Dwarf Fortress Wiki - User contributions [en]

v0.34:Starting build

2012-10-03T07:17:03Z

Discipol: /* Finished product or do it yourself */

{{quality|Exceptional|10:09, 24 April 2011 (UTC)}}{{av}}

:''This is not a tutorial, a FAQ, or a new players guide. This is a mildly advanced theoretical treatment for someone ready to take the plunge and make all the decisions about their own fortress. The following are intended for beginners:''
::*[[Quickstart guide]]
::*[[Main:From Caravan to Happy Dwarves|Beginner Flowchart]]
::*[[User:Calite/Gloss_Guide|Beginner Checklist]]
:''For an explanation of the interface for starting out, see [[Embark]].''

A '''starting build''' is a personal strategy for choosing the initial supplies, equipment, and [[skill]]s of your initial seven dwarves when starting a new game in [[fortress mode]]. (See [[Sample Starting Builds]]). These skills and items which you assign to your dwarves will have a large impact on life in your new fortress, especially in its first year.

This page attempts to provide a discussion about how and why you make the choices on what you bring with you. This page is not an explanation of the mechanics of doing so, see the [[embark]] page for an explanation of the interface itself. This page assumes you have already made certain decisions, such as where you plan on settling, and that you are looking at the [[Embark#Prepare_Carefully|Prepare Carefully]] screen.

One thing should be made clear - there is no "best" build, no "perfect" or "clearly superior" final mix of skills and items, if only because there isn't any one goal of play. The goals you have for a fortress will dictate which sets of items and skills are best suited to achieving that goal - in your opinion. And then there is the environment, where your dwarves will arrive, the creatures, the resources available, and so forth. Finally, some people do things solely because it is hard, and that makes it more [[fun]] for them.

__TOC__

== Components of a Starting Build ==
There are two main components of a starting build: skills and items.

Skills for your initial dwarves determine how quickly they will work early on, what industries you are guaranteed to be able to start with skilled workers, how well you can defend your dwarves early on, and what the quality of various goods they produce will be, and possibly many other considerations. This page considers in detail how you might go about choosing skills for your starting dwarves, and examines the multiple competing perspectives from which you can make that decision.

The items that your dwarves bring with you can be tailored a number of ways. There are trade-offs to cheaper and more expensive alternatives, and reasons why you might choose either. This section explores the nature of these trade-offs and the reasons for making a decision. It also looks at optimizing goods brought in more general contexts.

Starting builds can and should vary based upon a number of other variables. [[location|Where you choose to settle]] will give you a fortress that supplies different raw materials and thus require different skill sets to utilize, not to mention different threats from native wildlife based on [[biome]], [[surroundings|savagery]], and [[surroundings|alignment]]. Which dwarven civilization you come from will restrict the materials with which you can start. Making choices about these variables is not part of a starting build. What you choose for skills and items because of these choices is part of your starting build, and so some general guidelines about different environments is given last.

This page does not cover the interface for accomplishing these tasks. Please see the [[embark]] page.

== Skill Optimization ==
With only 7 dwarves, you can't take every [[skill]], so you have to balance what you do take. At this starting phase, each dwarf can only be assigned a maximum total of 10 skill levels, with no single skill starting higher than "5". Maximum skill distribution is thus constrained to 1 level in each of 10 skills, or 5 levels in each of two skills, or something in between. Because dwarves can [[experience|learn]] any and all skills once your fortress starts, these initial choices do not dictate what the dwarves can do, opening up incredible latitude to choose skills for reasons other than survival.

:''(* Note that an unskilled dwarf starts with all Skills at Level '''0'''. Adding +5 Levels is then Level '''5'''. This is true regardless of how many "points" a level costs when first buying skills at embark.)''

A brief list of considerations governing skill choice:
:* Maximizing starting skill ranks vs. generalizing and having more skills covered at lower levels.
:* Balancing multiple skills for a single dwarf, so they aren't constantly needed for two different tasks at critical periods
:* Military vs economic needs
:* Your goals vs "basic survival needs" to keep your fortress healthy and happy.
:* Speed that a skill can be trained in game
:* Demand for a skill during a game
:* Whether quality or speed are significant considerations for tasks/final product
:* Balancing the desire to create [[wealth]] ''(with high-value products)'' with the need to maintain [[thought|morale]] ''(with low-value but commonly used products, like [[bed]]s, which normally are made from [[wood]])''.
:* most importantly - ''your playstyle'' - what '''you''' think is "[[fun]]"!

==== Breadth vs. Depth ====

A dwarf with only 2 starting skills at 5 ranks each is pretty good at 2 tasks, but untrained at anything else. A dwarf with nothing higher than level 1 is passable at many tasks, but not good at anything. Each dwarf in your party is going to be somewhere along this continuum, and you'll need to choose where.

Level in a skill dictates how fast a dwarf completes a task (most of the time), and how well he completes it (if applicable). On one extreme, [[butchery]] has no time variance for slaughtering a tame animal, and has no quality associated with the outcome. On the other extreme, [[Metal industry|metalworking]] tasks can take a long time for an untrained worker to complete and their high material value means the quality multiplier has a large impact on the end value.

Dwarves who complete tasks faster can do more total [[job]]s within a given timeframe. The rate at which speed increases with level varies with skill, so some skills will benefit more than others.

Dwarves who make items of higher quality will contribute more to fortress wealth and may have a large impact on fortress happiness if their work is readily available to be seen by other dwarves. Items which typically contribute to happiness are low value but common public items, like beds and tables. Items which contribute the most to fortress wealth often cannot be displayed, but make useful trade goods or equipment for your military.

A dwarf highly skilled in few areas will work faster at those tasks and produce higher quality work than his more generalized counterpart. However, he will do worse at any other task he is set to.

Aside from the obvious trade off, there is another reason to prefer depth - dwarves can obviously only complete so many total jobs within a given timespan. If a dwarf is busy doing one thing, he can't simultaneously be doing something else. So a dwarf who is highly skilled in a few skills may not actually experience any disadvantage thereby if he is kept doing those things in which he specializes. The generalist dwarf, on the other hand, may be able to do many more different tasks adequately, but he can still only do one type of task at a time. A dwarf with one highly used skill (such as Mechanics or Mining) can feasibly spend all his time using only his primary skill and thus has no need to generalize. In effect, the generalist is wasting more skill points whenever he does jobs than the specialist, so long as the specialist tends to do jobs he has levels in. Specializing your initial skill investment is therefore superior if you specialize the division of labor in your fortress.

Of course, you can still only bring 7 dwarves with 10 total levels of skills each, so covering everything you want to do in 14 skills may be hard, if not impossible. A generalist or two can cover more bases that have little quality need or are otherwise fast even without a high level. The generalists real problem arises from the fact that any dwarf can do any task, and having 1 level isn't much better than having no levels. Which isn't to say there isn't a situation where a 1/1/1/1/1/5 dwarf is the right solution (indeed, the typical recommended leader/broker takes 1/1/1/1/1 in appraiser/judge of intent/negotiator/+2 social skills because none of these skills have a time or quality component), but most less-specialized dwarves are more likely to fall in the 5/3/2 or 4/3/3 end of the spectrum solely because there is a minimum investment necessary to be noticeably better than not having any levels at all.

==== Design Constraints: Which skills do I need, really? ====

The only thing that you absolutely must do in the first year is get your food supplies into a food stockpile, preferably inside, or your food will rot on the ground and your dwarves will starve. Anything else you want to do can be accommodated by sufficient investment in initial supplies and/or skills. This means the options for possible starting builds are vast because virtually any set of starting skills for your dwarves is viable (and that's before you even think about equipment, which adds more variables). So the short answer is: none.

That said, there are some skills which will be '''used''', to one extent or another, by virtually every fortress - but that doesn't mean you '''need''' or even want to invest points in them to start. You could even manipulate the fortress (see [[challenge]]) to completely avoid one or more of the following, but these are the skills you will find it exceptionally hard to avoid creating jobs for:

*[[Mining]] - to dig your fortress, and gain stone for projects. Only possible to avoid using if you're secretly an elf.
** Inexperienced [[miner]]s work very slowly. Mining can be leveled up quite quickly by mining [[soil#soil|soil]], but taking two dwarves with at least some points in mining is recommended in most cases.
*[[Carpentry]], [[wood cutter|Wood cutting]] - [[bed]]s can only be produced from [[wood]] (rare [[mood]]s aside). This skill can also be used to make [[bin]]s without having to have an [[anvil]], use any metal [[bar]]s, or use any [[fuel]].
** It's best not to have your carpenter and your wood cutter be the same dwarf. Doing that would create a bottleneck, as your carpeter would have to stop working to go cut down some trees.
*[[Masonry]] - to build walls and stairs, and fashion dwarven furniture from stone. Possible to work around, but incredibly hard and annoying to do.
*[[Grower|Growing]] - your farmers' work echoes throughout so many other tasks, it's stunning.
** Skilled planters produce larger stacks of crops, which means more food, more booze, more cloth, more dye, ....
** While it's possible to feed your fortress on nothing but caravan goods, you'll never come by enough alcohol that way, so you'll eventually need to grow or gather plants for brewing. Dwarves will literally go crazy if forced to drink nothing but water for long periods. Thus you'll want to plan for farming eventually - not that you need to bring a highly skilled [[Grower]], but it'll certainly be ''very'' helpful.
*[[Brewer|Brewing]], [[Cook|Cooking]] - A skilled brewer produces [[alcohol]] more quickly. Likewise, a skilled [[cook]] prepares [[prepared meal|meals]] more quickly (and more appealingly). However, most food can be eaten raw, and so long as they are not starving there is life.
*[[Mechanics]] - If you want traps, and most people will. Also needed for most machinery. Mechanisms sell for a high price as a bonus.
*[[Architecture|Building Designer]] - Mandatory for some buildings and constructions, but skill only improves speed a tad and increases structure [[value]]
*[[Appraiser]] - you will use this whenever you trade with a caravan. Without it, you won't know how much anything is worth, making trading difficult. It's highly recommended to start with a dwarf with Novice (1 pt) Appraiser skill.

