, kept only 3 male cats for pest control and avoiding catsplosion...

What else can I do? Is there any way to get rid of pets without throwing your whole fortress into a generalized tantrum? I'm tempted by dwarf hack since I want to continue playing... I'm rolling on mac, soooooo, I can't do it myself, but maybe a gentlemen (or gentlelady) could lend me a hand on this. Dropbox is your friend!

16) Is there intense pressure in the magma sea? Can I pop a hole for a pump? Will magma crab and other scrap travel through pumps? Can a dwarf handle a magma pumping pump without losing both of it's arms in the process? Water seem to splash a fucking lot. If magma does the same... It'll be barbecue!

17)What do you guys think of green glass serrated disk as trap component? Got a legend glass crafter. Metal is a bit scarce in my map so far and I would prefer to keep it for everything else.

18) Related to Q:17, how many serrated disk in a single weapon trap do I need to make a fair amount of damage? I can't afford fully loaded traps for now...

19) Soap can't be bought and is a fucking pain to make from scratch... When and where is my fort going to die because of "no_soap"?

This is what I could remember without opening the game anew, I will post prolly 15 more in a couple of hours.

[hiroshi42]

1) While the cages are items dbd (designate-bulk-dump) and paint the cages you want to strip.  Loo(k) at each individual cage and un-dump it.  you may also need to db-(c)laim the cages so that the items within are all claimed as well.  then your dwarves will take all the goblin goodies to the nearest dump site-so long as you have one zoned.
    You can also do this for specific items if you are wanting to use goblins for training dummies, just use the stocks screen and search for weapons and shields that are forbidden and you didn't make.

2)Goblin clothes are usable by dwarves, you might be able to get away with not having a clothing industry if you are good at capturing/slaughtering goblin attacks.  I think elves are also the right size for dwarves.

3) Can't help here, try digging around a bit it might be in between the two caves you found, try looking at the flora/fauna to see what cavern levels you have found.

4) If you are just bringing magma up for workshops I would suggest using minecarts, especially if you have to transport it 150z.  Just make sure that everything is magma safe.

5) No idea bu dwarves will grab bolt stacks until they have at least...50? I think it is 50, so you can have situations where a dwarf has 50 bolts shoots one and goes to refill having 75.  Invaders bring larger stacks so you can get more per quiver if you are lucky.

6)Fire or magma

7) No clue, I don't really keep track I just assign people until things are getting done although I usually have everyone in a squad just to keep everyone wearing light armor at least.  This also cuts down on clothing requirements and if you give them all crossbows you can slaughter the filthy goblin hordes.

8 ) No, it just adds a layer of fun.  The only other time it might be useful is if you are having a tantrum spiral, then you can have the game try to isolate tantruming dwarves if you have built a jail and no one gets assigned a beating.

9)Nobles get peeved if you do not fulfill demands or mandates, and yes they can go mad over it.  A failed or violated mandate is considered a crime and will be treated as such by the game.

10) Heh, Hospitals are... not working optimally.  Although they might have been treated and released.

11) Don't think they can stumble, but falling stuff causes major damage now, beware garbage shafts.

12) No idea, I think those three are the only things permitting LOS.  As for 'seeing' nice things again no idea, but I think they have to have physical access to get the happy thought.

13) As far as I know.

14)Pressure is either on or off, sending water or magma through a diagonal connection should eliminate it, but your best bet with the waterfall is to either make a mist generator or build fortifications to keep suicides away.

15)Items are your enemies, as is temperature.  Dump and/or dispose of all useless or worn clothes, rocks, weapons etc.  Pets can be disposed of quietly if no one sees them die and if they leave no corpse.  Bridges, the magma sea or certain parts of HFS are your friends. 

16)Yes on all counts reading comprehension is fun.  No the great magma sea is not under pressure, yes you can drill a hole in the ceiling magma crabs and magma men can come up through unguarded holes, grates might be able to prevent them but don't quote me on that, they cannot travel up a pump stack unless you provide them a path.  You are not experiencing splashing from the pump, but your design might be leaking a bit.  Try not to allow that to happen with magma.

17)Learn to love glass.  It is a wonderful product especially with a magma furnace.  It can make pots, furniture, weapons for traps and shotguns.  Green glass is good against most if not all vanilla invaders although it might not work well against mega-beasts and clowns.

18)Personal preference here, but I find 5 per trap usually works well.  The full 10 might be overkill but then again there is no such thing.  Also serrated disks are fun, but be wary of using them in reanimating situations.  They generate more items to clean up.

