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[nuker w]

Hey ill take one, make him a bodyguard (or if not just a guard)

[nuker w]

I'm sorry for the double post breakage, but this fourm needed a bump-start and I dont want to see it die, it could be interesting.

[Ilmoran]

Alright, I'll get this going again soon; but to warn you, updates may be somewhat infrequent.  I got to Summer of year 2 (because lets face it, playing it is more fun than making the write-up), and I was about ready to pull my hair out.  Micromanagement city.  I'm currently cooking up a re-design of the layout to take advantage of the production chain (i.e. farms above stills/mills, with kitchens below that, and "direct" drops from the farms to the kitchens, butchers above tanners and kitchens, tanners above leather workers, etc) to decrease the amount of hauling jobs and the amount of designation and turning garbage dumps on and off.  It would be more managable if "Take From Stockpile" was working, but for now my current design is a bit crazy (basically I had alternating floors of caretaker accesible areas between residents floors) to try to manage (I was up to 40 or so dwarves and pausing way more than I was letting it run).

I will give some highlights of amusement that occured:
Sleep-smoothing.  My first wave of immigrants came before their rooms were ready, so I waited for them to fall asleep, built stairs into their room, had an army of caretakers smooth the walls, and leave before they woke up.
- The first instance of sleep-smoothing had a little snafu though.  Each resident has their own food and drink barrel in their room.  Well, while I had the first guys room open, everyone decided that they wanted to drink his booze and eat his food.  The resident actually caught someone because he was still drinking when the resident woke up.  Luckily they didn't speak to each other (checked relationships, no passing aquaintence with the guy).  For subsequent sleep-smoothing I forbid the resident's food and drink before letting the caretakers in.

Attempting to keep people doing what the jobs they arrived with:  My first immigrant wave had a farmer, so food was fine.  But I didn't get a brewer until Spring year 2, and by then I was nearly out of booze.  I threw the last of my stockpiles into the residents rooms, since I will not let them out to drink water, and my caretakers had to schlep over to the brook for a drink.  I about cheered when the accomplished brewer showed up in Spring, and immediately threw every brewable plant and empty barrel into his room and told him to get to work...  Cue micromanaging the process of having him brew stuff, stop brewing, throw the barrels into the caretaker area, get the caretakers to distribute the alcohol, get the brewer to continue brewing, get the new immigrants set up in their rooms, get them beds, get them... oh for fucks sake, the new immigrants are thirsty now too!!!  I seriously spent a month dealing with 1 person after another flashing the "I'm thirsty!" exclamation point.  At least they mostly waited their turns, rather than all erupting at the same time.

Another note on keeping people with the same jobs they arrived with:  I think I need to come up with a protocol for handling excess workers of a given type.  If I end up with more of a job than I want, I can't decide if I should release them, or just increase production of that job (I'm thinking I'll free them... should make interesting journal entries).  Actually, better yet, maybe I'll kill them off; no one in the fortress will care, because of the isolation... that would be pretty funny actually.  Kill off low skill residents and any immigrant who arrive with skills I don't need.... mwahaha.

[Ilmoran]

Pseudo-update/decisions report.

Ok, I've made a couple decisions on how I'm going to play Lovelycells.  I'll be getting back in gear tonight, and should easily have a year 1 update done by this weekend.

Now for the decisions I've made:
Decision 1:  Floorplan.  I've decided to say screw it to my stacked/optimized supply chain room thing.  I don't feel like planning it that far ahead.  I'm going back to my original generic cell plan.
Decision 1a:  Farms.  I have too many.  I originally wanted to have each farmer dedicated to a specific plant, but screw that.  Since I was going with 6x6 plots, 4 of them should be massively more than I'll ever need.  2 will be above ground, and 2 subterranean.Decision 2:  Immigrants.  Originally, I wanted to assign immigrants to rooms if they had a skill needing a workshop.  Anyone else was going to be caretakers, guards/military, or doctors (except nobles.  They become residents too).  That was going to quickly run into the problem of having to use immigrants as what the came as, and ending up with 16 fisher dwarves.  My new decision is this:  When immigrants arrive, I check their skills and my current residents.  Unless I am severely lacking haulers, or they have decent military/medical skills, immgrants who have duplicates of skills of my current residents will be turned away (unless they are higher skilled than my current resident, or I want more than one resident with that skill).  These refugees/outcasts will be sent across the brook and left to their own devices to survive.  They will be a secondary fort, which will be a community fort.  You guys tell me what you want the outcasts to do, within reason.  I'll let you guys have a pick, a little food, and some booze to start, but you're on your own from there.  The main rules for the outcasts:  No trying to dig into Lovelycells, no dropping the brook into the caverns, and no looking for the HFS.