The very fact that you ''will'' use these skills can make many of them desirable to choose as starting skills for your dwarves. Of the above, Mining, Masonry, Growing, Cooking, and Mechanics are generally worth considering as "highly desirable". However, '''any skill can be used untrained, and/or get trained on the job''' - it just means a slower process and/or average lower quality product than if done by a dwarf with a higher [[experience|skill level]]. Some skills (e.g. Record Keeper) are rarely worth investing initial points in even though you will almost always use them; you can simply let the dwarf learn on the job. Others (e.g. Mining, Carpentry) may be worth investing points in depending on your goals or the tempo with which you want to achieve them. (Mining is easy to train so you could forgo initial investment and just train on the job, but this could force you to spend longer on the surface, increasing your exposure to dangers. A skilled carpenter can contribute a lot to fortress mood, but won't produce much value; see the discussion of Quality below.)

Many other skills are optional as to whether they'll get used or not. You need to deliberately want to use them. The skills above are essential to basic aspects of the game, and avoiding one requires a deliberate choice ''not'' to use it (and likely a lot of effort spent to avoid doing so). A fortress could make its wealth by smithing fine weapons, weaving quality cloth, encrusting precious stones onto furniture, or crafting quality trinkets. Or all of those. But it doesn't have a compelling reason to do any one in particular. A fortress that never designates a tile for mining, however, requires exceptional effort to achieve.

This means there is no universal design constraint on which skills to start with. Ultimately the answer to "What skills do I need?" is "Whichever ''you'' want". Choosing a mixture of these commonly used skills and your desired specialized skills will make starting up your fortress easier and more efficient, but you don't need to start with any of them. Choosing to avoid some skills may force you to use some others, but nothing compels you to invest in any skill in particular.

A common skill list (Just as a general quick start):
*2 Miners
*1 Woodcutter
*1 Grower/Cook
*1 Grower/Brewer
*1 Carpenter
*1 Mason

This is not the be all end all, of course; it all depends upon your location, your goals, and what you consider fun.

==== Balancing military and economic needs ====

Not all embarks will require a military presence in the first year, but anyone planning an expedition to a sinister, haunted, or terrifying biome would be foolish not to be prepared for nasty dwarf-killing creatures. The solution doesn't strictly need to be military skills; quick delving and a skilled mechanic may be sufficient; but starting with a military dwarf will give you the earliest possible protection and a lot more versatility in where that protection can be applied. Whatever you choose to do, understand the risk and be prepared for it.

==== Training considerations ====

Some skills are harder to gain experience in than others - requiring valuable resources or taking an extended period of time, and thus inconvenient to train from the ground up. Investing in some of these extensively in your initial dwarves can make those industries much less painful to start. For example, metal-related skills generally eat metal bars, and thus the less time you spend training metal workers up to a decent level, the faster they'll be churning out high-quality items for you, and the fewer bars they'll waste becoming skilled. On the other hand, despite its importance, skills like mining train relatively quickly and barring extenuating circumstances (expected need to accomplish particular digging projects in the first month or you'll get mauled by a Giant for example) there's little need to actually invest your starting skills in it - they can learn on the job.

==== Quality, value, and happiness ====

[[Quality]] is an important part of Dwarf Fortress. Higher quality items produce better and more frequent happy thoughts and are worth more money. Valuable commodities will trade for more goods from caravans that visit. When choosing skills that produce objects of quality, the desire to produce valuable goods for trade will often conflict with the desire to produce objects that will make your dwarves happy. Built items that are frequently encountered tend to be things like furniture, especially beds, which tend to have low material values and thus low total value no matter how high the quality of the work. Further, these things tend to be inconvenient to trade. It is often best to strike a balance between dwarves who produce valuable trade goods and dwarves who produce quality items that will make your population happy - and thus be able to achieve both goals simultaneously.

It's worth noting that built furniture and worn clothing counts its value twice -- once under the appropriate category and once for displayed value. If you're trying to maximize your created wealth total, a good metalsmith producing furniture from high-value metals is optimal. A mason or stonecrafter can also build furniture from ore such as gold nuggets, if these are enabled in the stocks screen. Presently there is no disadvantage in doing so, as the furniture is just as valuable as if it had been made by a metalsmith from metal bars, and masonry is much easier to train.

==== Moodable skills ====

[[Strange mood]]s can give a dwarf Legendary skill in his/her highest-level "moodable" skill, and moods take hold of dwarves with different professions at different rates. Some skills are "moodable" where others are not. You might choose to take a certain skill solely because it opens up moods for that skill with that dwarf. Some moodable skills are more valuable than others - a legendary weaponsmith is both valuable and useful. A legendary tanner is generally a waste of a mood since tanned hides have no quality.

Because a dwarf can only have a strange mood in one skill, pairing a moodable skill with a non-moodable skill can ensure that if the dwarf has a mood it will be in the skill you desire. See the section on combining skills below for more details on ways to pair skills.

Dwarves with no moodable skill can be allowed to do one task using a moodable skill to give them a moodable skill with no starting build investment, so moodable skill considerations should not be considered a primary reason to choose particular skills - you should also want to make use of them for other reasons.

==== Combining Skills ====
Every dwarf is going to have 2 or more [[skills]]. This means that even once you know which skills you want, you're going to need to pair them up before assigning them. Not all skill combinations are equally functional.

Some skills are highly time-consuming, either because the skill is in frequent demand (eg, [[mining]]) or because it takes a long time to do an individual job (eg, [[strand extraction]]). If a dwarf is spending most of their time using that skill, they aren't making much use of their other skill. Pairing two time-consuming skills together therefore tends to be a bad idea, as one or both jobs are not going to get the attention they need or deserve. Similarly, pairing a skill with time-critical jobs with a time-consuming skill also tends to be a bad idea. If your [[grower]] is also mining, he may not stop to plant crops one season. Or he might neglect to harvest your crops in a timely fashion and they could rot on the ground (if you only let your growers harvest). Arranging your skill combinations to avoid these situations is generally beneficial. For example, Masons, miners, growers, and any craft that your fortress will base their economy off of (glass, stonecrafts, armour, etc) will take a lot of time, so plan accordingly.

Instead, pairing relatively time-intensive tasks with less time-intensive tasks will let your dwarf accomplish all such tasks adequately. Once you get a metal industry rolling, an armorer/weaponsmith will need to make a lot fewer weapons to outfit your soldiers than he will armor components. Thus he can usefully do both jobs without hurting your productivity overly much. Similarly, a mason might also be your architect, since building designer is a very infrequently used skill.

Working at different jobs levels up specific [[attribute]]s. One could level up a miner until he becomes mighty and ultra-tough - and then turn him into a soldier, or retire him to haul stone. If you plan on doing so, it may not be a good idea to give this guy a second critical job that will demand a lot of time away from their focus.

Since tasks will take place in specific areas, another approach is to combine tasks into dwarves who will take care of a specific industry, or spend all their time in one generally narrow part of the fortress - the forges, or the kitchens, or outdoors, for instance. So combining Farming with cooking, rather than mining, for example, and turn on only Haul Food, not Haul Stone. Metalworkers spending their time in the forge can easily handle more than one type of metalworking skill, and are also well-situated to be furnace operators.

Similarly, you can also make the craftsmen of your finished products also responsible for the production of intermediate products from raw ingredients. This way when they run out of materials to make into finished goods they can immediately switch over to working raw products into intermediate products so they'll have more to work with later. This works better in some industries than in others. A single butcher/tanner/cook trying to process multiple animals simultaneously will likely result in rotten food, carcases, or skins. But a weaponsmith who doubles as a furnace operator can usefully ensure he has material to work with when you want him to. Later on, however, a highly skilled craftsdwarf is often better suited at sitting in their [[workshop]] and having others deliver raw materials to them than going out and obtaining their own raw materials themselves, but in the early game dwarf-time is limited, and a single dwarf who can work an entire production chain can do so relatively efficiently and let your other dwarves be used elsewhere.

