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[Sines314]

I have experienced my first bit of true Fun in this game. Well, not counting the time I flooded the world five minutes after embarking (I was just getting a hang of this irrigation thing). I dug a hole to hell and the demons found out just how flammable beards were. My military which conquered forgotten beasts like defenseless kittens fell before I was able to react in any meaningful way, slaughtered like defenseless kittens. Oh, and so were the kittens. And once they got outside, the plains burned leaving behind nothing but ashes.

So, I'll probably be starting over again. A couple of questions first. First off, I never had to deal with any above ground threats. Just cave monsters, forgotten beasts, and a host of demons, but I'm not sure how I can ensure my next fortress might be close enough to goblins (Although I can always build my fortress somewhere with evil animals likely to break down my doors regularly). Same with magma (Which I never encountered). So I'm wondering how to find those.

Also, I'm interested in trying a less hospitable area to live in, now that I know more or less what I'm doing. Evil, savage, freezing or scorching. My last home was just too easy, no enemies apart from the occasional cave beast and two forgotten beasts that fell almost instantly (They were more of a boon to me than a threat, from all the meat and whatnot I got out of them), and the worst crisis my dwarves ever had (Apart from the apocalypse) was that I had so much food the barrels were all used to store them, and there was none left for alcohol. Basically, I'm looking for a level of fun between actively seeking hell because I have nothing challenging me, and facing the hordes of hell with no chance for survival. Any suggestions would be appreciated, especially if you can elaborate on what shall make them... *ahem* interesting ^_^

And one last thing. While most of my dwarves went down like chumps, Cerol Regerush the commander who lead my army to swift victory over the forgotten beasts, and turned down a barony because it would interfere too much with her asskicking, went down fighting ten demons at once, all alone, and took quite some time to die. I would wish to honor her in my new fortress (In the same world, obviously), is there anyway to encourage my dwarves to remember her deeds, or shall I simply create a megaconstruction in her honor? And what might it be? A giant statue? A massive, multilayered and phenomenally decorated empty tomb?

Thanks for the help!

EDIT: Also, how might one go about getting a better log of what happens during combat? All I see are the sprites dancing around each other until someone dies, and at most, I can check the damage, I have no idea who struck what blows or who killed who. Most regretably, the most I will ever know about Cerol's last stand is that she bled to death.

[Mason11987]

I have experienced my first bit of true Fun in this game. Well, not counting the time I flooded the world five minutes after embarking (I was just getting a hang of this irrigation thing). I dug a hole to hell and the demons found out just how flammable beards were. My military which conquered forgotten beasts like defenseless kittens fell before I was able to react in any meaningful way, slaughtered like defenseless kittens. Oh, and so were the kittens. And once they got outside, the plains burned leaving behind nothing but ashes.

So, I'll probably be starting over again. A couple of questions first. First off, I never had to deal with any above ground threats. Just cave monsters, forgotten beasts, and a host of demons, but I'm not sure how I can ensure my next fortress might be close enough to goblins (Although I can always build my fortress somewhere with evil animals likely to break down my doors regularly). Same with magma (Which I never encountered). So I'm wondering how to find those.

Before you [e]mbark while looking for a location you can press [tab] a few times, until you see a list of civs, if Goblins are on there, they'll visit.

Magma should be on every map, you hit hell but didn't hit magma?  That's unfortunate.  If you dig down and avoid adamantine you should hit magma eventually.


Also, I'm interested in trying a less hospitable area to live in, now that I know more or less what I'm doing. Evil, savage, freezing or scorching. My last home was just too easy, no enemies apart from the occasional cave beast and two forgotten beasts that fell almost instantly (They were more of a boon to me than a threat, from all the meat and whatnot I got out of them), and the worst crisis my dwarves ever had (Apart from the apocalypse) was that I had so much food the barrels were all used to store them, and there was none left for alcohol. Basically, I'm looking for a level of fun between actively seeking hell because I have nothing challenging me, and facing the hordes of hell with no chance for survival. Any suggestions would be appreciated, especially if you can elaborate on what shall make them... *ahem* interesting ^_^

For the barrels, you can set a food stockpile that doesn't hold alcohol and limit it to zero barrels, then have a separate alcohol pile, that might help.

In terms of difficulty, going tin a goblin area and not using weapon/spike/stone/cage traps is always fun.

