{{quality|Exceptional|20:27, 20 January 2011 (UTC)}}{{av}}'''Anvils''' are required to build {{L|forge}}s, either conventional or {{L|magma forge|magma powered}}. At least one is absolutely required if your fortress intends to do ''any'' metalworking whatsoever, including {{L|weaponsmith}}ing, {{L|armorsmith}}ing, {{L|blacksmith}}ing and {{L|Metal crafter|metal crafting}}.

Smithing an anvil uses the blacksmithing skill.

Since the only way to ''make'' an anvil is with a metalsmith's forge, your first anvil must be sourced from outside of your colony, either before embark or by later trading. Anvils require three {{L|metal}} {{L|bar}}s (currently only one bar{{bug|130}}) to be {{L|smith}}ed at a forge - once you have one to begin with. As this is an infinite loop, the origins of the first anvil are hard to discern.[[#Anvil_Origins?|*]]

== Acquiring an Anvil ==

A standard (no quality) iron anvil is included by default in {{L|starting build|starting equipment}}, arriving with your dwarves in your {{L|wagon (embark)|wagon}}, though it is possible for no anvils to be available during the embark screen. If you choose not to bring an anvil, you are refunded the 100 point cost, to be used for other purchases of items or skills. You will then have to {{L|trade}} for your first anvil with the dwarven (autumn) or {{L|human}} {{L|caravan}}s that usually (but not always!) carry one or more {{L|iron}} anvils (at a cost of 100☼), and/or {{L|steel}} anvils. If this fails the first time around, you may also request one from the {{L|dwarven liaison}} or {{L|human}} {{L|guild representative}}, if you are willing to pay an increased price to guarantee that at least one anvil arrives with next year's caravan.

Once you have an anvil and have built a {{L|forge}}, {{L|smith}}ing an anvil requires one bar of metal.

Tearing down a forge retrieves the anvil used to build it, which can then be stored, traded, {{L|melt}}ed, or re-used to build another forge.

== Anvil Properties ==

Anvils may be made of {{L|iron}}, {{L|steel}} or {{L|adamantine}}. Rarely, dwarves in {{L|strange mood}}s will make anvils out of other metals, and these can be used in any forge. The material used does not seem to affect the performance of the forge. Neither does the anvil's quality.

Anvils are considered {{L|furniture}} and will be stored in a furniture {{L|stockpile}} if not utilized in a forge.

== Anvil Origins? ==

{{d for dwarf}}

* One theory of the anvils origin is that a dwarf struck by a {{L|strange mood}} made one of {{L|stone}} or {{L|bone}}. Another more radical theory put forward by dwarven philosopher [[Urist]] McTaggart is that the first one was made of {{L|wood}} in a similar manner. This was deemed a heresy and he was later sentenced to be hammered for being an {{L|elf}} sympathizer by an angry {{L|mayor}} who had a strange fondness for {{L|glass}}.
* Recently unearthed documents seem to indicate that the anvil was the first major tool produced by the earliest dwarven societies. It is generally accepted that humans first created the plow, and oral histories record that the first accomplishment of the {{L|elves}} was the domestication of forest animals. There are questions regarding the implications of this revelation, however. Skeptics question how the anvil was created without a {{L|hammer}}, how the metal was shaped, and what social, cultural, or environmental pressures could have required the invention of what is, when reduced to its most basic nature, a flat surface used to position objects scheduled to be struck repeatedly. Dwarven scholars suggest that the first anvils were made of {{L|stone}}, not metal, and were little more than flattened stone {{L|block}}s, chipped with flint or {{L|obsidian}}. This possibility has sparked an interest among dwarf nerds in attempting to recreate stone anvil replicas, but such enterprises are generally regarded with indifference by dwarven society at large.
* One researcher posits that all anvils originate from the FirstAnvil. Where does it come from? The FirstAnvil, of course. It's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtles_all_the_way_down anvils all the way down.]
* Regardless of dwarven theories some humans believe that there must have been early technologies to produce an anvil without the usage of a hammer or an anvil. While improving the production of anvils through the dissemination and use of anvils over the centuries, the original method was forgotten. Dwarven philosophers argue that dwarven technology has always been driven by perfection from the beginning and nothing was developed over time. Besides, dwarven history never forgets.

v0.31 Talk:Grate

2011-06-30T23:57:13Z

Dwarvenjames: /* Creatures Pushed Through Grates By Water */ oops add a blank line there...

v0.31 Talk:Grate

2011-06-30T23:56:50Z

Dwarvenjames: /* Creatures Pushed Through Grates By Water */

==Forgotten Beast Herding==
Word on the street is that since Forgotten Beasts destroy grates instead of stepping on them, putting floor grates over pits will prevent non-flying forgotten beasts from crossing that pit. Can anyone confirm this? --[[User:Mzbundifund|Mzbundifund]] 10:13, 30 June 2010

:It worked that way with megabeasts in 40d, so seems reasonable to expect it would work for Forgotten Beasts in 31. (I had pits of grates for liquid-based traps, covered by bridges a z-level up. If the bridges were deployed, the megabeasts would happily walk across them and into the fort, but if the bridges were retracted (revealing the grates below) the megabeasts would destroy every single grate in range, sealing themselves out of the fortress) [[Special:Contributions/69.143.203.131|69.143.203.131]] 05:54, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

==Falling Walls==
Just discovered something, I think. Perhaps someone else can confirm.
While a grate does not support any constructions next to it, you are still allowed to build those walls and floors as though the grate would hold them up. The moment they are completed, they plummet away.
In my case, I built a wall next to a grate, expecting the grate to hold it up. Instead, the wall was completed, then immediately fell into the river it was built over. It then punctured a hole in the bottom of the river and into my fortress's basement :(. The situation was treated as a cave-in.
If anyone can reproduce this, then this could be a way to create easy, controlled cave-ins.
[[Special:Contributions/68.50.165.234|68.50.165.234]] 00:49, 10 October 2010 (UTC)
: I can confirm this works, although the person building seems to have a tendency to fall with it. Also, sign your comments with four tilde(~) next time. [[User:Calite|Calite]] 20:56, 8 October 2010 (UTC)

==Creatures Pushed Through Grates By Water==
I just had a dwarf pushed through a row of wall grates by flowing water. Has anyone else experienced this? --[[Special:Contributions/92.244.188.119|92.244.188.119]] 16:54, 19 June 2011 (UTC)
:Sounds like similar bug with fortification having flow 'push' things through it. I don't have experience with grates, but I have seen fortification act like that. [[User:AutomataKittay|AutomataKittay]] 18:18, 19 June 2011 (UTC)
:Yeah my chief medical dorf just got all fancy and ended up on the other side of a grate--I could kill him (really), but I need him, so I had to turn off the water. Hopefully he'll come back though, or I'll have to remove the grate. If dorfs go through grates, they don't seem particularly useful, but they are good (so far) at keeping rocks out from under floodgates, which then jam open the floodgates, usually for horrible effect. I also had another dwarf end up in my reservoir, which means he must have gone through a grate (idiot), and now I have to empty the reservoir to get his body (which I can't do until I get the chief medical dorf out of harm's way). Oh, those silly dwarfs... --[[User:Dwarvenjames|Dwarvenjames]] 23:56, 30 June 2011 (UTC)

User:Dwarvenjames

2011-06-20T21:09:29Z

Dwarvenjames:

'''About Me''' 
I tend to like single player D&D games and Civ-like games, so DF is one of my favorites. Wizardry was awesome, Ultima II and IV, Elder Scrolls Morrowind and Oblivion, Alpha Centauri, Civ in general... But I also like quirky or indie games. Katamari Damacy (yes it's bizarre) and Portal are pretty awesome. Actually I like Half Life 2 so much I played through it a second time just to get the gamer points. I played EQII, but once you hit level 90 you just run the same dungeons/instances over and over, and I need more variation than that (even though I have a great guild). DF has some consistencies (caverns, FBs, etc.) but it's always different.

I admit I use a tileset. I like quirky, but I like images too. If I play Rogue-likes I'll play one with graphics.

I play in Win XP so I can use Dwarf Therapist, but I do it in Parallels on my Mac.

'''Thoughts on Design''' 
I think I make my fortresses too horizontal, but I realized I like to see what's going on as much as possible in one view. I think paths would be shorter with a more vertical approach, perhaps a column or an ovoid(?). I have been trying to make a sphere around the trade depot, for short paths when goods need to be moved, which is good for moving goods from storage to the trade depot but not always so good for moving goods to storage in the first place. i like how there are design decisions to be made, but the game isn't forcing you to make them, it's just part of the game. In Fallout: New Vegas, there were times when the writers force you to make a choice, and there is always a negative outcome (like in one vault, save the people below by venting the nuclear waste out the top which kills the farmland, or save the farmland and kill the people). This can be done realistically, but it often felt forced and unnatural in F:NV. In DF, there are always decisions to be made, but there are no narrative points where the game stops and forces you to make a decision. Yes you will have to carve a fortress out of the rock, and there are decisions to be made about that, but the game will just keep on running (unless you pause it) while you sit there trying to decide between a nice pre-planned design and how organic you want to go by chasing that vein of ore.

I try to keep some parts of the fortress separated from others (entrance, caverns) via choke points. I like the idea of the archers' tower, but have yet to implement one well.

'''Future Additions''' (that I wouldn't mind seeing...) 
0.31.19 added a lot it looks like! After watching the animated kids' film, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_of_Kells The Secret of Kells], which is a great film, I'd like to see scribes and bookmaking. Hides for vellum, dyes for ink, wood for covers, gems and metals to encrust books... the materials are all there, just needs a new skill, a new building (the scriptorium?), and some new objects (vellum, books...). I know, I know, dwarves don't read books, they read great sagas off the stone walls carved hundreds of years ago about great dwarven conquests. But humans, those snooty elves, and dwarven nobles like books I bet. Hmm could have a bookcase, made out of stone, metal, or wood even.

'''Fortresses''' 
''First'' and ''second'' went nowhere as I was a total newbie (as we all are at the beginning) and made newbie mistakes that I quickly realized (thanks to all the help and tutorials out there, without which I would not be playing).

''Third'' was pretty good. I somehow picked a peaceful site, and things went well for a long time. Squads trained themselves up. My first caverns! That mysterious downward-leading slope (or whatever the text is exactly). One drawback was that I didn't learn enough about defenses (for fortress #4). Eventually had major pathing problems in the caverns, but fixed that with major mining and forbidding doors. Then had dwarves insist on taking the downward slope where an FB was happily ensconced, they wouldn't stop getting killed (tried forbidding the bodies and items, no luck). Drained two pools to get at FBs, picked up a syndrome, lost most of my squads, the remainders were eaten up by the FB in the downward slope.

One day, after two hours of tweaking stuff left and right to deal with the Dwarves' Dance of Death (with the FB in the slope), the game crashed and I couldn't deal with doing it all over again. Gave up on the fortress. Learned a bit about building walls outside, an archers' tower (did not do a good job, my archers got all shot up), and amusingly had the baroness I got to appoint die of thirst after being appointed. She was so happy she forgot to drink. Also learned about soap and the hospital. Lye and potash still vex me, but I have only read about them once or twice. I had used some cage traps near the entrance and they caught everything that came through, so I decided traps were not fun, which was a big mistake. Found the lava and did some obsidian farming, but messed it up at first by not using a lava-proof mechanism (or floodgate).

''Fourth'' fortress: Nice little internal build with a great archer's tower. Lots of goblins in the area, who decimated my green squads and killed wave after wave of migrants. Didn't have enough in the way of defenses. PULL THE LEVER!!!! (For the drawbridge.) Oh... Oh that's what happens when everyone dies... Oh dear.

''Fifth, Zocolerush'', v. 0.31.16: So far, so good. A few Titans, FBs, the first cavern levels are totally dry and devoid of plants and trees (bummer) but not troglodytes and mole dogs (which I keep calling "mole rats" like in Fallout). Second cavern level has the downward slope, water, plants and trees, and FBs. Slope goes down to a huge lake level. 4 legendary miners were down there digging out gems and they all decided to stay and they all died. I tried several things to get them out (activate squads, set burrow restrictions...), nothing worked. Maybe should have sent a rescue mission by way of making a stairwell parallel to the slope, but don't know if that would have worked. They were all "hunting for small creature" (which would cancel with the burrow restriction, but then reset when the burrow restriction was lifted). Actually one dwarf did this in fortress #3, he went to the bottom of the slope, sat there, and died, but I was still kinda new at the game and didn't notice until after. Have some traps, bridges, and other things set up for entrances. Built a nice entrance with a water-surrounded walkway but it's far enough from the main action (near the headwaters of some streams that made some nice narrow gorges) that the dwarves don't use it. It did save the human liaison once, though, which was good, as the previous one was killed when he came on the map three squares from a kobold ambush. With that I sent a squad out to get the kobolds, they were halfway across the map, the human caravan arrives on-screen and a few moments later a goblin siege. The dwarves, humans, and goblins were all about the same distance from the entrance. This was going to be bad. I recall the squad, half of them see goblins before getting inside--oh maybe if I had de-activated the squad and set the burrow restriction (then they would have run and not fought). Dang. But anyway. One squad valiantly fights, I send the other good squad out to help. In the end I lost 11 dwarves, and half the caravan made it in, but the half that didn't was upset enough to the surviving traders that they all left without trading. Oops. I have tame grizzly bears! Just recently. This will be good once they all mate with their brothers and sisters, and I have horribly in-bred killer grizzlies. My wood burners are half-elf, I think, they hate burning wood, even after tweaking their tasks so it's all they should be doing (besides sleeping, eating, and drinking--oh that explains...). Made some pumps for water. How zones decide how many fishing squares are there is beyond me. I know water level is one factor, but there seem to be others that I haven't figured out. As of this writing, have yet to find lava or adamantine. Update: Found lava, 60 levels down. A [[syndrome]] killed about half my dwarves, though (from ~110 down to ~55). They catch it, feel ill, take ten steps, and drop dead. Uncontrollable cats and children, I tell you, they love to play in the blood of Zocolerush's defeated enemies. Now they are dead too. Finally found adamantine, and.... [[fun]]! Oops.

''Sixth, Sakzuldegel'', v. 0.31.25: So many new things! Accidentally embarked to a location with no ores except tetrahedrite, galena, and (lower down) cassiterite (with adamantine of course, and lots of gems). No human merchants (yet?). Surprisingly more doable than I thought, but I did have an entire squad of under-armored (boo, copper!) dwarves die at the hands of lashers (terrible, I know, all ten bit it). Amusingly, one of my dwarves was knocked into a pond by a goblin and died, so the other dwarves couldn't reach his body, so he haunted the fortress until I noticed, and the next winter I had to mine his corpse out of the frozen ice (this worked, I wasn't too sure it would). Bought a panda. It died. ''Oh they need bamboo''. Am mastering the art of the atom smasher, the death pit (for caged goblins, but my archers don't always shoot them), and just caught a [[giant cave spider]] so need to read up on silk farms.

''Further'': I have discovered that if you hit the first cavern but then seal it off, the FB's pile up and then when you accidentally breach the cavern again in a corner you hadn't revealed (so that you could drain a pond a get a dead dorf) all eight of the FBs will rush up the staircase you made for them. Epic battle in a narrow hallway, though!

''Later'': I have a fortress where the land is at about 145, the first cavern (dry, no flora) is at about 120 down to 95 (seems tall, starts lower than usual?), and the second cavern (with water and flora) starts at about 93 (they almost overlap!) and then has chimneys down to what might be the third cavern at around 45. This is not the "downward slope", and it is difficult for me to clearly distinguish the 2nd cavern from the 3rd, there is an odd intermediary space in-between with few slopes, a floor, and another chimney down. Haven't seen lava yet.

User:Dwarvenjames

2011-06-12T16:32:03Z

Dwarvenjames:

'''About Me''' 
I tend to like single player D&D games and Civ-like games, so DF is one of my favorites. Wizardry was awesome, Ultima II and IV, Elder Scrolls Morrowind and Oblivion, Alpha Centauri, Civ in general... But I also like quirky or indie games. Katamari Damacy (yes it's bizarre) and Portal are pretty awesome. Actually I like Half Life 2 so much I played through it a second time just to get the gamer points. I played EQII, but once you hit level 90 you just run the same dungeons/instances over and over, and I need more variation than that (even though I have a great guild). DF has some consistencies (caverns, FBs, etc.) but it's always different.

I admit I use a tileset. I like quirky, but I like images too. If I play Rogue-likes I'll play one with graphics.

I play in Win XP so I can use Dwarf Therapist, but I do it in Parallels on my Mac.

'''Thoughts on Design''' 
I think I make my fortresses too horizontal, but I realized I like to see what's going on as much as possible in one view. I think paths would be shorter with a more vertical approach, perhaps a column or an ovoid(?). I have been trying to make a sphere around the trade depot, for short paths when goods need to be moved, which is good for moving goods from storage to the trade depot but not always so good for moving goods to storage in the first place. i like how there are design decisions to be made, but the game isn't forcing you to make them, it's just part of the game. In Fallout: New Vegas, there were times when the writers force you to make a choice, and there is always a negative outcome (like in one vault, save the people below by venting the nuclear waste out the top which kills the farmland, or save the farmland and kill the people). This can be done realistically, but it often felt forced and unnatural in F:NV. In DF, there are always decisions to be made, but there are no narrative points where the game stops and forces you to make a decision. Yes you will have to carve a fortress out of the rock, and there are decisions to be made about that, but the game will just keep on running (unless you pause it) while you sit there trying to decide between a nice pre-planned design and how organic you want to go by chasing that vein of ore.

I try to keep some parts of the fortress separated from others (entrance, caverns) via choke points. I like the idea of the archers' tower, but have yet to implement one well.

'''Future Additions''' (that I wouldn't mind seeing...) 
0.31.19 added a lot it looks like! After watching the animated kids' film, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_of_Kells The Secret of Kells], which is a great film, I'd like to see scribes and bookmaking. Hides for vellum, dyes for ink, wood for covers, gems and metals to encrust books... the materials are all there, just needs a new skill, a new building (the scriptorium?), and some new objects (vellum, books...). I know, I know, dwarves don't read books, they read great sagas off the stone walls carved hundreds of years ago about great dwarven conquests. But humans, those snooty elves, and dwarven nobles like books I bet. Hmm could have a bookcase, made out of stone, metal, or wood even.

'''Fortresses''' 
''First'' and ''second'' went nowhere as I was a total newbie (as we all are at the beginning) and made newbie mistakes that I quickly realized (thanks to all the help and tutorials out there, without which I would not be playing).

''Third'' was pretty good. I somehow picked a peaceful site, and things went well for a long time. Squads trained themselves up. My first caverns! That mysterious downward-leading slope (or whatever the text is exactly). One drawback was that I didn't learn enough about defenses (for fortress #4). Eventually had major pathing problems in the caverns, but fixed that with major mining and forbidding doors. Then had dwarves insist on taking the downward slope where an FB was happily ensconced, they wouldn't stop getting killed (tried forbidding the bodies and items, no luck). Drained two pools to get at FBs, picked up a syndrome, lost most of my squads, the remainders were eaten up by the FB in the downward slope.

One day, after two hours of tweaking stuff left and right to deal with the Dwarves' Dance of Death (with the FB in the slope), the game crashed and I couldn't deal with doing it all over again. Gave up on the fortress. Learned a bit about building walls outside, an archers' tower (did not do a good job, my archers got all shot up), and amusingly had the baroness I got to appoint die of thirst after being appointed. She was so happy she forgot to drink. Also learned about soap and the hospital. Lye and potash still vex me, but I have only read about them once or twice. I had used some cage traps near the entrance and they caught everything that came through, so I decided traps were not fun, which was a big mistake. Found the lava and did some obsidian farming, but messed it up at first by not using a lava-proof mechanism (or floodgate).

''Fourth'' fortress: Nice little internal build with a great archer's tower. Lots of goblins in the area, who decimated my green squads and killed wave after wave of migrants. Didn't have enough in the way of defenses. PULL THE LEVER!!!! (For the drawbridge.) Oh... Oh that's what happens when everyone dies... Oh dear.

''Fifth, Zocolerush'', v. 0.31.16: So far, so good. A few Titans, FBs, the first cavern levels are totally dry and devoid of plants and trees (bummer) but not troglodytes and mole dogs (which I keep calling "mole rats" like in Fallout). Second cavern level has the downward slope, water, plants and trees, and FBs. Slope goes down to a huge lake level. 4 legendary miners were down there digging out gems and they all decided to stay and they all died. I tried several things to get them out (activate squads, set burrow restrictions...), nothing worked. Maybe should have sent a rescue mission by way of making a stairwell parallel to the slope, but don't know if that would have worked. They were all "hunting for small creature" (which would cancel with the burrow restriction, but then reset when the burrow restriction was lifted). Actually one dwarf did this in fortress #3, he went to the bottom of the slope, sat there, and died, but I was still kinda new at the game and didn't notice until after. Have some traps, bridges, and other things set up for entrances. Built a nice entrance with a water-surrounded walkway but it's far enough from the main action (near the headwaters of some streams that made some nice narrow gorges) that the dwarves don't use it. It did save the human liaison once, though, which was good, as the previous one was killed when he came on the map three squares from a kobold ambush. With that I sent a squad out to get the kobolds, they were halfway across the map, the human caravan arrives on-screen and a few moments later a goblin siege. The dwarves, humans, and goblins were all about the same distance from the entrance. This was going to be bad. I recall the squad, half of them see goblins before getting inside--oh maybe if I had de-activated the squad and set the burrow restriction (then they would have run and not fought). Dang. But anyway. One squad valiantly fights, I send the other good squad out to help. In the end I lost 11 dwarves, and half the caravan made it in, but the half that didn't was upset enough to the surviving traders that they all left without trading. Oops. I have tame grizzly bears! Just recently. This will be good once they all mate with their brothers and sisters, and I have horribly in-bred killer grizzlies. My wood burners are half-elf, I think, they hate burning wood, even after tweaking their tasks so it's all they should be doing (besides sleeping, eating, and drinking--oh that explains...). Made some pumps for water. How zones decide how many fishing squares are there is beyond me. I know water level is one factor, but there seem to be others that I haven't figured out. As of this writing, have yet to find lava or adamantine. Update: Found lava, 60 levels down. A [[syndrome]] killed about half my dwarves, though (from ~110 down to ~55). They catch it, feel ill, take ten steps, and drop dead. Uncontrollable cats and children, I tell you, they love to play in the blood of Zocolerush's defeated enemies. Now they are dead too. Finally found adamantine, and.... [[fun]]! Oops.

''Sixth, Sakzuldegel'', v. 0.31.25: So many new things! Accidentally embarked to a location with no ores except tetrahedrite, galena, and (lower down) cassiterite (with adamantine of course, and lots of gems). No human merchants (yet?). Surprisingly more doable than I thought, but I did have an entire squad of under-armored (boo, copper!) dwarves die at the hands of lashers (terrible, I know, all ten bit it). Amusingly, one of my dwarves was knocked into a pond by a goblin and died, so the other dwarves couldn't reach his body, so he haunted the fortress until I noticed, and the next winter I had to mine his corpse out of the frozen ice (this worked, I wasn't too sure it would). Bought a panda. It died. ''Oh they need bamboo''. Am mastering the art of the atom smasher, the death pit (for caged goblins, but my archers don't always shoot them), and just caught a [[giant cave spider]] so need to read up on silk farms.

''Further'': I have discovered that if you hit the first cavern but then seal it off, the FB's pile up and then when you accidentally breach the cavern again in a corner you hadn't revealed (so that you could drain a pond a get a dead dorf) all eight of the FBs will rush up the staircase you made for them. Epic battle in a narrow hallway, though!

v0.31:Squad

2011-06-09T21:07:22Z

Dwarvenjames: /* Creating a Militia */ I added "Leather to Metal" since the current dirs read like only for player presets and weren't clear.

{{av}}
{{Quality|Masterwork}}

'''Squads''' are a fundamental part of your fortress' '''{{l|military}}''' - they are the units who carry out all the orders you give them. Your ability to manage these iron-blooded dwarves could spell the difference between a healthy fort's life and death.

For quick reference: from the main menu the '''military''' screen is accessible through the {{k|m}} key and the '''squads''' screen is accessible through the {{k|s}} 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).

For a simple, ''very'' basic, unarmed/unarmoured "How to attack a creature", see {{L|attack}}.

==Creating a Militia==

While quite confusing, the military system makes up for its initial impenetrability with its versatility. Squads can be assigned, reordered(how?) and restructured(how?) at will, and each soldier can be set to equip a highly-specified uniform along with the rest of their squad or stand out and equip something unique.

===Forming Squads===

Before you can do anything with your military you will want to go into the '''noble''' screen ({{k|n}}) and designate a '''{{l|militia commander}}'''. Subsequent squad leaders can also be designated through the nobles screen; once you designate a militia commander it will open up a slot for a '''{{l|militia captain}}''', and once you designate one of those it opens another captain slot, etc. These roles are all functionally equivalent.

When you have designated a commander/captain, going to the military screen will show that dwarf under the "Squads/Leaders" heading and you'll notice an option to create a new squad. You can also create a new squad before you designate your militia commander; the first dwarf you choose will automatically be thrust into the position. Creating the squad moves the display of the dwarf from the 'available' heading to the squad heading. You can then fill out the squad with any dwarf in the fort. No more than ten dwarves can be assigned to any one squad. When you add a dwarf to one squad they will be removed from another; for this reason you will always see the majority of your dwarves in the rightmost pane. Dwarves that are already in a military squad will have the name of that squad in the uppermost box, allowing you to skip them over if necessary.