There is no requirement that a dwarves job combination needs to look 'right' or logical. A weaponsmith will most probably not spend nearly 100% of their time creating weapons - what they do with the other part of their time may have nothing at all to do with forges or smithing. Jobs which require little time in general, or little time early even if time-intensive later, may well be paired with any time-intensive task solely to provide the dwarf with something to usefully and skillfully do with most of their time, and freed from that duty as needed for the other tasks.

Another constraint you can impose on your skill combinations is to try to limit dwarves to [[moodable]] skill and one non-moodable skill (or a moodable and a less desired moodable skill at lower level), so any mood will improve the desired one. For example, pairing craft skills with farming skills gives you dwarves that will perform useful food production or raw good processing services while also getting their mood in a valuable finished goods skill. Example: Clothier/Grower.

==== Which dwarf should have which skill? ====
Dwarves who craft goods they prefer, or work materials they prefer, gain a bonus to the quality of the finished work. This can inform your choice of which skills you choose, for example by choosing a weaver because you notice a preference for sheep wool yarn, or you might choose the skills you want and then try to find a suitable dwarf to use that skill. In the latter case, since all dwarves have one metal preference you might assign an armorsmithing skill to a dwarf with a preference for iron, steel, or adamantine.

The dwarf with the most social skills will end up being the [[Expedition leader]], who will then become the [[mayor]] and start making [[mandate]]s. Thus you should avoid giving the most social skills to dwarves who have [[preferences]] for things like [[adamantine]].

Dwarves have physical and mental attributes that affect the performance of certain skills. You may wish to give a socially adept and patient dwarf the leadership/broker skills, or a dwarf who doesn't tire easily a skill which will be in frequent use like mining. You can also try to match skills to [[personality]], some of which have obvious implications for their willingness to work long hours or how frequently they might take breaks.

Of course, all combined these represent a lot of possible constraints on where you assign particular skills, and it would be impossible to apply them in total to your entire desired skill load. Use these as a guide, but don't be upset if all your dwarves are anti-social psychopaths - someone still needs to be the leader, after all.

==== Other considerations ====
Migrants can and will arrive with a wide selection of decently trained skills. While it is a gamble, chances are pretty decent that migrants will arrive with a highly trained skill that is also highly desirable and would usurp the job of one of the seven starting ones. The first few migration waves are likely to give you a much better talent pool than what you can assign at embark. On the other hand, you may never get the skill you really want if you don't start with it.

Skills atrophy if not used (they are marked "rusty" and later "very rusty"), and they can eventually decrease in level. Consider that skills which you will use years after embark are going to be rusty or even deleveled. Embark to the first caravan is long enough for a skill to start rusting, so you might want to make sure you'll use every skill you embark with before the first year ends to avoid catastrophic rusting.

Remember that you need to survive in order to accomplish any goals. Have a plan for lasting to at least the first caravan, if not one for longterm sustainability.

== Items ==

The items you choose to bring with you will need to satisfy a number of needs. Most importantly, you need to keep yourself alive - at least until the caravan arrives in the fall to resupply yourself. You probably also want to plan on some way of making a shelter, whether that be the traditional delved hall, a majestic castle, a log cabin, or something even more exotic. You may want to plan for mishaps by bringing essential medical supplies, especially those which may be hard to acquire on site. And you might bring items which will assist in creating items for trade to that first caravan, should you need anything for the skills you're planning on.

For the purposes of this article, livestock are considered items.

All embarks get the following items without paying for them: 2 animals (who pulled the wagon), and the 3 wood that make up the wagon.

=== Motivations ===

==== Survival ====

A single dwarf eats about 2x/season, and drinks about 4x/season. With 7 dwarves that's ~approximately~ 14 meals per season and 28 alcohol per season, or ~42 meals and ~84 alcohol until the end of Fall. The dwarf caravan tends to arrive in the third month of fall, so you will probably need to plan on a full 3 seasons. You are also likely to get at least one if not two small waves of migrants before the caravan arrives.

It is possible to bring enough food and drink to make it to the caravan - indeed, bringing enough food isn't especially hard (especially once you factor in slaughtering the animals who hauled your wagon. Bringing sufficient alcohol is harder, although bringing plump helmets to brew can significantly cut the cost.

The likely best way to keep your dwarves in drink is also the most labor intensive - setting up farming in the first season or two is perfectly plausible, allowing to grow your own [[plants]] from seeds and brew the products. (Keep in mind not all plants can be brewed - don't plant dimple cups and expect to make alcohol). In addition to the necessary seeds, starting your own farming operation is going to require either some [[soil]] or [[irrigation|some way to get the ground muddy]]. While sometimes simple digging can accomplish this, many times you're going to need a screw pump. Basic construction requirements are discussed under shelter.

It is possible to make all your alcohol by harvesting aboveground plants, if highly inefficient. It also only works in biomes with collectable plant life. Notably evil biomes and glaciers are unlikely to provide.

==== Shelter ====
Barring a convenient cave, you're going to have to do something for shelter. Shelter is your first defense against roving creatures, keeping them away from where your dwarves are working so they don't spam job cancellations and strew items all over the place. (As you might guess, most 'convenient caves' aren't actually that convenient, as they tend to have residents). Basic walls that allow you egress won't stop a dedicated invader, but you don't expect to see those until year 3, so you have time to develop more elaborate defenses.

Food outside will also spoil a lot faster than food inside, so making a cellar of some sort to store your food in will increase the longevity of your food supplies. The rate at which food spoils depends on ambient temperature, so the urgency of making a cellar will depend on where you settled. It might be possible to go without a cellar in a freezing biome.{{verify}} The only way you can avoid thinking about food storage in the first year is if you collect food and make alcohol as needed - ie, by using an herbalist to collect local plants - which can avoid needing to mine at all.

Delving a shelter requires mining, which means having picks to dig with. One can always bring one or more picks at embark, but its also possible to bring the supplies necessary to make them. See [[Starting build#Finished product or do it yourself|finished product or do it yourself]].

An aboveground shelter can be made with stone or wood or possibly more exotic materials. Stone of course requires mining, and thus picks. Wood can be had with an axe assuming trees are present, and axes, like picks, can similarly be brought at embark or made on site. It is of course possible to bring sufficient raw materials to build walls with, but this is far less efficient than just bringing a pick or an axe, although it could make a fun challenge. Building your initial fort out of soap, while possible, is not recommended, although possibly hilariously entertaining.

==== Industry ====
Most industries require little more than materials you can collect at the site and a workshop. So long as you can get stone, you won't need to bring anything for these. However, if you want to get an industry going immediately, it does help to bring a few building materials along (or be willing to use the wood from the wagon, if only temporarily).

Some industries require fire-safe materials to build with. Nearly all stone qualifies, as does metal. Wood can be converted to a fire safe material by burning it to ashes in a wood burners workshop, but of course that workshop requires a fire-safe material. If you're mining, this condition is easy to satisfy, but if you intend to run any of these industries right away you will need to plan on bringing appropriate materials.

Some industries require plant or animal matter to work with. Clothiers ultimately need cloth, which comes from certain plants or animals. Leatherworkers need tanned skins. (And while you can get 2 off your pack animals, this isn't sufficient to run an industry). If you plan on running these types of industries you will need to have a plan for providing suitable raw materials. Hunting can cover leatherworking needs (although this requires a hunter and hunting implements), and foraging can find rope reed plants, but its usually better to bring enough appropriate animals or plant seeds to have a good shot at getting started in a predictable and sustainable way. Similarly, milking and cheese making require milkable animals, and bonecarving requires a dependable source of bones.

Metal industries require metal and an anvil. You cannot make an anvil on site without already having an anvil, so if you plan on doing any forging before the first caravan you will need to bring one with you. Metal can be brought as bars or as ores to be smelted in a smelter into bars, or can be mined yourself. You will need to provide fuel or magma to run these workshops, so bringing some coal can make the operation run smoother.

Soap requires a lot of wood consumption and a source of tallow to be done in a sustainable way. Lye can be bought at embark to skip the first steps and make soap more directly. You will still need to bring or make buckets and have an empty barrel to actually produce soap though, but fortunately this is just a matter of having sufficient wood.

Jewelers require gems. Cut gems can be brought at embark, but are too expensive to bring in quantity. Generally a jeweler requires mining to find sufficient gems or a glassworker to produce raw glass to work with.

Glassmaking and Pottery requires sand or clay and fuel - pay attention to your site report before embarking. Its hard to run a viable industry solely off imports in these cases. Like metal workshops, coal can be brought to substitute for fuel fairly efficiently.

As is probably obvious, certain industries depend on similar inputs. Planning on a set of industries which require similar complementary inputs can let you more efficiently spend your starting points at embark or more efficiently plan your digging during the first year. If you plan on a lot of fuel-dependent industries, it may be worthwhile to prioritize finding a source of magma.

