Dwarf Fortress Wiki - User contributions [en]

v0.34:Giant bark scorpion

2013-01-13T13:35:01Z

Emufarmers: Rework prose

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Giant bark scorpions, the colossal cousins of [[bark scorpion]]s, are found in savage deserts, like [[giant desert scorpion]]s, but in most savage tropical biomes as well.

Giant bark scorpions are slightly larger than a giant desert scorpions, but their sting is far less dangerous, inducing only pain (that still '''can''' knock out a dwarf). They also do not roam in groups of three like giant desert scorpions usually do, and are not building destroyers. They are generally non-aggressive, though they can and will kill lone civilians if they become agitated.

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User talk:Loci

2012-12-06T08:22:28Z

Emufarmers: welcome

I've been seeing your edits on the recent changes page for a while now. Good job. :-) [[User:Emufarmers|Emufarmers]] 08:22, 6 December 2012 (UTC)

v0.34:Giant desert scorpion

2012-12-02T12:20:46Z

Emufarmers: Left-aligning the picture so it'll actually be visible

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[[Image:Scorpion-panel2-col.png|thumb|200px|left|A Giant Desert Scorpion doing what it knows best.]]

The '''giant desert scorpion''' is a very high-[[value]] [[creature]] commonly found in all savage [[desert]] [[biome]]s. As opponents, they are equivalent to [[giant cave spider]]s in lethality, and may appear in groups of anything from one to three mayhem-minded individuals. Giant desert scorpions are predatory meandering killing machines. They will roam over long distances seeking prey, meaning they ''will'' eventually find your fortress and start stinging dwarves.

Giant desert scorpions are capable of injecting a [[syndrome|neurotoxin]] which causes necrosis of the brain and nervous system, resulting in instant death once they completely rot. They cannot be stunned and feel no pain or fear. A wounded scorpion will never stop fighting until it is dead.

This means that despite its relatively moderate size, the giant desert scorpion is able to one-hit-kill all creatures with blood and a nervous system, that is, most creatures. Yes, a giant desert scorpion can and will kill a [[roc]], [[hydra]], [[dragon]] or [[elephant]] if it gets in melee and has the time to sting before getting killed.

However, giant desert scorpions only sting as a secondary attack, never stinging if one or more pincers are not latching upon the opponent.

They are also famous for their ability to wrest the [[weapon]]s (or [[backpack]]s, or socks, or [[armor]], or whatever item strikes their fancy) you or your dwarves wield out of your hands (thanks to the UPPERBODY_PINCERS possessed by scorpions) and proceed to kill you with them. They have also been reported to shoot crossbows in the [[object testing arena]].

The ''good'' news is that giant desert scorpions can be tamed. Stuffing a [[cage]] with thirty scorpions and [[lever|releasing]] them all at once during an [[siege|invasion]] is a joyous sight.

Like many exotic pets, giant desert scorpions do not breed. This can easily be remedied/modded in by adding "[CHILD:3][GENERAL_CHILD_NAME:giant desert scorpling:giant desert scorplings]" to the giant desert scorpion entry in the raws, found in the file creature_savage_tropical.txt. Also, if you want to be able to train them into giant desert war scorpions, you need to add "[TRAINABLE]" somewhere in their entry too.

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v0.34 Talk:Material science

2012-12-02T10:24:33Z

Emufarmers: /* Updated page */ new section

I don't understand what the first paragraph in the "Effects on Combat" section mean, so I am leaving them alone for now. If no one else can make sense of them they should probably be removed. I am starting to add the results of our ballistics testing to the combat section. --[[User:Pirate Bob|Pirate Bob]] 22:19, 29 November 2012 (UTC)

It would be very nice to add Urist's flowchart to the "Interactions between projectiles and armor" section. It might also be nice if the flowchart could somehow be highlighted to emphasize which sections of the text correspond to which parts of the flowchart, but I don't know if this is feasible. --[[User:Pirate Bob|Pirate Bob]] 22:49, 29 November 2012 (UTC)

The ratio involved in "The projectile absorbs the force of the collision" seems kind of odd. We should investigate if there are actually more parameters determining this at some point.--[[User:Pirate Bob|Pirate Bob]] 23:11, 29 November 2012 (UTC)
:Sorry about that, the fraction 800/157 is equal to 40000/7850. It is this way because a size 100 ammo will deflect off iron armor if the ammo has an IMPACT_YIELD less than 40000. We did investigate the other parameters and they don't apply to that equation. --[[User:UristDaVinci|UristDaVinci]] 06:11, 2 December 2012 (UTC)

Perhaps we should put links to Toady One posts on the forums in a section on this page, as "Word of Toady" on how the system works. --[[User:UristDaVinci|UristDaVinci]] 06:11, 2 December 2012 (UTC)

== Updated page ==

Good work updating the page, but I'm a little confused by "As explained below, wood bolts are capable of fracturing through the strongest metal armor, and would fracture copper or steel armor were it not for the higher densities of those metals." [[User:Emufarmers|Emufarmers]] 10:24, 2 December 2012 (UTC)

v0.34 Talk:Liaison

2012-11-30T06:10:09Z

Emufarmers: reply

Possible bug: if outpost liaisons cannot meet with your leader, for whatever reason, they will remain indefinitely until killed (I have yet to see one die of old age, though have not had one hanging around for more than about twenty years). Further liaisons will turn up in following years, though, and they congregate outside your fort waiting to talk to your leader. If your leader changes (new mayor, say), they'll all leave.

Currently, my sealed underground fort has no less than 18 liaisons wandering about outside, and I know one has been killed while he's been here.--[[User:Nimblewright|Nimblewright]] 02:54, 29 November 2012 (UTC)
:EDIT: Derp. This is in direct contradiction of the page statement "diplomats will eventually leave"; I have no idea if it is because there's no path to my leader, or because they won't leave, ever.--[[User:Nimblewright|Nimblewright]] 02:56, 29 November 2012 (UTC)

::Yep. Currently, liaisons who are physically prevented from attending a meeting will wait around indefinitely as long as your noble is able to constantly conduct meetings. This behavior is presumably a bug. --[[User:Loci|Loci]] 20:00, 29 November 2012 (UTC)

:::Wouldn't that suggest they'll only leave if your leader is killed/changed/possessed, then? [[User:Emufarmers|Emufarmers]] 06:10, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

v0.34:Stupid dwarf trick

2012-11-07T22:32:24Z

Emufarmers: Undo revision 178552 by 99.49.194.93 (talk) Doors don't need supporting walls after they're built

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{{D for Dwarf}}

A '''stupid dwarf trick''' is any project that requires a large amount of time and effort - often for little or no practical benefit. They exist only as a challenge for experienced players.

==Adventure Mode Fortress==

Build a fortress specifically for exploring in [[adventure mode]]. You can either make a nasty monster-filled challenge, or a smörgåsbord of masterpiece adamantine weapons and armor. Possibly both. Breaching the [[caverns]] or [[hidden fun stuff]] should ensure the fortress is occupied.

'''Difficulty:''' The sky's the limit.

'''Usefulness:''' Not applicable.

==Alarm Clock==
Are your soldiers all sound asleep while blood soaks the walls? No need to deconstruct their beds one by one, ''if'' you bought the Dwarf Wakey 3000! Simply a solitary floor tile balanced on a support, one or more can be toppled with the pull of a lever to produce an earth-shaking racket that'll have them leaping for their axes!

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

'''Usefulness:''' Limited. They will sleep through <s>'''anything'''</s> Noise. Although have been known to awaken when drenched in water, only waking up due to thinking it's alcohol, making an Alarm clock not impossible, if carefully prepared.

==Alphabet Cages==
[[Image:Cage.gif|right]]
Use captured monsters in cages to spell messages.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Vowels are hard to come by.

'''Usefulness:''' Absolutely none whatsoever. (Easy reminders in case you're too lazy to use notes?)

==Aqueduct Power==
If your river's a long way away from your fortress, building a trans-map axle may be less efficient than building an aqueduct and pump stack driven by waterwheels in the river. The pump stack raises it to the height of your fort, where it flows through the long, long aqueduct and drives waterwheels on the other end. Getting the water pressure just right so it powers your waterwheel without flooding the fort can be [[Fun]]. Diagonal channels make good pressure reducers.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Lots of stone, lots of engineering, lots of dangerous outdoor work, lots of trial-and-error for the receiving waterwheels. Aquifers will absorb any amount of water at any rate. Using an aquifer as drain for the reservoir will nullify the risk of flooding the fortress due to the drain not keeping up with the supply.

'''Usefulness:''' High. As much water and power as you want, wherever you want, whenever you want.

==Aquifer Power==
Aquifers can be a resource of immense power. If you have two levels of aquifer, you can generate a continuous flow by draining one level of aquifer into another and plant waterwheels above it. One stream can power a lot of wheel.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Anything to do with draining aquifers is very [[Fun]].

'''Usefulness:''' High. The lowly windmill pales in utility compared to a waterwheel.

==Archaeological Excavation==
A Fortress in the Caverns, built by the first dwarf tribes. Build the Fortress however you see fit for those prehistoric Dwarves (i.e. only primitive metals, elaborate tombs for the chieftains with burial objects, cave art, etc.) and abandon it. Then, embark with modern Dwarves, and excavate the ancient Fortress. Sort of like the Adventure Fortress above, only for Reclaim Mode

'''Difficulty:''' As High as you want.

'''Usefulness:''' Not applicable.

*Bonus: A Museum detailing the lives of those early dwarves

==Artificial Waterfall==
To keep the waterfall going, you need a [[pump]] stack, preferably powered by a [[windmill]] or [[water wheel]]. Alternatively, an [[aquifer]], or other limitless water source, makes for a waterfall entirely underground.

'''Difficulty:''' Moderate (Low if there is an aquifer above pouring down).

'''Usefulness:''' Dwarves love [[waterfall]]s. Putting a waterfall in your [[meeting hall]] will give your dwarves good [[thought]]s, although it can significantly lower frame rate.

*Bonus: Build it in a "Warm" or hotter [[climate]] so it does not freeze.
*DwarfBonus: Build it in a freezing/cold/temperate climate and keep it going entire year!
*MegaDwarf Bonus: Use [[magma]]. It does not freeze, even in a freezing climate!
*MegaDwarf Bonus EXTREME+: Use magma and water in the same waterfall. The results will enshrine you in dwarf history! Possibly permanently.

==[[Ballista]] Battery==
Overlap a few ballistas to completely cover a narrow corridor. There is an unavoidable risk of your operators wandering into the line of fire.

'''Difficulty:''' Low. If you insist on highly-trained operators with high-quality ballistas, it gets harder.

'''Usefulness:''' A complicated and dangerous way to defend a single corridor. Ultimately extremely effective. Sometimes.

==Bastion==
Construct an isolated burrow containing a farmer and some labourers, containing at least an uncontaminated well (an [[aquifer]] is great for this) and some farms. Use whatever elaborate mechanism you wish to seal it off from the rest of the fortress. Congratulations; your bastioned dwarves and their descendants will keep your fortress alive forever until one of them goes nuts.

* Bonus: Build your bastion at least in part in a clay or sand layer, connect to magma (using a fortification in the channel to stop those annoying fireproof creatures from sneaking in), and continue manufacturing useless crap even as the world crumbles around you!
* Bonus: Build it on top of a tower outside, and then deconstruct the stairs up.
* Bonus: Fill it exclusively with vampires, to avoid having to worry about food, children, and aging.
* MegaDwarfBonus: Hollow out a shell around your bastion, connecting it to the rest of the cavern by a single 1x1 adamantine support, and flood the shell with magma.

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

'''Usefulness:''' High. If your bastioned dwarves have high enough quality living space and few enough nonbastioned friends, it makes the fortress functionally immortal.

==Bathtub==
Stop dwarves from hauling in tons of exotic, poisonous sludges into your fortress by creating a tub filled with 3/7 water that everyone has to get through to enter the fortress. Include a system to change the water, so that they don't bathe in grime.

'''Difficulty:''' Moderate

'''Usefulness:''' Low in most cases. High in some evil areas.

* DwarfBonus: Make it drain and refill itself with clean water automatically once in a year.
* MegaDwarfBonus: Clean it with magma.
* *MegaDwarfBonus*: Have an alternative bathtub-buffered entrance next to the main one, which opens automatically when cauterizing the main one and closes and cauterizes itself when it is no longer needed, so that no jobs are canceled during cleansing cycle.
* ≡MegaDwarfBonus≡ : Make it clean itself with magma automatically once in a year, but make it wait for the moment when it's unused, so that no dwarves or pets are incinerated.
* ☼MegaDwarfBonus☼: All of the above, plus make it detect when there should be no dwarves or pets around, but invaders are in it, so that the cleansing cycle can be started prematurely.

==Bolt Recovery Operation==
One curious property of Dwarven Physics is that a bar of metal makes 25 bolts, but if each of those 25 bolts is melted separately, they will become 2.5 bars, generating metal from nothing. The trick is in separating the stacks of bolts into individual bolts without destroying them, for which EliDupree found this trick:

∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙
∙++++@∙+++++++++
∙+∙∙∙┼∙+++++++++++++++
∙+∙g∙┼∙++++++++++++++@
∙+∙∙∙┼∙+++++++++++++++
∙+++++∙+++++++++
∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙

The @ at the right is a stack of marksdwarves (all in different squads so that they'll stand on the same tile) with [[adamantine]] bolts. The @ at the left is a single Perfectly Agile soldier with orders to patrol up and down, with little delays at the top and bottom. The "g" at the left is a goblin standing on a pillar (I pitted it from the z-level above.)

When the dwarf at the left runs up or down the line of doors, it opens all of them, and some of the marksdwarves shoot their bolts. By the time the bolts get there, the doors have closed, so they hit the doors and fall into the channel, where they can be collected and melted separately. (That distance is exact, by the way. Any less and they sometimes get shots through the doors, which kills your goblin. Also, with less-skilled marksdwarves, some of the bolts will stray and land on the floors, but that isn't enough to worry about even with mere dabblers.) Naturally, this is also an excellent way to train marksdwarves.

Certainly, there are other ways to set-up a recovery/live fire operation.

'''Difficulty:''' Moderate. The hardest part is getting the marksdwarves to shoot from exactly the right spot.

'''Usefulness:''' High. Even in .18 or worlds generated with high mineral availability, because you can do this to generate [[adamantine]].

==Break the Dam (Release the River!)==
Dam a river (or brook) using something non-permanent (floodgates, drawbridges) and build your fortress entrance in the now dry river bed, make sure you can seal it off nicely (floodgates anyone?) then wait till the first Goblin siege, let them get to your entrance floodgates, seal them, open the dam and laugh manically

'''Difficulty:''' Low

'''Usefulness:''' Instantaneous death to all sieges

SuperDwarf bonus: Do this with magma

==Bridge-a-pult==
A bridge that opens outwards, to fling enemies away. Ideally, they land in a very nasty place.

'''Difficulty:''' The hard part is the nasty place they get flung to.

'''Usefulness:''' There are far more effective ways to defend a fortress, but few are as entertaining.

==Dam==
Build a wall across a riverbed to stop the flow of water. Floodgates optional.

'''Difficulty:''' On a map that freezes in the winter, or an aquifer located below the river, this is easy. Otherwise, very difficult. (See [[dam]], or Moses effect, below. But with the bonuses it gets a bit harder.

'''Usefulness:''' Depends on how many bonuses you fulfill. The power station is obvious, and with the control room you could build up a nice defense system.

*Bonus: Excavate a reservoir and a lower river valley. 
*Bonus: Build a control center to control the water flow. 
*Bonus: Draw your entire energy from a power station within. 
*MegaDwarfBonus: Use screw pumps and another dam to replace the water with magma.

==[[Danger room|Danger Room]]==
A room full of upright spear traps linked to a lever or pressure plate. Teach your dwarves to dodge the pointy sticks!

'''Difficulty''': Low to Medium, depending on how you activate the traps.

'''Usefulness''': High. Trains combat skills very quickly, assuming you don't kill anyone.

'''Downside''': Civilians and pets that wander into the danger room will inevitably get killed, even if you use low quality training spears.

*MegaDwarfBonus: Menacing spikes greatly increase the danger, and may help train your medical team (and/or your coffin construction crew).
*MegaDwarfBonus: Use [[adamantine]] spikes! On the plus side, you have a thriving coffin industry going now.

==Day Care==
A room where you put all your dwarf children so they cannot be kidnapped by snatchers. Make a room with beds and tables and stuff, then turn it into a burrow, then add all your children to it. Remember to include a food chute to quantum stockpile a huge amount of food and alcohol on a 1x1 stockpile (so it doesn't rot) in the room. High quality food, furniture, and socializing should keep them happy. Note that the children will no longer be able to perform certain useful tasks like crop harvesting and deconstruction, and will not level up their skill in various professions like an otherwise vulnerable child, but this is a small trade-off if they usually get kidnapped before maturing anyway. This is probably obvious, but make sure this room is guarded, otherwise it will turn into a Dwarf Orphanage (with Goblins and Minotaurs welcome!)

'''Difficulty:''' Low. With the invention of burrows, you can designate the Day Care to contain all children, so it is unnecessary to use suicide-booth-micromanagement to contain the children.

'''Usefulness:''' Low. Think of the children, they will grow up and enter adult Dwarf life completely unprepared for the [[Fun|things]] [[Dragon|that]] [[Hell|await]] them, having spent their entire lives coddled in a safe room. They might make good nobles however.

==Doberman Bomb==
Whenever a dog or cat gives birth, stuff all the kittens and puppies in one cage in your entryway. Link this cage to a pressure plate beside it. Should your last lines of defense be breached, goblins will step on it and in the next instant be torn apart by dozens of goblin-seeking hostiles and distracted by dozens of surplus targets. The trap actually going off will probably be very bad for your frame rate.

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium, potentially fortress-saving

*Bonus: Train all dogs inside as war dogs when they mature.

*DwarfBonus: Make it a bear trap.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Combine with a drowning chamber and carp trap.
*SadisticDwarfBonus: Make it a [[giant badger]] trap.
*YouHorribleEvilDwarfBonus: Make it a drowning trap with a [[giant sponge]].
*SomeDwarvesJustWantToWatchThe‼World‼Bonus: Make it a magma chamber with an undead giant sponge.

==Drowning Chamber==

'''Difficulty:''' Moderate.

'''Usefulness:''' You can kill prisoners, useless peasants, irate nobles, hammerers, untamable animals, or anything else. Just be ready for something that knows how to swim. Also useful for catching fishies. See [[drowning chamber]].

*Bonus: Utilize lava.

*Bonus: Utilize trained fish.

*MegaDwarfBonus: Edit the raw and do both!

==[[Computing|Dwarfputer]] Complex==
A big mess of [[fluid logic|fluid]], [[machine logic|machine]], and/or [[creature logic|creature]] logic full of hatches, floodgates, gears, pumps, etc. and powered by waterwheels, windmills, or useless idle dwarves. Hook it up to doors, bridges, and traps.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium to high, depending on what you want to build. You'll want to build for very high water flow if you have more than a few fluid gates.

'''Usefulness:''' Your mechanics and architects will level up very fast. Manual pumps give something for your haulers to do<s> and makes them stronger</s> (in 31.25 only military work increases stats, i was really disappointed after 4 years of nonstop pumping only to see weak in urist description). Try and make a clock to trigger different mechanisms in different seasons. See if enemies actually blunder into your intricate traps. Watch all hell break loose as water freezes and building destroyers enter your computer.

==Dwarven Apartment Complex==
Essentially, one of the many possible [[megaprojects]] dedicated to providing dwarves with rooms so high above the ground they get vertigo. Every floor must have plenty of rooms of at least 2x3 squares, with walls and a door surrounding this. Oh, and it has to go up as many Z-levels as possible. For extra credit, decide on what the top story will be (i.e. as many levels up as you deem possible, minus one so you can build a roof) and turn this into a Royal bedroom for a [[noble]], complete with gem windows, artifact/masterwork components, and untold numbers of armour stands and weapon racks. And then build some shorter but wider apartment buildings nearby to turn your fortress into essentially a giant fist with extended middle finger. Extra points for adding extra useless things for luxury, such as a magma-based heating system, fireplaces in rooms, and a lock-down lever in case of goblin attack. (or a self-destruct lever connected to the main supports, in case your dwarfish tenants are unsatisfied with your 5-star service).

'''Difficulty:''' Low, although the walls around the rooms can be a bit fiddly due to the impossibility of building walls on constructed floors (yes, an extra credit challenge is to do this without using Remove Construction).

'''Usefulness:''' Limited, because you could just dig the things underground and save yourself the hassle. However it is much harder to flood a tower than a cave, in case you're prone to fun by water. Additionally, if you have the time and resources to train a sizable force of marksdwarves, placing a few "security rooms" (with barracks, ammunition store, ration cache, armory, etc) at appropriate floors, complete with fortified balconies, will allow you to take advantage of the higher vantage point.

Megadwarfbonus: Extend the tower to have levels below ground as well as above.

==Dwarven Courtyards==

Dig large shafts [first dig the staircase to the desired depth, digging out the size you want the shaft to be on all layers. Channel the outer later, then install supports on the base floor. Link the support to a trigger, clear everyone out, destroy the remaining staircase and pull the trigger] then cover them in glass, creating an indoor but light area that will keep dwarves from being irritated and nauseated by the sun, also improving general happiness and allowing close proximity to caverns and magma.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium, make sure not to mess up or you will lose your miners

'''Usefullness:''' Medium. creates vertical circulation and brings light to lower levels.

Megadwarfbonus: Create a network of self sufficient communities per shaft, allowing them to be sectioned off in case of disaster. (I plan on colonizing hell eventually on this paradigm, creating a mining team of soldiers to extract, manufacture and ultimately use adamantine products without being connected to the main colony in order to take on the demons while keeping the rest of the burrow safe.)

==Dwarven Disco Ball==
Why waste all those cut gems on things that only some selfish noble will enjoy? Create as large a wall-less sphere as you can, then cover it in Gem Windows of 3 different-colored gems to make it shine! The bigger, and more valuable gems involved (e.g., [[ruby|rubies]], [[sapphire]]s, and [[emerald]]s, or colored diamonds if you're really masochistic), the dwarfier.

'''Difficulty:''' Constructing a sphere is very hard, especially the larger you make one. Gathering enough differently colored gems can also be very hard, depending on stone layers. Trading helps a lot.

'''Usefulness:''' Negative. More value can be created by encrusting furniture, and Gem Windows lack quality.

*Bonus: Alternating [[alunite]] and [[obsidian]] tiles to make a 'dance floor'.

*MegaDwarfBonus: Use lava contained in glass for illumination.

*UltraDwarfBonus: Caged "[[DF2012:Elf|dancers]]".

==Dwarven Labor Camp (aka Dwarkuta)==
Create an aboveground walled fortress in a freezing climate with guard towers, barracks, housing, and armories. Dig a long ramp downward and add a large mining network below the surface. Make some small military squads to guard the camp. Designate the lower levels as workshops, and when migrants arrive, assign them to the mines. Give the workers minimal food and only water (no booze, booze is for the hypocritical decadence of Dwarkuta's leaders). Have them haul the stone and metal they mine back to the surface and ship the raw materials off to the Motherland. Import only food, booze, weapons, fuel, and other necessities.

*Bonus: Build the giant digging machines. They don't actually have to dig anything.

*MegaBonus: Escape. Wait for a goblin siege, then get everyone underground and block the entrance. Let the goblins in. Wait a few months. The goblins are now the guards you must kill.

Step 1. Secure the keys: Make improvised weapons. If you have obsidian at your disposal, make rock short swords.

Step 2. Ascend from darkness: Get your dwarves out of the mines and into the camp.

Step 3. Rain fire: Use your imagination. Try using magma, if possible.

Step 4. Unleash the horde: Attack!

Step 5. Skewer the winged beast: If the goblins brought a giant bat or other flying creature, kill it.

*Bonus: Use a ballista.

Step 6. Wield a fist of iron: Break open the armory and equip your rebels with armor and weapons.

Step 7. Raise hell: Exactly what it says on the tin.

Step 8. Freedom!

*MegaDwarfBonus: In Adventure mode, try (and probably fail) to lead the prisoners to freedom.

==Dwarven Refrigerator==
Dig down to the 3rd cavern layer and harvest as many [[nether-cap]]s as you can. Make them all into barrels! Nether caps have the unique property of being 10000° Urist, which is 32°F or 0°C. Now your dwarves can enjoy their favorite alcohol, cheese, and plump helmets chilled to perfection! If you've set your population cap very low in the INIT files, caverns aren't extremely dangerous, but you should still be on the lookout for nasties down there. Remember to wall off your entrance to the cavern once you're finished.

'''Difficulty:''' Low to Medium

'''Usefulness:''' None except pretty colored barrels

*Bonus: Nether-caps are magma-resistant. Flood your food stocks with magma to keep them safe from vermin and marauders.

==Emergency Destruct Stairs==
A tall column of stairs plunging all the way down into the underdark, with a one-tile wide area of thin destructible floor all around it. In case of subterranean invasion, a thrown switch drops a stone O straight down, ringing the staircase and neatly severing all inter-level connections at a blow. Does with one lever and one support what would take dozens of bridges or hundreds of retracting grates.

