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[Ibrukromlam Oth]

Traps : Haven't messed with them much yet, so the jury's still out.
Player Traps : I think the rewards and risks balance out.
Atom Smashers : Balanced with current dwarf stupidity (And I mean it). Also, I consider the loss of goods from a crushed goblin to not be worth it.
Quantum Stockpiles : If I have that much crap lying around, it's a good time to consider offering crud to some traders.
Quantum Dumps : If there's stone unused, the walls aren't done yet. Build higher, you fools!
Crossbows : I don't see them as a problem, though they typically end up as roof/wall patrol.
Modded Races : Haven't tried.
Modded World : Haven't tried. Having enough fun with a half-terrible world as it is.
Perpetual Motion : I figured gravity would figure in a bit somewhere, but I still tend to avoid it without much conscious effort.
Pathfinding : I don't exploit it, nor do I do anything to avoid it if it happens.
Nobles : Haven't got to a point where whiny nobles were a problem.
Sheriff/Hammerer : Nothing special here. I don't avoid them in any way.

[Ezuku]

Plump helmets : I try not to run my entire fortress on one 7x7 plot of plump helmets. I know they're in the game, but they're blatently overpowered. They're basicially the "perfect" crop. I try and change my dwarves diet as fast as possible off plump helmets.

You know that dwarves get a bad thought from eating the same thing all the time, right?

Eh... ? I never knew that. When did it come in, and is it much? My dwarves seem to survive just fine eating the same thing over and over. If they eat say... plump helmet, and plump helmet and plump helmet wine roast and plump helmet and plump helmet wine biscuits, does that count as three different things?

[1138]

I think those count as being different. It's not a very big bad thought at all, anyway. About the same as being disturbed by noise while sleeping, I'd say.

[roguester]

Traps: I'll use a few if I have a particular need, but not multiple rows at the front gate, that's what the axedwarves are for.

Player traps: sure, haven't used them myself though.

Atom smashers: Haven't used. seems like a reasonable way to get rid of rock. Dropping a bridge on your enemies heads also seems valid.

Quantum stockpiles: Haven't used, seems exploitative.

quantum dumps: another valid way to get rid of rock. I usually have a central shaft in my forts that all excess rock goes down.

Crossbows: necessary, especially in the beginning before I have my armorworks set up. not as fun as axes or hammers though.

Mods: haven't used.

perpetual motion: anathema

pathfinding: not sure how this is meant, sounds exploitative though.

nobles: they're a built-in challenge, removing them would seem like cheating. i'm not above a little revolution though if a one of them is particularly troublesome.

sheriff: If my dwarves are peaceful and law-abiding, they don't need one, if there's a tantrum problem I make a nice comfortable jail and appoint a peasant.

hammerer: the hammerer is the enemy of the people. accidents happen.

other "house rules":

no cooking of alcohol, no plump helmets except when starvation threatens. plump helmets are an "inferior good".

tunnels and rooms in soil layers must be shored up before they can be used. if they are for the transport of liquids they must have both walls and floors.

all rooms must follow the 7x7 rule from the 2D version.

no one gets killed intentionally unless they have become a nuisance beyond the taking up of space/food/drink.

every dwarf gets buried in a stone coffin in a stone room.

That's all I can think of right now.

[Idiom]

Fair play?
Goblins are now near invincible, no plump helmets, crops take 2 seasons to grow, booze is lower quality for less happy thoughts, no engraving for legendary rooms, always at war with all civs who can ambush or siege 24/7 any season, tweaked up frequency of invasions, weaker dwarves, dwarven life spans much shorter...

Any exploits I'll occasionally use because I really do need them playing like this.

[Jude]

That sounds awesome. I might want to give it a try...

[tsen]

I play vanilla so far, but I tend to always stay on the side of realism. For example, all my dwarves get at least a 9 tile room with a bed, table, chair, cabinet and coffer + door. Married dwarves get two 9 tile rooms connected with 2 beds, two chairs, a table, two cabinets and a coffer. I'm aware that multiple chairs doesn't work with one table, but it makes more sense to me.

My greenhouses are protected by walls on the surface so it's a deep, grated shaft and not just a single glass panel. Plump helmets in small quantities for variety and dwarven wine, but for nothing else. No cooking alcohol

No roast exports, no decorated ammo. I'm on the line about mugs, since they're 3x more valuable per unit of time/stone spent. Currently I compromise with all 4 "crafts" items on repeat.

All rooms are properly shored up with supports, minimal traps, no atom smashers (That's what siege engines are for!), no quantum stockpiles.

No killing of immigrants or nobles, though I don't bother appointing a sheriff until the community grows past ~90-100 members.

I deliberately avoid manufacturing weapons for a couple of years to make defense more difficult, but all of my starting 7 have 2 armor, 2 shield and 1 wrestling so they're not utterly helpless once I get them a little equipment.

Oh, and I don't use cinnabar to build anything that might cause its poisonous properties to hurt any of my dwarves. Hehe.

[Tenebrais]

The way I see it, anything that appears to be possible due to a limitation of the engine is an exploit.