=== Optimization ===

==== Container mechanics and free items ====

Many items come in containers such as barrels and bags, including food, liquids, seeds, and powders. The cost to embark with these items can be cheaper than the cost of the container itself. Each different type of item for each category will come in its own container. Furthermore, you'll get a new container after every 10th instance for food, most liquids, and seeds, and after every item of powders.{{verify}} Alcohol gets a new barrel after every 5th unit. (Food actually groups by animal type, so if you get horse tripe and horse meat they'll combine them, but they won't combine horse meat and donkey meat). Thus diversifying your initial food supply with 1 of each low-cost food item will net you a large number of barrels. Similarly, it is worth taking 1 of each seed you weren't planning on taking more of solely for the bags. Taking some sand or gypsum powder is also a cheap way to get bags. Lye (for soap) and milks can be brought for more barrels - and milk can be made into cheese for a low-cost embark option that becomes food.

As stockpiling and some jobs are container limited, getting as many free containers as you can will free up labor (and possibly valuable materials) that would otherwise be used making containers.

==== Finished product or do it yourself ====
Bringing raw materials and making the finished product yourself is often easier on your embark points than bringing the finished product. On the other hand, making it yourself takes time during which you aren't making use of the finished product.

The most common scenario involves [[Metalsmith's_forge|forging your own metal tools and weapons]]. While not usually too much of a hardship, it can be dangerous to make your own weapons or picks if you expect possible hostile creatures. Furthermore, you will lose time - possibly 1/4 to 1/2 the first month - if you forge your own picks.

Of special note regarding weapons is that a training battle axe is perfectly capable of chopping trees, and is made with nothing more than a carpentry workshop and a log. While the delay in acquiring one is minimal, a wood battle axe is not a good weapon, and so it loses utility for doing anything other than acquiring more wood.

You can also easily plan on making all or most of one's own booze, as plump helmets can be bought at embark and brewed at a still.

Any finished good can of course be made from raw materials that you bring, but most of them are not essential like the above, and thus you can generally wait until you find suitable resources on site or buy them from caravans.

==== Biome considerations: Dude, where's my wood? ====
Some environments have a shortage of trees. While you can direct production of a lot of item types to other materials, beds need to be made out of wood. In addition, it is difficult to make barrels and bins out of non-wood materials early in the game, especially without ready magma (since otherwise you'll probably need to burn wood to make metal equivalents). If you have an aquifer it can be even worse - stone may be difficult or impossible to access easily. While you can ultimately ask for wood from your liaison and buy whatever the humans and elves happen to bring, and eventually you can create a tree farm underground, tight wood will limit storage and sleeping arrangements for at least the first year if not longer. You may wish to plan accordingly if embarking in a site with sparse or no trees.

==== Items for moods ====
When a dwarf is taken by a [[strange mood]], he often needs obscure material or he will go insane and die, possibly with severe consequences to an entire fortress. Bringing along some of the harder-to-find ores ([[cassiterite]], [[sphalerite]], [[bismuthinite]], [[garnierite]]), and putting those aside, forbidding their use "just in case", is spending a few points on an insurance policy. Many players also choose to bring a few items like pig tail cloth and cave spider silk just in case.

Alternately, if you're otherwise being minimalistic on gear you're bringing you can choose to bring a few valuable components to try to maximize the value of mood items. That artifact animal trap will be worth a lot more if your woodcarver grabs a blue diamond instead of moss agate.

==== Free Equipment ====

Unfortunately, no free equipment is available when embarking in Dwarf Fortress mode. This is in contrast to [[Adventure mode]], in which the only equipment available on starting is free equipment.

==Site considerations==
Each fortress [[location]] offers particular challenges and opportunities, and can make different demands on your starting build. Your starting build may need to be adjusted depending on the [[region]] your fort occupies, the specific vision you have of your fortress, and what it will take to [[losing|stay alive]] where you're going!

The differences include what [[biome]]s, [[region]]s and likely [[metal]]s are present in your chosen embark site.

=== General Surroundings ===
Simply put, if your [[surroundings]] are [[evil]] or [[savage]], your dwarves have a higher risk of suddenly facing personal combat before they are safely behind their defenses. Consider bringing extra weaponry, in the form of axes, picks or crossbows (see [[Starting_builds#Free_Equipment|free equipment]]). Hand in hand with those, consider skill mixes that include [[axedwarf]], [[mining]] (the skill used to wield a pick), [[marksdwarf]], or [[wrestling]] (a solid unarmed-combat skill).

The same is true if you are embarking near an exposed magma vent or an open chasm - these features can be seen on the embark map, but it's impossible to tell if they are "open" to the surface or not, until you are there in person.

Be sure to include some source of [[water]] on the map, preferably running [[water]]. Water is (almost) essential for any fortress. In Cold and Freezing climates streams and [[lake]]s will often be frozen year-round and your dwarves may quickly die of exposure, in Hot climates [[murky pool]]s will dry up, and in Dry ones rain will only rarely re-fill them, if ever. Choose Temperate or tropical zones for an easier game.

===Aquifers===
If an [[aquifer]] is present in the first soil or stone layers (visible on the pre-embark menu), it may bar all access to [[stone]] and [[ore]] until you find a way through the water barrier. Consider bringing some stone for building, and ore for your first basic needs. This may be critical to getting your fortress running smoothly.

=== Mountains ===
Mountains often have abundant [[ore]]s, but at the loss of trees and plants. In previous versions lacking [[cavern]]s, this was a serious drawback. Brave pioneers can dig down into the caverns to find essentials like water, mud, and plants. However, players should be aware that above-ground crops will not grow in mountain biomes, no matter how muddy you may make the surface.

Depending on the exact layers, it's common to find exposed [[vein]]s of useful [[ore]]s that can be immediately mined for [[Make your own weapons|DIY]] weapons and tools.

=== Wooded/Plains ===
Flatlands with at least some trees and gatherable plants can also make for highly successful fortresses. Advantages over mountain zones include abundant trees and plants and (unless frozen) more abundant water. There are even (rare) magma vents. More water also means a high likelihood of an [[aquifer]] being present. Make sure to check on embark.

The greatest disadvantage is the potential lack of exposed [[stone]] to mine. The first level(s) below the surface is often [[soil]] of some type, which offers no building materials. However, soil is mined much more quickly than stone (x3-x4 faster), and expansive accommodations (rooms) can be achieved quickly even by untrained miners. You will find stone, you just have to go down a bit for it - but that's what dwarves do, isn't it?

[[Experience|Training]] a [[Miner]] from No Skill to Proficient takes less than a month (~20 days with hauling disabled) in soil, and to Legendary in just under a season after. From embark, this means you should have legendary miners in early summer if you dig only in soil. Times increase slightly for each additional miner used.

=== Oceanside ===
With many features in common with some of the above locations, [[beach]]es are often a mix of ease intermingled with bouts of extreme difficulty. Minerals and trees are often abundant, as well as farmland and sand, but there is often no drinking water unless the biome has a flowing [[water]] of some sort.

By definition, the settlement will fall between (at least) two [[biome]]s (one land, one water), potentially hazardous if the player expects a peaceful oceanside meadow, without realizing the [[terrifying]] ocean is full of amphibious zombie [[whale]]s.

Hunters should be replaced with fisherdwarves and a fish cleaner (although the latter can be easily trained). Depending how much water vs. land, more starting wood and ores might be helpful. Swimming is rarely useful in Fortress mode, even at the beach, and can be trained.

=== Desert, Glaciers, and Barren ===
Treeless (or near-treeless) [[biome]]s are challenging sites for a fortress: you get most of the disadvantages of a flatland site without having access to nearly as many trees and plants. However, near-lifeless zones such as [[glacier]]s are wonderful for players with slower computers, as there's little to burden the CPU but your dwarves and livestock. [[Desert]]s and barren areas often have sand; with a sufficient source of energy (preferably magma), you can build almost anything out of unlimited glass.

==Sample starting builds==
See [[Sample Starting Builds]]

{{Starting FAQ}}
{{Category|Guides}}
{{Category|Fortress mode}}

v0.34 Talk:Captured creatures

2012-09-24T09:24:59Z

Discipol:

Is the command to capture animals described anywhere else? This might be a good place for it. [[User:USP45|USP45]] 01:29, 18 May 2012 (UTC)

I just made an account for the first time since I started playing around 2005 to say that deletion of this page is ridiculous. Every time I come back to the game I find myself relearning almost everything (and using a different texture pack hehe)... The previous versions of this page are incredibly helpful in the amount of info directly relating to fun things to do with captured creatures. In response to above: Since when was there a command to capture animals? Are you referring to the animal traps used to catch /vermin/? That part is mentioned in the 'Animal Traps' page I believe, if we're talking about the same thing. ...now how do I sign this thing... --[[User:Daonitre|Daonitre]] 03:00, 4 July 2012 (UTC)

==Add armor to captured creatures==
Is it possible to give caged intelligent creatures super armor? I want to practice crossbows on them and want them to last long through armor I made for them. [[User:Discipol|Discipol]] 09:24, 24 September 2012 (UTC)

v0.34 Talk:Captured creatures

2012-09-24T09:24:09Z

Discipol:

Is the command to capture animals described anywhere else? This might be a good place for it. [[User:USP45|USP45]] 01:29, 18 May 2012 (UTC)

I just made an account for the first time since I started playing around 2005 to say that deletion of this page is ridiculous. Every time I come back to the game I find myself relearning almost everything (and using a different texture pack hehe)... The previous versions of this page are incredibly helpful in the amount of info directly relating to fun things to do with captured creatures. In response to above: Since when was there a command to capture animals? Are you referring to the animal traps used to catch /vermin/? That part is mentioned in the 'Animal Traps' page I believe, if we're talking about the same thing. ...now how do I sign this thing... --[[User:Daonitre|Daonitre]] 03:00, 4 July 2012 (UTC)

Is it possible to give caged intelligent creatures super armor? I want to practice crossbows on them and want them to last long through armor I made for them. [[User:Discipol|Discipol]] 09:24, 24 September 2012 (UTC)

v0.34 Talk:Gravity

2012-09-21T13:26:50Z

Discipol: /* falling into water */ new section

Some new 34.08 !!science!!