[addictgamer]

Nice fort you have there.


I'd like to have an outcast.
Male or female don't care.
Engineer (mechanics and siege)/architect/weaponsmith as his proffessions. I would prefer he/she has some skill in one of those. If not, he/she can learn on the job.
Name: Crazy Lama

[Ilmoran]

Reposting the first journal entries because they basically still apply, and to keep the record of the restarted fortress together.

Journal of Led Kubukbakust
Morning of Granite 1, 1051:
We've arrived at our destination.  I don't know why it's our destination, but it is.  We left the mountainhomes of The Equal Roof months ago, only to end up at what I assume to be some elf infested forest.  And... I don't want to tell anyone, for fear of causing a panic... but, I think I saw elephants...  why anyone would choose to settle here, I don't know, but here we are...

Afternoon of Granite 1, 1051:
Shortly after arriving, the Overseer and the Architect began discussing something.  Probably how the fortress should be laid out.  I'm not sure what they're planning here, but it certainly doesn't look like much on the surface.  This damned place is flat in all directions, unless you count the trees.  And it's all sand.  Well, on the surface anyway.  But according to the prospector's report, there's sand, clay, and then Dolomite.  With flux here, we might be able to set up a decent metalworking industry.  Not me of course, no skill for the forge.  Speaking of skills, we're an odd lot.  Of the seven of us, five are miners, and are referred to as "Caretakers".  Three of the Caretakers are engravers, while the other two (myself included) are skilled at the purging the land of these blasted trees.  Then there's the Overseer, a useless noble-in-training to be sure.  Not a skill to speak of, unless you consider speaking a skill.  Then again, he did convince us to come out there, and I have no idea how he managed it.  But we're here now, and so we better make the most of it.  Last is the "Grand" Architect.  From what I can tell, he has an eye for structure, and a mechanical aptitude.  He also seems to be prepared to build "what needs building".  Something about the way he said it seems funny, and I don't know if he actually knows how to make anything, but as long as anything he cobbles together stays standing, I won't much complain about how it looks.

Evening of Granite 1, 1051:
The Overseer called the Caretakers together and gave us our instructions.  Ambitious instructions.  He has marked off a perimeter that we will be claiming; first, we must clear it of trees and any edible plants we can find.  Erith and I can handle taking out the trees, so the orders didn't bother us.  But the other Caretakers began protesting that they had never been "Elf-loving berry pickers".  A few words from the Overseer sent them happily on their way to pick strawberries, fisher berries, and whatever else they could find.  I don't know how he does it, but I fear the Overseer can make anything sound reasonable.  After we finish clearing the vegetation, we're to begin digging.  Ambitious digging.  It will takes us at least a week to complete.  I'll sketch it out when we're done.  Tomorrow we Strike the Earth.

Embark screen:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Overview of the site (big):

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Ilmoran]

Journal Melbil Ingishtinoth, Mid-Spring, 1051:

The Overseer has set us to work preparing the site of the fortress.  We've cleared an area and begin digging a moat.  And not a moment too soon on the moat:  A herd of unicorns was spotted, as well as a Giant Jaguar!

Spoiler: Unicorns and Jaguar (click to show/hide)

The interrupted work a few times, but luckily they seem to fear us as much as we fear them.  The Overseer has said we will capture them soon, but for now, we give them a wide birth.

We've begun digging for the fortress proper, and have dug a large storage area 2 floors in.  The first floor seems to be reserved for farms.  While we continue digging out the fortress, the Overseer and Grand Architect have begun moving materials from the wagon into the storage area.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Overseer is calling, looks like my break is over.

[Ilmoran]

Journal of Obuk Onulolon, Hematite 1, 1051:

Summer has arrived, supposedly.  This place is hot year round, it can't really get any hotter, so Summer is really only a mark on the calendar.  Across the brook, the land grows barren, and the murky pools evaporate after all but the heaviest rains.  But here to the south it is almost bareable.  At least we are digging down into the ground, where it stays somewhat cooler.  The Grand Architect has given us plans to carve a dozen suites, 3 rooms connected, with a pair of stairs for access, one leading up, and another leading down.  The access points are to lead to a large, open hall.  The design seems odd, but I'm not going to be the one to argue with both the Overseer and the Grand Architect.  There seems to be something going on between them, and that makes disobedience dangerous.

