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[Molly Renata]

I'm calling it now, this post will probably get me laughed out of the forum.

Ever since I started playing Dwarf Fortress, I have been extremely conservative boring in my playstyle. Turning off all the Fun things I can, because I'm a little pansy like that. I've played three versions (23a, 40d and 31.25), and I have played none of them for long enough to engage in serious Fun.

So, I ask: is there any cure for boringness? I actually do want to participate in Fun.

_*hides*

[Wirevix]

There's all sorts of things you can do, but one method that seems to turn out particularly hilarious is to jump into a late-turn inherited fortress.  Even if you're not on the official turn list, just download a save from one that's going strong and load it up with minimal warning.

You'll have absolutely no choice but to be involved in whatever Fun has built up from 8 or so people mucking around before you!

[Caz]

Try turning the features back on...

[palu]

Play .34. And the new version when it comes out.

[Sergarr]

I'm calling it now, this post will probably get me laughed out of the forum.

Ever since I started playing Dwarf Fortress, I have been extremely conservative boring in my playstyle. Turning off all the Fun things I can, because I'm a little pansy like that. I've played three versions (23a, 40d and 31.25), and I have played none of them for long enough to engage in serious Fun.

So, I ask: is there any cure for boringness? I actually do want to participate in Fun.

_*hides*

make arena mode battles

fill the entire map with super saiyans which shoot kamehamehas

[Witty]

Well, you could start by getting the latest version. And actually turning on invaders and stuff would also help ('cept aquifers of course  )

It's important to remember that DF is only as hard as you make it. Play safely, and you probably won't have a whole lot of fun.

[Molly Renata]

Well, you could start by getting the latest version. And actually turning on invaders and stuff would also help ('cept aquifers of course  )

It's important to remember that DF is only as hard as you make it. Play safely, and you probably won't have a whole lot of fun.

Well, yes, true.

I will probably get the new version once the update comes out. Of course, I will have to wait for the hype to die down enough that I can actually download it, but.

(aquifers are annoying so I adamantly refuse to play with them enabled cough)

[Lyeos]

Oh! I had a thought...

Play Masterwork with a couple of the optional invaders flipped on. 

[Stalker]

Turn everything on. The thing you are doing is like playing an action game without weapons and enemies...

[RealFear]

Well, you could start by getting the latest version. And actually turning on invaders and stuff would also help ('cept aquifers of course  )

It's important to remember that DF is only as hard as you make it. Play safely, and you probably won't have a whole lot of fun.

Well, yes, true.

I will probably get the new version once the update comes out. Of course, I will have to wait for the hype to die down enough that I can actually download it, but.

(aquifers are annoying so I adamantly refuse to play with them enabled cough)

There's no shame in playing without aquifers, because imo, they basically just slow the game down as you try and navigate around them, and make the map feel much, much smaller.

[Cobbler89]

Aquifers and hills can be a really interesting mix, actually. I had a relatively recent fort where a deep, deep river cut through a hill that had an aquifer just a few z levels below the top. On the z level below the aquifer I cut out a 1 tile thick ridge from the side of the river canyon, smoothed and engraved it and put statues on it. Then I cut out an identical ridge on the level of the aquifer so it poured out over the statues and down into the river. Then, so the dwarves could enjoy the benefits of my semi-natural, semi-artificial waterfall, I built a dining hall on the level below the statues and cut away the outside walls so the dining hall abutted the waterfall and the mist drifted in. It was pretty sort of awesome.

On the other hand, I also once had an aquifer on a sloped area that I accidentally broke into when channelling and caused to flood the lower portions of the slope. It was interesting... but would probably have been more helpful if I'd thought of something worth doing with it and savescummed.

I'm told aquifers can also be handy for water-related projects when used carefully. I've never tried anything more than aesthetic myself. I encounter them pretty rarely, all things considered. I've had a megaproject that I've considered removing the aquifers for, but the locations didn't pan out in the first place, so I didn't have to.