If you drop a creature from a hatch onto another creature, the falling creature will be unharmed. The creature acting as a cushion, however, can sustain injuries.

It used to be that a single level fall would only stun- this is no longer the case, although the injuries are likely to be minor bruising

[[User:Kaypy|Kaypy]] 13:06, 14 May 2012 (UTC)kaypy

== falling into water ==

I am curious if falling into non-drowning water will soften the fall. Assume 1 z-level. I was watching Captainduck's video and he raises a bridge and a dwarf falls and breaks his leg. I wonder if it could have been avoided with, say 4/7 water under the bridge?[[User:Discipol|Discipol]] 13:26, 21 September 2012 (UTC)

v0.34:Health care

2012-09-17T09:29:44Z

Discipol: /* Tips for an Effective Hospital */

{{quality|Exceptional|23:44, 17 April 2011 (UTC)}}{{av}}{{Buggy}}

A '''hospital''' is a [[Activity zone#Hospital|zone]] designated via the [[Activity zone|zone menu]]. Hospitals use any beds, tables, traction benches, and coffers/bags that have been built within the zone. The hospital will requisition [[thread]], [[cloth]], [[splint]]s, [[crutch]]es, [[plaster powder]] (for casts), [[bucket]]s, and [[soap]] for medical use. These will be stored within the hospital's coffers/bags; you may adjust the desired quantities.

'''Doctors''' are dwarves assigned to any of the five medical labors: [[wound dresser|dressing wounds]], [[diagnostician|diagnosis]], [[surgeon|surgery]], [[bone doctor|setting bones]], and [[suturer|suturing]]. All doctors in the fortress operate under the instruction of the [[Chief medical dwarf]], an appointed [[noble]]. Doctors <strike>inflict</strike> perform medicine on a dwarf only after treatment has been prescribed by a diagnostician. Doctors do not perform any healthcare on animals, despite injured animals "requesting" diagnosis in the [[Health screen|z-health screen]].

All beds within a hospital zone are automatically hospital beds, where injured dwarves will go (or be brought) to recuperate. Tired healthy dwarves will occasionally camp there too if the hospital is close, even if they have their own bed.

==Setting up a Hospital==
* Hit {{k|i}} and set up a hospital [[zone]] in the area you plan on having your hospital. Be sure "Hospital" is highlighted. Proximity to [[water]] is a plus, since patients need to be washed and cannot drink alcohol.
* Place enough [[bed]]s in that zone to ensure you can keep all wounded dwarves in the hospital, plus a few spare that will be occupied by lazy couch-surfers.{{bug|647}}
* Build containers ({{k|b}}-{{k|h}}) to store hospital supplies. (Generally you want at least eight for a fully equipped hospital.)
* Build [[table]]s ({{k|b}}-{{k|t}}) for surgeons to perform surgery on. You may perform surgery without tables; it will be more messy.
** Place the tables right next to the beds, or you may get "cancels surgery, patient not resting" spam, as moving the sleeping patient more than one square from the bed to the table wakes up the patient. {{bug|2773}}
** Multiple dwarves may undergo simultaneous surgeries on the same table.
* Build one or more [[traction bench]]es to handle compound fractures when the dwarf requires "immobilization." Remember to check back on the <strike>victim</strike> patient after a while or they may be in the traction bench a long, long time.{{bug|4470}}
** Each traction bench can only accommodate one dwarf at a time, and the dwarf may be there for quite some time, so plan accordingly.
* Stockpiles are not needed as chests or bags in the hospital zone will be filled with the necessary materials to help a dwarf fix a dwarf that had a little too much [[fun]].
* Assign a [[chief medical dwarf]] (in the [[noble]]s screen) to enable the fortress-wide [[health screen]] as well as invidual dwarves' health summary screens ({{k|v}}-{{k|z}}-{{k|h}}).
* Pick one or more dwarves to be doctors, and enable the health labor(s) on them (through {{k|v}}-{{k|p}}-{{k|l}}). Be sure the diagnosis labor is well covered. Without a diagnosis, patients cannot be treated. If they cannot be treated, they will occupy the hospital area until they die, performing no function. (Any dwarf with the Diagnosis labor enabled can diagnose dwarves, but the Chief Medical Dwarf may impact the diagnosis job creation{{verify}}. Once a patient is diagnosed, you can see on the individual health screen what procedures are needed, for example washing or suturing.)

== Skills and Injuries==
'''Doctors''' have 5 specialized skills and 2 support healthcare labors.

[[Diagnostician]] -- [[Surgeon]] -- [[Suturer]] -- [[Wound dresser]] -- [[Bone doctor]] -- [[Feed patients/prisoners]] -- [[Recovering wounded]]

Those with the '''recover wounded''' labor will attempt to bring a wounded dwarf to the hospital zone, or lacking one to the nearest unoccupied bed. A '''diagnoser''' will then identify and prescribe a treatment which any doctor (including himself) may carry out. A dwarf cannot be treated without a diagnosis. Depending on the injury a treatment labor will occur. Diagnosis is often required between procedures as well.

[[Wound|Injuries]]
:{| border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=1 style="background: black"
|-
| '''NONE: No recorded active wounds on the part.'''
|-
| '''MINOR: Any damage that doesn't have functional/structural consequences (might be heavy bleeding, though).'''
|-
| '''INHIBITED: Any muscular, structural, or functional damage, without total loss.'''
|-
| '''FUNCTION LOSS: An important function of the part is completely lost, but the part is structurally sound (or, at least partially intact). '''
|-
| '''BROKEN: The part has lost all structural integrity or muscular ability.'''
|-
| '''MISSING: The part is completely gone. '''
|}
If a chief medical dwarf is appointed you can view your fortress' health using the {{k|z}}-status key), or individually by selecting a dwarf and using {{k|w}} for wounds section.
* '''Bones''' can be set and treated by bone doctors depending on severity using thread and cloth for fractures, splints and castes, or traction benches. Grasping is often impaired during healing. The {{DFtext|Immobilization Request}} status tag is an indication that a splint or plaster cast is required. Multiple overlapping and compound fractures require a surgeon. Caused by [[attack_types#Blunt_weapons|blunt]] trauma.
*'''Skin and muscle''' can be treated by a suturer using thread and cloth. The wound will continue to bleed until sutured, severe wounds impair grasping during healing. Closed wounds will be dressed by a wound dresser. Caused by [[attack_types#Edged_weapons|slashing]] injuries.
*'''Internal Organs''' can be treated or removed by a surgeon using tables and traction benches. Repair of infected or rotten wounds is treated similarly. Caused by [[attack_types#Piercing_weapons|piercing]] injuries.

Any dwarves with the Feed patients/prisoners labor will attempt to give food or a bucket of water to a hungry or thirsty patient. By default all dwarves start with the non-doctor labors designated. These have no corresponding [[skill]]s - they do not cause experience gain, but merely are activities that can be turned on/off for each dwarf.

==Infection==
Every open wound can become infected. Infections may heal over time; however, many dwarves will die due to infection, often months after the actual wounding.

Causes of infection include:
* No cleaning of the wounds.
* Cleaning with water from a [[Water#Stagnant_Water|stagnant water]] source.
* Cleaning with [[Water#Water_laced_with_mud|water laced with mud]]. {{Verify}}
* Cleaning without [[soap]].
* <s>Bad luck</s> [[Fun]]!

== Equipment ==
=== Traction Benches ===

A '''traction bench''' is used by a [[doctor]] in a [[Hospital|hospital zone]] to immobilize a dwarf that has sustained complex or overlapping fractures.

It is constructed in the [[Mechanic's workshop]], and requires a [[table]], a [[mechanism]], and a [[rope]] or a [[chain]] to construct. Note that if any [[Stockpile|stockpiles]] have been linked to "Give" to the workshop, all of the resources needed to construct the traction bench must be found in the linked piles (e.g., linking only a stone stockpile may prevent access to the necessary tables/ropes/chains).

Currently there is a bug that may prevent fully healed dwarves from ever leaving the traction bench. {{bug|4470}} Removing the traction bench will free the dwarf.

