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Author Topic: Regarding Embarking  (Read 2619 times)

highmax28

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Regarding Embarking
« on: December 13, 2011, 06:41:10 pm »

What is the most reccomended loadout for starting out? I usually start out with 2 proficient miners, a proficient woodcutter, proficient mason, proficient carpenter, proficient grower/adequete herbalist, proficient herbalist/adequete brewer, 1 of each dog, 1 of each cat (each being male/female btw), and the rest of my embark points is set to plump helmets and beer and one less battle axe then usual. Rest is default. Any ideas how i can make this better?
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"Guardian" and Sigfriend Of Necrothreat
Jee wilikers, I think Highmax is near invulnerable, must have been dunked in the river styx like achilles was.
Just make sure he wears a boot.

Neowulf

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Re: Regarding Embarking
« Reply #1 on: December 13, 2011, 06:55:14 pm »

Silk and yarn cloth is cheaper than plant cloth, always swap out the materials.
Also, swap out the wood items for fungiwood if you plan on saving the loadout, it's the only wood type that's pretty much always there.

Don't waste points on the easily produced items, take just cloth (or even just thread) instead of bags and ropes, same with the wood items.

Milk is very cheap to take along, and is easily turned to cheese.
Sand is cheap, gives you a free bag, and glass items make nice trade fodder.

Make sure to take atleast 1 of each thread/cloth material. Your first strange mood could come demanding a cloth you don't have.

Birds are good animals to take, very cheap, quick to multiply, and the egg supply can feed your fortress easily.
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highmax28

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Re: Regarding Embarking
« Reply #2 on: December 13, 2011, 07:11:20 pm »

Thanks but... How do i make glass? I've only started playing DF this year and all i honestly did was trade gems and make iron/steel stuff, the only time I found magma and adamatine was when I got my dwarves either murdered or rendered useless due to an ambush  :-[
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just shot him with a balistic arrow, i think he will get stuned from that >.>

"Guardian" and Sigfriend Of Necrothreat
Jee wilikers, I think Highmax is near invulnerable, must have been dunked in the river styx like achilles was.
Just make sure he wears a boot.

knutor

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Re: Regarding Embarking
« Reply #3 on: December 13, 2011, 07:24:58 pm »

I view all 7 dwarf attributes, and find the most lethal one.  The one with high disease resistance.  The one capable of 1v1 pretty much anything it tries to hunt, topside.  Then I give it max Observe and max Ambush.  The rest of the dwarfs I keep unskilled.

one pick, cheapest
one axe, cheapest, but not a training axe
no anvil
20 of ea booze
25 plumps
25 plump seeds
5 wheat seeds
3 ropes
3 casts
3 crutches and 3 splints
1 block of limonite for first mason

Then I load up on cats and dogs.  I prefer to take a hunting bat, over a hunting dog.  As dog sometimes dies early on and really upsets the hunter; this requires EXOTIC PET be toggled.  Then I look for a brightest green forested area, with deep metal and flux.  I try to ramp all the pools, immediately, while the bat+hunter removes all the threats.  I toggle off open zone fishing/drinking.  Turn on outside refuse. 

Immediately after embark, while game is paused, I commit skills to the dwarfs with Therapist. I try to spread them out.  I remove the leader, and put the a low honesty dwarf up there.  I then try and get down, to rocks ASAP and carve out some bedrooms.  I make everything out of wood, until I can get a hold of marble.  Then I forbid all stone but marble.

Sincerely,
Knutor
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highmax28

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Re: Regarding Embarking
« Reply #4 on: December 13, 2011, 07:30:30 pm »

Then I load up on cats and dogs.  I prefer to take a hunting bat, over a hunting dog.  As dog sometimes dies early on and really upsets the hunter; this requires EXOTIC PET be toggled.  Then I look for a brightest green forested area, with deep metal and flux.  I try to ramp all the pools, immediately, while the bat+hunter removes all the threats.  I toggle off open zone fishing/drinking.  Turn on outside refuse. 
What is the incredible "EXOTIC PET" you speak of that gets me said hunting bat?
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just shot him with a balistic arrow, i think he will get stuned from that >.>

"Guardian" and Sigfriend Of Necrothreat
Jee wilikers, I think Highmax is near invulnerable, must have been dunked in the river styx like achilles was.
Just make sure he wears a boot.

