Bay 12 Games Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

Author Topic: Random noob questions  (Read 964 times)

IDDQDwarf

  • Escaped Lunatic
    • View Profile
Random noob questions
« on: June 29, 2011, 01:20:31 am »

1) Can I somehow forbid an item from use? Or put an item on auto-dump? (For example, if I don't want diorite or some rock, is there a way to make sure that it is dumped as soon as it is mined? Or forbidden to made into anything in workshops?


2) Rat remains, lizard remains, other crappy remains. I currently have these being dumped outside my fort in a corpse pile. Do they ever go away? At what rate do they decompose? Is dumping them an more preferable than piling them? Also, often times my dwarfs won't move rat remains - what the hell is wrong with them and why are they lazy?


3) I still don't really understand cave-ins, even after reading the wiki and other explanations. How does a room or structure become disconnected from all support?


4) In my current fortress, I have yet to find any lignite or bit-coal, but I have found some magma about 8 levels down from where I currently am. Should I set up smelters for coal in the meantime, or just go straight for the magma, and how would I go about this? I haven't worked with magma yet, any advice on how not to melt the universe would be appreciated.
Logged

ffaerie

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Random noob questions
« Reply #1 on: June 29, 2011, 01:27:55 am »

1) Can I somehow forbid an item from use? Or put an item on auto-dump? (For example, if I don't want diorite or some rock, is there a way to make sure that it is dumped as soon as it is mined? Or forbidden to made into anything in workshops?


2) Rat remains, lizard remains, other crappy remains. I currently have these being dumped outside my fort in a corpse pile. Do they ever go away? At what rate do they decompose? Is dumping them an
more preferable than piling them? Also, often times my dwarfs won't move rat remains - what the hell is wrong with them and why are they lazy?


3) I still don't really understand cave-ins, even after reading the wiki and other explanations. How does a room or structure become disconnected from all support?


4) In my current fortress, I have yet to find any lignite or bit-coal, but I have found some magma about 8 levels down from where I currently am. Should I set up smelters for coal in the meantime, or just go straight for the magma, and how would I go about this? I haven't worked with magma yet, any advice on how not to melt the universe would be appreciated.
1) you go into [z] stones if you want to forbid some stones from being used as material (just set them economic);
2) they will stay there for a long time and unless your refuse pile tiles are 'outside' then they will only stay there for a year or two;
3) cave-ins you have to experience first, try starting a new embark and channelling a slope and then digging under it while removing any support (floor tiles count) from it;
4) yes, unless the magma is like 130 levels below you; don't even bother with machinery and pumps it will kill your FPS. Set up your fuel-needed industry where your magma is. Keep in mind, that steel production needs carbon-heavy stuff to produce steel (i.e. even with magma you need some charcoal). It should be easy to get some trees burnt in caverns if you wall off a little of them (provided they're not 25 z high). Floors can't be destroyed by destroyers and hatches can only be destroyed by the evil things on their level:

side view

wwwww
wgTTTT
. . www
wwwww

the creatures from below (period tiles) cannot destroy "g".
« Last Edit: June 29, 2011, 01:33:18 am by ffaerie »
Logged

AutomataKittay

  • Bay Watcher
  • Grinding gears
    • View Profile
Re: Random noob questions
« Reply #2 on: June 29, 2011, 01:55:15 am »

1) Can I somehow forbid an item from use? Or put an item on auto-dump? (For example, if I don't want diorite or some rock, is there a way to make sure that it is dumped as soon as it is mined? Or forbidden to made into anything in workshops?
Check out {z} screen and the stone screen. Make the stone you don't want to use a economical stone ( red-colored ). You can turn ore on for stone usage if you want so from there.

Quote
2) Rat remains, lizard remains, other crappy remains. I currently have these being dumped outside my fort in a corpse pile. Do they ever go away? At what rate do they decompose? Is dumping them an more preferable than piling them? Also, often times my dwarfs won't move rat remains - what the hell is wrong with them and why are they lazy?
Are the remains outside? You'll have to permit them to take refuse from outside, o>r>o>v, you might have to set refuse gathering on, which's in the same menu. They decomposes slowly, I prefer to set them to be dumped using o>r>k, they don't stinks up, so you'll be fine.

Quote
3) I still don't really understand cave-ins, even after reading the wiki and other explanations. How does a room or structure become disconnected from all support?
By not being connected at N/S/W/E by walls, floors, supports, ramps, fortifications. Walls and supports holds things below and above them. If any part of structure aren't connected in those way, it'll cave in.

Quote
4) In my current fortress, I have yet to find any lignite or bit-coal, but I have found some magma about 8 levels down from where I currently am. Should I set up smelters for coal in the meantime, or just go straight for the magma, and how would I go about this? I haven't worked with magma yet, any advice on how not to melt the universe would be appreciated.
Go straight for magma, I'd say, and make sure you never have a doorway straight into it on same level. Channel out a few spots for your workshops to get magma ( all the better if the impassable squares can cover them ), then connect them by mining. Take any ores out, and preferrably all stones so you can either dump them properly later or use it up. Then finally, smooth the wall between magma and the rest of the tunnel (prettier if you smooth all of it, but not needed ) and make sure ramps are still there ( it won't get in the way of powering things ) and carve fortification in a corner. Wait for it all to fill up past 4/7 (The magma works won't run with less ) and build the shops on top of the channel-holes.
Logged

Nagidal

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
    • My gaming channel
Re: Random noob questions
« Reply #3 on: June 29, 2011, 08:12:40 am »

I finally discovered that you can mass-select enemies for killing. :/ No need to keep track on the battlefield as much now! :D

How can you do that? (selecting multiple enemies for killing)
Logged
I stream most of my DF sessions: gaming.youtube/nagidal146, they are archived on my youtube channel. (Dwarf Fortress Tutorials)

AutomataKittay

  • Bay Watcher
  • Grinding gears
    • View Profile
Re: Random noob questions
« Reply #4 on: June 29, 2011, 08:17:49 am »

I finally discovered that you can mass-select enemies for killing. :/ No need to keep track on the battlefield as much now! :D

How can you do that? (selecting multiple enemies for killing)

Go in attack in squad orders. Select from list, hold shift to select multiple enemies to slaughter. Or use r to select an area of enemies for slaughtering (be careful with latter, you can accidentally kill your own dwarves or civ creatures, making the military the enemy of everyone ).
Logged

Nagidal

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
    • My gaming channel
Re: Random noob questions
« Reply #5 on: June 29, 2011, 09:27:27 am »

Go in attack in squad orders. Select from list, hold shift to select multiple enemies to slaughter. Or use r to select an area of enemies for slaughtering (be careful with latter, you can accidentally kill your own dwarves or civ creatures, making the military the enemy of everyone ).

Thanks.
Logged
I stream most of my DF sessions: gaming.youtube/nagidal146, they are archived on my youtube channel. (Dwarf Fortress Tutorials)

thegoatgod_pan

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Random noob questions
« Reply #6 on: June 29, 2011, 06:48:12 pm »

Actually you can't kill your own citizens with the a-r order, but be careful: you can accidentally attack a caravan, and the aforementioned loyalty cascade (military killing itself, then everyone else) will occur if you attack the dwarven caravan or emissary.
Logged
More ridiculous than reindeer?  Where you think you supercool and is you things the girls where I honestly like I is then why are humans on their as my people or what would you?