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Author Topic: Several questions as I prepare to get back to DF  (Read 3408 times)

Shonai_Dweller

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Re: Several questions as I prepare to get back to DF
« Reply #15 on: August 12, 2020, 03:00:14 am »

Also, I assume you're aware of the side effects of staffed taverns, and so weigh the benefits vs the costs properly...
I may not, please do tell.
People will occasionally die of alcohol poisoning if a tavern is staffed. More so than if it weren't. So you'll be dealing with trauma at the site of visiting humans and goblins (and once every few games a dwarf) who can't hold their liquor, dying suddenly.

Tavern staff can be a little relentless in the way they serve drinks. Keep them busy, and with a big tavern and high population it most likely won't happen much.

Or don't use tavern staff.

This was largely in part fixed within the latest versions, dwarves are served appropriate entirely to their desire to drink now with fatalities or least (`injuries` since quick response can save a dwarf from suffocation by being sent to a hospital bed) down in part to relatively daring personalities to demand alcohol sooner than they can actually manage to process it.

Infact its a crucial part of the intrigue system, as a dungeon-keeper moonlighting as a tavern owner can ask directly about plot involvement and broadly you can start to collect & disperse rumors with loose lippedness about the world and your fortress under the effects of alcohol.
It used to be guaranteed to happen a lot. Now, as I said, it's an occasional hazard.
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indyofcomo

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Re: Several questions as I prepare to get back to DF
« Reply #16 on: August 13, 2020, 04:49:49 am »

7. As mentioned, animals neither talk nor write, so they can't report. Questers that try to take artifacts by force first leave the map and then sneak in. When detected they'll either flee or attack. That happens on the outside. However, the rest of the quester group (or horde, as the case has been in the past) inside the fortress become hiddenly hostile as soon as the sneaker is engaged, resulting in a royal mess or reports about "X is scared by the humans swordsman" (which one(s) out the dozens present near the victim?). The hiddenly hostile questers may attack while pretending to socialize, continue to socialize, or run around in panic because of all the scary dorfs. To make things even worse, this may trigger loyalty cascades where other visitors or even citizens join the questers in a no quarter bloodbath where you can't even see who are involved or on which side.

So what's the best approach to guarding artifacts? I'm not worried about absolute prevention, I could just wall them up if that's what I wanted to do. But my current plan is to put them on display from the maker's bedroom. Pedestal in the bedroom, window facing the hallway. Would guards at top of the hallway work? You are saying they sneak back in, so are we talking guards at entrance to fort?
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PatrikLundell

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Re: Several questions as I prepare to get back to DF
« Reply #17 on: August 13, 2020, 06:45:33 am »

At the current broken (in my opinion) state of Villains there's nothing you can do except block all visitors. Questors aren't a big threat as long as they behave in a (technically) reasonable way, as they're sneaking in from the map edge, and thus meet your defenses. The probably unintended planting of a 5:th column in the form of the attacking quester's buddies makes it worse.

However, the big threat are Villains (and here I call everyone Villains, even if they're just lowly henchmen and couriers). These character flip your dorfs with essentially no resistance (that part is at least partially broken, as it was something that had to be put to the side to finally start with the Premium stuff), and there's absolutely nothing you can do about that except block villain access to your dorfs. The dorfs are then the ones actually performing the thefts, and they then hand the items off to the designated Villain waiting in your tavern/library/temple/guild hall. The Villain then carries the item away off the map.

You're notified about the theft after someone detects that it's gone or somebody is taking the item, but that report may well happen long after the Villain has left the map.
IF you get a report you can then laboriously interrogate suspects (and not so suspect ones), supposedly resulting in discontent if done too much. If you're lucky, you're able to identify some of those involved and get them sentenced, with a horrible UI for interrogation and punishment. As far as I've seen it's more chance than anything else that determines if you're even able to find out what the punishment was. Even in the case where the Villain is imprisoned, however, you're still not able to recover the artifact he's carrying (you can using DFHack), and if one of your dwarven morons is sentenced the idiot makes a beeline for the artifact to steal it again to hand it over at the next opportunity: there doesn't seem to be any deterrence whatsoever.

