Dwarf Fortress Wiki - User contributions [en]

v0.31:Military

2011-05-02T05:40:17Z

Mystara: /* Current Reported Military-Related Bugs */ Dwarfs to Dwarves

{{Quality|Exceptional}}{{av}}

The '''military''' is one of the most important aspects of a successful fortress. Even with many {{l|trap}}s, {{l|bridge|drawbridges}} and {{l|magma|other defenses}}, your military will still need to fend off {{l|goblin}} {{l|siege}}s, {{l|megabeast}}s, {{l|titan}}s, and fiendish {{l|Giant cave spider|underground}} {{l|Forgotten beast|beasties}}. Using a combination of {{l|squads|squad orders}} and {{l|scheduling}}, you can set up an elaborate offensive, defensive, or balanced military structure for your {{l|equipment|well-equipped}} {{l|soldier}}s to follow. Turning your dwarves from {{l|immigration|useless migrants}} into bloodthirsty killing machines never hurts (unless you're the enemy).

''Related articles:''
* For a ''very'' simple "How to attack a target", see {{L|Attack}}.
* For a list of frequently asked questions, see the {{l|Military F.A.Q.}}
* For an insight about combat training, check out {{l|Sparring}}
* For a general overview of threats and considerations for fortress defense, see the {{l|Defense guide|Defense Guide}}.
* For specific suggestions on the physical defenses that will defend your military, see {{l|Security design|Security Design}}.
* For complex traps that are not a minor/optional part of a larger defensive plan (but might be adapted or plugged into one), see {{l|Trap design|Trap Design}}.
* For specific advice on how to get your soldiers prepared for any threat, see {{l|military design|Military Design}}.

For quick reference: from the main menu the '''military''' screen is accessible through the {{k|m}} key, the '''{{l|squads}}''' screen is accessible through the {{k|s}} key, the '''points/routes/notes''' screen is accessible through the {{k|N}} key, and the '''{{l|burrow}}s''' screen is accessible through the {{k|w}} key. The military screen and all its tabs are mouse-compatible, and can be navigated through mouse clicks rather than strictly keys (when in windowed mode).

==Creating a Military==

While it may be confusing to a new player, the military system makes up for its initial impenetrability with its versatility. Squads can be assigned, reordered and restructured at will, dwarves can be set to equip a highly-specified uniform along with the rest of their squad or stand out and equip something unique, and you can give incredibly detailed commands and programming to your squads to follow out based on time of year, circumstance, location, and user convenience. That being said, there's a lot to be learned.

This article is about the general aspects of what comprises a military. For more detailed information including specific keypresses, see the associated article expanding on a subject.

===Squads===

''Full article: {{l|Squads}}''

'''Squads''' are the groups of soldiers that make up your military. Your military is now led by the appointed '''{{l|militia commander}}''' and has many other squads led by '''militia captains''' under him. Creating a squad in the military screen is one of the first things you should do when starting your military.

===Equipping Soldiers===

''Full article: {{l|Squads#Equipping Soldiers}}''

Rather than simply pick a level of equipment and hope your dwarves pick up the right stuff, you can select what your dwarf will wear by item type or specific item, or create a new uniform template and apply it to a dwarf or entire squad all at once. Even the material and color of your soldiers' uniform is configurable. You can create identical armored units with intimidating red cloaks or just slap something together based on need and circumstance. Even artifact weapons/armor are now selectable - luck and micro-management have been removed from the equation.



==Directing Soldiers==

Getting your military to actually ''do'' something is a lot more difficult than it once was; gone are the days of simply designating a barracks and letting your recruits have at it. It is now possible to give your squads different monthly '''schedules''', create different '''alert levels''' which will cause squads to follow out new user-programmed instructions depending on circumstance, give '''direct orders''' to '''attack''' one or more specific targets or '''move''' to a specific location, or follow '''patrol routes''' and '''stations''' with greater accuracy.

There is now a clear discrepancy between ''active'' orders and ''passive'' orders-- the latter is programming that a dwarf will follow to the letter and acts more as a defense method, and the former is used for taking the fight to the enemy. The ''squads'' menu is predominantly used for active commands, and the ''alert'' and ''scheduling'' menus are used for passive commands.

===Active Command===

''Full article: {{l|Squads#Direct_Commands|Squads#Direct Commands}}''

In the new military, soldiers operate much more like part-time militiamen than full-time warriors. When soldiers are not passively doing their civilian duties or following their schedule programming, they can be actively sent to do small tasks to aggressively defend your fortress. After these orders have been carried out or cancelled, your dwarves will happily return to their passive programming as if they were never interrupted. It is possible to select multiple squads or specific dwarves to carry out these orders.

Your forces can be commanded to carry out two types of orders: '''Move''' orders and '''Attack''' (or '''kill''') orders. Move orders are much like the 'station squad' command in previous versions; your selected dwarves will run to wherever you've sent them. Similarly, attack orders will select an enemy (by location on screen, general area on screen, or list) and send your dwarves charging off that way.

Soldiers following orders will attack any hostiles they encounter on their way to their destination as well as wild animals and whatever other creatures they might encounter, whether you like it or not. As a result it is very difficult to attack members of an enemy group with any sort of precision, and if your dwarves cannot take down their target there is no real way to get them out of combat; it's do-or-die. It is unknown whether this is a bug or a feature.

Orders can be cancelled through the squads screen, but your dwarves tend to be so enthusiastic that they'll just ignore you in their bloodlust. This is likely a bug.

===Passive Command===

''Full article: {{l|Scheduling}}''

The new '''alert level''' and '''scheduling''' system is a new feature that is both incredibly versatile... and, initially, completely impenetrable. Once you learn the system, though, you will find that you barely need to manage your military at all. Effectively, a schedule is programming for a squad to follow within an alert, broken up by month, and alerts can be quickly and easily swapped in order to apply different schedules of your choosing to different squads of your choosing. Without scheduling, alert levels would do nothing; without alert levels scheduling would be horribly inefficient; the two functions co-exist and rely on each other.

It is now possible to give your squads different monthly schedules, create different alert levels which will cause squads to follow out new user-programmed instructions depending on circumstance, give direct orders to attack one or more specific targets or move to a specific location, or follow patrol routes and stations with greater accuracy. The entire system (including alert names) is completely configurable, and in time you will find yourself using complicated scheduling to rotate squads between training and defending/patrolling specified areas over the course of a year without any user input, or to start defending the fort entrance or trader route with a few easy key presses.

Civilian alert levels are also possible - civilians can be restricted by '''{{l|burrow}}''' to where they can roam should the need to tuck them away into a panic room arise. The 'entrance dance' bug of the previous version has also been removed - if a dwarf restricted to a burrow is not there, he will do his best to make the journey.

The scheduling screen is broken up into a list of squads, months, alert types and '''order criteria'''. Each order (applied to one month; multiple orders can be stacked on one month as well) can be given criteria to define how many dwarves within a squad will follow its programming at once, allowing you to make a few dwarves out of the squad active at a time while the rest go about their business or to make the entire squad always active for a matter of the utmost importance, foregoing food, sleep, and booze. You can also choose which positions in a squad the order will prefer to utilize when forcing a squad to follow it.

Four types of orders can be given (as well as the 'inactive' command), defining different types of patrolling or stationary defending. Squads can spar and be given combat demonstrations in the '''{{l|barracks}}''', defend a '''{{l|burrow}}''', patrol a '''route''', or defend a single '''station'''. The monthly schedules can be named so as to better suit your needs, and a new (if still a bit buggy) copy/paste system has been introduced to eliminate some of the tedium in creating fancy scheduling for many months. The display can also be flipped around.

Barracks can now serve the needs of multiple specific squads at once. A barracks can be defined as a place to train, sleep, store squad equipment, store individual equipment, or any combination of the above, in any weird overlapping combination of barracks you like. Barracks are necessary for training.