'''Difficulty:''' Harder than it sounds.

'''Usefulness:''' Sometimes... sometimes they fly.

==Execution Tower==
Just a tall tower to chuck your captives to their deaths.

'''Difficulty:''' Easy.

'''Usefulness:''' Lets you dispose of prisoners, and claim expensive silk, meltable iron, and (eventually) useful bones. Also highly amusing.

==Flood the World==
'''Difficulty:''' High danger. Will kill your frame rate.

'''Usefulness:''' Will prevent any sieges, at least. Or anything else, save for the occasional invasion of sociopathic [[giant sponge]].

*Bonus: Use magma, just like [[Main:Boatmurdered|Boatmurdered]].

*MegaDwarfBonus: Use trained fish to kill off all creatures not of your colony.

==Gladiator Arena==
Station some soldiers at the bottom of a shallow [[Activity_zone#Pit/Pond|pit]] and dump your captives in. You can also use dangerous animals instead of soldiers. For extra points, put the prisoners in cages connected to ramps underneath the arena floor. One lever will open both the cage and a hatch above the ramp. Variant: build prisoner cages inside the arena, link to a lever outside the arena, lock the soldiers in, and then open the cages.

'''Difficulty:''' Low, but time consuming. Some danger depending on the relative skill of your soldiers and the danger of the captive. (If the prisoners have weapons, you can remove them by using {{k|d}}-{{k|b}}-{{k|d}} to dump the cage and its contents, then looking at and undumping the cages themselves with {{k|k}}-{{k|d}}).

'''Usefulness:''' Low to High, depending on how long your soldiers can draw out the execution. Equipping your soldiers with wooden training weapons can greatly increase the fun (and/or [[Fun]] if their armor isn't as good as you thought).

*Dwarf Bonus: Losers get incinerated by Magma.
*Mega Dwarf Bonus: Use your arena as a "trial by fire" for migrants.

==Glass Ceiling==
Sick of having your dwarves vomit all the time when they go out to retrieve loot or lumber? Despair no more! Build an almost-infinitely tall tower, and then put a glass floor on the highest level, spanning the entire map. For extra kicks, make a mechanism that will crash the entire thing upon the heads of the one goblin horde that manages to get through all your other deathtraps.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Very grueling.

'''Usefulness:''' Low, but potentially fortress-saving. (see above)

*Politically Incorrect Dwarf Bonus: Make it a metaphorical [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_ceiling glass ceiling] and give migrants and women less pay and poorer rooms.

==Greenhouse==
A [[farming|greenhouse]] is just a farm with the the ceiling channeled out from above. This lets you grow outdoor plants without venturing above ground. For maximum style, build the greenhouse above ground and cover it with a glass roof to keep your farmers safe.

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. Surface plants can be grown at any time of the year, and some are more useful than those available underground - for example, [[sun berry|sun berries]] can be brewed into valuable [[Sunshine]], and [[whip vine]]s can be milled into superior quality flour. Having greater food and booze diversity can also keep your dwarves happier.

*Bonus: Give it a glass floor to allow surface plants even lower down.

==Hammer of [[Armok]]==
A gigantic hammer made out of pure steel and/or valuables looming over your fortress entrance ready to smite those foolish enough to lay a siege on you. Also gives you a psychological advantage over the traders who unload their goods under it. Attach to a lever-linked support for quick-smiting.

'''Difficulty:''' Low. Depends on size and materials, though. Make it a gold hammer menacing with adamantine spikes, if you're going for high quality.

'''Usefulness:''' Low-medium. 10x10 size is minimum for practical effectiveness. 30x30 attached to a handle extending from your entrance actually works against sieges.

* '''Bonus:''' Cover it with blood.

* '''Mega Bonus:''' Cover it in [[DF2012:Demon|clown]] blood.

* '''Mega Bonus:''' Make it hollow and fill it with Magma

==Ice tower==

Building a huge tower is easy. To make things more [[fun]], make one out of some exotic material, like [[glass]], [[ice]], [[gold]], or [[soap]].

'''Difficulty:''' Low. You need to be on a freezing map to pull off an ice tower.

'''Usefulness:''' Depends entirely on you.

==Journey to the Center of the Earth==

Construct a sturdy vessel hanging over the top of a magma pipe or volcano, outfitted with everything your intrepid crew might need for their journey of exploration - food, booze, sleeping quarters and a bridge a must, but depending on the amount of effort it can include other items such as a recreation deck, water reservoir and trade depot for dealing with the natives. When all is ready, lock the explorers inside and send them on their way. Bonus points if you can detach it from inside so you can use it in Adventure mode later.

'''Difficulty:''' Moderate to High, depending on the size of the ship. For bonus points, carve the entire thing out of existing rock overhanging a magma pipe and engrave it with messages. Burrows help to get the whole crew inside at the same time.

'''Usefulness:''' Negative. For some reason, no explorers have returned. Of course, if you select only the [[Nobles |Best and Brightest]] for the ship's crew...

*MegaDwarfBonus: Design it so that it can return.
(NOTE: I am very curious as to how this can be done, even with dwarven technology)

==Maze==

A maze of twisty little passages, all alike. [[Trap]]s and dangerous animals are essential. You can have a retracting bridge drop invaders in, or just have a labyrinth as a back door.

'''Difficulty:''' It's a lot of mining. Having a bridge drop invaders inside is more difficult, but more useful. You can also use the free maze-generating program Daedalus, available [http://www.astrolog.org/labyrnth/daedalus.htm here] if you're too lazy to come up with your own.

'''Usefulness:''' It makes a nice element of fortress defense, and you can dump your prisoners inside it. Also makes a great place to explore in [[adventure mode]].

*Bonus: Generate a world with large mountain [[cave]]s. Instead of using the labyrinth as your backdoor, use it as your fortress.
*Bonus: Release a live caged [[minotaur]] into the maze.
*MegaBonus: Make it three-dimensional and [http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/maze/design/index.htm#uni unicursal].

==Magma Chamber==
'''Difficulty:''' Dangerous as any magma project.

'''Usefulness:''' It's like a drowning chamber, but any non-iron items carried by the victim will be destroyed. Depending on your style of play, this may be a good thing.

==Magma Cannon==
[http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=33837.0 It can be done!] It uses a row of pumps to pressurize the magma in a chamber with only one exit. When the floodgate opens, the magma flies out a short distance.

'''Difficulty:''' Very high. You need [[metal]] (or [[glass]]) [[screw pump]]s to make it work, [[magma-safe]] floodgates and mechanisms, plus a big above-ground construction.

'''Usefulness:''' Marginal. But very cool.

==Magma Highway==
Magma moves across the map annoyingly slowly, due to its thickness and lack of pressure. But a tunnel several Z-levels high, with magma entering at the top, will flow much faster because the magma's '''falling''' in, not flowing in, and can expand on either Z-level before falling down.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Not hard to make, but cutting open a multi-Z magmafall is [[fun]].

'''Usefulness:''' Medium.

==Magma Mausoleum==
This trick involves dripping water on to the middle of a magma pool until you have a column of obsidian, then channeling down into the obsidian ''more than'' one Z level, and putting a burial receptacle there. This probably won't work in magma tubes or Volcanos since the created obsidian would fall into the bottomless pit. The trick is getting the water to fall onto the magma in a controlled manner.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Requires certain resources from the start, plus lots of setup. And your dwarves tend to erupt into dwarf steam occasionally.

'''Usefulness:''' None, since an obsidian lined room with the exact same furniture somewhere else will please your nobles just as much.

*Bonus:Put the coffin at least 20 floors down.
*Megabonus:Build it in a volcano if possible, and put the coffin at the very bottom of the map

==Mass Cage Recycling System==

Build a '''[[Mass pitting]]''' system to recycle your cage trap cages quickly.

'''Difficulty:''' Very easy. Requires basic digging and very little time.

'''Usefulness:''' Very. Keeps you from having to build cages before releasing monsters from them. With six hatches you can safely empty out 48 cages very quickly. You can build lots of cage traps without having to worry about emptying each cage individually.

*Bonus: Cover the floor of your pit with cage traps, creating a neverending cycle and giving your dwarves something to do during the long harsh summer when going outside is overly taxing on their stomachs.
*Concentration Camp Bonus: Combine with Pit of Doom below.

==Mega/Water Drowning Trap-Thing==
This is basically a channel above some pressurized water with a short tunnel leading to a door. The door needs to be connected to a lever somewhere in a safe part of the fortress. Position the door facing the main stairs into your fortress (for multiple stairs use multiple traps). When enemies come down the stairs, pull the lever and make them drown. (It helps to seal off the rooms).

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Needs flowing water under pressure and levers.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. Depends on the size of your fortress/defences/amount of attackers. Works well with fire creatures to create a sauna.

==Monumental Statue==

'''Difficulty:''' Depends on how big you want the statue to be. If you are feeling really masochistic, cast it out of obsidian using magma and water.

'''Usefulness:''' None.

*Bonus: Make the statue hollow and have dwarves live inside it.

==Moses Effect==
With enough pumps, you can pull water out of a square faster than it flows in. This can create a reverse waterfall, or a dry spot in the middle of a flowing river. The effect is like Moses parting the Red Sea.

'''Difficulty:''' Surprisingly easy.

'''Usefulness:''' You can use this trick to create a waterfall or drowning chamber. It is also important if you want to pass through an [[Aquifer]], although that is far more difficult. The same trick can be used in lieu of a drawbridge, although its practicality as compared to the drawbridge is highly questionable.

==[[Obsidian]] factory==
You need one reservoir of water, and one of magma. Mix, cool, mine, and repeat as necessary.

* Megadwarf bonus: Make the system fully automated using [[computing]] principles.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium.

'''Usefulness:''' Obsidian is 50% more valuable than [[flux]] and 3 times as valuable as ordinary stone, making it ideal for your [[mason]]s and [[stone crafter]]s. Done properly, it can also serve as a magma chamber ''and'' a drowning chamber.

==Pit o' Doom==
Combine with an Execution Tower for maximum z-level executions! Traps which menace with spikes are a must.

'''Difficulty:''' Low. You want it nice and deep though.

'''Usefulness:''' Dispose of prisoners, execute nobles, gruesome fatal injuries, laugh maniacally.

==Pressure Washer==
A huge tower with floodgates at the bottom on one side. When opened, the pressurized water fires out and pushes anything in the way of the flow away. Depending on size, can be surprisingly powerful. You can see an example tower [http://mkv25.net/dfma/map-7485-griffonwind here.]

'''Difficulty:''' Medium, construction technique takes some consideration.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium-High. Tested in version .40d with 50 recruits standing in front of it when the floodgates opened, killed 46 of them, including ones not pushed into the pit.

*Bonus: Fill it with Magma instead (though Magma doesn't pressurize).

==Rehabilitation Centre==
Had any problems with dwarves charging brainlessly towards the enemy, getting slaughtered, and then starting a tantrum spiral that will destroy your fortress? Turn your prison into a luxurious room full of things that make dwarves happy. Add artifact furniture, beds, a booze stockpile, chains made of gold (or anything valuable,) a waterfall, creatures in cages, etc. Hopefully they will return to society as a happy, productive dwarf.

'''Difficulty:''' Low-Medium. Acquiring valuable items and setting up the waterfall can be annoying sometimes. Also you need guards to actually put them in jail. And it can be a real pain when those ungrateful sobs destroy the nice furniture you give them.

'''Usefulness:''' High. A tantrum spiral can quickly turn a productive fort of 200+ dwarves into a rioting fortress inhabited by a bunch of insane, miserable dwarves who spend their time punching people and breaking furniture. Don't let it happen to you.

MegaDwarfBonus: Points for making every other dwarf drink water and sleep on cheap beds.

==Road of the Damned==
Create a giant channel filled with spike traps, 10 tiles wide and going all the way from your fort to the map edge. Pave it over with crystal glass so traders can get that foreboding feeling that'll make them seal the deal without bargaining too hard!

'''Difficulty:''' Low-mid, depending on the rarity of crystal glass.

'''Usefulness:'''Low. The same as a normal road.

*Bonus: Spike a goblin on every trap!

==Sectorized World==
Divide the world edges into multiple sectors and then gate access to each one separately. This allows you to protect your fortress from seiges whilst keeping access to most of the outside world and allowing most traders into and out of the fortress (those unfortunate enough to enter the world from the same direction as the seigers may be screwed, of course). For bonus points, build separate gateable access routes for each sector. For further bonus points, design your fortress so that you can simultaneously allow access to traders ''at the same time'' as seigers are exposed to your defensive mechanisms.

'''Difficulty:''' Low, unless you allow separate access routes for each sector in which case high.

'''Usefulness:''' Moderate, increasing with each bonus you fill. Mostly for those who want to build the best possible defenses. Can also double as a means of easily trapping wild animals.

==Self-contained Vampire-based Factory==
Take advantage of the independence of vampires by building a self-contained factory. The best industries are those that require no special raw materials-- a factory containing both a magma glass furnace and a sand tile, for instance, would work well, as would a clay industry, but if you're feeling ambitious, consider building a vampire into your [[giant cave spider|GCS]] silk farm-- if you happen to have scored an [[undead]] GCS, your vampire won't even spook! You can treat your factory as a piggy bank to be broken into as needed, or for perfect fire-and-forget action, build a dropping [[User:Vasiln/Undump|undump]] into the factory, and the vampire will deliver the output to your front door.

'''Difficulty:''' The only hard part is getting yourself a [[vampire]].

'''Usefulness:''' Depends on how many green glass blocks you plan on using.

==Self Destruct Lever==
A mechanism that, for example, could flood your fort with magma, or release a trapped megabeast. For bonus points, build the whole fort on a single [[support]].

'''Difficulty:''' Very high. Extremely fun.

'''Usefulness:''' Could serve as kind of a last revenge on a goblin siege, but also highly amusing. If done properly it can make reclaim easier.

'''DorfBonus:''' Make it have a timer before your fortress self destructs. You can do this with a water channel, or if you're particularly technical, make a [[Computing|seven segment display]].

==Steamed Vegetables==
Make a pot and drop <s>elves</s> vegetables in from about three levels up. This makes it so the vegetables do not <s>run</s> get overcooked.
Proceed to bask the vegetables in boiling water.

'''Difficulty''': Medium. Can be annoying to boil some water.

'''Usefulness''': Great way to make friends with the merchants.

'''MegaDwarfBonus''': Add <s>goblins</s> seasoning.

'''ArmokDoubleBonus''': Use magma gas.

==Shark Catcher==
Capture of sharks or other dangerous fish achieved by making an artificial bay, filling it with cage traps, opening the floodgate to the sea or river and some sort of drainage system, likely pumps and/or floodgates

'''Difficulty''' low to medium as drowning while setting up is very possible with bad planning.

'''Usefulness''' low, purely aesthetic, but very cool to have a shark infested moat.

0= wall
X= floodgate c= cage trap Lower room is the draining chamber

00000
0cccX
00X00
0 0
0 0
00000

==[[Swimming]] pool==
It's a reservoir that fills to 4/7 exactly. Station soldiers inside, lock them in, and fill. This way they gain [[swimming]] skill.

'''Difficulty:''' Low. It's just a pair of reservoirs.

'''Usefulness:''' The swimming skill is only slightly useful. This is most useful if the entrance to your fort has narrow walkways/moats surrounded by water, and you station your soldiers there. It does help gain attributes though. Though if you utilize a '''H'''ydraulic '''E'''levation and '''L'''owering '''P'''latform, this is a priceless necessity.

==Underground Forest==
Break into an underground cavern, make some muddy floors over a big area and wait.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium - need to dig out a suitably large area, then find a way of introducing water to the area and subsequently draining or evaporating it.

'''Usefulness:''' Depends on size (bigger is better) as well as proximity to wood stockpiles. A tree farm outside the caverns can grow trees from all 3 layers, and you'll never have to worry about hostile creatures threatening your wood cutters.

==Underground Perpetual Motion Power Plant==
Combine with a use for the power and you either have an awesome setup, or a ticking time bomb.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Maintaining the correct water level is annoying difficult at times. Note: Incredibly easy with an aquifer.

'''Usefulness:''' Depends on size of plant and what it's connected to. Also useful as a puzzle for adventurers.

==Underwater Statue room==
A simple room filled with statues that just also happens to be flooded. Simply dig a room near to a water source smooth and engrave the walls and floors than fill with statues. Dig a tunnel to the water source and a separate escape route. seal both off with floodgates pull the levers in the right order and bam! underwater statue room. For added effect make the meeting room a room directly above with a glass floor.

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

'''Usefulness:''' Absolutely positively none.

*Bonus: Build it on area with trees and shrubs; make walls from ice or use windows; fill it with fish and merfolk; now you'll get a big aquarium

*Note: It doesn't count if you accidentally flood your fortress and wind up with one of these. It does count if one of your nobles has an unfortunate accident in their sculpture garden.

==U.R.I.S.T. Artificial Intelligence==
Basically, a dwarf in a bunker that controls your fortress. Being that there are no supercomputers in DF at the moment, we'll have to use the closest substitute, a dwarf. Seal your dwarf in a room full of levers that activate various floodgates, bridges, doors, hatch covers, traps, etc. Make sure this room has no exits or entrances, but it needs a luxurious bedroom and dining area, and you must include a chute for dropping in <s>food</s> biomass and <s>alcohol</s> coolant fluid. Profile the levers so that they can only be used by the A.I. dwarf.

It would be a good idea to make the system into two rooms. The food/drink/bed room and the lever room. Should you need to add more levers, you can lock the A.I. dwarf outside the lever room and have your mechanics set up more levers without interacting with or releasing the A.I.

You can make the lodging room suited for the particular dwarf by adding furniture made from their favorite materials, and smoothing and engraving everything. Use quantum stockpiling to give them 10+ years of food and drink. Make sure the A.I. is unable to communicate with other dwarves. His/her mood must not be affected by the deaths of the walking meat-bags who tried to befriend him/her.

In order to ensure that your A.I. doesn't find sleep interfering with crucial lever pulling, you might consider incorporating an alarm clock. If a goblin siege turns up on your doorstep, a single external lever to dump 7/7 of water on the sleeping A.I. might well save your fortress (and is so much cooler than having backup levers in your meeting hall).

You must also make a snazzy/lame acronym name for your AI, here are some examples:
*U.R.I.S.T. - '''U'''nderground '''R'''easonably '''I'''ntelligent '''S'''ettlement '''T'''echnologist
*H.A.L. - '''H'''airy '''A'''lternate '''L'''ifeform
*D.O.S. - '''D'''warf '''O'''perating '''S'''ystem
*N.O.B.L.E. - '''N'''arcissistic '''O'''bnoxious '''B'''oastful '''L'''aughable '''E'''xcrement
*M.A.G.M.A. - '''M'''assively '''A'''lcoholic '''G'''ear-'''M'''achine '''A'''ssembly
*A.R.M.O.K. - '''A'''ll-'''R'''eaching '''M'''achine '''O'''f '''K'''illing
*A.S.S. - '''A'''lmost-autonomous '''S'''ystems '''S'''elector
*D.I.E.D. - '''D'''edicated '''I'''rrigation and '''E'''verything else '''D'''warf(s)
*D.O.R.F. - '''D'''oes '''O'''rders '''R'''ather '''F'''ast
*G.L.A.D.O.S. - '''G'''enetic '''L'''ifeform and '''D'''warf '''O'''perating '''S'''ystem
*P.O.T.A.T.O. - '''P'''ossibly '''O'''rganic '''T'''echnically '''A'''live '''T'''rash '''O'''mitted
*D.O.M.E.S. - '''D'''warf '''O'''perated '''M'''echanics and '''E'''ngineering '''S'''ystem
*V.O.D.A.P.H.O.N.E. - '''V'''ampire '''O'''perated '''D'''efence '''A'''pparatus, '''P'''erpetrating '''H'''arm '''O'''f '''N'''efarious '''E'''ntities (See Bonus for more information)


'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Setting up all the levers and lodgings can be a micromanagement hassle. Further research is required as to how well the A.I. will fit into a dwarven economy.

'''Usefulness:''' High. Having a dwarf dedicated to pulling levers will ensure that they are pulled on time. Additionally, you will have a constantly-ecstatic dwarf who is virtually invulnerable to all threats. Should your fortress be slaughtered by invaders or drowned by flooding or tantrum spiraled, your fortress will be preserved until more migrants arrive, or the AI runs out of food.

Bonus: Make the A.I. dwarf a vampire. Vampires don't need food, alcohol, or sleep and cannot age, which makes them perfect for the job. As an added bonus, keeping a vampire in this way will make your fortress completely indestructible, as sealing him in will prevent the possibility of the vampire of being killed in combat or from a syndrome, while keeping the vampire from making friends he will inevitably outlive will prevent him from going insane. (It also ensures that the bloodsucker won't use any of your dwarves as a midnight snack.)

===D.O.S.T.N.G.O.S.P.===

Dwarven Organic Switch Toggle, Neutered Gastrectomied Overpersistent Sober Prisoner. Goblins have several advantages over dwarves in the lever pulling department: they live forever, do not breed or tantrum, and need not eat, drink, or sleep. Seal one or more goblins in your supercomputer complex, and use their predictable pathing in combination with instantly lockable doors and pressure plates to make dwarven lever pulling a thing of an older, less advanced era.

Also known by several product names:
*G.O.B.L.I.N.A.T.O.R. - '''G'''oblin '''O'''perated '''B'''astion of '''L'''ogic to '''I'''nfalliably '''N'''eutralize '''A'''ntiquated '''T'''ypes of '''O'''perational '''R'''egimes

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. While goblin pressure plate runners require more space than dwarven lever pullers, once their room is set up, it's done, and easily copied for the next one. With only one goblin, you'll need a pressure plate for every possible combination of lever states, but it's easy to add more goblins instead.

'''Usefulness:''' High. Instant response time (<50 ticks is possible) can make lever worries a thing of the past. The G.O.B.L.I.N.A.T.O.R. requires absolutely no maintenance once set up. Unlike with the U.R.I.S.Ts of the previous generation, modern POW-based computing is never held hostage to eating, drinking, or breaks. Stay tuned for the next-generation C.A.C.A.M.E.!

==Vomitorium==
Prevents [[cave adaptation]]. It's like the greenhouse, only instead of a farm, it's a [[meeting hall]] or [[barracks]]. Since you can't build [[table]]s or [[bed]]s outside, build the room and [[channel]] down to it. Variant: above-ground statue garden or zoo.

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

'''Usefulness:''' Low. Make sure to wall the pit in or it will become very [[Fun]] once [[goblin]] archers become involved.

==Watervator==
By creating a vertical "'''H'''ydraulic '''E'''levation and '''L'''owering '''P'''latform" chamber, or HELP (so named for the cries of the passenger dwarf) with lever controlled water levels, you can move a dwarf up several z-levels without any stairs. All it takes is the dwarf's ability to swim up to the surface of the water to breathe.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Moderate possibility of Fun by way of flooding your fortress. Any dwarves that can't swim will instead experience Fun when using the Watervator. The actual construction time and resource usage is very low. Using the Watervator often leads to unhappy thoughts about drowning

'''Usefulness:''' Low to Medium. The Watervator requires manual micromanaging, while stairs do not. On the other hand, it can be used to create a pathway that most <s>Dwarves</s> enemies will simply be unable to use. Those that can would still be doing so at great risk of drowning or falling to their death. It is recommend that with the exception of the entrance you use stairs.

*Bonus: Utilize vampires (who can't drown).
*MegaDwarfBonus: Utilize trained fish.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Engineer it so that it performs a full cycle on one activation of a pressure plate and include that pressure plate as a part of the patrol route, then create a reverse Watervator and also include it as a part of same patrol route, so that your militia automatically uses it to get in and out the fortress.

{{Category|Design}}

User:Matthewbarr

2012-11-06T14:46:11Z

Emufarmers: by request

Now I have a user page!

v0.34:Quickstart guide

2012-11-02T22:37:06Z

Emufarmers: Seems kind of unnecessary

{{quality|Exceptional|18:27, 29 April 2012 (UTC)}}{{av}}

<div style="font-size:120%">
:''This is a quickstart guide for [[Dwarf fortress mode]] for those who have never played before who quickly want to jump in head-first.''
:''If you are looking to learn adventure mode instead, see the [[Adventure mode quick start]] guide.''
</div>
<div style="font-size:120%">
:'''''Also see [[Tutorials]] for more detailed tutorials that people have submitted.'''''
</div>
{{TipBox2|float=right|Before you get started...|Always remember that '''losing is [[fun]]!''' Be prepared to lose a few fortresses before you get all the way through this guide – it can be easy to accidentally kill the entire fortress while learning. 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.}}

So, you want to play '''Dwarf Fortress''', but you have no idea what to do. That's understandable; in Dwarf Fortress you can really do anything you like. It is a huge, complex, and totally open-ended game. But in order to do anything, first you need a sustainable fortress. It turns out that this is not as hard as you might think.

As this article doesn't always contain the exact key sequences needed to do everything described, you will likely need to refer to the [[Dwarf fortress mode|Fortress Mode Reference Guide]] and the rest of the wiki while reading this.

