About the catapults: does it destroy the stone when it's fired, or no? because if it didn't, then my masons and stonecrafters and mechanics will constantly be running out to grab some stone from the catapult firing range, only to come back with half a dozen broken bones and damaged organs.
The stone is destroyed if there's a floor under it when it hits a wall. If it falls into a channel, it's not destroyed.
About the pumps: Heh, not only do I not know how to make and use pumps, but wouldn't it be a better idea to have the dwarves that would be pumping to be mining out my new bedrooms instead? and that way, they'd get legendary after a year or something, while there would be rooms for the immigrant dwarves that they wouldn't get kicked out of.
Regarding making and using pumps: To run a pump gym, I don't ever set up the pumps to actually move any fluids, I just build them in a room on solid floors. The dwarves don't care, they pump away and gain skill just the same.
About whether to use pumping or mining: Once I get a few legendary miners I hate to add new ones just to train dwarves. Inevitably, when I go to dig out that aluminum or diamond, the brand new miner takes the order and destroys the prize. And he hardly gains any experience, because whenever I mark a room for digging, the other miners have just about finished the room by the time the newbie digs out one tile.
About the Purist-Modders War: I'm personally rooting for the modders, since I don't think modding the game is cheating. I mean, adding content (like a civ mod or a texture pack) changes the game in a desirable way. Sure it may not be the true Dwarf Fortress, but it's still fun and we play it for fun. But on the other hand, a mod that takes out something (other than a bug or exploit), like the Zero Rent:Yes tag, just doesn't seem right to me.
Augh! I don't care if people use it or not, but it's just plain wrong to describe an init option as "a mod".
"Modding" means changing your raws, not "anything I personally think cheapens the game". How about sealing your fort behind two hundred weapon traps, overlooked by two dozen marksdwarves? That's not modding, it's a gameplay strategy. Zero rent isn't modding, it's an init option.
On the flip side, I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who thinks it's cheating to mod cats to have mouths that carry things like they're supposed to, so they don't spam "too injured" all day. But it's certainly modding.
The argument isn't about whether modding itself is right or wrong (or whether it adds fun possibilities vs detracting from the spirit of the game), it's about what
kinds of modding (or init options, or gameplay strategies) are appropriate.
I guess I'm just kind of picky about precise use of words that way.