Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[buzz killington]

Being that things don't rot in 2010, am I completely screwed that a moody dwarf wants bones?

[Diablous]

You can still butcher animals, right?

[DangerHelvetica]

Ask not for whom the bone bones, it bones for thee.

[buzz killington]

Ask not for whom the bone bones, it bones for thee.

Verily!

[Deathworks]

Hi!

There is a misconception there:

Things do rot in 31.

However, some (not all) vermin remains do not rot, so they cause a major annoyance, but even among the vermin remains there are those which rot.

However, you should slaughter an animal as that will instantaneously turn the live animal into all its components, including bones. You could theoretically butcher an already dead animal (for instance gained via hunting), but butchering takes a LOT of time.

As an unrelated note, while we are on the topic: Proper animal corpses will now first rot into skeletons. Those skeletons can not be used, but they can be butchered into bones or you simply wait until they rot further which also turns them into bones.

Deathworks

[Eric Blank]

Hi!

There is a misconception there:

Things do rot in 31.

However, some (not all) vermin remains do not rot, so they cause a major annoyance, but even among the vermin remains there are those which rot.

However, you should slaughter an animal as that will instantaneously turn the live animal into all its components, including bones. You could theoretically butcher an already dead animal (for instance gained via hunting), but butchering takes a LOT of time.

As an unrelated note, while we are on the topic: Proper animal corpses will now first rot into skeletons. Those skeletons can not be used, but they can be butchered into bones or you simply wait until they rot further which also turns them into bones.

Deathworks

I've never noticed skeletons decay into bones, and dwarves will not use them when you order a dead animal butchered.
How are you getting bones from them?

[Deathworks]

Hi!

The rotting from skeleton to bone takes very long, but it happens. I have seen it myself in a fortress where the constant influx of elephants who killed themselves in my weapon traps overwhelmed my hauling capacity. Among the piles of elephant skeletons, over the years, I found more and more bones.

As for the butchering, I am afraid you are at the mercy of the dwarves there. Just make sure autobutchery is activated and a dwarf who only butchers and is constantly idle and pray. In 31.01, I first thought they would not butcher anything, until, after many years, and a lot of deer rotting to skeletal state, a dwarf suddenly decided to pick up a deer skeleton and butcher it. Trying to force the butchering has always ended in a cancellation.

So, butchering is really something you should avoid whenever possible.

Deathworks

[Eric Blank]

Ah.

How many years does it take? a decade? I think my longest running fort in 31 was about 5 years, and the skeletons were all still there from the first two years.

[Fluff]

Ask not for whom the bone bones, it bones for thee.

_{I am mature. I can control myself. I will not}

BWAHAAAHAHAHAHA!

[Deathworks]

Hi!

How many years does it take? a decade? I think my longest running fort in 31 was about 5 years, and the skeletons were all still there from the first two years.

That is strange. While I haven't actively played the fortress anymore, I got a save from 1058 where there are already elephant bones on my weapon traps - and I am pretty sure that it took me a few years to get those weapon traps ready.

The problem is, I never measured this, as I had too many elephant corpses there and once in a while, an over-eager dwarf would pull one of the corpses or skeletons over to my butcher's shop and clog it. (The weapon traps connect the fortress with the outside, so there is no way a dwarf could have carried the bones there by mistake from inside the butcher's shop or the stockpiles).

Just to add insult to injury here, those weapon traps are underground/inside, which should, as far as I remember, slow down decaying (^_^;;

I don't know why they didn't rot for you, but it should probably be less than 10 years until they have turned into bones.

My current fortress has not that many deaths outside the slaughtering (which I am really grateful for), so I am currently not in a position to collect data on this. But I have had rather curious foxes and I have created the first weapon-trapped entrance (in 1061 (^_^;; ), so maybe, I can collect some data.

Deathworks

[Jimmy]

The butchery method will only work on butcherable corpses. Goblins and other sentients aren't included, so their corpses won't be butcherable. Also forgotten beasts made of irregular materials (gemstones, metal, vomit etc) are also unbutcherable; the fleshy kind of forgotten beasts are, so if you get one and manage to kill it you can create enough food, bones and miscellaneous flim-flam to run your fortress for years or more.

[Randy Gnoman]

Only one piece of leather, though.  That's kind of odd.  You get enough flesh to feed a small army for years, and enough skin to make one pair of fantastic shoes.

I've still never seen a skeleton completely decay, but now I'm gonna have to keep an eye out for it.  Elven skull totems are my favorite form of tribute.

[DarthCloakedDwarf]

If you have ocean on your map, you might get lucky and end up with a pod of beached whales for your dwarves to dissect.

It can happen.

It's awesome.