When dwarves are being ordered to train, squad leaders will set up training classes for particular skills, or they will have dwarves spar. Any dwarves in the squad that don't qualify for these will default to individual training. In the current release, training classes are bugged where if a squad leader sets up a training class, he will wait forever (Or until you change his orders) for students, even if nobody shows up. Likewise, if students decide to request a class and the squad leader is doing individual training, they will wait for him to finish, even if they start starving. Thus, at the moment it's best to alternate your forced training schedules with downtime so the longest a dwarf will be stuck waiting is a game month (which isn't long enough to die), or just leave them off duty all the time and have them do individual training only, at least until this issue is fixed.

==Frequently Asked Questions==

''Full article: {{l|Military F.A.Q.}}''

==Current Reported Military-Related Bugs==
* When selecting new dwarves to place in a squad the cursor always returns to the first available dwarf instead of remaining where it is.
* Soldiers who have completed a kill task do not cancel their kill task. This may be intentional.
* There are still various problems with dwarves not equipping what they should; most notably, dwarves will try to equip two left gauntlets or two right gauntlets rather than one of each. This happens if there are an odd number of gauntlets of any quality level; the dwarves try to equip two gauntlets of the highest quality level, regardless of whether they are left or right. A solution is to make sure every quality level accounts for one right gauntlet for each left gauntlet.
*Dwarves who become lords automatically disable all their civilian jobs. When they come off duty and back on duty they lose experience as well.
*Military dwarfs in squads that are assigned to a schedule may get increasingly angry about long patrol duties, even if they were not on duty the past 12 months.

{{Military v0.31}}
{{Category|Military| }}

User talk:Emi

2011-04-29T23:10:51Z

Mystara: /* User Page Request */ Mystara

Please leave new messages by pressing the new section button. It is next to the edit button, and looks like a +. Be sure to sign your message with <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> so I know who left me the message.

== Captcha ==

The wiki system is set up to autoconfirm a user after 3 days of existence as a registered user. Once that's done, you'll never have to enter a captcha again. (also, it's not possible, even as an admin / bureaucrat to manually add a user to the autoconfirmed group, sorry) --[[User:Briess|Briess]] 07:37, 13 March 2010 (UTC)

== Contact Info ==

I'm on IRC nearly every waking moment. --[[User:Briess|Briess]] 20:13, 16 March 2010 (UTC)

==[[Template:ArticleVersion]]==
''Two dozen'' consecutive edits? "Preview" just not a possibility?--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 20:14, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

== cv ==
So, forgive my continuing ignorance, but once the changeover happens, "cv" will then become whatever version 2010 is, right? And if so, how do we then distinguish between redirects appropriate only to the 40d legacy articles (which are currently being "corrected" using CV) and those that should go to the then truly "current version" 2010 articles?--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 21:45, 21 March 2010 (UTC)

== search terms and redirects ==

So a redirect chain like Gold bars -> 40d:Gold bars -> 40d:metal is correct, don't change it. Emi
Hi. I'm ''sure'' what you meant was to ask ''"Why did you delete that?"'', and not presume to lecture me about how redirects work. And my response would be - ''"Why did you create it?"'' Because I didn't "change" it, I ''deleted'' it - and there's a difference, and a difference in the reasoning behind each.

"Gold bars" is not really a term to link from, just not appropriate for a page title. It's not a term likely to be typed in to the search window, nor is it a wiki-article title in game terms. [[Gold]] is a perfectly valid (and existing) search term, and [[bars]] are as well, but not in the sense of "gold bars", unless you are [[construction|constructing]] horizontal or vertical bars from a single '''[[bar]]''' of [[gold]] ("bars" of gold being distinct from a "bar" of gold, for better or worse). And it's not usually a policy to create redirects, even Search redirects, based on erroneous understandings of the layout of the wiki. (If so, "silver bars", "copper bars", "bismuth bronze battle axe" and "narrow giant cave spider silk trousers" could all be included by some well meaning user based on one User's example - and that's more work than I want. Or any Admin.) More, "gold bars" is plural, which breaks yet another rule. So why, pray, do we need it in the first place? Lastly, if "gold bars" ''were'' a valid search or redirect term, I would think it should redirect to either "bar", the item (to clarify what a "bar" is, gold or not), or "gold" (the [[material]], to address that aspect), rather than [[metal]], which doesn't address the actual term, but is only a generally related umbrella article - but that confusion gets back to the reason I deleted it in the first place. I didn't even notice it was you that had created that page, but if I had I would have asked you this before deleting it. So... since we're here, why ''did'' you see a need to create it in the first place?

And while we're on the subject, you seem to be fairly enthusiastic about redirecting every game term to cv:game term - even if they are NOT version specific. You may want to slow down before hitting every last one, since things like [[acronym]]s and such will then have to be tracked down and returned to mainspace existence. Several in the long, long list on [[:Category:Obsolete]] seem more than a bit suspect, but I suppose now that it's done only the new version will prove them so or not. --[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 02:47, 27 March 2010 (UTC)
I agree that it's maybe a silly redirect, however, right now I am making sure
these redirects all work properly
Use some discretion. I saw a page marked N(ew), and it didn't belong. If you recognize it as "silly", then don't go to the trouble to perpetuate it. And allow me to make something else clear that you should understand. Before you replace a page that Admin has deleted, you should ask them "why?" first. Thanks so much for your understanding on that last point.--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 03:07, 27 March 2010 (UTC)
Discretion only slows down serializable tasks like the one I was doing. It's much easier to follow the
same pattern over and over and then go back and do all the stuff necessary to remove a silly redirect
So you are going to cover all those "silly" redirects that require it? Reassuring to hear - so long as someone has it covered, no problem then.--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 03:18, 27 March 2010 (UTC)
Also, because there's no real reason not to have most of these redirects, it's silly to bother
checking each one before fixing them. If the admins at this wiki are of the "I'm an admin, so my
word is law" attitude, I'm not sure this is a place I want to be.
If that were the case, I would have simply acted high-handed and slapped you and not explained my reasoning - but we both know I didn't, so I'm left wondering why you even mention it. Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for ''your'' reason for replacing the page that an Admin deleted rather than asking them why they did it. Even if you ''were'' Admin, do you think that is a good approach to the situation?--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 03:24, 27 March 2010 (UTC)
I didn't notice that you had deleted it until after I had recreated it.
I see.
I ask again if you use either of those other communication methods...
it's much easier to work these things out in real time.
No, sorry. And as Admin of this wiki, I feel it's important to use this format to work these things out. Which (I hope) we've now done. Readya later.--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 17:45, 28 March 2010 (UTC)

== Bot edit request ==

Could you change all of the non-namespace-specific article links in template pages to use [[template:L]]? This is going to be a problem soon. [[User:VengefulDonut|VengefulDonut]] 11:43, 2 April 2010 (UTC)

== EmiBot's Standing Orders ==
Will it do that daily/hourly? B/c new pages are flying up without it. I agree it's overly long, and I thought about that, but it'll only be long for these first few days, until the immediate flurry has calmed a bit, then we back off. Right now, it's amateur hour out there, so any help is a good thing in those directions. (No automatic fixes? Urgh -that's a LOT of manual...) :P --[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 20:08, 2 April 2010 (UTC) 
Again, I find myself waiting on an answer to my question while you focus on your own agenda - still waiting, thanks.--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 21:06, 2 April 2010 (UTC)

==Deletion Template==
I explained my reasoning on the talk page, but in short: (1)The mod is not at all notable. (I am not willing to claim a notable mod would not deserve a page on its own, but this is a mod that adds 4 creatures and no one talks about - hardly deserving of a page). (2) There is only one relevant piece of information about this mod - where it can be found. (3) The page doesn't even include that information, and is thus useless. (4) A link to the mod on DFFD or its forum thread, and a very short blurb ("adds 4 new mega beasts") should be added to a general mod page if the mod is going to have a presence on the wiki. --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 05:43, 5 April 2010 (UTC)
:Ah, sure, i can do that. I honestly just took a stab in the dark that deletion was the right template, and didn't actually know there were options... la la la? --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 06:39, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