And one last thing. While most of my dwarves went down like chumps, Cerol Regerush the commander who lead my army to swift victory over the forgotten beasts, and turned down a barony because it would interfere too much with her asskicking, went down fighting ten demons at once, all alone, and took quite some time to die. I would wish to honor her in my new fortress (In the same world, obviously), is there anyway to encourage my dwarves to remember her deeds, or shall I simply create a megaconstruction in her honor? And what might it be? A giant statue? A massive, multilayered and phenomenally decorated empty tomb?

If it's in the same world and you do a lot of engraving and the like, it's possible they will carve something of her.  (A guess) maybe embarking to the same civ might make it more likely?  Otherwise build something awesome in her honor.

Thanks for the help!

EDIT: Also, how might one go about getting a better log of what happens during combat? All I see are the sprites dancing around each other until someone dies, and at most, I can check the damage, I have no idea who struck what blows or who killed who. Most regretably, the most I will ever know about Cerol's last stand is that she bled to death.

Press [r].

[Beeskee]

If you build statues in the same world you will eventually get a statue of those dwarfs. Same with crafts, you will eventually get figurines of the dwarfs you want. You can build a big tomb (no bodies but whatever) as a monument and decorate it with statues and stockpiles with those figurines.

For a more dangerous area, try a freezing cold place, a boiling hot place, or any evil place. Look for purple woods and mountains, and gray and red mottled plains.

Extreme temperature will provide environmental difficulties, while evil areas will provide lots of things to fight.

To find magma, dig down. Avoid the special pillars since they go through the magma, or stick to the outer edge of one to find magma. If all else fails, use the Stonesense visualizer and shift-H to unHide the hidden stone. (This only unhides the stone in Stonesense, there are no dangers to your saved game)

Remember to never dig into the side of magma if you can help it. Channeling down or digging stairs down from above can safely reveal it.


For combat reports, press "r". The red C in the upper left corner shows up when there are combat reports. Each one shows details about who got hit where with what, etc, for each attack.  Since your fort ended and you can't check the reports now, legends mode may show some details about the battle.


For lack of barrels, be careful not to over-gather or over-produce. Smaller, individual stockpiles help manage this. I put a "drink only" and a "prepared food only" stockpile in each main dining room, and cookables-only in my kitchen area, and plants-only in my brewing area.  Remember a dwarf doesn't need a thousand drinks available when they are thirsty, they just need one.

[Sines314]

Thanks for the advice. But what do you guys think is the most interesting/fun? I'm thinking evil sounds better, as it seems that once I can deal with the lack of water in hot or cold areas, then all I have to do is minimize time outside my fortress, but evil areas will regularly have the dead breaking down my door. Alternatively, are there any other embarkation area condition that make things harder, other than aquifers or the lack of plants / flux stone, or have I got a full appraisal of the list?

[Mason11987]

Thanks for the advice. But what do you guys think is the most interesting/fun? I'm thinking evil sounds better, as it seems that once I can deal with the lack of water in hot or cold areas, then all I have to do is minimize time outside my fortress, but evil areas will regularly have the dead breaking down my door. Alternatively, are there any other embarkation area condition that make things harder, other than aquifers or the lack of plants / flux stone, or have I got a full appraisal of the list?

Natural challenges the game offers:
Invaders + similar
No easy water (cold-hot terrain)
No plants
No flux
No iron
No friendly traders
Aquifers

If those don't do it for you, you'll have to go other routes:
Force restrictions on yourself - No traps, hermit quest
Make the game harder - Various mods add more difficulty
Limit stuff on embark (nothing? It's possible on some embarks)
Set up goals for yourself - X wealth in a year, no deaths

[Beeskee]

It sounds like you really want to try an evil area, so go for it.

If you are still unsure of what evil areas are like, remember that evil areas spawn zombie/skeletal monsters like regular areas spawn animals. So every time you see a deer or whatever in your current map, remember that it will be a zombie deer that wants to eat your dwarfs on an evil map. Mixed biome forts spawn mixed creature sets, if you want to mix it up.

Each embark area offers it's own challenges - even good areas can be precarious.

[clc02]

Also a note on evil areas, the wildlife will show up as soon as the previous is killed (Or it was in 40d) so, if you chose a small embark (The stories on micro fortress (1x1 fortress mod) are hilarious) your dwarves can get swamped.