===Equipping Soldiers===

In the military screen, press {{k|n}} to open the '''uniforms''' tab. Each listing under the 'Uniforms' header is essentially a pre-designed set of equipment that you can quickly apply to any individual soldier or entire squad, much like a template. You can create new uniforms if you want and add or remove items from any uniform set by navigating this menu. Uniform templates are only created in this tab, not applied.

While still in the military screen, press {{k|e}} to open the '''equipment''' tab. The default sub-tab, '{{k|V}}iew/Customize will be open. In this screen you can select individual dwarves and apply individual pieces of equipment to them, from {{k|A}}rmor, {{k|L}}eggings, {{k|H}}elms, {{k|G}}loves, {{k|B}}oots, {{k|S}}hields, and {{k|W}}eapons, as well as {{k|M}}aterial and {{k|C}}olor depending on the piece of equipment highlighted. To select a specific piece of equipment (such as an artifact), select 'specific _____' under that equipment type (eg. 'specific armor' in the Armor field); for your convenience, highest-quality equipment is listed first.

To apply your preset uniform templates, press {{k|U}} in the equipment tab to open the Assign Uniforms sub-tab and move the selector to the Position Uniform header. Pressing {{k|enter}} will apply the selected uniform to the individual dwarf of your choosing, and {{k|shift}}+{{k|enter}} will apply the selected uniform to the entire squad. If you edit a uniform while it is equipped, you will need to reselect the uniform for the dwarves to recognise the changes.

For ranged soldiers, open the '''ammunition''' ({{k|f}}) tab and assign them something from there. If you don't care what they use, you still need to give them ammo - just pick 'bolts' and it will default to any bolts they can find. Assigning at least TWO piles of ammunition with two separate use designations is recommended. Assign one pile for training and one for fighting, or they will use all of their bolts training and end up attempting to whack enemies with their crossbows. By default, both training and combat use is turned on. Use {{k|C}} and {{k|T}} to toggle these settings. If the letter is present next to the ammunition, the use is turned on.

If you're still experiencing trouble try following [http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=535#c5948 these steps] posted to Mantis. If that doesn't work, post additional detail to that bug report if you are able.

====Changing from Leather to Metal====
If you start with leather armor and then smith some metal armor, you'll want to change your squads to the metal armor. From the military screen {{k|m}}, access the '''equipment''' view {{k|e}}. Then open the uniforms sub-view {{k|U}} which will show the standard leather, metal, and archer on the right (if you haven't deleted them). Now to change a full squad, select the squad on the left, then select the uniform (metal) on the right, and hit {{k|shift}}-{{k|enter}} (if you only hit {{k|enter}} it will only apply the change to the lone selected squad member). Now just hope you have enough metal armor and that Urist goes and picks it up!

==Direct Commands==

Getting your military to actually ''do'' something is a lot less difficult than it once was; gone are the days of stationing a squad near the enemy and hoping for the best. You can now give '''direct orders''' to '''attack''' one or more specific targets or to '''move''' to a specific location at will through the {{k|s}}quads menu.

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. This article will focus on the '''active''' commands you can issue your squads.

A squad that is following an ''active'' command is free to go wherever it is ordered to go unhindered by any '''{{l|burrow}}''' restrictions.

For more information on '''passive commands''', see '''{{l|Scheduling}}'''.

===Selecting Squads/Soldiers===

In the military, soldiers operate much more like part-time militia 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.

In the {{k|s}}quad menu, you can press either {{k|a}}/{{k|b}}/{{k|c}}/etc to select the squad that will execute an order, or hold {{k|shift}} to select multiple at once. You may press {{k|p}} if you want to toggle between having an individual dwarf or the squad perform the order.

There are two types of active orders that can be given to your dwarves:

====Move Order====

A '''move order''' is issued by pressing {{k|m}}, choosing an area, and pressing {{k|enter}} after you have selected a squad. Soldiers on a move order 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. This replaces the previous version's 'Station Squad' command and can be used to control squads in a similar manner as in 40d.

====Attack Order====

The '''attack order''', or '''kill command''', allows your military to focus their attack on one or more specific targets. It is a very unsubtle way of beating into your dwarves' booze addled minds that they are to kill your target or be killed in the attempt. It may very well be your last command to your dwarves if things are getting desperate.

After selecting which dwarves will execute the kill order, press {{k|k}} to 'Attack'. Now you have several options: you can move the cursor to what you want to attack and press {{k|enter}}, press {{k|l}}ist and select what you want to attack from a list, or {{k|r}}ectangle to select an area of things you want dead. Upon pressing {{k|enter}} your dwarves will happily run off to execute the order by executing the target. This order will remain after the intended victim is killed, leaving your squad standing over the corpse of their slain enemy waiting for new orders. Similar behavior will emerge if the intended target is caught in a {{l|trap|cage trap}}; when the caged target is hauled to the animal stockpile, the dwarves given the orders to kill it will follow the cage as it is hauled and wait around it once it is stockpiled until the kill order is canceled.

Currently dwarves go about this with a little more vigor than required and will also attack any other creatures nearby. 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.

====Cancelling Orders====

Pressing the {{k|o}} key in the {{k|s}}quad screen will '''cancel''' the selected dwarves' active orders, sending them back to their civilian or pre-scheduled military lives. It appears that this does not always work properly; as a result, your over-eager dwarves may get themselves into some trouble. Take caution when sending them deep into unfamiliar territory.

==Order Scheduling==

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

Squads can also be assigned order schedules which are '''passive''' commands that can be set for each month of the year which they will automatically perform whenever they are not busy with any active commands you are issuing. From the squad menu you can toggle through any order schedules you have defined quite quickly by pressing {{k|t}}. This will set the order schedule for the entire squad even if you only have a single dwarf selected.

To edit an existing order schedule or create a new one you need to visit the military-schedule screen. This can be done directly from the squad menu by pressing {{k|s}} or alternatively you can back out of the squad menu and use {{k|m}},{{k|s}} to get to the schedule page from the military screen. The details of setting up an order schedule are described on the {{l|schedule}} page.

==Reported Squad-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.

{{Military v0.31}}

v0.31:Mechanism

2011-05-06T01:23:15Z

Dwarvenjames: added science humor -- quantum entanglement -- how else do these things work?!?!?!

{{av}}
{{Quality|Exceptional}}
'''Mechanisms''' can be created by a {{L|Mechanic}} at a {{L|Mechanic's workshop}} out of a stone, or at a {{L|Metalsmith's forge}} from 1 {{L|bar}} of weapons-grade metal ({{L|silver}}, {{L|copper}}, {{L|bronze}}, {{L|bismuth bronze}}, {{L|iron}}, {{L|steel}}, or 3 {{L|adamantine}} wafers). In the Metalsmith's forge menu, they are found under {{L|trap component}}s. Unlike when making other trap components, making metal mechanisms at a forge requires the {{L|Mechanics}} {{L|labor}}. Stone mechanisms are made from any type of stone (even supposedly soft minerals as {{L|gypsum}} or {{L|talc}}).

Building {{L|trap}}s, {{L|lever}}s, {{L|pressure plate}}s, and {{L|gear assembly|gear assemblies}} requires one mechanism. Linking objects to a lever or pressure plate requires two mechanisms per linked item - one for the linked object, and one for the trigger (the lever or pressure plate). The only way to recover these mechanisms is to deconstruct both the linked object and the trigger.

{{L|Mechanic}}s will install mechanisms. Mechanisms can be linked to objects at any distance. It is unclear exactly how two (or more) mechanisms talk to each other at a distance without building direct mechanical or electronic channels between them (such as a wire), and given that the Dwarves have not discovered radio technology, it is believed by some that the Dwarves have actually discovered how to implement and control [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_entanglement quantum entanglement] on a non-quantum scale.

Mechanism {{L|quality}} determines the skill with which the weapon is "swung" or "fired" by the weapon trap, and affects all the rolls. [http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=14461.msg131214#msg131214] It does not affect how quickly a trap refires.

Mechanisms for use in magma '''must be''' {{L|magma safe}}, otherwise they will be destroyed (whether by melting or by burning) and the object to which they are linked will deconstruct.

Mechanisms make surprisingly good {{L|trade}} items due to their high {{L|item value|base value}} of 30. In comparison to other {{L|craft}}s they are heavy, making them less than ideal when trading with races that do not bring {{L|wagon}}s; currently, this includes '''all''' races{{bug|197}}. Levers and gear assemblies make good room decorations, as they have a greater base value than that of {{L|statue}}s and {{L|window}}s.

Mechanisms count as furniture. Because of this, the {{L|Jeweler's workshop}} job ''encrust furniture with [gem]'' may encrust mechanisms with gems instead of more useful furniture.

v0.31:Catsplosion

2011-04-28T04:55:30Z

Dwarvenjames: /* Thermonuclear Catsplosion */ Shouldn't those be normal script, not superscript? They're version #s, not a footnote. (undo if I'm wrong)

{{av}}
{{Quality|Exceptional}}
{{D for Dwarf}}
== Catsplosions ==
[[File:catsplosion before.png|left|thumb|Before.]]
[[File:catsplosion after.png|right|thumb|After.]]
The '''catsplosion''' is a mighty force of nature and a serious concern at the Mountainhome. Much like the captain of a popular starship and his ''Trouble with Tribbles'', dwarves fall prey to the fecund habits of the furry, lovable creatures known as {{L|cat}}s.

=== Conventional Catsplosion ===

A '''conventional catsplosion''' is an uncontrolled overpopulation of cats.

Conventional catsplosions are an insidious poison which operate by using a lethal psychological attack known as "Cuddly Wuddly Syndrome". Dwarves, ordinarily content to manage an overpopulation of cats by employing {{L|butcher}}s, {{L|tanner}}s, {{L|soaper}}s, {{L|leatherworker}}s, and {{L|cook}}s, may suddenly find themselves appropriated by a cat who employs mind control waves in order to take the dwarf hostage. The dwarf, now considering the cat its pet (when in fact the opposite is true), is no longer able to butcher the cat and will absolutely not tolerate anyone butchering his "bewuv'ed cuddlebug". Through this psychological technique, an insurgent is thereby successfully implanted into the fortress.

Over time, the number of insurgents grows so large that the dwarves must respond with open violence to protect their homes and (other) loved ones. {{L|Magma}}, {{L|water}}, and {{L|bridge}}s are considered particularly effective countermeasures. Sadly, this results in significant unhappy thoughts and even open {{L|tantrum}}s due to dwarves losing their "pets".

==== Dealing with Conventional Catsplosions ====
===== Part 1: Keeping "Cuddly Wuddly Syndrome" (CWS) under control =====
One word : {{L|cage}}

Do not leave stray cats wandering around or they will surely appropriate one of your citizens as a pet. Before your cat population gets out of control, quickly build a {{L|cage}} and assign all stray cats to it. If you do want some cat breeding in the long run, just leave a breeding pair outside and they will sooner or later become "pets". From then on, the moment you get
an announcement that says "(SomePetName), Cat (Tame) has given birth to kitten(s)", quickly assign all new kittens to the cage. If they stay in the cage, they cannot mind control your dwarves. If you manage to assign the cats quick enough and even if they manage to adopt someone prior to be put in the cage, they still will be put in it.

===== Part 2: Getting rid of the unwanted cats =====
[[File:Catmeat.png|left|thumb|Desperate times call for desperate measures.]]

The options are as follows:
* {{L|Butcher|Butchering}}. This still has a certain risk that the cat will infect a worker dwarf with CWS on the way to the {{L|Butcher's shop}}, so care must be taken to ensure that the distance is short. It is highly recommended that the cage intended for stray cat containment is built right next to a couple of {{L|Butcher's shop|butcher's shops}}. You can quickly assign any newborn kittens to be slaughtered through the animals section of the ({{k|z}})status menu.
* {{L|Trading}}. This is the only 100% safe way to get rid of stray cats in a cage. When a trader approaches your fortress, de-construct the cat cage to move it to the animal stockpile. Then set the cat cage for trading at the depot to move it there. Once at the depot, convert the cats into cash, or even just offer it outright to get rid of it. WARNING: there are confirmed bugs with trading creatures in cages. See the {{l|cage}} article for further details.
* {{L|Trap#Other_traps|Execution Traps}}. A deep drop into magma, water, or a very hard floor will usually do the job. Since the introduction of [[Activity_zone#Pen/Pasture|pen/pasture zones]] a cat owner will happily place their cat in the pen/pasture, pull the adjacent lever and walk away while the soft splat of a kitten's cruel end is lost in a sound of thunder.
* As cats appear to be attracted to vermin inside a food stockpile, putting a pet impassable door in the entrance of the food stockpile and constructing a upright spike on either side of this door and then connecting a lever to these spikes can kill the already "pet" cats in a relatively safe manner. NOTE: Be sure to check the door for dwarves before pulling the lever or they might be harmed.
* {{L|Modding}}. Removing the {{L|creature token}} [ADOPTS_OWNER] will, yes, stop cats from adopting owners. If you're feeling vindictive, however, you can instead remove one or more of the cats vital organs, causing them all to cease being alive. Note that this solution will most likely be the start of a {{L|Tantrum|tantrum spiral}}.

===== Part 3: Sexism =====

This solution requires micromanagement every 10 years, but solves it for all time!

* Cage all cats. Sort the female cats in a walled in room with no access. Release enough male cats to cover pet and vermin-eating needs of dwarves for 10 years or so. Let every dwarf have one without the possibility of breeding!

Once every 10 years or so, breed another batch after insuring all your dwarves have a pet already (if out of male cats, distribute some dogs or something). Cage kittens as they come out.

This is better done as an all-male than an all-female population in case a single wrong-gender cat straying from the plan - only one cat pregnant then in generation 1 instead of potentially most of them.

This means you keep all aspects of cats, except the breeding is confined to once per 10 years!

You could theorically put all pets in walled-in rooms. No pet deaths, no tantrums, no miasma!

P.S.: if you manage to put all the female cats in a walled in room, remember that kittens will appear only there - a good spot for a butcher shop and some kind of item drop chutes for ready food and junk disposal. Cats keeps your butcher shop free of vermin, too!

P.P.S.: Every time you use a cage on a cat the blood god is deprived from killing seven generations of kitten; so for the love of God, remember to sacrifice him some goblins in extra creative ways to compensate! Such as having a pit with all the female cats in the bottom attacking them...

=== Thermonuclear Catsplosion ===
Thanks to the [[Scamps]] Conventions of 0.28.181.40d and 0.31.03, the number of Thermonuclear Catsplosions has been drastically reduced, for the ignition keys are now by law hidden in a very {{L|Fun}} place after worldgen. They are, therefore, unavailable to prospective <s>modders</s> elf-fondling terrorists to use after then without causing drastic, system-wide instability to their computer networks.

As a warning, here's [http://www.mkv25.net/dfma/movie-518-nuclearcatsplosion the only video footage ever recovered from the horrible aftermath of a thermonuclear catsplosion.]

=== Birdsplosion ===
As of version .19, many new domestic animals, such as chickens, ducks and geese, have been added. These use the [[Nest box]] to lay eggs. The huge number of eggs they lay means that, if fertilised by a male, they tend to create their own Birdsplosion, in which millions of fuzzy ducklings take over your fort. Although this is not as a concern as the catsplosion, due to not being adopted as pets, there are still FPS concerns. The best known method to prevent a birdsplosion is to run a campaign on the benefits of eggs for your Dorfs.

v0.31:Catsplosion

2011-04-28T04:53:25Z

Dwarvenjames: /* Part 2: Getting rid of the unwanted cats */ possesive, needed apostrophe "kitten's"

{{av}}
{{Quality|Exceptional}}
{{D for Dwarf}}
== Catsplosions ==
[[File:catsplosion before.png|left|thumb|Before.]]
[[File:catsplosion after.png|right|thumb|After.]]
The '''catsplosion''' is a mighty force of nature and a serious concern at the Mountainhome. Much like the captain of a popular starship and his ''Trouble with Tribbles'', dwarves fall prey to the fecund habits of the furry, lovable creatures known as {{L|cat}}s.

=== Conventional Catsplosion ===

A '''conventional catsplosion''' is an uncontrolled overpopulation of cats.

Conventional catsplosions are an insidious poison which operate by using a lethal psychological attack known as "Cuddly Wuddly Syndrome". Dwarves, ordinarily content to manage an overpopulation of cats by employing {{L|butcher}}s, {{L|tanner}}s, {{L|soaper}}s, {{L|leatherworker}}s, and {{L|cook}}s, may suddenly find themselves appropriated by a cat who employs mind control waves in order to take the dwarf hostage. The dwarf, now considering the cat its pet (when in fact the opposite is true), is no longer able to butcher the cat and will absolutely not tolerate anyone butchering his "bewuv'ed cuddlebug". Through this psychological technique, an insurgent is thereby successfully implanted into the fortress.

Over time, the number of insurgents grows so large that the dwarves must respond with open violence to protect their homes and (other) loved ones. {{L|Magma}}, {{L|water}}, and {{L|bridge}}s are considered particularly effective countermeasures. Sadly, this results in significant unhappy thoughts and even open {{L|tantrum}}s due to dwarves losing their "pets".

==== Dealing with Conventional Catsplosions ====
===== Part 1: Keeping "Cuddly Wuddly Syndrome" (CWS) under control =====
One word : {{L|cage}}

Do not leave stray cats wandering around or they will surely appropriate one of your citizens as a pet. Before your cat population gets out of control, quickly build a {{L|cage}} and assign all stray cats to it. If you do want some cat breeding in the long run, just leave a breeding pair outside and they will sooner or later become "pets". From then on, the moment you get
an announcement that says "(SomePetName), Cat (Tame) has given birth to kitten(s)", quickly assign all new kittens to the cage. If they stay in the cage, they cannot mind control your dwarves. If you manage to assign the cats quick enough and even if they manage to adopt someone prior to be put in the cage, they still will be put in it.

===== Part 2: Getting rid of the unwanted cats =====
[[File:Catmeat.png|left|thumb|Desperate times call for desperate measures.]]

The options are as follows:
* {{L|Butcher|Butchering}}. This still has a certain risk that the cat will infect a worker dwarf with CWS on the way to the {{L|Butcher's shop}}, so care must be taken to ensure that the distance is short. It is highly recommended that the cage intended for stray cat containment is built right next to a couple of {{L|Butcher's shop|butcher's shops}}. You can quickly assign any newborn kittens to be slaughtered through the animals section of the ({{k|z}})status menu.
* {{L|Trading}}. This is the only 100% safe way to get rid of stray cats in a cage. When a trader approaches your fortress, de-construct the cat cage to move it to the animal stockpile. Then set the cat cage for trading at the depot to move it there. Once at the depot, convert the cats into cash, or even just offer it outright to get rid of it. WARNING: there are confirmed bugs with trading creatures in cages. See the {{l|cage}} article for further details.
* {{L|Trap#Other_traps|Execution Traps}}. A deep drop into magma, water, or a very hard floor will usually do the job. Since the introduction of [[Activity_zone#Pen/Pasture|pen/pasture zones]] a cat owner will happily place their cat in the pen/pasture, pull the adjacent lever and walk away while the soft splat of a kitten's cruel end is lost in a sound of thunder.
* As cats appear to be attracted to vermin inside a food stockpile, putting a pet impassable door in the entrance of the food stockpile and constructing a upright spike on either side of this door and then connecting a lever to these spikes can kill the already "pet" cats in a relatively safe manner. NOTE: Be sure to check the door for dwarves before pulling the lever or they might be harmed.
* {{L|Modding}}. Removing the {{L|creature token}} [ADOPTS_OWNER] will, yes, stop cats from adopting owners. If you're feeling vindictive, however, you can instead remove one or more of the cats vital organs, causing them all to cease being alive. Note that this solution will most likely be the start of a {{L|Tantrum|tantrum spiral}}.

===== Part 3: Sexism =====

This solution requires micromanagement every 10 years, but solves it for all time!

* Cage all cats. Sort the female cats in a walled in room with no access. Release enough male cats to cover pet and vermin-eating needs of dwarves for 10 years or so. Let every dwarf have one without the possibility of breeding!

Once every 10 years or so, breed another batch after insuring all your dwarves have a pet already (if out of male cats, distribute some dogs or something). Cage kittens as they come out.

This is better done as an all-male than an all-female population in case a single wrong-gender cat straying from the plan - only one cat pregnant then in generation 1 instead of potentially most of them.

This means you keep all aspects of cats, except the breeding is confined to once per 10 years!

You could theorically put all pets in walled-in rooms. No pet deaths, no tantrums, no miasma!

P.S.: if you manage to put all the female cats in a walled in room, remember that kittens will appear only there - a good spot for a butcher shop and some kind of item drop chutes for ready food and junk disposal. Cats keeps your butcher shop free of vermin, too!

P.P.S.: Every time you use a cage on a cat the blood god is deprived from killing seven generations of kitten; so for the love of God, remember to sacrifice him some goblins in extra creative ways to compensate! Such as having a pit with all the female cats in the bottom attacking them...

=== Thermonuclear Catsplosion ===
Thanks to the [[Scamps]] Conventions of *0.28.181.40d and *0.31.03, the number of Thermonuclear Catsplosions has been drastically reduced, for the ignition keys are now by law hidden in a very {{L|Fun}} place after worldgen. They are, therefore, unavailable to prospective <s>modders</s> elf-fondling terrorists to use after then without causing drastic, system-wide instability to their computer networks.

As a warning, here's [http://www.mkv25.net/dfma/movie-518-nuclearcatsplosion the only video footage ever recovered from the horrible aftermath of a thermonuclear catsplosion.]

=== Birdsplosion ===
As of version .19, many new domestic animals, such as chickens, ducks and geese, have been added. These use the [[Nest box]] to lay eggs. The huge number of eggs they lay means that, if fertilised by a male, they tend to create their own Birdsplosion, in which millions of fuzzy ducklings take over your fort. Although this is not as a concern as the catsplosion, due to not being adopted as pets, there are still FPS concerns. The best known method to prevent a birdsplosion is to run a campaign on the benefits of eggs for your Dorfs.

v0.31:Activity zone

2011-04-28T04:50:56Z

Dwarvenjames: /* Pen/{{L|Pasture}} */ missing a period at the end

{{quality|Fine|08:37, 14 September 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}

'''Activity zones''' are areas in which {{l|dwarf|dwarves}} are instructed to perform specific tasks, such as {{l|fishing}}, dumping objects, or collecting {{l|water}}. While activity zones are optional for the performance of certain tasks (fishing, collecting water) and obligatory for certain others (dumping), they can also be used to help keep dwarves out of {{l|fun|danger}}.

Activity zones can be placed in any {{l|revealed tile}}, including in {{l|open space}} or over a {{l|river}} or on top of a {{l|building}} or {{l|stockpile}}. They are placed in one of three ways: rectangular, flow, or floor flow. From within the Zones {{l|menu}}, ({{K|i}})Pressing {{K|e}} in the Zones menu cycles through each method, and pressing {{K|Enter}} begins designation. Rectangular zones are placed in the same manner as stockpiles, specifying two corners of the rectangle. Flow and floor flow are placed similarly to designating rooms from pieces of furniture using {{K|+}}/{{K|-}} to adjust the size (floor flow excludes walls). After that the zone has to be assigned to one of the listed tasks to become functional, by pressing the proper key. In some cases ({{l|healthcare|hospital}}, pit/pond) additional orders can then be set from the same menu.

The location of a zone is only visible while in the Zones menu, and any object lying on the ground will hide the presence of a zone tile.

== Water Source ==
:Shortcut {{k|w}}
Dwarves will draw water from this zone to satisfy their thirst, to tend to another thirsty dwarf, or to fill a Pond zone.

Only tiles '''adjacent''' to water qualify as usable water sources - thus, if you want to place a single-tile zone, place the zone onto a ground tile next to the water, not over the water itself.

== Fishing ==
:Shortcut {{k|f}}
The same above advice for '''water source''' zones is applicable to fishing zones. You cannot fish through a {{L|grate}} or {{L|well}} {{verify}}, it must be an open source of water.

== Garbage Dump ==
:Shortcut {{k|g}}

Garbage dump zones are areas in which dwarves will throw items specifically designated by using {{k|k}} then {{k|d}} for single items at a time, or {{key|d}}, {{key|b}}, {{key|d}} to designate a larger area to be dumped (or use the mouse to point and click). Garbage dumps are not the same as {{l|Refuse#Refuse|refuse}} stockpiles, which can be designated to accept any specific type(s) of refuse-type item, such as animal {{l|corpse}}s or {{l|bones}}, and then are randomly filled by haulers as the items become available on the map.

Garbage dumps:
:* Only accept items that have been marked for dumping.
:* Require dwarfs to have {{L|refuse hauling}} {{L|labor}} enabled.
::* Are subject to refuse orders (''{{k|o}}: Set Orders and Options -> {{k|r}}: Refuse Orders''). Most notably, dwarves will not dump items that are outside unless you allow them to ({{k|o}}->{{k|r}}->{{k|o}}).

To place a garbage dump, trace a zone on either a relatively empty plot of land or adjacent to a cliff face or hole. If a garbage zone is designated beside a {{L|cliff}} or hole (both natural or dwarf made) garbage will be thrown off/in the z-space. Each ground tile within that zone is considered a garbage dump tile; thus, if you want to place a single-tile zone, place the zone onto a ground tile (optionally adjacent to a cliff or {{L|pit}}), not onto an {{L|open space}}.
Items dumped into {{L|magma}} (provided they are not {{L|magma safe}}) will disappear permanently. Otherwise a single tile (either a dump zone, or the ground below the open space) will hold any number of dumped objects.

