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Author Topic: How to get back into Dwarf Fortress?  (Read 1865 times)

Chattox

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How to get back into Dwarf Fortress?
« on: January 28, 2011, 06:58:51 am »
I stopped playing Dwarf Fortress a while ago when a couple games came out, and I've just gotten a kickass new computer that I want to play DF on. However, I have serious trouble actually starting up a fort. I can never seem to find the right embark site, and when I finally do there's always something wrong like a river in the way or something. How can I get over this? Is there any way of hand crafting the perfect embark site?
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Quote from: Osdeath on July 15, 2010, 04:57:49 pm
"10 z levels down, 10 tiles north is some blood, i shall go clean it before it drives me to insanity with it's crimson color"
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Haruspex_Pariah

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Re: How to get back into Dwarf Fortress?
« Reply #1 on: January 28, 2011, 07:04:39 am »
What kind of site would you consider to be "perfect"? Aquifers, rivers, and rock layers should be clearly noted in the embark screen.
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Chattox

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Re: How to get back into Dwarf Fortress?
« Reply #2 on: January 28, 2011, 07:12:28 am »
My main problem is that unless I have my entrance dug into a west facing wall, trailing off to the east, the whole fortress just feels "wrong". Awkward, I know. On top of that, ideally I'd like a temperate, forested site with a sedimentary flux layer, but that isn't as hard to get as the orientation of the wall.
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Quote from: Osdeath on July 15, 2010, 04:57:49 pm
"10 z levels down, 10 tiles north is some blood, i shall go clean it before it drives me to insanity with it's crimson color"
Quote from: Flying Dice on January 14, 2013, 09:59:39 pm
The setting of Half-Life 2 Episode 3's release: "It is the 41st Millennium. For more than a hundred centuries the Gabe has sat immobile on the..."

The Dog Delusion

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Re: How to get back into Dwarf Fortress?
« Reply #3 on: January 28, 2011, 07:26:54 am »
Honestly, once I decide on what kind of site I want, I usually plan on spending my first "day" of playing just genning and searching worlds. Maybe you'll find what you're looking for - more often than not, I end up settling for something unexpectedly cooler than my original plan called for.

But yeah, I say either be prepared to put in the time searching, or be prepared to settle for something different.

Alternately, there's a "perfect world generator" mod or hack out there somewhere that might help you, though I've never used it, so honestly, I don't know what it does or how it works. But it sounds like it might be useful for you.
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Quote from: elf-fondling human on June 20, 2011, 03:11:33 pm
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Haruspex_Pariah

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Re: How to get back into Dwarf Fortress?
« Reply #4 on: January 28, 2011, 07:32:13 am »
If you stay on these forums long enough (i.e. half an hour) you'll find that a west-facing wall is the least unusual thing players ask for.

But back to your problem, I guess you could use the elevation map on the embark screen (press tab to toggle through the views) and adjust your embark square until you get a hill facing west. Only thing I could think of, hope it helps.
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xmakina

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Re: How to get back into Dwarf Fortress?
« Reply #5 on: January 28, 2011, 08:19:51 am »
Are you an elf? If you don't have a west facing entrance, strike the earth (with a mixture of Channel and Ramp Upwards) until you do!

But maybe take a few miners (or at least picks) to make sure you aren't waiting all season. Also, potential mega project of moving a mountain from the west side of the embark to the east?
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Girlinhat

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Re: How to get back into Dwarf Fortress?
« Reply #6 on: January 28, 2011, 09:27:33 am »
Most players seem to have their own map cookbooks prepared, so tackling the Advanced World Parameters is always a safe thing to do.  I've got a plan that gens flat worlds with medium rivers and lots of forests, perfect for my fuel-heavy industry and my anal-retentive desire to play on flat maps. 
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Chattox

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Re: How to get back into Dwarf Fortress?
« Reply #7 on: January 28, 2011, 11:44:36 am »
Quote from: Girlinhat on January 28, 2011, 09:27:33 am
Most players seem to have their own map cookbooks prepared, so tackling the Advanced World Parameters is always a safe thing to do.  I've got a plan that gens flat worlds with medium rivers and lots of forests, perfect for my fuel-heavy industry and my anal-retentive desire to play on flat maps. 

