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[JimmyAgent007]

New to the forum and still new to the game.  I have been attempting to learn off and on for years but now finally think I have a grip on things...ish.  My fort survives, I am smelting iron weapons (need more anvils but I know how to make them) got lots of food and drink.  (Also a whole butt load of shells from fishing)  Also I figured out trading and how that works so yay to me!  However there are a few things I want to ask.

Is there any way to make a lot of bedrooms fast or does each one need to be manual?  I made the rooms and thought I set them up as free to claim but didnt do it right so now I have 100 bedrooms to label as free to claim.  Everything is built and placed, just not set for specific dwarves. 

How deep does a moat need to be?  Max depth of 7 or would 2 or 3 work fine?  Will it drain off map if I put it right to the edge?

Do logs rot outside? Can I cut down all the trees on the map without worry?  I understand hauling and storage in my fort doesnt want to get bogged down but I mean other than that.  Will trees grow back faster if there are none to compete for space?

Someone was found dead drained of blood, do I have a vampire?

Other than growing subterranean crops, anything else NEED to be underground?  If I wanted to build a castle, should I carve it out of a mountain or build it free in the open?  Aside from labor involved. If I make a castle, should it be in the middle of a map or right in the corner against the edge?

I have a lost artifact, how did someone loose it? (Its a scroll)  I havent been able to find a way to trade artifacts since they are so valuable, not that I really needed too but I want to know if I can.
 
Ive got a lot of coke laying about, will it get stored in bins eventually?  I noticed some bins for iron and copper getting set but the coke is filling my stockpiles with iron and copper lingering around as well.

I told my military squad to equip metal armor but they are leaving iron and copper stuff on the ground without wearing any armor themselves, am I missing something with the game logic?

[zenos14]

New to the forum and still new to the game.  I have been attempting to learn off and on for years but now finally think I have a grip on things...ish.  My fort survives, I am smelting iron weapons (need more anvils but I know how to make them) got lots of food and drink.  (Also a whole butt load of shells from fishing)  Also I figured out trading and how that works so yay to me!  However there are a few things I want to ask.

Is there any way to make a lot of bedrooms fast or does each one need to be manual?  I made the rooms and thought I set them up as free to claim but didnt do it right so now I have 100 bedrooms to label as free to claim.  Everything is built and placed, just not set for specific dwarves. 

There's an option to make a bedroom a dormitory, making it a room (ideally that you've placed multiple beds in) that any dwarf can stop by and sleep in
If you mean a bedroom for each dwarf? Nope, the manual way is the only way

How deep does a moat need to be?  Max depth of 7 or would 2 or 3 work fine?  Will it drain off map if I put it right to the edge?

Depth isn't important (except for falling damage and that needs to be something on the order of ~35 z levels to be reliably kill goblins), width and an overhang is important, invaders can climb and leap now so you're going to want a floor tile overhanging the pit preventing things from climbing up (and it has to be a floor, walls will let them climb over, I don't think a two tile overhang have that issue) also it should be at least 3 tiles wide to keep invaders from leaping across (wider is better but I don't think non megabeasts will make the jump).

And yes, water will drain off the edge though you can't dig edge tiles (you can smooth then carve into fortifications which will let water drain though)

Do logs rot outside? Can I cut down all the trees on the map without worry?  I understand hauling and storage in my fort doesnt want to get bogged down but I mean other than that.  Will trees grow back faster if there are none to compete for space?

No, logs don't rot.
Yes you can cut them all down
No, I don't think space affects tree growth

Someone was found dead drained of blood, do I have a vampire?

Yes, happy hunting

Other than growing subterranean crops, anything else NEED to be underground?  If I wanted to build a castle, should I carve it out of a mountain or build it free in the open?  Aside from labor involved. If I make a castle, should it be in the middle of a map or right in the corner against the edge?