Speaking of megaprojects, it's also worth noting that there are three ways to increase the challenge of DF:

• Turn on, embark in areas with, or otherwise seek out dangerous features. (E.g. "terrifying glacier embark", "colonize Hell", or in your case simply turn invaders back on and see if any of your forts are wealthy enough to get seiged.)
• Attempt to do without standard staples of dwarven civilization. (E.g. "single-pick challenge", "aboveground challenge", "hermit challenge", anything that deprives you of resources, supplies or techniques you would normally rely upon.)
• Attempt to accomplish something difficult. (E.g. megaprojects, become the mountainhome, go 10 years without a single dwarven death including "unfortunate accidents", raise a kid born in the fortress to legendary warrior status, or conduct significant expirements in !!science!!.)

All of these can be done in varying degrees and/or in combination with each other, so, really, you can always pick whatever interests you and say "Alright, here goes!"

[Flarp]

I, too, was once stuck in the Calm, Temperate, No-Aquifer rut. But there is an escape! And it's name is Towers.

Because of the fact that corpses (and body parts) can be animated over and over, an animating biome (most Evil ones) tends to be more annoying than Fun, especially when you're first encountering undeath. Necromancer towers, on the other hand, will siege you with a mixture of dangerous-but-static corpses. Even if the necromancer herself shows up, she needs to establish line of sight with the zombies-to-be, so you can at least isolate corpses.

Also, consider generating a world with significantly enlarged caves, which you can make visible from the embark interface. At their most boring, each level is filled with cave critters which you may or may not have seen in the overworld, and they can lead directly into the caverns for bonus fun. I like designing a fort around them once they're cleared out.

[DG]

Try turning the features back on...

This, but I'd suggest turning them on one at a time so that there's less chance of being overwhelmed, and you can better decide whether the feature is fun for you.

Also, try Adventure mode if you haven't yet. Adventure mode is good for getting over failure, either that or it will cause frustration and despair, whichever comes first.

[Sutremaine]

Turn everything on. The thing you are doing is like playing an action game without weapons and enemies...

Ehh, not really. It's more like playing Sim City with the granularity of The Sims.

[Molly Renata]

Aquifers and hills can be a really interesting mix, actually. I had a relatively recent fort where a deep, deep river cut through a hill that had an aquifer just a few z levels below the top. On the z level below the aquifer I cut out a 1 tile thick ridge from the side of the river canyon, smoothed and engraved it and put statues on it. Then I cut out an identical ridge on the level of the aquifer so it poured out over the statues and down into the river. Then, so the dwarves could enjoy the benefits of my semi-natural, semi-artificial waterfall, I built a dining hall on the level below the statues and cut away the outside walls so the dining hall abutted the waterfall and the mist drifted in. It was pretty sort of awesome.

On the other hand, I also once had an aquifer on a sloped area that I accidentally broke into when channelling and caused to flood the lower portions of the slope. It was interesting... but would probably have been more helpful if I'd thought of something worth doing with it and savescummed.

I'm told aquifers can also be handy for water-related projects when used carefully. I've never tried anything more than aesthetic myself. I encounter them pretty rarely, all things considered. I've had a megaproject that I've considered removing the aquifers for, but the locations didn't pan out in the first place, so I didn't have to.

Speaking of megaprojects, it's also worth noting that there are three ways to increase the challenge of DF:

• Turn on, embark in areas with, or otherwise seek out dangerous features. (E.g. "terrifying glacier embark", "colonize Hell", or in your case simply turn invaders back on and see if any of your forts are wealthy enough to get seiged.)
• Attempt to do without standard staples of dwarven civilization. (E.g. "single-pick challenge", "aboveground challenge", "hermit challenge", anything that deprives you of resources, supplies or techniques you would normally rely upon.)
• Attempt to accomplish something difficult. (E.g. megaprojects, become the mountainhome, go 10 years without a single dwarven death including "unfortunate accidents", raise a kid born in the fortress to legendary warrior status, or conduct significant expirements in !!science!!.)

All of these can be done in varying degrees and/or in combination with each other, so, really, you can always pick whatever interests you and say "Alright, here goes!"

The creative potential of aquifers also makes me somewhat hesitant to completely dismiss them, but they're still annoying :V

I've tried some of the things you mentioned there, but I always ended up losing interest after a while...


Also, stupid offhand question: what's the minimum wealth for a siege?