Mushroo

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Re: Regarding Embarking
« Reply #5 on: December 13, 2011, 07:35:43 pm »

I use the default Play Now! embark because it won't matter by Year 2. :)
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NecroRebel

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Re: Regarding Embarking
« Reply #6 on: December 13, 2011, 07:51:22 pm »

Thanks but... How do i make glass? I've only started playing DF this year and all i honestly did was trade gems and make iron/steel stuff, the only time I found magma and adamatine was when I got my dwarves either murdered or rendered useless due to an ambush  :-[
Glass is made at a glass furnace (built in the b-e menu). To make green glass, you need a bag of sand and a heat source, such as charcoal, coke, or magma. To make clear glass, you need the same, but also some pearlash. Sand is gathered via a task at a glass furnace using a bag at a sand collection zone, which is made using the i-cursor and must include some sand floor or wall tiles. You can collect a limitless amount of sand from one sand tile, and with a magma glass furnace all you need to produce green glass is sand, so basically a magma glass furnace lets you get limitless free crafts.

What is the incredible "EXOTIC PET" you speak of that gets me said hunting bat?
Many creatures have the [PET_EXOTIC] tag, which is supposed to allow them to be tamed once the Dungeon Master noble arrives at your fort. Unfortunately, the Dungeon Master never arrives in the current versions, so these creatures are essentially untameable. To get around this, many people simply switch [PET_EXOTIC] for [PET], which allows them to be tamed without a Dungeon Master, and as a side effect allows you to bring many of those creatures with you when you embark.

There's a program running around somewhere on the modding forum called NoExotics that goes through your raw files and swaps [PET_EXOTIC] for [PET] for you.



Anyway, there's not really a "best" embark. You'll find as many loadouts as there are players (probably more, actually), and each have advantages and disadvantages. Myself, I prefer taking around 120 drink and 60 food of the cheapest types I can, a few silk threads and cloths for early medicine, an anvil, and a lot of wood and bronze-making supplies which get turned into equipment. As far as skills go, I bring 1 dwarf with 2 levels in every medical skill, 2 dwarves with novice ambusher and nothing else (these become soldiers immediately; the skill is just there to prevent unhappy thoughts from going off-duty), a dwarf with several social skills to be my first broker and mayor, and a proficient weapon/armorsmith, planter/wood burner, and mason/furnace operator. Early on, the mason builds a wood furnace and smelter from some bronze ores, the wood burner makes some charcoal while the mason makes some beds and a wooden armor stand, then makes bronze, and the smith makes picks, axes, and a pair of suits of bronze armor for the soldiers. Once the first picks are done, the leader and doctor take the first couple, and the mason and planter take more once their furnace operations are done, and the soldiers start training ASAP; they're virtually always sufficient to take out the first beak wolf or frog man siege during the first winter or spring.
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Lordraymond

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Re: Regarding Embarking
« Reply #7 on: December 13, 2011, 08:21:48 pm »

I usually take:

1 Skilled Miner, as miners gain skills super quickly
1 Competent Woodcutter/Carpenter
1 Competent Mason/Mechanic and novice Building Designer
1 Adequate Cook/Brewer/Butcher with Competent Grower
1 Skilled Diagnostician/Novice in other medical skills
2 Military dwarves that form the basis of my future armada, proficient in different weapons and either armor user or shield user

1 Pick
1 Axe
1 Anvil
A good bit of wood for early beds, ~10 usually
Starting food+Some extra PH for emergency brewing
No cloth except bags
Drank
1 dog (M) 3 dog (F)
1 cat (M) 1 cat (F)
Some other general stuff

I immediately dig out a barracks and make some training weapons and wooden shields so my army can get started ASAP. The other dwarves dig out the fort and stuff, etc. etc. The only main difference is I have only five dwarves to do things until migrants arrive.
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highmax28

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Re: Regarding Embarking
« Reply #8 on: December 13, 2011, 08:23:36 pm »