=== Casts ===

Casts are made out of [[plaster powder]] and are used to keep broken bones in their proper place until healed. To store it in a hospital, build a chest or other container inside the hospital zone. Applying a cast also requires a bucket and cloth, and a water source.

Plaster powder is produced at a [[kiln]] or [[magma kiln]] from [[gypsum]], [[alabaster]], [[selenite]], or [[satinspar]] and an empty [[bag]] by a dwarf with the furnace operator skill enabled. They can also be bought at embark for 3 points per unit, with each unit coming with a free [[bag]].

=== Splints ===
Splints immobilize limbs that have sustained bone fractures. They allow the broken limb to be utilized until it is fully healed, Dwarves will be able to leave the hospital and resume their normal duties once securely splinted up since by this stage their wounds have already been cleaned, sutured and dressed. Applied by a bone doctor.

They can be made out of one [[wood]] at the [[carpenter's workshop]] or out of one metal [[bar]] at the [[metalsmith's forge]] or the [[magma forge]]. The use of splints seems to be an effective alternative to applying a plaster cast, which are also easier to obtain and prepare. Splints are categorized as [[finished goods]].

=== Other equipment===
*[[Crutch]]es {{DFtext|┬|770}} help a crippled dwarf walk again.
*[[Table]]s are used to conduct operations on.
*[[Bed]]s are used by patients to rest.
*[[Thread]] is used to suture closed wounds.
*[[Cloth]] is used to clean wounds, wash patients and dress wounds.
*[[Soap]] is used to clean wounds, sterilizing and preventing infection.
*[[Water]] is used to clean wounds, bathe patients and give drink. Patients do not drink alcohol.
*[[Bucket]]s are used to gather and hold the water for its uses.
*[[Container]]s are used to store hospital supplies.

==Tips for an Effective Hospital==
* Regularly use ({{k|i}}-{{k|H}}) to examine your hospital stockpile. Ensure your hospital is well-stocked. If you run out of materials regularly, increase the limits.
** Due to an annoying years-old bug, hauling dwarves routinely oversupply hospitals. This can be troublesome in many ways, particularly when all the cloth in the fortress is routed to the hospital, leaving your clothier without clothmaking materials and filling the hospital containers with cloth and thread, which leaves no room for soap. Because of this, ''do not, ever,'' place containers in a hospital zone; instead, designate separate stockpiles nearby for cloth, thread, soap and other hospital implements. Setting those stockpiles to not accept bins or barrels, while space-consuming, can help to visualize the state of hospital stocks and prevent further container-capacity related issues.
** It is safe to set the hospital stocks for everything but soap to 0 and then build a container. Soap in the hospital zone is reserved for hospital use and will not be used up by bathing dwarves as stockpiled soap can be.
* It is possible to do without soap in the hospital stockpile. Choosing to do so, however, increases the risk of infection, which most likely will kill your dwarf. Consult the [[soap]] page to understand that industry. Bring 1 lye on embark for one bar of soap, which translates to 150 units.
* Put a well inside the hospital for maximum efficiency. Doctors need to wash regularly, and clean water reduces infection.
* Do not place chairs next to your surgery tables. A chair is an invitation for rat-roast eating freeloaders to block the medical process.
* Consider making use of burrows to ensure your healthcare workers stay in the area.
* You may wish to consider individual rooms for each bed if you find your doctors are choosing to treat Urist McScratched over Urist McBloodFountainTheGushing. A locked door minimizes the mess and thereby infection and allows you to prioritize.
* The Chief Medical Dwarf only enables the Health status screen, so long as the CMD's Diagnosis skill is Novice or greater. The position has no in-game use. Look after your CMDs if you don't have many dwarves with that level of diagnostic skill, but otherwise they can be treated as any other dwarf.
** Diagnosis skill level does not affect the diagnosis, only the time it takes for the diagnosis to happen. Embarking with a dwarf skilled diagnosis (and other medical skills) is helpful, both to speed diagnosis and to stave off skill rust when long periods of time go between injuries.
** Also helpful is enabling medical skills on all dwarves in the fortress, which allows medical jobs to be picked up immediately so long as there is an idle dwarf.
* Create "nurses" by setting dwarves to only use the Recover Wounded, Bring Food and Water labors.
** It is important not to distract doctors from treating patients.
** "Recover wounded", "Give food" and "Give water" are low priority jobs, so it is entirely possible for a patient to starve to death if no one ever gets "unbusy" enough to bring them food.
** Similarly, it is important not to put your doctors at risk by recovering wounded in the middle of a battle—if they become injured, they cannot treat themselves.
* You can select nurses who enjoy helping people to give them good thoughts. This also prevents dwarves that hate bringing others food from receiving unhappy thoughts.

Dwarves will prefer to store and use the most expensive thread and cloth. Yes, that includes special "[[raw adamantine|exotic]]" strands.

==Bugs==
* Hospital stores more materials than assigned. {{Bug|191}} {{Bug|4406}}
* Dwarves with healthcare jobs will use the closest supplies to do their work, even if they are not stored in the hospital. {{Bug|287}}
* Dwarves will steal items from the caravan and store them in hospital. {{Bug|66}}
* For a variety of reasons, an injured dwarf may leave the hospital and/or refuse to go to the hospital. {{Bug|309}}
* Injured nails can't be fixed by doctors, leading to eventual infection and death. {{Bug|3756}}
* Adamantine thread used for suturing. {{Bug|1346}}
* Wounded [[justice|criminals]] don't get sent to the hospital. {{Bug|3901}}
* Your dwarf may get stuck in traction, even after the wounds have healed. If this happens, simply remove the traction bench. {{Bug|4470}}
* The quality and value of a finished traction bench doesn't account for all of the inputs used to make it. {{verify}}
* Purchased plaster powder does not appear in the hospital storage. {{verify}}
* Dwarves resting in bed may be starving/dehydrated and not being taken care of, deconstructing the bed to generate a new Recover Wounded task and force them to rest properly fixes this.

{{d for dwarf}}
Soap is the only item dwarves will use to sterilize a wound. While dwarves are of course aware that humans will pour perfectly quaffable alcohol over their bloody wounds and onto the filthy ground to get the same effect, dwarves understand that some things are more precious than a single life, and face oblivion with a bit more dignity. Application of extreme heat is also well known to prevent infections and seal a wound, but dwarves consider magma the only legitimate heat source, and the non-lethal application of magma a sacrilege.

{{Category|Healthcare}}
{{Industry}}

User talk:Emi

2012-09-15T12:04:16Z

Discipol: /* page request: Noise talk */ new section

Please leave new messages by pressing the new section button. It is next to the edit button, and says "Add topic". Be sure to sign your message with <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> so I know who left me the message.
{{archive|*[[User_talk:Emi/archive1|archive 1]]}}

== Empty DF:2012 Articles ==

Hello, I'd like to offer a few suggestions:
* Could the bot which went through and replaced all the v0.31 article links with DF:2012 links be modified to actually create those articles with a <nowiki>{{av}}</nowiki> template inserted, so that users can reference an older version easily while understanding that it could be outdated?
* Could a bot be created to go through all the current dead links and create those articles and place a <nowiki>{{av}}</nowiki> template within them?
* Failing that, I'd be willing to volunteer for this; I understand that I should talk to you for article creation. In that case, would I have to present you with a list of articles to be created?
--[[User:Reilwin|Reilwin]] 02:53, 15 March 2012 (UTC)

:Looks like I can create articles myself after enough edits. --[[User:Reilwin|Reilwin]] 06:35, 3 April 2012 (UTC)

== Spanish translation ==

Hello! I'm a Spanish player of this game and I would like to begin the translation of this wiki into Spanish. I hope you like the idea! Regards.

== PROBLEM ==
since you "upgraded" the wiki, sometimes when i try to load a page, any kind of page in the wiki, instead of loading the page, my browser (chrome) starts downloading a file like this: DF2010-Magma.gz
the file never ends downloading and it contains nothing, so i dont know whats the deal with that, sometime is loads teh page as usual
*Take a look at [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=96229.0 this forum thread] - most cases seem to result from using Avast Antivirus along with Google Chrome. --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 00:38, 10 February 2012 (UTC)

== Upload Button Missing ==
Hello. I've uploaded [[http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/File:DA_Quarters.JPG,stuff]] before, but the upload link seems to have vanished for me. (I'd like to upload a small .exe file which makes the depot tradeing semi-automated so I can link to it from my user page.) What should I do?

Thanks,
--[[User:DDR|-DDR]] 01:28, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

Update: Oh, so it's just down for a few days? OK, I'll be patient. Thanks for all the work you've done here, Emi. :)

== Eagles ==

Why can't I create new pages? I want to create a page about normal eagles.