Once items are dumped they are automatically marked as "{{l|forbid}}den" however they will not dump items that are also forbidden. If you wish to use dumped items, you need to reclaim them. Press {{k|k}} to view the item and {{k|f}} to toggle forbid status. You may also use the reclaim {{L|designation}} to reclaim simultaneously all of the items dumped by using {{key|d}}, {{key|b}}, {{key|c}} and tracing the designation over top of the objects.

If a garbage dump is located next to open space, dwarves will always stand on a garbage dump square when throwing ''into that open space'', even if it could potentially be done more efficiently. If a garbage dump is located next to multiple tiles of open space, they seem to prefer the one farthest to the northwest. If a tile to the north and a tile to the west are the only tiles available, they will throw to the west. Since falling objects do not hurt dwarves, such garbage dumps can be a very efficient method of moving materials to the lower levels of your fortress.

Dwarves seem to throw dumped items in the nearest available garbage dump, although this is probably not reliable given that they don't always use the nearest available item to make things at workshops. If a nearer zone becomes available as they are traveling to a zone they will ignore it. Also, they seem to prefer dumps that allow them to throw things in to open space regardless of how far away they are.

Probably due to a bug, dwarves periodically ignore items that are meant to be dumped. Viewing the item by pressing {{k|k}} then toggling forbid and dump status on, then off again {{k|f}}->{{k|f}}->{{k|d}}->{{k|d}} seems to correct this problem.

Previously dumped items are regarded as 'refuse' and will not be recognized (or re-dumped) unless 'gather refuse from outside' is enabled in your orders.

== Pen/{{L|Pasture}} ==
:shortcut {{k|n}}

A pen or a pasture is used to contain tame animals. Once one is created, animals must be assigned to it individually by pressing {{k|N}} from the zone information screen. Dwarves will drag the assigned animals to the pen or pasture automatically. As of version .31.19, many domestic animals will become hungry and starve if not assigned to a pasture with [[grass]] or fungus (note that the assigned creatures can eat all of the grass in a pen/pasture and then starve). Any tame creature with the "grazer" token in the raws should be assigned to a pasture. This includes pigs, mules, cows, goats, horses, yaks, unicorns etc. Animals will not typically wander out of their assigned pasture even if it is not walled in, however an exposed pasture may lead to premature slaughter at the hands of invaders. Since pets can be assigned to pen/pastures and a zone can be created under a [[dwarven atom smasher]], this is one of the easiest ways to prevent [[Catsplosion|catsplosions]].

== Pit/Pond ==
:Shortcut {{k|p}}

A Pit/Pond requires a {{L|ramp}} or hole with adjacent flooring on which a dwarf can stand. Designate the zone from the top of the ramp or hole. By default, the zone will be a pit. To change it to a pond, press {{k|P}} then {{k|f}}. It can be changed back to a pit the same way.

Animals can be assigned to a pit through the {{k|P}} menu. A dwarf will lead the beast to the pit and leave it there. (If the pit is a ramp rather than a hole, the animal will then wander off.)

Dwarves will attempt to fill a pond with {{L|water}}, carried by {{L|bucket}} from a water-gathering zone. They will stand on the floor adjacent to the top of the ramp or hole, and toss the water onto the ramp or into the hole. Each bucketful increases the depth of the water in the tile below by 1/7. Once the water is dumped from the bucket, the dwarf will either drop the bucket and perform a different task, or choose to fill a pond zone tile again using the bucket (s)he currently holds.

Dwarves will stop scheduling the Fill Pond job when the water depth reaches 6/7.

This is one technique used for {{L|farming}}, in order to make {{L|mud}}.

Currently, no matter how large the designated pond area,{{verify}} only one dwarf at a time will try to fill the pond. In order to fill a large area quickly, it is necessary to designate multiple smaller pond zones (or several zones overlapping the same area).

If you have more than one pond designated as a water source, your dwarves may endlessly try to fill each pond with the other pond's water, making a loop of useless duty.

== Sand Collection ==
:Shortcut {{k|s}}

Sand collection zones are important in the {{L|glass industry}}. They may be placed anywhere, but are only useful when actually placed on {{L|sand}}.

== Clay Collection ==
:shortcut {{k|c}}

Clay collection zones are important in the [[ceramic industry|ceramics industry]].

== Meeting Area ==
:Shortcut {{k|m}}

Meeting area zones are zones in which idle dwarves and animals will congregate, similar to meeting halls. Additionally, immigrants will collect at a meeting area until their "migrant" status wears off.

Note that the {{l|wagon (embark)|wagon}} you {{l|embark|arrive with}} constitutes a meeting area until you designate the first meeting area of your own. If you start in hostile surroundings it is important to get your dwarves and animals out of danger quickly.

It is a good idea to have at least one meeting area, of one form or another: it allows you to make off-duty dwarves and animals gather in an area where they are not vulnerable, such as within the fortress.

There are several ways to designate a meeting hall. The preferred method is to use an Activity zone; type {{k|i}}, set up a zone, and mark it both "active" and "meeting". {{L|Sculpture garden|Statue gardens}} and {{L|zoo}}s are intrinsically meeting halls, as are {{L|room}}s defined from a {{L|well}}. However, you can also create a Meeting Hall.

A meeting area filled with dwarves increases the social skills of idlers. It makes idle dwarves a little less idle, and makes selecting a replacement broker easier. Because almost every dwarf visits a meeting hall at least occasionally, it's an ideal place to site valuable objects and buildings. A meeting hall exposed to sunlight will prevent dwarves from becoming {{L|cave adaptation|cave-adapted}}.

Be warned that having dwarves socialize will often result in them becoming {{L|friend}}s (or forming a {{L|grudge}}).

== Hospital ==
:Shortcut {{k|h}}

A Hospital zone is an area designated for the {{L|Healthcare|care and treatment}} of sick and {{L|Wound|wounded}} dwarves.

===Setting up a Hospital===

While there are no particular restrictions on the areas that can be set as hospital zones, a hospital requires certain {{l|furniture}} and supplies to function properly:

{| class="wikitable" cellspacing="0" border="1" cellpadding="5"
|-
! Furniture
! Function
|-
| {{L|Bed|Beds}}
| Allow sick dwarves to {{L|Rest|rest}}
|-
| {{L|Table|Tables}}
| Used in surgery{{Verify}}
|-
| {{L|Traction bench|Traction benches}}
| Immobilize dwarves who need to stay still to heal
|-
| {{L|Container|Boxes/Bags}}
| Storage for medical supplies
|}

{| class="wikitable" cellspacing="0" border="1" cellpadding="5"
|-
! Medical equipment
! Function
! Unit quantity*
|-
| {{L|Thread}}
| Required for suturing wounds
| 15000
|-
| {{L|Cloth}}
| Required for bandages
| 10000
|-
| {{L|Splint|Splints}}
| Used to bind broken bones{{verify}}
| 1
|-
| {{L|Crutch|Crutches}}
| Walking aid for dwarves with leg injuries
| 1
|-
| {{L|Gypsum plaster|Powder for casts}}
| Used to make plaster casts for setting bones{{Verify}}
| 150{{Verify}}
|-
| {{L|Bucket|Buckets }}
|
*Used by doctors to carry water for cleaning patients
*Used by dwarves with the Feed Patients/Prisoners labor to water patients
| 1
|-
| {{L|Soap }}
| Used to reduce infections when washing patients
| 150
|}

''*The unit quantity is the quantity of each item that appears in the Hospital Information screen when one object of that type is stored. For example, if one bolt of cloth is stored in the hospital zone, the hospital will report that it contains 10000 cloth.''

In addition to furniture and medical supplies, a {{L|Water|source of water}} is more or less mandatory, as sick dwarves need it for drinking as well as cleaning. The water source need not be in the hospital zone, although the shorter the distance between the two the better.

When the Zones menu ({{k|i}}) is open and the cursor is in a hospital zone, {{k|H}} will bring up the Hospital Information screen. This screen shows the quantity of each type of furniture piece and medical equipment present in the Hospital, and allows you to set the desired quantity of each type of equipment. Note that you must have boxes or bags constructed in the hospital zone for supplies to be stored for medical use; items in a stockpile do not count for the hospital, even if the stockpile is in the hospital zone.

===Hospital Beds===

When a dwarf becomes sick or {{l|wound}}ed, he will be carried to a {{l|bed}} in a hospital zone by a dwarf with the Recovering Wounded labor set, assuming such a bed is available; otherwise, he may be carried to a bed in a {{L|barracks}} or {{L|dormitory}}, or to an unassigned bed. If an injured dwarf is resting in a bed outside a hospital zone, he will remain there even if hospital beds become available. Deconstructing the sick dwarf's bed may cause him to be move to a hospital bed, however, and it may be possible for doctors to treat patients who are resting outside of a hospital zone, so long as adequate supplies are available.{{verify}}

v0.31:Activity zone

2011-04-25T15:44:53Z

Dwarvenjames: /* Pen/{{L|Pasture}} */ added bit about how they can eat everything and starve (so you have to keep an eye on it or find the right balance)

{{quality|Fine|08:37, 14 September 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}

'''Activity zones''' are areas in which {{l|dwarf|dwarves}} are instructed to perform specific tasks, such as {{l|fishing}}, dumping objects, or collecting {{l|water}}. While activity zones are optional for the performance of certain tasks (fishing, collecting water) and obligatory for certain others (dumping), they can also be used to help keep dwarves out of {{l|fun|danger}}.

Activity zones can be placed in any {{l|revealed tile}}, including in {{l|open space}} or over a {{l|river}} or on top of a {{l|building}} or {{l|stockpile}}. They are placed in one of three ways: rectangular, flow, or floor flow. From within the Zones {{l|menu}}, ({{K|i}})Pressing {{K|e}} in the Zones menu cycles through each method, and pressing {{K|Enter}} begins designation. Rectangular zones are placed in the same manner as stockpiles, specifying two corners of the rectangle. Flow and floor flow are placed similarly to designating rooms from pieces of furniture using {{K|+}}/{{K|-}} to adjust the size (floor flow excludes walls). After that the zone has to be assigned to one of the listed tasks to become functional, by pressing the proper key. In some cases ({{l|healthcare|hospital}}, pit/pond) additional orders can then be set from the same menu.

The location of a zone is only visible while in the Zones menu, and any object lying on the ground will hide the presence of a zone tile.

== Water Source ==
:Shortcut {{k|w}}
Dwarves will draw water from this zone to satisfy their thirst, to tend to another thirsty dwarf, or to fill a Pond zone.

Only tiles '''adjacent''' to water qualify as usable water sources - thus, if you want to place a single-tile zone, place the zone onto a ground tile next to the water, not over the water itself.

== Fishing ==
:Shortcut {{k|f}}
The same above advice for '''water source''' zones is applicable to fishing zones. You cannot fish through a {{L|grate}} or {{L|well}} {{verify}}, it must be an open source of water.

== Garbage Dump ==
:Shortcut {{k|g}}

Garbage dump zones are areas in which dwarves will throw items specifically designated by using {{k|k}} then {{k|d}} for single items at a time, or {{key|d}}, {{key|b}}, {{key|d}} to designate a larger area to be dumped (or use the mouse to point and click). Garbage dumps are not the same as {{l|Refuse#Refuse|refuse}} stockpiles, which can be designated to accept any specific type(s) of refuse-type item, such as animal {{l|corpse}}s or {{l|bones}}, and then are randomly filled by haulers as the items become available on the map.

Garbage dumps:
:* Only accept items that have been marked for dumping.
:* Require dwarfs to have {{L|refuse hauling}} {{L|labor}} enabled.
::* Are subject to refuse orders (''{{k|o}}: Set Orders and Options -> {{k|r}}: Refuse Orders''). Most notably, dwarves will not dump items that are outside unless you allow them to ({{k|o}}->{{k|r}}->{{k|o}}).

To place a garbage dump, trace a zone on either a relatively empty plot of land or adjacent to a cliff face or hole. If a garbage zone is designated beside a {{L|cliff}} or hole (both natural or dwarf made) garbage will be thrown off/in the z-space. Each ground tile within that zone is considered a garbage dump tile; thus, if you want to place a single-tile zone, place the zone onto a ground tile (optionally adjacent to a cliff or {{L|pit}}), not onto an {{L|open space}}.
Items dumped into {{L|magma}} (provided they are not {{L|magma safe}}) will disappear permanently. Otherwise a single tile (either a dump zone, or the ground below the open space) will hold any number of dumped objects.

Once items are dumped they are automatically marked as "{{l|forbid}}den" however they will not dump items that are also forbidden. If you wish to use dumped items, you need to reclaim them. Press {{k|k}} to view the item and {{k|f}} to toggle forbid status. You may also use the reclaim {{L|designation}} to reclaim simultaneously all of the items dumped by using {{key|d}}, {{key|b}}, {{key|c}} and tracing the designation over top of the objects.

If a garbage dump is located next to open space, dwarves will always stand on a garbage dump square when throwing ''into that open space'', even if it could potentially be done more efficiently. If a garbage dump is located next to multiple tiles of open space, they seem to prefer the one farthest to the northwest. If a tile to the north and a tile to the west are the only tiles available, they will throw to the west. Since falling objects do not hurt dwarves, such garbage dumps can be a very efficient method of moving materials to the lower levels of your fortress.

Dwarves seem to throw dumped items in the nearest available garbage dump, although this is probably not reliable given that they don't always use the nearest available item to make things at workshops. If a nearer zone becomes available as they are traveling to a zone they will ignore it. Also, they seem to prefer dumps that allow them to throw things in to open space regardless of how far away they are.

Probably due to a bug, dwarves periodically ignore items that are meant to be dumped. Viewing the item by pressing {{k|k}} then toggling forbid and dump status on, then off again {{k|f}}->{{k|f}}->{{k|d}}->{{k|d}} seems to correct this problem.

Previously dumped items are regarded as 'refuse' and will not be recognized (or re-dumped) unless 'gather refuse from outside' is enabled in your orders.

== Pen/{{L|Pasture}} ==
:shortcut {{k|n}}

A pen or a pasture is used to contain tame animals. Once one is created, animals must be assigned to it individually by pressing {{k|N}} from the zone information screen. Dwarves will drag the assigned animals to the pen or pasture automatically. As of version .31.19, many domestic animals will become hungry and starve if not assigned to a pasture with [[grass]] or fungus (note that the assigned creatures can eat all of the grass in a pen/pasture and then starve). Any tame creature with the "grazer" token in the raws should be assigned to a pasture. This includes pigs, mules, cows, goats, horses, yaks, unicorns etc. Animals will not typically wander out of their assigned pasture even if it is not walled in, however an exposed pasture may lead to premature slaughter at the hands of invaders. Since pets can be assigned to pen/pastures and a zone can be created under a [[dwarven atom smasher]], this is one of the easiest ways to prevent [[Catsplosion|catsplosions]]

== Pit/Pond ==
:Shortcut {{k|p}}

A Pit/Pond requires a {{L|ramp}} or hole with adjacent flooring on which a dwarf can stand. Designate the zone from the top of the ramp or hole. By default, the zone will be a pit. To change it to a pond, press {{k|P}} then {{k|f}}. It can be changed back to a pit the same way.

Animals can be assigned to a pit through the {{k|P}} menu. A dwarf will lead the beast to the pit and leave it there. (If the pit is a ramp rather than a hole, the animal will then wander off.)

Dwarves will attempt to fill a pond with {{L|water}}, carried by {{L|bucket}} from a water-gathering zone. They will stand on the floor adjacent to the top of the ramp or hole, and toss the water onto the ramp or into the hole. Each bucketful increases the depth of the water in the tile below by 1/7. Once the water is dumped from the bucket, the dwarf will either drop the bucket and perform a different task, or choose to fill a pond zone tile again using the bucket (s)he currently holds.

Dwarves will stop scheduling the Fill Pond job when the water depth reaches 6/7.

This is one technique used for {{L|farming}}, in order to make {{L|mud}}.

Currently, no matter how large the designated pond area,{{verify}} only one dwarf at a time will try to fill the pond. In order to fill a large area quickly, it is necessary to designate multiple smaller pond zones (or several zones overlapping the same area).

If you have more than one pond designated as a water source, your dwarves may endlessly try to fill each pond with the other pond's water, making a loop of useless duty.

== Sand Collection ==
:Shortcut {{k|s}}

Sand collection zones are important in the {{L|glass industry}}. They may be placed anywhere, but are only useful when actually placed on {{L|sand}}.

== Clay Collection ==
:shortcut {{k|c}}

Clay collection zones are important in the [[ceramic industry|ceramics industry]].

== Meeting Area ==
:Shortcut {{k|m}}

Meeting area zones are zones in which idle dwarves and animals will congregate, similar to meeting halls. Additionally, immigrants will collect at a meeting area until their "migrant" status wears off.

Note that the {{l|wagon (embark)|wagon}} you {{l|embark|arrive with}} constitutes a meeting area until you designate the first meeting area of your own. If you start in hostile surroundings it is important to get your dwarves and animals out of danger quickly.

It is a good idea to have at least one meeting area, of one form or another: it allows you to make off-duty dwarves and animals gather in an area where they are not vulnerable, such as within the fortress.

There are several ways to designate a meeting hall. The preferred method is to use an Activity zone; type {{k|i}}, set up a zone, and mark it both "active" and "meeting". {{L|Sculpture garden|Statue gardens}} and {{L|zoo}}s are intrinsically meeting halls, as are {{L|room}}s defined from a {{L|well}}. However, you can also create a Meeting Hall.

A meeting area filled with dwarves increases the social skills of idlers. It makes idle dwarves a little less idle, and makes selecting a replacement broker easier. Because almost every dwarf visits a meeting hall at least occasionally, it's an ideal place to site valuable objects and buildings. A meeting hall exposed to sunlight will prevent dwarves from becoming {{L|cave adaptation|cave-adapted}}.

Be warned that having dwarves socialize will often result in them becoming {{L|friend}}s (or forming a {{L|grudge}}).

== Hospital ==
:Shortcut {{k|h}}

A Hospital zone is an area designated for the {{L|Healthcare|care and treatment}} of sick and {{L|Wound|wounded}} dwarves.

===Setting up a Hospital===

While there are no particular restrictions on the areas that can be set as hospital zones, a hospital requires certain {{l|furniture}} and supplies to function properly:

{| class="wikitable" cellspacing="0" border="1" cellpadding="5"
|-
! Furniture
! Function
|-
| {{L|Bed|Beds}}
| Allow sick dwarves to {{L|Rest|rest}}
|-
| {{L|Table|Tables}}
| Used in surgery{{Verify}}
|-
| {{L|Traction bench|Traction benches}}
| Immobilize dwarves who need to stay still to heal
|-
| {{L|Container|Boxes/Bags}}
| Storage for medical supplies
|}

{| class="wikitable" cellspacing="0" border="1" cellpadding="5"
|-
! Medical equipment
! Function
! Unit quantity*
|-
| {{L|Thread}}
| Required for suturing wounds
| 15000
|-
| {{L|Cloth}}
| Required for bandages
| 10000
|-
| {{L|Splint|Splints}}
| Used to bind broken bones{{verify}}
| 1
|-
| {{L|Crutch|Crutches}}
| Walking aid for dwarves with leg injuries
| 1
|-
| {{L|Gypsum plaster|Powder for casts}}
| Used to make plaster casts for setting bones{{Verify}}
| 150{{Verify}}
|-
| {{L|Bucket|Buckets }}
|
*Used by doctors to carry water for cleaning patients
*Used by dwarves with the Feed Patients/Prisoners labor to water patients
| 1
|-
| {{L|Soap }}
| Used to reduce infections when washing patients
| 150
|}

''*The unit quantity is the quantity of each item that appears in the Hospital Information screen when one object of that type is stored. For example, if one bolt of cloth is stored in the hospital zone, the hospital will report that it contains 10000 cloth.''

In addition to furniture and medical supplies, a {{L|Water|source of water}} is more or less mandatory, as sick dwarves need it for drinking as well as cleaning. The water source need not be in the hospital zone, although the shorter the distance between the two the better.

When the Zones menu ({{k|i}}) is open and the cursor is in a hospital zone, {{k|H}} will bring up the Hospital Information screen. This screen shows the quantity of each type of furniture piece and medical equipment present in the Hospital, and allows you to set the desired quantity of each type of equipment. Note that you must have boxes or bags constructed in the hospital zone for supplies to be stored for medical use; items in a stockpile do not count for the hospital, even if the stockpile is in the hospital zone.

===Hospital Beds===

When a dwarf becomes sick or {{l|wound}}ed, he will be carried to a {{l|bed}} in a hospital zone by a dwarf with the Recovering Wounded labor set, assuming such a bed is available; otherwise, he may be carried to a bed in a {{L|barracks}} or {{L|dormitory}}, or to an unassigned bed. If an injured dwarf is resting in a bed outside a hospital zone, he will remain there even if hospital beds become available. Deconstructing the sick dwarf's bed may cause him to be move to a hospital bed, however, and it may be possible for doctors to treat patients who are resting outside of a hospital zone, so long as adequate supplies are available.{{verify}}

v0.31:Panda

2011-04-25T15:42:49Z

Dwarvenjames: Added a bit about how pandas need pen/pastures with bamboo and some dwarven humor. The humor might be a bit dumb though.

{{Quality|Fine}}
{{Creaturelookup/0
|contrib=no
|fat=12
|cartilage=1
|heart=1
|intestine=1
|liver=1
|tripe=1
|sweetbread=1
|spleen=1
|kidney=2
|nervous tissue=1
|brain=1
|hair=1
|bone=18
|meat=13
|lung=2
|tooth=2
|skull=1
|skin=hide}}
{{av}}
{{creaturedesc}}

Note that if you buy a tame panda from the elves it will only eat bamboo, and can easily starve unless assigned to a [[Activity_zone#Pen/Pasture|pen/pasture]] with bamboo in it. The elves will neglect to mention this to you, and will laugh all the way to the bank. "Sorry, Urist, no refunds!"

{{Gamedata}}
{{Creatures}}
{{Category|Animals}}

v0.31:Obsidian

2011-04-21T17:38:49Z

Dwarvenjames: Isn't obsidian usually found low down, after metals? Also added note about Elves, since I didn't realize obsidian swords used wood (oops).

{{buggy}}
{{layerlookup/0}}{{av}}{{Quality|Exceptional|21:08, 8 June 2010 (UTC)}}

'''Obsidian''' is one of the types of {{L|stone}} that forms entire {{L|Stone#Stones forming entire layers|layer}}s. Obsidian is also found surrounding magma pools and volcanoes, exactly 1 tile thick.

"Obsidian" is the also name of the twelfth month of the dwarven {{L|calendar}}, covering late Winter.

==Rock short sword==
Obsidian can also be made into obsidian shortswords with one log at the craftsdwarf's workshop. If you find obsidian before metallic ores, these are good at first to defend your fort from early wolf and giant eagle attacks, but weak in comparison to any metal, having difficulty cutting even mundane animal hides. Note that, with the use of wood (presumably the handle), [[Elf|Elves]] will not accept obsidian swords in trade.

Obsidian is the only rock that can be used to make stone-based weapons.

==Obsidian formation==

Obsidian can be formed by mixing {{L|water}} and {{L|magma}}. This results in any tiles containing both {{L|water}} and {{L|magma}} to be replaced with obsidian, and produces a large amount of {{L|steam}}. Any non-{{L|magma-safe}} objects that were in the {{L|water}} or {{L|magma}} prior to the formation of obsidian are completely destroyed, which can be an effective method of removing unwanted items or enemies. Magma-safe items will be entombed in the tile, and can be regained by mining it.
[[Obsidian farming]] can be used to produce large amounts of obsidian for masonry, making crafts, or construction.

==Bugs==
* Obsidian is not currently listed as an economic stone ({{key|z}} > stone). You cannot switch between "use" and "not use", so you can only use obsidian for constructions if you embark in a biome with an obsidian layer. See the discussion page for a workaround. {{version|0.31.03}}
<gallery>
Image:Obsidian.jpg|Obsidian
File:ObsidianDomeCA.JPG|Obsidian rock face
File:Teotihuacán - Obsidianklinge.jpg|Obsidian blade
File:Snowflake_obsidian.jpg|Snowflake obsidian & an obsidian arrowhead
</gallery>

{{gamedata}}
{{stones}}
{{Category|Economic Stone}}

v0.31:Obsidian

2011-04-21T17:34:07Z

Dwarvenjames: added hyphen for "stone-based" since it's an adjective phrase

{{buggy}}
{{layerlookup/0}}{{av}}{{Quality|Exceptional|21:08, 8 June 2010 (UTC)}}

'''Obsidian''' is one of the types of {{L|stone}} that forms entire {{L|Stone#Stones forming entire layers|layer}}s. Obsidian is also found surrounding magma pools and volcanoes, exactly 1 tile thick.

"Obsidian" is the also name of the twelfth month of the dwarven {{L|calendar}}, covering late Winter.

==Rock short sword==
Obsidian can also be made into obsidian shortswords with one log at the craftsdwarf's workshop. These are good at first to defend your fort from early wolf and giant eagle attacks, but weak in comparison to any metal, having difficulty cutting even mundane animal hides.

Obsidian is the only rock that can be used to make stone-based weapons.

