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[Lexender]

I'll be straightforward here. I recently started playing dwarf fortress (4th fortress now) and love it. Enough to be obsessed by these questions which I could not find an answer to on the wiki (a.k.a. new bible), and here I am, begging for your help for my many questions.

A)If enemies during a siege have no way to get to my fortress (sealed by steel doors, for example) nor to any of my dwarves, what is the IA's reaction? Do the swarm of goblin just sit around in my trap-covered hallway, taking a nice shower of bolts from nearby fortifications?

B)Will creature jump in a stairless hole 1 Z-level deep (in a hole made to bring some light in my fortress, for example) ?

C)What depth of water becomes impassable? Does swimming have anything to do with that?

D)Is there actually a limit to the number of artifacts I hold? Can I destroy the surplus of worthless artifact and slay it's creator? How do I destroy an object/kill a dwarf effectively?

E)Why the hell must my nobles be happy? Do they have some kind of super preppy kamehameha? Can I just ignore the useless ones?

F)What does happiness affect? Is Ecstatic better than Happy?

G)Is there a way for any creatures to cross a 1-z deep chanel, except for bridges/floors/any building?

H)I'm trying to find some freaking magma somewhere. To be sure to have everything I need, I started playing on pregenerated worlds (I've tried Smata Sagus and The Absolute Planet of Dawns on the wiki, and neither of them have some, though it was said that there was). I'm playing with Dystopian Rethoric EZ install pack. Can that be the problem? I'm using reveal.exe to search for it (btw, is there a way to reveal the whole map, not just the region around what I already see?)

I'm all over now, I think. Thanks for answering any question you feel like answering. It's greatly appreciated.

[Brian]

A)If enemies during a siege have no way to get to my fortress (sealed by steel doors, for example) nor to any of my dwarves, what is the IA's reaction? Do the swarm of goblin just sit around in my trap-covered hallway, taking a nice shower of bolts from nearby fortifications?

They will typically seek out any living being they can and kill it.  If there are no living beings to kill, they will sit around for a few seasons and eventually leave.

B)Will creature jump in a stairless hole 1 Z-level deep (in a hole made to bring some light in my fortress, for example) ?

No, but their arrows will.

C)What depth of water becomes impassable? Does swimming have anything to do with that?

I'm not sure what qualifies as impassable.. I think they have to swim once it's 4/7 but I could be wrong.  If they don't know how to swim, well don't expect much.

D)Is there actually a limit to the number of artifacts I hold? Can I destroy the surplus of worthless artifact and slay it's creator? How do I destroy an object/kill a dwarf effectively?

Yes (sort of) to the first question.  That's a huge spoiler though and I won't post it here.  I'll just say you can influence it and search for it on the forums.  You can destroy an artifact and it's creator equally well by placing them under a raising drawbridge, and then lower it.  It's very effective.

E)Why the hell must my nobles be happy? Do they have some kind of super preppy kamehameha? Can I just ignore the useless ones?

Nobles are privileged $*#%. Do with them as you want.  You can safely ignore nobles' demands if you have no guards or hammer dwarves to unleash justice (I think).  However nobles will throw temper tantrums and break stuff.  I suggest either trying to make them happy or killing them off.

F)What does happiness affect? Is Ecstatic better than Happy?

I think the main point of happiness is to keep your dwarves from being unhappy and going berserk or melancholy.  I don't know if it has an impact on work ethic.  Ecstatic is better than happy.

G)Is there a way for any creatures to cross a 1-z deep chanel, except for bridges/floors/any building?

Flying creatures can get across, but that's it.

H)I'm trying to find some freaking magma somewhere. To be sure to have everything I need, I started playing on pregenerated worlds (I've tried Smata Sagus and The Absolute Planet of Dawns on the wiki, and neither of them have some, though it was said that there was). I'm playing with Dystopian Rethoric EZ install pack. Can that be the problem? I'm using reveal.exe to search for it (btw, is there a way to reveal the whole map, not just the region around what I already see?)

