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[Haven]

I've run into a certain problem. You see, recently I've moved my forts into simple, woodland areas with no ready fortwide apocalypse availible. Thus, after I finish with the (somewhat) challenging setup phase, I find myself faced with sitting at my computer and watching dwarves run around hauling, talking, and occasionaly, sloooowly... producing some fairly mundane engineering project I have (Mostly I like building obscenely large walled-off areas, as building floor one tile at a time is mind-rendingly horrible). Now, I understand there are all sorts of fun things to be had, like Megabeasts and seiges of more than 4 groups, but I just can't make myself wait that long... Hence the frequent 'mining accidents' that I amuse myself with at the end of each fort.

Is there a way to speed up gameplay even further? I've already cut my playing zone down to a 2x2 sqare (If I'm beside an aquifier'd volcano, I'm more than satisfied, but lately I've stuck to liquidless areas to try and speed things up more), and play on pocket worlds. However, I find myself playing at 30 FPS once I hit 60-80 Dwarves. While this would be workable in a situation where I was more involved, I find myself just waiting for the seasons to pass. My dwarves don't even do me the courtesy of getting slaughtered, or maimed, or even carrying a freaking grudge.

How do you deal with this?

[GreyMario]

With SCIENCE!

[Erom]

I decrease the number of dwarves I'm allowed. Sharply. To about a dozen. And make sure my fort has Adam. Then I try to kill demons. With a dozen dwarves.

[Mephansteras]

I modded in a race without the Babysnatcher tag. That makes them start invasions insanely early. Like...first winter, if you're unlucky enough. That makes for a busy fort, as everything has to be ready for defense as soon as possible.

Mostly, though, I'm just patient. I've found that reading a book or webcomics or this forum keeps me occupied while my dwarves do their thing. I just check in every few minutes to see what's going on, give orders, and deal with the "OMG ORTHOCLASE" messages.

[puke]

who the eff is Ada--- oh. nevermind.

do you have an aquifer or a river or something?  you can always build some crazy pumping action waterworks.  capture some animals and pit them in an arena.  butcher the humans and elves when they visit, so you can start a war.

[Thasero]

Well, maybe you just need better engineering projects.  Try this sentence:

"Order your dwarves to construct a <VERY> made entirely out of <THING>, then <ACTION> it."

Now play Madlibs.  Example:

1. "Colisseum" ... "Obsidian" ... "Release 100 goblins and all of your recently-captured megabeasts into"

2. "ASCII-fied portrait of Abraham Lincoln" ... "Masterwork furniture of varying colors" ... "Take a screenshot of"

3.  "Fortress suspended in midair above a chasm" ... "Stone blocks" ... "Force your dwarves to live in, then collapse" (see:  Chasm Challenge in Community Games)

etc.

On the note of the Community Games forum, you could also sign up for (or start!) a Succession game.  Then you always have a new (to you) fortress at the beginning, and you're rid of it before you get bored.

[Lyrax]

Collapsing the entire map is always a bonus.

Also: Water.  Lots of it.

[Slappy Moose]

I personally think of things to do like they did in the Great Depression: Massive work projects.

You make your dwarves do things that don't need to be done, but it keeps them busy and it looks cool.

For example: Showers to clean your dwarves.

Graves dedicated to the best of the best soldiers.

I am currently making a really tall tower with a spiral staircase leading to the top, made entirely of marble (looks pretty) and at the top  will be Zaneg Thazor's grave (max stat, quadruple legendary, mayor/captain of the gaurds, one of the original 7, killed somewhere around 30 dwarves, 30 goblins, and 6 well trained soldiers) which will be filled with iron statues, and obscenely expensive shit, also lots of artifacts.

Make a goblin colosseum.

Make a fountain.

Expand your walls to encompass more of the map.

Dig a moat, for zazz.

Make big 2 story walls, with fortifications all over them for your marksdwarves to kick ass from.

I'm mad because I've done nearly all of these, and I have nothing left to build   :mad:

[dreiche2]

Big water projects are hardly a solution for someone who's unhappy with things going too slow...

Also, personally what I find a little bit annoying about big construction projects is that you have to pause all the time to designate them, which again in the end slows down the flow of time when you're actually waiting for some action...

[ April 25, 2008: Message edited by: dreiche2 ]

[Kagus]

The Abe Lincoln thing made me think about making a gigantic copper penny.  That cold keep you occupied.

Or, alternatively, make an "installation".  Dig your fort in a modernish facility style, and pave everything in iron or steel.  Then start a community game called "Dwarf Trek".

[Muffy St. Bernard]

Yup, I'm in the "boredom" phase with my first real fortress. This is good because it's dramatically cut down my driving desire to play the game, but I still find myself checking in and watching nothing much happen. It's particularly annoying when the number of idlers increase because I just can't bring myself to bother directing them. I actually look forward to parties in the statue garden.

So I've started what other people here have suggested: make-work projects. A huge tomb full of glass and precious metals. Well-protected roads going everywhere. If I really want some excitement, I turn on Stone Hauling and watch children get snatched when they try to follow their parents too far from the defenses.

I also enjoy playing fast-and-loose with miners, giving them broad instructions which sometimes result in cave-ins.

Sadly, many building projects require pausing the interface for a long period of time -- especially the painful one-by-one wall/floor placement -- which just delays interesting events even longer.

[dresdor]

I have a project I've always wanted to try on a woodland fort.  Dig out everything but an entrance road...so that the land around you is on the lowest level, except for a path from your fort to the edge of the map that is roaded, and your fort.  Your fort will be like giving the entire elf world the finger.

[Kagus]

Make sure the bridge can be retracted at a moment's notice to drop the elven caravans onto the hard rock below, causing them to splatter in a most amusing fashion.

Same goes for goblin sieges.

[Krash]

For me, one of the most fun parts of the game is to build incredibly expensive tombs and habitation for the noblity.  
Right now, I've made a two storey high, 30x30 king's home underground, surrounded by magma and with the sole access to burial grounds, museum and temple to amrok.  It's more bling than a rapper's mansion, with aluminium racks, gold statues, steel tables and all that good stuff to makes it really lavish.  The only thing actually missing is the king who obviously doesn't know what he's missing.

[ April 25, 2008: Message edited by: Krash ]

[Muffy St. Bernard]

quote:Originally posted by dresdor:
<STRONG>Your fort will be like giving the entire elf world the finger.</STRONG>

I would really, really like to do that. I don't need their junk.