==Obsidian formation==

Obsidian can be formed by mixing {{L|water}} and {{L|magma}}. This results in any tiles containing both {{L|water}} and {{L|magma}} to be replaced with obsidian, and produces a large amount of {{L|steam}}. Any non-{{L|magma-safe}} objects that were in the {{L|water}} or {{L|magma}} prior to the formation of obsidian are completely destroyed, which can be an effective method of removing unwanted items or enemies. Magma-safe items will be entombed in the tile, and can be regained by mining it.
[[Obsidian farming]] can be used to produce large amounts of obsidian for masonry, making crafts, or construction.

==Bugs==
* Obsidian is not currently listed as an economic stone ({{key|z}} > stone). You cannot switch between "use" and "not use", so you can only use obsidian for constructions if you embark in a biome with an obsidian layer. See the discussion page for a workaround. {{version|0.31.03}}
<gallery>
Image:Obsidian.jpg|Obsidian
File:ObsidianDomeCA.JPG|Obsidian rock face
File:Teotihuacán - Obsidianklinge.jpg|Obsidian blade
File:Snowflake_obsidian.jpg|Snowflake obsidian & an obsidian arrowhead
</gallery>

{{gamedata}}
{{stones}}
{{Category|Economic Stone}}

User:Dwarvenjames

2011-04-18T18:38:08Z

Dwarvenjames:

'''About Me''' 
I tend to like single player D&D games and Civ-like games, so DF is one of my favorites. Wizardry was awesome, Ultima II and IV, Elder Scrolls Morrowind and Oblivion, Alpha Centauri, Civ in general... But I also like quirky or indie games. Katamari Damacy (yes it's bizarre) and Portal are pretty awesome. Actually I like Half Life 2 so much I played through it a second time just to get the gamer points. I played EQII, but once you hit level 90 you just run the same dungeons/instances over and over, and I need more variation than that (even though I have a great guild). DF has some consistencies (caverns, FBs, etc.) but it's always different.

I admit I use a tileset. I like quirky, but I like images too. If I play Rogue-likes I'll play one with graphics.

I play in Win XP so I can use Dwarf Therapist, but I do it in Parallels on my Mac.

'''Thoughts on Design''' 
I think I make my fortresses too horizontal, but I realized I like to see what's going on as much as possible in one view. I think paths would be shorter with a more vertical approach, perhaps a column or an ovoid(?). I have been trying to make a sphere around the trade depot, for short paths when goods need to be moved, which is good for moving goods from storage to the trade depot but not always so good for moving goods to storage in the first place. i like how there are design decisions to be made, but the game isn't forcing you to make them, it's just part of the game. In Fallout: New Vegas, there were times when the writers force you to make a choice, and there is always a negative outcome (like in one vault, save the people below by venting the nuclear waste out the top which kills the farmland, or save the farmland and kill the people). This can be done realistically, but it often felt forced and unnatural in F:NV. In DF, there are always decisions to be made, but there are no narrative points where the game stops and forces you to make a decision. Yes you will have to carve a fortress out of the rock, and there are decisions to be made about that, but the game will just keep on running (unless you pause it) while you sit there trying to decide between a nice pre-planned design and how organic you want to go by chasing that vein of ore.

I try to keep some parts of the fortress separated from others (entrance, caverns) via choke points. I like the idea of the archers' tower, but have yet to implement one well.

'''Future Additions''' (that I wouldn't mind seeing...) 
0.31.19 added a lot it looks like! After watching the animated kids' film, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_of_Kells The Secret of Kells], which is a great film, I'd like to see scribes and bookmaking. Hides for vellum, dyes for ink, wood for covers, gems and metals to encrust books... the materials are all there, just needs a new skill, a new building (the scriptorium?), and some new objects (vellum, books...). I know, I know, dwarves don't read books, they read great sagas off the stone walls carved hundreds of years ago about great dwarven conquests. But humans, those snooty elves, and dwarven nobles like books I bet. Hmm could have a bookcase, made out of stone, metal, or wood even.

'''Fortresses''' 
''First'' and ''second'' went nowhere as I was a total newbie (as we all are at the beginning) and made newbie mistakes that I quickly realized (thanks to all the help and tutorials out there, without which I would not be playing).

''Third'' was pretty good. I somehow picked a peaceful site, and things went well for a long time. Squads trained themselves up. My first caverns! That mysterious downward-leading slope (or whatever the text is exactly). One drawback was that I didn't learn enough about defenses (for fortress #4). Eventually had major pathing problems in the caverns, but fixed that with major mining and forbidding doors. Then had dwarves insist on taking the downward slope where an FB was happily ensconced, they wouldn't stop getting killed (tried forbidding the bodies and items, no luck). Drained two pools to get at FBs, picked up a syndrome, lost most of my squads, the remainders were eaten up by the FB in the downward slope.

One day, after two hours of tweaking stuff left and right to deal with the Dwarves' Dance of Death (with the FB in the slope), the game crashed and I couldn't deal with doing it all over again. Gave up on the fortress. Learned a bit about building walls outside, an archers' tower (did not do a good job, my archers got all shot up), and amusingly had the baroness I got to appoint die of thirst after being appointed. She was so happy she forgot to drink. Also learned about soap and the hospital. Lye and potash still vex me, but I have only read about them once or twice. I had used some cage traps near the entrance and they caught everything that came through, so I decided traps were not fun, which was a big mistake. Found the lava and did some obsidian farming, but messed it up at first by not using a lava-proof mechanism (or floodgate).

''Fourth'' fortress: Nice little internal build with a great archer's tower. Lots of goblins in the area, who decimated my green squads and killed wave after wave of migrants. Didn't have enough in the way of defenses. PULL THE LEVER!!!! (For the drawbridge.) Oh... Oh that's what happens when everyone dies... Oh dear.

''Fifth, Zocolerush'', v. 0.31.16: So far, so good. A few Titans, FBs, the first cavern levels are totally dry and devoid of plants and trees (bummer) but not troglodytes and mole dogs (which I keep calling "mole rats" like in Fallout). Second cavern level has the downward slope, water, plants and trees, and FBs. Slope goes down to a huge lake level. 4 legendary miners were down there digging out gems and they all decided to stay and they all died. I tried several things to get them out (activate squads, set burrow restrictions...), nothing worked. Maybe should have sent a rescue mission by way of making a stairwell parallel to the slope, but don't know if that would have worked. They were all "hunting for small creature" (which would cancel with the burrow restriction, but then reset when the burrow restriction was lifted). Actually one dwarf did this in fortress #3, he went to the bottom of the slope, sat there, and died, but I was still kinda new at the game and didn't notice until after. Have some traps, bridges, and other things set up for entrances. Built a nice entrance with a water-surrounded walkway but it's far enough from the main action (near the headwaters of some streams that made some nice narrow gorges) that the dwarves don't use it. It did save the human liaison once, though, which was good, as the previous one was killed when he came on the map three squares from a kobold ambush. With that I sent a squad out to get the kobolds, they were halfway across the map, the human caravan arrives on-screen and a few moments later a goblin siege. The dwarves, humans, and goblins were all about the same distance from the entrance. This was going to be bad. I recall the squad, half of them see goblins before getting inside--oh maybe if I had de-activated the squad and set the burrow restriction (then they would have run and not fought). Dang. But anyway. One squad valiantly fights, I send the other good squad out to help. In the end I lost 11 dwarves, and half the caravan made it in, but the half that didn't was upsetting enough to the surviving traders that they all left without trading. Oops. I have tame grizzly bears! Just recently. This will be good once they all mate with their brothers and sisters, and I have horribly in-bred killer grizzlies. My wood burners are half-elf, I think, they hate burning wood, even after tweaking their tasks so it's all they should be doing (besides sleeping, eating, and drinking--oh that explains...). Made some pumps for water. How zones decide how many fishing squares are there is beyond me. I know water level is one factor, but there seem to be others that I haven't figured out. As of this writing, have yet to find lava or adamantine. Update: Found lava, 60 levels down. A [[syndrome]] killed about half my dwarves, though (from ~110 down to ~55). They catch it, feel ill, take ten steps, and drop dead. Uncontrollable cats and children, I tell you, they love to play in the blood of Zocolerush's defeated enemies. Now they are dead too. Finally found adamantine, and.... [[fun]]! Oops.

''Sixth, Sakzuldegel'', v. 0.31.25: So many new things! Accidentally embarked to a location with no ores except tetrahedrite, galena, and (lower down) cassiterite (with adamantine of course, and lots of gems). No human merchants (yet?). Surprisingly more doable than I thought, but I did have an entire squad of under-armored (boo, copper!) dwarves die at the hands of lashers (terrible, I know, all ten bit it). Amusingly, one of my dwarves was knocked into a pond by a goblin and died, so the other dwarves couldn't reach his body, so he haunted the fortress until I noticed, and the next winter I had to mine his corpse out of the frozen ice (this worked, I wasn't too sure it would). Bought a panda. It died. ''Oh they need bamboo''. Am mastering the art of the atom smasher, the death pit (for caged goblins, but my archers don't always shoot them), and just caught a [[giant cave spider]] so need to read up on silk farms.

v0.31:Giant cave spider

2011-04-18T15:33:10Z

Dwarvenjames: it's/its

{{Quality|Exceptional|20:09, 5 July 2010 (UTC)}}
{{Creaturelookup/0
|wiki=no
|contrib=no
|meat=19
|fat=18
|heart=1
|intestine=1
|brain=1
|skin=chitin
}}
{{av}}
{{creaturedesc}}

'''Giant cave spiders''' are far different from your regular {{L|cave spider}}s; those are just treats for your {{L|cat}}. Giant cave spiders are as big as {{L|grizzly bear}}s and will make treats ''of'' cats, dwarves and the occasional careless adventurer. You can find giant cave spiders in, obviously, caves, caverns and most underground areas. They are extremely dangerous as they feel no pain and thus cannot be stunned, can {{L|syndrome|poison}} creatures and have the ability to shoot {{L|web}}bing to ensnare their prey.

Giant cave spiders are fortunately (depending on your point of view) not a rarity anymore and there are dozens present in the underground caverns, deep below the surface. They can be extremely hard to kill. Due to the material changes, however, chitin is not as great as armour as it used to be, resulting in a few dwarves, on occasion, punching one to death within a few attacks by punching its skull into its brain, which can be a godsend on an unlucky cavern breaching excercise.

They are both a boon and a bane, the boon being their webs (whenever they aren't a part of the bane.) Giant cave spider {{L|silk}} is worth much more than ordinary {{L|cloth}} and given the proper setup and victims, they can produce endless amounts of it. Be aware that if they are tamed, Giant Cave Spiders will not spit webbing at enemies (or fight back at all) unless they are being attacked themselves.{{verify}}

If you see one in adventure mode, an announcement, "You've spotted a Giant Cave Spider!" will appear.

Giant cave spider venom appears to be a neurotoxin which causes progressive {{L|syndrome|paralysis}} and is ultimately fatal due to suffocation as the victim's diaphragm succumbs and ceases to function. The poison's effects set in relatively quickly with complete paralysis at phase 5 (360 seconds) and death usually occurs at around 1300 seconds.

==Capturing==
Due to the considerable value of giant cave spider silk, many players attempt to capture a live spider and set up a silk farm to boost their fortress's economy. While simply opening a path to the {{L|cavern}}s and lining it with cage traps may eventually work, a much more effective method is to take advantage of one peculiar behavior of {{L|building destroyer}}s - simply build a '''{{L|wood}}en''' {{L|door}} within the caverns and surround it with cage traps (to a distance of at least 2 tiles), and any giant cave spider (or {{L|giant toad}}, {{L|giant olm}}, {{L|cave crocodile}}, etc.) that enters the caverns will immediately charge toward it and be captured.

==Farming Silk==
Several setups have been devised to harvest giant cave spider silk in large quantities. One such design is as follows:
{{diagram|spaces=yes|color=#888|\
╔═══════════╗
║+++++++++++║
║+++++++++++║
║++++++[#080]╥[#CCC]╔[#CCC]═[#CCC]═[#00F]═╣
[#0F0][#080]≡++++++[#080]║[#F00]╬[#080]╞[#080]╡+║
║++++++[#080]║[#F00]╬+[#F00]╬[#CCC][#888]┼╣
║++++++[#080]║[#F00]╬[#CCC]g[#F00]╬[#CCC]S║
║++++++[#080]║[#F00]╬+[#F00]╬[#CCC][#888]┼╣
[#0F0][#080]≡++++++[#080]║[#F00]╬[#080]╞[#080]╡+║
║++++++[#080]╨[#CCC]╚[#CCC]═[#CCC]═[#CCC]═╣
║+++++++++++║
║+++++++++++║
╚═══════════╝
}}
# Dig out (and optionally smooth) a sufficiently large room (example shown is 11x11).
# {{L|Construction|Construct}} all of the light gray {{L|wall}}s and red {{L|fortification}}s.
# Build the 3 green {{L|bridge}}s, all raising lengthwise to form long walls.
# Construct a {{L|lever}} somewhere convenient in your fortress and link it to the 3 bridges.
# Build 2 '''non-wooden''' {{L|door}}s above and below the gray "S". Mark both doors as pet-inaccessible but leave them unlocked.
# Build a restraint underneath the gray "g". Assign a disarmed captured {{L|goblin}} soldier ('''not''' a thief or a wild animal) to the restraint.
# Pull the lever to raise the bridges (and hide the goblin from your mason), then construct the blue wall to seal the chamber.
# Build the 2 {{L|floodgate}}s and link them to the lever, then pull the lever again.
# Using a pit/pond {{L|activity zone}} on the Z-level above, drop a '''tamed''' giant cave spider into the gray "S" square. Place a 1-tile meeting zone on this tile to reduce lag when collecting webs.

At this point, the spider will begin blasting the goblin with webs, and most of the webs will fly through the fortifications and land on the floor to the left. Once enough webs have accumulated, pull the lever to open the chamber for collection and raise the 3 bridges - the bridge on the left will prevent the goblin from scaring your weavers away, and the 2 bridges on the right will block the path between the goblin and the spider, causing it to calm down and stop trying to shoot webs (in order to reduce lag). Once all of the webs have been collected, simply pull the lever again to reseal the chamber and start the spider webbing again.

{{gamedata}}
{{Creatures}}
{{Category|Animals}}

v0.31 Talk:Nest box

2011-04-04T22:29:33Z

Dwarvenjames: /* Won't claim nest boxes? */

==Clogs Up Food Stockpiles==
Hrm... upon finding a reasonably well-endowed site, I embarked with a couple of these. When I designated a food stockpile, to hold my harvested plants, I discovered that my dwarves plonked one nest box down in the first square of the stockpile, and then refused to add empty barrels to hold crops, instead filling the remainder of the stockpile with already-filled barrels (with plants) and other stacks of plants. Once I dumped out the nest box, they returned to normal behaviour, adding empty barrels and reshuffling the plant stacks into them. Apparently the dwarven mind considers a nest box to be a container, but not one that can hold plants, so they'll add it to a stockpile, refuse to stuff plants in it, and then refuse to add more barrels because there's an empty container already on the stockpile. Annoying. --[[User:DeMatt|DeMatt]] 23:50, 20 February 2011 (UTC)
==Won't claim nest boxes?==
I've build 2 boxes, one for each of my turkey hens, but they won't claim them! Not even if I remove then replace the boxes. Anyone else have this problem?
:My (limited) experience is that a bird will claim the nest box only briefly to lay an egg, then it is no longer claimed once they lay their egg (they then leave). It does not appear to be like a bedroom or item, which is assigned or can be claimed.--[[User:Dwarvenjames|Dwarvenjames]] 22:29, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

v0.31:Activity zone

2011-02-21T23:27:56Z

Dwarvenjames: /* Clay Collection */ added wikilink to ceramic industry -- there are both a ceramics-industry page and a ceramic-industry page (I don't know how to fix that)

{{quality|Fine|08:37, 14 September 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}

'''Activity zones''' are areas in which {{l|dwarf|dwarves}} are instructed to perform specific tasks, such as {{l|fishing}}, dumping objects, or collecting {{l|water}}. While activity zones are optional for the performance of certain tasks (fishing, collecting water) and obligatory for certain others (dumping), they can also be used to help keep dwarves out of {{l|fun|danger}}.

Activity zones can be placed in any {{l|revealed tile}}, including in {{l|open space}} or over a {{l|river}} or on top of a {{l|building}} or {{l|stockpile}}. They are placed in one of three ways: rectangular, flow, or floor flow. From within the Zones {{l|menu}}, ({{K|i}})Pressing {{K|e}} in the Zones menu cycles through each method, and pressing {{K|Enter}} begins designation. Rectangular zones are placed in the same manner as stockpiles, specifying two corners of the rectangle. Flow and floor flow are placed similarly to designating rooms from pieces of furniture using {{K|+}}/{{K|-}} to adjust the size (floor flow excludes walls). After that the zone has to be assigned to one of the listed tasks to become functional, by pressing the proper key. In some cases ({{l|healthcare|hospital}}, pit/pond) additional orders can then be set from the same menu.

The location of a zone is only visible while in the Zones menu, and any object lying on the ground will hide the presence of a zone tile.

== Water Source ==
:Shortcut {{k|w}}
Dwarves will draw water from this zone, for instance when filling ponds. In order for your dwarves to use this zone correctly, some part of this zone must include the solid ground that is next to the water. For example, make half of your zone cover a brook and the other half cover the bank next to the brook.

== Fishing ==
:Shortcut {{k|f}}
The same above advice for '''water source''' zones is applicable to fishing zones. You cannot fish through a {{L|grate}} or {{L|well}} {{verify}}, it must be an open source of water.

== Garbage Dump ==
:Shortcut {{k|g}}

Garbage dump zones are areas in which dwarves will throw items specifically designated by using {{k|k}} then {{k|d}} for single items at a time, or {{key|d}}, {{key|b}}, {{key|d}} to designate a larger area to be dumped (or use the mouse to point and click). Garbage dumps are not the same as {{l|Refuse#Refuse|refuse}} stockpiles, which can be designated to accept any specific type(s) of refuse-type item, such as animal {{l|corpse}}s or {{l|bones}}, and then are randomly filled by haulers as the items become available on the map.

Garbage dumps:
:* Only accept items that have been marked for dumping.
:* Require dwarfs to have {{L|refuse hauling}} {{L|labor}} enabled.
::* Are subject to refuse orders (''{{k|o}}: Set Orders and Options -> {{k|r}}: Refuse Orders''). Most notably, dwarves will not dump items that are outside unless you allow them to ({{k|o}}->{{k|r}}->{{k|o}}).

To place a garbage dump, trace a zone on either a relatively empty plot of land or adjacent to a cliff face or hole. If a garbage zone is designated beside a {{L|cliff}} or hole (both natural or dwarf made) garbage will be thrown off/in the z-space. Each ground tile within that zone is considered a garbage dump tile; thus, if you want to place a single-tile zone, place the zone onto a ground tile (optionally adjacent to a cliff or {{L|pit}}), not onto an {{L|open space}}.
Items dumped into {{L|magma}} (provided they are not {{L|magma safe}}) will disappear permanently. Otherwise a single tile (either a dump zone, or the ground below the open space) will hold any number of dumped objects.

Once items are dumped they are automatically marked as "{{l|forbid}}den" however they will not dump items that are also forbidden. If you wish to use dumped items, you need to reclaim them. Press {{k|k}} to view the item and {{k|f}} to toggle forbid status. You may also use the reclaim {{L|designation}} to reclaim simultaneously all of the items dumped by using {{key|d}}, {{key|b}}, {{key|c}} and tracing the designation over top of the objects.

If a garbage dump is located next to open space, dwarves will always stand on a garbage dump square when throwing ''into that open space'', even if it could potentially be done more efficiently. If a garbage dump is located next to multiple tiles of open space, they seem to prefer the one farthest to the northwest. If a tile to the north and a tile to the west are the only tiles available, they will throw to the west. Since falling objects do not hurt dwarves, such garbage dumps can be a very efficient method of moving materials to the lower levels of your fortress.

Dwarves seem to throw dumped items in the nearest available garbage dump, although this is probably not reliable given that they don't always use the nearest available item to make things at workshops. If a nearer zone becomes available as they are traveling to a zone they will ignore it. Also, they seem to prefer dumps that allow them to throw things in to open space regardless of how far away they are.

Probably due to a bug, dwarves periodically ignore items that are meant to be dumped. Viewing the item by pressing {{k|k}} then toggling forbid and dump status on, then off again {{k|f}}->{{k|f}}->{{k|d}}->{{k|d}} seems to correct this problem.

== Pen/Pasture ==
:shortcut {{k|n}}

A pen or a pasture is used to contain tame animals. Once one is created, animals must be assigned to it individually by pressing {{k|N}} from the zone information scsreen. Dwarves will drag the assigned animals to the pen or pasture automatically. As of version .31.19, many domestic animals will become hungry and starve if not assigned to a pasture with [[grass]] or fungus. Any tame creature with the "grazer" token in the raws should be assigned to a pasture. This includes pigs, mules, cows, goats, horses, yaks, unicorns etc. Animals will not typically wander out of their assigned pasture even if it is not walled in, however an exposed pasture may lead to premature slaughter at the hands of invaders.

== Pit/Pond ==
:Shortcut {{k|p}}

A Pit/Pond requires a {{L|ramp}} or hole with adjacent flooring on which a dwarf can stand. Designate the zone from the top of the ramp or hole. By default, the zone will be a pit. To change it to a pond, press {{k|P}} then {{k|f}}. It can be changed back to a pit the same way.

Animals can be assigned to a pit through the {{k|P}} menu. A dwarf will lead the beast to the pit and leave it there. (If the pit is a ramp rather than a hole, the animal will then wander off.)

Dwarves will attempt to fill a pond with {{L|water}}, carried by {{L|bucket}} from a water-gathering zone. They will stand on the floor adjacent to the top of the ramp or hole, and toss the water onto the ramp or into the hole. Each bucketful increases the depth of the water in the tile below by 1/7. Once the water is dumped from the bucket, the dwarf will either drop the bucket and perform a different task, or choose to fill a pond zone tile again using the bucket (s)he currently holds.

Dwarves will stop scheduling the Fill Pond job when the water depth reaches 6/7.

This is one technique used for {{L|farming}}, in order to make {{L|mud}}.

Currently, no matter how large the designated pond area,{{verify}} only one dwarf at a time will try to fill the pond. In order to fill a large area quickly, it is necessary to designate multiple smaller pond zones (or several zones overlapping the same area).

If you have more than one pond designated as a water source, your dwarves may endlessly try to fill each pond with the other pond's water, making a loop of useless duty.

== Sand Collection ==
:Shortcut {{k|s}}

Sand collection zones are important in the {{L|glass industry}}. They may be placed anywhere, but are only useful when actually placed on {{L|sand}}.

== Clay Collection ==
:shortcut {{k|c}}

Clay collection zones are important in the [[ceramic industry|ceramics industry]].

== Meeting Area ==
:Shortcut {{k|m}}

Meeting area zones are zones in which idle dwarves and animals will congregate, similar to meeting halls. Additionally, immigrants will collect at a meeting area until their "migrant" status wears off.

Note that the {{l|wagon (embark)|wagon}} you {{l|embark|arrive with}} constitutes a meeting area until you designate the first meeting area of your own. If you start in hostile surroundings it is important to get your dwarves and animals out of danger quickly.

It is a good idea to have at least one meeting area, of one form or another: it allows you to make off-duty dwarves and animals gather in an area where they are not vulnerable, such as within the fortress.

There are several ways to designate a meeting hall. The preferred method is to use an Activity zone; type {{k|i}}, set up a zone, and mark it both "active" and "meeting". {{L|Sculpture garden|Statue gardens}} and {{L|zoo}}s are intrinsically meeting halls, as are {{L|room}}s defined from a {{L|well}}. However, you can also create a Meeting Hall.

A meeting area filled with dwarves increases the social skills of idlers. It makes idle dwarves a little less idle, and makes selecting a replacement broker easier. Because almost every dwarf visits a meeting hall at least occasionally, it's an ideal place to site valuable objects and buildings. A meeting hall exposed to sunlight will prevent dwarves from becoming {{L|cave adaptation|cave-adapted}}.

Be warned that having dwarves socialize will often result in them becoming {{L|friend}}s (or forming a {{L|grudge}}).

== Hospital ==
:Shortcut {{k|h}}

A Hospital zone is an area designated for the {{L|Healthcare|care and treatment}} of sick and {{L|Wound|wounded}} dwarves.

===Setting up a Hospital===

While there are no particular restrictions on the areas that can be set as hospital zones, a hospital requires certain {{l|furniture}} and supplies to function properly:

{| class="wikitable" cellspacing="0" border="1" cellpadding="5"
|-
! Furniture
! Function
|-
| {{L|Bed|Beds}}
| Allow sick dwarves to {{L|Rest|rest}}
|-
| {{L|Table|Tables}}
| Used in surgery{{Verify}}
|-
| {{L|Traction bench|Traction benches}}
| Immobilize dwarves who need to stay still to heal
|-
| {{L|Container|Boxes/Bags}}
| Storage for medical supplies
|}

{| class="wikitable" cellspacing="0" border="1" cellpadding="5"
|-
! Medical equipment
! Function
! Unit quantity*
|-
| {{L|Thread}}
| Required for suturing wounds
| 15000
|-
| {{L|Cloth}}
| Required for bandages
| 10000
|-
| {{L|Splint|Splints}}
| Used to bind broken bones{{verify}}
| 1
|-
| {{L|Crutch|Crutches}}
| Walking aid for dwarves with leg injuries
| 1
|-
| {{L|Gypsum plaster|Powder for casts}}
| Used to make plaster casts for setting bones{{Verify}}
| 150{{Verify}}
|-
| {{L|Bucket|Buckets }}
|
*Used by doctors to carry water for cleaning patients
*Used by dwarves with the Feed Patients/Prisoners labor to water patients
| 1
|-
| {{L|Soap }}
| Used to reduce infections when washing patients
| 150{{verify}}
|}

''*The unit quantity is the quantity of each item that appears in the Hospital Information screen when one object of that type is stored. For example, if one bolt of cloth is stored in the hospital zone, the hospital will report that it contains 10000 cloth.''