== [[Template:Alloy3]] ==

I wasn't sure who to mention this to, and I apologize if it has already been noted, but this template is in use on 40d pages while the link built into the template for [[construction]] links to the "2010" namespace. Not sure what the best way to fix it would be, as I assume that the template will continue to be used. --[[User:Soy|Soy]] 16:10, 5 April 2010 (UTC)
:Thanks for looking into that! However, it looks like this is going to be an issue with a lot of the existing templates that are used across both versions. I think I see what your fix does and if I get some free time this evening I would be happy to try to update what I can find unless you can think of any negative impact it would have. -- [[User:Soy|Soy]] 19:32, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

==nm==
Yeah, I spoke before I read his talk page. And I remembered it as CMD. And he's right in that that's how it "should" be - the fact that it's not how it is in-game just an awkward DF reality. Altho', I see it as a style issue, not a coding issue.--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 02:36, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
I probably still would have argued for Cmd with a redirect from CMD.
That's not an issue to take up over one page - that's a global style issue, and would change the established, existing guidelines on [[Dwarf_Fortress_Wiki:Community_Portal]]. (Not that I wouldn't mind seeing some change, but (unsurprisingly) mine are style-based critiques.) --[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 02:39, 8 April 2010 (UTC)

== JS ==

Thanks! :) [[User:Mason11987|Mason]] ([[User talk:Mason11987|T]]-[[Special:Contributions/Mason11987|C]]) 01:39, 9 April 2010 (UTC)
== IRC ==
my firewall is dumb on windows, so I can't get on IRC, and I don't want to spend 3 hours figuring it out :( --[[User:Briess|Briess]] 04:42, 12 April 2010 (UTC)
:It is. It took me about a day to figure out how to unblock port 80 >< --[[User:Briess|Briess]] 06:12, 12 April 2010 (UTC)

== Ban required ==

Please ban [[Special:Contributions/74.222.1.40|74.222.1.40]] 
Thank you very much =) 
Gretings --[[User:Used|Used]] 08:12, 16 June 2010 (UTC)
:Also [[Special:Contributions/121.205.89.153|121.205.89.153]]. --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 16:23, 16 June 2010 (UTC)
::Even better: semi-protect [[Dwarf Fortress Wiki talk:Centralized Discussion‎]] so that only logged-in users can edit it. --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 16:25, 16 June 2010 (UTC)

Easiest of all: just go to [[Dwarf Fortress Wiki:Spamreport‎]] and ban all of the bots listed. Whenever another one shows up, I'll let you know. --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 21:52, 18 June 2010 (UTC)
:Personally, i would've gone for a template that marks an ip, or user. Maybe like it being called UserReport, or Report, and then people could do the template thing to report a user. Not sure how that could be coded in, but it could allow administrators to be more warned and prepared to provide a look at the ip. To be honest, all these spambots are just strange. Also, deja vu, i could've sworn this happened in the exact same way before. Maybe another wiki... --[[User:Hugna|Hugna]] 22:47, 18 June 2010 (UTC)

== Bug in rate script ==

There's a bug in [[User:Emi/review.js]] - it's always putting the exact same timestamp: "08:00, 22 May 2010 (UTC)". --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 23:36, 5 August 2010 (UTC)
:Can't believe I didn't notice that before. It's fixed now. :) [[user:Emi|Emi]] [[user_talk:Emi|[T]]] 21:10, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

The rating script stopped working for me. Could have something to do with maintenance? --[[User:MathFox|MathFox]] 16:49, 22 September 2010 (UTC)
:Specifically, it gets to "Getting token..." and then seems to hang. --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 17:44, 22 September 2010 (UTC)
::Oh, API probably wasn't re-enabled. Gotta wait for Briess on this one. [[user:Emi|Emi]] [[user_talk:Emi|[T]]] 19:33, 22 September 2010 (UTC)

== Broken quality tags ==

The quality tags are no longer showing up in the right place - they show up in the upper-left corner of the article body (just below the title) instead of the upper-right corner of the page (aligned with the title). --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 23:15, 21 September 2010 (UTC)
:Currently quality tags show up in the upper-right corner for me. --[[User:Another|Another]] 10:57, 22 September 2010 (UTC)
::Yeah, they were stealth-fixed shortly after I posted this comment (and the reply was posted on my own user page rather than here). --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 12:39, 22 September 2010 (UTC)

== Confirm e-mail address throwing and error ==

I got the following when trying to confirm my email address:

''Confirm e-mail address

''Dwarf Fortress Wiki could not send your confirmation mail. Please check your e-mail address for invalid characters.

''Mailer returned: mailer error

Thanks for your time and effort. --[[User:Jwest23|Jwest23]] 14:41, 22 September 2010 (UTC)

== Main page is unavailable ==

Does no one uses it?

<s>I'd like to add that changing the version and creating the new Mirrors and Release Information pages don't work and show red links.</s> Nvm, it works now --Dorf2

== The Grimoire of Armok ==

Hey, http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=77327.0 is the topic this is based on.

essentialy, were going to try make a Grimoire of Armok, and we need an online page for it to be stitched together and to eventualy host the completed version, do you mind if i use the Magma wiki? its a community work in progress, so i hope it can have a place on here.

Best regards: Karakzon
also whats with the 12:03, 15 February 2011 (UTC) thing?

: I'm not completely sure if this is the sort of thing that belongs on dfwiki, let me get back to you on it, okay? Also, if you type exactly four tildes like <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> it will create a signature that consists of a link to your user page and a timestamp, similar to this -> [[user:Emi|Emi]] [[user_talk:Emi|[T]]] 04:08, 16 February 2011 (UTC)

== DF2010:Release information/0.31.19 and Template:News/Mirrors/0.31.19 ==

New version! Updated what I could, but that's stuff I can't. --[[User:Gamildum|Gamildum]] 15:16, 16 February 2011 (UTC)

== Rails Project ==

I'm experienced with rails (been using it a few years) and am interested in a dfwiki project

[[User:JimboOmega|JimboOmega]] 19:18, 16 February 2011 (UTC)

== Magmawiki ==

Went there, browsed around - it seems like a rails backed wiki without any real content (and a few of the familliar "something went wrong" rails pages).

What are you looking for...?

== Magmawiki ==

Looks pretty cool. How can I help? My email address is (my user name) @ gmail.com

Can't discover your username and thus email address if you don't sign your post. :P [[User:Naros|Naros]] 21:05, 3 March 2011 (UTC)

== User Page Request ==

Posting here to request the creation of my user page, per the Site Announcements, primarily as a persistent workspace. Thanks in advance [[User:Valkyrie|Valkyrie]] 22:05, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

Requesting the creation of my user page. I'm going to use it as a workspace and reference source for details to my projects. Thankyou Kindly.
[[User:Jamesadelong|Jamesadelong]] 18:30 March 28 2011 (EST)

Please allow [[User:Mystara|Mystara]] to create a user page. I have extensive wiki markup experience and would love to be able to be a part of this community. Thank you.
[[User:Mystara|Mystara]] 23:10, 29 April 2011 (UTC)

== Dwarven Bathtub ==

I, err, don't play the ANSI version. Only tried it once for about five minutes. Ever since then, I've downloaded versions with the graphics pre-installed. So I'm not sure what a Dwarven Bathtub looks like if you use the default tiles? The image is only used on the {{L|cleaning}} page, so it's not like there's a lot to change, though. The only thing I'm sure about is that the ramps are the same in both. [[User:Uristocrat|Uristocrat]] 09:16, 1 March 2011 (UTC)

== Non-User Page Creation ==

I would like a category created called "Flowchart" so as to categorize pages like http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/File:MetalIndustry3.jpg or http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/From_Caravan_to_Happy_Dwarves

Thank you. [[User:Shenzahn|Shenzahn]] 13:31, 1 March 2011 (UTC)

== New page request ==

A [[DF2010:Large pot]] page would be nice. [[User:ZCM|ZCM]] 03:54, 9 March 2011 (UTC)

Can you please enable the creation of new pages for my account. I use to have this ability but somewhere it seems to have disappeared. I was going to add small pages for beekeeping and wax working. [[User:Profit|Profit]] 18:14, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

