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[aiseant]

Yes, eventually mussel population will run dry. You can still use DFHack region-pops command to create an immigration wave of mussel, or other fish

[Button]

The artifact page on the wiki says that shells are the hardest to come by, but I find this to be very much not the case.

This was likely referring to previous versions, in which fish populations were bugged so that the grand majority of embarks contained no fish at all.

[SyrusLD]

Yes, eventually mussel population will run dry. You can still use DFHack region-pops command to create an immigration wave of mussel, or other fish

I got a river that recently went dry of Mussel Shells (after literally providing thousands of them)...can I restore it via DFHack if it doesn't replenish automatically? And how would I do that?
Would prefer not to screw around with too much...


I decided to empty my fisheries of the shell that I couldn't store anymore by bringing them all to the trade post (after having two constanly repeating Decorate with Shells/Make Shell Crafts workshops running for several years now with no success at reducing the amount of shells lying around).
Made my entrance look a bit ... crowded:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

So much shell...

But then I remembered that the river has run dry of them for some time now already, so ... I'll probably dumb it all or something instead of selling it.


EDIT: I got 2140 mussel shells still lying around currently...

[Dunamisdeos]

Mussel shell crafts have terrible value, probably because mussels themselves are "vermin".  There are a million better uses of your dwarves' time than making crafts or decorating with mussel shell.  They are garbage to be thrown away. 

I'm not a fan of letting dwarves go fishing in the first place as it is potentially dangerous, time consuming and unreliable (unless you are building some kind of dorfy fish trap, which is potentially all of those 3 things anyways).  A good quality dyed plant-cloth robe will have enough value to buy half the seafood from a human caravan.

I stopped dealing with fishing because two dwarves can depopulate an entire ecosystem of fish in like two years, which annoys me immensely.

So they DID fix that in rivers and pools? Is it infinite now? Because that is a big deal. What about oceans?

[Ianflow]

Proper roasts made from quarry leaves/whip flour/dwarven syrup/high value meat (or at least huge meat stacks) eclipse lower end artifacts in price easily. You don't even need  close to legendary cooks to buy out early caravans with a handful of "prepared food barrels" worth 10-20k each. 

Bone crafting isn't that great of a skill to level, but if you lack metal they could always be masterwork shell armor? If nothing else, decorating/crafting with the shells disposes of the "garbage" while making a use of it. You can decorate peasant beds with them as well.  This serves as a cheap, easy decoration that should keep them more than happy.  Gems are a pita to use for peasant decorations unless you are using (magma powered) glass or stone... and even then they have to be cut first.  The value is far more than a peasant typically expects anyway.  Just build a furniture stockpile near your craftdorf shop and begin decorating beds... or tables/chairs for dining room.

Yeah, this brings back memories from before update. This was my main method of getting a lot of stuff from trade. Prepared meals, prepared meals, prepared fucking meals.

The second paragraph, notes for my new fort

[TheFlame52]

I'm tempted to start exporting prepared meals too - not because I need the trade goods, but because I need to get rid of the food. I will feed and clothe my whole nation with my cast-offs!

[Ianflow]

I'm tempted to start exporting prepared meals too - not because I need the trade goods, but because I need to get rid of the food. I will feed and clothe my whole nation with my cast-offs!

You mean table scraps.
The way I think of it is because they're not only a good you're charging for the raw labor, but additionally we could justify that we're harging money for these "local delicacies".
Though I really like the idea of decorating furniture. I didn't recall ever seeing decorated furniture, and I was never aware if it was decorating already placed furniture, or stockpiled furniture

[TheFlame52]

Given that my dwarves eat masterfully prepared everything, I think they're paying for the labor and the fact that it's the greatest thing the receiving dwarf will ever taste.

[Veylon]

I'd say make armor and have all your civilians wear it. It's got to be better protection than leather, it's cheap given how many shells you say you have, it'll give your dwarves a distinctive flair memorable to visitors, and they'll never need to make clothes again. It's a win all around.

[Dunamisdeos]

I'd say make armor and have all your civilians wear it. It's got to be better protection than leather, it's cheap given how many shells you say you have, it'll give your dwarves a distinctive flair memorable to visitors, and they'll never need to make clothes again. It's a win all around.

Cannot believe this has not been thought of. Your dwarves will look like the crew of the Flying Dutchman, though.

[Ianflow]

I'd say make armor and have all your civilians wear it. It's got to be better protection than leather, it's cheap given how many shells you say you have, it'll give your dwarves a distinctive flair memorable to visitors, and they'll never need to make clothes again. It's a win all around.

Cannot believe this has not been thought of. Your dwarves will look like the crew of the Flying Dutchman, though.

Either that or an Oceanic Pride Parade with how shiny the insides of Mussel shells can be

Additionally, do Mussel Shells last longer?

[miauw62]

You can't make shell breastplates, though.
The decoration option is ending up with all of my bolts being masterfully improved since I have so many bolts. I've already constructed two of the three planned dorm levels and my dining hall is almost finished too.

I guess I'll train this shellcrafter up to legendary and then start making armor for my entire Fortress.

[Neo_Spade]

I think I can help, if the answer to the following questions are yes then we can rock:

• Are mussels detestable?
• Do you have a noble that detests them?
• Are you aware of coinstar/popcorn training rooms?

If the answer to all of these is yes, and provided that mussel shells are small enough to be non-deadly you can literally create a living hell for the noble in question. Better still, if he goes beserk/tantrums you have a dwarf who has been harded by the impacts of the mussel shells, leading to a lot of !!FUN!!. Also, you can outfit him in bone armour + mussel shell armour and make his life all around rather shitty.

Hell, if it turns out deadly... then set up the coinstar/popcorn "training room" in the entrance and weaponize the shells instead!

[Bumber]

I think I can help, if the answer to the following questions are yes then we can rock:

• Are mussels detestable?
• Do you have a noble that detests them?
• Are you aware of coinstar/popcorn training rooms?

If the answer to all of these is yes, and provided that mussel shells are small enough to be non-deadly you can literally create a living hell for the noble in question. Better still, if he goes beserk/tantrums you have a dwarf who has been harded by the impacts of the mussel shells, leading to a lot of !!FUN!!. Also, you can outfit him in bone armour + mussel shell armour and make his life all around rather shitty.

Hell, if it turns out deadly... then set up the coinstar/popcorn "training room" in the entrance and weaponize the shells instead!

Do shells even trigger the hate thought?

[Neo_Spade]

Do shells even trigger the hate thought?

Who knows (probably a lot of peaople actually...), but I think one of my Fisherdwarves must have hated mussels, because he was unexplainably constantly depressed, and standing knee deep in shells.

Regardless, using them in a coinstar/popcorn training room/trap will be interesting regardless, given that they're a cheap alternative to coins if  they're not deadly, and a nice quick to set-up trap if they are. I'm not currently on DF, so someone else with lot's of shells should !!SCIENCE!! this up.