In addition to furniture and medical supplies, a {{L|Water|source of water}} is more or less mandatory, as sick dwarves need it for drinking as well as cleaning. The water source need not be in the hospital zone, although the shorter the distance between the two the better.

When the Zones menu ({{k|i}}) is open and the cursor is in a hospital zone, {{k|H}} will bring up the Hospital Information screen. This screen shows the quantity of each type of furniture piece and medical equipment present in the Hospital, and allows you to set the desired quantity of each type of equipment. Note that you must have boxes or bags constructed in the hospital zone for supplies to be stored for medical use; items in a stockpile do not count for the hospital, even if the stockpile is in the hospital zone.

===Hospital Beds===

When a dwarf becomes sick or {{l|wound}}ed, he will be carried to a {{l|bed}} in a hospital zone by a dwarf with the Recovering Wounded labor set, assuming such a bed is available; otherwise, he may be carried to a bed in a {{L|barracks}} or {{L|dormitory}}, or to an unassigned bed. If an injured dwarf is resting in a bed outside a hospital zone, he will remain there even if hospital beds become available. Deconstructing the sick dwarf's bed may cause him to be move to a hospital bed, however, and it may be possible for doctors to treat patients who are resting outside of a hospital zone, so long as adequate supplies are available.{{verify}}

User:Dwarvenjames

2011-02-21T21:06:16Z

Dwarvenjames:

'''About Me''' 
I tend to like single player D&D games and Civ-like games, so DF is one of my favorites. Wizardry was awesome, Ultima II and IV, Elder Scrolls Morrowind and Oblivion, Alpha Centauri, Civ in general... But I also like quirky or indie games. Katamari Damacy (yes it's bizarre) and Portal are pretty awesome. Actually I like Half Life 2 so much I played through it a second time just to get the gamer points. I played EQII, but once you hit level 90 you just run the same dungeons/instances over and over, and I need more variation than that (even though I have a great guild). DF has some consistencies (caverns, FBs, etc.) but it's always different.

I admit I use a tileset. I like quirky, but I like images too. If I play Rogue-likes I'll play one with graphics.

I play in Win XP so I can use Dwarf Therapist, but I do it in Parallels on my Mac.

'''Thoughts on Design''' 
I think I make my fortresses too horizontal, but I realized I like to see what's going on as much as possible in one view. I think paths would be shorter with a more vertical approach, perhaps a column or an ovoid(?). I have been trying to make a sphere around the trade depot, for short paths when goods need to be moved, which is good for moving goods from storage to the trade depot but not always so good for moving goods to storage in the first place. i like how there are design decisions to be made, but the game isn't forcing you to make them, it's just part of the game. In Fallout: New Vegas, there were times when the writers force you to make a choice, and there is always a negative outcome (like in one vault, save the people below by venting the nuclear waste out the top which kills the farmland, or save the farmland and kill the people). This can be done realistically, but it often felt forced and unnatural in F:NV. In DF, there are always decisions to be made, but there are no narrative points where the game stops and forces you to make a decision. Yes you will have to carve a fortress out of the rock, and there are decisions to be made about that, but the game will just keep on running (unless you pause it) while you sit there trying to decide between a nice pre-planned design and how organic you want to go by chasing that vein of ore.

I try to keep some parts of the fortress separated from others (entrance, caverns) via choke points. I like the idea of the archers' tower, but have yet to implement one well.

'''Future Additions''' (that I wouldn't mind seeing...) 
0.31.19 added a lot it looks like! After watching the animated kids' film, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_of_Kells The Secret of Kells], which is a great film, I'd like to see scribes and bookmaking. Hides for vellum, dyes for ink, wood for covers, gems and metals to encrust books... the materials are all there, just needs a new skill, a new building (the scriptorium?), and some new objects (vellum, books...). I know, I know, dwarves don't read books, they read great sagas off the stone walls carved hundreds of years ago about great dwarven conquests. But humans, those snooty elves, and dwarven nobles like books I bet. Hmm could have a bookcase, made out of stone, metal, or wood even.

'''Fortresses''' 
''First'' and ''second'' went nowhere as I was a total newbie (as we all are at the beginning) and made newbie mistakes that I quickly realized (thanks to all the help and tutorials out there, without which I would not be playing).

''Third'' was pretty good. I somehow picked a peaceful site, and things went well for a long time. Squads trained themselves up. My first caverns! That mysterious downward-leading slope (or whatever the text is exactly). One drawback was that I didn't learn enough about defenses (for fortress #4). Eventually had major pathing problems in the caverns, but fixed that with major mining and forbidding doors. Then had dwarves insist on taking the downward slope where an FB was happily ensconced, they wouldn't stop getting killed (tried forbidding the bodies and items, no luck). Drained two pools to get at FBs, picked up a syndrome, lost most of my squads, the remainders were eaten up by the FB in the downward slope.

One day, after two hours of tweaking stuff left and right to deal with the Dwarves' Dance of Death (with the FB in the slope), the game crashed and I couldn't deal with doing it all over again. Gave up on the fortress. Learned a bit about building walls outside, an archers' tower (did not do a good job, my archers got all shot up), and amusingly had the baroness I got to appoint die of thirst after being appointed. She was so happy she forgot to drink. Also learned about soap and the hospital. Lye and potash still vex me, but I have only read about them once or twice. I had used some cage traps near the entrance and they caught everything that came through, so I decided traps were not fun, which was a big mistake. Found the lava and did some obsidian farming, but messed it up at first by not using a lava-proof mechanism (or floodgate) even though it was made of stone.

''Fourth'' fortress: Nice little internal build with a great archer's tower. Lots of goblins in the area, who decimated my green squads and killed wave after wave of migrants. Didn't have enough in the way of defenses. PULL THE LEVER!!!! (For the drawbridge.) Oh... Oh that's what happens when everyone dies... Oh dear.

''Fifth, Zocolerush'': So far, so good. A few Titans, FBs, the first cavern levels are totally dry and devoid of plants and trees (bummer) but not troglodytes and mole dogs (which I keep calling "mole rats" like in Fallout). Second cavern level has the downward slope, water, plants and trees, and FBs. Slope goes down to a huge lake level. 4 legendary miners were down there digging out gems and they all decided to stay and they all died. I tried several things to get them out (activate squads, set burrow restrictions...), nothing worked. Maybe should have sent a rescue mission by way of making a stairwell parallel to the slope, but don't know if that would have worked. They were all "hunting for small creature" (which would cancel with the burrow restriction, but then reset when the burrow restriction was lifted). Actually one dwarf did this in fortress #3, he went to the bottom of the slope, sat there, and died, but I was still kinda new at the game and didn't notice until after. Have some traps, bridges, and other things set up for entrances. Built a nice entrance with a water-surrounded walkway but it's far enough from the main action (near the headwaters of some streams that made some nice narrow gorges) that the dwarves don't use it. It did save the human liaison once, though, which was good, as the previous one was killed when he came on the map three squares from a kobold ambush. With that I sent a squad out to get the kobolds, they were halfway across the map, the human caravan arrives on-screen and a few moments later a goblin siege. The dwarves, humans, and goblins were all about the same distance from the entrance. This was going to be bad. I recall the squad, half of them see goblins before getting inside--oh maybe if I had de-activated the squad and set the burrow restriction (then they would have run and not fought). Dang. But anyway. One squad valiantly fights, I send the other good squad out to help. In the end I lost 11 dwarves, and half the caravan made it in, but the half that didn't was upsetting enough to the surviving traders that they all left without trading. Oops. I have tame grizzly bears! Just recently. This will be good once they all mate with their brothers and sisters, and I have horribly in-bred killer grizzlies. My wood burners are half-elf, I think, they hate burning wood, even after tweaking their tasks so it's all they should be doing (besides sleeping, eating, and drinking--oh that explains...). Made some pumps for water. How zones decide how many fishing squares are there is beyond me. I know water level is one factor, but there seem to be others that I haven't figured out. As of this writing, have yet to find lava or adamantine. Update: Found lava, 60 levels down. A [[syndrome]] killed about half my dwarves, though (~110 to ~55). They catch it, feel ill, take ten steps, and drop dead. Uncontrollable cats and children, I tell you, they love to play in the blood of Zocolerush's defeated enemies. Now they are dead too.

User:Dwarvenjames

2011-02-19T20:23:52Z

Dwarvenjames:

'''About Me''' 
I tend to like single player D&D games and Civ-like games, so DF is one of my favorites. Wizardry was awesome, Ultima II and IV, Elder Scrolls Morrowind and Oblivion, Alpha Centauri, Civ in general... But I also like quirky or indie games. Katamari Damacy (yes it's bizarre) and Portal are pretty awesome. Actually I like Half Life 2 so much I played through it a second time just to get the gamer points. I played EQII, but once you hit level 90 you just run the same dungeons/instances over and over, and I need more variation than that (even though I have a great guild). DF has some consistencies (caverns, FBs, etc.) but it's always different.

I admit I use a tileset. I like quirky, but I like images too. If I play Rogue-likes I'll play one with graphics.

I play in Win XP so I can use Dwarf Therapist, but I do it in Parallels on my Mac.

'''Thoughts on Design''' 
I think I make my fortresses too horizontal, but I realized I like to see what's going on as much as possible in one view. I think paths would be shorter with a more vertical approach, perhaps a column or an ovoid(?). I have been trying to make a sphere around the trade depot, for short paths when goods need to be moved, which is good for moving goods from storage to the trade depot but not always so good for moving goods to storage in the first place. i like how there are design decisions to be made, but the game isn't forcing you to make them, it's just part of the game. In Fallout: New Vegas, there were times when the writers force you to make a choice, and there is always a negative outcome (like in one vault, save the people below by venting the nuclear waste out the top which kills the farmland, or save the farmland and kill the people). This can be done realistically, but it often felt forced and unnatural in F:NV. In DF, there are always decisions to be made, but there are no narrative points where the game stops and forces you to make a decision. Yes you will have to carve a fortress out of the rock, and there are decisions to be made about that, but the game will just keep on running (unless you pause it) while you sit there trying to decide between a nice pre-planned design and how organic you want to go by chasing that vein of ore.

I try to keep some parts of the fortress separated from others (entrance, caverns) via choke points. I like the idea of the archers' tower, but have yet to implement one well.

'''Future Additions''' (that I wouldn't mind seeing...) 
0.31.19 added a lot it looks like! After watching the animated kids' film, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_of_Kells The Secret of Kells], which is a great film, I'd like to see scribes and bookmaking. Hides for vellum, dyes for ink, wood for covers, gems and metals to encrust books... the materials are all there, just needs a new skill, a new building (the scriptorium?), and some new objects (vellum, books...). I know, I know, dwarves don't read books, they read great sagas off the stone walls carved hundreds of years ago about great dwarven conquests. But humans, those snooty elves, and dwarven nobles like books I bet. Hmm could have a bookcase, made out of stone, metal, or wood even.

'''Fortresses''' 
''First'' and ''second'' went nowhere as I was a total newbie (as we all are at the beginning) and made newbie mistakes that I quickly realized (thanks to all the help and tutorials out there, without which I would not be playing).

''Third'' was pretty good. I somehow picked a peaceful site, and things went well for a long time. Squads trained themselves up. My first caverns! That mysterious downward-leading slope (or whatever the text is exactly). One drawback was that I didn't learn enough about defenses (for fortress #4). Eventually had major pathing problems in the caverns, but fixed that with major mining and forbidding doors. Then had dwarves insist on taking the downward slope where an FB was happily ensconced, they wouldn't stop getting killed (tried forbidding the bodies and items, no luck). Drained two pools to get at FBs, picked up a syndrome, lost most of my squads, the remainders were eaten up by the FB in the downward slope.

One day, after two hours of tweaking stuff left and right to deal with the Dwarves' Dance of Death (with the FB in the slope), the game crashed and I couldn't deal with doing it all over again. Gave up on the fortress. Learned a bit about building walls outside, an archers' tower (did not do a good job, my archers got all shot up), and amusingly had the baroness I got to appoint die of thirst after being appointed. She was so happy she forgot to drink. Also learned about soap and the hospital. Lye and potash still vex me, but I have only read about them once or twice. I had used some cage traps near the entrance and they caught everything that came through, so I decided traps were not fun, which was a big mistake. Found the lava and did some obsidian farming, but messed it up at first by not using a lava-proof mechanism (or floodgate) even though it was made of stone.

''Fourth'' fortress: Nice little internal build with a great archer's tower. Lots of goblins in the area, who decimated my green squads and killed wave after wave of migrants. Didn't have enough in the way of defenses. PULL THE LEVER!!!! (For the drawbridge.) Oh... Oh that's what happens when everyone dies... Oh dear.

''Fifth'': So far, so good. A few Titans, FBs, the first cavern levels are totally dry and devoid of plants and trees (bummer) but not troglodytes and mole dogs (which I keep calling "mole rats" like in Fallout). Second cavern level has the downward slope, water, plants and trees, and FBs. Slope goes down to a huge lake level. 4 legendary miners were down there digging out gems and they all decided to stay and they all died. I tried several things to get them out (activate squads, set burrow restrictions...), nothing worked. Maybe should have sent a rescue mission by way of making a stairwell parallel to the slope, but don't know if that would have worked. They were all "hunting for small creature" (which would cancel with the burrow restriction, but then reset when the burrow restriction was lifted). Actually one dwarf did this in fortress #3, he went to the bottom of the slope, sat there, and died, but I was still kinda new at the game and didn't notice until after. Have some traps, bridges, and other things set up for entrances. Built a nice entrance with a water-surrounded walkway but it's far enough from the main action (near the headwaters of some streams that made some nice narrow gorges) that the dwarves don't use it. It did save the human liaison once, though, which was good, as the previous one was killed when he came on the map three squares from a kobold ambush. With that I sent a squad out to get the kobolds, they were halfway across the map, the human caravan arrives on-screen and a few moments later a goblin siege. The dwarves, humans, and goblins were all about the same distance from the entrance. This was going to be bad. I recall the squad, half of them see goblins before getting inside--oh maybe if I had de-activated the squad and set the burrow restriction (then they would have run and not fought). Dang. But anyway. One squad valiantly fights, I send the other good squad out to help. In the end I lost 11 dwarves, and half the caravan made it in, but the half that didn't was upsetting enough to the surviving traders that they all left without trading. Oops. I have tame grizzly bears! Just recently. This will be good once they all mate with their brothers and sisters, and I have horribly in-bred killer grizzlies. My wood burners are half-elf, I think, they hate burning wood, even after tweaking their tasks so it's all they should be doing (besides sleeping, eating, and drinking--oh that explains...). Made some pumps for water. How zones decide how many fishing squares are there is beyond me. I know water level is one factor, but there seem to be others that I haven't figured out. As of this writing, have yet to find lava or adamantine.

User:Dwarvenjames

2011-02-19T19:30:40Z

Dwarvenjames: made page

v0.31:Forgotten beast

2011-02-19T18:12:06Z

Dwarvenjames: improved grammar and readability of that sentence, made it two sentences, added symptoms wikilink

{{quality|Masterwork|11:32, 2 October 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}
{{minorspoiler}}

''In the deep, there are beasts so fell and terrible, that only they know what they are, for none who have met them have lived to tell of it... they are the Forgotten Beasts, born of the chaos from before the world's birth... they have waited, brooding in the dark places of the world... and now... by digging too deep... we have awakened them.''
::--From the Bay12 Games Forums

'''Forgotten Beasts''' are subterranean {{L|Titan}}s; Forgotten Beasts are, essentially, randomized creatures (or procedurally generated for you fancy big-city developer types) composed from a variety of material types, creature bodies / limbs and other additions. These other additions include everything from venomous stings to flame breath.

The venom of a forgotten beast is randomly generated as are the resulting [[symptoms]]. The beast's [[Syndrome#Breath_attacks|breath attack]] is also randomly generated, if it has one. Venom attacks come in a variety of forms, from boiling ichor to trailing dust, and the effects can range from mild pain to complete and instantaneous necrosis or paralysis. Some forms of venom can spread from spatters and contact with your dwarves, eventually infecting your entire fort. Decontaminating your soldiers in shallow running water is one way to deal with this problem.

The number of forgotten beasts cannot be controlled directly, but is influenced by the size of the world. They dwell most often in caverns. Most of them are {{L|building destroyer}}s, and are almost entirely immune to {{L|trap}}s (They are trapavoid and nostun but can be caged if a web is on the cage trap). {{L|Bridge}}s are also less useful, as they cannot be raised or lowered as long as the beast is standing on (or under) them, preventing the traditional {{L|magma}} pit / {{L|dwarven atom smasher}} designs from working. This is probably one of [[Toady One]]'s ways of making the encounters even more {{L|fun}}.

Most forgotten beasts can be butchered. Some are quite massive and may leave you with hundreds of meat and bone units and dozens of prepared organ units. Some are not.

When a forgotten beast appears, the game pauses and you will get a message. 
[[Image:DF2010ForgottenBeast1.png]]

If you need to kill a Forgotten Beast, order your military to move to the location of the beast. Some beasts however are content not to path to your fortress and will stay dormant underground.

* Some Forgotten Beasts whose bodies are made of liquid or gas die or lose limbs on the first hit; in previous versions, these FBs were effectively immortal. Version 0.31.09 changed "made material-based random headless beasts killable" (by combat). That includes randomly generated Titans too.
* Other Forgotten Beasts are extremely difficult to kill due to some body compositions, such as being made of very hard materials. When confronted with such near-invulnerable creatures the only option is usually to use your brain and try to lock it away somehow. Walls stop them. If you can put it in a pit, a clever trapmaker can feed it invaders.
* One method of defeating nearly combat-invulnerable Forgotten Beasts (those whose bodies are made of rock, for instance) is to cause a {{L|Cave-in}} on top of them. They'll be killed by dropping either natural or constructed walls or floors on them.
* It is also possible to capture them in cage traps if they are webbed, either with a tamed [[Giant cave spider]]'s web or from a modded creature.

{{Category|Megabeasts}}

v0.31 Talk:Cat

2011-02-19T07:11:51Z

Dwarvenjames: /* Cat Plague? */

== Embark Cost ==
Has the update done anything to the 40d system of embark points? Also, I tried to clear out anything that looked like it won't fit in this version when I filled the page out, but this definitely needs work.--[[User:Johntor|Johntor]] 18:31, 9 April 2010 (UTC)
:Embark cost is still the same. However, some other details have been changed with respect to butchering - reportedly, particularly young kittens will yield '''zero''' bones due to the new creature size mechanics. --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 20:05, 9 April 2010 (UTC)
::Speaking of size mechanics, do you know if anyone has pinned down the exact relationship between butchering yields and the new creature size mechanics? --[[User:Johntor|Johntor]] 00:44, 10 April 2010 (UTC)

== Cat body colors and male calicos ==

If you get a cat's profile using 'z' it will describe the cat, including all the colors of their fur. I've found that cats often have multiple colors, including males. Multiple colors indicates a calico cat, which is strictly female.--[[Special:Contributions/208.81.12.34|208.81.12.34]] 16:43, 13 May 2010 (UTC)
:I have a grey and white cat at home, He is a male. :| also in the past we have had male tortoise shell cats. However one thing which is "meant" to be true is that all ginger cats are male. We randomly ended up adopting a female ginger cat and she was bonkers. Then one day she just went to sleep and died :S --[[User:Djsmiley2k|Djsmiley2k]] 11:33, 26 January 2011 (UTC)
:Calicos are almost always female because some coloring traits are sex linked, but they can also be male.--[[Special:Contributions/75.80.43.80|75.80.43.80]] 11:49, 26 January 2011 (UTC)
:My mom's a vet, IIRC she said that cats with three colors (orange, black, white?) are always female. I have a male cat who is white, light grey, and dark grey, so I think it is the specific colors that are the relevant factor.--[[User:Dwarvenjames|Dwarvenjames]] 02:49, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

== Cat meat ==

When I butcher a cat, I get only a skull and no meat. [[Special:Contributions/89.251.107.19|89.251.107.19]] 14:16, 16 May 2010 (UTC)
:The results of butchery depend a LOT on the individual animal's stats. If they're described as being fat, then they'll generate more fat. If they're described as being skinny, they'll generate less. Cats are small enough that no-variation kittens tend to generate only a skull - once it's grown into an adult, it'll generate a few bones and skin and such. If you want more out of each individual animal, then you'll need to breed your animals larger - kill off small ones, let big ones breed. --[[User:DeMatt|DeMatt]] 07:53, 17 May 2010 (UTC)
:: Does that actually work in DF? Genetic breeding programs? --[[User:Romeofalling|Romeofalling]] 18:29, 30 September 2010 (UTC)

:::Running v. .31.16, I am consistently getting kitten-sized returns (0-2 meat, 0-2 fat, 0-1 skin, 1 skull) from fullgrown cats, and not the 6-7 meat&fat noted in the article. I just slaughtered a dozen feline catsplosion-generators, and had the same results every time. Either the fullgrown cat returns have changed, or something about maturing in cages causes them to keep their kittenish returns - all cats were immediately caged at birth and matured (and allowed to stew for awhile) in a cage. This includes cats with descriptions of "gigantic" (for some reason all but one of my free-ranging cats are "gigantic", so most of their offspring are too). [[Special:Contributions/202.156.10.234|202.156.10.234]] 09:28, 23 November 2010 (UTC)
::::Had they just grown to become adults, or had they been adults for at least a year? According to the raws, cats take two years to reach their full size. --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 13:33, 23 November 2010 (UTC)
:::::This was a 6-year old fort which up to that point had not slaughtered any kitties. So I'm pretty sure that at least some of the dozen were more than 2 years old, although I can't say 100%. But regardless, if that is what is happening then the page is wrong: adult cats don't return 6-7 meat/fat, they return 0-7. Look at it this way: if a stray "Cat" wanders in with immigrants, (therefore you have no idea how old it is) and you slaughter it, what will you get? Maybe 6, maybe 0. Compare with the [[Dog]] page, which says dog returns range from 6-13, roughly proportional to the immature vs. mature adult sizes. [[Special:Contributions/202.156.10.234|202.156.10.234]] 02:41, 25 November 2010 (UTC)
::::::Adjusted the butchering return numbers, and added info in the text about immature returns. Feel free to revert if any objection. I wanted to put something like "0-1 raw hides", but the CreatureInfo macro doesn't seem to offer a way to do that. [[Special:Contributions/202.156.10.234|202.156.10.234]] 03:44, 6 January 2011 (UTC)

:::::: From the patch notes - you CAN selectively breed : '# Creatures inherit appearances from their parents. This includes dominant/recessive genes. * As one example, you can use this system to breed your dogs to a certain color/size.' --[[User:Djsmiley2k|Djsmiley2k]] 16:50, 26 January 2011 (UTC)

== Cat/vermin ratios? ==

How many cats does your fortress need, anyway? I assume the answer is based on size? Or maybe number of food stockpiles? --[[User:Romeofalling|Romeofalling]] 18:29, 30 September 2010 (UTC)

== More prefstrings ==

If you give cats additional prefstrings, are they also extra-likely to adopt dwarves who like cats for the added reasons, or does it only apply to aloofness? I imagine it would be the first, but it might be hard-coded or some crazy thing. I just now gave my cats extra prefstrings, so I guess I can keep an eye on it myself, but if someone happens to already know... --[[User:Billybobfred|billybobfred]] 02:47, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

== Cat Plague? ==

I just had 11 cats bleed to death by the entrance (relevant?), but there is no fighting reported. No idea why. Anybody know why this occurs?--[[User:Dwarvenjames|Dwarvenjames]] 02:53, 19 February 2011 (UTC)
:They got a [[DF2010:Syndrome|syndrome]] from somewhere, probably from the blood of a Forgotten Beast or something similar. [[User:Uristocrat|Uristocrat]] 04:51, 19 February 2011 (UTC)
:Wow! I have never come across that page before. Daaaaaang. Yeah there have been two Titans on the surface near the entrance.... Ok, I will now accept this as fun instead of totally mystifying. Tx! --[[User:Dwarvenjames|Dwarvenjames]] 07:11, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

v0.31 Talk:Cat

2011-02-19T02:53:23Z

Dwarvenjames: /* Cat Plague? */ new section

v0.31 Talk:Cat

2011-02-19T02:49:29Z

Dwarvenjames: /* Cat body colors and male calicos */

v0.31 Talk:Stockpile

2011-02-13T02:21:38Z

Dwarvenjames: /* Refuse piles fill up? */

A specific stone block stockpile is sitting empty at the surface, while there are dozens of obsidian / gabbro / etc blocks at my mason's workshop. A general 'bar/block stockpile' seems to take it all, but when my forges are set up 50 z-levels below my stone constructions, that isn't very helpful. Potential bug? (BertieB) --[[Special:Contributions/87.194.186.154|87.194.186.154]] 21:24, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
:Rock blocks are under metal blocks right now. Every rock listed individually. Quite possibly a bug, yes. [[Special:Contributions/130.234.181.158|130.234.181.158]] 22:14, 26 April 2010 (UTC)
:I have the same thing happen for rock furniture. A stockpile set to accept only rock furniture is sitting empty and all the rock furniture has been put in a metal-only furniture stockpile. Seems that all rock items are viewed as metal items.

