- Im in fear of Immigrants, in my first Game after the first wave invaded my Home one of them went Berserk (i didnt know why and i dont know now either) and killed a bunch of my Dwarves before i managed to lock him up and let him die of Thirst. Whats the common trigger of a Dwarf go berserk? Can they go mad about not having something to do? With the immigrants came a bunch of Workers i didnt need (A Gemcutter for example, i dint have any gems nor a Workshop for him or a Tanner, i dont even know what to do with a tanner)
First: You can set the population cap to limit immigrants. This will require you to edit the file d_init.txt, which you can find in your dwarf fortress install folder under the data/init folder. Find the line that says [POPULATION_CAP:200] and change the 200 to something smaller, like 20. You will still get a few immigrant waves, the first two to arrive seem to occur no matter what and the population cap doesn't seem to apply until after the first fortress liaison visits and then leaves the map anyway.
Second, going Berserk is something that can happen when a dwarf is massively unhappy for a while. He might be unhappy due to not having anywhere to sleep, or having no booze to drink, or seeing his friends torn apart by goblins, or any of a hundred other reasons. You can see how a dwarf is feeling and what's bothering him by pressing 'v', moving the cursor over that dwarf, pressing 'z', then pressing return.
Third: Tanners turn raw animal skins into leather.
- Linked with the problem above, is there a way to change the profession of a dwarf? I used Dwarf Manager to take the permission of cutting gems for the Gemcutter and gave him the Permission to mine. I hoped that way he would just dig and have something to do and not going on a Dwarf killingspree like the other guy. But he didnt mine and just stood there doin nuthin, and after a while he went melancholy and died of thirst (i should have build razorblades just so i can enjoy the death of the Sucker!)
A dwarf needs a pickaxe to mine, even if he has the mining skill enabled.
I've never used Dwarf Manager. You can change a dwarf's job permissions by pressing 'v', moving the cursor to the dwarf, pressing 'p' then pressing 'l' to get to his job labors screen. Some jobs (such as mining and woodcutting) need a tool to be performed.
- My biggest Problem is finding a good Place to embark. I used the finder but either he didnt spew out a Place with a Mountain or there where no Limestones (you need them for Iron and stuff?). It would be good to know what i actually NEED at the place i want to build, my last fortress wasnt able to make Iron and Steel, shortly after they were Slaughtered by a Goblin Ambush because i had only Wood Weapons and some Leather armor.
I never actually use the site finder anymore, it's nearly useless. I look for sites manually, based mostly off what kind of stone layers are present. Sedimentary layers contain iron ore and coal. Limestone in particular is good for this. Trees are useful to have, rivers and brooks are good for a reliable source of water, Marble is a good flux stone for making steel, and you want to avoid aquifers. I have found that what you're going to need is pretty much constant no matter where you're going to embark. I also am in the habit of using walls and traps as my main defense against enemies, so I don't worry so much about armor and weapons early on.
- And last, something about Trees and wild Animals. Do Tress regrow after you cut them down? I allways have this fear that i run out of wood before i find Magma (or because i dont find any Magma). And for the Animals, the only ones i see are the pets i have (a Horse, Cats and some Dogs mostly) do they Spawn randomly? I gave my Butcher the order to cath a Animal but the Order stood there for the whole Spring and partly summer and he never brought a Animal home (seriously, after reading about Dwarfs im pretty sure the Wildlife is just smarter than him and he stays outside and swears at a Deer from 100 Meters away).
Trees regrow eventually. In a spot where plants can grow, undisturbed outdoor soil tiles at first, you will first see a sapling appear. If your dwarves step on the sapling repeatedly they may kill it, if not after a few years it will turn into a tree.
The 'catch a live land animal' task requires you to first build animal traps at a carpenter's shop. It's only for catching small vermin-type animals (rats and such) so it's pretty much useless. To capture deer and other useful large animals you need to first build cages at a carpenter's shop, then build a few mechanisms at a mechanic's shop, then build cage traps out somewhere where deer will blunder into them.