So traps are fair play, though it seems a little cheap to have one in every spare space. Hey, your loss if your legendary engraver passes out.
Player traps are the best kind. Where's the creativity in a simple stonefall trap when you could drop invaders into a pit of regularly moving spikes?
Atom smashers are an exploit to me, though I can see the sense in a bridge killing and crushing whatever it falls on. Perhaps they should leave their base material - creatures leave corpses, weapons and armour leave metal, stoneworks leave stones, and so on. As it is, I disagree with using such a thing.
Quantum stockpile: definite exploit.
Quantum dump: Actually makes sense. You can imagine dwarves filling a pit with waste stone, even one just a metre square if it's deep enough.
Crossbows are fine. They fit in. To be honest I've never needed more than a couple of crossbowdwarves; I get bored of my fortresses before they attract any seiges, so I haven't needed a real army.
Modding the world: I see it as a valid way to enhance your game if you want to. Although editing to make dwarves invincible or produce coal from useless stone is definitely exploitative.
Perpetual motion is another exploit. It's only possible because mills haven't yet been given more realistic interactions.
Exploiting pathfinding: An exploit, even if it's difficult and sort of justified after your legendary miner has just trapped himself in the lower chamber of your magma pump when channelling the entry.
Nobles: An inherent part of the game. Adds interest and challenge. Killing them off is a cheap but valid tactic, I feel.
Sheriff and Hammerer: Having a well-staffed fortress guard and well-oiled production lines makes any related problems pointless. Bordering on an exploit.

As for other things, cooking alcohol is an exploit, running on plump helmets is fine but boring. Moats and lockdowns can be used however one prefers; depends on what you find more fun.

[Earthquake Damage]

Ah.  I was thinking more along the line of a 'Standard' where if you go outside the restrictive rules you were ridiculed.

I can see this thread (and others like it) being used this way, establishing a standard to (attempt to) police player behavior.

My avatar is awesome.

Yes, it is.

...

1.  Logistical Issues: ...

2.  Philosophical Issues: ...

...

This.  This doesn't prevent me from participating, though.

To be honest, the only flames I've seen are from people saying what a bad idea this is.

I don't recall seeing any flames.


As for me...

Traps:  Yes, though I prefer several rows with 25% tile coverage (no adjacent traps) so there's an occasional security breach (ambushes often fail, but sieges often overwhelm the traps).  Acceptable

Player Traps:  Rare.  Though I always intend to build something, I rarely get around to it before starting a new fort.  Do upright spike repeaters count, btw?  Acceptable

Atom Smashers:  If I don't have a chasm, I need some reliable way to dispose of garbage.  Magma goes a long way, as do traders, but neither is perfect.  Acceptable

Quantum Stockpiles:  I dislike having to repeatedly screw with forbid/reclaim micromanagement (to keep the stockpile usable but prevent dwarves from redumping refuse), so I usually avoid these or only use them for stone.  Acceptable

Quantum Dump:  See above.  Acceptable

Crossbows:  I typically arm my fortress guard with weak bludgeons and my soldiers with crossbows and the occasional sword.  When the guard can't handle it, send in the marines.  Acceptable

Modding:  Lots of this.  I mostly run a large (heavily tweaked) compilation of mods from the forum, plus a few of my own.  It's mostly balanced, with a few exceptions (notably my large suite of cheat reactions for when I want to screw around).  On a related note, I also use utilities occasionally (mostly depending on the fort).  For example, I've been known to set up plumbing but not activate it (to reduce the CPU hit from all the flows), instead creating an aquifer square at the destination (e.g. a cistern or fountain).  Also, dwarf site leader to EXECUTIONER and civ leader to PHILOSOPHER ftw.  Variable, depends on the mod

Perpetual Motion:  To minimize flow woes, if I don't have a river I use windmills instead of waterwheels (except when there's no wind;  damn you, weather gods!).  It takes less time to build a large windmill array than it does to fine-tune a perpetual motion machine.  Still...  Acceptable

Pathfinding Exploits:  Too much work.  Acceptable, but a pain in the ass

Cooking Booze:  I'm usually swimming in syrup and other plentiful food sources.  Cooked booze is unnecessary and only drains the booze supply.  I do cook it when times are tough.  Acceptable

Nobles:  Mostly harmless.  Irritating mandates may draw my wrath.  Losing a highly skilled worker to an irritating mandate will draw my wrath.  My preferred execution methods include upright spikes and flagging for butchery via Dwarf Companion (think of it as mob justice with a guillotine).  Acceptable

The Law:  I always have a sheriff and guards, and I don't mind the hammerer (exception:  see previous point).  I'm not convinced that not having the former will prevent the latter from raising a ruckus, so I haven't tried it.  Regardless...  Acceptable

Siege Lockdown:  I usually place my trade depot behind my barracks so my guards/off-duty soldiers can act as a second/third line of defense (past any traps/fortifications), and I hate missing caravan wagons, so I don't often seal the fort.  I'm not opposed to it, though.  Acceptable

[Spey]

i use traps very sparingly, my current fort has a couple of stonefall traps in the entrance, but more often than not my military will get to the invaders before they reach the traps, the traps are only really there to protect my civvies, wheras im all up for meeting the foe on the field of battle

however i had a thought that the only entrance/exit of a typical fort being littered with lethal devices should really have some sort of impact on the dwarves

Right now a big "problem" with traps is that dwarves can act as if they arent there at all (provided they arent on the royal guard anyway) and so there is no real downside to building vast oceans of traps as far as the eye ca see. I think perhaps traps should slow dwarves down or present some sort of risk of traversing them, then the player is forced to decide whether he really needs that 12th layer of weapon traps or if hed rather just have a servicible main gate that didnt take a week to walk through and left its travellers with no guarantee of ankles.