==40d version==

Any objections to copying over the 40d version of this article since it's essentially the same thing, perhaps adding an addendum that you can no longer make bone stockpiles but body part stockpiles [[User:Numeral|Numeral]] 18:08, 19 April 2010 (UTC)

== Quality ==
This article has been demoted from Dwarven to human, as it contains one red link, and one unverified claim.

== Take from Stockpile ==
I see it listed here, but in my experience this command doesn't really work in 0.31 yet. Has anybody had any luck at all using take from stockpile in the new system yet? --[[User:Doctorzuber|Doctorzuber]] 02:31, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

== Missing Stockpile Option ==
I am having trouble finding the Wood Blocks stockpile option? Not sure if its just me or if its really hidden, perhaps making a note somewhere in the page would be beneficial to let people know whats going on with this? --[[User:Backlands|--Backlands]] 18:56, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

== Animal Cages ==
I cant seem to create a stockpile for empty cages, and a stockpile for full cages. I looked over the entire list of animals but fail to see any method for separating them which is very annoying for trying to keep empty cages near my cage traps, and full cages near my arena. Dose anyone have a way todo this? I also dont see anything related to storage of animal traps, which isnt a problem for me, but its still worth looking into. (EDIT) Nevermind I noticed that U and J toggle empty cages/traps.

== Core vs. Total Quality ==
Has anyone figured out what the difference between core and total quality are in stockpile settings. I assume the core quality is just the quality designation of the item, but what is total quality?
:as far as I can figure, core quality refers to the quality of the good itself, while total quality refers to the combination of that with the quality of various decorations and dye. I believe some spading is in order. --[[User:Eurytus|Eurytus]] 18:22, 22 September 2010 (UTC)
::This is what I figured as well, but having trouble figuring out just how "Total Quality" is calcuated. I will do some testing to see if I can determine if it is one of the following:
*Quality of highest decoration
*Sum of decoration and item qualities
*Average of all qualities
Hopefully it is one of those, if not I'll try to determine what it is exactly.

== Bones Only ==

I used to be able to make stockpiles for just bones and shells, by making a refuse stockpile with only those two enabled. I cannot find either in the stockpile menu any more. --Kydo 07:11, 2 April 2010 (UTC)
:I find that a stockpile set to only contain 'body parts' will include bones, shells, and skulls, but unfortunately will also include nervous tissue, hair, cartilage, etc. --[[User:Soronhen|Soronhen]] 21:36, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
::+1 really annoying. --[[Special:Contributions/92.202.78.49|92.202.78.49]] 10:33, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
:::The article says you can do it in the new version, but I still don't see any option for bones, skulls OR shells. Not only that, but it desn't track them in the stocks page. This is realy annoying. How is one to make bone crafts? You can't keep track of how many bones you have to work with, and you can't store them without all the rest of the organs. And if the refuse stockpile is outdors, your materials will randomly disappear! But if the stockpile's indoors, it'll create miasma, displeasing the poor bonecrafter! --Kydo 17:41, 22 October 2010 (UTC)
::::This problem is fixed in v0.31.18 --[[User:Mateo|Mateo]] 17:55, 14 December 2010 (UTC)

== Subcategory of finished goods is mislabeled(ingame-menu) ==

I wanted to set up a stockpile to accept every single NONMETAL craft item so I can easily identify what I want traded, and what I want melted down. But for some reason my dwarves were not bringing stonecrafts to this stockpile(just bringing woodcrafts). After a few hours of on-and-off attention I realized that under METALS in the custom stockpile setting has every single stone/metal/gem listed also, after I selected all the stone options in the menu, my dwarves brought the crafts to the stockpile.--[[Special:Contributions/96.248.39.87|96.248.39.87]] 18:34, 2 December 2010 (UTC)

== Refuse piles fill up? ==

I've noticed that, visually, my refuse piles fill up. So I made another one (and another....), and those visually fill up as well. I'm not sure how to check if they are actually full, and won't accept more refuse. Will dwarves continue to pile on refuse, or am I going to fill up my map with refuse piles? (Time to figure out a pit, but won't that create miasma if it's inside? Inside is nice and safe, though.) --[[User:Dwarvenjames|Dwarvenjames]] 01:11, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
:The problem is that rotting is broken. Build a wall around some part of the surface (so they don't generate miasma) and put them out there. At least the vermin corpses will rot then. Also, build an atom-smasher nearby and you can dump all your trash onto it periodically, then smash it. I generally do this whenever I'm not dumping stone into the quantum stockpile, but that requires a bit of micromanaging to make sure I'm only dumping trash. [[User:Uristocrat|Uristocrat]] 01:45, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
::Ah! Thanks. I love the inventiveness people have with this game... --[[User:Dwarvenjames|Dwarvenjames]] 02:21, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

2011-02-07T16:27:02Z

Dwarvenjames: /* What's so bad about mugs? */ new section

v0.31 Talk:Caverns

2011-02-04T15:53:43Z

Dwarvenjames: /* No subterranean vegetation in some biomes? */

I'm not sure 'When should I move in' is a relevant topic for this page. It goes from being informative to prescriptive. As this is not a guide page, it should probably avoid recommendations and focus on facts about Caverns. (Relevantly, the answer to 'when should i move in' may well be never, based on considerations entirely unconnected to the dangers of the cavern). --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 18:58, 1 April 2010 (UTC)

:Well, it needed something, and I'm not the best writer in the world, so you're right. Someone should also take a picture of a cavern for when the images work again, I might if no-one else does. --[[User:Tarran|Tarran]]
::I haven't found ruins. Instead I used an adamantium pillar to mine through a magma sea layer, and found glowing pits with about eleventy-billion demons in them. Good to see that while going deep is GAME OVER, there are dozens of different ways to die.--[[User:Alkyon|Alkyon]] 03:38, 2 April 2010 (UTC)

Should this page be considered/have a link to a Biome page? All creatures that exist in these caverns have a the tag [BIOME:SUBTERRANEAN_CHASM] and appear use the [UNDERGROUND_DEPTH:1-3:1-3] to control the depths they can be found in. This would be quite useful for organization. -[[User:EricBlank|EricBlank]]
:I think it should have a link from the biome page, since this page is more specific, and it is a biome itself.--[[User:Tarran|Tarran]] 02:22, 6 April 2010 (UTC)

Geography - I have a game where I didn't breach the caverns until z-level 59. In my current game after breaking through a double aquifer I hit the caverns immediately at z-level 6. It doesn't seem like z-level 15 is typical.--[[User:Dextradei|Dextradei]] 16:21, 17 April 2010 (UTC)

== Of magma and pools ==

Can anyone verify if the first level will likely have a gigantic pool, and that the magma is really part of the cavern an not the separate {{l|Magma_sea|Magma sea}}? --[[User:Tarran|Tarran]] 08:24, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
:There is a world gen setting for "cavern water" ranging from 1-100, also one for "force magma at bottom layer". the latter is on by default. So, dont know, maybe merge or link the articles? Maybe i´ll try a world without forced magma later. --[[User:Arin|Arin]] 08:28, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
::Maybe the "force magma at bottom layer" means the magma sea, so I don't think it is a part of the cavern, if someone doesn't disagree, then I'll remove it from the cavern page. --[[User:Tarran|Tarran]] 08:31, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
::: I agree, but i think the page should link to [[Magma sea]], as a reference to what you get when you got past the caverns. --[[User:Arin|Arin]] 08:39, 8 April 2010 (UTC)
::::You made a link to 'Magma_Sea' instead of 'Magma_sea' :p (yes it matters), anyway, changed the main page around a bit. --[[User:Tarran|Tarran]] 08:51, 8 April 2010 (UTC)

== downward passage ==
As adventurer I entered a cave with a dragon in it from the surface, it let to one of these caverns. upon exploring it for about two hours I got an announcement that I found a downward passage. What followed was a series of small caves much like the one that let from the survace into the caverns, only that this one led to the second level.
Does one get this announcement also in fortress mode?

Yes I got it in fortress mode too, I think they are there to let adventurers get deeper into the caverns[[Special:Contributions/24.255.86.193|24.255.86.193]]

I found one in fortress mode too... except it lasted one tile down. Must be flaw in cave gen. Anyone else get this? I can make screenshots/movies and use old file to get discovery message. --[[User:Peglegpenguin|Peglegpenguin]] 02:07, 13 August 2010 (UTC)
== Underworld article ==

There is a more generic article about subterrean features: {{L|Underworld}} what do? merge/redirect?
:This page should stay, since it is larger and more specific, and 'Cavern' is the correct meaning, 'Underworld' just means everything beneath the ground. So it is unneeded, we should just wait for Briess or someone more experienced then me to decide. --[[User:Tarran|Tarran]] 08:44, 12 April 2010 (UTC)

== Edge of the Map ==

I spent like 30 minutes Googling to try to find out how to get rid of an infinite water supply drawn from a river now that there are no more chasms, and after a while I learned that water flows out of the edge of the map and that caverns can breach the edge of the map, creating a drain with the same effect that chasms had before. I think someone should mention this since it's much less difficult to build a large-scale water system if that water has somewhere to drain instead of flooding your fortress. --[[Special:Contributions/129.252.122.38|129.252.122.38]] 14:49, 21 April 2010 (UTC)

I wonder, is that possible to drain water from the cavern, which goes out of the edge of the map? Will water flow from the edge to the cavern or not? [[User:WFrag|WFrag]] 04:59, 22 April 2010 (UTC)

Caverns where the water touches the edge is an infinite water source, where the water doesnt touch the edge once fortified is an infinite water drain so this makes for VERY easy waterwheel powerstations, you want a roughly 4:1 water source/water drain ratio to keep 5 wide channel supplied with enough water to power the wheels. --[[User:MLegion|MLegion]] 08:48, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

== World Generation ==

I don't know if this should be here on in the World Generation article, but there are a bunch of variables related to caverns in the worldgen parameters which let you customize the cavern layout, and it's not particularly obvious what they do. Turning the cavern layer count to 0, for example, makes it so you can't embark with seeds for some reason (bug?)
: One explanation could be that your starting civilisation gathered seeds for subterran crops from natural occuring underground plants in caves. So a world without caves would be a world without underground crops. But this should of course also imply that there are no crops or their products (like any pigtail items) or towercaps in the world. --[[Special:Contributions/80.187.102.242|80.187.102.242]] 16:33, 12 May 2010 (UTC)
and I'm not entirely sure what Openness and Passage Density are referring to. Raising "levels above layer 1" makes you encounter the first cavern later (obviously) which I think creates a more relaxed fortress-building experience should you want it. --[[Special:Contributions/129.252.122.38|129.252.122.38]] 14:49, 21 April 2010 (UTC)

==Underground lakes==
If an underground lake is connected to the edge of the fortress map will it fill up as it is drained (thus giving an unlimited supply of water) or is the water limited to whats in it on embarkation?

==Caravan spawning into the caverns==
Amusingly, as of v0.31.03, I've witnessed that instead of spawning at the side of the map ABOVE GROUND, the dwarven caravan sometimes spawns at the side of the map in the CAVERNS. This invariably leads to carnage.

==Spoilers==
I'm labeling the article as a spoiler, since I believe players should explore the caverns by themselves, without knowing what waits in there. Possibly there could be a simple unspoiled paragraph that says something along the lines of: "there are huge caverns underground with interesting plants and creatures. Dig down an unspecified number of Z levels to find. Have Fun." But everything else is a spoiler, IMHO. --[[User:Markus cz|Markus cz]] 16:49, 15 May 2010 (UTC)
:It's not a major spoiler, since everyone knows about in now, and it is mentioned many times, nothing is particularly 'spoilery, you don't ruin the entire gaming experience reading the page, it's about as 'spoilery as adamantine. --[[User:Tarran|Tarran]] 00:26, 17 May 2010 (UTC)
::I would argue that both caverns and adamantine ''are'' spoilers, perhaps not for us, but definitely for starting players, but I didn't know there is a Minor spoilers tag. I think it works well enough, thanks.--[[User:Markus cz|Markus cz]] 09:28, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

==Dwarf stays in cavern?==
My dwarf went and dug down into a cavern. Now she refuses to get out, even though she has stair access and she's hungry, thirsty, and tired. Here's the kicker: When I tell her to dig a bit higher than where she is, she happily runs on up, hollows it out, and then runs back down to where she was before. [[Special:Contributions/76.199.199.110|76.199.199.110]] 05:45, 10 September 2010 (UTC)
:Oh yeah, forgot to mention. Everyone else can go down and up again from there, but she can't.

== No subterranean vegetation in some biomes? ==

Having embarked on a location without sedimentary rock (and therefore no coal), I've dug some huge tree farms underground. My map spans two biomes, one being ocean, and all of my artificially muddied areas on the ocean side of the map have failed to sprout anything. Caverns 2 and 3 are fully fertile as normal, but cavern 1 also lacks vegetation in the ocean biome. The muddied areas are all near-surface (i.e. I haven't tried muddying any dug areas at or below cavern levels). [[Special:Contributions/202.156.10.234|202.156.10.234]] 06:12, 2 October 2010 (UTC)

:Have you been muddying the area with salt water? Or is it just muddy from the ocean biome (still salt)? --[[User:Romeofalling|Romeofalling]] 07:22, 2 October 2010 (UTC)

::One layer was muddied from the ocean, a second layer was muddied from both ocean and (non-ocean biome) aquifer, a third layer was not muddied at all (it has soil in both z and z-1 layers in both biomes). All water was drained in, not pumped (i.e. there's been no magic desalinization from pumping). And for that matter, the non-ocean-side aquifer layer is also salty. None of these layers show growth on the ocean side of the map, and the line of demarcation between veg and non-veg areas matches the border between the different soil layers exactly.

::Oddly, down in cavern 1 I have a handful of dead shrubs and a few locations where the floor has been turned to soil (indicating something had grown there at some time), so I suspect (but can't confirm) that there was normal vegetation when the cavern was first penetrated, but nothing else sprouted since then. And, hmm.. that might also be true for caverns 2 and 3 - there's growth on the ocean side, but it seems to be all mature growth (no young trees), and much thinner than the other side.

::Version is .12. [[Special:Contributions/202.156.10.234|202.156.10.234]] 01:01, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

::I'm currently on a map where the first cavern level has no plants or trees whatsoever. I'm not well-versed in biomes and their descriptors, but the biome seems pretty normal to me. I haven't made it down to the second cavern level yet, too many gems in the first. In my first fortress where I successfully (after newbie fun) made it to the first cavern level, that level was fairly horizontal (and had plants and trees, and water). This current one is more vertical. It has no water, maybe that is a problem? (Actually I've been assuming the floor is mud/dirt, I should check that.) I need trees for charcoal, but the furnace dwarves don't want to work half the time (I'll have to turn off *all* their other labors, not just most of their other labors, but they stay in the mil if they're assigned, certainly). Maybe the troglodytes, mole dogs, and spiders ate all the trees (and are now intent on eating my dwarves). --[[User:Dwarvenjames|Dwarvenjames]] 15:53, 4 February 2011 (UTC)

== Finding Caverns ==

I have dug 20z levels but have yet to find a cavern is it possible that i dont have a cavern layer?

: The two main possiblities are a) the first cavern is deeper than 20z (see above, one person reported it can be as deep as 59z), and b) you dug straight through the first cavern levels without breaking into the cavern (easy to do). [[Special:Contributions/202.156.10.234|202.156.10.234]] 02:45, 14 November 2010 (UTC)

== Adventure mode ==

The comments on adventure mode probably need fixing. As I understand it, the fast-travel bit is not relevant anymore, since you can't fast-travel away from encounters above-ground either. Plus night-creatures have made overnighting underground/inside pretty essential, so the warnings against caverns should probably be changed to "find a hole before nightfall, or ''THEY'' will eat your brain!". I'd have a go at updating it, but I don't generally do adventure mode. [[Special:Contributions/202.156.10.234|202.156.10.234]] 04:09, 14 November 2010 (UTC)

v0.31 Talk:Siege

2010-11-15T01:31:21Z

Dwarvenjames: /* Ramping Up Numbers? */

My local human civ sent a diplomat. I was ecstatic, as this was the first time I'd had a fort live this long. He died immediately. Probably due to old age, just like what happened the first time I tried Adventurer mode...

A year or two later, the humans sent a squad or two to "besiege" me; they have a campfire on the map border and are just sitting there. They aren't taking any bait I throw at them, and they aren't entering via my industrial strength siege entrance. I guess this means their siege behavior from 40d is still there.

By the way, the announcement I received when they arrived was different from the "vile force of darkness" text. I don't remember what it was, exactly, as I immediately went to work scrambling my defenses and populating my burrows. I'm sure they'll send another siege later, in which case I can transcribe it.

I will happily tick off the Elves to get them to send a siege if that'd be helpful, since I have a food economy and they don't want my plant barrels... While they don't seem to mind when their caravans die in a freak flooding accident that only affects my trade depot, I'm sure I can be a bit more offensive if I put my mind to it.

--[[User:Solra Bizna|Solra Bizna]] 07:49, 8 July 2010 (UTC)
:The message you got was probably "The enemy have come and are laying siege to the fortress", the same as in 40d. --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 12:40, 8 July 2010 (UTC)
::Yes, that was it, more or less exactly. --[[User:Solra Bizna|Solra Bizna]] 18:17, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

I just had a human siege, they idled at the corner of the map for quite some time (not exactly sure, roughly a full season), then they started moving. EDIT: They just patrolled around a bit, now they have returned to the edge and are idling, again.--[[Special:Contributions/92.231.165.116|92.231.165.116]] 01:16, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

Probably not very important - I had a siege, and an enemy on a retracting bridge landed on a tree. Couldn't build to it (interrupted by goblin spearman), and gave up on figuring out how to use rangers, so I left it. Because the goblin didn't leave, the siege tag didn't either. Then another siege started, and ended, finally deleting the siege tag. Kind of normal method of tracking sieges - turn on when starts, turn off when ends. Turn on when on does nothing. There are never two sieges. Sieges can start while others are still going (although I don't know if there is any other mechanism, like a minimum time delay between sieges).--[[User:Peglegpenguin|Peglegpenguin]] 04:43, 12 August 2010 (UTC)
:"There are never two sieges." About two weeks ago I had a human and goblin siege going on at once. At first I just figured it was the humans starting while the goblins ended, but I waited it out for a full season and they both were still there, and even intermingled without fighting.[[User:Psychobones|Psychobones]] 00:13, 29 August 2010 (UTC)
::Are you sure that the humans weren't part of the goblin civilization? Often goblins kidnap human children, raise them, and then put them in their military. Also, when I said there were never two sieges, I meant that the game acts like there's one siege, regardless of how many are occurring at once. When any one siege ends, the siege tag goes away, even if ten other sieges are still going on. Also, sieges are probably always separated out in the legends, just with overlapping dates if sieges occur simultaneously.--[[User:Peglegpenguin|Peglegpenguin]] 17:05, 31 August 2010 (UTC)
:::I'm positive that this happened to me. In a perfect storm, I had a goblin siege, a giant, multiple kobold ambushes, and humans siege all at the same time. The humans arrived first and gave a different message than "A vile force of darkness has arrived!" Instead it was "The enemy have come and are laying siege to the fortress." Ten real-minutes later I got the usual "A vile force of darkness has arrived!" when the goblins showed. As Psychobones reports, they coexisted peacefully. The siege tag was not lifted until the humans had been dealt with, though the goblin siege had been broken long before that. This was in a vanilla .12 game. --[[User:Jwest23|Jwest23]] 19:44, 31 August 2010 (UTC)
::::I've also had multiple sieges (human and goblin) at the same time, coexisting peacefully. They also seem to ignore ambushers and thieves. However, when I had a Hydra show up in the middle of a human siege, the humans attacked the Hydra. [[Special:Contributions/71.192.119.21|71.192.119.21]] 17:42, 20 October 2010 (UTC)

== Killing Their Young ==
Just now I observed something pretty peculiar. One of the humans' mounts in a long term siege, a war grizzly bear, gave birth to a cub... Then the entire group proceeded to tear it apart! As soon as it was born, the siege jumped the poor newborn cub. Presumably, even the mother joined in the melee. I'd assume that because the cub was born on my map, it registered as one of my animals? Or perhaps they didn't want to bring a newborn grizzly back with them? Either way, very interesting behavior. UPDATE: They've killed 4 camel calves and 2 bears now. It seems like all of their mounts are pregnant. --[[User:Aussiemon|Aussiemon]] 01:06, 18 September 2010 (UTC)

== Ramping Up Numbers? ==
Does anybody know about the increases in the besieging army size over time? With goblins, there have been more each time. Is it a linear increase or exponential? I just barely held off 85 goblins and trolls (my army had been decimated by suffocation for unknown reasons and all I had was 10 military and weak front door defenses) and I'm wondering if the next time will be 100 or 150. (Currently the dwarves are working on a drawbridge next to the archers tower, which should work, unless the goblins learn to fly on mounts or bring building destroyers. Fun for all!) --[[User:Dwarvenjames|Dwarvenjames]] 20:16, 13 November 2010 (UTC)
:Eh, ok it didn't ramp up too much at all (thank Toady for drawbridges!). But I did get a second goblin siege in the middle of the first. I have no functioning military anymore, and over 20% of the dwarves are in the hospital... Oh, Urist McInjured, grow some new legs like cave lobsters do already!--[[User:Dwarvenjames|Dwarvenjames]] 01:31, 15 November 2010 (UTC)

v0.31 Talk:Siege

2010-11-13T20:16:49Z

Dwarvenjames:

v0.31:Military F.A.Q.

2010-11-13T18:56:56Z

Dwarvenjames: /* I can't seem to get my marksdwarves to practice firing at all! */ was missing a space between "3." and "Use..." hey wait there are two fours! fixing that too... are there HTML lists in this wiki?

{{quality|Exceptional|22:05, 6 August 2010 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

This is a list of '''Frequently Asked Questions''' related to the '''{{l|military}}'''. You may also want to read '''{{l|squads}}''', '''{{l|scheduling}}''' and '''{{l|equipment}}'''.

A note to keep in mind: As 0.31.03 is still far from being all cleaned up and tidy, many of these questions are for now answered with "this is a bug, sorry" or a quick workaround. We will have to make do until the next bugfix.

===My dwarves won't do anything but stand around!===

By default newly-created squads are assigned the 'Inactive' alert. You will need to create new alert levels or create new scheduling within alert levels (see {{l|Scheduling}}) to get them to do what you want. Note that 'Inactive' and 'Active/Training' are '''''not''''' the only two options available - they are simply the two default alerts and rather useless without creating more alerts and scheduling.

'''NOTE:''' If you are simply trying to get your military to train, you need to create a [[barracks]] and assign the squad to train there: press t while viewing your barracks with q, to set that squad to train.

A handy check list for when you've no more hair to pull out.

'''1. You need a commander for the squad'''

In the {{k|m}}ilitary Screen, listed on the left will be the option Militia Commander for your first squad. {{k|c}}reate a squad based on that position and set its basic equipment uniform. Place the Dwarf you want to lead in position 1 and fill the remaining positions as you want.

'''Note:''' If you later go to the {{k|n}}obles screen, The first squad's leader will be listed as ''Militia Commander'' while subsequent squad leaders will be listed as ''Militia Captains''. Also note that if a squad leader dies, you need to replace him or her.

'''2. The squad needs orders'''

By setting up a {{k|s}}chedule, the squad will know what it should be doing each month of game time without direct input from you. Training (10 maximum) all year round is a good way to begin and should already be down as default.

'''Note:''' You can give very intricate operating orders for training, patrolling, etc, but they are not needed initially and may cause confusion getting your <s>morons</s> dwarfs to activate for the first time.

'''3. The squad needs a place to operate out of'''

Assuming you already have a barracks marked bedroom, {{k|q}}uery-ing the bed will have the newly created squad listed.
(z) flags the area for sleeping
(t) flags the area for training
(i) and (q) flags the area for dumping their equipment all over the place. This is only important if your squads ever go inactive and have been ordered to switch to civilian gear only.

'''Note:''' Each option turned on will be marked with a single multicolored letter. Make sure that at least the Cyan T is showing to the right of the squad's listing, designating the area is used for the their training.

'''4. The squad needs to be activated'''

In the {{k|s}}quad screen, Your first squad will be selected with (a), whereupon the (t) option will toggle the squad between its inactive state and its active/<scheduling> state.

'''Note:''' The squad starts off inactive and, when activated, should now show '''''Active/Training''''' if their schedule was left as the default train all year.

'''5. Hope for the best!'''

Un-pausing the game, you should be receiving the drafted Dwarfs' Professions changing to their military versions almost immediately.

'''Note:''' When troubleshooting, a schedule of training (10 maximum) all year round saves a lot of heartache when trying to get the system running for the first time.

===Alerts? Schedules? What am I looking at here?===

A schedule is what a dwarf/squad will do when a particular alert is active; once alerts are made and scheduling is performed within these alerts, you can simply change a squad's alert based on the scenario and they will follow out highly specified and complicated programming. For example, if you make two alerts named 'Caravan Guard' for protecting incoming traders and 'Bloody Kobolds' for attacking thieves, we can change Squad A's scheduling in 'Caravan Guard' to {{l|Scheduling#Routes|patrol your trade route}} and change their scheduling in 'Bloody Kobolds' to {{l|Scheduling#Defend Burrows|defend a pre-defined burrows}} around your entrance. When a caravan shows up, you can change Squad A to be under the 'Caravan Guard' alert (either {{k|a}} in the military screen or {{k|t}} to cycle through when in the {{k|s}}quad screen with a squad selected) and they will begin running up and down your route as the traders make their way through. When you get the 'Protect the hoard from thieving scum!' message, you can change their alert to 'Bloody Kobolds' and Squad A will charge off to defend the entrance.

