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[Lemunde]

I've done a couple of desert fortresses before.  One was pretty successful, the other I pretty much just forgot about.  They really don't seem that difficult.  I think you need a little more alcohol early on and it's a good idea to embark on a map with a river or an aquifer.  Murky pools aren't even out of the question.

Lumber might be an issue early on but the longer you play the more trees(cacti) show up and it's not long before the map has as much wood as a heavily forested one.

I just started a new fortress on a nice red desert map next to some hot mountains.  http://mkv25.net/dfma/map-7621-mirrorroast  There's a chasm with some rat and bat men in it and platinum and iron is exposed in several areas.  I really like the way these desert maps look.  Each one has a unique feel to it.

So does anyone else have any experience playing on a desert map? 

[Mephansteras]

Most interesting desert I ever had was one with a small river that flooded every spring when the ice melted. Something to do with the timing of various biomes changing season, I think. In any case it was very interesting playing on that map and dealing with the seasonal floods.

Not sure if I still have it around somewhere or not. I'll have to go look.

[smjjames]

me

I like playing on desert maps because it takes the load off the FPS. Although with the recent FPS boosts, I've taken more to forested maps, but I still gravitate more towards desert maps.

I have quite a bit of experience with desert maps, so I generally do quite well when the resources are there.

Edit: a map with seasonal floods would be cool.

[silhouette]

A partial desert.
Saying that i mean 1/2 desert 1/8 savanha and 3/8 mountains.

I didnt have cacti though and only got trees from the savanha and caravans...

Im liking it though.
I love the red sanded deserts aswell, ima try to get a black sanded desert.
I find deserts are perfect for making randomly large megaprojects as theyre usually flat .

The desert i played in had a TINY underground river ( it came from the edge of the map, went across like five tiles then down a massive drop and into the center of the earth), a magma pipe exactly where i was going to build a sky pillar, a MASSIVE chasm that pretty much split the map in half, a bottomless pit, although i cant be bothered with it currently.

[Kyronea]

Most interesting desert I ever had was one with a small river that flooded every spring when the ice melted. Something to do with the timing of various biomes changing season, I think. In any case it was very interesting playing on that map and dealing with the seasonal floods.

Not sure if I still have it around somewhere or not. I'll have to go look.

I would love the world gen info if you can get it. That sounds fantastic to me as a geology student, just to see.

[Skorpion]

My last major fort was in a desert. The only difference was the lack of wildlife, and TOTAL lack of above-ground trees.

[smjjames]

My last major fort was in a desert. The only difference was the lack of wildlife, and TOTAL lack of above-ground trees.

I usually have tons of camels (of both types) and whatever mountain critters decide to roam around.

[Flying Carcass]

Most interesting desert I ever had was one with a small river that flooded every spring when the ice melted. Something to do with the timing of various biomes changing season, I think. In any case it was very interesting playing on that map and dealing with the seasonal floods.

Not sure if I still have it around somewhere or not. I'll have to go look.

That sounds pretty cool. Was the flooding high enough to drown ground-level dwarves?

[Mephansteras]

Maybe right near the banks it would be, but I generally kept my dwarves away from it during that season to avoid stuff like that. Never lost anyone to it, in any case. Although I think some invaders did get swept into the river at one point.

[Lemunde]

Argh!  The aquifer I was promised is nowhere to be found.  So now I'm on a hot desert map without a single drop of water.  Well, this should be fun(tm).

[Skorpion]

My last major fort was in a desert. The only difference was the lack of wildlife, and TOTAL lack of above-ground trees.

I usually have tons of camels (of both types) and whatever mountain critters decide to roam around.

Yeah, but when you eliminate all the camels, shoot down the giant eagle, kill and eat the repeated big cats, and the scorpion blunders straight into the entrance guards, you're left with nothing.

[Yagrum Bagarn]

I'm also in a red sand desert, doing just about the same thing as silhouette.  I have a small underground river (dammed), too, as well as HFS.

My location is very dramatic.  Mountains drop precipitously into the sand, and on an outcropped knee sits Heavenslabor the Blister of Onslaught.

To one side of my entrance sat an exposed magma pipe.  Now it's the base of a tower that's quickly climbing into the sky.

Maybe I'll pave it.

The sky, that is.

[Amalgam]

Argh!  The aquifer I was promised is nowhere to be found.  So now I'm on a hot desert map without a single drop of water.  Well, this should be fun(tm).

Might try digging under all on-site biomes for the aquifer. If that doesn't work try all elevation levels. I think aquifers behave a little weird sometimes.

[darkflagrance]

My last two forts were deserts. The best thing about them is the sand, I think. Other than that, as long as you have magma, I don't find the lack of trees to be significant; the traders' offerings account for what I need (via timely forbidding of all current lumber stocks).

Underground rivers help to compensate as well.

Also, I once saw a human local leader of a goblin civ get run over by a herd of camels. This same local leader was an elite sniper who had once exterminated five of my best champions...

[smjjames]

Yea, having a wood shortage is a real problem early on though when you need it to make beds and barrels.

Embarking with as much wood as you can pack is a must for me when I embark on desert biomes unless there is another biome with plenty of trees.