Hello everyone! This is my first post here but I'm no stranger to the game. I'm going to use this thread as a repository for Dwarven Science, aka "!!SCIENCE!!".
If you have suggestions for things to experiment with, let me know. I'd like to keep it all in a single post and edit it, for easy reference. Cheers.
==STRESS==
Taverns:
So I've been experimenting with stress and noticed that Taverns seem to be a great source of mood boost to idle dwarves. I created a bunch of Dwarves with stress propensity of 50 and set them in a basic dingy tavern. Within minutes they began performing, giving them "Urist was interested watching a performance". That didn't seem like a great mood boost so I made a performer and set him to legendary everything. Immediately I started getting a lot of "Delighted, Enjoyment, Blissful while watching/performing". I noticed that Dwarves who dance with a legendary performer tend to get blissful moods more often then not as well, so just having a performer can 'bleed' positive thoughts to other dwarves as well! How cool.
Additional Notes
• Performer Dwarves (job specific, set in the meeting hall menu) don't seem to use instruments, however this may be because my Dwarf is a legendary dancer.
• The quality of the instrument seems to influence the quality of the performance as well, as noted by some performances that happened while I was making the other instrument being "Blissful".
• A blissful dance with a legendary performer set one of my Dwarves moods from baseline (0) to -641. Pretty impressive. To contrast, a woodcutter went from 0 to -3 after an interesting performance.
Addendum: Unsurprisingly, having good instruments, and good performers make your taverns a better place to be. Surprisingly, it can make a HUGE difference from interested to blissful.
Furniture:
Having nice doors, tables, traps, chairs, statues, all sorts of things are good for happy thoughts. Some Urists are interested near a fine door, while others may be AMAZED at a MILD MELTINGLY IMPRESSIVE BEYOND REPROACH chair. My theory is that value is the only factor when it comes to objects, and that Dwarves may ascertain higher value modifiers on objects made with a material they deem interesting via their personality.
So to test: A simple oak door, vs a golden door adorned with diamonds and ivory. A table at around 900 value compared to another table at around the same value, but this time made of something a dwarf likes.