Different squads can be given different alerts at once, but these squads can also be given different scheduling within the ''same'' alert - for example, you could make Squad B's scheduling in the 'Caravan Guard' alert to defend a burrows around your trade depot, then assign both A and B to 'Caravan Guard' when the traders appear and have one squad walk them in and the other keep the depot clear.

As schedules are broken up by month, you can make very complicated schedules in which dwarves train two months, take one off, then patrol your map for a season then take a shift defending the entrance, while having a second squad do something completely different, and change their scheduling instantly by applying a different alert. For ease, orders can be copied and pasted in the scheduling menu. Once you get the hang of the system it becomes extremely versatile. See {{l|Scheduling}} for more information.

===I can't seem to apply orders to my schedule===

When you finish with the Give Orders menu and hit {{k|shift}}+{{k|tab}} to save your changes, you may notice that your changes have not been saved. This is because your order does not have a defined location. '''Station''' orders need a station to be assigned to, '''patrol route''' orders need a route to follow, and '''defend burrows''' orders need a burrows to defend. When giving or editing orders, you must select the specific area from a list on the left pane.

Keep in mind that the left and right panes in the Give Orders menu can both be highlighted even if one is empty - if your pane doesn't seem to be highlighted, hit the left or right key to properly select it.

===My dwarves won't wear the uniform I made!===

The uniforms tab within the menu screen is not for assigning uniforms to your dwarves, it is for making uniform templates that can later be applied. Open the {{k|e}}equipment tab then the {{k|U}}niform sub-tab and you will be able to apply your uniform to either a single dwarf at once with {{k|enter}} or a squad at once with {{k|shift}}+{{k|enter}}. Your uniforms should appear in the rightmost pane.

===How do I make my dwarves kill things?===

If your soldiers are stationed, defending a barracks, or patrolling a route, they are ''defending''. To make them go on the ''offense'', you need to open the {{k|s}}quads screen, select a squad using {{k|a}}/{{k|b}}/{{k|c}}/etc. as listed and hit {{k|k}} to 'Attack.' Then you pick your targets: either hit {{k|l}} to choose from a list of possible targets, {{k|r}} to select all targets within a rectangle, or simply move the cursor to what you want to attack and press {{k|enter}}. Your dwarves should now have the 'Kill _____' duty and charge after your target(s). To select multiple squads at once just hold {{k|shift}} while selecting, or hit {{k|p}} while selecting to select specific dwarves.

SOME ENEMIES CANNOT BE KILL-ORDERED. Or more specifically, some enemies like {{L|hydra}}s or {{L|minotaurs}} or {{L|forgotten beast}}s ''can'' be targeted for slaughter, but the dwarves won't actually carry it out. The only way around this is to order a squad to {{k|m}}ove to the location of the enemy instead. (It seems like a squad of any kind of monster is immune, more likely than not, and the same kind may be vulnerable to a kill order one time and resistant the next.)

Just watch out for the next question below...

===I can't get my dwarves to STOP killing things!===

When a targetable creature is noticed by your military, be it the target of a kill order or simply close enough to be noticed by stationed/patrolling dwarves, your dwarves will engage it and will not give up or run away (or even drop the chase if it's slow) until either it or the target is dead. The only way to stop them is to cancel all their military orders, returning them to civilian status and causing them to run away instead.

If a squad is trying to {{K|s}}->{{K|k}} kill a target, but that target has escaped the map, or is no longer reachable, then Cancel Orders for the squad. {{K|s}} squad {{K|a}} select a given squad exclusively, cancel {{K|o}} order.

===My dwarves won't go off-duty! They're starving themselves!===

Your '''order criteria''' is too high - order criteria is the number of dwarves in a squad required to follow out an order. By default a new order's criteria is set to 10 dwarves, or the entire squad; this means that you've told your dwarves that this order is of the absolute highest importance and that the entire squad needs to be on duty at all times. By changing this to two or three dwarves less than the number of dwarves in your squad, some of your dwarves will be able to relax and take some me-time to grab supplies while the others follow your orders out.

===I keep activating my dwarves but they still have their civilian positions!===

If a squad is off-duty it may be dressed in its civilian clothes and thus listed as civilians (e.g. a swordsdwarf may revert to 'carpenter'). There also seems to be a discrepancy between which orders are 'civilian' orders and which are 'military' orders. The Inactive/training alert switches dwarves to civilian labors and self-training in their spare time, while the Active/Training alert keeps dwarves in the barracks all the time. Unhappy thoughts from long duty do not occur on the active alert as long as they spend every other three months or so actively training instead of actively defending a chokepoint.

===I can't seem to get my marksdwarves to practice firing at all!===

There are several steps to getting marksdwarves to practice at {{L|archery target}}s.

1. Check that your prospective marksdwarves are equipped appropriately with the {{k|v}}-{{k|i}} keys.

2. Build an archery target.

3. Use the {{k|q}} menu to designate the archery target as a {{L|room}}. Dwarves must stand at least two panels from the archery target.

4. Make sure that the shooting direction set for the target allows dwarves to use it. The {{k|w}}{{k|a}}{{k|s}} and {{k|d}} keys are used to designate shooting direction.

5. Assuming you have military squads, you should see their names on the target's information panel. Scroll to the appropriate archer squad/squad containing archers using the {{K|+}} and {{k|-}} keys.

6. Now the target must be set as available for training. Press {{k|t}} once you have selected the appropriate squad. Multiple squads must be selected separately in this way to allow them all to practice at the archery range.

7. Check your ammunition supplies! Press {{k|m}} then {{k|f}} to view the ammunition screen. Scroll to the marksdwarf squad and add new ammunition. Ammunition may be further customized by material using the {{k|M}} key.

8. This ammunition must then be designated for combat, training, or both using the {{k|C}} and {{k|T}} keys. It is recommended to create TWO separate ammunition piles, one for combat and one for training. This will ensure dwarves always save some ammunition for fighting instead of using it all while training. It is further recommended to save metal bolts for fighting, and wood and bone bolts for training.

For additional assistance, try viewing Capnduck's tutorial: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uobESZ49hbs]

===My marksdwarves are sparring with their crossbows as a melee weapon!===

You may have forgotten to assign them ammunition. In the military screen, open the ammunition tab ({{k|f}}) and then assign the squad your preferred ammunition. Remember to assign seperate piles for training and fighting, or the squad will use all the bolts training and not have any left for killing enemies.

It is also possible that marksdwarves in DF2010 will not fire crossbows without a quiver; in the old version marksdwarves would carry a stack of bolts in their hand, but this does not seem to be the case anymore. Create some {{L|quiver}}s and try again.

===My hunter/marksdwarf ran out of bolts and won't pick up more!===

This seems to be a bug as well (yes, there are many)(This is most likely fixed in 0.31.12 version or later {{verify}} ). A workaround for this is to give your marksdwarf a '''{{l|Squads#Selecting_Squads.2FSoldiers|move order}}''' and then cancelling it; your dwarf should snap back to reality and grab more bolts. Annoying, but should be a temporary problem.
If your troops still refuse to pick up ammo, it may be because that ammo has been assigned to a different squad or to the hunting labor (even if none of your civilians have that labor). Check the Ammunition screen; if it shows stacks of ammo assigned to hunters, remove or reduce the amount of ammo assigned to hunters, and your troops should pick it up again.

----

''If you have further questions, please ask them on the discussion page here or on another relevant talk page. Frequently asked or standard questions will be added to the FAQ as necessary.''

{{Military v0.31}}

v0.31:Important advice

2010-11-11T19:47:41Z

Dwarvenjames: /* DF 2010 Advice */ the/then typo

{{quality|Exceptional|03:56, 29 September 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}

Here are a few things to keep in mind when playing Dwarf Fortress.

Above all, one must remember that '''losing is {{L|fun}}!''' Be prepared to lose a few fortresses before you get the hang of things – it can be easy to accidentally kill the entire fortress while playing around with the different mechanics.
But remember: losing means that next time, you'll remember how you lost! In a big way, Dwarf Fortress uses the principle of learning from one's mistakes.

See also: {{L|What should I build first}}?

If you cannot find your answer on this wiki, check out the forums at [http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php Bay12games.com]

== DF 2010 Advice ==
* [[Soap]] is very important now. If a dwarf is injured, soap will be necessary to clean the wound, otherwise infection will set in.

* Do not take on an armoured opponent with your fists; you will lose. Wrestling is no longer very effective and the use of quality weapons is strongly encouraged. It is still faster than using [[training weapon]]s of any type, though.

* To easily create an underground farm, c{{key|h}}annel above where you want the farm to be and remove all the down ramps. Des{{key|i}}gnate the area above the farm as a pond and dwarves will begin to fill it (Don't forget to designate a water source and make sure you have buckets). Don't channel from the surface; that will just make it an aboveground farm. Put your farm at least two levels underground and then channel a layer above that. Aboveground farms can be made without muddying the ground, despite the warning.

* Soil now has to be irrigated in order for underground crops to grow on it. Make sure your map has some immediate access to water at the start or you're going to be relegated to surviving off prickle berries and wild strawberries for however long it takes you to breach into the first [[cavern]] layer.

* Don't dig too greedily or too deep without a proper army - expecting a couple rookies to fend off a {{l|Giant cave spider}} (or {{l|Hidden_Fun_Stuff|worse}}) results in much {{l|fun}}. Make sure to properly train and equip your soldiers before breaching the depths. Equipment is much more important than before.

* The new resource allocation defaults (defined in init) means that dwarves stack resources far more efficiently into barrels than they used to. The net result is that the average number of barrels/bins you need has roughly halved compared to 40d. This means that you can put more of that precious wood towards beds in the early game as opposed to logging half the map to supply containers for your precious [[booze]].

== Advice ==

* Keep in mind that Dwarf Fortress doesn't have a "win" condition. It just has a long series of "lose" conditions.
** (Well, really just one lose condition {all your Dwarfs die}, but many ways to accomplish it.)
** What about {Abandon Fortress}?
** Arguably all funny unintended end of a forteress are 'win' because we're whores for despair and dystopia, and stop playing is 'losing'. Some other players argue it's exactly the opposite. This usually distinguishes between hardcore players, and hardcore-er players (no casual players stick with it long enough to argue either view).

* Learn the {{L|controls_guide|controls}}. There are lots, and learning them may seem daunting at first, but once you get the basics down (like how to check the status of your dwarves or the hotkeys for building certain structures), you'll find yourself playing much more efficiently. {{L|Efficient_gameplay|Efficient Gameplay}} offers some time-saving tips.

* If your game is running slowly, learn how to {{L|Maximizing framerate|maximize your framerate}}.

* Save often! Although it can be a hassle to have to quit out and get back in, it's a lot better than having to build that long hallway of stone-fall traps, plant the whole bag of plump helmet seeds, and make that shipment of steel battleaxes for the caravan next year, ''all over again''.
** In this vein, there is a seasonal auto-save feature which you can turn on by editing your /data/init/d_init.txt file.

* Plan ahead a little during construction. When building your first couple dozen rooms, consider that in the future you might want to make certain busy hallways wider so dwarves aren't always climbing over each other. This will be a lot easier if you put rooms back an extra tile so you don't have to rebuild everything.

* Think three-dimensionally. You have a Z-axis. Things will be much closer when they're downstairs one floor than if they're 20 tiles away down the hallway. Also note that, with the default {{L|tilesets|tileset}}, your display of the fortress is not square, so north/south distances will appear longer than east/west distances -- they aren't.

== Tips ==

* Dwarves thrive on {{L|alcohol}}. If a dwarf drinks only water, the rate at which he gets tasks done decreases. If the fortress has no alcohol for years, things will slow down quite a bit.
* Dwarves also need {{L|food}}, obviously - and a good {{L|cook}} (and a nice dining hall) go a long way towards keeping your fortress happy.
** Don't cook all your alcohol or all your {{L|seed}}s (or all the things that leave seeds). ({{k|z}} >> Kitchen).
* Dwarves tend to get trapped easily. They like {{L|Digging#Dig_Priority|building and digging things from certain directions}}, so try to make sure there is a way out (and keep an eye on them just in case they try something crazy). Also keep in mind that workshops block certain squares, so if ever notice that your jeweler dies after constructing a workshop with a door on the east side, that's why.
* Construction and combat are {{L|noise|noisy}}. Keep your sleeping areas away from noise and your dwarves will get a good night's rest.
* Workshops will become {{L|clutter|cluttered}} once they have 15 average goods in them (more for {{L|craft}}s, less for {{L|siege weapon}}s). Make stockpiles to receive the goods, and have ample {{L|hauler}}s, and/or more than one of a workshop that's likely to get cluttered.
* {{L|Traps}} can help take care of invaders at no risk to your dwarves. Any fortress can build a  bunch of stone-fall traps. Cage traps are also easy (you can make cages out of wood).
* Having a dwarf with the Appraiser skill to be your {{L|broker}} will help a lot when {{L|trading}}. Otherwise, you can't see how much an item is worth.
* {{L|Chain}}ing some {{L|dog}}s by your front door may deter thieves.
* Remember that dwarves can be assigned new {{L|labor|jobs}} at any time. If your carpenter has died, your farmer can start making beds. (He probably won't be very good at it, since he doesn't have the skill, but it's better than sleeping on the ground.)
* Idle carpenters? It's hard to have too many {{L|barrel}}s (or too many {{L|bin}}s... {{L|bed}}s for the next wave of {{L|immigrant}}s are pretty handy too). Idle masons? You can fit a lot of {{L|door}}s into your fortress, and buildings constructed from {{L|block}}s add value over rough stone.
* Too many {{L|immigrant}}s? Don't know what to do with them? Have you started an {{L|military|army}} yet?
* When setting a {{L|water}} source (for designated drinking zones) or a {{L|fishing}} zone, remember that only walkable tiles are valid - you need only mark the shore.

== Tricks ==

* To find a dead dwarf, go under status ({{k|z}}), then select stock>>corpses. Hit tab, and use {{k|z}} to zoom to the particular dwarf to find a hint on where and how he died.

* Don't like all the stone laying around? Instead of using a stone {{L|stockpile}} create a 1-square garbage {{L|zone}} and {{L|dump}} the stone. Reclaim the stone after it's been dumped. This way, you can store an unlimited amount of stone in just 1 tile! (This is especially useful when the tile in question is next to your mason shop).
** {{L|miasma|Miasma}} from the garbage zone won't spread diagonally. Making your garbage dump a 1-tile room dug diagonally into a corner means you won't even need a door.

* Usually the closest available material is used for tasks such as (for example) building a floodgate, but not always. To prevent frustration, you can make a custom stockpile (e.g. for {{L|bauxite}}) next to your workshop and close the dwarf in. Don't forget there's a z-axis, so make sure there aren't unwanted materials above/below your workshop.
** Lock your {{L|gem setter}} in a room with some cut {{L|gem}}s and a {{L|stockpile}} set to gather quality {{L|furniture}}, so that he doesn't waste time (and valuables) encrusting stupid things like barrels.

* The Standing Orders ({{k|o}}) screen can be used for a variety of useful settings, like having your dwarves temporarily ignore wood, or all hide inside for a siege, or making your weavers stop heading outside all the time to collect spiderwebs and get slaughtered by wild animals.

* Hitting {{k|x}} when building a building expands the list of items, so you can pick one with a specific {{L|quality}} (a nice bed for a noble's bedroom, or a cheap door for the garbage room).

* If you're scanning the outdoors for your next swath of {{L|tree}}s, move your view up one level. They will appear as little rectangles on a field of dots and will be easier to spot.
** Speaking of timber, try designating some high-traffic lanes ({{k|d}} {{k|o}} {{k|h}}) outside radiating away from your front door to the trees. Your dwarves will stick to the paths somewhat, and probably trample fewer saplings. (They also won't mess up the ground and leave a bunch of ugly {{L|sand}} spots scattered around on a sandy map.)

* Build a walled {{L|statue}} garden outside your fortress so that your dwarves don't get {{L|cave adaptation}}.

* {{L|Trade}} for basic items like {{L|meat}} and {{L|wood}}. They're cheap, and it's easier than gathering them yourself.

[[Category:Guides]]

v0.31:Military F.A.Q.

2010-10-15T22:53:31Z

Dwarvenjames: /* My dwarves won't do anything but stand around! */ expanded the barracks/training sentence a bit

{{quality|Exceptional|22:05, 6 August 2010 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

This is a list of '''Frequently Asked Questions''' related to the '''{{l|military}}'''. You may also want to read '''{{l|squads}}''', '''{{l|scheduling}}''' and '''{{l|equipment}}'''.

A note to keep in mind: As 0.31.03 is still far from being all cleaned up and tidy, many of these questions are for now answered with "this is a bug, sorry" or a quick workaround. We will have to make do until the next bugfix.

===My dwarves won't do anything but stand around!===

By default newly-created squads are assigned the 'Inactive' alert. You will need to create new alert levels or create new scheduling within alert levels (see {{l|Scheduling}}) to get them to do what you want. Note that 'Inactive' and 'Active/Training' are '''''not''''' the only two options available - they are simply the two default alerts and rather useless without creating more alerts and scheduling.

'''NOTE:''' If you are simply trying to get your military to train, you need to create a [[barracks]] and assign the squad to train there: press t while viewing your barracks with q, to set that squad to train.

A handy check list for when you've no more hair to pull out.

'''1. You need a commander for the squad'''

In the {{k|m}}ilitary Screen, listed on the left will be the option Militia Commander for your first squad. {{k|c}}reate a squad based on that position and set its basic equipment uniform. Place the Dwarf you want to lead in position 1 and fill the remaining positions as you want.

'''Note:''' If you later go to the {{k|n}}obles screen, The first squad's leader will be listed as ''Militia Commander'' while subsequent squad leaders will be listed as ''Militia Captains''. Also note that if a squad leader dies, you need to replace him or her.

'''2. The squad needs orders'''

By setting up a {{k|s}}chedule, the squad will know what it should be doing each month of game time without direct input from you. Training (10 maximum) all year round is a good way to begin and should already be down as default.

'''Note:''' You can give very intricate operating orders for training, patrolling, etc, but they are not needed initially and may cause confusion getting your <s>morons</s> dwarfs to activate for the first time.

'''3. The squad needs a place to operate out of'''

Assuming you already have a barracks marked bedroom, {{k|q}}uery-ing the bed will have the newly created squad listed.
(z) flags the area for sleeping
(t) flags the area for training
(i) and (q) flags the area for dumping their equipment all over the place. This is only important if your squads ever go inactive and have been ordered to switch to civilian gear only.

'''Note:''' Each option turned on will be marked with a single multicolored letter. Make sure that at least the Cyan T is showing to the right of the squad's listing, designating the area is used for the their training.

'''4. The squad needs to be activated'''

In the {{k|s}}quad screen, Your first squad will be selected with (a), whereupon the (t) option will toggle the squad between its inactive state and its active/<scheduling> state.

'''Note:''' The squad starts off inactive and, when activated, should now show '''''Active/Training''''' if their schedule was left as the default train all year.

'''5. Hope for the best!'''

Un-pausing the game, you should be receiving the drafted Dwarfs' Professions changing to their military versions almost immediately.

'''Note:''' When troubleshooting, a schedule of training (10 maximum) all year round saves a lot of heartache when trying to get the system running for the first time.

===Alerts? Schedules? What am I looking at here?===

A schedule is what a dwarf/squad will do when a particular alert is active; once alerts are made and scheduling is performed within these alerts, you can simply change a squad's alert based on the scenario and they will follow out highly specified and complicated programming. For example, if you make two alerts named 'Caravan Guard' for protecting incoming traders and 'Bloody Kobolds' for attacking thieves, we can change Squad A's scheduling in 'Caravan Guard' to {{l|Scheduling#Routes|patrol your trade route}} and change their scheduling in 'Bloody Kobolds' to {{l|Scheduling#Defend Burrows|defend a pre-defined burrows}} around your entrance. When a caravan shows up, you can change Squad A to be under the 'Caravan Guard' alert (either {{k|a}} in the military screen or {{k|t}} to cycle through when in the {{k|s}}quad screen with a squad selected) and they will begin running up and down your route as the traders make their way through. When you get the 'Protect the hoard from thieving scum!' message, you can change their alert to 'Bloody Kobolds' and Squad A will charge off to defend the entrance.

Different squads can be given different alerts at once, but these squads can also be given different scheduling within the ''same'' alert - for example, you could make Squad B's scheduling in the 'Caravan Guard' alert to defend a burrows around your trade depot, then assign both A and B to 'Caravan Guard' when the traders appear and have one squad walk them in and the other keep the depot clear.

As schedules are broken up by month, you can make very complicated schedules in which dwarves train two months, take one off, then patrol your map for a season then take a shift defending the entrance, while having a second squad do something completely different, and change their scheduling instantly by applying a different alert. For ease, orders can be copied and pasted in the scheduling menu. Once you get the hang of the system it becomes extremely versatile. See {{l|Scheduling}} for more information.

===I can't seem to apply orders to my schedule===

When you finish with the Give Orders menu and hit {{k|shift}}+{{k|tab}} to save your changes, you may notice that your changes have not been saved. This is because your order does not have a defined location. '''Station''' orders need a station to be assigned to, '''patrol route''' orders need a route to follow, and '''defend burrows''' orders need a burrows to defend. When giving or editing orders, you must select the specific area from a list on the left pane.

Keep in mind that the left and right panes in the Give Orders menu can both be highlighted even if one is empty - if your pane doesn't seem to be highlighted, hit the left or right key to properly select it.

===My dwarves won't wear the uniform I made!===

The uniforms tab within the menu screen is not for assigning uniforms to your dwarves, it is for making uniform templates that can later be applied. Open the {{k|e}}equipment tab then the {{k|U}}niform sub-tab and you will be able to apply your uniform to either a single dwarf at once with {{k|enter}} or a squad at once with {{k|shift}}+{{k|enter}}. Your uniforms should appear in the rightmost pane.

===How do I make my dwarves kill things?===

If your soldiers are stationed, defending a barracks, or patrolling a route, they are ''defending''. To make them go on the ''offense'', you need to open the {{k|s}}quads screen, select a squad using {{k|a}}/{{k|b}}/{{k|c}}/etc. as listed and hit {{k|k}} to 'Attack.' Then you pick your targets: either hit {{k|l}} to choose from a list of possible targets, {{k|r}} to select all targets within a rectangle, or simply move the cursor to what you want to attack and press {{k|enter}}. Your dwarves should now have the 'Kill _____' duty and charge after your target(s). To select multiple squads at once just hold {{k|shift}} while selecting, or hit {{k|p}} while selecting to select specific dwarves.

SOME ENEMIES CANNOT BE KILL-ORDERED. Or more specifically, some enemies like {{L|hydra}}s or {{L|minotaurs}} or {{L|forgotten beast}}s ''can'' be targeted for slaughter, but the dwarves won't actually carry it out. The only way around this is to order a squad to {{k|m}}ove to the location of the enemy instead. (It seems like a squad of any kind of monster is immune, more likely than not, and the same kind may be vulnerable to a kill order one time and resistant the next.)

Just watch out for the next question below...

===I can't get my dwarves to STOP killing things!===

When a targetable creature is noticed by your military, be it the target of a kill order or simply close enough to be noticed by stationed/patrolling dwarves, your dwarves will engage it and will not give up or run away (or even drop the chase if it's slow) until either it or the target is dead. The only way to stop them is to cancel all their military orders, returning them to civilian status and causing them to run away instead.

If a squad is trying to {{K|s}}->{{K|k}} kill a target, but that target has escaped the map, or is no longer reachable, then Cancel Orders for the squad. {{K|s}} squad {{K|a}} select a given squad exclusively, cancel {{K|o}} order.

===My dwarves won't go off-duty! They're starving themselves!===

Your '''order criteria''' is too high - order criteria is the number of dwarves in a squad required to follow out an order. By default a new order's criteria is set to 10 dwarves, or the entire squad; this means that you've told your dwarves that this order is of the absolute highest importance and that the entire squad needs to be on duty at all times. By changing this to two or three dwarves less than the number of dwarves in your squad, some of your dwarves will be able to relax and take some me-time to grab supplies while the others follow your orders out.

===I keep activating my dwarves but they still have their civilian positions!===

If a squad is off-duty it may be dressed in its civilian clothes and thus listed as civilians (e.g. a swordsdwarf may revert to 'carpenter'). There also seems to be a discrepancy between which orders are 'civilian' orders and which are 'military' orders. The Inactive/training alert switches dwarves to civilian labors and self-training in their spare time, while the Active/Training alert keeps dwarves in the barracks all the time. Unhappy thoughts from long duty do not occur on the active alert as long as they spend every other three months or so actively training instead of actively defending a chokepoint.

===I can't seem to get my marksdwarves to practice firing at all!===

There are several steps to getting marksdwarves to practice at {{L|archery target}}s.

1. Check that your prospective marksdwarves are equipped appropriately with the {{k|v}}-{{k|i}} keys.

2. Build an archery target.

3.Use the {{k|q}} menu to designate the archery target as a {{L|room}}. Dwarves must stand at least two panels from the archery target.