== Page creation requests ==

Can you please create [[Template:B12Forum]] & [[Template:DFFD]]? I plan on creating up the links to the Bay12 Forums & DF File Depot with these templates. And [[Template:Release date]] I plan to use that for release dates on graphic packs & mods. 「[[User:gu1dry|'''gu1dry''']]」[[User talk:gu1dry|⊤]] • [[Special:Contributions/Gu1dry|¢]] 10:04, 17 March 2011 (UTC)
*Still waiting for the pages to be created or to be told "no".... 「[[User:gu1dry|'''gu1dry''']]」[[User talk:gu1dry|⊤]] • [[Special:Contributions/Gu1dry|¢]] 21:04, 31 March 2011 (UTC)

== User:hapes page ==

I would like to put up quantummenace's aquifer piercing method. Can you allow me access to my use page so I can do that? Thanks.
[[User:Hapes|Hapes]] 17:12, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

== New page request ==

Could you add a page for {{L|magma piston}}s? I'll add my edits to the {{L|magma}} page for now, but I'm worried I'm going to make that page too cluttered. -[[User:Norseman|Norseman]] 08:04, 6 April 2011 (UTC)

== Yet another new page request ==
I would like the [[DF2010_Talk:Gear_assembly]] page created, thanks in advance

== Labrynth Page? ==

I found a labrynth in adventure recently, and went through it, documenting everything along the way.

Perhaps a wiki page devoted to labyrinthes.. hm.. labyrinthi?.. hmph.. would be a good idea?

I took a whole bunch of screenshots and stuff that I could write from.

- acetech09 (0153 UTC Apr 6)

== royal jelly page ==

I think we need a royal jelly page. I'm however not experienced in making one could someone set up a template?

== user page request ==

Hello, I'd like a user page please! --[[User:Knaveofstaves|Knaveofstaves]] 14:23, 20 April 2011 (UTC)
:Created. --[[User:Briess|Briess]] 14:33, 20 April 2011 (UTC)

== New Page Request: ==

<s>[http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/User:ANormalUsername1/Aceangel I need this made, please. Thanks!]</s>
Never mind! Thanks anyways! --[[User:ANormalUsername1|ANormalUsername]] 01:55, 21 April 2011 (UTC)

User talk:Mystara

2011-04-29T23:07:21Z

Mystara: Created page with 'Please feel free to send me a message.'

Please feel free to send me a message.

Dwarf Fortress Wiki talk:Manual of Style

2011-04-29T23:06:32Z

Mystara: /* Dwarfs vs. Dwarves */ new section

Discuss points of style, a few "threads" have been started to hit on some major issues. Please feel free to add new topics.
:Links to those threads would be helpful, since you're apparently referring to pre-existing discussions.--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 05:34, 3 April 2010 (UTC)

== Spelling ==
Do we use British or American spellings? Whichever we use, we should at the least be consistent. [[User:Emi|Emi]] 04:14, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
:No, we shouldn't. This is neither a specifically British nor American game, it's an ''international'' game and so an international site. The ''only'' time such spelling needs be consistent is when it matches (or conflicts with) a game-term, or such that it's consistent within a single page.

:I don't feel it's the job of the Admin to tell users to read and write either American or British exclusively, and thus alienate the other to any degree (however unintentionally that may be!). Quite the opposite, we should welcome all - [[Dwarf_Fortress_Wiki:Community_Portal#X|X is for Xeniality]]! More, it's no editor's job either - as that can lead to cultural edit wars and just plain, dull petty jingoism. I know that color and colour, flavour and flavor, and all the rest are the same - it's a wide, wide web - it's time we all get used to it. ; ) --[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 05:34, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
::By consistency, I was referring to how the game uses Armor, thus we probably shouldn't use Armour. [[user:Emi|Emi]] [[user_talk:Emi|[T]]] 05:47, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
:::I agree. If the game says "Armor," then the page and all references to the concept should read "Armor," not "Armour." However, I don't think it's appropriate to get up in arms  about "Armour" if it's not referring to the in game concept -- this is a terrible example. Flavour, if it's written somewhere, does not deserve an armed attack on all instances of the word to change it to Flavor, nor vice versa, since they're not arms. Or something. --[[User:Briess|Briess]] 19:40, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
:Writing in English is hard enough for me. :) – [[template:unsigned|unsigned]] comment by [[User:Kummahiih|Kummahiih]]
::::<nods> If the term is found on the [[armor]] page, then of course it should all match - as I said above. Likewise something's referring to armor as a game concept, the item "plate armor" for instance. But if a tangential line on the article on [[beak dog]]s reads something like "''they're dangerous, and can quickly mangle an unarmoured dwarf"'', there is no need (nor just reason) to change that. It's not referring to the game term, it's not linking to any page, it's simply referring to the abstract strategic concept, which is the same in either spelling. Slavish enforcement of spelling where it makes no diff is not the way to go. This wiki is not that rules-centric, and most users like it that way.--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 23:09, 8 April 2010 (UTC)

== Repetitive Intensifiers ==
Does "very, very yellow" offer any useful information over "very yellow"? [[User:Emi|Emi]] 04:14, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
:Does asking this question offer any, any useful information over not asking? A rather specific question for a "Manual of Style", especially without a specific reference or more general point to be made. But I would hazard the guess that that particular editor found that particular phrasing both useful and mildly entertaining in that context - this wiki is not as sterile as some, nor as formal.--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 05:34, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
::These questions were mainly a starting point, to give people an idea of the sort of things that we mean when we say 'style'. And you're right, it is very specific, but I think it's a decent thing to consider, along with the use of 'literally' as a generic intensifier, etc... [[user:Emi|Emi]] [[user_talk:Emi|[T]]] 05:52, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
:::I know what you're saying, but to try to regulate such would be a literally endless deathmarch. "Style" is personal, and some works and some doesn't, and some very cludgey stuff works when it shouldn't. I have a very wordy style, others have a very pithy, terse one, and neither is better or more or less "appropriate". Any literally unclear or broken usage will get cleaned up on its own without our enforcement, but very, very personal style should simply be overlooked so long as it works in context. (We have better things to do, really!) ; D --[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 06:01, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
::::Well, not right now I don't, EmiBot's current tagging job is going to take all night I think. She has to go to each page, load every link until she reaches a no page exception and then tag the page. She'll end up loading lots of pages per each actual page processed. [[user:Emi|Emi]] [[user_talk:Emi|[T]]] 06:06, 3 April 2010 (UTC)

== Humor ==
Does humor belong in informative articles? Where is humor acceptable? Is humor (or "humorous prose") within an article like [[40d:carp]] useful, or does it only serve to confuse and make solid information harder to find? [[User:Emi|Emi]] 04:14, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
:Yes, depending. So long as the humour is ''either'' separate or clearly a side-product, it's fine. When a user decides to rewrite an article as their own stand-up routine, that's usually not acceptable. Adding the '''<nowiki>{{D for Dwarf}}</nowiki>''' template above a comedic rant is often acceptable, but not if the sole purpose seems to be for the amusement of the editor, rather than the reader, or if it's just not relevant. In the end, it's no diff than any other edit - some efforts are generally appreciated and accepted, and some are just "wrong-o".