You don't NEED things underground, it's a lot easier though
I prefer to carve things out, think it looks nicer (and I'll admit to using DFhack's tiletypes to fix any mistakes) not to mention you'll be making a LOT of bricks (or heaven forbid hauling tons of stone) if you build it
And unless you KNOW invaders will only come from one direction (goblins usually will, megabeasts will come from wherever), building it in the middle (or at least the only entrance in the middle) is my advice

I have a lost artifact, how did someone loose it? (Its a scroll)  I havent been able to find a way to trade artifacts since they are so valuable, not that I really needed too but I want to know if I can.
 

You can't trade them and I don't think artifacts can be atom smashed, they might be loseable in the magma sea but odds are it was stolen by a goblin or a kobold, guard your stuff better

Ive got a lot of coke laying about, will it get stored in bins eventually?  I noticed some bins for iron and copper getting set but the coke is filling my stockpiles with iron and copper lingering around as well.

Yes, coke are bars, stockpiled under bars: other materials
You may just be lacking stockpile space, bins, and/or haulers

I told my military squad to equip metal armor but they are leaving iron and copper stuff on the ground without wearing any armor themselves, am I missing something with the game logic?

There are tons of guides to help with military given how confusing it is, but did you ever actually schedule them to be active so they'll go on duty and get suited up?

[JimmyAgent007]

Thanks for all the answers!

Yea, 1 for each dwarf, yay, manual.  lol thanks

That helps a lot!

Sweet!

Damn...

The mountain is to one side and tallest in the corner, but I can make that work I suppose.  And it is much easier than hauling everything.

No magma yet, guess I need to learn how to guard things and train animals.

OK, ive got bins but maybe I can make a temp pile so that things get put in bins, then shuffle things about until its all sorted.

Eventually I figured out how to make them active, some have grabbed stuff and training started, but some are also unarmed even though I have weapons as well.  Going to check out the tutorials more and see if I can figure it out.

[zenos14]

Yea, 1 for each dwarf, yay, manual.  lol thanks

Minor correction cause I think I missread your post, but dwarves WILL claim unclaimed rooms, not sure how long/when but they will eventually (or at least would in previous versions, I tend to manually assign rooms now whenever I have a job for a dwarf

[JimmyAgent007]

reading the wiki, said they will sleep in those rooms but not claim them.  So they sleep in a bed but wont have a personal bedroom to call their own.

[Werdna]

I told my military squad to equip metal armor but they are leaving iron and copper stuff on the ground without wearing any armor themselves, am I missing something with the game logic?

The thread below contains a great wealth of knowledge on setting up military reliably.  From my own experience, it does sound like your squad has not been tagged "Active" in the military alert screen as Zenos mentioned.  When Inactive I believe they may switch to civilian clothing and if the individual soldiers do not have personal chests, they will simply drop their clothes/armor wherever they were standing when they decided to switch between their civilian and military roles.  Marking a squad Active will make them wear armor full-time (under the default Orders in schedule, anyway).  To clean up their resulting civvie clothing lying all over the fort, add a chest for each soldier to their barracks and they'll put their clothes away.

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=150534.msg6210031#msg6210031

[JimmyAgent007]

thanks, i did make sure they were listed as active but only had one chest in the barracks.  I also set their uniforms to always be on, though i may have missed a step.

[Purdurabo]

With military it is best to make a new uniform m/n/c and specify the exact material you want them to wear. helmet/chainmail/high boots/ gauntlets will give you full armour cover without unnecessary weight(dwarves don't need leggings/greaves). Shields should be made from wood/leather to cut down on weight. You should also specify which weapon you want them to use and the material it is made from.

Lastly hit r to change from "over clothing" to "replace clothing" so that they take their old clothing off before putting on the uniform. Otherwise you end up with dwarves being unable to put on their uniform as they already have clothing items in that slot.

[Blue_Dwarf]

Is there any way to make a lot of bedrooms fast or does each one need to be manual?  I made the rooms and thought I set them up as free to claim but didnt do it right so now I have 100 bedrooms to label as free to claim.  Everything is built and placed, just not set for specific dwarves. 

You can use macros to make it faster.