Note that the above is written by someone who's completely fed up with Villains and the complete absence of means to prevent or stop them (assassination missions might eventually allow you to take out the master Villains behind plots. On the other hand, I had hundreds of claims on each of my locally produced artifacts when I checked Legends Mode info, with one or two new claims trickling in every month.
My current fortress is nearing 50 years, and I've sent every Villain entering the map on a one way teleport trip to the magma sea (using a script), and I seem to actually almost have run out of Villains (on the other hand I've also almost run out of visitors, as most of those not slaughtered by invaders or deadly evil rain have died of old age (leaving the badly bugged performance troupes with their elves and goblins as the bulk of what remains)).
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Starver

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Re: Several questions as I prepare to get back to DF
« Reply #18 on: August 13, 2020, 06:59:51 am »

'Storefront' style window built into each room? Or at least rooms created for those worthy?

Code: [Select]
...........    Corridor
###---#####    Outer wall-windows-outer wall
###???D.###    Wall-display area-(Door or equiv. from access alcove)-Wall
###---#D###    Inner wall-windows-wall-(Another door/equiv. to access alcove)-wall
+++++++++++    Room interior (actual access from corridor beyond this slice)

Fancier than it needs to be (doesn't need two doors, but I like the setup... could be in the inner-window length directly but you could trap/magma-flood that alcove; and not sure we need cater for three item spaces), less sophisticated than it could be (windows are destroyable/topplable, could use additional protection) but it might satisfy an aesthetic you have. Or change according to taste and personal design philosophy.


((Access to the interior could also be from above/below, a 'service corridor' or complex servicing it and any liquid source/sink needs if you go that route. It could be set up as a pit/pond, for chucking in prisoners/entrapped creatures, or their (eventual) remains if you're so inclined..  Amazing the number of variations you could do.))
« Last Edit: August 13, 2020, 07:11:29 am by Starver »
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Leonidas

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Re: Several questions as I prepare to get back to DF
« Reply #19 on: August 13, 2020, 09:20:59 pm »

I've got a library with around 67 scholars in it. At the center of the library are some pedestals jammed with artifacts. When someone takes an artifact, I'm notified immediately and I can set the CotG in motion to interview the corrupted citizen and reveal the true thief. I chose my CotG for his high social skills, so that he'll do well in interviews.

It helps that my tavern and temples are closed to visitors, so any visitor who is not a scholar is obviously a criminal. And if something goes wrong, such as the CotG being lost in trance-worship, there doesn't seem to be any penalty to having soldiers kill a visitor.

I keep Legends Viewer open. This lets me identify which type of item has been stolen, so that I can find it in the stocks screen, zoom in on it, and watch the handoff in progress.

There also doesn't seem to be any penalty for refusing to convict the citizen who was intimidated into participating in the crime. Keeping an old case like that open gives you an excuse to arrest visitors for crimes they didn't commit, This can be an entertaining way to deal with undesirables such as necromancers, vampires, or thieves who are waiting to strike.

While criminals change their last names, they don't seem to change their first names. So even if Dilol Thundershield gets away with the goods, you can wait for Dilol Bookblaze to visit so that you can give him a thrashing for the crime he committed under another name, and then thrash him again for any other unsolved crimes you've kept on the books.

And at the end of the day, does it matter that you're missing a willow figurine of some long-dead leader? If you've got something useful like an awesome weapon or armor piece, then by all means lock it away. Otherwise, I like to set out the thief-bait and watch the show.
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Jundavr

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Re: Several questions as I prepare to get back to DF
« Reply #20 on: August 13, 2020, 11:04:39 pm »

There also doesn't seem to be any penalty for refusing to convict the citizen who was intimidated into participating in the crime. Keeping an old case like that open gives you an excuse to arrest visitors for crimes they didn't commit, This can be an entertaining way to deal with undesirables such as necromancers, vampires, or thieves who are waiting to strike.

That's hilarious!
"You THERE! You stole Virginsweeps the Closing of Abbeys the artifact pig tail SOCK! I'm gonna beat you up for that!"
"wha- but I just got here, I wanted to apply for scholarshi-"
*the captain proceeds to punch the guts out of the innocent dwarf*
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I was out in the rain. So exasperating!

Shonai_Dweller

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Re: Several questions as I prepare to get back to DF
« Reply #21 on: August 13, 2020, 11:12:22 pm »

There also doesn't seem to be any penalty for refusing to convict the citizen who was intimidated into participating in the crime. Keeping an old case like that open gives you an excuse to arrest visitors for crimes they didn't commit, This can be an entertaining way to deal with undesirables such as necromancers, vampires, or thieves who are waiting to strike.