[[File:FlowchartDF.png|thumb|500px|right|[[From Caravan to Happy Dwarves]] - This is a flowchart showing approximately what sequence of actions players usually take when starting up a new fort. Feel free to ignore it if you want. It's not necessary to refer to this to understand the rest of the guide, but by the time you finish the guide it will probably all make sense.]]

__TOC__

= Common UI Concepts =

{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Keeping Up|While the guide contains many links, you may still need to look something up. Refer to the [[Dwarf fortress mode|Fortress Mode Reference Guide]] or use the wiki [[Special:Search|search]] function. Also, don't hesitate to [[Main:Troubleshooting|ask for help]] if you can't find answers on the wiki.}}
{{KeyConventions}}

=World Generation=

The first thing you will need to do is [[World generation|generate a new world]]. Unlike many games, the world that your game takes place in will always be procedurally randomly generated by you or someone else. There is no "default" or "standard" world.

Luckily the basic version of this process is rather simple, and doesn't usually take too long unless your computer is a bit outdated.

{{TipBox2|titlebg=#00a|Starting World|
For your first game, [[World generation|generate a new world]] using the {{DFtext|Create New World!}} option in the main menu with the following options:

* {{DFtext|World Size}} is {{DFtext|Medium|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|History}} is {{DFtext|Short|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Number of Civilizations}} is {{DFtext|Medium|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Number of Sites}} is {{DFtext|Medium|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Number of Beasts}} is {{DFtext|Medium|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Natural Savagery}} is {{DFtext|Very Low|3:1}}

* {{DFtext|Mineral Occurrence}} is {{DFtext|Frequent|3:1}}

This should help to avoid difficulties.
}}

= Pre-Embark =

:''Also see: [[Embark]]''

'''Embarking''' is the process of choosing a site, outfitting your initial dwarves, and sending them on their way.

Select {{DFtext|Start Playing}} from the main menu, then select {{DFtext|Dwarf Fortress}}.

The map you see on the right is the '''World Map''' which will show you the whole world. The one in the middle is the '''Region Map''' which will show you a zoomed-in view of the part of the world indicated by the cursor in the world map. The '''Local Map''' on the left will show a zoomed-in view of the part of the region indicated by the cursor in the region map. In the local map area there will be a highlighted embark region that you can move around with {{K|u}} {{K|m}} {{K|k}} {{K|h}}. This highlighted square is what will become your play area after you embark. Use {{k|↑}} {{k|↓}} {{k|←}} {{k|→}} to move the region and world cursors around. Hold down {{K|Shift}} while doing this to move more rapidly.

== Choosing a Good Site ==

Choosing a good embark site is crucial for beginners. Advanced players can create a functional fortress on a glacier, but for now, lets stick to dwarf (and newbie) friendly environments. You will want to look for certain features in your initial embark site that will make your first fort much easier to manage.

{{TipBox2|titlebg=#00a|Starting Site|
[[File:Quickstart-good-location.png|thumb|300px|right|An example of a good starting site.]]
For your first game, find a site with the following properties:
*'''NO [[Aquifer]]''' (This is '''''very''''' important!)
*'''Trees:''' Forested or Heavily Forested
*'''Temperature:''' Warm
*'''Surroundings:''' Calm or at least '''not''' Sinister, Haunted, or Terrifying
*'''Clay or Soil''' is important to make farming easier when starting out
*'''Shallow Metals''' (That's Metals, plural, not Metal. You want more than one.)
*A '''River''' if possible
*'''Deep Metal(s)''' if possible
*'''Flux Stone''' if possible

You may want to use the {{K|f}}ind tool to help you find a site. You may find it easier to put only some of the criteria into the tool (at the very least, No Aquifer). Once the find tool has finished running, the general areas which it has found will be indicated by flashing characters on the map.

Notes about find tool:
"Calm" is classified as Medium Evil, Low Savagery. (See [[Surroundings#Combinations_of_surroundings|the chart here]] for why.) The find tool will also only indicate a general area so you will still need to check the attributes manually by moving between flashing regions and by moving around in each one until you find the most suitable site.

The find tool may take 1-2 minutes to run, when it's done, '''be sure to press {{K|ESC}} to look around at the different sites it returns''' (look for flashing Xs on the world map). As you move your yellow X over the flashing suggested sites, the info bar on the right will tell you soil, minerals, aquifer, etc. Choose the one that looks best to you!

Your site may have multiple biomes overlapping it. If so make sure to press {{K|F1}}, {{K|F2}}, etc, to take a look at all of them. They may each have significantly different characteristics.

See '''[[/Starting site|Starting site]]''' for more info on why these characteristics are important.}}

Press {{K|e}} to embark once you're sure you have the right area highlighted on the local map.

== Skills and Equipment ==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Optional: Preparing Carefully|If, at this point, you'd like to get into all of the details of picking individual skills and equipment for your expedition, select {{DFtext|Prepare for the journey carefully}} and see '''[[v0.31:Quickstart_guide/Preparing_carefully|Preparing carefully]]''' for instructions. '''This is completely optional.'''}}

Now the '''Prepare for the Journey''' screen should appear. You will be given the choice to either:
*{{DFtext|Play Now!}}
*{{DFtext|Prepare for the journey carefully}}.

Selecting {{DFtext|Play Now!}} will start you out with a default set of equipment that is reasonably safe, allowing you to skip having to set up your skills and equipment. If you'd like to get going now, just select that option.

=A Minimal Fortress=
[[File:Quickstart-map-starting.png|thumb|right|Starting out. In this example the dwarves will be digging out an entrance tunnel in the sandy cliff on the right. (You can use {{K|Tab}} to show or hide the overview map.)]]

At this point you have embarked and your dwarves have arrived at their destination. You will see your dwarves clustered around their wagon full of supplies somewhere near the center of your map. '''Immediately hit {{K|Space}} to pause the game''' unless it is already paused.

==Surveying the Area==
'''Do not unpause the game just yet.''' Take a look around. Use the {{K|k}} command and the arrow keys. Look up and down a few [[z-level]]s with {{K|<}} and {{K|>}}. Place the cursor on various tiles to familiarize yourself with what the symbols mean. If you get lost, you can press {{K|F1}} to return to the wagon. (You can define more [[hotkeys]] later, to jump quickly to other sites of interest.)

Notice the terrain features, the vegetation, and any minerals visible. If you chose a site with flowing water, where is it? What about pools of water? The more carefully you examine your site before breaking ground, the better off you will be.

Remember that this is more of a simulation than a game. It is not "play balanced", and you can very easily find yourself in impossible situations. That is all part of the [[fun]] because even when you lose, you create an interesting story.

Your wagon serves as the initial meeting area for your dwarves. Since you should have started in a non-freezing, calm (low savagery), non-evil biome, you shouldn't face any immediate danger, but if for some reason the area around your wagon proves to be unsafe, immediately designate another meeting zone using {{K|i}} (see ''Temporary Meeting Area'' below).

==Controlling Your Dwarves==
The first thing to keep in mind is that, for the most part, you can't directly control your dwarves the way you control characters in a typical fantasy RPG. Instead, you '''designate''' things that need to be done and then dwarves with the appropriate labor assignments will decide what to start working on based on a set of largely hard-coded priorities.

For example, if a dwarf needs to eat then he will go eat and only get around to digging a tunnel once he is done eating. It is also possible to designate things that no dwarf is able to do. For example, if you designate an area to mine but no dwarf has mining as one of his allowed labors or no dwarf has a pickaxe then the mining will never get done, and the game will not always advise you of why.

So what you are doing throughout the game is essentially giving your dwarves a detailed group-wide to-do list, but it's up to them to figure out which one of them will execute any given task if the task is even possible. Often many of the details of how a task is performed (such as exactly which rock will be used to make crafts) are left up to them.

==Strike The Earth!==
Generally, you will want to get all your dwarves and supplies inside a protected area as quickly as possible. So the first thing you will do is {{K|d}}esignate some areas to "mine".

Decide where you will build your main entrance. The best thing to do is just put it near your wagon to make it faster and less work to haul all of your supplies inside.

To designate an area for digging:
#Hit {{K|d}} to bring up the [[Designations Menu]].
#Hit {{K|d}} again to select Mine. (Note: Dwarves mine horizontally, not downwards. Use Channel instead if you want to dig down.)
#Place the cursor on one corner of the rectangular area you want to designate and press {{K|Enter}}.
#Move the cursor to the other corner of the rectangle and press {{K|Enter}}. A rectangle will be highlighted and a miner dwarf will start to dig out this area once you exit the menu (with {{K|Esc}}) and unpause the game with {{K|Space}}.

This is basically how all of the designation commands work. Everything has to be designated one rectangle at a time, but rectangles can also be one tile wide, or just one single tile.

If your wagon is near a [[cliff]], you can just designate a tunnel to mine ({{K|d}}-{{K|d}}) into the cliff to create an entryway. If you are on flat land with no cliff near the wagon, [[channel]] out a small rectangle (perhaps 3x3) on the surface with {{K|d}}-{{K|h}} to create a sort of pit with ramps on the edges, then go down one z-level with {{K|>}} and tunnel into the wall of the pit to create your entry. (Think of this as creating your own cliff, with the inside wall of the pit being the "cliff".)

Dig a hallway one tile wide and ''at least'' 10 long, ideally more like 20. This will be your entryway.

Your entryway defines the boundary between your safe and protected inner fort, and the big bad outside world. You want this to be your only entrance so that you only have to worry about defending this one opening.

A guide to starting a fortress can be found [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLYDcuk29bE&feature=plcp here]

==Delving Secure Lodgings==
[[File:Quickstart-level0.png|thumb|right|Level 0: This is the ground level which we'll call "level 0". The entrance tunnel is on the left where the refuse and wood stockpiles are partially visible. Inside are the general storage area, trade depot, stairwell, and farm plot.]]
Near the beginning of the entryway, build a 5x5 room, and link it to the entrance tunnel with a 3-wide passageway. From the link to the opening, extend the entrance tunnel to a 3-wide tunnel. At the end of the entrance tunnel, dig a 3x3 room, which will later become your main stairwell. Two tiles away from that, dig an 11x11 room, which will later become your general stockpile, and connect it to the stairwell with a 1-wide passageway.

Don't make any of these rooms too big or your miner will take forever to dig the rooms out, especially if he is digging in stone instead of soil. (Digging through soil is much faster.) You may want to designate one room at a time, then wait for it to be mined out before designating the next room.

=== Stockpiles ===
[[File:Quickstart-custom-stockpile.png|right|thumb|Keep corpses, refuse, stone and wood out of general use stockpiles. You can come back and change the settings on this stockpile using {{K|q}}, selecting the stockpile, then pressing {{K|s}}. Try to remember to come back here to disable/forbid types of things as you create more specific stockpiles for them.]]
'''Stockpiles''' are very important. These areas are where your dwarves will drop things for storage when they aren't needed elsewhere. To create a '''general purpose stockpile''' for your first storage area:
#Hit {{K|p}} to open the Stockpiles menu.
#Use {{K|t}} to change the [[Stockpile#Custom_stockpiles|custom stockpile]] settings to {{K|e}}nable everything but '''Corpses''', '''Refuse''', '''Stone''', '''Gems''', and '''Wood'''. Use directional keys, {{K|e}}nable, {{K|d}}isable to do this.
#{{k|Esc}} out of that screen back to the stockpiles menu.
#Hit {{K|c}} to select Custom Stockpile.
#Designate the whole 11x11 storage room as a custom stockpile. This works just like designating an area to dig: place the cursor on one corner of the room, hit {{K|Enter}}, move to the opposite corner, and hit {{K|Enter}} again.
#Press {{K|Esc}} to get out of the Stockpiles menu.
Once you exit the stockpiles menu you should see dwarves running off to haul everything from your wagon into the new stockpile area. Later you can change what sort of things the stockpile accepts by hitting {{K|q}} (Set Building Tasks/Prefs), placing the cursor on the stockpile, then pressing {{K|s}} to get to the stockpile settings.

It is particularly important to '''keep wood, stone, refuse, and corpses out of your general purpose stockpile''', so you may want to double check to make sure all of these things are disabled in the stockpile settings. Failure to keep these things out of this stockpile will cause problems.

Note- When assigning stockpiles, you should make sure they're in a vacant area. IE; the tiles should only "contain" the ground. Dwarves will not haul stuff to filled tiles, so make sure the area is vacant (Assign the area for dump) before assigning a stockpile.

=== Stairways ===
Designate a Downward Stairway in the middle of your 3x3 room with {{K|d}}-{{K|j}}. Notice that after your miner digs the stairway, it doesn't automatically create another stairway on the z-level below. If you hit {{K|>}} to move the view down a z-level you'll see that there's no stairway below, but there is a revealed tile of rock/soil. Because of the down stairway that was dug, this tile is now accessible to miners. You can then designate an Up/Down Stairway on it with {{K|d}}-{{K|i}} and the miner dwarf will dig it out. Below that you can then dig out another up/down stairway and so on. For now just dig down one level; we will deepen the stairwell later.

==Stout Labor==
'''Labors''' are how you control what types of tasks a dwarf will do. For example, if the Fishing labor is enabled for a dwarf, that dwarf is allowed to engage in fishing.

When dwarves are idle, it could be because you haven't given them anything to do, or it could be because none of the idle dwarves have been told that they're allowed to do the types of tasks you've designated. For example, if you designate an area to mine, but none of the dwarves have the mining labor enabled, they will all just sit around ignoring your mining designation thinking that it isn't their job.

Dwarves will automatically have some labors enabled if they start out with skill in those labors, and some labors (such as hauling and cleaning) are enabled for all dwarves by default. This is why you didn't need to enable any labors on dwarves to get them to haul and mine, but later you may need a labor that no dwarf is currently capable of.

{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#aa0|Dwarf Therapist|You may have noticed that the UI for managing dwarves is a bit difficult to use. If you are using a supported operating system, the utility '''[[Utilities#Dwarf_Therapist|Dwarf Therapist]]''' can make this a million times easier, especially later when you're dealing with twenty times the number of dwarves you have now.}}
With the digging and stockpile taken care of, look over your dwarves' assigned [[labor]]s. Press {{K|v}} (View Units) then place the cursor on a dwarf. Now, press {{K|p}}-{{K|l}} for "preferences: labors". You will see a list of labor categories that you can navigate using {{K|-}}{{K|+}}. You can enter each category and toggle each labor off and on with {{K|Enter}} and get back out with {{K|Esc}}.

After exiting the View Units menu, you can use {{K|u}} (the units screen) to help you locate dwarves. Hit {{K|u}}, select a dwarf, hit {{K|c}} for "zoom to creature" and you'll automatically be placed in view mode on that dwarf. (Then use {{K|p}}-{{K|l}} to get to the labor configuration menu if necessary.)

Even if no dwarves have the corresponding skills, ensure that someone has [[wood burner]], [[furnace operator]], [[wood cutter]], [[plant gathering]], [[gem cutter]], [[armorsmith]], [[weaponsmith]], [[blacksmith]], [[metal crafter]], and [[engraver]] (stone detailing) enabled. If you have dwarves with hunting or fishing, ''disable'' those until you have your initial fort completed. When you're first starting out you don't want dwarves wandering around alone where they can get killed.

Any unskilled dwarf can perform any labor given the necessary equipment and materials. Dwarves with no skill will simply be slow and produce a smaller quantity of lower quality goods in a given time period, but they will gain skill points as they do so.

==Temporary Meeting Area==
Using the {{k|i}} key, create an activity zone (at least 5x5) in the stairwell or general stockpile area (be careful not to make this too small otherwise your animals and dwarves will start fighting). This works much like creating a stockpile except that you draw the rectangle first then hit keys to define what the area is for. Draw the rectangle over the area then set it to be a {{K|m}}eeting area. Your idle dwarves will hang around in this area, hopefully keeping them inside the fort and out of trouble.

==Refuse==
[[File:Dwarf fort tut miasma.jpg|thumb|right|Avoiding [[Miasma]]]]
Outside your fort entrance, use {{K|p}} followed by {{K|r}} to create a stock{{K|p}}ile for [[Stockpile#Refuse|{{K|r}}efuse]] ''at least'' 5x5 in size. This should be outside in the open or you will have problems with [[Miasma]]. If you do not disable [[vermin]] (Item Types -> remains), you will probably have to expand it later as it will fill up with vermin remains rather quickly. If you are seeing refuse appear in your general-purpose stockpile instead of the refuse pile, use {{K|q}} on the general stockpile and check its {{K|s}}ettings to make sure refuse has been disabled.

==Woodcutting==
Create another stock{{K|p}}ile for {{K|w}}ood outside your entrance. As it will only be temporary, don't make it too big (maybe 5x3, or 15 tiles total). Later you will move this closer to your carpenter's workshop once you build one.

Press {{K|q}}, place the cursor on your wagon, and hit {{K|x}} to deconstruct it. This will flag the wagon for disassembly. Eventually a carpenter will come along and turn the useless wagon into a few units of wood. Removing other buildings is done the same way.

Also near the entry, designate at least 10 trees to be chopped down with {{K|d}}-{{K|t}}. Don't designate too many trees at the beginning, or your dwarves will spend all of their time chopping them down and hauling them rather than doing other work.

==Pasture==
If you have any grazing animals with you, such as the draft animals used to pull your wagon, they will die if they are kept away from grass for too long. Use {{K|i}} to create a Pe{{K|n}}/[[Pasture]] zone over a grassy area outside and assign your grazing animals to it using {{K|N}} (while still selecting the zone). This area needs to be about 10x10 or so to ensure they have enough grass and don't trample it all.

The amount of grass required varies greatly depending on the type(s) of animals being pastured. If you intend to keep grazing animals permanently, you may need vastly larger pastures later. As an alternative, you might wish to [[Butcher's shop|slaughter]] your largest animals for food and materials.

==Sustenance by Plow==
Dig out an area in a [[soil]] layer, accessible from inside your fort but not reachable from the outside. You must pick an ''underground'' area with mud or soil. Hopefully you have chosen a site with a soil layer as this will make farming much easier, but if not then you will need to [[Irrigation|irrigate]] to create the required mud on stone floors.

Now use {{K|b}} to build a 3x3 [[Farming|farm {{K|p}}lot]]. Notice that some things like buildings and constructions are not designated corner-to-corner like digging designations, stockpiles, or activity zones. Instead, you define the width and height of the "building" using {{K|u}}{{K|m}}{{K|k}}{{K|h}} then position it with the directional keys. So hit {{K|u}}{{K|u}}{{K|k}}{{K|k}} to make the plot 3x3 and position it in the room you just excavated.

Remember you must enable the "Farming (Fields)" labour for at least one dwarf or the farm plot won't get built and farming will not take place. (If you selected "Play Now" earlier then you will start with a dwarf with farming enabled.)

{{K|Esc}} out of the build menu and wait for the farmer dwarf to create the plot. Once the plot is built, use {{K|q}} to set the plot to grow [[plump helmet]]s during all seasons. You can use {{K|+}} and {{K|-}} to select the crop. You will need to press {{K|a}}, {{K|b}}, {{K|c}}, {{K|d}} and select Plump Helmets for each season, otherwise you'll end up with an idle field for 3/4ths of the year.

==Designing Your First Fortress==
While this guide recommends a vertical fortress design around a central stairwell with each z-level being used for a particular purpose, it is really not that important to use this design for your first fortress. Therefore, feel free to put any of the areas described in the rest of this guide on your main level or wherever you want as long as dwarves can get to them without going outside the fort. In other words, you can think of the "levels" described in the guide more as areas that can really all be on the same level if you have space. Later you can ponder over what makes things most efficient, but for now just do whatever you find easiest.

To get stone though you may need to dig down a bit if you have more than one z-level of sand/clay/soil on the surface.

==Workshops==
[[File:Quickstart-level-1-workshops.png|right|thumb|Level -1: Mason's, carpenter's, mechanic's, and jeweler's workshops surrounded by appropriate stockpiles.]]
Dig your stairwell down one level (with {{K|d}}-{{K|i}}), if you haven't already, and create four 5x5 rooms off of the stairwell. These will hold your [[Mechanic's_workshop|mechanic's]], [[Mason's_workshop|mason's]], [[Carpenter's_workshop|carpenter's]], and [[Jeweler's_workshop|jeweler's]] [[workshop]]s.

Use {{K|b}}-{{K|w}} to build the workshops, and select some sort of junk stone for the material. If you are still digging in soil and don't have stone yet, just use wood. (The material really doesn't matter in this case.) Put each workshop in the center of each room, and use the remaining space for the appropriate type of stockpile (wood for your carpenter, stone for your mason and mechanic, and gems for your jeweler.) If the construction of any building gets "suspended" just use {{K|q}} to unsuspend it. (This can happen if stone is blocking the way. See "Garbage" Dumping below if you find you need to remove some stone.)

{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Too Good for Menial Peon Work|Certain labors are crucial in setting up a fort. At some point you may want to disable less important labors such as hauling for dwarves with the crucial skills of mining, masonry, architecture, carpentry, mechanics, and maybe others. You want these dwarves working on creating beds, doors, and trap components before hauling stone and cleaning.}}
Remove the temporary wood stockpile you created outside (using {{K|p}}-{{K|x}}) and dwarves will move the wood to the new wood storage area.

Go to your mason's shop with {{K|q}} and use {{K|a}} to queue up one [[table]] and one [[throne]]/chair. You will find out why you need these in a second, but now is a good time to start building them. If you still don't have any stone at this point just use wood at the carpenter's workshop.

=="Garbage" Dumping==
'''Note that garbage is not the same thing as refuse.''' [[Stockpile#Refuse|Refuse]] is [[Miasma|rotting stuff]]. Garbage is anything you designate to be hauled to a [[Activity_zone#Garbage_Dump|garbage dump]], even important things that aren't really garbage. Think of your garbage dump zone as a way to specify that objects you select will be brought to a specific area.

Use {{K|i}} to create a 1x1 activity zone somewhere near your mason's and mechanic's workshops and set it to be a {{K|g}}arbage Dump. Unlike stockpile areas where you are limited to storing one object per tile, any number of items may be piled in a garbage area. That means you will only need one tile to hold as much garbage as you like. Although many of the room sizes in this guide are suggestions, think of the 1x1 garbage dump size as mandatory. At some point you will probably want to retrieve an important item from your garbage dump, and the larger your dump is, the harder it will be to find anything in it.

Press {{k|d}}-{{k|b}} to get to the mass dump/forbid screen and select the {{k|d}}ump option. With "dump" selected, designate a rectangle over all of the loose stones cluttering up your living area. This will designate this stone to be transported to the closest garbage dump zone.

Once the stone from your living area has been moved there, it will be set as [[Forbid|forbidden]]. Before it can be used you will need to unforbid it using the same {{k|d}}-{{k|b}} screen, hitting {{k|c}} to claim it.

Congratulations! Knowing how to use garbage zones and dump commands puts you head and shoulders above most newbs. It takes some people weeks to figure this out.

==Trade Depot==
Build a [[trade depot]] using {{K|b}}-{{K|D}} in the 5x5 room you created near your entrance. This is where caravans will park their stuff and where [[trading]] will take place when one arrives. (as stated earlier, the wagons are 3x3 so the entrance tunnel needs to be at least
3x3 for the wagons to go by)

'''Use {{K|D}} to make sure your depot is accessible!'''

==Bedrooms==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Communal Living|When a fort is first getting started, a common [[dormitory]] type [[bedroom]] will suffice for a while, but dwarves will eventually want their own rooms. So feel free to create a [[dormitory]] now if you want and come back later to create individual rooms. You will want an office now though.}}
[[File:Quickstart-level-7-bedrooms.png|left|thumb|Level -7: Meager bedrooms and office. All rooms have doors; the bedrooms have a bed, cabinet, and coffer; and the office has a table and chair.]]
Continue digging your stairwell down about seven more levels. Just create the stairwells for now.

On the lowest level, dig some halls leading to rooms for sleeping quarters. Dwarves don't need much space for living quarters; in fact, you can turn a 1x3 room into decent quarters by smoothing the stone and filling it with some decent quality furniture.

[[Bedroom design|Designing living quarters]] is a matter of personal preference and aesthetic sense. Actual design will be left as an exercise for the player. Just try to keep the bedrooms close to the stairs, and ideally make your access hallways at least two tiles wide so your dwarves don't have to crawl over and under each other to get where they are going.

You will want to create at least eight rooms: seven for your [[bedroom]]s, and one as an [[office]] for your manager/bookkeeper, which, rather than a chest, bed and cabinet, will contain the chair and table you queued up earlier.

==Nobles==
Hit the {{k|n}} key to open up the [[Noble|nobles and administrators]] screen.

The most important positions to assign are '''[[broker]]''', '''[[bookkeeper]]''' and '''[[manager]]'''. Your [[expedition leader]] is a good choice for all three when starting out. Don't worry that it's just one dwarf doing all this; none of these jobs take very long.

Having a manager will allow you to queue up work orders which will greatly simplify managing your production. Having a bookkeeper will allow you to maintain inventory counts on the {{K|z}} screen so you'll know what you do and don't have. A broker is necessary to trade with a caravan once one has arrived at your trade depot.