:In short, you can't define it, you can only know it when you see it. But Carp, in specific, have a long and highly honoured history in DF culture. And cheese. And fire, and magma, and beards, and microcline, and elephants, and cats, and migrants, and nobles, and losing, and... --[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 05:34, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
::I know that all those things have such a history, but if you're a new player reading the article on carp, you are very likely to be confused and come out unsure of what was solid info and what was hyperbole, or comedic. I think in general, the sort of stuff {{tl|D for Dwarf}} describes is what shouldn't be in informative articles, or at least not such a broad marking -- perhaps it would be better used in sections rather than at the top of an article like it often is placed? [[user:Emi|Emi]] [[user_talk:Emi|[T]]] 05:56, 3 April 2010 (UTC)

:::Actually, the current community standards suggest that "Wit" be kept to a minimum. Missed that.--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 21:09, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
:::Having discovered this game only a year ago I'd like to say that '''every single inside joke''' on this wiki was both entertaining and part of the game experience. I relied on this wiki so much I even feel stranded a bit. Mark it with D-for Dwarf template for it to be found and I think that everything will be fine. My two cents. [[Special:Contributions/90.191.16.52|90.191.16.52]] 19:26, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
::::As another person who has recently found Dwarf Fortress and the wiki, I love the D-for Dwarf stuff. It provides a clue to what other players consider interesting or historic for the game, and usually gives some information on how the topic of that article can provide 'fun'.--[[Special:Contributions/66.207.88.49|66.207.88.49]] 11:56, 11 April 2010 (UTC)

:::When I first picked up DF about two years ago, I distinctly remember actually using the D for Dwarf category as my primary point of navigation through the wiki, and several times lamenting the lack of further pages in that style. Much of the flavor of the game comes from the (frequently absurd) conclusions that the player base draws from observed behavior, quirks and bugs. Generally it is easier to come to grips with the fact that your fortress has crumbled to an end after an out-of-control fire incident when you are able to chuckle to yourself about dwarfs who think there's nothing about a glowing !!sock!! that isn't totally cool and worthy of being stored in their wooden chests. Take that away and (unless our hypothetical new player is able to independently reach the same conclusion) and all you have is yet another reason to be annoyed that the game is still in alpha. --[[User:Johntor|Johntor]] 19:46, 16 April 2010 (UTC)

::It should be fairly easy to distinguish fact from hyperbole/rant etc. if you use the '''<nowiki>{{D for Dwarf}}</nowiki>''' tag correctly though, for example, adding the 'humorous' bit at the bottom of a page, preceded by the tag. If used correctly, I believe it's acceptable. I started playing after the carp days, and still found those types of articles hilarious. --[[User:Ramperkash|Ramperkash]]
::: The occasional humorous bits included in the wiki here have always been one of my favorite things about dwarf fortress. I would be very sad if these were removed from the wiki. [[User:Doctorzuber|Doctorzuber]] 01:53, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
:I don't think (hope not) that anyone is going to delete "all humour" - that would be lame indeed. But there are recent examples where some self-appointed site Wit has added reams of quips into an article - and that's just not going to work very often. The yardstick, I think, is multifold: 1) will it muddy/confuse the facts to a newbie? And/or is the humour "funny" to the Users as a whole? It's not like the Quotes page where if one person likes it then it's pretty much there to stay. Just as with any style, it's subject to editing.--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 02:50, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
:Perhaps we should revise the D for Dwarf template so it boxes in the D for Dwarf material? Such as <nowiki>{{D for Dwarf|My Funny Jokes About Plumbers Here}}</nowiki> -- that way we still have our humor, but we make it significantly obvious what is meant as silliness and what is serious / factual. --[[User:Briess|Briess]] 19:36, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
::If you can get it to work (style-wise) on [[40d:carp]] and [[40d:fire]], then I think you've got a winner. (Those are two of the more "muddied" articles I can think of.)--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 23:12, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
:I believe humour has it's place on the DF wiki. That place is not everywhere, but it's definitely in the [[40d:carp]] article. I can't think of any hard rules on where humour is appropriate, but I'd say if the subject is a major source of [[Fun]] then it's probably okay. A more mundane subject like [[Well]] is probably best left completely straight. [[User:KFK|KFK]] 14:28, 24 April 2010 (UTC)
:The absence of wit/humor in relevant-to-the-game articles would make me sad. There's barely a single feature in this game that can't lead to [[Fun]], and a witty phrase or sentence concerning that outcome (either how to get there, or how to avoid it) is quite effective at conveying the nature of the Fun to be had (or not had, as you choose). --[[User:Greycat|Greycat]] 18:11, 4 May 2010 (UTC)

== Page Format ==
We should have some sort of general format for pages, so that like-information appears consistently in the same spots on different pages. This might be a little harder to figure out. [[User:Emi|Emi]] 04:14, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
:We currently do within like pages. Every creature, every stone, every workshop, every skill... um... pro'ly some other stuff, is parallel. Truly parallel items ( [[40d:armor piece]], [[40d:trade good]]s ) are grouped under a single umbrella article, and some (like [[40d:gem]]) even listed in a table. If an editor gets excited and confident, they can suggest/establish a format for a new category of page. But a stone and a workshop do not have the same sort of information that needs to be communicated, so trying to establish a single format for all seems counter-productive.

:When formating a page, you want:
:* A clear Intro (if the article is long).
:* '''Bold key words''' - anything that redirects to that article should be clearly noticeable early in the article. If in a lower section, mention it and add an internal subsection link.
:* Use a Table of Contents if necessary
:* Use graphics - tables, images, templates - ''especially'' if templates exist for that page type! (spec creatures, workshops, etc.)
:: --[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 05:34, 3 April 2010 (UTC)

:::Along the same lines, I think it might be good to look at how some of the existing templates are designed. Specifically [[Template:Buildings]], [[Template:Creatures]] and [[Template:Workshops]] to name a few. Buildings and Creatures are both large (maybe excessively so) and none of them seem to follow the same formatting rules. I would be happy to play around with it, but I'm much more of a 'code' person rather than a 'style' person, so I'm not sure what would be a good way to reformat them. Any thoughts?--[[User:Soy|Soy]] 00:12, 7 April 2010 (UTC)
::::"Creatures", for one, is going to need a work-over, as constants in 40d seem to have become variables in 31.01 - let me cogitate on it, I'll leave this page open and get back to you on it.--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 20:01, 7 April 2010 (UTC)
:::::I'm confused on the "constants in 40d seem to have become variables" comment. Could you clarify please? --[[User:Soy|Soy]] 21:00, 7 April 2010 (UTC)
::::::Re creatures? Did you play the prev version? There are only a few "constants" in a creature's template - most answer "what do you get when you butcher one?" Used to be 100% predictable - now it seems highly ''un''predictable. Meat, fat - even bones. Look at any cv creature page - [[dragon]], for instance - see all those ? marks? ''That's'' what I mean.--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 02:50, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
:::::::That's what I wanted to clear up: you're talking about [[Template:CreatureInfo]] and I'm talking about [[Template:Creatures]]. I was thinking it would make sense to break it up into sub-templates for the categories contained in [[:Category:Creatures]] e.g.: one for humanoids, animals, megabeasts, etc. For [[Template:CreatureInfo]] (the one you were considering) it would be an extremely simple process to remove those static links and allow each editor to propagate them with whatever is appropriate, maybe even a range of numbers? I'm not really sure as I wasn't considering that particular area, sorry. --[[User:Soy|Soy]] 04:39, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
:Oh - ''that!'' Yeah, no doubt - we'll need a new template, since the redirects go to diff creature articles. The style format should relate to how we present diff creature articles - the [[creature]] page is not to my satisfaction, and it's all inter-related. "Humanoids"? Aren't some animals half/half? In-game distinctions might be best, sim to how they're listed in the RAW's - "domestic animals" is one from 40d, and so on. Easier to list, too, since only one RAW file needs to be addressed at a time. Other approaches are certainly valid and possible.--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 18:52, 8 April 2010 (UTC)

== Image Use ==
Where should we use images, and how should we include them (where on a page)? [[User:Emi|Emi]] 04:14, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
:Wherever they are helpful, and however they look best. Again, no single rule fits all. On the right, usually (but not always), and matched up with relevant text as much as possible. Thumbnailed down to a reasonable size (big enough to be visible/useful - if still too big, then that requires either a new pic or a text that encourages the user to "click to expand").