19)Buy lye from the dwarven caravan (request it from the liaison) [edit: you probably won't get enough lye from trading if you have massive numbers of injuries since stacks of lye are still treated as one item].  Your fort won't need soap until the wounded start showing up, although infection is not guaranteed without it and it is not a miracle cure against infection.

[Marble_Nuts]

Yea sorry for the mistakes and fucked up question numbers... I posted and corrected each and every sentences afterward, I saw some made no sense, english not being my first language

[Marble_Nuts]

So many questions... and yet so many more answer! I will quote myself each time and post under each question remark related to everybody's comment without quoting, it will be cleaner to look at.

1) I can't seem to find how to remove all weapons and clothing's from my goblin prisoners. How can I achieve this?? I tried everything I could think of... I want to use them as target practice for marks dwarves and keep a couple for dogfights

I will try it whenever I can. So to confirm, there currently ain't any way to open the inventory of a caged goblin in an animal stockpile to manually dump selected items. I have to dump the whole lot and clam back the cage only.

2) Aside from metal weapons and armors from captured invaders that I can melt, can I keep and use their shirt, hood, mitten, shoes and other clothe for my dwarves? Human and elven should be to big, but goblin should fit dwarves... Right?

If you tell me that items kill fps, I might be tempted to just dump them in magma... Whenever I can successfully get some up into my fort

3) I found a flat cave at -50 and a really crazy shaped cave at -130. Where is the third one? It should be near the surface, like -10 but I can't put my iron pick on it...

I can confirm that without blood thorn or nether caps, the cavern at -135 is only the second one... Crazy shit I tell ya

4) I haven't found any magma tube in any of my 2 discovered caves. I really don't want to make a pump stack of a 150 Z levels. Would the mine cart lava trick be less power demanding and easier to make to get some lava up there for my forges?

I'mma try to set up a cart system, although I have no idea how most of it work. Lets hope I don't kill to many dwarves in the process...

5) How many bolts can a quiver hold?

Yet to be confirmed

6) Whats the best way to dispose of forgotten beast contaminant in a cave? So far I've been able to fight them before they reached my main shaft, but if one died there with a really nasty poisoned blood, it could be one hell of a pain...

No magma available... So I set restricted traffic area so far for containment in open zone.

7) What's your favored Worker/Hauler/Soldier ratio in your fortress when you reach 125 dwarves? What's your worker composition?

If I put every civilian into squads and order them to wear light leather armor,, quiver, crossbow boots and cloak, will they still keep them while inactive? If I want every dwarf to hold some bolt, say 25, do I need to set up the ammunitions at 25*10 dwarf in squad? Or will some take more then 25 units and stop others from getting some?

Related question: Will dwarf in burrow leave it on an attack order? I had some marks dwarves going hand to hand when their quiver were empty. Do I absolutely need to wall up for this not to happen? I like to keep some pathing to lure gobs into my trap set up.

Do I really need justice and a hammerer? What advantages does it present?

Maybe I'll get one to hammer up vampires that seem to only aim at legendary weapon smith.

9) What will happen if I don't fill nobles demands entirely? Could my mayor become nuts over that?

I wish I had magma...

10) I have a fully equipped hospital with a full skill enabled chief medical dwarf. Why do I still have wounded sleeping in their respective bedrooms?

This actually happened because I set up my hospital AFTER the miner got wounded... I'm sure if the hospital was set up before I would not have had any problem.

11) Can dwarves stumble in stairs while carrying rocks? I have some battle logs between a miner and granit that initiated twice in my main shaft... Maybe a mimic? Thats be sick!

So somebody dropped a boulder a guess... No wonder it ripped off one arm of my miner in one strike after a drop of -80z

12) What structure can dwarves see through? Fortifications, windows, gem windows and what else? Dwarves benefit from seeing nicely crafted objects, artifacts, engraving and such... How far from them do they detect them?

Anybody got science on that?

13) Is it true that artifact furnitures are safe from building destroyer?

Taken note

14) what is the best way to regulate pressure from a river to create a nice underground waterfall that won't push dwarves? I'm not sure how to handle pressure well enough to avoid a critical flood...

I'll look into mist generator

15) 120 dwarves and it's almost fps killing it already... I caged all puppies, restrained most of my war dogs, butchered systematically anything that isn't owned, kept only 3 male cats for pest control and avoiding catsplosion...

What else can I do? Is there any way to get rid of pets without throwing your whole fortress into a generalized tantrum? I'm tempted by dwarf hack since I want to continue playing... I'm rolling on mac, soooooo, I can't do it myself, but maybe a gentlemen (or gentlelady) could lend me a hand on this. Dropbox is your friend!