[[File:Quickstart-noble-selection.png|right|thumb|Nobles screen. The red stuff turns white once an office is assigned.]]
Don't worry about the [[chief medical dwarf]] yet. He/she will be needed when you set up your [[Healthcare|hospital]] which won't be covered in this guide. Feel free to go check out the [[Healthcare]] guide once you're done.

Lastly, while you are on this screen, highlight the bookkeeper and {{K|s}}et him to work for "Highest Precision" (all counts accurate). This will help train bookkeeping faster and ensure that you aren't dealing with vague inventory counts.

===Offices===
Some of your administrative positions (manager and bookkeeper) require an [[office]] in order to function. If your manager, for example, doesn't have an office, you will not be able to do any of the things that require a manager even though you have one assigned.

Earlier you should have queued up a table and throne in your mason's shop, and they should be done by now. Place them in the office (room you created down in the sleeping area) using the {{K|b}}uild command. Once dwarves have installed the furniture, use {{K|q}} to select the chair, make the room into an office, and assign the office to your expedition leader (who should be your bookkeeper and manager). Hit {{K|n}} to verify that these positions now have the office they need. If so then you shouldn't see any red.

==Furniture==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Different Names, Same Thing|As you've noticed, some things have different names based on what they're made of (like chairs vs. thrones) even if they're functionally the same. So, if it seems like you can't make something of a particular material, do some poking around and check the wiki.}}
Now would be a good time to start building some [[furniture]]. You could queue up all these items directly from your workshops, but why not give your new manager a little practice?

Using the manager screen {{k|j}}-{{k|m}}, hit {{k|q}} to queue up a new job, and type "bed", and then select "construct bed." Set the quantity to seven. Next, queue up seven wooden [[chest]]s or rock coffers, eight [[door]]s, seven [[cabinet]]s, at least two [[table]]s and two [[throne]]s/chairs. The tables and chairs will go in your [[dining room]], speaking of which...

==Dining and Food Prep Area==
Above the living quarters, and right off the main stairwell, create another four rooms. One will be for general food storage, one a [[dining room|dining hall]], one a [[kitchen]], and one a [[still]]. The still will allow you to make alcohol. The Kitchen will allow you to make [[Cook#Recipes|Prepared food]].

Make the rooms for the kitchen and still 5x5 each. The storage area and dining hall should be larger. Ideally make the dining hall so that it can be further expanded later.

Use {{K|b}}-{{K|w}} to build the still and kitchen in the middle of the 5x5 rooms. Create {{K|f}}ood stockpiles in the remaining space around each workshop, as well as the entire food storage room.

[[File:Quickstart-level-6-dining.png|right|thumb|Level -6: Dining level with dining hall, kitchen, still, and storage area.]]

Go back to your general purpose stockpile on the top level and use {{K|q}} to change the {{K|s}}ettings to {{K|d}}isable Food. This will cause any food in your general purpose stockpile to get moved to your new food-only stockpiles.

Hit {{K|z}} and select ''[[Kitchen]]'' from the top of the screen, then disable all cooking for plants and enable brewing for them so that they will only be used for brewing. Also disable alcoholic beverages for cooking, otherwise your cooks will waste perfectly good hooch in their cooking. The only time you might want to use alcohol in cooking is when you have lots of booze but are running out of food.

If you plan to do any fishing, dig out another area and create a [[Fishery]] on this level so the uncleaned fish your fisherdwarf just caught can be cleaned (gutted) for consumption or cooking. If you plan to do any hunting or [[Status#Animal_Status_Screen|slaughter]] any animals, create a [[Butcher's shop]] on this level so animal corpses can be butchered. The fishery/butcher's shop can be placed behind the kitchen or the general food stockpile, for example. A door is recommended for the butcher's shop in order to contain [[Miasma]] should something rot, and to otherwise avoid offending squeamish dwarves.

Eventually go check out the subpage on [[/Stockpiles|Stockpiles]] for more information on fine-tuning these stockpiles for maximum efficiency. For now you can safely procrastinate on this and move on to the next section.

==Placing Furniture==
Once your furnishings are complete, you need to place them in rooms using the {{K|b}}uild command. Make sure each bedroom gets a door, chest, bed and cabinet. Put a door on the office (which should already have a chair and table). Put the new chairs and tables in the dining room. Make more doors and put them on other rooms if you want.

Once dwarves have hauled beds to the bedrooms, use {{K|q}} on the installed beds to define the actual bedrooms from them. Don't worry about assigning the bedrooms to specific dwarves; they will eventually pick their own as long as they have been defined as unowned bedrooms.

==Meeting Hall==
Use {{K|q}} on one of the tables you just placed in the dining room, define the area as a room, and configure it to be a meeting hall. This will cause idle dwarves to hang around in the dining hall. You want idlers in a central location, close to where you will be placing your emergency drawbridge levers. You may want to go remove the temporary meeting area and any other meeting areas that you created earlier (with {{K|i}}).

==Checking Supplies==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#a00|Hostile Wilds|Before turning on either hunting or fishing, examine the {{K|u}}nits screen to see if there are any dangerous critters your hunters/fishers need worry about. With hunting especially, you may need to check this screen frequently.}}
Use the {{K|z}} ([[status]]) screen to check your stock levels. How much food and booze do you have left? You only have unprepared food at this point, and the booze you brought with you, but soon you will be making more. If you are running low on food, you can designate gathering some [[shrub|outdoor plants]], [[Status#Animal_Status_Screen|slaughter]] some animals, turn on [[fishing]], or turn on [[hunting]] to tide you over for a bit. Hunting and slaughtering animals both require a butcher's shop.

==Brewing and Cooking==
Once your first crop of plump helmets starts to come in, you will want to start [[brewing]] as a [[repeat]]ing task. Also, now would be a good time to start [[cooking]] actual meals rather than forcing your dwarves to eat raw food. Cooking [[Cooking#Recipes|easy meals]] will train dwarves faster, but they may be happier with [[Cooking#Recipes|lavish meals]]. So, you might want to cook easy ones until your cook or cooks skill up to a certain point then have them start making lavish meals. Prepared food is cooked from two (easy), three (fine), or four (lavish) raw food/alcohol ingredients. Each prepared food item will be called a something "biscuit", "stew", or "roast" depending on the lavishness of the meal.

{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Conserving Resources|Some things absolutely require wood (like beds and charcoal), but others can be made out of more common materials like stone. For this reason it's best, especially in the beginning, to make everything that you can out of stone. For example, you could make wood chests and barrels, but stone coffers and rock pots would let you save wood for things that require it and help you rid yourself of all that stone. And if you decide you want solid gold chests or something later when you have more resources, you can always throw out the rock coffers.}}
Speaking of booze, in order to keep the booze flowing, you will need to create some [[barrel]]s, or some stone [[pot]]s. Your dwarves should have emptied a few barrels by now to get you started, but you will definitely need more. A ''lot'' more. If you have an abundance of trees, then you can designate some more for cutting, and have your carpenter make a bunch of wooden barrels, but it may be more prudent to make a [[Craftsdwarf's workshop]], make sure someone has the [[Stonecrafting]] labor enabled, and build a bunch of rock pots. (Rock pots are essentially barrels made of rock.) And don't worry that you've made too many; you almost can't get enough of them.

Keep checking your food and drink stock levels on the {{K|z}} screen periodically. While cooked food (properly stockpiled) and alcohol don't spoil, there is really no need to stock 2,000 units of dwarven wine at this point. Ten times the number of drinks and meals as you have dwarves is more than enough. If you start running out of food or drinks, designate some wild plants for harvesting, [[Status#Animal_Status_Screen|slaughter]] some of your animals, start hunting or fishing, or start more farms.

Actually, now would be a fine time to make another three by three farm. Set it to produce [[sweet pod]]s in the spring and summer, [[cave wheat]] or [[pig tail]]s (your choice) in the fall (autumn), and [[plump helmet]]s in the winter. Having multiple types of plants will give your dwarves more variety in their food and drink, keeping them from [[Thought|grumbling]].

==Storage Space==
{{TipBox2|titlebg=#0a0|float=right|Advanced Stockpiling|Check out the [[/Stockpiles|Stockpiles]] sub page for more information on fine-tuning your stockpiles, especially in the food production area. This is somewhat complicated and it can safely be skipped if you don't feel like tinkering with stockpiles right now.}}
You should probably start making some wooden '''[[Bin|bins]]''' to help you store more stuff in less space. You might not need them yet, but you certainly will later. Bins are somewhat like barrels/pots, but they can store things other than just food and drink. Bins will also reduce the amount of labor needed to [[haul]] things to your trade depot or other stockpiles. So designate some more trees to be chopped down and queue up some bins. As with barrels and pots, you almost can't have enough bins.

=Beyond a Minimal Fortress=

By now you should have your main entrance created, along with a farm, general purpose stockpile, refuse pile (for trash), and [[trade depot]]. Somewhere you should have a mason's shop, a mechanic's shop, a carpenter's shop, and a jeweler's shop, surrounded by appropriate storage piles with garbage zone (for excess stone). You should also have a furnished dining area with kitchen, still, and food storage, and a residential area with furnished bedrooms and an office. You should have selected your administrators, and might even have an optional fishery, butcher's shop, craftsdwarf's workshop, or other stuff.

At this point, you have all the components of a minimal but functional fortress! Your next steps will be to make it safer and better protected, to set up your [[metal industry]], and later to prepare your [[military|militia]].

==Preparing for Immigrants==
Soon you should get some [[Immigration|immigrants]] if you haven't already. When you do get a group of [[Immigration|immigrants]], take a headcount and queue up enough beds, doors, cabinets and chests to make bedrooms for them all. Examine their skills. (This is where [[Utilities#Dwarf_Therapist|Dwarf Therapist]] can come in handy again.) Be sure to enable any labors that they have skills in, but aren't active. Turn any useless dwarves into furnace operators.

==Traps==
Start producing '''[[mechanism]]s''' at your [[mechanic's workshop]]. Queue up ten. After they are built, use them to create [[Trap#Stone-fall_Trap|stone fall traps]] near the start of your entry hall using {{K|b}}-{{K|T}}. Queue up some [[cage]]s, and more mechanisms, and use these to create some [[Trap#Cage_Trap|cage traps]] right after your stone traps. Cage traps are incredibly effective at stopping ambushers, but traps in general will not protect you from [[thief|thieves and kidnappers]] who will almost always bypass them.

Continue to fill up your entry hall with alternating rows of stone and cage traps as the parts become available.

==Guard Animals==
Create two 1x1 [[pasture]]s near the beginning of your entryway, one on either side, using {{K|i}}. Using the {{K|N}} key inside the zone interface, assign a [[dog]] or other non-grazing animal to each of them. These animals will spot thieves and raiders before they gain entrance to your fortress. Try to pick disposable animals, as they ''will'' be slaughtered by the first ambush raiders. Ideally, don't assign female animals; you want them safe for [[Meat industry#Breeding|breeding]].

==Drawbridge==
Build a [[Bridge|drawbridge]] ({{K|b}}-{{K|g}}) to seal off your entryway. Make sure to use {{K|w}}, {{K|a}}, {{K|d}}, or {{K|x}} to make it raise up in the right direction; otherwise it will just retract (disappear) instead of raising up to form a barrier.

Put the drawbridge between the trade depot and the hall-o-traps so you can lock things out of the trade depot and the rest of the fort. Build a lever ({{K|b}}-{{K|T}}-{{K|l}}) near your meeting area and connect it to the drawbridge by using {{K|q}} on the lever.

In case of an [[ambush]] or [[siege]], you will want to close up your fort, keeping the goblins out until your [[squad]]s have formed up and are in position. Ideally you want to have enough cage traps to take out most of the goblins so your military will only have to mop up.

==Metal Industry==
[[File:Quickstart-level-2-forge.png|thumb|right|Level -2: Forge and smelters with ore stockpile in the middle.]]
Now, below your first workshop level, dig out four more 5x5 rooms around the stairwell. Three of these will be [[smelter]]s, and one a [[metalsmith's forge]]. Designate stockpiles for {{K|b}}ars around the smelters and forge. The bar stockpiles will hold [[Fuel|coke and charcoal]] and metal [[bar]]s. You will probably need larger bar stockpiles, but you can dig out more space and expand them later.

Also dig out some space and create a stockpile for [[ore]] somewhere nearby. To make an ore stockpile, designate a {{K|s}}tone stockpile, then use {{K|q}} to change the {{K|s}}ettings on it to forbid all types of stone other than ore.

Finally, go to your general purpose stockpile on the top level and use {{K|q}} to disable Bars. Stone should already be disabled on this stockpile, and if so then ore is already disabled for it.

===Wood Burning===
Somewhere near your carpenter's shop, near your wood stockpile, dig out an area and build a [[wood furnace]]. This is where you will create charcoal (see below) and ash (for making soap).

Dwarf Fortress has two forms of carbon which are useful as [[fuel]] in the metal industry: ''charcoal'' (which is charred wood), and ''coke'' (refined coal). They are completely interchangeable. If your map has a lot of '''lignite''' or '''bituminous coal''', you can process that into coke, using charcoal to jump-start the process.

If you don't find coal on your map, you'll need to either dig down to [[magma]] or make charcoal out of wood to run your forges and smelters, but don't worry about this yet. You need to do some digging around.

===Mining===
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|"I have struck what?"|New players who don't have a degree in geology usually find themselves confused as to what all these mineral names mean. In DF you'll never strike "iron ore" but you will strike [[magnetite]] or [[limonite]] which are [[ore]]s of [[iron]]. If you don't know that these things are ores of iron then it obviously won't occur to you to try to smelt iron. Note that ores usually look like {{Raw Tile|£|6:7:1}} before they are mined and {{Raw Tile|*|6:1}} after, though the colors will differ. See '''''[[The Non-Dwarf's Guide to Rock]]''''' to help you figure out exactly what you've found.}}
At this point you want to start looking for metal ore. You may have already found some while digging out rooms, in which case you can just mine into the walls of the rooms to get more ore. If you haven't found ore yet or you want to see what else you can find, you will need to dig [[Exploratory mining|exploratory tunnels]] looking for ores, minerals, and [[gem]]s. For now just start digging tunnels out from your stairwell or rooms in all directions and see what you run into. Note that digging into '''damp stone''' or '''warm stone''' is not recommended as those areas may be holding back water or lava which can flood your fort.

===Fuel===
Whether you find coal or not, you will need to burn wood into at least one unit of charcoal. If you find some coal (lignite or bituminous coal), start your smelters out processing it into coke using your charcoal to get things started. From then out you can burn coke to make more coal into more coke and so on.

Put these coke-making jobs on repeat. Only use one smelter to begin with, but you should be getting a group of [[Immigration|immigrants]] fairly soon, if you haven't already, and you can put them to work in the other smelters.

Don't give up on finding coal right away. Dig around for a while and if you're starting to get impatient then burn some more wood into charcoal, smelt some ore, and make some [[weapon]]s. If you rely on charcoal for fuel then you'll be needing a ''lot'' of wood, so in that case dig out another room near the furnace and create a wood stockpile. You might also want to just remove a smelter, replace it with a wood furnace, and create the new wood stockpile down in the smelting area. Finally, go designate more trees for chopping.

===Forging===
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#0a0|Alternative Energy|If you don't find coal then you will have to continue to burn wood into charcoal, or dig down to the bottom of the map and find the magma sea so you can power [[magma smelter]]s and [[magma forge]]s. Getting to magma can be difficult for various reasons that you will discover, so make sure you are ready for some trouble before you go that direction. Burning charcoal should work out ok in the short term.}}
Once you have smelted some ore to get metal bars, and have additional bars of either coal or charcoal, you can start forging metal items. Here are some suggestions on what to make first:
#'''[[Pick]]s''' - You may have only started out with one pick which limits the number of miners you have to one. By this point you are probably wishing you had more miners. Make a few picks and give some dwarves the mining labor once you get some immigrants. It doesn't matter what metal you use to make picks, at least when it comes to mining, so even copper is perfectly good.
#'''[[Weapon]]s''' - Picks actually make pretty good weapons, but there can be some issues equipping them because they're tied to the mining labor. You may want to make a few axes. They make good weapons, at least against most lightly armored opponents you're likely to encounter first, and can be used to chop trees. Start with 5 or so.
#'''[[Armor]]''' - You're going to want some armor. Start with mail shirts, helmets, leggings, then gauntlets and boots. Start with 3 or so of each in the order listed, then make more later when your military grows. Also make some shields out of wood (since the shield's material doesn't matter for defensive purposes), unless you're swimming in metal. Once you have the essentials covered, you can include breastplates (but they take 3 bars of metal to make, and they don't cover as much of the torso and arms as a mail shirt).

[[Steel]] is the best normal metal to make armor and most weapons out of, but you're likely find that you want some arms before you can make steel. [[Iron]] is good, and [[bronze]] is also good. [[Copper]] is not ideal, but it still works and is better than no metal weapons/armor at all.

==Gemcutting and Trinkets==
You should have uncovered some [[gem]]s by now, so put your [[jeweler]] to work [[Gem cutter|cutting]] them. These will be the only thing you [[Trading|trade]] in the first year, and only for things you absolutely need and can't produce enough of yourself.

Actually, [[Finished goods|stone crafts]] produced by a craftsdwarf can make good trading goods as well. The only problem with this is that you'll need to make a lot of them (50+) because each one isn't too valuable individually. If you go this route you will probably need to dedicate a craftsdwarf's workshop and craftsdwarf to this task almost full-time, but you're very unlikely to ever run out of stone.

==Sticking to the Plan==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#a00|Getting Distracted|Say one of your new immigrants turns out to be a legendary weaver. Should you plant some pig tails and create a loom for him? '''No!''' Put his legendary ass to work smelting metal or something that's part of your current industry even though he has no skill at it. Do not split your efforts yet. You can make use of his unique talents later when you can afford to diversify your industry.}}
Metalsmithing will be your primary economic activity, with cutting gems (and possibly making stone crafts) being used to give you some short-term [[wealth]] until the [[metal industry]] gets going. This means you will need miners, haulers, smiths and furnace operators. Unless a dwarf is doing something else vital to the proper functioning of your fort, such as training in the militia, making traps, cooking food, and so forth, they should be doing one of those four things.

==Wealth and Invasion==
{{TipBox2|float=right|titlebg=#a00|Crafting Invitations for Trouble|Creating too much wealth initially is a sure fire method of pulling down a goblin ambush that you are ill-equipped to deal with. Titans will also start attacking you should your wealth go over a certain amount. For this reason, spend no time smelting gold, smoothing, or engraving anything yet. Most of the wealth you create in the beginning should be the sharp pointy kind.}}
You may have struck [[gold]] or some other valuable metal, and you may be tempted to put your furnaces and smiths to work creating valuable metal crafts. Don't do it! Until you have your militia formed and fully equipped with armor and weaponry, your smelters and forge should be doing nothing else but smelting cheaper materials like coal, iron, making pig iron and steel if possible, and making weapons and armor. Making [[steel]] will actually increase your wealth quite a bit, but at least you can stab and beat things to death with steel; you can't make weapons from gold.

=Military=

Your '''military''' is an important part of fortress defense. Unless you have totally cut yourself off from the outside world then you will want at least some sort of military.

Once you reach this point you should hopefully have enough dwarves to start a small military training program. You will need at least 5 dwarves who aren't otherwise doing anything important.

If you don't have any spare dwarves yet, or just don't want to mess with it yet, just skip to the next section and come back to this later. Don't wait too long to set up your military though; you especially will want soldiers before you reach a population of 80 dwarves. (You will find out why.)

When you're ready to start up your military, see the [[Military quickstart]] guide.

= What Next =

Congratulations! If you've made it this far then you have a self-sustaining fort going and can now start to branch out into whatever you are interested in exploring. Expect some goblin invasions, forgotten beasts, titans, dragons, giants, and other creatures to interrupt your activities at various points. This is part of the [[fun]].

Here are some things that people almost always do eventually though not necessarily in any particular order (these are somewhat essential):
*Build [[coffin]]s and a graveyard or [[tomb]]s for dead dwarves and pets
*Set up a [[Healthcare|hospital]]
*Build a [[well]]
*Start producing [[textile industry|clothing]] to replace [[wear|worn-out attire]]
*Build a [[jail]] for unruly dwarves
*Set up [[Scheduling#Alert_Levels|civilian alerts]] to get civilians to a safe area during ambushes and sieges

Here are some things that players often do as their population grows:
*Smooth and [[engraving|engrave]] walls and floors
*Produce [[Dwarf_fortress_mode#Livestock|Meat, eggs, milk, and honey]]
*Continue to expand the [[military]]
*Explore new [[Industry|industries]]
*Dig down to the [[caverns]] and create a defended lower entrance with traps to defend the fort against the [[creatures|denizens]] below
*Build a [[kennel]] and train some war animals
*Build a [[Mass pitting]] system to dispose of caged enemies
*Build above-ground [[construction]]s such as an archery tower or garden
*Create a [[statue|statue garden]] or [[zoo]]
*Farm in an [[Farm#Above_Ground_Farming|above-ground farm plot]]
*Dig down to [[magma]] and set up [[magma forge]]s and [[magma smelter]]s to avoid the need for fuel
*Build [[machine component]]s to pump magma and water
*Create more [[Trap design|elaborate traps]] such as magma and drowning chambers
*Try some [[stupid dwarf trick]]s

You may also want to just read over the [[Dwarf fortress mode|Fortress Mode Reference Guide]] and the many other very useful documents on the wiki to give you other ideas of what to do.

Keep in mind that how you play is not set in stone. Some people never defend, some start a [[Megaprojects|megaproject]] right after settling, some never dig and just build an above ground castle or town using logs. Some never smelt ore, some start smelting as soon as they arrive. Some make their home in the dangerous natural caverns. Some deal with invaders by flooding the map or isolating themselves completely. And that's not even considering the [[List of mods|mods]] and some of the crazier [[challenges]] that people have come up with. There's really no one "right" way to play DF.

= Feedback =

If you have any feedback on this guide, please leave a message on the [[{{TALKPAGENAME}}|talk page]] for this article or in [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=83452.0 this thread] on the forums.

{{Getting Started}}
{{Category|Fortress mode}}

[[ru:Быстрый старт]]

v0.34:Yeti

2012-10-25T04:09:37Z

Emufarmers: harmonize

{{quality|Fine|19:35, 11 October 2010 (UTC)}}
{{Creaturelookup/0
|meat=31
|fat=18
|lung=2
|spleen=1
|kidney=2
|brain=1
|heart=1
|liver=1
|tripe=1
|intestine=1
|sweetbread=1
|bone=32
|skull=1
|skin=hide
|contrib=no
}}
{{av}}
{{creaturedesc}}

Yetis are large dangerous creatures only found in [[savage]] areas that will invade your fortress to drink your booze and [[building destroyer|destroy your buildings]]. One should always use caution when engaging them as their immense size allows them to easily incapacitate a dwarf.

[[Glacier]] areas will have a lot of trouble with them, especially early game. Due to Glacier's lack of animal life, your map will almost always spawn one right after the other, making them a hazard for an early fortress. Fortunately, since they have a relatively low population number, you will receive no more then 5-10 Yetis before they become extinct in your biome.

{{D for Dwarf}}

Though many take the Yeti to be violent, demented beasts, some have been tamed (with great difficulty) and even integrated into dwarven society. This can be attributed to their joyful and cheery nature; often they can be seen playfully tipping over workshops and 'accidentally' crushing anyone working within. Many dwarves admire this warped sense of humour and the Yeti's obvious love of beer, wine and spirits.

{{gamedata}}
{{Creatures}}
{{Category|Creatures}}
{{Category|Humanoids}}

v0.34:Design strategies

2012-10-25T02:09:00Z

Emufarmers: rv

{{quality|Masterwork|21:50, 30 July 2012 (UTC)}}{{av}}

There are many factors to consider when designing your fort.
* '''Security:''' Every fort needs some basic security measures. Otherwise you won't survive the first [[elephant]] attack, much less a full-blown [[Siege|goblin siege]].
* '''Efficiency:''' Whether hauling rocks, making a booze run, or just checking the contents of a cabinet, dwarves do a lot of walking. A good fortress layout -- especially the proper placement of workshops and stockpiles -- can significantly reduce the time your dwarves spend walking.
* '''Aesthetics:''' Hey, everybody wants a fortress that looks good.

In addition to the considerations above, it's also important to remember that long-term design strategies can easily be disrupted by the discovery of underground terrain features. Don't plan ''too'' far ahead, as you might need to adapt to unforeseen obstacles.

Also, there are several [[Main:Blueprint Library|design idioms]] of common usage like [[pump stack]]s.

==Security==
Everyone will have their own preferences regarding fortress defense and how to deal with undead, wildlife, hostiles and goblin invaders. Regardless of specifics, it's important to have a plan for dealing with the several different types of inevitable attacks. A few security tips are given below.

===Lockdown===
Have a way to lock down your fortress. In the event of an attack by hostiles you can't handle, you need a way to lock them out. This can buy you some time while your dwarves prepare their defenses.

For small forts, this could be as simple as placing [[door]]s at all the entrances to your fort. Doors can be locked instantly in an emergency. Don't rely on doors alone for security, though, as you'll eventually encounter enemies that can break down doors and pick locks.

