Ahh, bauxite! I remember when it was the only magma-safe stone. Didn't that go away in 31.XX?
Magma-safe is now a property of melting point. So now MANY rocks are magma-safe!
However, the diversity and amount of ore means that you'll probably be using steel for most magma-safe things. Especially minecarts.
Minecarts are a thing now. Automated hauling. And it can be almost fully automated, with rollers pushing carts around. Or workers pushing them, or guiding them.
Wheelbarrows can be assigned to stockpiles so the new, heavier stones don't slow hauling way down.
Stones are heavier, and you only get one from every so many blocks mined out. Of anything. That's no longer dependent on mining skill, so skill only controls SPEED of mining. This, along with the weight and slowness, means you'll want to turn them into blocks. And to lay off the stonecrafting in favour of light, renewable bones, because stone is rare.
My preferred system is to have the stone hauled by wheelbarrow to a stockpile surrounding a mason's workshop, which then takes it for crafting. You can also have a minecart fed from a similar stockpile (fed by wheelbarrows) to quantum stockpile rocks.
WITHOUT DUMPING THEM.
This is incredibly powerful. You can haul ores around in minecarts, and quantum-pile them at the smelters. You can quantum-pile the bars near the forges.
For forging and smelting, you've got the Magma Sea. Way down deep below the caverns, there's a sea of magma. This is incredibly useful. You can pump it up (or minecart it up) for defenses and Fun. Or you can build the forges and smelters on it, and minecart the ores down there to it.
Or just drop them down a big shaft, but that's lethal to anything underneath because falling objects cause actual damage now.
The military is HARD now. You need to run through the menus to even get them to don armour and train, let alone fight when you tell them. There's no setting up a barracks and leaving them for a year or two to gain experience before giving them weapons to train with. You've also got training weapons to prevent the classic issue of limb loss while sparring without experience. They're made of wood, and do hardly any damage.
Obsidian casting is now USEFUL. Stones are heavy, and scarcer than before. So, you need a renewable source. Magma is infinite, and water can be infinite with a brook, so you can get dwarfy. Cast obsidian in situ, or in a farm to be mined out. Haul it out with wheelbarrows and minecarts. Craft/block it. And it's still valuable!
Butchery gives LOTS of materials now. Slaughtered animals virtually explode into a pile of meat, organs, bones, and tissues. Most of which can be eaten. However, this is balanced by grazing. Either set up surface pastures or pop open the caverns and dig out soil/muddy floors underground for fungus-soils to grow for fodder. An animal needs plenty of space, though, or they fight. And then starve to death. The bigger the animal, the more space and fodder they need.
Related to that, you can now shear and milk creatures for wool and milk. This can be processed into cloth and cheese respectively. No more futzing about with maggots! Llama cheese roasts for everyone! Llama wool socks!
And yes, llamas. The elves bring them. They're good for milk, they can be sheared, there's plenty of meat on them, and they're actually pretty vicious. Camels are another good choice, but with less shearing.
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Topic: I haven't played since 40d. What do I need to know? (Read 3617 times)