Then... It will remain until I get magma. I'mma drown all those pesky pets as soon as I can.

16) Is there intense pressure in the magma sea? Can I pop a hole for a pump? Will magma crab and other scrap travel through pumps? Can a dwarf handle a magma pumping pump without losing both of it's arms in the process? Water seem to splash a fucking lot. If magma does the same... It'll be barbecue!

Incoming roasted beard!

17)What do you guys think of green glass serrated disk as trap component? Got a legend glass crafter. Metal is a bit scarce in my map so far and I would prefer to keep it for everything else.

So glass it will be

18) Related to Q:17, how many serrated disk in a single weapon trap do I need to make a fair amount of damage? I can't afford fully loaded traps for now...

So 5 it will be

19) Soap can't be bought and is a fucking pain to make from scratch... When and where is my fort going to die because of "no_soap"?

I guess the best is just to get a truck load of lye at embark and do it yourself... What if I don't have sand but still need vials? Can they be bought at dwarven caravans?

[Girlinhat]

Time to drop some knowledge.  Response are in adorable colors.

Here is the next big batch of questions :

1) I can't seem to find how to remove all weapons and clothing's from my goblin prisoners. How can I achieve this?? I tried everything I could think of... I want to use them as target practice for marks dwarves and keep a couple for dogfights

d-b-d then select the cages.  The, while still paused, hit k to select the actual cages and cancel dumping.  The result is "dump every item on this tile except the cage" and that includes all clothing and armor and weapons inside.  Goblins are not items and do not get dumped.

2) Aside from metal weapons and armors from captured invaders that I can melt, can I keep and use their shirt, hood, mitten, shoes and other clothe for my dwarves? Human and elven should be to big, but goblin should fit dwarves... Right?

I believe goblin armor is Small... while human and elven armor is Medium.  Weapons are unsized.  I haven't paid attention to goblin clothing lately because I always stage unfortunate minecart accidents with the elves and wear their clothes.

3) I found a flat cave at -50 and a really crazy shaped cave at -130. Where is the third one? It should be near the surface, like -10 but I can't put my iron pick on it...

Keep digging.

4) I haven't found any magma tube in any of my 2 discovered caves. I really don't want to make a pump stack of a 150 Z levels. Would the mine cart lava trick be less power demanding and easier to make to get some lava up there for my forges?

It can be 100% less power demanding if you use dwarf power.  They can push carts up ramps.  The only issue is if you accidentally get a cart stuck under magma.  You probably want to have powered rollers for the dip to keep it from getting stuck.

However, the HUGE benefit of magma-carting is that it incurs little to no FPS drop.  With normal pump stacks, temperature has to be calculated for every tile it passes through.  For carts, the magma becomes an item in the cart that does not convey temperature anymore, and thus the entire trip to the surface is easy on FPS.  Granted, it's a lot slower than pump stacks, but can be infinitely better simply due to the fact that it can be run constantly without problem.

5) How many bolts can a quiver hold?

50 is it?  I always use axes...

6) Whats the best way to dispose of forgotten beast contaminant in a cave? So far I've been able to fight them before they reached my main shaft, but if one died there with a really nasty poisoned blood, it could be one hell of a pain...

There's two ways to purge.  Of course, magma is the best.  The other is to alter the tile.  Deconstructing the floor, mining the wall, or even building a cabinet and deconstructing it can remove anything on the tile - this is also a good way to remove mud.  Cabinet scrubbing is an age-old dwarven pastime.

7) What's your favored Worker/Hauler/Soldier ratio in your fortress when you reach 125 dwarves? What's your worker composition?

2-3 per sensitive job, enough soldiers to support (usually 30), and then everyone else becomes fodder.  Non-sensitive jobs like hauling, lye making, mining, milling, get to the masses.  Specialized jobs like masonry, farming, armorsmithing, go to specialized dwarves.  The difference is, some jobs have quality modifiers, others do not.

Do I really need justice and a hammerer? What advantages does it present?

Your hammerer is your executioner.

9) What will happen if I don't fill nobles demands entirely? Could my mayor become nuts over that?

Yes.  My earliest forts always fell when the mayor caused tantrum spirals.  However a decent bedroom and dining room is usually enough.  Mandates tend to matter less, and their mood modifiers disappear.  Not having a bedroom is not something that goes away with time though.

10) I have a fully equipped hospital with a full skill enabled chief medical dwarf. Why do I still have wounded sleeping in their respective bedrooms?