For more security, place [[Bridge|drawbridges]] at all the entrances. You don't need a moat; the bridge itself is sufficient since it functions as a wall when raised. Just be sure to connect it to a [[lever]] that your dwarves can access quickly ''and safely'' in an emergency. Unfortunately, even drawbridges can be rendered inoperable in rare circumstances....

Finally, don't forget about attackers from above and below! Flying attackers might use skylights to bypass your doors and drawbridges. Swimming beasts might crawl up through your well.

===Scouts===
Ambushes and thieves can sneak up on your fortress. A party of goblin archers might sneak past your main gate before being spotted, or a kobold could make off with your masterpiece crafts when nobody is looking. The way to avoid these unfortunate events is to use scouts / lookouts.

For small forts, effective scouting could be as simple as [[Restraint|tying]] a [[Dog|war dog]] (or even a donkey) up near the entrance of your fort. In the event of an ambush the animal will spot the attackers (shortly before dying). If your scouts are far enough from your main gate then you ought to have enough warning to lock down the fort, activate the militia, etc.

When designing your fort, just give some thought to the placement of scouts and be sure to leave room for them.

===Caravan security===
Is your trade depot going to be inside or outside your main line of defenses? This is another factor to consider when designing your fort. Although you don't have to protect the traders, their [[civilization]]s might hold your fortress responsible for any casualties.

===Traps===
[[Trap]]s are a great way to protect your fort from small groups of attackers. When designing your fort, think about where you want to place traps. Choke points at major entrances (including entrances to the [[caverns]]) make good trap locations. However, be warned that some enemies are immune to traps....

===Staging area===
Many players like to design their forts with a militia staging area at the main entrance. Usually this includes placing [[fortification]]s (possibly in archer towers), ammunition stockpiles, and cover for your melee dwarves to protect them from approaching archers.

Some players also like to place a [[Barracks|training barracks]] near the entrance to the fort so that the militia can quickly respond to attackers.

==Efficiency==

Proper placement of [[stockpile]]s is key. Almost every workshop job needs raw materials. Is your [[still]] near some empty barrels and plants? Does your mason have easy access to stone? A smelter must have quick access to both ore and fuel.

As a general rule of thumb, each workshop should have at least a 3x3 stockpile area associated with it. Some workshops will need more if multiple raw ingredients are needed. An efficient arrangement is to place output stockpiles directly above or below your workshops and connect them with stairs. If you can spare the space, you can carve out a 5x5 room and place the 3x3 workshop in the center, leaving 16 surrounding tiles for input storage.

When utilizing a large storage stockpile, for food or wood for example, the optimal approach is to place a small stockpile next to the workshop and have the small stockpile "take" from the large stockpile.

There are a few other things to consider for basic fortress efficiency:
* Major hallways should be at least two tiles wide, preferably three tiles. Otherwise your dwarves will be constantly running into each other and productivity will be slowed.
* To reduce the amount of time that your dwarves spend walking, common areas should be placed near the center of your fort. Dwarves drink frequently. They also like to throw parties. It's a good idea to store your booze in a centralized location, and to designate a [[meeting hall]] in a similarly centralized place.
* An efficient fortress must make good use of all three dimensions. A dwarf climbs or descends one [[z-level]] in the same time it takes to move one step horizontally. For example, when you need to build more bedrooms it can be a lot more efficient to dig down one level than to place the new rooms 20 tiles farther from the center of your fortress.
* Moving one step diagonally takes about 1.4 times longer than moving one step orthogonally. This matches the real world, where Pythagoras tells us that it should take about √2 (1.414) times longer. You can optimize floor plans for pathfinding by adopting more circular shapes into your design.
* With [[burrow]]s, it is possible to keep some dwarves working in a specific area, so that they never try to take a task half-way across the map, or haul items a long distance through high-volume corridors. For example, you might keep your furnace operators and your weaponsmiths hard at work in their smelters and forges by designating a burrow for them. Make sure you understand burrows before attempting this - if there is no source of food or drink in the burrows a dwarf is restricted to, you may run into some [[tantrum|problems]]. Also make sure the dwarves' quarters (or at least a dormitory) are inside the burrow.

==Aesthetics==
Aesthetics are completely subjective, of course, but it's still something you may want to consider when designing your fort.
* Symmetry is often the ''easiest'' path to visual appeal, but it may be hard to balance with function. Asymmetry can look great but requires more skill to look graceful.
* Conform to either mostly organic shapes or mostly inorganic shapes. A mixture ''probably'' won't look very good.
* Try digging passages out of stone rather than [[soil]]. Although digging in stone is slower and messier, stone can eventually be smoothed and engraved, and yields a useable material. Soil, on the other hand, is ugly and much less dwarfy (although being excessive and paving stone over everything is arguably ''more'' dwarfy).
* Use stockpile settings to consistently build your furniture from a single type of stone. Bedrooms tend to look nicer when the furniture is uniform.
* Alternatively, if you like lots of color and variety, you can use the stockpile and workshop settings to make sure your dwarves use lots of different materials.

== Further Reading ==
For an in-depth examination of topics relating to fortress layout, these pages focus on specific aspects, mostly with an eye to improving survivability. Some of these are not directly related to architecture but are useful nonetheless.
* [[Defense guide]]
* [[Security design]]
* [[Trap design]]
* [[Military design]]
* [[Stockpile Design]]
* [[Workshop design]]
* [[Bedroom design]]
* [[Megaprojects]]
* [[Stupid dwarf trick]]

{{Category|Design}}
{{Category|Guides}}

v0.34:Modding guide

2012-10-25T02:07:54Z

Emufarmers: revert properly

{{av}}{{Quality|Fine}}

This is intended to be a guide to inform those new to DF modding on what elements of the game can be modified, and how. After reading through this guide, a user should be capable of editing creatures, entities, materials ''et al'', and creating their own.

Generally, breaking stuff is fine - nothing that can be changed will affect the DF executable, and new additions can be easily removed.

This guide is based on [[40d:Modding guide|Teldin's guide]], originally created for version 0.27.176.39c. Per wiki tradition, it has been updated through all the major releases since then; hopefully it reflects current knowledge.

'''See also:''' [[:Category:DF2012:Modding]]

= Modding Guide =

== Token Reference ==

It's always good to refer to tokens on the wiki. Even experienced modders have to look up tokens! A list of articles about tokens can be found [http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Token here.]

== Basics of DF modding ==

All the base data that can be edited by prospective modders can be found in the \raw\ folder. This folder contains two subfolders: "graphics" (where you insert [[Graphics set repository|graphics sets]]), and "objects", which contains all the data for generally everything in the game that is not hardcoded.

Within the \raw\objects folder are a large number of text files - these are the [[raw file|raw files]], and editing them is quite easy - you can also create your own if you wish. For now, take a look at one of the existing files. It should look something like this:

creature_standard

[OBJECT:CREATURE]

[CREATURE:DWARF]
[DESCRIPTION:A short, sturdy creature fond of drink and industry.]
[NAME:dwarf:dwarves:dwarven]
[CASTE_NAME:dwarf:dwarves:dwarven]
[CREATURE_TILE:1][COLOR:3:0:0]
[CREATURE_SOLDIER_TILE:2]
...

As you can see, each file comprises a header string stating the file name, a second header stating the type of object data it contains, followed by the contents of the file itself. These are all necessary elements of the file, and without them, the file won't be parsed correctly by the game. You may have also noticed the file naming scheme - this is also important; files containing creatures have names starting with "creature_", entity file names must begin with "entity_", etc..

Below the headers, there begins a list of entries. Each entry is made up of its own header (in this case, "[CREATURE:DWARF]"), again stating the type of object, and then the object's unique identifier - if an indentifier isn't unique, the game will mess up and you'll get some serious, and potentially very trippy, errors. Below that, we have the body of the entry, which determines the entry's specific properties.

The body of an entry is made up of a series of "tokens", which are essentially flags that can be added or removed to affect the entry's attributes. Most of these effects are hardcoded: for example, it's possible to make a creature only eat meat with the [CARNIVOROUS] token, but it's impossible to create your own token detailing a specific diet for the creature.

Before we continue, a few key things to remember when modding the raw files:

* Try to avoid modifying the existing raw files when adding objects. It makes removing mods far easier.
* If you want to edit an already-existing creature, always back up the files you plan on editing to a different location. Since v0.31.22, the game no longer loads backup files, but duplicate entries are still a very bad thing.
* When a new world is generated, all the raw files get copied into a \raw\ folder within the applicable save folder. If you want to change something within a world that's already been generated, you'll have to edit those files, not the ones in ~DF\raw\objects.
* There's nothing stopping you from just copying an existing creature/entity/whatever, changing the identifier, and modifying it. This can save you a lot of time, especially when it comes to entities... which are coincidentally what we'll be talking about next.

== Modding civilizations (entities) ==

Entities - the objects that determine how civilisations work - are stored in entity_default.txt (though, like all other files, you may add more). They follow the same format as any other raw file:

entity_default

[OBJECT:ENTITY]

[ENTITY:ENTITYNAME]
[CREATURE:CREATURETYPE]
[TRANSLATION:LANGUAGETYPE]
[BIOME_SUPPORT:BIOMETOKEN:FREQENCY]
...[OTHER TAGS]...

Most of the time, it doesn't matter which order these tokens are in or where they're placed so long as they're below the "ENTITY:" identifier, but there are some important exceptions in the case of other files, especially creatures, which can contain a lot of "nested" tokens.

"[CREATURE:]" links the civilization with a specific creature defined in a creature file. This is the creature that'll be making up the entity's population, and will therefore be the creature you'll be playing as in fortress or adventure mode if the entity is a playable one. For example, if you wanted to do something silly, you could switch the "CREATURE:DWARF" entry in entity_default.txt with "CREATURE:ELF" and you would be marching elves around in fortress mode, although they would still use dwarven technology and language and names and so forth.

Oh, and before you get any funny ideas - it ''is'' possible to define more than one creature for a civ, but that won't work in quite the way you probably expect: later on, in the creature section, you'll learn about castes, which will provide a much more viable alternative, so try to bear with us until then.

"[TRANSLATION:]" defines the language file that the entity will be using, which will determine what their untranslated words are for things. This doesn't determine which words they use for naming things, only the way those words are spelt. The default language files are HUMAN, DWARF, ELF, and GOBLIN.

"[BIOME_SUPPORT:]" defines the biomes that civs will attempt to settle in. The "FREQUENCY" value determines the likelyhood of them building there, but also raises an important point: most of the values you'll be setting for things are relative to each other. If one was to type:

[BIOME_SUPPORT:ANY_FOREST:1]
[BIOME_SUPPORT:SAVANNA:2]

This would have very much the same effect as:

[BIOME_SUPPORT:ANY_FOREST:5]
[BIOME_SUPPORT:SAVANNA:10]

This holds true for a lot of values throughout the files, excluding when it simply doesn't make sense, such as in materials.

You can find many details about the rest of the civilization tokens [[entity token|here]]. Besides those mentioned, some fundamental ones are the CIV_CONTROLLABLE token, which lets you control the civ in fortress mode, the INDIV_CONTROLLABLE token, which allows you to play the civ in adventure mode as an outsider, and the ADVENTURE_TIER token, which allows you to play a civ native (non-outsider) in adventure mode. Other tokens that you should pay attention to are START_BIOME and the ones regarding sites, but in general, you can just run through the aformentioned list and add or remove what you want.

If you have more than one civ with the CIV_CONTROLLABLE token, all the available civs from those entities will appear in the group selection section on the embark screen. It may not be immediately obvious from which species each civ may be - while this can be determined from legends mode, the topmost species in the "neighbors" display in the embark screen is always the same as the currently selected species; if your group is dwarven, dwarves will be topmost, whilst (say) elves will be topmost if your chosen group is elven. By default, the game seems to choose a civ (and therefore a species if there is more than one) at random.

You can also attempt to discern the civ yourself by the names it uses - this is the realm of "symbols", collections of words centered around a specific concept. The civ will use the words comprising whatever symbols are applicable to it for various things. This association might be a little obfuscating at first, so I'll run through it. Let's refer to the DWARF entity:

[SELECT_SYMBOL:WAR:NAME_WAR]
[SUBSELECT_SYMBOL:WAR:VIOLENT]
[SELECT_SYMBOL:BATTLE:NAME_BATTLE]
[SUBSELECT_SYMBOL:BATTLE:VIOLENT]
[SELECT_SYMBOL:SIEGE:NAME_SIEGE]
[SUBSELECT_SYMBOL:SIEGE:VIOLENT]

Here we can see that dwarves will generally name their wars first after words in the "NAME_WAR" symbol group, and then after words in the "VIOLENT" symbol group. This might, for example, result in a war being named "The War of Carnage". The symbols used for the other types of conflict are arrayed in a similar fashion. It would be trivial to replace the instances of VIOLENT with, say, PEACE and end up with a battle called "The Clash of Calm" or something.

[SELECT_SYMBOL:ROAD:NAME_ROAD]
[SELECT_SYMBOL:TUNNEL:NAME_TUNNEL]
[SELECT_SYMBOL:BRIDGE:NAME_BRIDGE]
[SELECT_SYMBOL:WALL:NAME_WALL]

The above applies here. Dwarves are fond of naming their roads and tunnels after roads and tunnels.

[SELECT_SYMBOL:REMAINING:ARTIFICE]
[SELECT_SYMBOL:REMAINING:EARTH]
[CULL_SYMBOL:ALL:DOMESTIC]
[CULL_SYMBOL:ALL:SUBORDINATE]
[CULL_SYMBOL:ALL:EVIL]
[CULL_SYMBOL:ALL:UNTOWARD]
[CULL_SYMBOL:ALL:FLOWERY]
[CULL_SYMBOL:ALL:NEGATIVE]
[CULL_SYMBOL:ALL:UGLY]
[CULL_SYMBOL:ALL:NEGATOR]

This section deals with everything else. The things that haven't already been dealt with (hence the "REMAINING") - such as site names, kingdom names, the names of individuals, and such - will have names from the ARTIFICE and EARTH symbol groups. After that the dwarf entity is told to cull all innapropriate symbols - this applies to everything (hence the "ALL") so if the game happens to choose a symbol associated with, say, EVIL for one of the battles, it'll scrap that name and try again. This sort of thing adds a lot of flavour to DF's entities and can account for a lot of a civ's percieved personality.

Another basic thing to note: any entity token that's dealing with weapons, armor, clothing, etc., will state the items that the civ can build natively, not necessarily the ones they can wear or use. For example, you could create a species with no clothes specified, but then rob a clothes shop in adventurer mode and wear everything you want, or give them weapons that are too large to wield and they could sell them, but not use them.

An easy method of creating a civilization is just to copy-paste a similar one to the bottom of the entity_default.txt file and edit things to your liking. Remember to always change the civ's "ENTITY:" identifier! This can be anything so long as it's not already existing.

At the end of some of the default entries you'll find a list of positions, both ones that'll directly affect you in fort mode (such as nobles) and ones that'll primarily affect worldgen and adventure mode. A list of the tokens applicable to positions can be found [[position token|here]]; they don't require a great deal of explaination.

== Modding the creatures ==

Creature modding is great fun. You can change nearly any aspect of a creature or make your own completely from scratch.

Modding creatures is very similar to modding civs: it's just a matter of editing, adding, or removing tokens, enclosed in square brackets underneath the creature's [CREATURE:] header. The creature entries contain all of the information about each and every non-random creature in the game, from animals to dwarves to goblins to even caravan wagons. A lot of the creature tokens are fairly self-explanatory; you can find a list of such tokens [[creature token|here]]. But before you start creating your own creatures, you'll want to learn how the tissues system works.

=== Creature materials and tissues ===

In the most basic sense, a creature is a series of bodyparts. These parts are defined in their own file, and we'll talk about them later. As a specific aspect of how creatures work which throws off a lot of prospective modders is the relationship between bodyparts, tissues, and materials. We're going to show you part of the creature entry for a bronze colossus (bear with us):

...
[BODY:HUMANOID:2EYES:2EARS:NOSE:HUMANOID_JOINTS:5FINGERS:5TOES]
[NO_THOUGHT_CENTER_FOR_MOVEMENT]
[TISSUE:BRONZE]
[TISSUE_NAME:bronze:bronze]
[TISSUE_MATERIAL:INORGANIC:BRONZE]
[MUSCULAR]
[FUNCTIONAL]
[STRUCTURAL]
[RELATIVE_THICKNESS:1]
[CONNECTS]
[TISSUE_SHAPE:LAYER]
[TISSUE_LAYER:BY_CATEGORY:ALL:BRONZE]
...

At the top, we can see the "BODY:" token, followed by a list of bodyparts. As you've probably guessed, these parts make up the physical form of the colossus. But the colossus has to be made out of something - it has to have tissues. And those tissues also have to be made out of something - in this case, bronze.

Below the BODY token you'll see a TISSUE token, followed by an identifier, much like the others we've seen. The TISSUE block is determining how the tissue works, and which purposes it'll serve. As the colossus is just going to be made out of this one tissue, this tissue needs to act like bone, muscle, and everything else combined, hence the MUSCULAR, FUNCTIONAL and STRUCTURAL tokens. The tissue also references a material - INORGANIC:BRONZE - the properties of which are declared in the inorganic materials file, and the tissue is subsequently made out of this material. With us so far?

Below the tissue definition is the TISSUE_LAYER line. TISSUE_LAYER allows you to control where each tissue is applied. Its first argument defines if it's to search by bodypart category (BY_CATEGORY), bodypart type (BY_TYPE), or look for a specific part (BY_TOKEN). That's followed by the parts argument itself, which is in this case ALL (so the game's looking for parts in all categories, which is to say, every bodypart). This is followed by the tissue to be applied, BRONZE. So the TISSUE_LAYER token is telling the game to select all bodyparts in every category and make them out of the tissue "BRONZE". The colossus is now made of bronze.

By now you're probably thinking "Wow, if this was for a creature made out of however many tissues, this would be amazingly longwinded". And you're right. Luckily, there are two methods by which we can speed things up a lot.

Firstly, there are material and tissue templates. Let's say you were going to make a lot of creatures out of bronze, and you didn't want to have to copy and paste the bronze tissue all over the place. Instead, you create a tissue template. This goes, as you've probably guessed, in a tissue template file.

[TISSUE_TEMPLATE:BRONZE_TEMPLATE]
[TISSUE_NAME:bronze:bronze]
[TISSUE_MATERIAL:INORGANIC:BRONZE]
[MUSCULAR]
[FUNCTIONAL]
[STRUCTURAL]
[RELATIVE_THICKNESS:1]
[CONNECTS]
[TISSUE_SHAPE:LAYER]

Now, instead of applying the tissue to each and every bronze creature you're making, you can just refer to the template:

...
[BODY:HUMANOID:2EYES:2EARS:NOSE:HUMANOID_JOINTS:5FINGERS:5TOES]
[NO_THOUGHT_CENTER_FOR_MOVEMENT]
[USE_TISSUE_TEMPLATE:BRONZE:BRONZE_TEMPLATE]
[TISSUE_LAYER:BY_CATEGORY:ALL:BRONZE]
...

Material templates work in the same way, but refer to materials instead of tissues.

However, if we're looking at something like a dwarf, even with the templates, editing can get very slow indeed:

...
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:SKIN:SKIN_TEMPLATE]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:FAT:FAT_TEMPLATE]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:MUSCLE:MUSCLE_TEMPLATE]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:BONE:BONE_TEMPLATE]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:CARTILAGE:CARTILAGE_TEMPLATE]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:HAIR:HAIR_TEMPLATE]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:TOOTH:TOOTH_TEMPLATE]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:EYE:EYE_TEMPLATE]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:NERVE:NERVE_TEMPLATE]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:BRAIN:BRAIN_TEMPLATE]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:LUNG:LUNG_TEMPLATE]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:HEART:HEART_TEMPLATE]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:LIVER:LIVER_TEMPLATE]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:GUT:GUT_TEMPLATE]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:STOMACH:STOMACH_TEMPLATE]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:PANCREAS:PANCREAS_TEMPLATE]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:SPLEEN:SPLEEN_TEMPLATE]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:KIDNEY:KIDNEY_TEMPLATE]
[USE_TISSUE_TEMPLATE:SKIN:SKIN_TEMPLATE]
[USE_TISSUE_TEMPLATE:FAT:FAT_TEMPLATE]
[USE_TISSUE_TEMPLATE:MUSCLE:MUSCLE_TEMPLATE]
...

This is where body detail plans come in. Detail plans, of course, have their own file, and they are designed to help automate some of the more common processes in creature creation. The first entry in b_detail_plan_default.txt does exactly what we've been trying to do above: it takes all the common materials and shoves them into one plan, which can be referenced with a single token.

...
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:STANDARD_MATERIALS]
...

Much easier. But what about the TISSUE_LAYER tokens? Will we have to type out all of those manually?

Nope, detail plans have that covered as well. It's possible to place variable arguments into a detail plan. For example:

[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:VERTEBRATE_TISSUE_LAYERS]
[BP_LAYERS:BY_CATEGORY:BODY:ARG3:50:ARG2:5:ARG1:1]
[BP_LAYERS:BY_CATEGORY:BODY_UPPER:ARG3:50:ARG2:5:ARG1:1]
[BP_LAYERS:BY_CATEGORY:BODY_LOWER:ARG3:50:ARG2:5:ARG1:1]
[BP_LAYERS:BY_CATEGORY:ARM:ARG4:25:ARG3:25:ARG2:5:ARG1:1]
[BP_LAYERS:BY_CATEGORY:ARM_UPPER:ARG4:25:ARG3:25:ARG2:5:ARG1:1]
...
[BP_LAYERS:BY_CATEGORY:NOSE:ARG5:4:ARG1:1]
...

First an argument is placed in the plan (ARG1, ARG2 etc.), followed by the thickness of the tissue that will be inserted in place of the argument. So when we reference the VERTEBRATE_TISSUE_LAYERS plan, we'll be able to do something like this:

[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:VERTEBRATE_TISSUE_LAYERS:SKIN:FAT:MUSCLE:BONE:CARTILAGE]

ARG1 in the detail plan is replaced by SKIN, the first tissue we entered. ARG2 is replaced by FAT, ARG3 by muscle, ARG4 by bone, and ARG5 by CARTILAGE. Hence, our creature's bodypart designated as BODY is made up of SKIN with thickness 1, FAT with thickness 5, and MUSCLE with thickness 50. Its nose is made up of SKIN (thickness 1) and CARTILAGE (thickness 4).

Things left out of the body plans aside, our dwarf's entire body, material, tissue and tissue layer tokens have been boiled down to this:

...
[BODY:HUMANOID:2EYES:2EARS:NOSE:2LUNGS:HEART:GUTS:ORGANS:HUMANOID_JOINTS:
THROAT:NECK:SPINE:BRAIN:SKULL:5FINGERS:5TOES:MOUTH:FACIAL_FEATURES:TEETH:RIBCAGE]
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:STANDARD_MATERIALS]
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:STANDARD_TISSUES]
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:VERTEBRATE_TISSUE_LAYERS:SKIN:FAT:MUSCLE:BONE:CARTILAGE]
...

This can save you a lot of time and space if you're making lots of changes common to many creatures. In general, if you're making a creature that's fleshy or chitinous, there's detail plans already included in the game to help you out. You should only have to resort to declaring tissues individually (like our bronze colossus) if you're doing something really out-of-the-ordinary.

Another great thing about templates (and so, detail plans) is that they can be modified after being declared. Let's say we wanted our dwarves to be perpetually on fire (don't ask). We declare the body stuff normally:

...
[BODY:HUMANOID:2EYES:2EARS:NOSE:2LUNGS:HEART:GUTS:ORGANS:HUMANOID_JOINTS:
THROAT:NECK:SPINE:BRAIN:SKULL:5FINGERS:5TOES:MOUTH:FACIAL_FEATURES:TEETH:RIBCAGE]
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:STANDARD_MATERIALS]
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:STANDARD_TISSUES]
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:VERTEBRATE_TISSUE_LAYERS:SKIN:FAT:MUSCLE:BONE:CARTILAGE]
...

We then select the appropriate material:

...
[BODY:HUMANOID:2EYES:2EARS:NOSE:2LUNGS:HEART:GUTS:ORGANS:HUMANOID_JOINTS:
THROAT:NECK:SPINE:BRAIN:SKULL:5FINGERS:5TOES:MOUTH:FACIAL_FEATURES:TEETH:RIBCAGE]
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:STANDARD_MATERIALS]
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:STANDARD_TISSUES]
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:VERTEBRATE_TISSUE_LAYERS:SKIN:FAT:MUSCLE:BONE:CARTILAGE]
[SELECT_MATERIAL:SKIN]
[MAT_FIXED_TEMP:10600]
...

We don't want them burning to death, so we'll need to stop that from happening:

...
[BODY:HUMANOID:2EYES:2EARS:NOSE:2LUNGS:HEART:GUTS:ORGANS:HUMANOID_JOINTS:
THROAT:NECK:SPINE:BRAIN:SKULL:5FINGERS:5TOES:MOUTH:FACIAL_FEATURES:TEETH:RIBCAGE]
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:STANDARD_MATERIALS]
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:STANDARD_TISSUES]
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:VERTEBRATE_TISSUE_LAYERS:SKIN:FAT:MUSCLE:BONE:CARTILAGE]
[SELECT_MATERIAL:SKIN]
[MAT_FIXED_TEMP:10600]
[SELECT_MATERIAL:ALL]
[HEATDAM_POINT:NONE]
...