: This wiki is going through a lot now. New name space for the latest DF version has been created and articles are copied to it, as far as they are still valid for the new version. Also this wiki's cluster size has been increased by two new servers and many things around it are being configured. So I think the admins just prohibited new article creation for a while until they sort things out. --[[User:Nagidal|Nagidal]] 17:31, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

: I've seen Briss has created the Eagle page, maybe it's so that you can fill it with content. --[[User:Nagidal|Nagidal]] 18:50, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

== a namespace just for me? ==

It says that if i'd like a user page i should post here asking for one.
can i have a namespace for me please? under Zazq? [[User:Zazq|Zazq]] 21:48, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

: A namespace is not the same as a user page. I'm almost sure you can't have a namespace just for you, but you can certainly have your own userpage where you can set up your own sandbox. I have created you your userpage, just click on the link on your name in the signature. You can start forging some good articles on your userpage. --[[User:Nagidal|Nagidal]] 23:46, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

== UserPage ==
could i have a page too? to edit and try stuff before posting ... Edit: it is Mohreb by the way ...

I'd like a user page too, name KevinFragger2427. Thanks.

== v34 Utilities ==

Can we get a [[DF2012:Utilities]] page created?

== Giant sponges ==

Hello, I am new to this wiki and I would like to add articles for giant sponges and giant mosquitoes.

I trust I can just copy-paste the old tags from a DF2010 creature page and change them accordyingly ?

[[User:Naryar|Naryar]] 11:28, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

== Can I have two pages created? ==

I'd like to have two pages created for me, please.

1. I'd like my user-page created, so I can do all the other cool stuff that people do with their user-pages.

2. I would also like a whole new mod article made, please. Title it "Modern Warfare: Year 2100" too, please, as well.

EDIT: Username is UristMcHuman. Sorry I forgot that

== Interactions. ==

I would like a page created under 2012:Interaction, please and thank you. [[User:Lofn|Lofn]] 15:54, 25 February 2012 (UTC)
EDIT: a userpage/sandbox would also be very much appreciated, if you find the time.

== User page for Darchitect. ==

I'd like one, if you'd be so kind.
[[User:Darchitect|Darchitect]] 20:24, 29 February 2012 (UTC)Darchitect

== Favicon Recovery ==

I notice the favicon seems to have gotten lost somewhere along the way. Since I'm the one who initially made it using the main site logo for reference, I still have a copy sitting around. [http://dffd.wimbli.com/images/dfwiki_favicon.ico Here it is, feel free to use it again.]

== Request for User Page ==

Hi there, can you please add a user page for me? Thank you. [[User:Timtek|Timtek]] 11:47, 5 March 2012 (UTC)

== Request for Confirmed User ==

I was wondering what I need to do to be able to upload a file. I registered four days ago, and have been waiting to become an "Autoconfirmed user" so that I can add my tileset to the Tileset repository. The "autoconfirmation" never comes, however. Attempting to google the issue said that I should be autoconfirmed after 3 days, which has not occurred. Am I missing something? --[[User:Taffer|Taffer]] 13:10, 6 March 2012 (UTC)

Hello again! Thanks for the help earlier, and sorry for the second message. Would it be alright if I have a user page? Thank you! --[[User:Taffer|Taffer]] 18:51, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

== Cached Special Pages ==

The wiki currently has [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:$wgMiserMode $wgMiserMode] enabled, resulting in a number of [[Special:SpecialPages|special pages]] having their results cached (by MediaWiki itself) to reduce server load, but there's no cron job to run /maintenance/updateSpecialPages.php and actually update those pages - as a result, they're all 3 months out of date. I've mentioned this at least 3 times on IRC but it still hasn't been fixed. --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 20:24, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

== Is the DF2012:Creatures page getting too big for the server? ==

The Creatures page still needs to be updated with the new creatures for the lakes/rivers but when I try to submit or preview tha page I get a blank page and a submitted update is not visible on the page. Is the page simply too big now, or is there some server side changes that can be made to fix this? [[User:Organised chaos|Organised chaos]] 20:18, 13 March 2012 (UTC)
*If you ask me, the Creatures page is currently being done '''all wrong''' - it should only list each creature '''once''' and include the relevant biomes, rather than copy/pasting it for every single biome (and introducing errors when one entry has different values from the others). --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 21:00, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

== DFRawFunctions ==

I've got an update for DFRawFunctions (corrects behavior for a few functions and adds new features to some others) which also includes a few new raw files - when you've got a chance, pull 'em from github. In fact, some option to automatically pull updates from github either periodically (once or twice a day) or on demand (e.g. editing a particular wiki page) would be really nice so I won't have to bug you about it. --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 18:27, 18 March 2012 (UTC)

== I want to make Korean Wiki. ==

I was looking for administrator to discuss this, but I couldn't find anyone... also, I'm not sure that I should talk it to you. anyway, I leave this here.

I want to make Korean Wiki, There're some Korean fan, but they hardly play the game because of the lack of game information. So I thought They need wiki to know the game. I want to know whether the administrator can found Korean version of this wiki or not.

How can I get the permission about it? Is it needed that something to verify myself to them? I hope I would take a positive answer. --[[User:Tragal|Tragal]] 14:44, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

== Create Redir [[DF2012:Well_guide]] ==

Need a redir or crosslink created from: [[DF2012:Well_guide]] (empty page) -> [[v0.31:Well_guide]]. And/or snap relevant links. --[[User:Kim Bruning|Kim Bruning]] 08:37, 24 April 2012 (UTC)

== Froot wants a userpage too. ==

Hey-lo.
Yet another userpage request.
[[User:Froot|Froot]] 02:08, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

there is no "DF2012 Talk:Cave crocodile", added an my issue about my "Bosa, Cave Crocodile (+trained+)" which cost me about an game-hour lost due to reloading save in the article. Wonder, why there is no "talk" pages for everything by default? There are many cases which need some science before editing articles :(

== Minecarts 101 page? ==

Can we get a "Minecarts 101" page started the same way there are intro pages for things like the military?

Thanks,

[[User:Dhokarena56|Dhokarena56]] 17:25, 14 May 2012 (UTC)dhokarena56

== Page request ==

May I request a userpage?

-Erich

== User page request ==

Hello! I am requesting a userpage. --[[User:Spacer|Spacer]] 15:31, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

== DF2012_Talk:Siege ==

please, create http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2012_Talk:Siege

thanks,

[[User:Kartofius al andalus|Kartofius al andalus]] 17:00, 4 June 2012 (UTC) kartofius

== Wiki in spanish??? ==

How can I create a page for the wiki in spanish?

== add #dwarffortress irc.freenode.net to main page IRC section ==

Hello everyone, could you please add #dwarffortress IRC channel on FReeNode in the main page IRC channel list?
Thank you

== new user page request ==

looking for a user page so I can store my scripts in the wiki.

thanks
vjek

[[User:Vjek|Vjek]] 20:17, 23 June 2012 (UTC)

== new page request ==
Hi
could you add a talk page at the "raw adamantine" article
user: grafsnow

== DF2012:World rejection ==

Hi, I'm trying to write the page for DF2012:World rejection http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2012:World_rejection which has a red link on the Advanced World Generation page but I can't create a new page. Do I need somebody to make it for me? Thanks, Seb. --[[User:SAFry|SAFry]] 19:08, 30 June 2012 (UTC)
:I created it for him. -- [[User:HiEv|Hi]][[User talk:HiEv|Ev]] 02:18, 1 July 2012 (UTC)

== Could I get a page for my mod? ==

I'm currently working on a mod, and I'd really like a page where I can put what the mod is, how you use it, what it includes, etc...
I'm sorry if it looks kinda sketchy that I just created this account today and I'm being vague about the mod Dx
Anyways, if/when you create it, could you title it ''PlayableCiv+''
Thanks:)
[[User:Toxicshadow|Toxicshadow]] 05:30, 1 July 2012 (UTC)

== Arms Industry Page ==

Could you create an "Arms Industry" page for information concerning production of weapons? Alternatively, it could be called "Weapons Industry."

== User Page ==

Would be very glad if i had a user page as a kind of sandbox (and to put some !!science!! stuff up there) [[User:Lorb|Lorb]] 09:53, 7 July 2012 (UTC)

== User Page Request ==

Could you make me a user page?

== Requesting Page Creation for 'Fixed Creatures' ==

There has been some discussion on r/DwarfFortress ([http://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/comments/w8ht8/need_help_my_giant_black_mambas_wont_breed/]) about animals that don't lay eggs that should, eggs that don't hatch due to a missing Tag, and other various issues. I would like to create a space where we can create a list of animals with the values and tags modified to be more accurate. Thanks!--Dragoon209

Edit: I haven't received any word that the pages have been created, and a quick search shows no matches for 'Fixed Creatures'. Is there any information I am missing to start the process? Thanks in advance!
[[User:Dragoon209|Dragoon209]] 18:19, 13 July 2012 (UTC)

: What page titlewould you like? --[[User:Briess|Briess]] 18:26, 13 July 2012 (UTC)

:: How about "DF2012:Fixed_Creature_RAWs"? [[User:Dragoon209|Dragoon209]] 18:34, 13 July 2012 (UTC)

== Outpost Liason ==

I am simply looking for more information about a phenomenon that has happened twice now. An outpost liason came to my fort and asked if I wanted to join their colony. What are the pros and cons of saying either yes or no? Please help!

