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[Shark]

I'm new to df, and i'm sitting on my biggest fort so far, with 58 dorfs. I just got a migrant wave of 21(!) and i'm having trouble. I sorted them all in and found something for them to do(the completely useless ones got renamed "hauler" and most labors turned off) but I don't really have the experience to handle all these dorfs and I have some design issues. Should I keep going? I'm thinking of starting a new fort in a better area, where i'll be more organized. I have everything I need in my current fort but all there is is copper and I always have like 20-25 dorfs idle.

I'm also running out of wood, because charcoal takes up so much wood and I still need wood for bins/barrels/beds. My metal industry is running really slowly and the huge area I dug out for trees to grow in hasn't produced a single tree. Just "young-tower caps" still.

[CapnUrist]

Relocating deeper wouldn't be a bad idea. If you go deep enough, you'll find magma, which you can use to power your metal industry instead of charcoal, which will free up your wood stocks for other uses (which should amount to more beds for migrants and water wheels/windmills). I would start planning and digging it out entirely before actually moving anyone down there; include enough bedrooms and dining area for as many dwarves as you expect to max out at (I usually provide for 150).

Trees take a while to grow, usually at least a year in my experience, and then they're still pretty sparse. Expanding your tree farm to cover an entire soil layer, or multiple layers, will help boost the output.

And finally, remember that there are other sources of metal than stone.

[Shark]

Only had one ambush and a baby snatcher, so I have nothing really to melt. However, I think relocating is a good idea. My current top levels will be used for migrants and producing food and such, I guess.

[Varnifane]

What I would do with 79 dorfs:

I like to have 10 smelters so I can have four metalcrafters going at all times. (14 dorfs)

If you have sand you can also have four glassmakers cranking out components for magma-safe pumps onstantly. with five furniture only haulers. (9 dorfs)

I usually set one level near the top of my central stairs with 8 mason workshops creating blocks constantly. (8 Dorfs)

Food, booze and kitchen running full time, (3 dorfs)

Military is 20% minimum so 80 (rounded) means (16 dorfs)

Crafters: Good mason, Stone, bone, leather, cloth (5 dorfs)

Mechanics (2 dorfs)

Carpenters (1 dorf)

Miners (10 dorfs)

11 dorfs left over for building, hauling, polishing, tanning, butchering, chopping wood

[KtosoX]

...
I'm also running out of wood, because charcoal takes up so much wood and I still need wood for bins/barrels/beds. My metal industry is running really slowly and the huge area I dug out for trees to grow in hasn't produced a single tree. Just "young-tower caps" still.

"I still need wood for bins/barrels/beds."
Do you know rock pots work just as well as wooden barrels?

[Varnifane]

Rock pots FTW.

Also magma.

[MonkeyHead]

+1 for magma forges. Back in the day when I was new, it was like a breath of fresh air to smelt all I wanted for free.

[Shark]

...you can use pots to store food?

I DID NOT KNOW OF THIS.

Urgh earlier in this fort I was making chests out of wood before a dorf made a artifact coffer and I realized coffers = chests.

[MonkeyHead]

Reccomend typing rock or stone into the manager screen just to see what you can do... and repeat for the material of your choice.

[Shark]

Been making so many noob mistakes on this fort >__>;;

I guess i'll keep going but I care so much for my dorfs!

My only dorf that has died for far was a bookkeeper from my first immigrant wave. He now has a tomb in a hollowed out, engraved gem cluster.

I don't want them to die D:

[MonkeyHead]

Its not like you have much of a choice...

[Tevish Szat]

Don't worry about some dwaves going idle.  I used to be bugged by it, but now I don't mind having as many idlers as you've got dwarfs (in a fort of close to 300, mind)

If you dig for magma, know how it works, and for the love of Armok seal up the caverns until you're READY to deal with them.

Also, start training a military.  You will need them.

[krisslanza]

The only downside to magma, I feel, is it REALLY spoils you. Once you use it, you really, really miss it in future forts. I know when I did volcano fortresses, getting easy access to magma in mere months (in-game) and can just make a booming metalmaking industry that I really hurt when I didn't have a volcano fortress. Having to hope for lignite or coal is your best options, if you don't, you're left to kind of carefully make use of your lumber.

[UristMcHuman]

I have a similar problem in my oldest fort. I have HUGE areas for mining set up, but only three miners, AAAAND I've been keeping that fort's mountain dwelling to a minimum (tried to make an above-ground fort). I have Copper+20% chance for silver per ore lump (Tetrahedrite), reasonable amounts of coal/lignite, LOTS of iron (all three STONE ores), and two mountains made mostly of flux (sand-covered hill of chalk, mountain of dolomite). Population is about 55 dwarven inhabitants, a couple dozen animals, and the elven traders left with several large gems in exchange for a bin of rope reed cloth, a couple of barrels of booze, and a few bags of seeds.

I've been struggling to get a military set up (I still was fairly new when I started that fort) with copper spears and shields, and copper x-bows and bolts. Because of that, I turned off invaders for a few game years till I can get my small military armored in iron, copper or steel.

EDIT: Food's also being sustained by fishing, but the booze is only trickling in at like an average of 25 drinks. I need to trade some booze from the dorfen caravan this (in-game) fall.

[tommy521]

It's funny because I usually have a huge food industry going, making barrels was always my second largest industry until I figured rock pots work just as well, I always figured they had to be glazed :/