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[thepodger]

Hey guys!

This is the first fortress I've made that I am somewhat proud of... although about half of my population just went mad and began killing each other due to a couple pets drowning, and a food shortage at an unfortunate time.  From ~90 dwarves to ~40 in a few short months of bloody dwarf-on-dwarf combat.  Luckily, all of the survivors have the "tough" attribute or higher... so my fortress hasn't really been decimated as much as it has experienced an accelerated evolutionary cycle!

My next plan is to drill a channel from the magma to the moat, allowing me to flood with either magma or water, as well as creating a doomsday device, or perhaps some sort of complicated steam defense.  After that, it's mainly aesthetics... installing glass windows all along the main halls, terrariums, aquariums, etc.
http://mkv25.net/dfma/map-650-tombscarred

Any feedback would be appreciated.

[ August 18, 2007: Message edited by: thepodger ]

[thepodger]

My problem areas:

Food production!
Why is it so slow?  I have around six farmers, and lots of flood field... I usually grow Plump Helmets and set them to "brew" only.  This should increase food production, right?  They never seem to get the fields planted completely.  At one point, I had about 10 farmers, but they still didn't seem to get it completely planted.

Miasma!
It's really fouling up my fortress.  I have one hauler set to haul refuse exclusively.  But it still stinks.

Those are the two big ones right now.  What am I doing wrong?

And, to co-opt criticism for "cheating"--yes, I did use granite.exe... but only to rewall ore veins in the core of the fortress.  I can't stand that they aren't smoothable.

[ August 18, 2007: Message edited by: thepodger ]

[kuro_suna]

first don't create so many plots, you have about 50 time more space than you need,  when farmers plant stuff the tile goes from ~ to =, create one plot and don't create another until all the tiles are =

[Sappho]

Yes, too many farm plots is actually a bad thing, as it means the farmers will have to walk further to plant.  Unfortunately dwarves are not terribly intelligent and will often travel to the furthest possible location to perform a task, rather than going to the nearest one.  The same goes with hauling: if you are trying to haul stone away, for example, they will usually take the stone furthest in the fortress first, walking over countless stones on the way.

Hauling may have a lot to do with food troubles as well.  If the seeds are too far away, the farmers will take forever to get a seed, walk back, plant it, walk to the seeds, etc.  This adds up quickly.  If you haven't done so already, I'd recommend making a seeds-only stockpile near the farms, and setting the existing stockpiles to not accept seeds.

Hauling tasks may be a reason why your farmers aren't doing their jobs, as well.  if you want them to work their hardest, make sure that the *only* job activated in their job list is farming (fields).  If they have any other jobs activated, they may do them instead of planting.

If you've tried all this and are still not sure what's wrong, post again and let us know and we'll help you figure it out!

[Savok]

For steam defence,

Steam. Does. Not. Work. Any. Longer.

quote:so my fortress hasn't really been decimated as much as it has experienced an accelerated evolutionary cycle!

[ August 19, 2007: Message edited by: Savok ]

[thepodger]

Well, I've been playing for about a month or so, and all of my fortresses have ended up in anarchy, madness, depression and starvation so far.  This is the first that could "make it."  I've lurked on the forums since the day I started playing, so I've been able to read resources like the excellent bedroom size thread, and a few others.  

By the way: I cut my planting tiles in half, and my production has tripled...!  I guess I was waaaaay too ambitious with those farms.

Any suggestions with miasma?

[Sappho]

I'm not familiar with the graphical tileset, but if you have cats they hunt vermin, which causes a *lot* of tiny useless animal corpses.  These create a lot of miasma if you don't get rid of them, which is hard to keep up with if you have a lot of cats and a large fortress.  It is possible to mod the raw files to stop cats from doing this if you want.

In any case, you can put your refuse stockpile outside, or inside in a room with a door on it.  Miasma does not go through doors.  Keep it out of the way like this and that purple ick should stay contained.

[nerdpride]

Don't die.  

I still can't figure out how to look at the maps on that website.  I hate computers sometimes.  Does it require cookies, java, flash, or something like that?

Anyways, after getting rid of the majority of the stuff, it should quit piling up.  You might want to consider taking dwarves off of all-but essential tasks (making food, doing things that increase happiness if needed, completing defenses where there are none) to clean up so they don't get disgusted by miasma and go even more crazy.  Mine more later, when things are more stable, I'd say.

[Savok]

Read the wiki, fully and in completeness.

As for miasma, see this page, which I wrote for this post. I like the wiki formatting capabilites much more than the forum.

[thepodger]

Wow, thanks guys!  This community is so helpful.  This is !important! with a game that is this complex.

Has anyone here tried out the Dominions series?  For some reason, these games go hand-in-hand to me...  I end up playing a turn in Dom, then checking my fortress, and suddenly:

Wife cancels job: throwing tantrum.

 :roll:

But what will happen to the aptly-named dwarves of Tombscarred?  Only time shall tell....

[ August 19, 2007: Message edited by: thepodger ]

[Savok]

quote:Originally posted by nerdpride:
<STRONG>I still can't figure out how to look at the maps on that website. I hate computers sometimes. Does it require cookies, java, flash, or something like that?</STRONG>

Flash.

[ August 19, 2007: Message edited by: Savok ]

[utunnels]

Don't give your growers other tasks.

BTW, brew will gain wine instead of food, so it won't directly increase your food production. You must cook wine in your kitchen, or you can only drink them.

About hauling, I think some high skilled miners with strong/agile attributes will help(miners gain exp very fast). Turn off their mining task when you need.

[Slartibartfast]

quote:Originally posted by thepodger:
<STRONG>Has anyone here tried out the Dominions series?  For some reason, these games go hand-in-hand to me...</STRONG>

I own a (somewhat) shiny copy of Dominions 3:The Awakening.
I think the whole "hand-in-hand" thing has a lot to do with the mind-crushing depth, diversity and complexity.

[thepodger]

Okay,

My food problem is -mostly- solved...

I already have a refuse pit, near the knacker so that all that nasty organic matter can get quickly thrown in, but there's still bilious eruptions throughout the fortress.

Also: why are there those large black bands throughout the .fdf file I uploaded?  Should I export another map and convert it again?

And yes, Dom3 is also astoundingly deep... right now I'm having a ton of fun with Mictlan... be evil for fun and profit!

[thepodger]

Also, a smaller complaint:

the walls/river/pretty much everything of my fortress tend toward being totally drenched in blood/vomit due to my current war with the chasm denizens... they're particularly prevalent on this map.  A lot of my dwarves have "cleaning" enabled--this gets rid of the mess, neh?  Should I have a single designated janitor dwarf?  

Also: Do people usually specialize their haulers?  I.e., one dwarf hauls -only- stone, etc?

Thanks again guys.