== Yet Another User Page ==

Just requesting a user page created, to play around in and post some of my own DF-related stuff. Thanks! [[User:MasterShizzle|MasterShizzle]] 17:59, 13 July 2012 (UTC)
:Umm... wow. That was fast! You guys are awesome. [[User:MasterShizzle|MasterShizzle]] 18:12, 13 July 2012 (UTC)

== Symbol Sets (Modding) ==

Can someone create a page for Symbol Sets, as used in Entity files, and found in language_SYM.txt?
[[User:Toxicshadow|Toxicshadow]] 23:32, 15 July 2012 (UTC)

== 2012 Talk:Door ==

Hi Emily,

I'd like to start [[DF2012 Talk:Door]], since I can verify that artifact doors are indestructible. (There is a verify tag for that in the [[DF2012:Door#Notes]] section.) Here is the text I want to add:

<blockquote>
I can verify that artifact doors are indestructible. An artifact door is all that stands between my necropolis fortress (some 100 casualties in the previous siege) and 8 trolls standing right outside the door. The trolls have been there for an entire season. They showed up when the elven caravan arrived in spring, and are still there to greet the human caravan which just arrived.
</blockquote>

[[User:Great Cthulhu|Great Cthulhu]] 23:13, 19 July 2012 (UTC)

== Need 2 pages created ==

I would like to have my user page created, furthermore i would like to help improve the DF2012 Contaminant page,
and i need the DF2012 Talk:Contaminant created. 
[[User:Ipsin|Ipsin - Everything is better with magma ]] 16:06, 23 July 2012 (UTC)

== User page request ==

Hello there! I am writing this to request the a user page (obviously :)) I'm a confirmed user, although I have less than 10 edits so far, I swear I am not a bot! I am actually more interested in the user page as a personal sandbox of the moment to figure out name space templates and the like without messing anything up. I use the wiki daily (I have only been playing for a few months, you guys were a life saver) so I am still going through plenty of articles all the time and would like to contribute more than I am able to now. I learn by doing and don't want to mess up any templates or the like :)

Thanks very much for any help you are able to provide
--
[[User:Phage|Phage]] 05:45, 26 July 2012 (UTC)

== New User Page Request ==

Howdy, looking to get page for my user account.

Let me know if you need any additional info.

Thanks,

[[User:WhiskeyTangoFox|WhiskeyTangoFox]] 01:44, 30 July 2012 (UTC)WhiskeyTangoFox

== Permission to make new Discussion pages? ==

Hi Emi. I was trying to start a Discussion page in the "Sedimentary" article, but ran into a permission error. Since I am a longtime user, may I please have permission to make new pages? [[User:Coaldiamond|-Coaldiamond]] 20:00, 4 August 2012 (UTC)
:It seems like the wiki is a bit buggy in this regard. On [[Special:ListGroupRights]], only Administrators have the "createtalk" permission, which seems to be required to create talk pages. However, I was just able to create [[DF2012 Talk:Sedimentary layer]], but only after several attempts failing from a Permission error. Sometimes it would stop me immediately upon clicking the "Create" tab, and it always seemed to happen when I tried to Show Changes. I'm not really sure why this would happen, unless we're running on multiple servers and the configuration isn't synchronized. Hope this helps. --[[User:Timrem|timrem]] 21:26, 4 August 2012 (UTC)
:i just encoutered this problem today, I thought it'd be prohibited to create a user discussion page but that did not make sense to me. I hope this issue will be resolved soon. --[[User:Nagidal|Nagidal]] 07:28, 5 August 2012 (UTC)
::Yup, I too have noticed some odd inconsistency in the way the wiki may or may not allow you to create a page, with it being allowed after some N number of page reloads. I've mentioned on the [[Dwarf Fortress Wiki:Improvement Drive]] page that the wiki software is several versions out of date, so if we could get it updated, that would hopefully fix this problem. Is [[User_talk:Briess|Briess]] the correct person to contact about this, or is it someone else? -- [[User:HiEv|Hi]][[User talk:HiEv|Ev]] 22:48, 7 August 2012 (UTC)
:::A user will be unable to create any pages (talk or otherwise) until they make 10 edits to the wiki. There was a configuration error with one of the web servers that has been fixed which was denying create talk page rights to all users. --[[User:Briess|Briess]] 23:46, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

== Another User Page. ==

Just here to request permission to edit my own user-page, let me know if any sort of information is needed from me first in regards to it. --[[User:Morekouto|Morekouto]] 17:29, 5 August 2012 (UTC)

== Stockpile setting info ==

Here's something I've been thinking to add to the wiki for a couple of months now, but am not really sure what would be the best way to do it. I often set up fairly specialized stockpiles. For instance a stockpile only for seeds, another one for picks, and yet another only for empty bags (but not chests). When I was new to the game I did not know how to do these things. I expected to find the info how to set up a stockpile just for one kind of an item in the item's respective wiki page. Sometimes I was lucky, sometimes not.

Most furnitures have a piece of text about such stockpile setting somewhere in the article or at least a hint, e.g. in [[Cage]]s you can read that "Cages are stored on the Animal Stockpile." In [[Seed]]s, however, there's nothing that tells you that they are in the Food stockpile, and the [[Pick]] page redirects to [[Equipment]] which doesn't say anything about a stockpile for picks either.

Let's see an example of a stockpile setting info I'd like to see about bags:

: Stockpile of Bags: Furniture > Types > boxes and bags. Disable Stone/Clay and Metal. Restrict Other Materials to cloth, leather, silk, yarn."

I'll probably find a better way to express it, I'll have to see that it looks more or less the same across wiki pages, too.

Three ways how to add this information to the wiki came to my mind, all have their pros and cons:

: '''1.''' A stockpile setting overview page. Basically a table of all the stockpile categories, subcategories, and item entries from the stockpile setting page ({{k|p}}-{{k|t}}) and tell the users to find (Ctrl-F) the item somewhere on the page.
:: '''Pro:''' Done quickly.
:: '''Con:''' I assume people would rather expect to find the stockpile setting info in the item's dedicated page and would not think of looking for it in a stockpile setting page. Also, users should not be bothered with a search in page.

: '''2.''' Adding a "Stockpile" section to the <nowiki>{{furniture}}</nowiki> float, where people could see how to set it up.
:: '''Pro:''' Stockpile setting would be found extremely easily.
:: '''Con:''' No solution for non-furniture items.
:: '''Con:''' Would contain too much text in some cases (e.g. for bags you need to restrict the material to differentiate them from coffers or chests).

: '''3.''' Each item which can have its individual stockpile could have its own wiki page with a "Stockpile setting" section (or maybe a <nowiki>{{stockpile}}</nowiki> float?) where you could see this kind of information.
:: '''Pro:''' Stockpile setting would be found easily. People would soon realize that every item which can have a dedicated stockpile has its own wiki page which has a section where they find the stockpile setting.
:: '''Con:''' Requires many new pages to be created, but most of them would not contain much other information except for how to set an individual stockpile for them. Here I'm thinking of pages like [[Plump helmet spawn]], [[Hood]], [[Raw skin]].

Personally, I would go with solution '''3'''. I see that it is unnecessary to have an individual wiki page for each of the hundreds of animal species you can see listed in the Animal stockpile. Yet I think we should differentiate all the non-animal items as deep as [[skull]] is in the refuse stockpile, or each individual weapon is in the weapon stockpile.

So what do you guys think? Do you have any other ideas how and where to save this stockpile setting information in the wiki? Would you mind me starting to add a "Stockpile settings" section to the items' pages and creating new pages where there are redirects or no pages? I admit it would look a bit weird if there were a page about an item but no other info on it except for a stockpile setting. On the other hand this could motivate other active users to add something more.

--[[User:Nagidal|Nagidal]] 10:56, 8 August 2012 (UTC)

: I think a combination of 1 and 3 is a good approach. But feel free to do whatever you want - it is a wiki after all. :) -- [[User:Briess|Briess]] 20:31, 13 August 2012 (UTC)

== User Talk page for Kenran ==

Hello! I'd like to have a usable User Talk page, so I could put the stuff on my profile there. I could then add some information about myself and some links on my profile itself. Thanks :)

== YAUPCR ==

Yet Another User Page Creation Request. Thanks in advance! [[User:Urist McDorf|Urist McDorf]] 04:03, 7 September 2012 (UTC)

:Hang on a second, I was able to create my user page myself (by simply clicking on the redlink in my signature, and clicking "edit this page".). Not sure if that's a bug or a feature - perhaps the "page creation permitted after 10 edits" rule applies to user pages too? If so, maybe the banner announcement should note that - at present it sort of implies all new user pages need Emi to create them. [[User:Urist McDorf|Urist McDorf]] 04:19, 7 September 2012 (UTC)

hi Emi, how can i get a user page here

07:23, 13 September 2012 (UTC)[[User:Markus007|Markus007]]Markus

== page request: Noise talk ==

I wish to start a page on Noise, talk page. I believe the 8 tile noise area is ridiculous and should be confirmed. On top, I never found dwarves to be awaken by such a thing. [[User:Discipol|Discipol]] 12:04, 15 September 2012 (UTC)