Note that this makes use of DF's built-in temperature scale. You can read more about that [[Temperature|on this page]]. We're also referencing material tokens, which we haven't gone over yet - we'll talk about making your own materials later.

=== Creature castes ===

Another potentially extremely powerful part of the creature raws is the caste system. The caste system handles both true biological castes and lesser variations, such as sexes.

To understand the true potential of the caste system, we only need to take a look at the raws for antmen, found in creature_subterrenean.txt:

...
[CASTE:WORKER]
[CASTE_NAME:worker ant woman:worker ant women:worker ant woman]
Female, but non-breeding.
[POP_RATIO:10000]
[CASTE:SOLDIER]
[CASTE_NAME:soldier ant woman:soldier ant women:soldier ant woman]
Female, but non-breeding.
[POP_RATIO:1000]
[CASTE:DRONE]
[MALE]
[CASTE_NAME:drone ant man:drone ant men:drone ant man]
[POP_RATIO:5]
[CASTE:QUEEN]
[FEMALE]
[CASTE_NAME:queen ant woman:queen ant women:queen ant woman]
[POP_RATIO:1]
[SELECT_CASTE:WORKER]
[SELECT_ADDITIONAL_CASTE:SOLDIER]
[SELECT_ADDITIONAL_CASTE:QUEEN]
[BODY:HUMANOID_4ARMS:2EYES:HEART:GUTS:BRAIN:MOUTH]
[BODYGLOSS:INSECT_UPPERBODY:INSECT_LOWERBODY]
[SELECT_CASTE:DRONE]
[BODY:HUMANOID_4ARMS:2EYES:HEART:GUTS:BRAIN:MOUTH:2WINGS]
[BODYGLOSS:INSECT_UPPERBODY:INSECT_LOWERBODY]
[FLIER]
[SELECT_CASTE:ALL]
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:CHITIN_MATERIALS]
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:CHITIN_TISSUES]
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:EXOSKELETON_TISSUE_LAYERS:CHITIN:FAT:MUSCLE]
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:STANDARD_HEAD_POSITIONS]
[ATTACK:PUNCH:BODYPART:BY_TYPE:GRASP]
[ATTACK_SKILL:GRASP_STRIKE]
[ATTACK_VERB:punch:punches]
...

It's evident that the process of creating and editing castes is comparable to the modifications we were making to tissues and materials earlier: A caste is declared, and modifications to the base creature are made. Declared castes can be selected and subsequently modified, again, just like tissues and materials.

In this case, each caste is declared, given its own name, and a POP_RATIO, which determines how commonly a birth results in that caste - for every 10000 workers born, there'll be an average of 1000 soldiers, 5 drones and one queen. You've probably also noticed that the DRONE and QUEEN castes have the MALE and FEMALE tokens respectively - these tokens determine how breeding works. A creature without both a MALE caste and a FEMALE caste will be unable to breed (no asexual creatures yet, unfortunately). As they lack FEMALE, the workers and soldiers are unable to breed with the male drones.

After this, there are some modifications to bodyparts. In this case, the drones have wings and the FLIER token, which the other castes lack. It's entirely possible for creatures of different castes to have completely different body stuctures, even to the extent that they don't resemble each other at all. If you read the section of this guide that dealt with entities, you may remember a passing mention of multi-creature civilisations and how they don't quite work as you may think they would. The castes system is your workaround. You could create a caste that is, for all intents and purposes, a human, and another caste of the same creature that acts exactly like a giant cave spider, put the creature in a civ, and get a human-spider civ. The only flaw in this approach is that the castes will interbreed.

That's the most complex components of creature creation out of the way. You should find the rest trivial by comparison.

==Example: Hydling(A note from a different user):==
If you want a little practice, or just a really awesome monster to have as a pet, then put this in your CREATURE_DOMESTIC raw file;

[CREATURE:HYDLING]
[DESCRIPTION:A five-headed small hairy thing, about the size of a dog. It is very loyal to its masters, and will promptly disembowel any enemy straying too close.]
[NAME:hydling:hydlings:hydlish]
[CASTE_NAME:hydling:hydlings:hydlish]
[CREATURE_TILE:'='][COLOR:2:0:1]
[PETVALUE:78][NATURAL]
[LARGE_ROAMING]
[COMMON_DOMESTIC][TRAINABLE][PET]
[BONECARN]
[PREFSTRING:loyalty]
[LIKES_FIGHTING]
[BODY:QUADRUPED:TAIL:10EYES:10EARS:5NOSES:2LUNGS:HEART:GUTS:ORGANS:5THROATS:5NECKS:5SPINES:5BRAINS:5SKULLS:3TOES_FQ_REG:3TOES_RQ_REG:MOUTH:TONGUE:GENERIC_TEETH_WITH_LARGE_EYE_TEETH:RIBCAGE]
[BODYGLOSS:PAW]
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:STANDARD_MATERIALS]
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:STANDARD_TISSUES]
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:VERTEBRATE_TISSUE_LAYERS:SKIN:FAT:MUSCLE:BONE:CARTILAGE]
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:BODY_HAIR_TISSUE_LAYERS:HAIR]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:NAIL:NAIL_TEMPLATE]
[USE_TISSUE_TEMPLATE:NAIL:NAIL_TEMPLATE]
[TISSUE_LAYER:BY_CATEGORY:TOE:NAIL:FRONT]
[SELECT_TISSUE_LAYER:HEART:BY_CATEGORY:HEART]
[PLUS_TISSUE_LAYER:SKIN:BY_CATEGORY:THROAT]
[TL_MAJOR_ARTERIES]
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:STANDARD_HEAD_POSITIONS]
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:HUMANOID_RIBCAGE_POSITIONS]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:SINEW:SINEW_TEMPLATE]
[TENDONS:LOCAL_CREATURE_MAT:SINEW:200]
[LIGAMENTS:LOCAL_CREATURE_MAT:SINEW:200]
[HAS_NERVES]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:BLOOD:BLOOD_TEMPLATE]
[BLOOD:LOCAL_CREATURE_MAT:BLOOD:LIQUID]
[CREATURE_CLASS:GENERAL_POISON]
[GETS_WOUND_INFECTIONS]
[GETS_INFECTIONS_FROM_ROT]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:PUS:PUS_TEMPLATE]
[PUS:LOCAL_CREATURE_MAT:PUS:LIQUID]
[BODY_SIZE:0:0:1000]
[BODY_SIZE:1:0:12500]
[BODY_SIZE:2:0:30000]
[BODY_APPEARANCE_MODIFIER:LENGTH:90:95:98:100:102:105:110]
[BODY_APPEARANCE_MODIFIER:HEIGHT:90:95:98:100:102:105:110]
[BODY_APPEARANCE_MODIFIER:BROADNESS:90:95:98:100:102:105:110]
[MAXAGE:20:30]
[CAN_DO_INTERACTION:MATERIAL_EMISSION]
[CDI:ADV_NAME:Hurl fireball]
[CDI:USAGE_HINT:ATTACK]
[CDI:BP_REQUIRED:BY_CATEGORY:HEAD]
[CDI:FLOW:FIREBALL]
[CDI:TARGET:C:LINE_OF_SIGHT]
[CDI:TARGET_RANGE:C:15]
[CDI:MAX_TARGET_NUMBER:C:1]
[CDI:WAIT_PERIOD:30]
[ATTACK:BITE:CHILD_BODYPART_GROUP:BY_CATEGORY:HEAD:BY_CATEGORY:TOOTH]
[ATTACK_SKILL:BITE]
[ATTACK_VERB:nom:noms]
[ATTACK_CONTACT_PERC:100]
[ATTACK_PENETRATION_PERC:100]
[ATTACK_FLAG_EDGE]
[ATTACK_PRIORITY:MAIN]
[ATTACK_FLAG_CANLATCH]
[ATTACK_PRIORITY:SECOND]
[ATTACK:SCRATCH:CHILD_TISSUE_LAYER_GROUP:BY_TYPE:STANCE:BY_CATEGORY:ALL:NAIL]
[ATTACK_SKILL:STANCE_STRIKE]
[ATTACK_VERB:slice:slices]
[ATTACK_CONTACT_PERC:100]
[ATTACK_PENETRATION_PERC:100]
[ATTACK_FLAG_EDGE]
[ATTACK_PRIORITY:THIRD]
[CHILD:1]
[GENERAL_CHILD_NAME:hydie:hydies]
[DIURNAL]
[HOMEOTHERM:10070]
[SWIMS_INNATE][SWIM_SPEED:2500]
[MUNDANE]
[CASTE:FEMALE]
[FEMALE]
[CASTE:MALE]
[MALE]
[SELECT_CASTE:ALL]
[SET_TL_GROUP:BY_CATEGORY:BODY_UPPER:HAIR]
[PLUS_TL_GROUP:BY_CATEGORY:BODY_LOWER:HAIR]
[PLUS_TL_GROUP:BY_CATEGORY:LEG_FRONT:HAIR]
[PLUS_TL_GROUP:BY_CATEGORY:LEG_REAR:HAIR]

Have fun with the Hydling!

~Mysteryguye.

(Okay, back to the other guy.)

== Modding items ==

Items are fairly simple to deal with. By default, each item type is contained in its own file; this may help make browsing for a specific item easier, but from a purely technical point of view, it's possible to throw all items into one file. Unfortunately, item tokens don't seem to be especially well-documented (at least as not as well as the other object types), but you should be able to figure out most things by way of our explainations and your assumptions.

Let's look at the entry for, of course, the thong:

[ITEM_PANTS:ITEM_PANTS_THONG]
[NAME:thong:thongs]
[LAYER:UNDER]
[COVERAGE:25]
[LAYER_SIZE:10]
[LAYER_PERMIT:30]
[MATERIAL_SIZE:1]
[SOFT]
[LEATHER]
[STRUCTURAL_ELASTICITY_WOVEN_THREAD]

Most of these are pretty obvious if one compares them to the other entries in the file. There's a layer for the item, determining where it's worn; a coverage value to determine how well it protects you from cold and other things; a size token to determine how much it counts for when it's under something else; a layer permit token to determine how much can be worn under it; and a material size token to determine how much raw material it takes to make it.

Now, if you wanted to mod these to turn them into metal thongs (ouch!), you would simply have to add [METAL] to it somewhere. Simple! These tokens work by tying into material properties - some materials are designated as suitable for making hard items, some for soft, etc..

Weapons involve a little more detail:

[ITEM_WEAPON:ITEM_WEAPON_SWORD_2H]
[NAME:two-handed sword:two-handed swords]
[SIZE:900]
[SKILL:SWORD]
[TWO_HANDED:67500]
[MINIMUM_SIZE:62500]
[MATERIAL_SIZE:5]
[ATTACK:EDGE:100000:8000:slash:slashes:NO_SUB:1250]
[ATTACK:EDGE:50:4000:stab:stabs:NO_SUB:1000]
[ATTACK:BLUNT:100000:8000:slap:slaps:flat:1250]
[ATTACK:BLUNT:100:1000:strike:strikes:pommel:1000]

SIZE determines how heavy the weapon is. This has a substantial effect on weapon effectiveness. SKILL determines which skill is used in using the weapon; a list of skills can be found [[skill token|on this page]]. MINIMUM_SIZE determines the minimum size a creature must be before the weapon can be wielded, while TWO_HANDED determines how large a creature must be in order to wield the weapon with one hand.

Attacks take a little more explaination. The first value determines the contact area of the weapon's attack; this should be high for slashing weapons and low for bludgeoning, piercing and poking ones. The second value determines how deep the weapon penetrates - for BLUNT attacks this value is ignored as they're not supposed to penetrate anyway, but in the case of EDGE attacks it should generally be lower for slashing attacks and higher for stabbing attacks.

Following these are the adjectives used; they should be self-explanatory. Finally, we have the velocity modifier, which has a multiplying effect on the weapon's size for the purposes of determining how powerful it is in combat.

Other, more miscellaneous items are generally simple and shouldn't require any further explanation.

Once you've made an item, you just add it to the civ entry so a civilization can actually craft it, and it's done.

== Modding language files ==

Let's say you added a whole new species. Sure, you could just swipe one of the existing translation files and steal their language for your species, but that's the lazy way! If you want to create a whole new language, it's very simple.

First, you'd need a whole new language_RACE file, such as language_LIZARDMAN.txt, along with "language_LIZARDMAN" at the top of the file proceeded by [OBJECT:LANGUAGE] and [TRANSLATION:LIZARDMAN]. After that, it's just a matter of copy-pasting one of the existing language lists and editing the finished 'translated' word. That's it! Then just add the translation link to your civ in entity_default.txt and it'll be added to the game on worldgen.

(Note that the name of the file doesn't actually matter; however, it's good form to name the file after a creature if only that creature speaks the language)

== Modding body parts ==

Imagine you have this fantastic idea for a multi-tentacled winged spider-monster. Sounds great! But in order to make this a reality you may need to create a new set of body parts for it. That's no problem! Making body parts is easy, though it may look complicated at first.

All of the default body definitions are located in body_default.txt and then linked to a creature in the creature's entry. We've talked about how bodyparts make up creatures earlier, in the creature section. You can mix and match them in the creature entry and it makes no difference, as long as they're there: each bodypart will link itself to the appropriate connection automatically when the creature is first created.

Body parts work by sections: you can add as many sections as you want to a bodypart definition, but generally you should keep it fairly low for ease of use. Each body section entry is in the, very simple, format:

[BODY:BODYNAME]
[BP:TOKENID:name][TOKENSGOHERE][DEFAULT_RELSIZE:][CATEGORY:WHATEVER]

The most important tokens are "CONTYPE" and "CON": CONTYPE means the bodypart in question is connected to a certain ''type'' of bodypart, while CON means it's connected to a ''specific'' one. TOKENID is yet another identifier, which should be unique, as it's referenced every time something uses CON or BY_TOKEN. DEFAULT_RELSIZE defines, of course, what the bodypart's size is in relation to the other parts. CATEGORY defines a category for the part, which can be unique or shared with other parts. This is referenced whenever BY_CATEGORY is used.

A list of bodypart tokens can be found [[body token|here]].

Let's take a simple example, a head:

[BODY:BASIC_HEAD]
[BP:HD:head:STP][CONTYPE:UPPERBODY][HEAD][CATEGORY:HEAD]
[DEFAULT_RELSIZE:300]

It connects directly to an upper body.

[BODY:2EYES]
[BP:REYE:right eye:STP][CONTYPE:HEAD][SIGHT][EMBEDDED][SMALL][RIGHT][CATEGORY:EYE]
[DEFAULT_RELSIZE:5]
[BP:LEYE:left eye:STP][CONTYPE:HEAD][SIGHT][EMBEDDED][SMALL][LEFT][CATEGORY:EYE]
[DEFAULT_RELSIZE:5]

These are a pair of eyes, connecting to the head.

[BODY:HUMANOID]
[BP:UB:upper body:upper bodies][UPPERBODY][CATEGORY:BODY_UPPER]
[DEFAULT_RELSIZE:1000]
[BP:LB:lower body:lower bodies][CON:UB][LOWERBODY][CATEGORY:BODY_LOWER]
[DEFAULT_RELSIZE:1000]
[BP:HD:head:STP][CON:UB][HEAD][CATEGORY:HEAD]
[DEFAULT_RELSIZE:300]
[BP:RUA:right upper arm:STP][CON:UB][LIMB][RIGHT][CATEGORY:ARM_UPPER]
[DEFAULT_RELSIZE:200]
[BP:LUA:left upper arm:STP][CON:UB][LIMB][LEFT][CATEGORY:ARM_UPPER]
[DEFAULT_RELSIZE:200]
[BP:RLA:right lower arm:STP][CON:RUA][LIMB][RIGHT][CATEGORY:ARM_LOWER]
[DEFAULT_RELSIZE:200]
[BP:LLA:left lower arm:STP][CON:LUA][LIMB][LEFT][CATEGORY:ARM_LOWER]
[DEFAULT_RELSIZE:200]
[BP:RH:right hand:STP][CON:RLA][GRASP][RIGHT][CATEGORY:HAND]
[DEFAULT_RELSIZE:80]
[BP:LH:left hand:STP][CON:LLA][GRASP][LEFT][CATEGORY:HAND]
[DEFAULT_RELSIZE:80]
[BP:RUL:right upper leg:STP][CON:LB][LIMB][RIGHT][CATEGORY:LEG_UPPER]
[DEFAULT_RELSIZE:500]
[BP:LUL:left upper leg:STP][CON:LB][LIMB][LEFT][CATEGORY:LEG_UPPER]
[DEFAULT_RELSIZE:500]
[BP:RLL:right lower leg:STP][CON:RUL][LIMB][RIGHT][CATEGORY:LEG_LOWER]
[DEFAULT_RELSIZE:400]
[BP:LLL:left lower leg:STP][CON:LUL][LIMB][LEFT][CATEGORY:LEG_LOWER]
[DEFAULT_RELSIZE:400]
[BP:RF:right foot:right feet][CON:RLL][STANCE][RIGHT][CATEGORY:FOOT]
[DEFAULT_RELSIZE:120]
[BP:LF:left foot:left feet][CON:LLL][STANCE][LEFT][CATEGORY:FOOT]
[DEFAULT_RELSIZE:120]

An entire humanoid body. The foot bone's connected to the ankle bone...

"BODYGLOSS" entries, which you can sometimes find applied to creature entries, are simply replacement words for specific part name strings in a creature. For example, you'll find the bodygloss [BODYGLOSS:CLAW_HAND:hand:claw] in body_default.txt; you can then use this in a creature via "[BODYGLOSS:CLAW_HAND]" and it'll replace all instances of "hand" with "claw" in that creature. Be warned, however—if you were to, say make a bodygloss [BODYGLOSS:EARSTALK:ear:stalk:ears:stalk], it would not only change "ear" and "ears" to "stalk" and "stalks", it would also change "h'''ear'''t" to "h'''stalk'''t"! For all intents and purposes the body part will still function as the proper part, though.

== Modding plants ==

Plants are, again, not unlike creatures. With what you've learned so far in regard to tokens and the materials system, running through the notes included in plant_standard.txt should explain most things. [[Plant token|Here's the list of plant-specific tokens]].

Below is the [[plump helmet]] raw description:

[PLANT:MUSHROOM_HELMET_PLUMP]
[NAME:plump helmet][NAME_PLURAL:plump helmets][ADJ:plump helmet]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:STRUCTURAL:STRUCTURAL_PLANT_TEMPLATE]
[MATERIAL_VALUE:2]
[BASIC_MAT:LOCAL_PLANT_MAT:STRUCTURAL]
[EDIBLE_VERMIN]
[EDIBLE_RAW]
[EDIBLE_COOKED]
[PICKED_TILE:161][PICKED_COLOR:6:13:0]
[GROWDUR:300][VALUE:2]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:DRINK:PLANT_ALCOHOL_TEMPLATE]
[STATE_NAME_ADJ:ALL_SOLID:frozen dwarven wine]
[STATE_NAME_ADJ:LIQUID:dwarven wine]
[STATE_NAME_ADJ:GAS:boiling dwarven wine]
[MATERIAL_VALUE:2]
[DISPLAY_COLOR:5:0:0]
[EDIBLE_RAW]
[EDIBLE_COOKED]
[PREFIX:NONE]
[DRINK:LOCAL_PLANT_MAT:DRINK]

[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:SEED:SEED_TEMPLATE]
[MATERIAL_VALUE:1]
[EDIBLE_VERMIN]
[EDIBLE_COOKED]
[SEED:plump helmet spawn:plump helmet spawn:4:0:1:LOCAL_PLANT_MAT:SEED]
[SPRING][SUMMER][AUTUMN][WINTER]
[FREQUENCY:100]
[CLUSTERSIZE:5]
[PREFSTRING:rounded tops]
[WET][DRY]
[BIOME:SUBTERRANEAN_WATER]
[UNDERGROUND_DEPTH:1:3]
[SHRUB_TILE:142]
[DEAD_SHRUB_TILE:28]
[SHRUB_COLOR:5:13:0]
[DEAD_SHRUB_COLOR:5:6:0]

Let's look at this line by line: 
First, we define its file name. In this case it's MUSHROOM_HELMET_PLUMP. Next we define its in-game name (plump helmet) and its adjective for if you were to craft with it (e.g. plump helmet earrings).

[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:STRUCTURAL:STRUCTURAL_PLANT_TEMPLATE]
[MATERIAL_VALUE:2]
[BASIC_MAT:LOCAL_PLANT_MAT:STRUCTURAL]

This defines the structure and material of the plant. It references STRUCTURAL_PLANT_TEMPLATE in the first line, so if you were to say, add wings to the template, the plump helmet plant would be winged. This is for the plant itself, not the end plump helmets.

After that we get our edible tokens. These say that vermin can eat the plant, and it can be eaten raw or cooked by your dwarves. So if you wanted a plant vermin would leave alone, you'd remove the [EDIBLE_VERMIN] token.

[EDIBLE_VERMIN]
[EDIBLE_RAW]
[EDIBLE_COOKED]

Next, [PICKED_TILE:161] is the character (161 in this case) shown when the crop is harvested. See [[Main:Character table|character table]] for a table of usable tiles. [PICKED_COLOR:6:13:0] is the color used for the crop's tile when harvested. It's in a foreground:background:brightness format. See [[color]] for the colors usable.

[PICKED_TILE:161][PICKED_COLOR:6:13:0]

[GROWDUR:300] is how long it takes for your crop to grow. There are 1008 growdur units in a season. 
[VALUE:2] Is the value of harvested plant (default 1). Appears to have no effect in version 0.31.

[GROWDUR:300][VALUE:2]

This defines the plant's alcohol states. [STATE_NAME_ADJ:ALL_SOLID:] is the frozen name, followed is the actual drink name, and then its boiling name. These are achieved by either Scorching or Freezing climates. [DISPLAY_COLOR] is, of course, color, and [EDIBLE_RAW] and [EDIBLE_COOKED] are saying you can drink the alcohol raw or cooked.

[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:DRINK:PLANT_ALCOHOL_TEMPLATE]
[STATE_NAME_ADJ:ALL_SOLID:frozen dwarven wine]
[STATE_NAME_ADJ:LIQUID:dwarven wine]
[STATE_NAME_ADJ:GAS:boiling dwarven wine]
[MATERIAL_VALUE:2]
[DISPLAY_COLOR:5:0:0]
[EDIBLE_RAW]
[EDIBLE_COOKED]
[PREFIX:NONE]
[DRINK:LOCAL_PLANT_MAT:DRINK]

After that we get our seed template:

[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:SEED:SEED_TEMPLATE]
[MATERIAL_VALUE:1]
[EDIBLE_VERMIN]
[EDIBLE_COOKED]
[SEED:plump helmet spawn:plump helmet spawn:4:0:1:LOCAL_PLANT_MAT:SEED]

And all this says is that the seeds may be eaten by vermin or cooked. Then it gives the name of our plant's seed, its plural name, its foreground, background, and brightness colors, followed by its seed material; said material should have [SEED_MAT] to permit proper stockpiling.

And finally for the last chunk we have this:

[SPRING][SUMMER][AUTUMN][WINTER]
[FREQUENCY:100]
[CLUSTERSIZE:5]
[PREFSTRING:rounded tops]
[WET][DRY]
[BIOME:SUBTERRANEAN_WATER]
[UNDERGROUND_DEPTH:1:3]
[SHRUB_TILE:142]
[DEAD_SHRUB_TILE:28]
[SHRUB_COLOR:5:13:0]
[DEAD_SHRUB_COLOR:5:6:0]

First we define what season(s) the plant may grow in, then we define how frequently this plant is generated in a particular area, followed by how many harvested crop items may come from 1 plant. [PREFSTRING:] is what your dwarves like about the plant, which in this case is the rounded tops. [WET][DRY] are the conditions under which the plant can grow. Wet means it can grow close to water, dry means it can grow away from water. This does not mean you can grow the plant on dry stone however. It is just for natural spawning of the plant. 
[BIOME] Is what biome the plant grows in. [UNDERGROUND_DEPTH:Minimum:Maximum] Is the highest and lowest cavern levels that the plant can appear in if its biome is subterranean. Dwarven civilizations will only export (via the embark screen or caravans) things that available at depth 1. Defaults to 0:0 (surface only). 
Lastly, [SHRUB_TILE] is the character used for the naturally spawning shrub of this plant, [DEAD_SHRUB] is the dead shrub character. [SHRUB_COLOR] Is the shrub's color, and [DEAD_SHRUB_COLOR] is, of course, the dead shrub's color.

While this may or may not look like a lot of tokens, it's very easy. Just copy an existing plant and edit it to your new plant. 
For the rest of the tokens, see [[plant token]].