That's hilarious!
"You THERE! You stole Virginsweeps the Closing of Abbeys the artifact pig tail SOCK! I'm gonna beat you up for that!"
"wha- but I just got here, I wanted to apply for scholarshi-"
*the captain proceeds to punch the guts out of the innocent dwarf*
Once the system is actually worked on (it was abandoned for Steam deadlines with only the bare minimum in place), repeated cases of this kind of thing will upset the rest of the dwarves up to the point they rebel against your rule in some way.
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indyofcomo

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Re: Several questions as I prepare to get back to DF
« Reply #22 on: August 14, 2020, 05:10:34 am »

Sounds like I might end up preferring to not guard the artifacts, and just hope we catch people with sticky fingers.
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Leonidas

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Re: Several questions as I prepare to get back to DF
« Reply #23 on: August 14, 2020, 11:18:14 am »

In a recent thread, somebody posted a plan of using named egg-layers to guard artifacts. It seems that in the world of DF, named pets can testify in criminal cases. And for technical reasons that I forget, the nest box is the best way to keep a named pet in place. So if your fortress layout doesn't involve a nexus point that will always have dwarves about, try the watch-chicken approach.
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PatrikLundell

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Re: Several questions as I prepare to get back to DF
« Reply #24 on: August 14, 2020, 11:45:15 am »

Well, an animal in a single tile room with a window or fortification looking out towards the pedestal should work on non egg layers (assuming you lock the door). That works fine for my guard cats, anyway (although they're pastured on top of grates looking down on the entrance tunnels, but the principle is the same, and we currently don't have to account for sneaking inside the fortress).
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indyofcomo

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Re: Several questions as I prepare to get back to DF
« Reply #25 on: August 17, 2020, 09:16:21 am »

9) I use manager orders to keep my clothing industry going, but something I have never been clear on--how many socks and mitten orders to I need to make a single set of clothing? Is a pair made with one order, or do I need to make 2 and they become left/right after being worn?
Oh and I guess shoes would be the same.
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FantasticDorf

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Re: Several questions as I prepare to get back to DF
« Reply #26 on: August 17, 2020, 09:59:36 am »

I normally set my fortress guards to 'guard' schedule & protect the musuem burrow but there's a slew of things that long-term don't make this viable like them running out of rations and a slow return to work from locations. Im unsure if its how Toady's configured to assign them there or what since they're not signed on via the burrow but have similar restrictions (keeping in mind the burrow is targeted by the military order schedule just like a alert, which is plan b to send all the guards running there.)

Ill have to try the egg layer scheme or otherwise.

9) I use manager orders to keep my clothing industry going, but something I have never been clear on--how many socks and mitten orders to I need to make a single set of clothing? Is a pair made with one order, or do I need to make 2 and they become left/right after being worn?
Oh and I guess shoes would be the same.

Dwarves from vanilla clothes crafting reactions create a left and a right pair of mittens every and each time, its mainly with custom reactions where difficult is experienced and they end up making odd numbers of items usually produced in pairs because of the single defined item and it tends to be random for which hand it is designed for.

To resolve this there's a DFhack script that produces the correct amount of pairs and even situational left/right -handedness also based on the user, so a one armed worker produces 1 gauntlet/mitten/glove even if their race has two or arms appropriately fitted for them. Unsure if a 8 legged would recieve that many shoes however.
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indyofcomo

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Re: Several questions as I prepare to get back to DF
« Reply #27 on: August 17, 2020, 11:02:04 am »

Dwarves from vanilla clothes crafting reactions create a left and a right pair of mittens every and each time, its mainly with custom reactions where difficult is experienced and they end up making odd numbers of items usually produced in pairs because of the single defined item and it tends to be random for which hand it is designed for.
When saying vanilla vs custom, are you referring to mod scripts or moods?
What you are saying is that if I put in an order at workshop or via manager workflow for things worn in pairs, I will get pairs.
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PatrikLundell

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Re: Several questions as I prepare to get back to DF
« Reply #28 on: August 17, 2020, 11:24:11 am »

Vanilla: DF as produced by Toady, i.e. no modifications. Custom reactions: things modders add to raw files, although DFHack interfaces with DF via code and scripts.

So, yes. Manager and workshop orders to produce paired normal things (clothes and armor) give you a pair. Strange moods produce only a single one, annoyingly, and the quality of the two items of a pair is determined independently, so you may have 25 Masterworks left socks, but only 15 right ones (but you get the other sock in all the cases, but the quality may be different).
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Starver

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Re: Several questions as I prepare to get back to DF
« Reply #29 on: August 17, 2020, 03:05:08 pm »

Well, on the one hand you can always make errors or skillful improvements with any sock, regardless of what you do/did with the other while making it.

On the other hand, these would obviously have to be mittens, not socks, because they would be on your feet...  :P
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