That sounds great for me, I can play on flat maps since it's just a case of digging down a bit an then making a west facing entrance, feels the same to me. Could I have your worldgen parameters please? :)
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Quote from: Osdeath on July 15, 2010, 04:57:49 pm
"10 z levels down, 10 tiles north is some blood, i shall go clean it before it drives me to insanity with it's crimson color"
Quote from: Flying Dice on January 14, 2013, 09:59:39 pm
The setting of Half-Life 2 Episode 3's release: "It is the 41st Millennium. For more than a hundred centuries the Gabe has sat immobile on the..."

Urist Imiknorris

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Re: How to get back into Dwarf Fortress?
« Reply #8 on: January 28, 2011, 12:00:14 pm »
Make your first fort's goal to dig as deep as possible to familiarize yourself with the new underground.
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Girlinhat

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Re: How to get back into Dwarf Fortress?
« Reply #9 on: January 28, 2011, 12:21:11 pm »
I had to paint on the mountains so the dwarves would live somewhere, or else it'd fail to place them because of lack of mountains.  This is also modded so that about half the map is Evil, which can be much Fun.  I'm currently embarking on a 3x3 evil now, zombie foxes are interrupting my woodcutters :c

This is also tweaked for wide open cavern layers, a bit of stone (~50 layers before caverns) to play with, and a lot of megabeasts and titans.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
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Chattox

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Re: How to get back into Dwarf Fortress?
« Reply #10 on: January 28, 2011, 01:07:49 pm »
Quote from: Girlinhat on January 28, 2011, 12:21:11 pm
I had to paint on the mountains so the dwarves would live somewhere, or else it'd fail to place them because of lack of mountains.  This is also modded so that about half the map is Evil, which can be much Fun.  I'm currently embarking on a 3x3 evil now, zombie foxes are interrupting my woodcutters :c

This is also tweaked for wide open cavern layers, a bit of stone (~50 layers before caverns) to play with, and a lot of megabeasts and titans.

Noob question, but how to I paint in mountains and make it less evil? Thanks, btw :)
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Quote from: Osdeath on July 15, 2010, 04:57:49 pm
"10 z levels down, 10 tiles north is some blood, i shall go clean it before it drives me to insanity with it's crimson color"
Quote from: Flying Dice on January 14, 2013, 09:59:39 pm
The setting of Half-Life 2 Episode 3's release: "It is the 41st Millennium. For more than a hundred centuries the Gabe has sat immobile on the..."

Deadly Lamarr

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Re: How to get back into Dwarf Fortress?
« Reply #11 on: January 28, 2011, 01:31:46 pm »
Quote from: Urist Imiknorris on January 28, 2011, 12:00:14 pm
Make your first fort's goal to dig as deep as possible to familiarize yourself with the new underground.

You are an evil, evil man. :P

Quote from: Girlinhat on January 28, 2011, 12:21:11 pm
I had to paint on the mountains so the dwarves would live somewhere, or else it'd fail to place them because of lack of mountains. 

Have you tried modding the dwarves' [START_BIOME:MOUNTAIN] token to [START_BIOME:ANY_LAND] (for example) in entity_default.txt?
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Girlinhat

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Re: How to get back into Dwarf Fortress?
« Reply #12 on: January 28, 2011, 04:13:54 pm »
Oh, for that I just kept re-genning.  Eventually the mountains won't be evil.  I can't think of any real other way to achieve that, aside from making dwarves into plains creatures.
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profit

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Re: How to get back into Dwarf Fortress?
« Reply #13 on: January 28, 2011, 05:01:31 pm »
I embarked on a glacier... and I am doing just fine.

Dont worry about your site too much, the only thing that probably will concern you is the presence of an aquifer.

Everything else is just not as important as it use to be.  Even sand can be brought in if you dont need too much of it.

Even tree's, as you will soon be stumbling into your first cavern layer and have plenty of tree's and water. Matter of fact for me it is really inconveniently high.... normally only like 6 layers of rock down.

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Mods and the best utilities for dwarf fortress
Community Mods and utilities thread.

Sutremaine

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Re: How to get back into Dwarf Fortress?
« Reply #14 on: January 28, 2011, 07:08:59 pm »
Quote from: Deadly Lamarr on January 28, 2011, 01:31:46 pm
Quote from: Urist Imiknorris on January 28, 2011, 12:00:14 pm
Make your first fort's goal to dig as deep as possible to familiarize yourself with the new underground.
You are an evil, evil man. :P
No, it's a good idea. There's lots down there to do, kind of like in 2D but less predictable. I approve.
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