I think if traps were reduced in their lethality, id be perfectly happy with them being set off by my own dwarves accidentally on occasion, perhaps maybe with the ability to link them up to a lever and disable/enable the traps when it suited. this way goblin thieves would probably get an easier time of sneaking around and maybe sieges/ambushes too if they manage to catch you unawares, or perhaps you risk mauling a few loyal subjects when you turn on the defensive perimeter

[autophage]

I'm curious why the one guy considers quantum stockpiling an exploit. It's not like it saves you work...well, I guess a little bit of work which you'd otherwise spend digging out rock stockpiles and figuring out what to do with all the stone from THEM...but until we have an option to have miners just smash everything into dust and not leave shit-tons of stone everywhere, I'll either quantum stockpile or drop it in the chasm/magma.

well, for the exact reason we don't have miners smashing everything into dust... one of the principle problems in mining is what you do with all the rock you are mining out.  in "real life" you'd be completely unable to use areas of your fort until you hauled all that rock outside or to a previously cleared storage area or tossed it into the chasm or something.  so getting around the stone problem with quantum stockpiling can be considered a little exploity.

True, but the miners leave behind rock more often as they become more experienced.  Perhaps that is because they are mining so much  more efficiently, partially by pulling big chunks off the wall rather than slowly powdering the whole wall.  In any case it would be nice to designate "mine-for-stone" (ideally, each square mined produces one stone) versus "mine-for-space" (ideally, no square mined produces any stone), even if mining-for-space took longer it would be worth it if you don't have somewhere for all that stone to go.

[TheDeadlyShoe]

What if you could just designate a special type of mining where non-economic rock is automatically designated for dumping?

[AltF8]

What if you could just designate a special type of mining where non-economic rock is automatically designated for dumping?

Or even designate it as hidden?

Anyway, my list:

Traps: Usually only a few at the entrance. Maybe a dozen at the most, but I have started scattering cage traps in outlying areas (again, a dozen or so).
Player Traps: I'm not good enough yet to make any of these. *goes to research pumps*
Atom Smashers: Haven't used them...seems very exploity to me.
Quantum Stockpiles: Very much an exploit. You're bypassing physics.
Quantum Dumps: See above. Exploit - but one that has very little direct benefit (other than aesthetics).
Crossbows: I've never had a military larger than about 10 dwarves, so I don't know what the exploit could be here - will defer to more advanced players.
Modded Races: I still don't know enough about vanilla.
Modded World: Ditto.
Perpetual Motion: Exploit. Would never use - again, defeating physics.
Pathfinding: Haven't used. Would call an exploit if it's really being used to defeat an "intelligent" being.
Nobles: Not an exploit, per se, but not really honorable from a player standpoint. From a dwarf standpoint - that's another story.
Sheriff/Hammerer: You have law enforcement if you need it. If you don't have it, you pay consequences, right?

[Guy Montag]

What if you could just designate a special type of mining where non-economic rock is automatically designated for dumping?

Ugh, no, I had a fort where I accidently designated some rocks in a quantum dump, for re-dumping into my magma pool. The entire fortress was busy for two-years straight.

I think a better solution would be that highly-skilled miners leave less non-economic rocks, or none even. They already mine MORE rocks because of their skill, but there should be an option to let them just smash the rocks into dust as they mine or something. Having 30,000 worthless rocks in your fort isn't fun, and they eat up cycles just by existing. I know IRL there is tons and tons of waste rock when they mine, and alot of the expense of mining is just hauling fucking useless rock around to be dumped, but it kinda kills the fun of the game when your faced with the same laggy solution to the rock problem.

[Teeto_K]

What if you could just designate a special type of mining where non-economic rock is automatically designated for dumping?

Where to? A quantum dump? Isn't THAT an exploit?

The surface of a 2x2 map is only 96x96. That won't even hold 10000 stone. My fort has generated over 20000 so far.

My current fort of just over 100 dorfs has about 3000 tiles of stockpile, about 2250 of which are in use. It probably has about 2000 tiles of buildings, and placed furniture.

If I don't have Magma or a Chasm, that's half of my surface devoted to merely holding the stone, if I'm not "allowed" to store more than one tile of stone per tile. And we have someone in here suggesting that using the "h"ide designation is cheating? I not only have to keep the stone in stockpiles outdoors, but I HAVE to LOOK at it?

I can't type the rest of this post without getting banned.