With version 39e of dwarf fortress, you can tell the game to search for an embark location with magma.  With this development, I no longer use reveal.  However to get reveal to show you more stuff, designate 'dig' on some tiles.  reveal will then give you information for that tile, those in a large area around it, and all the z-levels up.  So if you put one every 50 squares in a grid on the lowest level, reveal would should you the entire map.  I think

I'm all over now, I think. Thanks for answering any question you feel like answering. It's greatly appreciated.

np

[Christes]

D)Is there actually a limit to the number of artifacts I hold? Can I destroy the surplus of worthless artifact and slay it's creator? How do I destroy an object/kill a dwarf effectively?

Yes (sort of) to the first question.  That's a huge spoiler though and I won't post it here.  I'll just say you can influence it and search for it on the forums.  You can destroy an artifact and it's creator equally well by placing them under a raising drawbridge, and then lower it.  It's very effective.

You certainly can get rid of artifacts several ways - dropping down a chasm, into magma (if it isn't not magma proof, of course), let them get stolen etc.  But AFAIK they still count against you're artifact limit (I assume that's what you're getting at since I can't think any other reason you'd want to get rid of artifacts).  You are best off stopping potential junk artifacts before they are made.

H)I'm trying to find some freaking magma somewhere. To be sure to have everything I need, I started playing on pregenerated worlds (I've tried Smata Sagus and The Absolute Planet of Dawns on the wiki, and neither of them have some, though it was said that there was). I'm playing with Dystopian Rethoric EZ install pack. Can that be the problem? I'm using reveal.exe to search for it (btw, is there a way to reveal the whole map, not just the region around what I already see?)

With version 39e of dwarf fortress, you can tell the game to search for an embark location with magma.  With this development, I no longer use reveal.  However to get reveal to show you more stuff, designate 'dig' on some tiles.  reveal will then give you information for that tile, those in a large area around it, and all the z-levels up.  So if you put one every 50 squares in a grid on the lowest level, reveal would should you the entire map.  I think

Note that you can get DF to display the exact location of all of the features by going to the init file changing this:

Code: [Select]

[SHOW_EMBARK_RIVER:FINDER]
[SHOW_EMBARK_POOL:FINDER]
[SHOW_EMBARK_M_PIPE:FINDER]
[SHOW_EMBARK_M_POOL:FINDER]
[SHOW_EMBARK_CHASM:FINDER]
[SHOW_EMBARK_PIT:FINDER]
[SHOW_EMBARK_OTHER:FINDER]
[SHOW_EMBARK_TUNNEL:FINDER]
to this:

Code: [Select]

[SHOW_EMBARK_RIVER:ALWAYS]
[SHOW_EMBARK_POOL:ALWAYS]
[SHOW_EMBARK_M_PIPE:ALWAYS]
[SHOW_EMBARK_M_POOL:ALWAYS]
[SHOW_EMBARK_CHASM:ALWAYS]
[SHOW_EMBARK_PIT:ALWAYS]
[SHOW_EMBARK_OTHER:ALWAYS]
[SHOW_EMBARK_TUNNEL:ALWAYS]

[Lexender]

You guys are awesome.

So no noticeable difference between a happy and ecstatic dwarf? Good.

What's the easiest way to make a particular dwarf go to a particular location (like, let's say, under a drawbridge)? I could manage by toying with job management, but that seems troublesome. How about assigning a dining room or bedroom or whatever, right under the bridge?

Good to know that they don't deduct from my limit when destroyed, too. Thanks

[FluffyToast J]

To get them under a drawbridge, you can activate him in a military squad, press 'x' to get the squad selected, and set his station under the bridge. That should work.

[Lexender]

You're a genius.

Also, not a question or anything, and you probably already know about that, but i noticed that if you destroy a trade depot after merchants have unloaded their goods, you can easily snatch all of them. I feel quite bad about that though (really).

[soup_alex]

So no noticeable difference between a happy and ecstatic dwarf? Good.

In DF, "happy" is simply a state of being that is one step closer to losing one's rag and going on a murderous rampage/elaborate suicide than "ecstatic".

...i noticed that if you destroy a trade depot after merchants have unloaded their goods, you can easily snatch all of them. I feel quite bad about that though (really).

Don't!
Squashing traders and digging out the encased goodies or simply knocking down the Depot is something I don't do more often simply because the traders usually bring (in a wagon load) about five items I could find a use for, and about ten thousand kilotonnes of useless crap!

