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[dei]

I've got a question. I have a backup of one particularly "good" embark that has all the materials for bronze, and I'm able to trade with both the dwarves and humans to get bismuth to make bismuth bronze. However when I last lost a fortress on said embark site my sole survivor of the military was a spear-wielding Rambo, and that was not enough for the second wave. I was not able to get a better military set up in time, so I lost the game.

My question is, is bismuth bronze good enough if I somehow arm my dwarves properly, or should I try to get iron one way or another?

I have another question as well that involves engineering and self-sustainability via farming and other related industries, but I plan on answering that for myself with this next incarnation of said embark. It really is my favorite embark after all and I don't want to stop playing with it.

[Nil Eyeglazed]

Bismuth bronze is good enough (not any better than regular bronze, so don't get hung up on the bismuth) for a regular military, but probably not good enough for a one-dwarf army.  Certainly, a few bronze serrated discs would chew up most invasions.

[Niccolo]

My question is, is bismuth bronze good enough if I somehow arm my dwarves properly, or should I try to get iron one way or another?

Lucky you, I can only arm my militia in copper for now.

Bronze will be good enough for generic troops, yes, as Nil noted. However, you will struggle as further waves of ambushes and sieges come.

Sieges only hit at 80 dwarves, so you'll have a good couple of years (typically around year four for me) to gather steel from humans (melt down everything iron and steel that they bring!) and dwarves to begin arming up your army.

Also consider investing in a bit of crossbow training - bones are ubiquitous, for one reason or another, in every single fort - and bone bolts make for cheap (if relatively weak) ammunition. However, a goblin that looks something like a porcupine will still suffer, even if the bolts are as weak as nerf darts.

[Retloc]

Question about mechanisms.
I've been trying to set up an filtering entrance to the fortress with a pressure plate and a hatch.
The idea was to put a plate linked up to an open hatch which would shut if enemies came near, but would remain open for dwarves.
That's the idea anyway.
In reality, it seems I can only make the pressure plate open the hatch, not close it.
Is there any way to link up a pressure plate to make a hatch close, or is there another solution for dwarf filtration? I'd like to let my dwarves come and go as they please but keep goblins and undesirables from entering. A low-maintenance entrance.

[Nil Eyeglazed]

Question about mechanisms.
I've been trying to set up an filtering entrance to the fortress with a pressure plate and a hatch.
The idea was to put a plate linked up to an open hatch which would shut if enemies came near, but would remain open for dwarves.
That's the idea anyway.
In reality, it seems I can only make the pressure plate open the hatch, not close it.
Is there any way to link up a pressure plate to make a hatch close, or is there another solution for dwarf filtration? I'd like to let my dwarves come and go as they please but keep goblins and undesirables from entering. A low-maintenance entrance.

It's, uhh, complicated.

The simple answer is to use a bridge instead of a hatch.  When triggered, a hatch opens.  When triggered, a bridge retracts (or raises).  So you have inverse effects, assuming you want the hatch to open to permit access (you can also build it so a hatch serves as a floor, rather than a ceiling, in which case a hatch would do the trick; use a hatch over an empty channel for this effect.)

It gets complicated by the fact that bridges only trigger after a delay.  So you'd have to put the pressure plate a long ways (10 tiles or more) from the bridge.

Alternatively, you could build a water logic inverter system.  This would consist of a pressure plate that is normally dry, leading to a trigger task (opening the hatch) until it gets covered with water, caused by an opening hatch above it dropping water on it.  This is confusing and complicated, and it would still lead to a delay.

I guess the simplest version of your system looks something like:

Code: [Select]

side view:

__^H____>XXX
XXX\_XXX<___

H = hatch
^ = pressure plate
> = down stair
< = up stair
X = wall
\ = ramp
_ = floor

where the pressure plate is set to trip on all weights but no civilians, and is linked to the hatch.  That opens that hatch, blocking access to your stairwell.  If you design it well, this should be proof against goblins, but trolls or ogres will just march up and destroy the hatch and then nobody can get in and you have to rebuild the whole setup.

[Mechatronic]

I've got a question. I have a backup of one particularly "good" embark that has all the materials for bronze, and I'm able to trade with both the dwarves and humans to get bismuth to make bismuth bronze. However when I last lost a fortress on said embark site my sole survivor of the military was a spear-wielding Rambo, and that was not enough for the second wave. I was not able to get a better military set up in time, so I lost the game.

My question is, is bismuth bronze good enough if I somehow arm my dwarves properly, or should I try to get iron one way or another?

I have another question as well that involves engineering and self-sustainability via farming and other related industries, but I plan on answering that for myself with this next incarnation of said embark. It really is my favorite embark after all and I don't want to stop playing with it.

Bronze is fine. I've had fortresses use it pretty much exclusively.

[Kay12]

Bismuth bronze is better, though, if you can access bismuth easier than tin.

But if you ask me, metals are a luxury. I've played almost exclusively metal-poor embarks, and they aren't even hard. I tend to be very pinchy with metal anyway - it's only used for SPECIAL purposes...

[Vonyx]

Another Q.

Got a hydra, trapped it and tamed it.

Last time I did that he became tame, but attacked my dwarves.

This time it didn't, will it attack my dwarves when any enemy attacks next time, or is it really tame this time?

(Using the lazy newb pack, exotic animals turned of)

[Antonater]

are dungeon masters still bugged, if so how do i set all animals to non-exotic

[Niccolo]

This time it didn't, will it attack my dwarves when any enemy attacks next time, or is it really tame this time?

Simple answer: If you caught it before he killed any dwarves, then he will be tame.

Any animal that has tasted dwarven blood can never be truly tamed - Which I expect was the case with your first hydra.

are dungeon masters still bugged, if so how do i set all animals to non-exotic

Yes, they're still bugged.

To make all pets non-exotic, you have to be prepared to do a lot of RAWs editing. Navigate to the RAWs folder in the Dwarf Fortress directory (DwarfFortress --> raw --> objects) and open up every single .txt file that begins with the word creature.

Then, search for every tag that says [PET_EXOTIC] and replace it with [PET]. The square brackets are important!

Then save and generate up a new world.

[greycat]

Bismuth bronze is better, though, if you can access bismuth easier than tin.

Not exactly:

Bismuth bronze has the exact same weapon and armor properties as regular bronze. It can be used to make all furniture and other objects. Bismuth bronze is 20% more valuable than bronze, three times more valuable than its component parts, and has a unique color.

Bismuth bronze is made with the following recipe:
* 1 tin bar + 2 copper bars + 1 bismuth bar (not ores)

[squeakyReaper]

Is it water into magma for obsidian, or vice versa?  It seems to be pour magma onto water, but wanted to make sure.

[Urist Imiknorris]

Either way works.

[Niccolo]

Lo, for it is written:

Magma is the blood of the earth, fire bound into liquid
form.

Water is the tears of the sky, a force placed to hold the
fires of the blood at bay.

And so it is ordained that never shall the twain meet
for in their meeting would stone as black as midnight
be forged to not permit the Great Forces to mix.

This holy stone is the material of the crucible used by
the God in the time of the Great Forging, when the
hidden and immovable stone was forged to form the
core of the world. Upon the mixing of the Great Forces
would the key to this immovable and indestructible
prison be created, allowing free that which has been
sealed within this world for eternity.

We of the Digging Clans do play with the very forces
of nature on a whim and fancy, not knowing of the
powers that lie just beyond our reach.



But, yeah. Either magma into water or water into magma will result in obsidian.

[UristMcHuman]

What's a good name for underground-dwelling dwarfs? I'm making a cavern-exclusive fort, and I can't come up with a good name for this group of dwarfs.