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[JimListo]

This is my first post to the Bay12 forums, so I'd like to briefly summarize my history with Dwarf Fortress.

I'd heard tell of DF for years, often in reference to other games I enjoyed such as Evil Genius. Around about 2014 I finally gave the game a try, but I entirely failed to engage with it. I'd even located a copy of Getting Started with Dwarf Fortress, but to no avail.

I finally cut my teeth on this game during my first ever Spring Break back in 2016. After downloading the PyLNP and losing a few times, at last I built up a stable (if conservative) fort named Konrisen (~Masteredcoal). This beautiful fortress eventually succumbed to Dwarf vs Computer, and I ended up wandering away from the game altogether.

Fast forward to a month and a half ago, and I got me this wild hair to jump back into the Dwarven chaos. I started with a reminder fort in my new region1, but I ended up rage-quiting that fort after I discovered the hard way that I had forgotten to turn on autosave. Oops.

Following that disappointment I created another world as region2, but this time I only let the game generate 5 years of history, for I wanted to write the bulk of the history of this world myself. Anywho, since this was going to be one of the first civilized settlements in this new world, I decided to once again play it safe with a conservative fort so I could learn to play with the new mechanics in relative peace. I found a nice idyllic locale on the map and set out to Strike the Earth and build Rigothgamil, "Crafttrusted." Unfortunately I forgot to pick my civilization carefully, so my home civ (The Cunning Bodices) is hell-and-gone away from my embark. Oops.

Anyway, smash-cut to the early-summer of 10, and Crafttrusted is now a bustling Mountainhome Metropolis, so I feel comfortable walking away for a while. I'd been wanting to get my Adventuring legs firmly under me, and since I now had a successful fort I thus had a jumping-off point. So, I retire Crafttrusted and switch over to Adventure mode and set out as this female Dwarf named Lillick. I grab this human named Ronu as an adventuring buddy, get my orders from the Captain of the Guard, "Appropriate" this artifact lead battle axe, and then wander out into the wilderness, only to promptly drown. Oops.

I take my second attempt as this Dwarf named Minkot Grottocoal, and with him I finally get my head wrapped around Adventure mode. By the time late autumn comes around, I have cleared a goblin camp, made first contact with an elven civ, returned the artifact that Lillick stole, recovered Ronu, built up a little mead hall way station nearby Crafttrusted, and anointed my hammer in both Dragon and Titan blood. With all that under Minkot's belt, I decide it's high time to return back to Crafttrusted. So I save + commit (I've had my game in Version Control for a little while now) and retire back at the fortress.

Now, while I hadn't been expecting for Crafttrusted to continue her meteoropic rise to prominence, I was also not anticipating what actually happened, which was a complete demographic collapse. My bustling Metropolis with a population of ~150+ souls was reduced to an outpost with but 21 dwarves, 9 of whom were children. Minkot wasn't even there, but I figure that is because he has his own little site to lord over.

As I work to rebuild, I have to wonder: why the hell did this happen? Is it because I'm so far away from the old Mountainhome? Did I spend too long putzing around in Adventure mode? Does this simply happen to just about everybody?

P.S. As of right now, I'm having a bit of a tantrum problem, so I'm building a doom-catapult to deal with the ungrateful little blighters.

[sketchesofpayne]

When you are out adventuring your dwarves will travel and see the world.  I've had many former fortress residents become wandering bards and scholars.  The other thing is when you are away the fortress will send patrols out and will send raiding parties.  Your fort can also be raided, or at least bothered by thieves.  Raiding parties sent out will sometimes settle in other sites.

Whenever I build a new fort in the same world about a third to half the migrants are from my previous forts.  I've also had my former dwarves show up in performing troupes.

Another factor is that if a dwarf has family at another site they may go visit them, or return to live with them.

[Deon]

In general it's perfectly normal for dwarves to migrate as mentioned above.
While they are immigrants in your actual fort, they are denied this opportunity.
From my experience as soon as you retire, most of them feel like an Iron Curtain was lifted and sprawl around .

[JimListo]

I guess I was afraid of that. So is there no way to mitigate future exoduses except crossing my fingers and praying to Armok?

[TubaDragoness]

Don't retire your fort!

I prefer different types of worlds to adventure in than I do to build forts in, so I usually have two worlds running; a large one with a relatively short history (200 or so years), giving me plenty of options for fort placement, and a medium to small one with a longer history to provide more interesting targets that are nearby and more artifacts to hunt in adventure mode. If I'm feeling like an overachiever, I can make a quick fort in the adventure world to make artifact equipment or just consistent armor, but those usually aren't built to last long term.

[Death Dragon]

Did you check in the legends for the entry of your fort to see what happened to all the population?

[JimListo]

I peeked at Legends while transitioning between modes, but I didn't see anything that would explain the diaspora.

[sketchesofpayne]

I peeked at Legends while transitioning between modes, but I didn't see anything that would explain the diaspora.

The game never says why things happened, only what happened.  All we can do is fill in the motivations and intentions with our imagination.  Unless Toady One tells us the details of how the simulation drives entity actions we can only guess.

But again, every fort I've retired has had half of its population scatter to the four winds.  I've seen in the legends that some entities travel from place to place constantly.  I'm guessing that the number of locations (tavern, temple, library, marketplace) at a site regulates a lot of the traveling that goes on.  I think that may explain why keeps are frequently empty except for one or two entities.

[JimListo]

I peeked at Legends while transitioning between modes, but I didn't see anything that would explain the diaspora.

The game never says why things happened, only what happened.  All we can do is fill in the motivations and intentions with our imagination.  Unless Toady One tells us the details of how the simulation drives entity actions we can only guess.

But again, every fort I've retired has had half of its population scatter to the four winds.  I've seen in the legends that some entities travel from place to place constantly.  I'm guessing that the number of locations (tavern, temple, library, marketplace) at a site regulates a lot of the traveling that goes on.  I think that may explain why keeps are frequently empty except for one or two entities.

I was talking more along the lines of major legends-worthy events that would necessitate the scattering (i.e. large sieges, uninvited guests, etc.) It is indeed a bummer that legends mode doesn't record why my King, Obok Ringtown, left for the old Mountainhome. Maybe he was worried for his life after Minkot went around and carved a bunch of figurines of himself flaying the King .

Also, I noticed something curious while glancing at the world screen. There is a new Goblin outpost in the cave that was recently vacated when Minkot slew the previous Dragon resident. The odd thing is that this Goblin cave is both in my economic sphere and at war with me.