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[murlocdummy]

I tried using TrueType Fonts, but it doesn't convert the unit descriptions into TrueType, so the grass tiles are still used as punctuation.  I still don't get why grass tiles were used as punctuation, though.  Seems like it's alot of trouble to go through just make the font confusing to read.

I tried all of the Lazy Newb Pack graphics packs, and they all seem to be unable to change the tiles to actual punctuation in the unit descriptions.  I assume that the Default ASCII pack is a user-made graphics pack as well, since the punctuation is still made up of grass tiles in the unit descriptions.

I'm still having trouble determining male and female animals, though.  Do you have to have a dwarf with a certain level in some skill in order for genders to show up next to animal names?

[Theifofdreams]

Not really a noob question, but: Is there an easy way to channel rain water into a holding cistern?
It's going to be the only water I get for quite some time, and I'll need it for everything but drinking.

[murlocdummy]

I assume that in order to view the gender of an animal, you have to increase the animal caretaker skill of a particular dwarf to a certain level.  Does anyone know what that level has to be before you can view the genders of animals?  Right now I'm buying up animals at random and just praying that I get animals of opposite genders so that they breed.

Also, my broker consistently never goes to the depot whenever he's called there.  I end up having to call anyone out to the depot.  Is there any way to make dwarves cancel their current action at will?

[krenshala]

I assume that in order to view the gender of an animal, you have to increase the animal caretaker skill of a particular dwarf to a certain level.  Does anyone know what that level has to be before you can view the genders of animals?  Right now I'm buying up animals at random and just praying that I get animals of opposite genders so that they breed.

Also, my broker consistently never goes to the depot whenever he's called there.  I end up having to call anyone out to the depot.  Is there any way to make dwarves cancel their current action at will?

Actually, you need to make sure you have a dwarf with a reading comprehension skill of at least competent.  Otherwise they aren't able to make out the tag on the animals collar.  That tag, which you can ready by pressing [ k ] and moving the cursor that appears over the animal, lists the animals type or name (if it is a pet), and its gender using the symbols you expect.  Be sure you don't remove the tag, however, or the animal will go berserk (e.g., when merchants are held captive, they attempt to break free by pulling the tags off their pack animals in the hopes they will break out and cause enough of a distraction for your dwarves so they can get their revenge and escape).

[Psieye]

I'm still having trouble determining male and female animals, though.  Do you have to have a dwarf with a certain level in some skill in order for genders to show up next to animal names?

None whatsoever. Bring up the unit profile for the animal where you can read how fat it is and how long its hair is etc (z from the 'v'iew mode I think). The pronoun there will make it clear which gender it is. Granted, I got tired of doing this so I modded the raws so animals will always make it very clear which gender they are by name (like cow vs bull) but this is a newbie thread.

Not really a noob question, but: Is there an easy way to channel rain water into a holding cistern?
It's going to be the only water I get for quite some time, and I'll need it for everything but drinking.

Rain water is peculiar - when it's "raining", what's happening is random tiles are getting washed and 'murky pool' tiles spontaneously create water in them. 'Murky Pool' tiles are the only tiles that will do this, so do not destroy them (by digging or flooring over them) if you want rain water. Collecting it is a matter of arranging plumbing to connect to various murky pool tiles.

[Theifofdreams]

None whatsoever. Bring up the unit profile for the animal where you can read how fat it is and how long its hair is etc (z from the 'v'iew mode I think). The pronoun there will make it clear which gender it is.

This is correct. You can also check an animal's gender by going to the "z" menu, and selecting animals.
It lists all current fortress owned animals in a downward list. Going across from left to right, it lists name (if any. If not, it simply lists the animal as "stray"), species, gender, and then allows you to mark the animals as "available", "unavailable", or "for slaughter". Available and unavailable determine whether the animal can be made a pet.

Rain water is peculiar - when it's "raining", what's happening is random tiles are getting washed and 'murky pool' tiles spontaneously create water in them. 'Murky Pool' tiles are the only tiles that will do this, so do not destroy them (by digging or flooring over them) if you want rain water. Collecting it is a matter of arranging plumbing to connect to various murky pool tiles.

This is beyond useful to know. Glad I asked. Probably the easiest way will be to drain the pool by allowing it to flood into the cistern and then channeling out the ground near the tile before constructing a floodgate over the newly channeled hole.
Hmm.. That leads to the other question: Will the murky pool tiles still fill with water if they've been covered over with a roof? If it functions as normal ground does in regards to that (ie: if it's been exposed once, it counts forever) or does being covered prevent this?

[proxn_punkd]

I'm still having trouble determining male and female animals, though.  Do you have to have a dwarf with a certain level in some skill in order for genders to show up next to animal names?

No, just use the (v) like everyone said. Look,

Spoiler: Capybara! (click to show/hide)

Like that, see? I may not have any fancy graphics packs, but I know that little red c is a female capybara pup. Is that not what you're seeing?

[murlocdummy]

My dwarves don't have sufficient animal training or animal care skill, obviously, since the ♂ or ♀ doesn't show up next to their name.

As for going into the description of the animal to determine the gender, it doesn't work when you're buying animals from merchants.  You can't go into the unit description/thoughts screen when looking at animals when they're still merchandise.  And you sure as hell can't tell if what you're selling is a male or female without the little ♂ or ♀ symbols next to their name.  My main issue is leveling up my dwarves' animal skills until they can determine what gender the animals are.

I haven't been playing Dwarf Fortress for long, so I haven't a clue how long it takes until my dwarves are capable of determining animal gender.

[proxn_punkd]

Out of curiosity I'm going to propose a little experiment. Use (v), find an animal, and hit (g). Does anything change? Do gender signs show up?

[ansontan2000]

What graphics pack are you using? And btw, ANIMAL TRAINING OR ANIMAL CARE HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!

[murlocdummy]

Oh, wait, I think I see what's happening.  I'm using the Phoebus texture pack.  Next to each unit's name, there's this symbol that either looks like a gourd or an amulet.  The gourd seems to correspond to the "buck" animals that I bought and the amulet corresponds to my newly acquired cow.

I guess the gourd and amulets indicate gender, and not what the job type of the unit is, like what I thought earlier.

The gender symbols don't appear when you look at the animals from a list, though, so I still don't know what the gender of merchandise animals are.

[proxn_punkd]

Use (v) in the trading screen to view merchandise descriptions. View the description of an animal cage, then use either (v) or (enter), I forget which, to view the description of the animal inside.

[murlocdummy]

I did not realize you could view the merchandise descriptions!

Well, onto the next problem, then.  Sometimes when I retract bridges with levers, the entire bridge disappears.  I can't build where the bridge was, but units can walk through the area like there wasn't anything there.  Pulling the lever again puts the open bridge back to where it was.  This is kind of a problem since I can't close off my fortress.

Does this happen often with anyone else?

[ansontan2000]

Remove the bridge, then try building a new one. You obviously set it to retract. When building it again, look carefully at the menu.

[Psieye]

You obviously set it to retract.

More precisely, he left it at 'retract' which is the default. Make it a raising bridge.