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[Badger Storm]

Trapping, training, and breeding animals is a big part of the game for me, so I sometimes sell off the spares.  Not so effective with dogs and cats, but a draltha can net you 510 Urists a pop.  To make sure they reach the depot in time, build the cage nearby in advance.  Other than that, crafts are nice.  If you have a river embark, set up a fishery and make stuff from mussel shells.

[Aranador]

With respect to 'cheating' :

If you are having fun - you are playing the game properly - however bragging how you achieved some amazing thing may get you shot down if it comes to light that you took a shortcut there.  If you don't plan on bragging, and just having fun - then anything is fair.

[WDDworf]

What exactly can be sold for a good profit that wouldn't count as cheating? I've never really experimented.

Crafts. Lots and lots of crafts. It worked well enough back in 40d (before trap components were ludicrously overpriced), and it still works today.

Same here.. I only trade crafts / gems.. because it sounds like a logical thing to do.
I tend to use my stonecrafters as a method to get rid of all that extra stone.

I tend to avoid unbalanced features. (as in trading trap components for a large amount)

After the first trade session.. trading often becomes too 'easy'. (pretty easy to have 1-3 crafters work non-stop and buying complete trading caravans)

[Absentia]

Other than that, crafts are nice.  If you have a river embark, set up a fishery and make stuff from mussel shells.

Oh Armok, the mussel shells. Last time I did a fishing industry I was generating more shells than two full-time bone carvers could use. Could have assigned more but I was already buying out all the caravans with nothing but shell crafts and worn clothes, so they just piled up in the fishery.

If you have easy access to metal and magma, you can crank out a bunch of crappy weapons and armor to train your smiths and sell the proceeds.

[Patchy]

I still do the old 40d method of just tossing a dwarf or 2 on mug crafting a month before the caravan arrives. Makes plenty of value in trade goods and eats up some of the excess rock I have cluttering the halls. And besides who really needs to buy out the caravans? They'd have to pay me to take some of the junk they bring, and well we know that ain't going to happen. I'd end up throwing more than half the junk down my garbage chute. The only reason I actually protect the caravans from the goblins is cause I don't want to have to clean up the mess afterwards.

[Broseph Stalin]

Given how easy trading is I don't bother trying to be fair unless I'm doing a theme fort. I'l sell one meal stack for a billion dwarf bucks and buy the caravan, it doesn't stop me from creating massive stockpile networks designed to produce mountains of platinum goblets encrusted with gems and menacing with spikes of gold and silver. If you don't have a treasure horde you aren't a dwarf you're an elf with a beard.

[smeeprocket]

how many wood furnaces and smelters do you have running if you are making steel weapons and armor AND making a treasure hoard out of gold and silver and such?

I can't seem to keep up with the demand to get my dwarves geared fast enough for the gobbo invasions, much less make anything else.

In my new fort this first year I made weapon traps components, but I am going to start working on crafts and try it that way. I am trying to up the challenge for myself because winning for too long is boring.

[pisskop]

1 - 1 is fine if the wood is nearby as opposed to in the field.

Otherwise, I usually make it until I have approximately 10 more coal than I want immediate armor.

[smeeprocket]

But for steel, you need an extra fuel source for the pig iron and the steel. I've been running at least four furnaces lately and due to the wood being a bit away, I do still run out.

In another embark I'm playing in I'm not even at the number of dwarves I need for a steel industry and I have built for or five smelters and wood furnaces to prepare.

I feel like the armor and such just doesn't get made fast enough. If I have four squads, metal or leather, (say 2/2) trying to equip all of them feels impossible before the sieges start.

Usually I trade for weapons and such as filler. Hence producing the trap components. I'm pumping out a ton of crafts now though. I am going to give this a shot.

[Cptn Kaladin Anrizlokum]

Okay, I made a single serrated metal disk and it says it is worth 453600 Dwarf-bucks. That's a lot! It's not even an artifact...

[StagnantSoul]

I run 8-10 furnaces, all running two bitimous coals, one lignite, al three types of iron, pig iron, steel, then two ones I need as well. All on repeat.

[smeeprocket]

I don't have lignite or bituminous coal sadly, on this map I have a volcano to get a magma furnace going though. Which I am working on now.

On my other map it's just wood I have access to, so I have a lot of wood burners.

And yea the trap components are crazy good, I get like 1500 for wood ones. I don't usually make metal ones, but apparently I should. Trying out the crafts as we speak though.

[Codyo]

you should probably just export weapons since they only use one metal bar to create and are expensive

your smiths in training can sell poor quality gear and you buy bars back in return and still profit

[StagnantSoul]

I think metal crafts are enough, or lots of porcelain and stone. My map has more kaolinite than silver ores, about twice as much. But then again, it does split into four bars, so that's half as many porcelain goods as silver goods. I barely ever touch gold past coins and statues. Marble furniture is good enough.

[smeeprocket]

yea the regular crafts are painfully cheap. I just set up magma for magma forges so I will start making weapons and such to sell. I have a lot of different ores.