:The guidelines for image use are simple:
:* Use .PNG format.
:* Use one of the default graphics packages, the tileset or ascii. ''(Note that the Mayday download is NOT one of these!)''
:* Use the default [[colour scheme]].
:* Make it look good.
:* No copyrighted material, etc etc.
:That's it.--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 05:34, 3 April 2010 (UTC)

::No copyrighted material, is a hard thing to do though. Because in theory, any screenshots of the game are considered copyrighted, or are at the very least, in a very gray zone. [[user:Emi|Emi]] [[user_talk:Emi|[T]]] 05:53, 3 April 2010 (UTC)

:::I assume it means no material that cannot be freely reproduced, i.e, either you own the copyright or it is under a creative commons license, etc. --[[User:Bombcar|Bombcar]] 20:11, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
::::Let's please NOT get into an amateur discussion of copyright laws. Put 50 experienced copyright lawyers in a room, and you'll have ''more'' than 50 opinions on what the law actually states for any particular situation - and we're amateurs, and from different nations with diff laws, and this is international and national issues. Common practice is that screenshots are kosher on this wiki. And we can leave it at that.--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 21:09, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
:::::Actually, this is something we need to discuss. in the US, any images of a copyrighted game are considered copyright by the holder of the game's copyright. All we can claim is fair use, which is fine -- I doubt Toady One is going to sue us for using DF images. The other consideration is that of tilesets: the creators of the tilesets still hold exclusive copyright unless they release it into the public domain or into a free license. This brings up international considerations, however; some countries do not allow a author to release material into the public domain, and others allow third parties to pursue litigation and compensation on behalf of the copyright holder. So, in summary, we can require that images are released into the public domain AND a free license, or just a free license if they are not images of the game itself; otherwise, we have to require that the image is fair use for the topic at hand. Alternatively, we could request that Toady One loosens his license in regards to screenshots of the game. --[[User:Briess|Briess]] 22:40, 18 April 2010 (UTC)

== Handling template breaking of redirects? ==

<s>How do we want to handle this? For example, {{L|Furnace Operator}} doesn't work; nor does {{L|pearlash}} - you have to use {{L|ash|pearlash}} to get it to go to the right place. Note that these examples don't work on this page; see [[40d:kiln]] for examples.</s> --[[User:Bombcar|Bombcar]] 17:56, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
:''(This is not a style question - reposting on Current Events.)''--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 21:09, 3 April 2010 (UTC)

== Vanity articles ==

What to do about pages like [[Asax|this]], which have no value to the game or to any other player, only to the one player (or a very few at most)? Almost like a [[bloodline]] page. On one hand, not hurting anything, ''and'' it's good practice if that editor ever wants to actually contribute something, you know, "useful". But on the other, it is hurting, because it's more bandwidth for the next version change. Meh. Maybe just not worth the trouble to worry about either way, cost/benefit-wise. Thoughts?--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 01:16, 5 April 2010 (UTC)
:I was actually thinking about this the other day but didn't know where to discuss it. I'm all for a Community Legends category or something similar, as I believe there's a [[Cacame_Awemedinade|Cacame]] page, [[Tholtig]], [[Morul]], and I imagine Ironblood or Nist Akath will get their own page sooner or later considering their massive reputation. Obviously we'd have to watch for people arbitrarily adding tons of stuff, but I'm certainly not against it so long as it's patrolled and kept 'rare' so to speak. --[[User:Retro|Retro]] 01:33, 5 April 2010 (UTC)
:Oh, and for reference, the Asax page spawned from [http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=52295.90 here]. --[[User:Retro|Retro]] 01:42, 5 April 2010 (UTC)
::This page exists and can exist for the same reason that [[Boatmurdered]] can have a page. The community decides that some things are epic - those things become community lore and thus part of the meta-game. This is the kind of thing that the D is for Dwarf tag is for. (Also, no extra bandwidth because he should remain unversioned, and thus never need to be moved). --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 02:29, 5 April 2010 (UTC)
:::While there's nothing inherently unacceptable about vanity articles, and the occasional well written vanity article now and then can be a good thing (within reason), well... the Asax article in particular is just not very good. There's nothing there that's extraordinarily interesting, and there's certainly no actual content worthy of including on the wiki. It needs to be either significantly expanded (if there even is any more material to expand it with - I've not yet read the forum thread), or else deleted entirely. And I'm leaning distinctly towards the latter, as it stands. This article feels to me like the aforementioned "arbitrarily adding tons of stuff", and that's certainly not something to be encouraged. --[[User:Morlark|Morlark]] 09:04, 6 April 2010 (UTC)
Well, it seems these are natural expansions from the [[forums]] - an area that I've largely dropped due to time constraints, and so remain (blissfully?) ignorant of. And even then, some of the subforums were always of far less interest than others for me, or for any reader. Unfortunately, there is no fair-handed way to legislate what is "interesting" and what is not. When [[planepacked]] hit the wiki, I was bored beyond description - someone had a glitch in their game (or maybe abused the hell out an exploit for personal bragging rights), so effin what?! But here we are. So, looks like they stay, and the only option is to add <nowiki>{{D for Dwarf}}</nowiki> and/or edit them so they read better. : \ --[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 16:02, 6 April 2010 (UTC)
:I think the solution to this is an umbrella page, to be frank. Not sure what all of your positions are on that, but someone could reasonably go through the D for Dwarf articles and decide which ones could just go in a 'Community Stories' page. [[User:Sensei|Sensei: Last seen somewhere in the Basic Jungle of Terror]] 00:24, 29 April 2010 (UTC)
::Personally, I don't really see a reason for having this kind of stuff here. I find it interesting, sure, and I like reading about stories like Asax and some of the other historic figures, but I just don't feel that they have any business being here, on the Wiki.

::It's a community subject, rather than a game subject. As such it should be kept within the community (E.G., the Bay12 forum). The same could be said about most of the "D for Dwarf" articles, in my opinion. I don't really think they contribute a whole lot to the ideals behind having a Wiki, and they can actually serve to confuse a point rather than clarify it.

::I like having those little fields on the home page for quotes and pictures from the community, but I think that's about as far as the "flavor" really needs to go here. It was my understanding that this was supposed to be a repository for information pertaining to the base game itself, not the community that sprung up around it. --[[User:Kagus|Kagus]] 00:40, 29 April 2010 (UTC)

The thing though is that if people hear about something on the forums, or any other DF community that is more about "the DF community" then about DF itself, then there should be ''someplace'' where they can learn about it. I think having that sort of thing here serves that good for little to no cost. Just segregate that sort of thing in some way (even a "community" category/box shoudl be sufficient) and then let people have fun. Even better, put it in a separate namespace (with a redirect from mainspace). Zero problems, plenty of value. [[User:Mason11987|Mason]] ([[User talk:Mason11987|T]]-[[Special:Contributions/Mason11987|C]]) 13:16, 29 April 2010 (UTC)

== in-article Capitalization ==

Articles are all capitalized - but that doesn't mean that they're all Capitalized. In an article, we should refer to a dwarf's [[armor]], not to their [[Armor]]. This gets exceptionally annoying in, for example, lists of plants, like [[Plump helmet]]s and [[Pig tail]]s, but also when suddenly [[Gold]] appears as if it's become some sort of sports team, or perhaps we're referring to someone's lawyer by last name. Even the "see also" at the bottom of a page? Altho' on one level it just doesn't matter, it reinforces that capitalization twitch. For example:

:'''See Also:'''
:*[[DF2010:Plaster powder|Plaster powder]]

vs.

:'''See Also:'''
:*[[DF2010:Plaster powder|plaster powder]]

I'd rather use the latter. It's not a proper noun (not even as an article name), and we're not speaking German (which does capitalize random nouns).--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 20:55, 6 April 2010 (UTC)

:Links should be capitalized according to standard grammatical practices. So don't link <nowiki>[[Like this]], link [[like this]]</nowiki>. Of course, if the word should be capitalized, like if it's at the start of a sentence, capitalize it. Proper nouns, like [[Urist]] or [[Toady]], should of course also be capitalized. Plant names aren't proper, unless it's the plump helmet Vendorblood the Menace of Crafting, and so shouldn't be capitalized.

:Since we can't have any simple rules, though, I think your '''See also''' example should be the former. Items in a list are treated grammatically like a sentence, and a '''See also''' section is a list of other articles to visit, even if it's only one item long. So it should be
:*[[DF2010:Plaster powder|Plaster powder]]
: not
:*[[DF2010:Plaster powder|Plaster Powder]]
: or
:*[[DF2010:Plaster powder|plaster powder]]
: or, god forbid,
:*[[DF2010:Plaster powder|plaster Powder]].

