Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Taupe]

The last time a miliciadwarf faced an undead, she went crazy and commited a rampaging form of suicide. More soldiers exposed to the undead means more chances for a tantrum spiral. I think the volcano is the best bet, except for internal resurections of single corpses.

[DS]

Chapter 38 has been posted! Apologies for taking so long, but, ah, life happens. Rest assured (if you have any concerns about whether or not the story will be finished), I plan on taking Roomcarnage all the way to the bitter end.

I've got a lot to think about regarding where the fortress will go in the next few chapters - but I suspect that, whatever it is, it will be a change of pace and scenery. Maybe. We'll see.

Regarding dealing with the undead on the surface... there are many options, of course, and some are certainly safer than others. I'm not a huge fan of certain methods, such as using long corridors with doors at either end that can be remotely locked or unlocked, to control the pathing of undead, for example, and I've been keeping my trap use to a minimum. I don't use danger rooms either. I don't have any hard and fast rules for what I'm comfortable with, but in a game like this, where a huge part of the narrative involves the everpresent danger to the dwarves and the looming threat of undeath, I lean more towards methods and tactics that provide a greater degree of drama.

So, I can't say whether or not I'll take some or any of the strategies that are being discussed in this thread... but I am considering many options! Stay tuned, and of course, I'm happy to answer any questions. Thanks for reading!

[Taupe]

Really love the narrative so far. I agree with you, drama is more entertaining and gratifying than cold, optimised designs.

[Ancalagon_TB]

ooh, I look forward to reading the new entry

A humble suggestion:  I know  you have a love-hate relationship with the vampire mayor (with good cause!) but you did mention him being slow because of lack of alcohol.  Have you considered putting a barrel of alcohol in the airlock for Rith to consume?  Or is it too late for that (the major work has been done)?

[DS]

ooh, I look forward to reading the new entry

A humble suggestion:  I know  you have a love-hate relationship with the vampire mayor (with good cause!) but you did mention him being slow because of lack of alcohol.  Have you considered putting a barrel of alcohol in the airlock for Rith to consume?  Or is it too late for that (the major work has been done)?

Unfortunately, vampires don't consume alcohol at all. Vampires in fortress mode won't drink anything except dwarven blood, so they are inevitably afflicted with permanent withdrawal symptoms. From what I understand, there are mods that can help with this, but I'm not using them.

[reality.auditor]

That was really good, immersing story. It is fun to play up DF bugs, quirks and general crazy game logic as something unbelievably sinister, isn't it?

[Max™]

Huh, looks like reality.auditor and I finished at the same time.

Fun read, I can't help but wonder what would happen if you dug out a big above-ground block of obsidian in the floods, set up bridges around it like a magma piston, and then dug out a space the same height or 1 z level shorter than the block below it, with the usual floor+support side connection, before filling the space underneath with water, what exactly would a column of water exposed to glacial air do in that situation... crap, now I gotta try it.

[Shadow Of Fate]

Interesting. Since you failed to get the SouthEast corner, you could always try flooding South again. Or, you could try flooding the same way again and hope it overflows the barrier this time. Or if it interests you, there is an option to dig a new passage more directly to the area you want to flood at some risk.

It is fascinating how the game always seems to throw surprises at you that curb your ambition. It's like it knows... Or maybe the Titan was like a warning to you. I mean if you were to try and fight the foul fog zombies hand to hand that could just create more fog zombies. This showed you by example what could happen. And Rith's swords. Another likely recipe for disaster if you were to try melee. I have no doubt of her sinister intentions, but all signs the game is sending you seem to  be pointing towards the same thing:

Melee + Foul Fog Zombies = Bad

If and when you do decide to take them head on, I'm thinking ranged weapons are the way to go. Afterall, don't the dwarfs who survive the zombies the longest tend to have bows? We have seen this play out many times before. Another thing you can learn from the game.

[Taupe]

It migh also be possible to build obsidian channels to bring the new activations closer to where you want them. Once those magma pools solidify, the dwarves will be able to work outside. Plus there's always Rith...

[TALLPANZER]

Mine cart loaded with copper short swords?

[Slogo]

If and when you do decide to take them head on, I'm thinking ranged weapons are the way to go. Afterall, don't the dwarfs who survive the zombies the longest tend to have bows? We have seen this play out many times before. Another thing you can learn from the game.

I sort of doubt that he has enough bolts to do this, well depending on the version. It takes a lot of bolts from a highly trained marksdwarf to make a dent in the undead.

[Shadow Of Fate]

I sort of doubt that he has enough bolts to do this, well depending on the version. It takes a lot of bolts from a highly trained marksdwarf to make a dent in the undead.

Yes. That's why he has to make them. He could train with wooden bolts because he has the trees from the cavern. He would have to train an army anyway if he wanted them to do half decent, and even then the foul fog might contaminate them. But I did remember reading he was limited in metals. That could be a problem when it comes to the combat arrows.

[MrCompassionate]

Just read the whole thing. Simply magnificent! I hope you reestablish contact with the outside world, if only to show them that you are all somehow still alive down there and killing undead and forgotten beasts all over the place. Sell them some adamantine goods depicting all the insane hardships and otherworldly horrors all your little guys endured.

As a last resort you could always use the mayor to dig a tunnel down to an adamantine vein and use clowns to cleanse the surface. Of course that would be like using sewage water to clean the gangrene from a wound but yknow, things can't get much worse!

[MDFification]

At this point its harder for DS to acquire wood than it is to mass-produce copper bolts.
Also, in my experience archers work disproportionately well against the undead. Since the undead work on a hitpoint system, it doesn't matter how much you damage their body, only how many hits you can get in on them. Massed archers deanimate things readily. The only problem is that those corpses are going to get right back up; how do you dispose of them?

[Shakerag]

I just finished reading this as well.  Excellent story!  I certainly look forward to seeing how this will play out.

This might have even inspired me to try a glacier embark myself.