Thanks all of you! You all helped me with this (though im not sure what [EXOTIC_PET] or [PET] is still... ???) I started out with alot of stuff but hopefully, its useful through all of this to the point I can get it all cause my previous experiences upno embark... Didnt turn out so well... Especially with this happening:

Dwarf + Hippo = Bye bye dwarf
Reason: Lack of weapons

OR

River = Carp Spawn
Carp Spawn = Carp
Therefore:
River + Dwarf = Bye Bye dwarf
Reason: Lack of food = fishing for our bearded buddies
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just shot him with a balistic arrow, i think he will get stuned from that >.>

"Guardian" and Sigfriend Of Necrothreat
Jee wilikers, I think Highmax is near invulnerable, must have been dunked in the river styx like achilles was.
Just make sure he wears a boot.

NecroRebel

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Re: Regarding Embarking
« Reply #9 on: December 13, 2011, 08:31:02 pm »

Every creature, and several other things like most materials, many items, and reactions, is defined by text files found in the dwarf fortress/raw/objects folder. These text files are done in a fairly specific format, and the game only recognizes certain strings (that is, sequences of letters or other symbols) as actual game data. The particular strings that define things are typically called "tags" for some reason. If you find those text files, especially the ones which have the word "creature" in their filename, you'll find the [PET] and [PET_EXOTIC] tags within.

Altering these text files, usually referred to as the raws, is how Dwarf Fortress is modded. Basically, switching [PET_EXOTIC] to [PET] is a mild form of game mod. It's usually considered a particularly inoffensive mod, because it's a workaround for the "Dungeon Master does not appear" bug.
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highmax28

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Re: Regarding Embarking
« Reply #10 on: December 13, 2011, 08:51:11 pm »

Ah, so THATS what the dungeon master was for that my friend told me about! Wow, I really need to read up on my nobles and stuff more often >.<
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just shot him with a balistic arrow, i think he will get stuned from that >.>

"Guardian" and Sigfriend Of Necrothreat
Jee wilikers, I think Highmax is near invulnerable, must have been dunked in the river styx like achilles was.
Just make sure he wears a boot.

Sutremaine

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Re: Regarding Embarking
« Reply #11 on: December 13, 2011, 08:57:06 pm »

It depends where I'm going and what I want to do. If I want a herbalist and am going to a plant-heavy area, I won't put any points in it and just let them train on the job. Lately I've not been bothering at all with the basic jobs like carpenter, mason, brewer and cook. For those I rely on immigrants, and if I don't get anyone with the correct skill I pick whatever dwarf has the least useful skills and give them a new career.

Turkeys are pretty cool for an embark, since you get full-grown adults. You get 8 or 9 meat plus the odd string of guts, 8 or 9 fat for cook training, a skin for leather, and some bones for crafting. Not bad for 6 points, and they don't clutter workshops.
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Neowulf

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Re: Regarding Embarking
« Reply #12 on: December 13, 2011, 09:10:29 pm »

Fishing isn't worth it. Fish stocks run out too quickly and will run out completely after a year or two.
Yeah it sucks, I like the idea of a fishing village myself but even an ocean never lasts long enough to really train a single dwarf.
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highmax28

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Re: Regarding Embarking
« Reply #13 on: December 13, 2011, 09:13:19 pm »

Get turkeys... Avoid fishing... Got it!
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just shot him with a balistic arrow, i think he will get stuned from that >.>

"Guardian" and Sigfriend Of Necrothreat
Jee wilikers, I think Highmax is near invulnerable, must have been dunked in the river styx like achilles was.
Just make sure he wears a boot.

MrWiggles

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Re: Regarding Embarking
« Reply #14 on: December 13, 2011, 09:22:17 pm »

I only use skills on dorfs, to ensure a dorf for the mayor spot, and for the doctor. The doctor gets pretty rusty, but they regain pretty fast.

And I make those choices based on their personality, and likes.

I generally bring 2 picks. 1 axe.
45 of each booze, minus Plumphelmet wine.
20 Plumphelmet.
Every fish. Up to half as much booze.
Trees, if the place I'm going to doesnt have any trees.
Casting Powder.
Thread
Cloth
Splints
Crutches.
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