My favorite challenge: Embark with nothing save 2 copper nuggets.  It can be done.
Hint:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The wagon is made of 3 logs

[Sines314]

Started on a terrifying mountain bordering a savage forest. No goblins, but the only other two areas that would be kind enough to provide me some evil territory... contained an aquifer (It was a swamp) or was on a glacier. It's fun enough though, I got attacked by a skeletal giant eagle about 3 minutes in, and it proceeded to tear my dog apart. Oddly enough, the dog is still alive a season later. Now I got tons of skeletal mountain goats just staring at me from the rock cliffs. Should be fun enough, when I manage to get myself killed though, I'll try some goblins next time.

[Nil Eyeglazed]

It's not really that hard of a game unless you give up the moment things don't go your way.  I'm sure you've already figured that out.

[Sines314]

Well, it took me like 1-2 years to actually get into it enough to know what I'm doing, playing on and off every several months. From what I've heard, this happened to alot of people.

[Sines314]

Hmmm... while I was attacked by several undead creatures early on, I have not had to face one nuissance since! It's kind of weird. Anyone know why this might be, and if it might just be a temporary lull in the dead?

Ah well, in the face of absolutely no threats, I have decided to put effort into a drowning trap. I don't actually need it, but that's no reason not to do it! It's just designed to close off my fortress entrance and deluge everything in front of it. It's the only real complicated bit of engineering I've yet done, the most I've done since is a floodgate resivoir system for irrigating my crops. If by the time it's finished, I haven't met further threats, I'll probably drown the next elven caravan and move to somewhere where I can fight goblins.

[s20dan]

If you want a challenge, forget about goblins. Once you are set up, goblins will probably never cause a problem other than FPS.

 Try Embarking on a Scorching desert. There will be no initial water, unless you find an aquifier. Even better would be an evil desert, or an evil glacier.

 I reckon the most fun/FUN I have had so far has been on a glacier which had a volcano. Goblins were a minor threat, with the biggest threat being the environment itself.

[Sines314]

Volcanic glaciers, eh? I imagine those aren't too common. Do you still have the seed for that, if it's for the recent version? I think I only have one volcano on my world, and I wonder how many I'd have to make to achieve that...

[Sines314]

In retrospect, I don't really need a drowning trap.. I simply need to submerge the entire place. I'll simply build the screw pumps to bring the water up to the highest point on the map (As I understand it, screw pumps can't pump to higher levels than them) and cover the brook in floor tiles, leaving nowhere for the water to drain out. With my only entrance then sealed, my dwarves will happily exist buried under several tons of water. Sure, they'll develop cave adaptation, but if they leave the fortress, that'll be the least of their worries.

[s20dan]

I don't have that particular worldgen file anymore, as it was a few months back. But I do have a pretty nifty map I'm using at the moment which has a lot of interesting features like Low Volcanoes, underwater volcanoes, volcanoes a few Z levels below the surface  Theres no glacier volcano on this one, although there are frozen tundras with volcanoes. If you try a differnet seed I would bet that you could get one, as I have seen on on this exact map before but using another seed.

Its a very long file, so I'll have to upload it instead of posting here : http://rapidshare.com/files/407137683/region1-world_gen_param.7z

 If you gen that map, try looking for the volcano that is a little west and south of the starting position in the embark finder. Its West of a mountain home/ Dwarf city.  Thats where I have embarked, its a good spot but its not particularly challenging like a glacier or desert would be. There are some decent scorching deserts far to the south though.

 Edit//   I have noticed a good spot on that map that could be a nice challenge, its a volcano in the Evil sea to the south east which is on an island, so no trading and theres also a cave filled with Giants Its right at the bottom of the eastern sea.
 The 2 underwater volcanoes I have spotted are in that same sea but further north.

.. I simply need to submerge the entire place. I'll simply build the screw pumps to bring the water up to the highest point on the map (As I understand it, screw pumps can't pump to higher levels than them) and cover the brook in floor tiles, leaving nowhere for the water to drain out. With my only entrance then sealed, my dwarves will happily exist buried under several tons of water.....

 Your right about the screwpumps.  Although they won't go above their own level, they are capable of pumping liquid at extreme rates, and pressure will build up when they are sealed The submerge idea is a lot of fun to try and do, I have tried that once by damming up a river in several places so it would fill back up to the waterfall 7z levels up. The fort I made is on the DFMA have a look it might give you some ideas and you can see where I fucked up. http://www.mkv25.net/dfma/map-9083-willfulshot