4. Make sure that the shooting direction set for the target allows dwarves to use it. The {{k|w}}{{k|a}}{{k|s}} and {{k|d}} keys are used to designate shooting direction.

4. Assuming you have military squads, you should see their names on the target's information panel. Scroll to the appropriate archer squad/squad containing archers using the {{K|+}} and {{k|-}} keys.

5. Now the target must be set as available for training. Press {{k|t}} once you have selected the appropriate squad. Multiple squads must be selected separately in this way to allow them all to practice at the archery range.

6. Check your ammunition supplies! Press {{k|m}} then {{k|f}} to view the ammunition screen. Scroll to the marksdwarf squad and add new ammunition. Ammunition may be further customized by material using the {{k|M}} key.

7. This ammunition must then be designated for combat, training, or both using the {{k|C}} and {{k|T}} keys. It is recommended to create TWO separate ammunition piles, one for combat and one for training. This will ensure dwarves always save some ammunition for fighting instead of using it all while training. It is further recommended to save metal bolts for fighting, and wood and bone bolts for training.

For additional assistance, try viewing Capnduck's tutorial: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uobESZ49hbs]

===My marksdwarves are sparring with their crossbows as a melee weapon!===

You may have forgotten to assign them ammunition. In the military screen, open the ammunition tab ({{k|f}}) and then assign the squad your preferred ammunition. Remember to assign seperate piles for training and fighting, or the squad will use all the bolts training and not have any left for killing enemies.

It is also possible that marksdwarves in DF2010 will not fire crossbows without a quiver; in the old version marksdwarves would carry a stack of bolts in their hand, but this does not seem to be the case anymore. Create some {{L|quiver}}s and try again.

===My hunter/marksdwarf ran out of bolts and won't pick up more!===

This seems to be a bug as well (yes, there are many)(This is most likely fixed in 0.31.12 version or later {{verify}} ). A workaround for this is to give your marksdwarf a '''{{l|Squads#Selecting_Squads.2FSoldiers|move order}}''' and then cancelling it; your dwarf should snap back to reality and grab more bolts. Annoying, but should be a temporary problem.
If your troops still refuse to pick up ammo, it may be because that ammo has been assigned to a different squad or to the hunting labor (even if none of your civilians have that labor). Check the Ammunition screen; if it shows stacks of ammo assigned to hunters, remove or reduce the amount of ammo assigned to hunters, and your troops should pick it up again.

----

''If you have further questions, please ask them on the discussion page here or on another relevant talk page. Frequently asked or standard questions will be added to the FAQ as necessary.''

{{Military v0.31}}

v0.31:Military F.A.Q.

2010-10-15T18:27:53Z

Dwarvenjames: /* How do I make my dwarves kill things? */ added period to sentence

{{quality|Exceptional|22:05, 6 August 2010 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

This is a list of '''Frequently Asked Questions''' related to the '''{{l|military}}'''. You may also want to read '''{{l|squads}}''', '''{{l|scheduling}}''' and '''{{l|equipment}}'''.

A note to keep in mind: As 0.31.03 is still far from being all cleaned up and tidy, many of these questions are for now answered with "this is a bug, sorry" or a quick workaround. We will have to make do until the next bugfix.

===My dwarves won't do anything but stand around!===

By default newly-created squads are assigned the 'Inactive' alert. You will need to create new alert levels or create new scheduling within alert levels (see {{l|Scheduling}}) to get them to do what you want. Note that 'Inactive' and 'Active/Training' are '''''not''''' the only two options available - they are simply the two default alerts and rather useless without creating more alerts and scheduling.

'''NOTE:''' If you are simply trying to get your military to train, you need to press t while viewing your barracks with q, to set that squad to train.

A handy check list for when you've no more hair to pull out.

'''1. You need a commander for the squad'''

In the {{k|m}}ilitary Screen, listed on the left will be the option Militia Commander for your first squad. {{k|c}}reate a squad based on that position and set its basic equipment uniform. Place the Dwarf you want to lead in position 1 and fill the remaining positions as you want.

'''Note:''' If you later go to the {{k|n}}obles screen, The first squad's leader will be listed as ''Militia Commander'' while subsequent squad leaders will be listed as ''Militia Captains''. Also note that if a squad leader dies, you need to replace him or her.

'''2. The squad needs orders'''

By setting up a {{k|s}}chedule, the squad will know what it should be doing each month of game time without direct input from you. Training (10 maximum) all year round is a good way to begin and should already be down as default.

'''Note:''' You can give very intricate operating orders for training, patrolling, etc, but they are not needed initially and may cause confusion getting your <s>morons</s> dwarfs to activate for the first time.

'''3. The squad needs a place to operate out of'''

Assuming you already have a barracks marked bedroom, {{k|q}}uery-ing the bed will have the newly created squad listed.
(z) flags the area for sleeping
(t) flags the area for training
(i) and (q) flags the area for dumping their equipment all over the place. This is only important if your squads ever go inactive and have been ordered to switch to civilian gear only.

'''Note:''' Each option turned on will be marked with a single multicolored letter. Make sure that at least the Cyan T is showing to the right of the squad's listing, designating the area is used for the their training.

'''4. The squad needs to be activated'''

In the {{k|s}}quad screen, Your first squad will be selected with (a), whereupon the (t) option will toggle the squad between its inactive state and its active/<scheduling> state.

'''Note:''' The squad starts off inactive and, when activated, should now show '''''Active/Training''''' if their schedule was left as the default train all year.

'''5. Hope for the best!'''

Un-pausing the game, you should be receiving the drafted Dwarfs' Professions changing to their military versions almost immediately.

'''Note:''' When troubleshooting, a schedule of training (10 maximum) all year round saves a lot of heartache when trying to get the system running for the first time.

===Alerts? Schedules? What am I looking at here?===

A schedule is what a dwarf/squad will do when a particular alert is active; once alerts are made and scheduling is performed within these alerts, you can simply change a squad's alert based on the scenario and they will follow out highly specified and complicated programming. For example, if you make two alerts named 'Caravan Guard' for protecting incoming traders and 'Bloody Kobolds' for attacking thieves, we can change Squad A's scheduling in 'Caravan Guard' to {{l|Scheduling#Routes|patrol your trade route}} and change their scheduling in 'Bloody Kobolds' to {{l|Scheduling#Defend Burrows|defend a pre-defined burrows}} around your entrance. When a caravan shows up, you can change Squad A to be under the 'Caravan Guard' alert (either {{k|a}} in the military screen or {{k|t}} to cycle through when in the {{k|s}}quad screen with a squad selected) and they will begin running up and down your route as the traders make their way through. When you get the 'Protect the hoard from thieving scum!' message, you can change their alert to 'Bloody Kobolds' and Squad A will charge off to defend the entrance.

Different squads can be given different alerts at once, but these squads can also be given different scheduling within the ''same'' alert - for example, you could make Squad B's scheduling in the 'Caravan Guard' alert to defend a burrows around your trade depot, then assign both A and B to 'Caravan Guard' when the traders appear and have one squad walk them in and the other keep the depot clear.

As schedules are broken up by month, you can make very complicated schedules in which dwarves train two months, take one off, then patrol your map for a season then take a shift defending the entrance, while having a second squad do something completely different, and change their scheduling instantly by applying a different alert. For ease, orders can be copied and pasted in the scheduling menu. Once you get the hang of the system it becomes extremely versatile. See {{l|Scheduling}} for more information.

===I can't seem to apply orders to my schedule===

When you finish with the Give Orders menu and hit {{k|shift}}+{{k|tab}} to save your changes, you may notice that your changes have not been saved. This is because your order does not have a defined location. '''Station''' orders need a station to be assigned to, '''patrol route''' orders need a route to follow, and '''defend burrows''' orders need a burrows to defend. When giving or editing orders, you must select the specific area from a list on the left pane.

Keep in mind that the left and right panes in the Give Orders menu can both be highlighted even if one is empty - if your pane doesn't seem to be highlighted, hit the left or right key to properly select it.

===My dwarves won't wear the uniform I made!===

The uniforms tab within the menu screen is not for assigning uniforms to your dwarves, it is for making uniform templates that can later be applied. Open the {{k|e}}equipment tab then the {{k|U}}niform sub-tab and you will be able to apply your uniform to either a single dwarf at once with {{k|enter}} or a squad at once with {{k|shift}}+{{k|enter}}. Your uniforms should appear in the rightmost pane.

===How do I make my dwarves kill things?===

If your soldiers are stationed, defending a barracks, or patrolling a route, they are ''defending''. To make them go on the ''offense'', you need to open the {{k|s}}quads screen, select a squad using {{k|a}}/{{k|b}}/{{k|c}}/etc. as listed and hit {{k|k}} to 'Attack.' Then you pick your targets: either hit {{k|l}} to choose from a list of possible targets, {{k|r}} to select all targets within a rectangle, or simply move the cursor to what you want to attack and press {{k|enter}}. Your dwarves should now have the 'Kill _____' duty and charge after your target(s). To select multiple squads at once just hold {{k|shift}} while selecting, or hit {{k|p}} while selecting to select specific dwarves.

SOME ENEMIES CANNOT BE KILL-ORDERED. Or more specifically, some enemies like {{L|hydra}}s or {{L|minotaurs}} or {{L|forgotten beast}}s ''can'' be targeted for slaughter, but the dwarves won't actually carry it out. The only way around this is to order a squad to {{k|m}}ove to the location of the enemy instead. (It seems like a squad of any kind of monster is immune, more likely than not, and the same kind may be vulnerable to a kill order one time and resistant the next.)

Just watch out for the next question below...

===I can't get my dwarves to STOP killing things!===

When a targetable creature is noticed by your military, be it the target of a kill order or simply close enough to be noticed by stationed/patrolling dwarves, your dwarves will engage it and will not give up or run away (or even drop the chase if it's slow) until either it or the target is dead. The only way to stop them is to cancel all their military orders, returning them to civilian status and causing them to run away instead.

If a squad is trying to {{K|s}}->{{K|k}} kill a target, but that target has escaped the map, or is no longer reachable, then Cancel Orders for the squad. {{K|s}} squad {{K|a}} select a given squad exclusively, cancel {{K|o}} order.

===My dwarves won't go off-duty! They're starving themselves!===

Your '''order criteria''' is too high - order criteria is the number of dwarves in a squad required to follow out an order. By default a new order's criteria is set to 10 dwarves, or the entire squad; this means that you've told your dwarves that this order is of the absolute highest importance and that the entire squad needs to be on duty at all times. By changing this to two or three dwarves less than the number of dwarves in your squad, some of your dwarves will be able to relax and take some me-time to grab supplies while the others follow your orders out.

===I keep activating my dwarves but they still have their civilian positions!===

If a squad is off-duty it may be dressed in its civilian clothes and thus listed as civilians (e.g. a swordsdwarf may revert to 'carpenter'). There also seems to be a discrepancy between which orders are 'civilian' orders and which are 'military' orders. The Inactive/training alert switches dwarves to civilian labors and self-training in their spare time, while the Active/Training alert keeps dwarves in the barracks all the time. Unhappy thoughts from long duty do not occur on the active alert as long as they spend every other three months or so actively training instead of actively defending a chokepoint.

===I can't seem to get my marksdwarves to practice firing at all!===

There are several steps to getting marksdwarves to practice at {{L|archery target}}s.

1. Check that your prospective marksdwarves are equipped appropriately with the {{k|v}}-{{k|i}} keys.

2. Build an archery target.

3.Use the {{k|q}} menu to designate the archery target as a {{L|room}}. Dwarves must stand at least two panels from the archery target.

4. Make sure that the shooting direction set for the target allows dwarves to use it. The {{k|w}}{{k|a}}{{k|s}} and {{k|d}} keys are used to designate shooting direction.

4. Assuming you have military squads, you should see their names on the target's information panel. Scroll to the appropriate archer squad/squad containing archers using the {{K|+}} and {{k|-}} keys.

5. Now the target must be set as available for training. Press {{k|t}} once you have selected the appropriate squad. Multiple squads must be selected separately in this way to allow them all to practice at the archery range.

6. Check your ammunition supplies! Press {{k|m}} then {{k|f}} to view the ammunition screen. Scroll to the marksdwarf squad and add new ammunition. Ammunition may be further customized by material using the {{k|M}} key.

7. This ammunition must then be designated for combat, training, or both using the {{k|C}} and {{k|T}} keys. It is recommended to create TWO separate ammunition piles, one for combat and one for training. This will ensure dwarves always save some ammunition for fighting instead of using it all while training. It is further recommended to save metal bolts for fighting, and wood and bone bolts for training.

For additional assistance, try viewing Capnduck's tutorial: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uobESZ49hbs]

===My marksdwarves are sparring with their crossbows as a melee weapon!===

You may have forgotten to assign them ammunition. In the military screen, open the ammunition tab ({{k|f}}) and then assign the squad your preferred ammunition. Remember to assign seperate piles for training and fighting, or the squad will use all the bolts training and not have any left for killing enemies.

It is also possible that marksdwarves in DF2010 will not fire crossbows without a quiver; in the old version marksdwarves would carry a stack of bolts in their hand, but this does not seem to be the case anymore. Create some {{L|quiver}}s and try again.

===My hunter/marksdwarf ran out of bolts and won't pick up more!===

This seems to be a bug as well (yes, there are many)(This is most likely fixed in 0.31.12 version or later {{verify}} ). A workaround for this is to give your marksdwarf a '''{{l|Squads#Selecting_Squads.2FSoldiers|move order}}''' and then cancelling it; your dwarf should snap back to reality and grab more bolts. Annoying, but should be a temporary problem.
If your troops still refuse to pick up ammo, it may be because that ammo has been assigned to a different squad or to the hunting labor (even if none of your civilians have that labor). Check the Ammunition screen; if it shows stacks of ammo assigned to hunters, remove or reduce the amount of ammo assigned to hunters, and your troops should pick it up again.

----

''If you have further questions, please ask them on the discussion page here or on another relevant talk page. Frequently asked or standard questions will be added to the FAQ as necessary.''

{{Military v0.31}}

v0.31:Military F.A.Q.

2010-10-15T18:22:48Z

Dwarvenjames: /* My dwarves won't do anything but stand around! */ added small note about squad leaders dying and how you have to keep track since you have to replace them manually

{{quality|Exceptional|22:05, 6 August 2010 (UTC)}}
{{av}}

This is a list of '''Frequently Asked Questions''' related to the '''{{l|military}}'''. You may also want to read '''{{l|squads}}''', '''{{l|scheduling}}''' and '''{{l|equipment}}'''.

A note to keep in mind: As 0.31.03 is still far from being all cleaned up and tidy, many of these questions are for now answered with "this is a bug, sorry" or a quick workaround. We will have to make do until the next bugfix.

===My dwarves won't do anything but stand around!===

By default newly-created squads are assigned the 'Inactive' alert. You will need to create new alert levels or create new scheduling within alert levels (see {{l|Scheduling}}) to get them to do what you want. Note that 'Inactive' and 'Active/Training' are '''''not''''' the only two options available - they are simply the two default alerts and rather useless without creating more alerts and scheduling.

'''NOTE:''' If you are simply trying to get your military to train, you need to press t while viewing your barracks with q, to set that squad to train.

A handy check list for when you've no more hair to pull out.

'''1. You need a commander for the squad'''

In the {{k|m}}ilitary Screen, listed on the left will be the option Militia Commander for your first squad. {{k|c}}reate a squad based on that position and set its basic equipment uniform. Place the Dwarf you want to lead in position 1 and fill the remaining positions as you want.

'''Note:''' If you later go to the {{k|n}}obles screen, The first squad's leader will be listed as ''Militia Commander'' while subsequent squad leaders will be listed as ''Militia Captains''. Also note that if a squad leader dies, you need to replace him or her.

'''2. The squad needs orders'''

By setting up a {{k|s}}chedule, the squad will know what it should be doing each month of game time without direct input from you. Training (10 maximum) all year round is a good way to begin and should already be down as default.

'''Note:''' You can give very intricate operating orders for training, patrolling, etc, but they are not needed initially and may cause confusion getting your <s>morons</s> dwarfs to activate for the first time.

'''3. The squad needs a place to operate out of'''

Assuming you already have a barracks marked bedroom, {{k|q}}uery-ing the bed will have the newly created squad listed.
(z) flags the area for sleeping
(t) flags the area for training
(i) and (q) flags the area for dumping their equipment all over the place. This is only important if your squads ever go inactive and have been ordered to switch to civilian gear only.

'''Note:''' Each option turned on will be marked with a single multicolored letter. Make sure that at least the Cyan T is showing to the right of the squad's listing, designating the area is used for the their training.

'''4. The squad needs to be activated'''

In the {{k|s}}quad screen, Your first squad will be selected with (a), whereupon the (t) option will toggle the squad between its inactive state and its active/<scheduling> state.

'''Note:''' The squad starts off inactive and, when activated, should now show '''''Active/Training''''' if their schedule was left as the default train all year.

'''5. Hope for the best!'''

Un-pausing the game, you should be receiving the drafted Dwarfs' Professions changing to their military versions almost immediately.

'''Note:''' When troubleshooting, a schedule of training (10 maximum) all year round saves a lot of heartache when trying to get the system running for the first time.

===Alerts? Schedules? What am I looking at here?===

A schedule is what a dwarf/squad will do when a particular alert is active; once alerts are made and scheduling is performed within these alerts, you can simply change a squad's alert based on the scenario and they will follow out highly specified and complicated programming. For example, if you make two alerts named 'Caravan Guard' for protecting incoming traders and 'Bloody Kobolds' for attacking thieves, we can change Squad A's scheduling in 'Caravan Guard' to {{l|Scheduling#Routes|patrol your trade route}} and change their scheduling in 'Bloody Kobolds' to {{l|Scheduling#Defend Burrows|defend a pre-defined burrows}} around your entrance. When a caravan shows up, you can change Squad A to be under the 'Caravan Guard' alert (either {{k|a}} in the military screen or {{k|t}} to cycle through when in the {{k|s}}quad screen with a squad selected) and they will begin running up and down your route as the traders make their way through. When you get the 'Protect the hoard from thieving scum!' message, you can change their alert to 'Bloody Kobolds' and Squad A will charge off to defend the entrance.

Different squads can be given different alerts at once, but these squads can also be given different scheduling within the ''same'' alert - for example, you could make Squad B's scheduling in the 'Caravan Guard' alert to defend a burrows around your trade depot, then assign both A and B to 'Caravan Guard' when the traders appear and have one squad walk them in and the other keep the depot clear.

As schedules are broken up by month, you can make very complicated schedules in which dwarves train two months, take one off, then patrol your map for a season then take a shift defending the entrance, while having a second squad do something completely different, and change their scheduling instantly by applying a different alert. For ease, orders can be copied and pasted in the scheduling menu. Once you get the hang of the system it becomes extremely versatile. See {{l|Scheduling}} for more information.

===I can't seem to apply orders to my schedule===

When you finish with the Give Orders menu and hit {{k|shift}}+{{k|tab}} to save your changes, you may notice that your changes have not been saved. This is because your order does not have a defined location. '''Station''' orders need a station to be assigned to, '''patrol route''' orders need a route to follow, and '''defend burrows''' orders need a burrows to defend. When giving or editing orders, you must select the specific area from a list on the left pane.

Keep in mind that the left and right panes in the Give Orders menu can both be highlighted even if one is empty - if your pane doesn't seem to be highlighted, hit the left or right key to properly select it.

===My dwarves won't wear the uniform I made!===

The uniforms tab within the menu screen is not for assigning uniforms to your dwarves, it is for making uniform templates that can later be applied. Open the {{k|e}}equipment tab then the {{k|U}}niform sub-tab and you will be able to apply your uniform to either a single dwarf at once with {{k|enter}} or a squad at once with {{k|shift}}+{{k|enter}}. Your uniforms should appear in the rightmost pane.

===How do I make my dwarves kill things?===

If your soldiers are stationed, defending a barracks, or patrolling a route, they are ''defending''. To make them go on the ''offense'', you need to open the {{k|s}}quads screen, select a squad using {{k|a}}/{{k|b}}/{{k|c}}/etc. as listed and hit {{k|k}} to 'Attack.' Then you pick your targets: either hit {{k|l}} to choose from a list of possible targets, {{k|r}} to select all targets within a rectangle, or simply move the cursor to what you want to attack and press {{k|enter}}. Your dwarves should now have the 'Kill _____' duty and charge after your target(s). To select multiple squads at once just hold {{k|shift}} while selecting, or hit {{k|p}} while selecting to select specific dwarves.

SOME ENEMIES CANNOT BE KILL-ORDERED. Or more specifically, some enemies like {{L|hydra}}s or {{L|minotaurs}} or {{L|forgotten beast}}s ''can'' be targeted for slaughter, but the dwarves won't actually carry it out. The only way around this is to order a squad to {{k|m}}ove to the location of the enemy instead. (It seems like a squad of any kind of monster is immune, more likely than not, and the same kind may be vulnerable to a kill order one time and resistant the next)

Just watch out for the next question below...

===I can't get my dwarves to STOP killing things!===

When a targetable creature is noticed by your military, be it the target of a kill order or simply close enough to be noticed by stationed/patrolling dwarves, your dwarves will engage it and will not give up or run away (or even drop the chase if it's slow) until either it or the target is dead. The only way to stop them is to cancel all their military orders, returning them to civilian status and causing them to run away instead.

If a squad is trying to {{K|s}}->{{K|k}} kill a target, but that target has escaped the map, or is no longer reachable, then Cancel Orders for the squad. {{K|s}} squad {{K|a}} select a given squad exclusively, cancel {{K|o}} order.

===My dwarves won't go off-duty! They're starving themselves!===

Your '''order criteria''' is too high - order criteria is the number of dwarves in a squad required to follow out an order. By default a new order's criteria is set to 10 dwarves, or the entire squad; this means that you've told your dwarves that this order is of the absolute highest importance and that the entire squad needs to be on duty at all times. By changing this to two or three dwarves less than the number of dwarves in your squad, some of your dwarves will be able to relax and take some me-time to grab supplies while the others follow your orders out.

===I keep activating my dwarves but they still have their civilian positions!===

If a squad is off-duty it may be dressed in its civilian clothes and thus listed as civilians (e.g. a swordsdwarf may revert to 'carpenter'). There also seems to be a discrepancy between which orders are 'civilian' orders and which are 'military' orders. The Inactive/training alert switches dwarves to civilian labors and self-training in their spare time, while the Active/Training alert keeps dwarves in the barracks all the time. Unhappy thoughts from long duty do not occur on the active alert as long as they spend every other three months or so actively training instead of actively defending a chokepoint.

===I can't seem to get my marksdwarves to practice firing at all!===

There are several steps to getting marksdwarves to practice at {{L|archery target}}s.

1. Check that your prospective marksdwarves are equipped appropriately with the {{k|v}}-{{k|i}} keys.

2. Build an archery target.

3.Use the {{k|q}} menu to designate the archery target as a {{L|room}}. Dwarves must stand at least two panels from the archery target.

4. Make sure that the shooting direction set for the target allows dwarves to use it. The {{k|w}}{{k|a}}{{k|s}} and {{k|d}} keys are used to designate shooting direction.

4. Assuming you have military squads, you should see their names on the target's information panel. Scroll to the appropriate archer squad/squad containing archers using the {{K|+}} and {{k|-}} keys.

5. Now the target must be set as available for training. Press {{k|t}} once you have selected the appropriate squad. Multiple squads must be selected separately in this way to allow them all to practice at the archery range.

6. Check your ammunition supplies! Press {{k|m}} then {{k|f}} to view the ammunition screen. Scroll to the marksdwarf squad and add new ammunition. Ammunition may be further customized by material using the {{k|M}} key.

7. This ammunition must then be designated for combat, training, or both using the {{k|C}} and {{k|T}} keys. It is recommended to create TWO separate ammunition piles, one for combat and one for training. This will ensure dwarves always save some ammunition for fighting instead of using it all while training. It is further recommended to save metal bolts for fighting, and wood and bone bolts for training.

For additional assistance, try viewing Capnduck's tutorial: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uobESZ49hbs]

===My marksdwarves are sparring with their crossbows as a melee weapon!===

You may have forgotten to assign them ammunition. In the military screen, open the ammunition tab ({{k|f}}) and then assign the squad your preferred ammunition. Remember to assign seperate piles for training and fighting, or the squad will use all the bolts training and not have any left for killing enemies.

It is also possible that marksdwarves in DF2010 will not fire crossbows without a quiver; in the old version marksdwarves would carry a stack of bolts in their hand, but this does not seem to be the case anymore. Create some {{L|quiver}}s and try again.

===My hunter/marksdwarf ran out of bolts and won't pick up more!===

This seems to be a bug as well (yes, there are many)(This is most likely fixed in 0.31.12 version or later {{verify}} ). A workaround for this is to give your marksdwarf a '''{{l|Squads#Selecting_Squads.2FSoldiers|move order}}''' and then cancelling it; your dwarf should snap back to reality and grab more bolts. Annoying, but should be a temporary problem.
If your troops still refuse to pick up ammo, it may be because that ammo has been assigned to a different squad or to the hunting labor (even if none of your civilians have that labor). Check the Ammunition screen; if it shows stacks of ammo assigned to hunters, remove or reduce the amount of ammo assigned to hunters, and your troops should pick it up again.

----

''If you have further questions, please ask them on the discussion page here or on another relevant talk page. Frequently asked or standard questions will be added to the FAQ as necessary.''

{{Military v0.31}}