So far, we have started on the suites, and have plans for smaller rooms to occupy the sides of the next floor.  I should note, when I say smaller, they are still rather large.  I once visited my cousins room back in the mountainhomes of The Equal Roof.  Let me tell you, these rooms make you question our Empires name; only the useless nobles back home would have something this grand, and even then, I think these rooms might be larger than some lesser nobles receive.  We shall see if these are indeed to be our rooms, as others have begun to suspect.  For now, I plan to keep my head low and my pick busy.  Those suits look awful easy to get locked in...

Spoiler: Carving the summer suites (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Plans for more rooms (click to show/hide)

We also have farms being prepared on the first floor, but we have no one to work them.  Hopefully this preparation proves warranted, and we receive a farmer soon.  Right now, the farm areas are two large, open sections, but the Overseer has informed us that these too will be divided into suites.  There are to be 4 farm areas total; 2 for surface crops, and 2 for underground crops.  The Overseer has had us remove the soil walls, and the Grand Architect is fashioning bricks to be used to replace those walls which were removed.  To give the farmers a nicer work area and prevent soil collapses, or some such.

Spoiler: Farms in progress (click to show/hide)

For now, I have to go.  Nish and I are planning to share some stewed donkey brain for dinner.  Wish me luck!

[Ilmoran]

Journal of Obuk, Hema... no, wait.  I can't remember what day it is.  This is unbelievable.

It's mid-summer, sometime.  It doesn't matter, this place can't be real anyway.

Immigrants arrived today.  The Overseer went out to meet them, and interviewed each one, asking their skills.  There was a miner, a gem cutter, a weaver, a farm, a dyer, and an unskilled peasant.  He warmly welcomed the skilled crafters, while directing the miner and peasant to join our team.  The miner is to be included in our workforce, while the peasant will help with mundane tasks... but the crafters... what was he thinking.

Spoiler: Therapist view of immigrants and skills (click to show/hide)

He directed the crafters to the individual suites we had prepared.  Once settled in, he ordered us to... he ordered us to remove the stairs in and out of their rooms, and ensure they remain in their rooms.  The Grand Architect made several beds, and told us to lower them into the rooms, as well as food and drink.  He went to each of the room, calling down through the hole in the ceiling, and told them that if they followed the rules and did as they were instructed, they would have lives of complete safety, with their needs fulfilled.

We're keeping them prisoner... there's no other way to put it.
I don't know what to do... the Overseer and Grand Architect are spending most of their time together, and I fear the Overseer has swayed otherwise into believing this is a good thing.  He calls them Residents, and says we are to be their Caretakers.

I don't know what to think...  I fear that if I speak out, I will be the next "Resident", and I fear that if I am punished, Nish may be punished for associating with me...

Someone is coming, I have to get back to work...

[Fourdots]

This seems really interesting; I look forward to hearing more of it, mostly for whatever strange things result from the micromanagement (misfiling items and accidentally letting dwarfs starve seem the most likely).

Have you considered rerouting some water source so that all of the residents can have wells in their rooms? Probably a bit difficult to work in unless you were already planning it, though - and digging long well shafts is a tricky process.

[Ilmoran]

This seems really interesting; I look forward to hearing more of it, mostly for whatever strange things result from the micromanagement (misfiling items and accidentally letting dwarfs starve seem the most likely).

Have you considered rerouting some water source so that all of the residents can have wells in their rooms? Probably a bit difficult to work in unless you were already planning it, though - and digging long well shafts is a tricky process.

I could probably do it fairly easily for most of the residents, except for anybody involved in the metalworking industry, because I have unique plans for their rooms already.  But that would mean the Overseer thinks they will need water some day.  He's going to take care of all their needs, and they're never going to get injured, so they don't need water.

Of course, I've already had a booze shortage due to not getting a brewer.  But you don't think the Overseer is actually sane, do you?