== Workshops ==

Workshops are raw-designed pretty differently from everything else in the game, being buildable structures rather than items or methods to gain items. However, they are fairly simple. For example, here's the raw for the [[soap maker's workshop]]:

[BUILDING_WORKSHOP:SOAP_MAKER]
[NAME:Soap Maker's Workshop]
[NAME_COLOR:7:0:1]
[DIM:3:3]
[WORK_LOCATION:2:2]
[BUILD_LABOR:SOAP_MAKER]
[BUILD_KEY:CUSTOM_SHIFT_S]
[BLOCK:1:0:0:1]
[BLOCK:2:0:0:1]
[BLOCK:3:0:0:0]
[TILE:0:1:' ':' ':150]
[TILE:0:2:' ':' ':'/']
[TILE:0:3:'-':' ':' ']
[COLOR:0:1:0:0:0:0:0:0:6:0:0]
[COLOR:0:2:0:0:0:0:0:0:6:0:0]
[COLOR:0:3:6:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0]
[TILE:1:1:' ':' ':'=']
[TILE:1:2:'-':' ':8]
[TILE:1:3:' ':' ':150]
[COLOR:1:1:0:0:0:0:0:0:6:0:0]
[COLOR:1:2:6:0:0:0:0:0:6:0:0]
[COLOR:1:3:0:0:0:0:0:0:6:0:0]
[TILE:2:1:'-':' ':8]
[TILE:2:2:' ':' ':8]
[TILE:2:3:' ':150:' ']
[COLOR:2:1:6:0:0:0:0:0:6:0:0]
[COLOR:2:2:0:0:0:0:0:0:6:0:0]
[COLOR:2:3:0:0:0:6:0:0:0:0:0]
[TILE:3:1:150:' ':8]
[TILE:3:2:' ':' ':8]
[TILE:3:3:' ':240:' ']
[COLOR:3:1:6:0:0:0:0:0:6:7:0]
[COLOR:3:2:0:0:0:0:0:0:6:7:0]
[COLOR:3:3:0:0:0:7:0:1:0:0:0]
[BUILD_ITEM:1:BUCKET:NONE:NONE:NONE][EMPTY][CAN_USE_ARTIFACT]
[BUILD_ITEM:1:NONE:NONE:NONE:NONE][BUILDMAT][WORTHLESS_STONE_ONLY][CAN_USE_ARTIFACT]

A line-by-line breakdown:

[NAME:Soap Maker's Workshop]
[NAME_COLOR:7:0:1]

These are the name of the workshop ("Soap Maker's Workshop") and [[color]] of the workshop's name when examined with 'q' (White with a black background).

[DIM:3:3]
[WORK_LOCATION:2:2]

DIM refers to how large the workshop will be, in this case 3 wide, 3 tall. WORK_LOCATION tells where the creature using it (usually a dwarf) will work, numbered from the top right--in this case, 2:2, or the middle. Multiple work locations can be defined, even outside the dim.

[BUILD_LABOR:SOAP_MAKER]
[BUILD_KEY:CUSTOM_SHIFT_S]

These refer to the worker required to build it (soap maker) and the key used to build it in the workshop menu (capital S).

[BLOCK:1:0:0:1]
...
This is a bit more complex, and is where we get to the meaty part of workshop making--the tiles' properties. BLOCK refers to which tiles will be untraversable--1 means blocked, 0 means unblocked. The first number refers to row, and the next 3 refer to column, so 1:0:0:1 means that, on the first row, the first two tiles will be unblocked and the last will be blocked.

[TILE:0:1:' ':' ':150]
...
The TILE token tells which tile will go where. note, however, that there are 5 entries here instead of 4. The first number, in this case, refers to build stage, numbered from 0 to 3; 3 or 1 is fully built (depending on whether there are stages), 0 is just placed, and 2 is always an intermediate stage, while 1 is usually an intermediate stage. Whether 1 is an intermediate stage or not depends on if there are a 2 and 3 stage; if 2 and 3 exist, 1 will be intermediate. The second number and beyond are similar to BLOCK; however, instead of 1s and 0s, you must input tiles. The tiles themselves can be given in quotes (as in ' ') or given as a number, which can be looked up [[Tilesets|here]]. Here, we have 150, which is û.

[COLOR:1:1:0:0:0:0:0:0:6:0:0]
...
Color is as TILE, but with colors instead of tiles; however, colors are made up of 3 numbers each or MAT. MAT refers to the color of the material used to make it; the 3 numbers refer to foreground:background:foreground brightness, and can be looked up [[Color|here]]. For example, 4:2:1 will give you bright red with a dark green background.

[BUILD_ITEM:1:BUCKET:NONE:NONE:NONE][EMPTY][CAN_USE_ARTIFACT]
[BUILD_ITEM:1:NONE:NONE:NONE:NONE][BUILDMAT][WORTHLESS_STONE_ONLY][CAN_USE_ARTIFACT]
These refer to items required to build the building. These are in the same format as [[Reaction|reaction reagents and products]]--quantity:[[Item token|item]]:[[Material token|material]]. You'll learn more about those on the article about [[Reaction|reactions]], though. The second BUILD_ITEM is special-- it uses modifiers exclusively to determine its requirements. BUILDMAT refers to wood logs, wood blocks, stone boulders, and stone blocks; WORTHLESS_STONE_ONLY means it can't use economic stone; CAN_USE_ARTIFACT means that it... can use artifacts. EMPTY, in the bucket's case, means that the bucket must be empty.

More can be seen at the [[Building token|building tokens]] article.

== Reactions ==

An in-depth guide for reactions is available [[Reactions|here]].

== Materials ==

As we've seen when talking about creatures, materials are vital. Materials show up in two forms: material templates, which generally show up in creatures, and specific materials (designated as "inorganic"), which are (by default, at least) consigned purely to metal and stone types.

Let's take a look at METAL_TEMPLATE in material_template_default.txt. It's evident that most of the basic properties of metals are already defined in the template - it goes red and melts at a high enough temperature, it's heavy, and (as noted by the very bottom token) is a metal. We already know just how useful templates can be to creatures, and the same applies to other materials.

Now let's take a look at inorganic_metal.txt. You can see that the metals here refer to the templates, and, just like we did with creatures, then modify the properties of that template and expand upon it.

Finally, let's look at inorganic_stone_mineral.txt. Here we can see that in addition to the changes made to the template, there are also ENVIRONMENT tokens - these tell the game where to place these minerals during worldgen.

[[material definition token|Here's a list of material tokens]]. It should also help you out with any modifications you want to make regarding those creature modifications we were making a while back. See, it all ties together in the end. The beauty of the current materials system is that there's actually very little difference between, say, leather and iron - they're fundamentally the same thing, just with different properties, which is how things really should be.

== Examples ==

Coming later

= Modding utilities =

[http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=28829.0 A list of many mods and community-developed utilities]

{{Category|Modding}}
[[Category:v0.31:Guides]]

Heat

2012-10-21T02:09:31Z

Emufarmers: Temperature seems like a much saner redirect target

#REDIRECT [[Temperature]]

v0.34:Specific heat

2012-10-21T02:06:29Z

Emufarmers: Add {{av}}; for the record, the previous edits are imported from 40d:Specific heat

{{av}}

The various SPEC_HEAT tokens control a material's '''specific heat''' capacity.

Specific heat is not a temperature. It is, more or less, the amount of energy it takes to raise the temperature of the material from one temperature to another. Gold, for instance, has a very low specific heat, so it takes very little energy to raise its temperature by one degree. Water, with a very high specific heat, takes 32 times as much energy to raise its temperature by one degree. For more information, see [[wikipedia:Specific heat capacity|Wikipedia]] [http://hypertextbook.com/physics/thermal/heat-sensible/ hypertextbook], and [http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/SpecificHeat.html scienceworld].


'''SPEC_HEAT''' appears to be in units of '''J kg-1 K-1''' at '''STP'''; i.e. '''1000''' times the normally reported '''cp''' in joules per gram per kelvin, or exactly the more rarely reported '''cp''' in joules per kilogram per kelvin.

It is not understood why the game uses the '''°C''' or '''K''' scale here, while using the '''°U''' = '''°F + 9968''' scale elsewhere.

=== Sample specific heats as used by Dwarf Fortress ===

The following values are from Dwarf Fortress version 0.28.181.40d, though most also apply to other versions as well.

{| class="wikitable"
! width="50%" | Material
! width="25%" | cp in J kg-1 K-1
! width="25%" | DF uses

|-
| Adamantine
| n/a
| 7500

|-
| Aluminum
| 897
| 900

|-
| Copper
| 385
| 385

|-
| Carbon (Graphite)
| 710
| 409

|-
| Carbon (Diamond)
| 519
| 409

|-
| Gold
| 129.1
| 129

|-
| Iron, cast 
| ≈500
| 450

|-
| Iron, pig
| >500
| 500

|-
| Iron, pure
| 443
| 450

|-
| Iron, wrought 
| 480-500
| 450

|-
| Nickel
| 444
| 444

|-
| Zinc
| 388
| 390

|-
|
|
|

|-
| Alcohol, ethyl, anhydrous
| 2440
| 2440 (default for plant alcohol)

|-
| Alcohol, ethyl, 100 proof
| 3856
| not in raws

|-
| Meat (beef, carcass, not frozen) 
| 2850
| 4181

|-
| Charcoal
| ≈ 1000
| 409 (hardcoded)

|-
| Cheese (Cheddar, aged 60 weeks) 
| 3012
| 4181 (0.31), 2000 (40d)

|-
| Coke
| 850
| 409 (hardcoded)

|-
| Glass, crystal 
| ≈ 500
| 700 (hardcoded)

|-
| Glass, silica 
| ≈ 840
| 700 (hardcoded)

|-
| Granite 
| 790
| 800 (default for all stone)

|-
| Sand
| 835
| 835 (hardcoded)

|-
| Silk (silkworm?) 
| ≈ 1380
| not in raws

|-
| Silk (hornet)  
| ≈ 1500
| not in raws

|-
| Silk (spider, viscid) 
| ≈ 1400
| 420 (0.31), 1000 (40d)

|-
| Water, liquid, at STP
| 4218
| 4181 (hardcoded)

|-
| Water, solid, at STP
| 2114
| 4181 (hardcoded)

|-
| Wood [[Creature_Tokens/SPEC_HEAT#footnote2|[&dagger;]]]
| 1700 to 2900
| 420 (hardcoded prior to 0.31)

|-
|}

<tt>[&dagger;]</tt>  The specific heat of wood varies somewhat between different species. However, the variance is dominated by the moisture content of the wood. Moreover, wet wood behaves very differently below freezing. See [http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr09.pdf] 

----

The default value for '''SPEC_HEAT''' depends on the material and on the version of Dwarf Fortress in question.

----
[[wikipedia:Specific heat capacity#Table of specific heat capacities|Wikipedia]] and [http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/specific-heat-solids-d_154.html engineeringtoolbox] have tables with other materials' specific heats.

References may report specific heat in joules per gram per degree Celsius. Because the Celsius and Kelvin systems use the same scale, differing only in their zero points, this is exactly the same as reporting in joules per gram per kelvin. '''J/g°C''' is equal to '''J/gK'''.

Sometimes references will give specific heat in calories per gram kelvin, or calories per kilogram kelvin. To convert calories per gram kelvin to '''°U''', multiply by '''4184'''. To convert calories per kilogram kelvin to '''°U''' units, multiply by '''4.184'''.

Older references may give specific heat in B.T.U. per pound per degree Fahrenheit. 1 B.T.U. per pound per degree Fahrenheit is by definition equal to 1 calorie per gram per kelvin. '''Btu/lb°F''' is equal to '''cal/gK'''. So just multiply by '''4184''' to convert to '''°U'''.

Sometimes references will report specific heat of liquids or gases in joules (or calories) per [[wikipedia:Mole (unit)|mole]] per kelvin. The symbol for this is '''Cp''' (with a capital C). This is less useful for our purposes, as you will need to know the molecular weight (in grams per mole) of the compound to convert it.
:An example: the molar heat capacity of ethyl alcohol is 113 Joules per mole per degree Centigrade. The molecular weight of ethyl alcohol is 46.07 grams per mole. Divide 113 J/mol°C by 46.07 g/mol, resulting in 2.45 J/g°C. Multiply by 1000 g/kg, resulting in 2450 J/kg°C. That is our desired result in '''DF''' units.

Note that specific ''latent'' heat is a different concept; do not use those values for '''SPEC_HEAT'''.

[[Category:Modding]]
[[Category:Tokens]]

v0.34 Talk:Armor

2012-10-04T21:17:52Z

Emufarmers: /* Mail shirts vs Breastplates */ Reply

== Layers ==
In different parts of the article, we have two different orderings of layers:
#Under < Over < Armour < Cover
#Under < Armour < Over < Cover
I'd assume the first is correct, but I've never played adventure mode, and I don't pay that close attention to see what my dwarves are wearing. If someone could confirm which order layers actually occur in, the incorrect line should be changed. --[[User:Timrem|Timrem]] 02:13, 21 February 2012 (UTC)

== Bars ==

Since .34 some metal weapons/armour take more than one bar to forge. Would it be suitable for someone to add the costs to the respective tables?

From my own experience (smelting done in game without mods right now);

:Weapons: 1 bar
:Gauntlets: 1 bar (for a matching pair)
:High Boot: 1 bar (for two)
:Shield: 1 bar
:Mail Shirt: 2 bars
:Greaves: 2 bars
:Breastplate: 3 bars
Others (namely low boots, leggings, caps, bucklers) unknown at the moment, but I can't imagine the less-covering counterparts taking more.

These values can probably be determined from the raws by someone more skilled than I, though i'm happy to experiment more to gather data. 
::"The number of bars needed to make a piece of metal armor is equal to the material size divided by 3."
:It's covered already in the article. Thanks, though. --[[Special:Contributions/74.102.139.234|74.102.139.234]] 12:49, 8 March 2012 (UTC)
::: It seems to me that most people who are looking at this wiki for some quick advice won't want to determine material size or divide by three. Might be a useful to write it out explicitly for us dolts. [[Special:Contributions/174.1.230.63|174.1.230.63]] 04:30, 22 March 2012 (UTC)
::::Partly because I agree with you, but mostly because I long for your affection, I've added the cost in bars to appropriate pieces of armor. I think that it's only fair that you begin returning my letters now. -- [[User:Vasiln|Vasiln]] 07:28, 22 March 2012 (UTC)

== Armor comparison ==

The armor page says that copper > iron > bronze > steel, but unless major changes have been made, I'm pretty sure bronze is worse than iron. Anyone confirm that bronze indeed outshines iron?
:A short session of testing in the arena of equally-skilled, equally-armed dwarves, one squad in bronze armor and the other in iron armor, ended with all bronze-wearing dwarves alive, and all iron-wearing dwarves dead. The order indicated on the page seems correct. --[[User:Timrem|Timrem]] 17:22, 15 March 2012 (UTC)

:Group tests with large control groups are not the best way to test materials, due to the outnumber snowball effect. I just did a 20-group test with 4vs4 per group, all competent with iron swords. It seems to be mostly a tie, with a <s>slight leaning</s> more major leaning* toward iron. It seems that both bronze and iron are near equal materials, with iron having a slight advantage due to its lighter weight. * I just tallied a few more tests that were in an unconsious-deflect deadlock and iron took the cake on all of them. 70% iron over bronze wins.--[[User:Acetech09|Acetech09]] 19:45, 15 March 2012 (UTC)
::Alright, thanks. I've not really done any arena testing before, and I wasn't really trying that hard to test this. I threw together a 1v1 and a 5v5 is all, sounds like you know better what you're doing. --[[User:Timrem|Timrem]] 21:45, 15 March 2012 (UTC)

:K. I'm about to rework the armor comparison chart a tiny bit to better reflect defensive properties.

An [[Talk:Bolt|experiment]] shows that candy is the worst metal armor against bolts. --[[User:Lcy03406|Lcy03406]] 05:57, 18 August 2012 (UTC)

== Shaped headgear and armor limits ==

With the changes to caps and masks, some of the examples of calculating armor limits have become invalid. Perhaps some Urist McEditor more prone to adventuring than myself and more enlightened on the subject could provide new examples? [[User:Earthfiredrake|Earthfiredrake]] 10:13, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

I was going to make a post similar to yours, but I guess I'll just change the info myself. Caused me enough worry already.--[[Special:Contributions/173.3.16.92|173.3.16.92]] 22:25, 28 May 2012 (UTC)
*Someone's going to have to check my work though... I might just change the easiest parts.--[[Special:Contributions/173.3.16.92|173.3.16.92]] 22:31, 28 May 2012 (UTC)

== Foreign high boots ==

34.09 - I just discovered that my civ can not make high boots. In the equipment screen, it says (foreign) next to the high boot entry. I double checked by abandoning and choosing another civ to embark with. I found they had high boots on the embark list. I aborted and checked the first civ's embark and they didn't list high boots. --[[User:GoldenShadow|GoldenShadow]] 05:09, 18 May 2012 (UTC)
:I can't make high boots either in 34.11. Have not checked if others civ's can. [[User:Great Cthulhu|Great Cthulhu]] 21:57, 18 September 2012 (UTC)
:This was noted in the changelog of 34.09. Lothion--[[Special:Contributions/124.181.89.8|124.181.89.8]] 06:15, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

== Throat Protection ==

v 34.11

I am seeing combat logs showing throat strikes on goblins being deflected by their mail shirts. Has the coverage of the throat and possibly other facial areas been modified for better armor coverage. Possibly depending on the layer designation?

I believe mail shirts have always protected areas such as the throat. This is reflected in the UPSTEP value of mail shirts. Lothion--[[Special:Contributions/124.181.89.8|124.181.89.8]] 06:19, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

== Mail shirts vs Breastplates ==

In recent dwarven !SCIENCE!, mail shirts were shown to be consistently better at defending against bolts than plate armor which did ''nothing'' to stop bolts. Link here: [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=116151.0]. Results were independantly verified with another study that occured at the same time. After reading through the results I think it is definately worth mentioning this on the page as I had been under the impression that breastplates are generally better.

One of the authors of the study actually states:
<blockquote>
Given my results to date, I propose that the best equipment for dwarves might be helm, breastplate, mail shirt, mail leggings, gauntlets and low boots. I do not know how mail leggings would compare to greaves for melee combat, but they are clearly better (but still don't really do that much) against arrows, and are also much lighter. Also, presumably high boots are preferable, but not readily available in fortress mode.
</blockquote>

However the breastplate is presumably for use in melee combat.
--[[User:Lothion|Lothion]] 06:28, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

:I've added a mention of the extent to which bolts (and whips) penetrate armor. Feel free to revise it as necessary. One of the !SCIEN!tists also posted some summaries at [[DF2012 Talk:Bolt]]. [[User:Emufarmers|Emufarmers]] 21:17, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

v0.34:Armor

2012-10-04T21:09:34Z

Emufarmers: /* Material */ Add a blurb about armor's ineffectiveness against whips and bolts

{{quality|Masterwork|13:30, 26 July 2012 (UTC)}}{{av}}

Armor is the protective equipment used to reduce/deflect damage during [[combat]]. It comes in several pieces, each one protecting a certain area. The purpose of each piece is pretty much self-explanatory. Note that breastplates only protect upper/lower torso areas, while mail shirts also cover the upper arms. Ears, nose, lips and teeth are exposed, even in full armor, whilst robes and capes tend to cover the throat.

'''The actual effectiveness of a given piece of armor depends on the weapon(s) being used against it.'''

Keeping in mind the armored enemies you are likely to meet, it is advisable to equip your military dwarves with at least iron armor. Testing in the arena shows that armored dwarves have a huge advantage over the unarmored ones, usually taking no casualties while making short work of their enemies. (But you shouldn't need this wiki to figure that out.) With more recent versions, armour slows down dwarves considerably more than it did in the past. In one arena test, a naked peasant had 951 speed on creation and a peasant in full bronze armour had a speed of 643. An armoured peasant Grand Master Armour User skill raised their speed to 951.

== Basics ==
=== Purpose ===
Armor's purpose is simple: to allow your dwarves to better withstand damage in combat. Where an unarmored dwarf hit by a weapon would invariably suffer damage, well-armored dwarves have a good chance of blunting the damage or bouncing it off altogether, reducing major strikes to mere bruises and grave wounds to serious ones. [[Clothes]], though not specifically recognized by the game as armor, nonetheless also functions in that sense, often blocking weak attacks (and rendering a clothed dwarf a better fighter than a naked one).

A clothed dwarf takes little more than a few seconds to die to a [[goblin]] [[ambush]]. One clad in a full set of exceptional steel armor, meanwhile, can expunge a goblin squad of most of its ammo and a half a minute of its time before finally dying. Dwarves armed only with weapons might be a sufficient response to thieves and local wildlife, but a serious [[military|army]] requires equally serious armor.

=== Types of armor ===
In terms of classifications, armor can be classed into three different types. The first is [[clothing]], made of [[leather]] or [[cloth]]. Clothing can only deflect very weak attacks - say, a [[raven]] bite - but nonetheless can dampen damage. Most dwarves will be wearing clothing; those that aren't will usually be very [[tantrum|unhappy]], [[children|babies]], or [[insane]]. The second type is [[leather]] and [[bone]] armor, which is specialized for the purpose from clothing; it is very weak, but still better than nothing. The last type is true [[metal]] armor, made at a [[metalsmith's forge]]; it is this armor that is made by an [[armorsmith]], and should be used by a serious military.

Though all clothes can protect from damage, a "true" suit of armor consists of the following pieces, one cell from each column.

{|border="1" cellpadding="5" style="margin:1em 1em 1em 0;background:#F9F9F9;border:1px #AAA solid;border-collapse:collapse;text-align:left"
|-
! scope="col" style="background:#efefef;" | Torso
! scope="col" style="background:#efefef;" | Head
! scope="col" style="background:#efefef;" | Hands + wrists
! scope="col" style="background:#efefef;" | Upper + Middle legs
! scope="col" style="background:#efefef;" | Feet/Lower legs
! scope="col" style="background:#efefef;" | [[Shield|Shields]] (block attacks)
|-
|Mail Shirt (upper body + upper arms)
'''and/or''' Breastplate (upper body)
|Helms
|Gauntlets
|Greaves, made of plate
|High boots (feet + lower legs)
|Shield
|-
|Leather armor (upper body)
|
|
|Leggings, made of chain
|Low boots (feet)
|Buckler
|}

The first row is the more effective choice, while the second row is an alternative offering less protection.

=== Armor skill ===
Armor use trains the [[armor user]] [[skill]]. Where armor quality affects hit block chance, armor user skill affects how quickly the dwarf can move in his armor. In arena tests, a grand master armor user could move at twice the speed of a dabbling user when in heavy armor. Faster speed translates into faster movement, both when walking around and when crossing blades with an opponent; well-trained dwarves will have more opportunities to strike, block, and dodge in combat.

Every time a dwarf reflects an attack with their armor ([[reports|report]]ed as "the attack was deflected by his/her <armor>"), they will receive 30 [[experience]]. The skill can trained with a [[danger room]], by attacking local wildlife, or through [[live training]] schemes.

=== Shield skill ===
Likewise, shield use trains the [[shield user]] [[skill]]. Shields are a special piece of armor that can be worn on one arm (and cannot be worn with two-handed weapons) and can be used to block attacks better than equivalent armor can (a difference amounting to deflection instead of broken bones), greatly increasing dwarven survivability. The skill modifies how often the dwarf will be able to block an attack with the shield, and is likewise trained every time the shield is used to block an attack, at 30 experience apiece. It can be trained in the same ways.

=== Material ===
:''See also: [[Metal#Weapon and armor quality]]''

{|border="1" cellpadding="5" style="margin:1em 1em 1em 0;background:#F9F9F9;border:1px #AAA solid;border-collapse:collapse;text-align:left"
! Material !! Workshop !! Labor !! Notes
|-
| [[Metal]] || [[Metalsmith's forge]] || [[Armorsmith|Armoring]] || Best choice; see notes below
|-
| [[Bone]] || [[Craftsdwarf's workshop]] || [[Bone carver|Bone carving]] || Leggings, greaves, gauntlets and helms only
|-
| [[Leather]] || [[Leather works]] || [[Leatherworking]] || Light and unencumbering but weak protection.
|-
| [[Cloth]] || [[Clothier's shop]] || [[Clothier|Clothesmaking]] || Limited protection, nearly useless against metal.
|-
| [[Wood]] || [[Carpenter's workshop]] || [[Carpentry]] || Shield/buckler only (except [[Elf|Elves]])
|}

Most armor must be made out of a weapons-grade material (steel, iron, etc.). The only exception to this is when a dwarf is in a [[strange mood]], in which case a piece of armor may be created out of any metal lying around. The material used in armor is extremely important to combat; fully [[iron]]-armored dwarves with iron short swords stand no chance against those clad in [[steel]]. In general, slashing weapons will have difficulty piecing armor made of the same weapons-grade material as the weapon, piercing weapons will be increasingly blunted, and blunt weapons will break bones through armor almost regardless of its material. Rigid armor provides limited blunt protection, and the chain mail shirts and leggings provide next to none. Even adamantine armor only prevents an estimated 13% of blows, demonstrating the utility of the slow but sure war hammer.

