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[mrtingle878]

I discovered and dl'ed this game almost a year ago and I just started playing after finally watching all the CaptnDuck videos.  I should have a lot sooner. 

After searching this forum and the wiki there is something that I still can't completely understand.  When I'm looking for a location and the neighbor section says Goblins (with a red line) I've gathered that they'll be in my area and attack me.  At least thats what I think from what I've read. 

If it doesnt say anything and, for example, only elves are listed do the goblins never show up. 

I was under the impression that goblins always started attacking you after a while no matter what so I'm unclear as to what the difference them being listed as neighbors vs not listed is.   The wiki says something along the lines of settling in an area with goblins is "not for the faint of heart" so maybe the just attack more?

if this is one of those things thats been asked a million times or is easily found somewere I apologize but this has been nagging me for a few days now and since I've been lurking these forums for a week or so now I figured I'd register and ask.  Hopefully as time goes by I'll get more familiar as to where to find all the info I need. 

thanks. 

[AxisKiller]

From what I understand, the 'neighbors' list are the races who can get to your fortress. If it said goblins, goblins will start attacking you once you reach a certain point. If a race isn't in the neighbors list, they shouldn't be able to reach you. For example, if you start on an island, the only race in the neighbors list is dwarves.

And by starting in an area with goblins, I'm fairly sure the wiki means starting with a goblin tower in your area.

I may be wrong on this information, so if anyone spots inaccuracies feel free to correct.

[mrtingle878]

Thanks. 

Its been bugging me because if I go to a place where goblins can't reach me, if thats the case, then the game would seem really boring.  But.. at the same time, its going to be my first real fortress so finding an area safe from attack, if thats even possible, is preferable so I can spend more time practicing and perfecting the ins and outs of daily dwarf life. 

If I'm going to be attacked at some point no matter where I go or who is around then I would at least, at this point, like it to be the path of least resistance.  (though I am looking forward to the first time my fortress is destroyed)

[AxisKiller]

Starting on a goblin tower is the only way to go for first fortresses.

Just kidding. Seriously though, it's not that hard to fend off a goblin siege if you get some basic traps going on. One 3x10 hallway filled with traps (preferably repeating spike traps or something similarly sinister) is enough to fend off the first few sieges.

[Hitori]

If a civilization isn't listed as a neighbor, it can never reach you. So if goblins aren't in the list, you'll never get attacked by them. If dwarves aren't there, you'll never get dwarven caravans, though I think it's still possible to get the odd immigrant now and again. It can make things a bit boring, but some people prefer it at times. Oh, and keep in mind that just because goblins are in the list, doesn't mean they'll always wage war with you. Now and again (rarely) I end up being friendly with them and get goblin caravans trading with me. All you have to do is kill them all a few times to change this though...

[mrtingle878]

this is probably a dumb question, but how do I know if I'm starting in an area with a goblin tower?

I don't know if its normal or not but the embark screen is the hardest thing for me to overcome.  I've played several smaller 'games' which consisted of building basic wall/tower structures to get the hang of how the dwarfs built things. (as simple as they were, looking at them in stonesense and visual fortress was amazing)  I've also set up random shops and made random equipment so I've got the basics of that down... but that embark screen...  It kills me. 

I've spent more time (hours, if not days) generating, searching, abandoning and starting over than I have actually playing the game.

also, thanks to both of you for the replies.  I think its time to just generate something, finding a decent spot and see where the game takes me.  I'm guessing thats the whole point of it anyways.   

[AxisKiller]

Here's the wiki page for the embark map icons (assuming you're still using default ASCII), it should help you some.

Clicky.

[mrtingle878]

Here's the wiki page for the embark map icons (assuming you're still using default ASCII), it should help you some.

Clicky.

wow, I managed to completely miss that page.  I'm using a tileset but that still helps a lot.  I downloaded an older vanilla version to look at things with visual fortress but its also come in handy for switching between the two to compare the ASCII vs tilesets

There were certain man made looking objects that kept popping up on the maps.  I avoided them since I wasn't certain what they were.  All this time searching and trying to figure out the map I never made the connection that those could be goblin, and other races, strongholds

like I said, I'm very new at this... and apparently pretty slow too.  thanks. 

[AxisKiller]

Nah, we were all at your stage at some point. I used Mike Mayday's tileset for my first week or so of gameplay, then switched back to ASCII once I got the feeling for everything. I've been playing so long I can read the ASCII just fine, and most tilesets look bulky/ugly to me. That's just me though.

Glad we could be of assistance, and most importantly, have Fun!

[Spectre]

Glad we could be of assistance, and most importantly, have Fun!

Notice the capital F 

[mrtingle878]

Thanks again for all the help.  I'm just finishing up on my first fortress.  I ended up getting a map with no goblins and a decent starting point so I decided to give it ago for a nice easy start.  I lost count of the years but I know at least 2 have past.  Probably more like 3 or 4+ and the fortress is going strong.  Tons of migrants have showed up but we still have more food than we can handle and the halls are nice and unclogged.  I only lost one dwarf on a suicide mission to clear some over hanging land that was bugging me. 

I kind of thought by now I would have starved to death.  I even quit controlling them for a few hours and they all did great.  It got really boring without and any real outside threat.  I didn't end up finishing what I had in mind, but it wasn't going to be much anyways so I'm starting over now and hope to get my ass kicked by goblins soon. 

This is what I ended up with.  I was planing on making the tower as tall as I could, but it just got too boring with nothing to fight

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I tried to piece it together from stonesense, minus the dozen or so mining levels, but it didn't really work out like I had hoped

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

anyways, thanks again.  I actually feel like I can sort of play this game now. 

[ungulateman]

Nice entrance. Certainly better than anything I've made, but that has more to do with my computer being terrible and my dislike of giganormous immigrant waves.

[Hitty40]

Thanks again for all the help.  I'm just finishing up on my first fortress.  I ended up getting a map with no goblins and a decent starting point so I decided to give it ago for a nice easy start.  I lost count of the years but I know at least 2 have past.  Probably more like 3 or 4+ and the fortress is going strong.  Tons of migrants have showed up but we still have more food than we can handle and the halls are nice and unclogged.  I only lost one dwarf on a suicide mission to clear some over hanging land that was bugging me. 

I kind of thought by now I would have starved to death.  I even quit controlling them for a few hours and they all did great.  It got really boring without and any real outside threat.  I didn't end up finishing what I had in mind, but it wasn't going to be much anyways so I'm starting over now and hope to get my ass kicked by goblins soon. 

This is what I ended up with.  I was planing on making the tower as tall as I could, but it just got too boring with nothing to fight

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I tried to piece it together from stonesense, minus the dozen or so mining levels, but it didn't really work out like I had hoped

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

anyways, thanks again.  I actually feel like I can sort of play this game now.

Anyone know what tileset the first spoiler picture is from?

[NecroRebel]

Anyone know what tileset the first spoiler picture is from?

It's not a tileset; it's from a visualizer. Looks like Overseer. The second one is also a visualizer shot, from Stonesense.

[Matazat]

There's two "neighboring civilizations" screens.

The first is the one you can see if you hit tab on the embark screen. This will tell you all the civs that can reach you and whether or not they're at war with you (goblins always are).

The second is the one you can see if you hit [c] ingame. This tells you all the civs you've made contact with so far, so goblins won't show up if they haven't actually been to your embark site yet, for example. Eventually, all the civs from the embark screen will show up on the ingame screen.