The game itself has a built-in macro capability, but you can also use an external utility like Auto Hotkey, or a mouse/keyboard like G15 etc.

[GhostDwemer]

Ahh, I was just going to say, "Macros" for mass bedrooming. If they are set up on any sort of grid, you can make a macro to do one and move to the next, then you just run the macro over and over again. Dwarves will claim designated but unclaimed rooms. They will not claim undesignated beds.

[PatrikLundell]

Moats: Note that a number of creatures can fly (in particular the rather annoying Keas). It's said goblins can have flying mounts as well, but I suspect that doesn't work currently.

Whether you dig is up to you. The only things you need to dig for are stone, ore, magma, and cavern critters. You don't need underground crops if surface crops can be grown. You may want to dig for gems as well.

Tree regrowth: Trees will not regrow faster as such if you cut them all down (takes 3 years +/- for a sapling to mature), but a sapling will only mature if there's nothing at the level above ground level (i.e. tree canopies will block). Also note that the embark will get trees until fully covered unless you cut them down, but cutting down larger trees with larger canopies will allow more saplings to mature.

[Fleeting Frames]

They'll sleep in undesignated beds, though, just as well as they'll go to any table and chair to eat.



However, designation is important for the room to be counted as "nice dining hall"/etc. for happy thoughts, rather than getting "sleeping without a proper room" thought.

On the flip side, unhappy thought is the only penalty for sleeping without a good bedroom. Happiness being rather fungible for most dwarves, the main benefit of beds is them not sleeping somewhere in the way or unsafe. If a dormitory's beds are occupied, they'll go sleep on the ground in the dormitory.

In colder areas, water will freeze on tiles that have ever been exposed to the sky, so that's something to keep underground (this freezing can be fought with magma underneath or above the water).

Your lost artifact scroll was probably read by a visiting scholar, who then never put it down and left the map carrying it. Visiting scholars are notorious thieves of scrolls, though if you provide the materials they can write them as well, which you can then confiscate.

[SebasMarolo]

Ehm... Was the artifact scroll shown in blue on the artifact list? If so, it may not have been a "true" artifact. Or rather, not a mood artifact. For some reason (because they're put together using many different things, maybe?) tons of scrolls and books are considered artifacts. (when specifying the image of your group on the prepare carefully screen before embarking, go to to artifact section. Tons of books. Necromancers sure have free time.)

Sometimes liaisons carry scrolls, which show on the artifact's list, albeit in blue. Just like named items.

Also, have fun decorating everything with shells.

[Loci]

Welcome the the forums!

Is there any way to make a lot of bedrooms fast or does each one need to be manual?  I made the rooms and thought I set them up as free to claim but didnt do it right so now I have 100 bedrooms to label as free to claim.  Everything is built and placed, just not set for specific dwarves. 

The game has built-in macro functionality, which can automate repetitive key-pressing. This works best if your tasks are arranged in neat lines; record setting up one bedroom and moving to the next room, then play that recording for however many bedrooms you have in that row.

How deep does a moat need to be?  Max depth of 7 or would 2 or 3 work fine?  Will it drain off map if I put it right to the edge?

Assuming you are talking about liquid depth, 2/7 or 3/7 water is completely passable without swimming. 4/7 or greater water will prevent non-swimmers from entering the tile, but 7/7 is required to initiate drowning. Generally speaking, though, a "moat" without water is usually more effective than a water-filled moat. Filling the moat with lava is the dwarfier approach.

I told my military squad to equip metal armor but they are leaving iron and copper stuff on the ground without wearing any armor themselves, am I missing something with the game logic?

Due to a bug, military uniforms conflict with the mining, hunting, and woodcutting labors. If you assign one of those dwarves to the military, they will drop their military equipment when going off duty. (Similarly, they drop their civilian equipment wherever they happen to be when going on duty.)

[Goatmaan]

Does anyone know if a severe lack of bedrooms stops migrants?
Severe being about 70% of population without a bedroom. For about 10 game years.
 I really need my migrants back!

     Goatmaan