:Also to further complicate things and draw this conversation into areas it probably shouldn't go, section headers should only have the first word capitalized, so it should be '''See also''', not '''See Also'''. This is neither here nor there, however, and is just a rule I picked up from Wikipedia. In general, I defer to Wikipedia practices when editing any wiki, since that's kind of the norm. --[[User:Mikaka|Mikaka]] 21:43, 6 April 2010 (UTC)
::Agreed, I think Wikipedia should be a general standard, unless there's a reason to change it, like our version namespaces. --[[User:Aescula|Aescula]] 21:40, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

:It's generally considered correct for bulletted/numbered lists and tabular data to be capitalised. Obviously, if people are capitalising article titles in non-lists, or in in-line lists within a sentence then that isn't correct. But for the specific example you gave, the correct capitalisation would be:

:'''See also:'''
:[[DF2010:Plaster powder|Plaster powder]]

:--[[User:Morlark|Morlark]]

== Footer ==

Fixed footer at bottom obstructs found items if you use seach in your broswer. For example, look at [DF2010:Creature_tokens] article in firefox, hit ctrl+f and type "MEGABEAST". String is found, but footer overlays its position, making it look like searching is broken. Suggestion: get rid of fixed position of footer, nothing on it needs to be visible all the time. [[Special:Contributions/85.207.18.54|85.207.18.54]] 11:31, 9 May 2010 (UTC)

== Dwarfs vs. Dwarves ==

I have seen a bit of a conflict of plurals throughout the wiki. For example on the [[Military]] page in the "Current Reported Military-Related Bugs" section both terms are used in separate instances. From a grammatical standpoint both forms are correct plurals, but it seems a bit inconsistent to see them both used within a line or two of each other. Which is correct?

v0.31:Military

2011-04-29T22:51:59Z

Mystara: /* Current Reported Military-Related Bugs */ Changed "loose" to "lose"

{{Quality|Exceptional}}{{av}}

The '''military''' is one of the most important aspects of a successful fortress. Even with many {{l|trap}}s, {{l|bridge|drawbridges}} and {{l|magma|other defenses}}, your military will still need to fend off {{l|goblin}} {{l|siege}}s, {{l|megabeast}}s, {{l|titan}}s, and fiendish {{l|Giant cave spider|underground}} {{l|Forgotten beast|beasties}}. Using a combination of {{l|squads|squad orders}} and {{l|scheduling}}, you can set up an elaborate offensive, defensive, or balanced military structure for your {{l|equipment|well-equipped}} {{l|soldier}}s to follow. Turning your dwarves from {{l|immigration|useless migrants}} into bloodthirsty killing machines never hurts (unless you're the enemy).

''Related articles:''
* For a ''very'' simple "How to attack a target", see {{L|Attack}}.
* For a list of frequently asked questions, see the {{l|Military F.A.Q.}}
* For an insight about combat training, check out {{l|Sparring}}
* For a general overview of threats and considerations for fortress defense, see the {{l|Defense guide|Defense Guide}}.
* For specific suggestions on the physical defenses that will defend your military, see {{l|Security design|Security Design}}.
* For complex traps that are not a minor/optional part of a larger defensive plan (but might be adapted or plugged into one), see {{l|Trap design|Trap Design}}.
* For specific advice on how to get your soldiers prepared for any threat, see {{l|military design|Military Design}}.

For quick reference: from the main menu the '''military''' screen is accessible through the {{k|m}} key, the '''{{l|squads}}''' screen is accessible through the {{k|s}} key, the '''points/routes/notes''' screen is accessible through the {{k|N}} key, and the '''{{l|burrow}}s''' screen is accessible through the {{k|w}} key. The military screen and all its tabs are mouse-compatible, and can be navigated through mouse clicks rather than strictly keys (when in windowed mode).

==Creating a Military==

While it may be confusing to a new player, the military system makes up for its initial impenetrability with its versatility. Squads can be assigned, reordered and restructured at will, dwarves can be set to equip a highly-specified uniform along with the rest of their squad or stand out and equip something unique, and you can give incredibly detailed commands and programming to your squads to follow out based on time of year, circumstance, location, and user convenience. That being said, there's a lot to be learned.

This article is about the general aspects of what comprises a military. For more detailed information including specific keypresses, see the associated article expanding on a subject.

===Squads===

''Full article: {{l|Squads}}''

'''Squads''' are the groups of soldiers that make up your military. Your military is now led by the appointed '''{{l|militia commander}}''' and has many other squads led by '''militia captains''' under him. Creating a squad in the military screen is one of the first things you should do when starting your military.

===Equipping Soldiers===

''Full article: {{l|Squads#Equipping Soldiers}}''

Rather than simply pick a level of equipment and hope your dwarves pick up the right stuff, you can select what your dwarf will wear by item type or specific item, or create a new uniform template and apply it to a dwarf or entire squad all at once. Even the material and color of your soldiers' uniform is configurable. You can create identical armored units with intimidating red cloaks or just slap something together based on need and circumstance. Even artifact weapons/armor are now selectable - luck and micro-management have been removed from the equation.



==Directing Soldiers==

Getting your military to actually ''do'' something is a lot more difficult than it once was; gone are the days of simply designating a barracks and letting your recruits have at it. It is now possible to give your squads different monthly '''schedules''', create different '''alert levels''' which will cause squads to follow out new user-programmed instructions depending on circumstance, give '''direct orders''' to '''attack''' one or more specific targets or '''move''' to a specific location, or follow '''patrol routes''' and '''stations''' with greater accuracy.

There is now a clear discrepancy between ''active'' orders and ''passive'' orders-- the latter is programming that a dwarf will follow to the letter and acts more as a defense method, and the former is used for taking the fight to the enemy. The ''squads'' menu is predominantly used for active commands, and the ''alert'' and ''scheduling'' menus are used for passive commands.

===Active Command===

''Full article: {{l|Squads#Direct_Commands|Squads#Direct Commands}}''

In the new military, soldiers operate much more like part-time militiamen than full-time warriors. When soldiers are not passively doing their civilian duties or following their schedule programming, they can be actively sent to do small tasks to aggressively defend your fortress. After these orders have been carried out or cancelled, your dwarves will happily return to their passive programming as if they were never interrupted. It is possible to select multiple squads or specific dwarves to carry out these orders.

Your forces can be commanded to carry out two types of orders: '''Move''' orders and '''Attack''' (or '''kill''') orders. Move orders are much like the 'station squad' command in previous versions; your selected dwarves will run to wherever you've sent them. Similarly, attack orders will select an enemy (by location on screen, general area on screen, or list) and send your dwarves charging off that way.

Soldiers following orders will attack any hostiles they encounter on their way to their destination as well as wild animals and whatever other creatures they might encounter, whether you like it or not. As a result it is very difficult to attack members of an enemy group with any sort of precision, and if your dwarves cannot take down their target there is no real way to get them out of combat; it's do-or-die. It is unknown whether this is a bug or a feature.

Orders can be cancelled through the squads screen, but your dwarves tend to be so enthusiastic that they'll just ignore you in their bloodlust. This is likely a bug.

===Passive Command===

''Full article: {{l|Scheduling}}''

The new '''alert level''' and '''scheduling''' system is a new feature that is both incredibly versatile... and, initially, completely impenetrable. Once you learn the system, though, you will find that you barely need to manage your military at all. Effectively, a schedule is programming for a squad to follow within an alert, broken up by month, and alerts can be quickly and easily swapped in order to apply different schedules of your choosing to different squads of your choosing. Without scheduling, alert levels would do nothing; without alert levels scheduling would be horribly inefficient; the two functions co-exist and rely on each other.