Edit:  Also, one person does have indoor water:  In the screenshot of the Residents' rooms being carved, notice the lower left has an extra alcove with ramps.  That leads to a tunnel out to the brook/moat.  I have already filled it successfully without flooding the fort   Used diagonal depressurization in the tunnel.

[Ilmoran]

I had hoped to finish the year one update this weekend and get to this post in chronological order, but I won't be able to post the Autumn and Winter updates until tonight, and I wanted to get people's input for what the Outcasts should do before I start playing again.

It is currently Spring of year 2 (1052), and I have just gotten the Spring immigrant wave, which blessedly contains a brewer (we're saved!)

Among the immigrants, I have:
2 hunters, who will probably become military.
A miner, who I think I'm going to keep.
An Animal Dissector, with Adequate in every craft.  Please welcome the missing link in my textile industry (he's our new clothier)
An Armorer (competent), who also has competent bowmaking.  Welcome our crossbow maker.
2 Carpenter's.  Debating if I am keeping both.
A new, useless Gem Cutter.  Outcast 1.
A Leatherworker
A Fishery worker.  Proficient fishing and skilled cleaning (and proficient dissection).  He gets the one room with water.  Hopefully it has fish (our moat seems to, and they're connected, so I think it should. (Ironically he's also a talented judge of intent, so he would make a good broker, but too bad).
A Fish Dissector who came with every farming labor enabled.  Unfortunately, he only has skill in butchery, milling, and dyeing, and I've already got better.  Outcast 2.
A Novice Farmer (butcher/brewer).  Again, I have better.  Outcast 3 (you guys get a brewer at least  )
3 milkers.  One is novice with fishing, the other two are accomplished.  One has dyeing and (novice) cheesemaking, the other has (novice) cooking and skilled armorsmithing.  But the cheesemaker has competent combat skills, so I'm keeping him.  You get the novice milker.  Outcast 4.
A Butcher.
Two tanners.  One good one (keeping), and one novice with novice combat skills.  Outcast 5.
An Herbalist hauler.
An accomplished brewer/expert weaponsmith.  HE'S MINE YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM YOU FILTHY SAVAGES!!!
A Lye Maker.
A Pump Operator with novice combat skills.  Military.
A Novice engraver with Novice animal training, and novice combat skills.  I'm kicking him out because he has the nerve to call himself an engraver.  Outcast 6.
Peasant.  Hauler.

I'm also kicking out a previous resident, a competent woodcrafter (because really, wooden crafts?).

So there are 7 outcasts total:
Gem Cutter
Fish Dissector
Butcher/Brewer
Milker
Tanner
Engraver
Woodcrafter

I will let them take 1 pickaxe and a few barrels of food.  No booze, because I'm in the middle of a shortage.  What do you want them to do?
Edit:  The outcasts can have a piece of wood too, so that they can use it to make charcoal, then cokes, and eventually an axe.

[addictgamer]

Gem cutter's mine.

Engineer (mechanics and siege)/architect/weaponsmith as his proffessions. I would prefer he/she has some skill in one of those. If not, he/she can learn on the job.
Name: Crazy Lama

What to do? Dig down a few levels until we reach rock. Then construct a small entrance around our entrance ramps/stairs.
That's my vote, anyway, for the very first thing.

[Ilmoran]

Gem cutter's mine.

Engineer (mechanics and siege)/architect/weaponsmith as his proffessions. I would prefer he/she has some skill in one of those. If not, he/she can learn on the job.
Name: Crazy Lama

What to do? Dig down a few levels until we reach rock. Then construct a small entrance around our entrance ramps/stairs.
That's my vote, anyway, for the very first thing.

I'll dwarf you tonight when I actually get people into their rooms and such.

90% sure first level will be sand and second will be loamy clay or some other such soil, so level 3 it is.  So far you're the only response, so looks like you guys are digging down to level 3, and doing... something... from there.  Got any requests for what to do on level 3?  I'm probably going to give you guys a 5-wide ramp down from the surface.  Do you want any landing in the soil levels, or straight down to the rock?
As of now, I'm planning to give Crazy Lama the pickaxe and mining skill too, since he's the only one with a Plan so far.

[addictgamer]

lol, ok.

Ya, just dig down to the rock.

Under the first level, make a small room for a farm, and place a brewery int he room accross.
If we have no seeds, brew a few plants. ONLY a few. If we have seeds, start planting right away.

Um, on level 3? Bedrooms, some workshops...