[muwahahaha]

Also, goods you get by removing the depot aren't counted as 'stolen' so you can easily and safely sell them off to other traders, or even back to the same caravan (next year of course).

Also, from what I've seen, it seems that the traders don't care that you just ninja'd all their stuff, they go home and say "What a great fortress, lets go back next year with more useless junk" despite the fact they lost thousands of monies worth of goods, and they stil somehow manage to get more crap for their wagons.

[soup_alex]

Also, from what I've seen, it seems that the traders don't care that you just ninja'd all their stuff, they go home and say "What a great fortress, lets go back next year with more useless junk" despite the fact they lost thousands of monies worth of goods, and they stil somehow manage to get more crap for their wagons.

In a way, they're like dwarven Milo Minderbinders.

...on consideration, keep all traders away from your fort, at all costs. We don't want another chocolate cotton incident.

[Deon]

Actually merchants count their total wealth on enter and on exit, so if they leave with no goods (or with less wealth) they think "oh it's a shitty place to trade" and will bring less goods next time. But if they leave with great profit (btw you can give them gifts, donate them a few legendary [20] roasts and they will be ecstatic!) they will bring much more wagons/mules next time they arrive. I ended with 5+ wagons.

So no noticeable difference between a happy and ecstatic dwarf? Good.

Actually there may be or may be not. The game uses numeric scale with 100+ (I may be wrong, use this numbers just to imagine the situation) happiness = happy and 150+ = ecstatic. However 400+ will be still ecstatic, so it's not (-1 unhappy, 3 happy, 4 ecstatic), there may be a great difference which you can't see (without dwarven companion).
"Legendary" level is not single too, there're "Legendary +1", "Legendary +2" etc. but it's not indicated.

B)Will creature jump in a stairless hole 1 Z-level deep (in a hole made to bring some light in my fortress, for example) ?

1. It may jump in if it's crazy/berserking/melancholy. It can be your legendary weaponsmith with broken artifact etc. or mad enemy.
2. The creature may occasionally "dodge" in it if it's fighting near it outside.
3. The fliers will go in. Use grates/glass floors.

E)Why the hell must my nobles be happy? Do they have some kind of super preppy kamehameha? Can I just ignore the useless ones?

Be careful with this.
1. Try to pick a mayor on embark which likes some kind of soil (no items from it) and some simple/cheap materials.
2. There're some useful nobles (well, actually dungeon master).
3. If you're sure that the noble is "useless" or it likes adamantine you'd better kill it right away (or make yourself a challenge). Nobles get friends while they live in your fortress so the death of a single philosopher may lead to a fortress-wide tantrum spiral.
Also note that if some material/item is prohibited for export you can get some real troubles. If the merchants leave the map with such material (even if it's a decoration of some maple earring and it's their own!) the noble will get STACKED bad thoughts for EVERY such item about it being exported and noone to punish (well, it belonged to merchants from the start) and will occasionally throw a tantrum; buy all such things from caravans (which may be problematic if you are at good relations with them, they will bring A LOT of stuff to check... Trade depot dismantling helps).

[LegacyCWAL]

Actually merchants count their total wealth on enter and on exit, so if they leave with no goods (or with less wealth) they think "oh it's a shitty place to trade" and will bring less goods next time. But if they leave with great profit (btw you can give them gifts, donate them a few legendary [20] roasts and they will be ecstatic!) they will bring much more wagons/mules next time they arrive. I ended with 5+ wagons.

Yeah, that's about the only way you can get the Elves to start bringing some critters along with their endless bins of cloth.  With so little carrying capacity, however, it takes a long time to get anywhere.  It took my last fort five years to get from two cloth-filled mules up to three cloth-filled mules


Edit: *time.  Long time.  God, I can't type today

[1138]

My elves always seem to bring a couple of cool creatures in the first year, forcing me to sieze them, and then never bring anything good ever again. Stupid elves.

[KrazyDocK]

My elves always seem to bring a couple of cool creatures in the first year, forcing me to sieze them, and then never bring anything good ever again. Stupid elves.

Same here.  The only times I've ever gotten a cool caged animal from the elves was in the first year.  After that just wood and tons of cloth.  I am glad to hear that some people have managed to influence elves into bringing caged animals after the first year.  I guess I've just had bad luck.