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[bloodtoes]

Recently I found what seemed like the perfect embark. At the foot of a volcano, a river, lots of trees, snow in the winter (I like these for engineering around ponds), plenty of rain, tons and tons of iron ore and flux and fuel, etc. So I started playing it and everything was going just peachy. I had an army training, fully geared in the finest steel armor and weapons, and the fort's layout was a point of pride.

But after a few years I noticed something odd.. I had had no invasions, not even so much as a snatcher, and I couldn't recall having seen any humans or elves either. So I checked the civilizations menu.. the only entry was my host dwarven civilization. Damn! Might've been a good mega-project embark but I'm keen on trading and battling off invasions (and locking the gates when a siege / elven caravan overlap). It had such promise but I had to abandon fort then and there.

What sort of (avoidable) things have happened to ruin your perfect embark? Something you forgot? Accidentally drowned everyone but the cheesemaker's wife?

[krisslanza]

I've had moments like that. For some reason, checking the Civilization tab before I embark is something I always forget.
...
In fact, I didn't check before I just tried this embark... oh boy. Better take a peek...
EDIT:
Only see my home civ listed but... I forget if all the nearby civs are auto listed or not...

[Corneria]

The civ tab post embark only shows civilizations who have a member currently within your area, not neighbors.

[crekit]

Said it had metal. It lied.

It had flux!

But, this wasn't the problem... The problem was me not knowing very much about fortress defense. You know marksdwarves need quivers?

[ohgoditburns]

Let me guess... it had cobaltite? I think that counts as a metal.

[Teneb]

Let me guess... it had cobaltite? I think that counts as a metal.

I think microline also counts. At least cobaltite can be used for mega-projects that need blue parts.

[Jake]

Somehow I managed both of these screw-ups in the same embark. No human or elven caravan and the only metal ore I can find is sphalerite. There's allegedly deep metals as well, but am I supposed to tackle the caverns with wooden crossbows, bone bolts and leather armour?

[Crustypeanut]

Cobaltite doesn't count as a metal, its a stone, though it has the graphic of a metal.  If it does count as a metal on the embark screen, then thats stupid as hell. 

[Zaerosz]

All non-layer non-gem stones count as metals on the embark screen.

[franti]

I'm glad I don't have this update, then. My embark screen just lists the layers of stone and dirt. I can tell what metals I'll get by the stone: Basalt and Granite = Hematite, Native Copper, Native Gold, Galena, Cassiterite, and Bismuthine.

Also, I heard the amount of metals is seriously reduced in the new ones. Is that true?

[bloodtoes]

I'm glad I don't have this update, then. My embark screen just lists the layers of stone and dirt. I can tell what metals I'll get by the stone: Basalt and Granite = Hematite, Native Copper, Native Gold, Galena, Cassiterite, and Bismuthine.

I use dfprospector with the new version for a quick survey to get the same info. Flux? check. Iron ore? check. Fuel? check. All systems go. I don't know where it is, but still get the info I need to avoid wasting time trying to find something that isn't there.

ETA: a typical dfprospector report (edited to remove a lot of junk):

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Code: [Select]

Layer materials:
                  GRANITE : 160805
                QUARTZITE : 144495
                   MARBLE : 126205
                   GNEISS : 124048
                 OBSIDIAN : 107169

Vein materials:
               ORTHOCLASE : 96659
                   GALENA : 25433
              NATIVE_GOLD : 20104
                 HEMATITE : 9987
           RAW_ADAMANTINE : 1478

Also, I heard the amount of metals is seriously reduced in the new ones. Is that true?

With default options yeah, however you can specify the scarcity the minerals during world gen (in both basic and advanced world gen modes). Until the economy gets rolling, I use frequent/everywhere and have had no troubles finding iron. Coal on the other hand I get the occasional embark with neither bituminous coal nor lignite.. no biggy, the next site will likely have some.

[krisslanza]

I kind of like having no, or little, metal sometimes. It just bugs me a bit when I find a ton and suddenly I have this self-sufficient fortress. I kind of like having to trade with traders for things I need... makes the metal weapons all the more valuable! And makes leather good for something...

[Carpman]

So I checked the civilizations menu.. the only entry was my host dwarven civilization.

Civilizations menu only shows the civs your fortress has interacted with so far.

[bloodtoes]

The civ tab post embark only shows civilizations who have a member currently within your area, not neighbors.

That's fair enough, but is it possible then that I hadn't any visitors in 3 years other than the host civ? I'd hate to think I mistakenly cancelled that embark, it was glorious..

[Carpman]

The civ tab post embark only shows civilizations who have a member currently within your area, not neighbors.

That's fair enough, but is it possible then that I hadn't any visitors in 3 years other than the host civ? I'd hate to think I mistakenly cancelled that embark, it was glorious..

Gobs usually ambush before then, and you definitely should have gotten some non dwarven caravans. So maybe?