Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Bryan]

Ok, so my fortress, like many others has an animal problem.  My solution to this was to dig a 4 z level shaft with a retracting bridge on top.  Surround the bridge with walls with 1 door set to forbid but not closed tight.  I placed a meeting area on top and when my unwanted manageree assembled I pulled a lever dropping them into a refuse stockpile.  At the bottom I surveyed the carnage with glee.

I was however saddened when the butcher told me that there no butcherable, unrotten meat nearby.  This is annoying to me but I will not give up.  I try removing the refuse pile, no joy.  I try removing the wall between the butcher and the refuse pile, no joy.  I try moving the butcher closer, no joy.

Finally in exasperation I try to drop the corpses straight into the butcher's shop.  Finally joy.  Though not the kind I was hoping for.  I got the message that a cow (tame) has died in a collision but also my butcher had died in a collision.  Once I stopped laughing and picked myself up off the floor I realized that this could have military applications.

The entrance to my fortress is over looked by a cliff.  I am hoping to put a drawbridge that will fling the hapless creatures off the cliff onto the haplesser invaders.

This raises some questions.  First will this work?  Second how far should I be expecting the range of this contraption to be.  I am willing to make the bridge fairly large and fling a nice scattering of animals all at once. Third What all will be taken into account in the range the creatures fly?  Does the position on the bridge and relative weights of the creatures matter?

For bonus points is there a way I can butcher the resultant carcasses?

I also just realized that since my murder tower opened to above ground it was technically outside.  Could this have had anything to do with my butchers reticence to gather the corpses?


Sorry for the wall of text if you have made it this far.

[Simmura McCrea]

See here for some info on bridges and this sort of thing, plus a movie.

[Elvang]

For bonus points is there a way I can butcher the resultant carcasses?

I also just realized that since my murder tower opened to above ground it was technically outside.  Could this have had anything to do with my butchers reticence to gather the corpses?

Butchers will only grab corpses that were marked for butchering before they became corpses or those that a hunter brings in. You could also check and make sure you don't have Ignore refuse from outside set. o->r->o

[Rysith]

Butchers will only grab corpses that were marked for butchering before they became corpses or those that a hunter brings in.

Almost. Butchers will be willing to butcher any non-tame animal corpse, or any tame animal that was marked for slaughter. Thus, if you drop a heard of wild elk on your invaders, you can butcher them afterwards. Managing the population may be a bit trickier, though.

[Mister Thou]

Butchers will be willing to butcher any non-tame animal corpse, or any tame animal that was marked for slaughter

This. Animals that gather at meeting halls are tame, and the only way to harvest tame animals' body parts for consumption and craftmaking is to mark them as butcherable. If they die any other way than being slaughtered at the butcher's shop, you cannot use their meat, fat, bones, skull, or skin.

Oh well, they're still dead, right? So the operation was mostly successful.

[Skorpion]

Butchers will only grab corpses that were marked for butchering before they became corpses or those that a hunter brings in.

Almost. Butchers will be willing to butcher any non-tame animal corpse, or any tame animal that was marked for slaughter. Thus, if you drop a heard of wild elk on your invaders, you can butcher them afterwards. Managing the population may be a bit trickier, though.

Wait, butcher the herd of elk, or the invaders?

You can never be sure with DF.

[Duke 2.0]

Butchers will only grab corpses that were marked for butchering before they became corpses or those that a hunter brings in.

Almost. Butchers will be willing to butcher any non-tame animal corpse, or any tame animal that was marked for slaughter. Thus, if you drop a heard of wild elk on your invaders, you can butcher them afterwards. Managing the population may be a bit trickier, though.

Wait, butcher the herd of elk, or the invaders?

You can never be sure with DF.

Alas, the goblins will just catch the elk. Then slaughter them. Or the other way around if there are only wrestlers.
 I'm talking about goblins here. Elk wrestlers are just...silly...
 Hmm...

 Before I go off to my DF folder, I would like to know how you dumped those cows onto your butcher. It has been shown falling creatures can be 'caught' by any creature on the ground and both will be unharmed except for being knocked over. This does not take into account sizes, so kobolds can catch whales and live.
 It appears being in the Dwarf Fortress universe make everything badass.

[WhatDoesThisLeverDo]

Ok completely thinking out loud here:

So, how about dropping a crap ton of the war dogs you just have piling up around the fortress? Whichever ones land on goblins will be caught, then a short fight, or at least distraction will ensue.

Hmm now that I thought it outloud doesn't sounds so awesome. Maybe just up and dump a crap ton of them everywhere, so most only get slightly stunned? It would be like a dropship for dogs/whatever creatures you have stockpiled.