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Author Topic: Do caravans ever get stronger?  (Read 710 times)

Drakeero

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Do caravans ever get stronger?
« on: October 04, 2010, 07:20:09 pm »

And by stronger I mean... can they carry more stuff?  I've got over 4k in drink [actual drinks, not value] and 1k spare food that I've got nothing better to do then to just throw at them.  And there's a few eyesore metal cages I can't seem to get rid of that weigh a ton.

Oh yeah and humans don't seem to show up EVER in my 3.14 something or other version so its just elves [who won't touch my stuff since its all wood], and the dwarven caravan.
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Cage traps are my magma.

Shoku

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Re: Do caravans ever get stronger?
« Reply #1 on: October 04, 2010, 07:24:50 pm »

The more profit they make the more pack animals and that they will bring. More wagons too when those come back.

You can also make them bring more stuff by making it so pack animals can carry more, or by modding something like an elephant to count as a pack animal. You can actually mod it to the point where they have so much crap to unpack that they decide to leave before they were all set up.
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Drakeero

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Re: Do caravans ever get stronger?
« Reply #2 on: October 04, 2010, 07:30:03 pm »

Any quick mods that can be done without genning a new world?

And I haven't done any modding before so if you decide to help [I won't feel hurt if you don't want to be bothered], please be very clear, concise, and detailed.

I've tried reading the wiki but the light just doesn't really come on in my head yet.
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Astramancer

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Re: Do caravans ever get stronger?
« Reply #3 on: October 04, 2010, 07:45:19 pm »

Yeah, changing the tags up doesn't require a regen.

What you're looking for is..

in \dfg_31_12_b_win\data\save\region1\raw\objects

(that being, your root dwarf fortress folder, and the appropriate region save)

in the creature_domestic.txt file

You'll find the entry for, say, Donkey.

The [PACK_ANIMAL] tag means traders use it for carrying stuff.  You can feel free to add this to anything you want (though I'm pretty sure they'll only actually use them if the [PET] tag is also present. not sure if any other tags are required)

What you're looking for, however, is the [TRADE_CAPACITY:XXXX] tag.  Donkeys default to 1500 - [TRADE_CAPACITY:1500] - so you can up it.  DO NOT put it at something insanely high, like 50000, because the aforementioned "unloading for so long they pack up and leave" problem can occur.  The longer they unload, the shorter your trade window is.  So double it, or maybe even triple. 

However, if your ultimate goal is to get rid of ugly, heavy cages (and, for some reason, don't want to just melt them down/dump them into magma/crush them under a bridge), then order rocks.  Big, heavy rocks.  Buy the rocks and trade away whatever you want.
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Quietust

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Re: Do caravans ever get stronger?
« Reply #4 on: October 04, 2010, 07:49:53 pm »

DO NOT put it at something insanely high, like 50000, because the aforementioned "unloading for so long they pack up and leave" problem can occur.  The longer they unload, the shorter your trade window is.

Actually, I discovered a workaround for that a while ago - go into designation mode and click/hold on one tile, and watch the entire caravan unload (or reload when they're leaving) in the blink of an eye. It's the same bug that allows meetings to take place (and cats to adopt dwarves) while the game is paused.
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It's amazing how dwarves can make a stack of bones completely waterproof and magmaproof.
It's amazing how they can make an entire floodgate out of the bones of 2 cats.

Drakeero

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Re: Do caravans ever get stronger?
« Reply #5 on: October 04, 2010, 07:54:12 pm »

yes!  thank you, trade capacity.  Alright.  I didn't make it unreasonably high, just a bit higher.
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Shoku

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Re: Do caravans ever get stronger?
« Reply #6 on: October 05, 2010, 12:46:27 am »

Hooray for trade event timing :/
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