They didn't get wounded enough, or the doctors didn't do something.  If it's not a big injury, then let them heal on their own.  If it's a serious injury, then consult the annuls of "how to lightly injure your own soldiers" on how to deal very light, non-lethal damage.  Dog-closets are my favorite, though bridge drops are also decent.

11) Can dwarves stumble in stairs while carrying rocks? I have some battle logs between a miner and granit that initiated twice in my main shaft... Maybe a mimic? Thats be sick!

No mimics, though the only advice I can give here is to avoid straight stairs.  When a dwarf falls, they tend to fall through every stairway directly below them, which can be 300+ levels on some maps!

12) What structure can dwarves see through? Fortifications, windows, gem windows and what else? Dwarves benefit from seeing nicely crafted objects, artifacts, engraving and such... How far from them do they detect them?

My science is a bit rusty, but I think they actually pay attention to the closest item occasionally.  Your best bet is to actually put your good furniture at the entrance to the booze pile or dining hall, as these are places that EVERYONE goes to.

13) Is it true that artifact furnitures are safe from building destroyer?

Yes and no.  It can be pulled up, but 'destroying' an artifact door only puts it on the ground with no damage.  Although it does take significant effort to uproot higher quality items, so an artifact door can actually take months to pull off the floor.  Use this to your advantage and position archers flanking the door a few levels higher.  It becomes ogre bait.

14) what is the best way to regulate pressure from a river to create a nice underground waterfall that won't push dwarves? I'm not sure how to handle pressure well enough to avoid a critical flood...

Ah, the crux of DF.  It all comes down to water.  Check my signature for a host of information, and some nice water data.  Essentially though, you want checkerboards of walls.

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.#.#
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Pressure doesn't move diagonally, but natural spread does.  This causes all pressure to neutralize and can allow for gentle waterfalls instead of deadly outpourings.  Y'know, if you're into that...[/color]

15) 120 dwarves and it's almost fps killing it already... I caged all puppies, restrained most of my war dogs, butchered systematically anything that isn't owned, kept only 3 male cats for pest control and avoiding catsplosion...

What else can I do? Is there any way to get rid of pets without throwing your whole fortress into a generalized tantrum? I'm tempted by dwarf hack since I want to continue playing... I'm rolling on mac, soooooo, I can't do it myself, but maybe a gentlemen (or gentlelady) could lend me a hand on this. Dropbox is your friend!

Pathfinding and item stocks is actually a big deal.  More items, especially during trading season, is an issue.  Pathfinding can also be killer.  Mark your walking priorities to prevent dwarves trying to pathfind into empty mine shafts, and considering sealing areas that you know won't be used.

16) Is there intense pressure in the magma sea? Can I pop a hole for a pump? Will magma crab and other scrap travel through pumps? Can a dwarf handle a magma pumping pump without losing both of it's arms in the process? Water seem to splash a fucking lot. If magma does the same... It'll be barbecue!

Natural magma is completely unpressurized.  Only pumps can apply pressure to magma.  Drilling through the floor into the magma sea is completely safe - put a grate over the hole to prevent critters from crawling up.  Magma-safe pumps can transport magma, and dwarves can use these pumps without issue.  Just make sure your whole pump network is secure.  When water gets loose it gets muddy.  When magma gets loose it gets Fun.

17)What do you guys think of green glass serrated disk as trap component? Got a legend glass crafter. Metal is a bit scarce in my map so far and I would prefer to keep it for everything else.

It's pathetic.  But it's free.  Previous versions had no listing for glass, so it was randomly assigned a weapon value at world gen, from 0 to 255 (or something) which could rarely make it more powerful than adamantine!  However, in current versions it's mostly just a harassment.  Even harassments cause dodging though.  Combined with dodge bridge and/or spike pits, they do very well!

On the other hand, a trap is a piece of furniture.  You can get a room very expensive very quickly by putting 10x ☼Serrated Green Glass Disks☼ into a worthless trap.

18) Related to Q:17, how many serrated disk in a single weapon trap do I need to make a fair amount of damage? I can't afford fully loaded traps for now...

Serrated disks sever limbs, which get clogged.  Blunt attacks are less likely.  So disks I go 1-5 per trap, depending on material and abundance.  For blunt weapons I go 10x per trap just to go all out.

19) Soap can't be bought and is a fucking pain to make from scratch... When and where is my fort going to die because of "no_soap"?

I have no advice here.  Just keep harvesting materials and make soap as best you can.  It's not always a fortress killer, but it's decent insurance against disease and infection.

This is what I could remember without opening the game anew, I will post prolly 15 more in a couple of hours.