HelpedInk has been abandoned, due to going... too well, actually. It's amazing, I've been really pissed about failing fortresses, and the minute everything goes well (sieges handled easily, lots of food and everything), it becomes boring.
So! I abandoned, and started out to pursue a dream I've had since first reading about it somewhere... Something I've dubbed "The Three Dwarves Dam"!
The plan is easy enough: Find a waterfall, stem the flow by building a dam (complete with floodgates to let some water pass through), and construct a fortress inside the dam. Simple, right?
So, I found a waterfall (with a ~10+ z-level drop), and embarked! About two months into the first try, I've found that it might be my biggest challenge yet, mostly due to terrain. I've always embarked in pretty friendly areas, with lots of trees, no aquifier, and not too much hostile wildlife.
Here, I got NO trees, aquifier and, at least, some camels that SEEMS to be non-hostile, but if there's one thing I've learned from adventure mode, it's that they are devious bastards. So not really bad, just worse than I've had before.
Gotten the river dammed up though, and will start working on the actual dam soon. There seems to be a way around the aquifier too, since the steep cliffs easily provide me with loads of accessible ore (everywhere I look, it's all Dolomite and Hematite, which is a nice touch for someone who's never found iron ore before).
So, I guess the main challenge to overcome is the lack of ore, which I guess won't be too hard once I get some trading going.
And the camels. Best not forget about those pesky camels.