It is now possible to give your squads different monthly schedules, create different alert levels which will cause squads to follow out new user-programmed instructions depending on circumstance, give direct orders to attack one or more specific targets or move to a specific location, or follow patrol routes and stations with greater accuracy. The entire system (including alert names) is completely configurable, and in time you will find yourself using complicated scheduling to rotate squads between training and defending/patrolling specified areas over the course of a year without any user input, or to start defending the fort entrance or trader route with a few easy key presses.

Civilian alert levels are also possible - civilians can be restricted by '''{{l|burrow}}''' to where they can roam should the need to tuck them away into a panic room arise. The 'entrance dance' bug of the previous version has also been removed - if a dwarf restricted to a burrow is not there, he will do his best to make the journey.

The scheduling screen is broken up into a list of squads, months, alert types and '''order criteria'''. Each order (applied to one month; multiple orders can be stacked on one month as well) can be given criteria to define how many dwarves within a squad will follow its programming at once, allowing you to make a few dwarves out of the squad active at a time while the rest go about their business or to make the entire squad always active for a matter of the utmost importance, foregoing food, sleep, and booze. You can also choose which positions in a squad the order will prefer to utilize when forcing a squad to follow it.

Four types of orders can be given (as well as the 'inactive' command), defining different types of patrolling or stationary defending. Squads can spar and be given combat demonstrations in the '''{{l|barracks}}''', defend a '''{{l|burrow}}''', patrol a '''route''', or defend a single '''station'''. The monthly schedules can be named so as to better suit your needs, and a new (if still a bit buggy) copy/paste system has been introduced to eliminate some of the tedium in creating fancy scheduling for many months. The display can also be flipped around.

Barracks can now serve the needs of multiple specific squads at once. A barracks can be defined as a place to train, sleep, store squad equipment, store individual equipment, or any combination of the above, in any weird overlapping combination of barracks you like. Barracks are necessary for training.

When dwarves are being ordered to train, squad leaders will set up training classes for particular skills, or they will have dwarves spar. Any dwarves in the squad that don't qualify for these will default to individual training. In the current release, training classes are bugged where if a squad leader sets up a training class, he will wait forever (Or until you change his orders) for students, even if nobody shows up. Likewise, if students decide to request a class and the squad leader is doing individual training, they will wait for him to finish, even if they start starving. Thus, at the moment it's best to alternate your forced training schedules with downtime so the longest a dwarf will be stuck waiting is a game month (which isn't long enough to die), or just leave them off duty all the time and have them do individual training only, at least until this issue is fixed.

==Frequently Asked Questions==

''Full article: {{l|Military F.A.Q.}}''

==Current Reported Military-Related Bugs==
* When selecting new dwarves to place in a squad the cursor always returns to the first available dwarf instead of remaining where it is.
* Soldiers who have completed a kill task do not cancel their kill task. This may be intentional.
* There are still various problems with dwarves not equipping what they should; most notably, dwarves will try to equip two left gauntlets or two right gauntlets rather than one of each. This happens if there are an odd number of gauntlets of any quality level; the dwarves try to equip two gauntlets of the highest quality level, regardless of whether they are left or right. A solution is to make sure every quality level accounts for one right gauntlet for each left gauntlet.
*Dwarfs who become lords automatically disable all their civilian jobs. When they come off duty and back on duty they lose experience as well.
*Military dwarfs in squads that are assigned to a schedule may get increasingly angry about long patrol duties, even if they were not on duty the past 12 months.

{{Military v0.31}}
{{Category|Military| }}

v0.31:Mining

2011-04-23T00:12:59Z

Mystara: Corrected keystroke to remove construction.

{{quality|Fine|07:07, 19 January 2011 (UTC)}}
{{Labor
| labor = Mining
| skill = * {{L|Miner}}
| tasks =
* Dig
}}
{{av}}

'''Mining''' is an essential part of building a fort in Dwarf Fortress. There are several reasons you might want to mine, such as {{L|exploratory mining|searching}} for various {{L|stone|stone types}}, or simply to create the basic tunnels and {{L|room}}s in your fort.

There are several types of jobs associated with this skill:
* '''Mining''' removes the section of the wall while preserving both the ceiling and the floor.
* '''Channeling''' removes the section of the wall, the floor and if possible places a ramp one level below.
* '''Ramps''' replaces the section with a upward ramp, also removing the tile and floor one level above.
* '''Stairs''' builds upward (or downward) stairs.

Mining can only be done in pre-existing stone or soil; built {{L|wall}}, {{L|stairs}} or {{L|ramp|ramps}} cannot be mined. These must be removed using the 'remove construction' option ({{K|d}}, {{K|n}})

== Making a dwarf a miner ==

# Specify your dwarf to be a miner via {{K|v}}iew, {{K|p}}ref, {{K|l}}abor.
# Select "Mining" using {{K|+}} or {{K|-}}, then press {{K|enter}}.
A {{L|miner}} also requires an available {{L|pick}}. A dwarf's agility and mining skill affect how quickly they mine.

Selecting the mining labor will disable the {{L|wood cutting}} and {{L|hunting}} labors, as they all involve the usage of different tools.

Digging in dirt can be a good way of leveling miners up.

== Designating the area to be mined ==

# Press {{K|d}}esignate to bring up the {{L|Designations}} menu.
# Highlight the requested action by pressing:
#* {{K|d}} for mining
#* {{K|h}} for channeling
#* {{K|r}} for an upward ramp
#* {{K|u}} for stairs towards the upper level
#* {{K|j}} for stairs towards the lower level
#* {{K|i}} for stairs in both directions
# Move the cursor to the starting point, then press {{K|enter}}. You should see a green flashing cross symbol indicating that it's in Selection Mode.
# Move the cursor to another point to define the opposite corners of a rectangle, press {{K|enter}} again. A yellow area should now be highlighted, indicating the area to be mined. Tiles can also be designated by using the mouse and left-clicking. This is particularly handy when you want to designate the same tile on several z-levels, typically to create up/down stairs. Leftclick and hold while moving through the z-levels.

==Mining Warm/Damp Stone==
When designating any digging operation, warm and damp tiles will flash, indicating magma or water in adjacent tiles. Miners can dig these safely, provided an escape route. Channeling and ramping designations involve two operations, and your dwarf will be submerged in the fluid when done. Unskilled swimmers can reach an exit ramp out of water if near enough, but magma will certainly cost your miner's life (the flow from either can knock dwarves off ledges, or naturally {{L|flood}} the fortress.)

==Training Mining==
Mining skill is important for two reasons: First, it allows miners to dig faster. Second, a higher skill increases the chance that mining will produce a stone, lump of ore, or gem. A legendary miner will always produce a resource unless they are drowsy, hungry, or thirsty.

Dwarves gain mining experience for each tile mined, be it stone, ore, gem, or soil. Soil is mined extremely quickly and is the fastest way to train miners. Since the skill of mining also is used in combat, a dwarf with mining enabled that is carrying a pick will increase their mining skill through combat drills. This process is much faster than learning by digging through stone, but not nearly as fast as learning by digging through soil.

==How to cancel a mining operation==
If you placed a designated area for mining but want to cancel the mining (for example if you approached [[damp stone]]) simply go to Designations {{K|d}} and select Remove Designation {{K|x}}. Then select the starting point of the area you want to cancel with {{K|enter}}, move to the ending point and confirm again with {{K|enter}}.

== Notes ==
To create a channel with no downward ramps, you have to mine out the area underneath the channel first, or manually designate the ramps created for removal afterwards. If you wish for these channels to be completely inaccessible from the outside, channel out the access-point (downward staircase). Another (more complicated) way of removing any access to the moat is to replace the dug out ramps with constructed ones and creating a cave-in with constructed floors. Rampless channels are an effective substitute for walls against melee enemies that cannot fly, and they can be dug out far faster than a wall can be built. However, channels offer no defense against archers or dragonbreath.

== See also ==
* {{L|Map tile}}s – Different types of walled, floor and open spaces.
* {{L|Caverns}} – Large underground tunnel systems.
* {{L|Exploratory mining}} – Mining focused on finding valuable {{L|stone}}.
* {{L|Stone}} – A list of different types of stones and ores left behind from mining. 
* {{L|Soil}} – A list of soil types.