Certain weapons are surprisingly good at penetrating armor. Copper whips will shatter skulls through steel helmets, and copper bolts will tear through steel breastplates as if they weren't there. Metal plate mail provides no protection against metal bolts, although it can deflect wood and bone. Chain mail provides modest protection.[http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=116151.30 science!]

{|border="1" cellpadding="5" style="margin:1em 1em 1em 0;background:#F9F9F9;border:1px #AAA solid;border-collapse:collapse;text-align:center"
! colspan=5|Metal armor comparison
|-
! Poor !! Good !! Excellent !! Best
|-
| Copper || Iron/Bronze<nowiki>*</nowiki> || Steel || Adamantine
|}

* [[Copper]] armor is the lowest-grade type of metal armor, but also the easiest to get, requiring one of [[native copper]], [[malachite]], or [[tetrahedrite]] (next-to-guaranteed on any embark containing more than one metal).
* [[Bronze]] is an [[alloy]] of copper and [[tin]], requiring [[cassiterite]]. It is much improved over copper armor, and has slightly better material properties than iron, but also weighs more.
* [[Bismuth bronze]] is just bronze alloyed with [[bismuth]], fancier colored but more expensive to produce and with the same material definitions. If you have access to bismuth and want to put it to use, you can save some tin this way.
* [[Iron]] can be smelted from [[hematite]], [[limonite]], or [[magnetite]], and is easiest to find in [[sedimentary]] layers (though [[igneous extrusive]] layers may contain hematite). It is comparable to bronze, but has a less complicated smelting process.
* [[Steel]] is the best non-candy armor material, and requires [[fuel]], [[flux]], [[iron]], and [[pig iron]] in its manufacturing. Note that steel is worth its weight in [[gold]]; making lots of armor is a sure way to attract attention, but at least it's going into shiny armor, right?
* [[Adamantine]] is only found beneath the third [[cavern]] layer, plumbing the depths of the [[magma sea]]; it can be used to create unparallelled armor, but is very time-consuming to produce, in addition to being hazardous to mine. It is immensely valuable to boot.

A detailed breakdown can be found [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=53571.0 here].

=== Quality and strange moods ===
Quality is an important modifier on armor. Armor gets a deflection bonus based on quality level, but its effect is only known for regular (1x), masterwork (2x), and artifact (3x) armor; presumably, the quality ranks in between are progressive.

{{DF2012:Item quality/Table}}

This means that, effectively, masterworks produced by legendary [[armorsmith]]s cut damage done by as much as half. This, combined with the need to produce a lot of armor, makes armorers far and away the most desired dwarves for [[strange mood]]s, and various schemes exist for influencing such an event.

Dwarves in strange moods can produce legendary artifacts, which benefit from a 3x multiplier, three times as good as a more mundane piece of armor. However, artifacts can be made of totally inappropriate materials, and the spectacularly low defensive values of a [[rainbow trout]] [[bone]] mail shirt vastly outweigh any bonuses it gets. This can be problematic when your [[militia commander]] drops everything to retrieve himself his new piece of candy. Nonetheless, artifact-quality weapons-grade armor are very strong defensively.

Strange moods are an exception to the number of bars rule; only one bar is required for the item itself, although additional materials may be gathered for decoration.

=== Attachment ===
Dwarves that have used a particular piece of armor for an extended period of time may grow attached to it, becoming unhappy if it is taken away. This is fine if it is a pair of ☼Steel Greaves☼, but a major problem if they are using what is meant to be interim armor. This happens less often with armor than it does for weapons. These events generate announcements.

=== Mechanics ===
There is no hard difference between clothing and armor, something accentuated by regular clothing's ability to block attacks. Armor can be thought of as metal clothing, thicker and made of materials that have a much better chance of blocking attacks. Armor is, however, different in that it is not subject to [[wear]], and the fact that only non-clothing garments increase the armor user skill.

The availability of specific articles of clothing varies by [[civilization]], and each has its own set of clothing that it can produce. In Fortress mode, shoes and sandals are in the same clothing class, but only the latter can be produced by dwarves, where the former must be stripped off of dead enemies. It is important to understand that dwarves are gender-insensitive; a male dwarf may well put on a dress.

Non-armor clothing can provide some defense, most importantly to areas that are not covered by regular armor. The ears, nose, lips, and teeth are always exposed, even in full armor. Robes and capes will cover the throat and provide a bulwark of low-level protection, making them useful for military dwarves, especially those you plan to send through the [[danger room]].

== Layers ==

The layers are, in order from inner to outer:
*Under
*Over
*Armor
*Cover

==Types of Protection==
The number of regular metal bars needed to make a piece of metal armor is equal to the material size divided by 3, rounded down with a minimum of one. The number of adamantine wafers or stacks of cloth required to create armor is equal to the material size.

===Headgear===
{| style="margin:1em 1em 1em 0;background:#F9F9F9;border:1px #AAA solid;border-collapse:collapse;" class="wikitable sortable"
|- style="background:#F2F2F2;text-align:center;"
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Clothing Type
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Armor Level*
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Material Size
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Materials
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|[[Armor#Size, Permit, and layering armor|Size]]
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|[[Armor#Size, Permit, and layering armor|Permit]]
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Layer
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Coverage %
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Bars
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Cap[S]
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|+
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L,M
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|10
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|15
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Over
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|50%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1

|-
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Helm[S]
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1+
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|2
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|L,B,S,M
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|30
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|20
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Armor
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|-
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Hood
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|2
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|10
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Cover
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Mask†[S]
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|2
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|20
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|10
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Under
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|50%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Turban†
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|2
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|20
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Over
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|50%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Head Veil†
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|2
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|10
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Over
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|50%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Face Veil†
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|2
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|10
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Under
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|50%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Headscarf†
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|2
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|10
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Over
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|50%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|}

===Upper Body===
{| style="margin:1em 1em 1em 0;background:#F9F9F9;border:1px #AAA solid;border-collapse:collapse;" class="wikitable sortable"
|- style="background:#F2F2F2;text-align:center;"
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Clothing Type
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Armor Level*
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Material Size
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Materials
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|[[Armor#Size, Permit, and layering armor|Size]]
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|[[Armor#Size, Permit, and layering armor|Permit]]
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Layer
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Coverage %
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|[[Armor#Coverage|UBSTEP]]
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|[[Armor#Coverage|LBSTEP]]
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Bars
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Dress
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|5
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|10
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|50
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Under
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|MAX
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|MAX
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Shirt
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|3
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|10
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|50
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Under
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|MAX
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|0
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Tunic
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|3
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|10
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|50
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Under
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|0
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Toga
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|5
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|30
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Over
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Vest
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|2
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|10
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|50
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Over
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|50%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|0
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|0
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Robe
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|6
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|20
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Over
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|MAX
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|MAX
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Coat
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|5
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|20
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|50
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Over
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|MAX
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Leather Armor[S]
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|6
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|20
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|50
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Armor
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Mail Shirt
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|2
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|6
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|M
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|15
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|50
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Over
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|2
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Breastplate[S]
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|3
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|9
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|M
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|20
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|50
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Armor
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|0
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|0
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|3
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Cloak
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|5
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|15
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|150
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Cover
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|MAX
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Cape†
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|5
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|10
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|300
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Cover
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|50%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|0
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|0
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|}
[[Quiver]] and [[Backpack]] are also worn on upper body, counting towards layer permit size.

===Hands===
{| style="margin:1em 1em 1em 0;background:#F9F9F9;border:1px #AAA solid;border-collapse:collapse;" class="wikitable sortable"
|- style="background:#F2F2F2;text-align:center;"
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Clothing Type
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Armor Level*
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Material Size
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Materials
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|[[Armor#Size, Permit, and layering armor|Size]]
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|[[Armor#Size, Permit, and layering armor|Permit]]
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Layer
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Coverage %
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|[[Armor#Coverage|UPSTEP]]
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Bars
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Gloves
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|10
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|10
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Under
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Gauntlets[S]
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|2
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|2
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|B,S,M
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|20
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|15
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Armor
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Mittens
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|15
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|20
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Cover
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|150%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|}

Each crafting job produces a pair of gloves, gauntlets or mittens -- one right-handed and one left-handed. The items from a single job may have different quality levels.

===Lower Body===
{| style="margin:1em 1em 1em 0;background:#F9F9F9;border:1px #AAA solid;border-collapse:collapse;" class="wikitable sortable"
|- style="background:#F2F2F2;text-align:center;"
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Clothing Type
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Armor Level*
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Material Size
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Materials
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|[[Armor#Size, Permit, and layering armor|Size]]
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|[[Armor#Size, Permit, and layering armor|Permit]]
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Layer
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Coverage %
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|[[Armor#Coverage|LBSTEP]]
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Bars
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Trousers
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|4
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|15
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|30
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Over
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|MAX
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Leggings[S]
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1+
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|5
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|L,B,S,M
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|15
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|30
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Armor
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|MAX
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Greaves[S]
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|3
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|6
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|B,M
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|15
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|30
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Armor
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|MAX
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|2
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Loincloths†
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|10
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|30
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Under
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|50%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|0
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Thongs†
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|10
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|30
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Under
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|25%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|0
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Skirts (Short)†
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|2
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|10
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Over
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|0
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Skirts†
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|2
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|10
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Over
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Skirts (Long)†
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|2
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|10
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Over
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|MAX
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Braies†
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|3
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|10
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|30
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Under
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|}

===Footwear===
{| style="margin:1em 1em 1em 0;background:#F9F9F9;border:1px #AAA solid;border-collapse:collapse;" class="wikitable sortable"
|- style="background:#F2F2F2;text-align:center;"
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Clothing Type
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Armor Level*
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Material Size
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Materials
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|[[Armor#Size, Permit, and layering armor|Size]]
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|[[Armor#Size, Permit, and layering armor|Permit]]
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Layer
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Coverage %
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|[[Armor#Coverage|UPSTEP]]
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Bars
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Socks
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|10
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|15
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Under
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Sandals†
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|25
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|15
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Over
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Shoes
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|C,L
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|20
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|15
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Over
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|N/A
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Low Boots
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|L,M
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|25
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|15
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Armor
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|High Boots
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1+
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|2
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|L,M
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|25
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|15
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Armor
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Chausses (sockmail)†
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|3
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|L,M
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|10
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|15
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Under
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|100%
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|MAX
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|}

Each crafting job produces one pair of footwear. Unlike gloves, footwear items are interchangeable (they are not right- or left-footed). The two items from a single crafting job may have different quality levels.

===Shield===
{| style="margin:1em 1em 1em 0;background:#F9F9F9;border:1px #AAA solid;border-collapse:collapse;" class="wikitable sortable"
|- style="background:#F2F2F2;text-align:center;"
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Clothing Type
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Armor Level*
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Material Size
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Materials
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|[[Armor#Size, Permit, and layering armor|Size]]
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|[[Armor#Size, Permit, and layering armor|Permit]]
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Layer
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Coverage %
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|[[Armor#Coverage|UPSTEP]]
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Bars
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Buckler
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|2
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|L,M,W
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|NA
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|NA
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|NA
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Shield
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|2
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|4
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|L,M,W
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|NA
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|NA
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|NA
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|2
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|1
|}

* * {{=}} Items without an armor rating are considered clothing. Armor levels 1-3 were referred to as 'leather', 'chain' or 'plate' in earlier versions.
* + {{=}} The armor level of an item with a "+" can be increased by one if made from metal.
* † {{=}} This article cannot be crafted by dwarves (except for [[artifact]]s), but may be purchased in trade.
* [S] {{=}} shaped item, max one [S] per body slot (e.g. plate mail cannot be worn with leather armor, but can be worn with chain mail, and greaves and leggings cannot be combined).
* Materials can be Cloth, Leather, Bone, Shell, Metal, or Wood.

==Equipping Clothing==

Items in Dwarf Fortress must be equipped in a specific order. A dwarf must equip a layer type of Under before he equips a layer of type Over, for example. The complete order goes: Under, Armor, Over, Cover. It is common among civilians to see a dwarf equip pants with no undergarments due to this restriction, even when an undergarment is available. This is typically not an issue with soldiers, however.

There is no restriction on wearing multiple items of the same type ''(Unless the item is shaped [S])''. You can, for example, wear 3 cloaks without penalty.

===Process for equipping a new piece of clothing===

The following variables will be used in the logic below:
:'''Current Item''' refers to the specific item being equipped.
:'''Total Size''' refers to the [[Armor#Size, Permit, and layering armor|size]] of all items equipped on that body part, excluding the item to be equipped (while including those on a different [[Armor#Size, Permit, and layering armor|layer]]).
:'''Permit''' refers to the maximum allowable size of items equipped on the same or lower level as the item to be equipped.

In order to equip a new item, the dwarf (or other creature) ...
:*will determine if he is eligible to wear the item in question (Perhaps the body part is missing/severed).
:*must start with the lowest layer first, continuing to the next layer when no other items of that layer need to be equipped
:*checks if the item is shaped [S], and will only equip the item if no other shaped items are equipped '''on that body part'''.
:*will equip items with lowest permit level first. If two items share the same permit value, the highest size item will be equipped first{{verify}}.
:*then checks if his total size (excluding the current item) is less than the current item's permit.
:*If all above logic is true, the dwarf will equip the item.

===Equipment process example===

Each item is listed in order of being equipped, the primary focus of this example is that the total size must be equal to, or less than the permit size of the item being equipped. Like above, the total size ''excludes the size of the item being equipped''.

{| style="margin:1em 1em 1em 0;background:#F9F9F9;border:1px #AAA solid;border-collapse:collapse;" class="wikitable sortable"
|- style="background:#F2F2F2;text-align:center;"

!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Item Type
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Size
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Permit
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Total Size*
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Breastplate [S]
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|20
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|50
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|0
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Mail Shirt
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|15
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|50
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|20
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Mail Shirt
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|15
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|50
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|35
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Mail Shirt
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|15
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|50
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|50
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;color:#F00;"|Mail Shirt
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;color:#F00;"|15
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;color:#F00;"|50
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;color:#F00;"|65
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Cloak
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|15
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|150
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|65
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Cloak
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|15
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|150
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|80
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Cloak
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|15
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|150
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|95
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Cloak
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|15
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|150
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|110
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Cloak
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|15
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|150
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|125
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|Cloak
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|15
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|150
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"|140
|-

|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;color:#F00;"|Cloak
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;color:#F00;"|15
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;color:#F00;"|150
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;color:#F00;"|155
|}

* * = Total Size include the size of all equipped items, but does not include the item being equipped
*Red Text = This item cannot be equipped, because the total size is larger than the item's permitted size.

==Size, Permit, and layering armor==

The '''Size''' and '''Permit''' values govern how much clothing or armor can be worn.

Under the old system the lowest "permit" value for any given body part is used: for instance, if a dwarf is wearing a dress (permit value: 50) and a total of 50 or more ''size'' worth of clothing on the upper body, it cannot put any more clothing on the upper body. (This explains why the old [[40d:dungeon master|dungeon master]]s tend to wear several cloaks: they arrive at the fortress wearing only a cloak on the upper body (permit 150), and can put on a total of 10 of them, at 15 size each.)

Unfortunately, [LAYER:COVER] items are the only items playing by the old rules. This much is certain from testing in arena mode.

:*If the item to be add is a [LAYER:COVER] item, add the total item size on the body part, if this sum is '''less than or equal to''' the item's permit value then evaluate as true.
:*If a [LAYER:ARMOR] item is present or to be added and if the sum of the non [LAYER:COVER] items would be '''less than''' the sum of the [LAYER:ARMOR] size+permit values then evaluate as true.
:*If one or more items of the same non-[LAYER:COVER] layer as the one being added are present and if the sum of their size values is '''less than''' the smallest permit value then evaluate as true.
:*If the sum of the size values for all items on the body part are '''less than or equal to''' the permit value of the item about to be added then evaluate as true.

The item is allowed if all rules either evaluate to true or are not applicable. This is in addition to the rule allowing only one shaped item on a given body part at a time.

Example: A helm (30 size,20 permit) means you can put on a mask (20,10) or two head veils (10,100). Either of these configurations can fit 6 additional hoods if desired.

Example: Wearing a cap (10,15) allows only one face veil (10,100), because they are both [LAYER:UNDER], but an additional combined total of up to 9 head veils and hoods is possible.

Note that the armor value of socks and other clothing is unknown under the new system - however, wearing them under "armor" such as boots is recommended for an adventurer.

'''[[Adventurer mode]]''' follows the arena rules so it is possible to have three chain mail shirts (15,50), a breastplate (20,50), and 25 capes (10,300) on ones upper body plus a helm and six hoods on ones head. Confirmation is needed to see if [[fortress mode]] follows the old rules or the new arena rules. (I tested this and found that Urist McNopants follows a totally different set of rules than either of these. His rules tell him to forget both caps all of the hoods both socks and his trousers, and each sucessive time he gets dressed he feels the need to do it differently.)

===Some more workaround about Size, Permit and Layering===

* You can only have one shaped armor piece (marked with '''[S]''') per body part.
* The total size of non-cover items must be ''lower'' than any armour piece's permit + size total.
* The total size of all items of any layer on any body part must be lower than the lowest permit value (excluding that item).
* The total size of all items on any body part must be lower than the size + permit value of any cover item.
* All items are put on in order of their layer.

As an example, lets say you want to kit out your soldiers upper body. Try walking through this in arena mode to get a feel for it.

You start off with a [[steel]] breastplate. This has a size of '''20''' and a permit of '''50'''. It is also '''shaped''', so you can't add any other shaped items; no more breastplates and no [[leather]] armor.

Now you want to add mail shirts. Each one has a permit of '''50''' and a size of '''15'''. You can add three of these if you want. It checks the size against each of the armour pieces permit + size (or rather, the permit value ignoring that items size in the calculation), like so;
* Against each of the mail shirts, you have '''2 x 15 = 30''' total size in mail shirts, '''+ 20''' from the breastplate, matching the '''50''' permit.
* Against the breastplate you have '''3 x 15 = 45 < 50''', fine.
Now if you add a fourth mail shirt these test will fail. However, because of the layering order (mail shirts being armour layer 2, the breastplate armour layer 3) the breastplate is added after the shirts. This results in the breastplate being dropped.

Because this reaches the '''50''' permit limit for the mail shirts, you can't add more non-cover items without substituting them for existing items. If you want a robe (size '''20'''), for example, you need to remove two of the mail shirts to clear a total size of '''30''', which then lets you add an extra size '''10''' shirt, vest or whatever.

However, you can add cover layer items. In this case, cloaks. Each cloak has a size of '''15''' and a permit of '''150'''. Taking into account the '''50''' size already on the upper body, we can add '''100''' size worth of cloaks. This lets us add '''6''' ('''x 15 = 90''') cloaks over the existing armour.

Going through like this for the rest of the body (most of it is simpler) gives you a final setup of;

'''Armor''' 
1 x breastplate 
3 x mail shirts 
6 x cloaks

'''Armor (cheap)''' 
6 x dress 
3 x robe 
3 x cloak 

'''Legs''' 
3 x long skirts 
1 x greaves

'''Legs (no foreign items)''' 
2 x trousers 
1 x greaves

'''Legs (cheap)''' 
2 x trousers 
1 x leggings

'''Helm''' 
1 x helm 
6 x hood

'''Gloves''' 
1 x pairs of gauntlets 
1 x pairs of mittens

'''Gloves (cheap)''' 
2 x pairs of gloves 
1 x pairs of mittens

'''Boots''' 
1 x pairs of chausses 
1 x pairs of high boots

'''Boots (no foreign items)''' 
1 x pairs of socks 
1 x pairs of high boots

'''Boots (cheap)''' 
1 x pairs of socks 
1 x pairs of shoes

Of course, so long as the bugs are still around, we are likely to see dwarves wearing more than this or refusing to put parts on because they found their boots before their socks.

''Note: "Cheap" implies the set can be made from secondary materials such as bone and cloth with item types not overlapping with the other, more combat oriented set which use metal, leather and cloth (for socks). As a rule of thumb, combat sets provide better protection but cheap sets are lighter and easier to mass produce.''

==Coverage==

There are three tags that govern how far coverage reaches.

:'''[UBSTEP]'''
This token, when applied to torso armor, controls how far 'up' the body an item of armor reaches. Basically you can think of it as going out in stages along the body. It doesn't cover legs. It doesn't cover body parts with certain tags (notably [HEAD], [GRASP] and [STANCE], or the head). It can cover the children of such body parts (such as parts of the face) if it extends beyond them. The upper body and lower body are counted as 0 steps away, and so both always covered.

Breastplates have a default of 0, meaning they only cover the torso. 
Mail shirts have [UBSTEP:1], so cover the upper arms and throat.

A number of clothing items have [UBSTEP:MAX]. What exactly this covers depends on a certain bug, but unless you are making adamantine robes you probably won't get that much extra protection this way anyway. This would mean, for example, they would cover the upper arm, lower arm, skip the hand, then cover the fingers. The same goes for facial features (and, oddly, the throat) after skipping the head and the toes after skipping the entire legs and feet. 
The clothes with these properties seem to be robes, cloaks, coats, shirts and dresses. However, of these only robes and dresses also have [LBSTEP:MAX] (see below) and so I'm not sure if anything else would actually cover toes or not. Needs additional testing.

Testing in arena: in three 15x15 dwarves battles where both sides was equiped with iron battle axes and iron full armor and one of the teams was enforced with leather robes, team with robes was a victorious (2-3 survivors).

:'''[LBSTEP]'''
This token, when applied to torso armor or pants, controls how much of the legs an item covers. Legs in this case are defined as [LIMB] body parts that end in a [STANCE] body part (eg, foot). Arms are [LIMB]s, but end in a [GRASP] hand instead. Because the upper and lower body are effectively zero steps from each other, torso armor can extend this way easily.

Both greaves and leggings have [LBSTEP:MAX] and so cover the entire leg to the best of their ability. 
Mail shirts have [LBSTEP:1] and so can protect the upper legs. A range of other clothes (including cloaks) and leather armor also have this.
As mentioned above, robes and dresses have [LBSTEP:MAX] and so cover the entire legs. These also have [UBSTEP:MAX] and so cover the entire body. Although not the strongest armor, a leather (or maybe adamantine?) robe or dress gives you maximum coverage.

:'''[UPSTEP]'''
This token, when applied to gloves or shoes, determines how far up the limb the armor protects. As with [LBSTEP], this doesn't cover anything but the [LIMB] tag body parts, but it does cover arms as well as legs.

Low boots literally only cover the foot. 
High boots have [UPSTEP:1], so cover the lower leg. If you consider the upper legs can covered by [LBSTEP] from above, you can effectively have an entire layer of chain armor on the legs from high boots and a mail shirt even before adding leg armor. This is why I go with greaves for a plate layer.
Gauntlets have [UPSTEP:1], so cover the lower arms. Because there is no other protection for arms as there is for legs, you need gauntlets and mail shirts to protect your arms fully.
Chausses are a very rare sock substitute, but they are the only items to have [UPSTEP:MAX] and so offer full leg coverage while being exactly the same size as regular socks. The perfect undergarment.

The whole method is pretty nifty with just two problems. 
* Faces can't be covered by head armor.
* Throats cannot be protected by metal armor (except adamantine cloth).

Toes and fingers are protected by the relevant armor type (e.g. gauntlets cover fingers and boots cover toes).

== Other Restrictions ==

In fortress mode, "under" layers cannot be put on over "over" layers, so, for instance, a dwarf cannot put on socks unless it first removes its shoes. They can wear over layers without putting an under layer on first, which explains their fondness for "going commando" (trousers without loincloth). Dwarves will only put on the specific armor they are told to put on -- unless they are not told what to wear.

Also, if you do not tell dwarves to replace clothing with a uniform, they will wear it alongside the uniform and possibly come into conflict with layering and sizes/permits, making them unable to wear assigned items.

In adventurer mode, you have direct control over what armor you put on, and are only limited by permit and "one only" (shaped) restrictions. This means you can wear three suits of chain mail (total size 45) plus another suit of chain or plate on top of them. On top of this, you can add six cloaks.

== Bugs ==

In adventurer mode, putting a pair of socks (or any under-layer foot wear) on before putting on a pair of boots (or any over-layer foot wear) will keep you from putting on the last boot. So the order sock, sock, boot, boot doesn't work, but changing the order to sock, boot, sock, boot does. This is a very minor bug.

{{Industry}}

v0.34:Beard

2012-10-01T00:58:17Z

Emufarmers: Undo revision 177973 by 206.80.243.155 (talk)

{{quality|Exceptional|15:55, 30 September 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}

Many creatures in the game (even [[human|humans]]) have a group of tissues which are together known as a 'beard'. The most common type of 'beard' a player will encounter is the [[dwarf]] beard.

==Dwarven Beards==

A dwarven 'beard' consists of both his cheek whiskers and his chin whiskers, and is specific to males. The game keeps track of a hidden 'length' attribute for each tissue. At birth, a male baby dwarf has a beard of length zero. After that, they gain 1 length every day until they have 1000 length.

The beard does not affect anything other than the description as yet. Interestingly, different dwarven [[civilization]]s tend to have different cultural hairstyles, including beard styles.

Although most creatures have both of these tissues, they have no such appearance as a beard. This leads to many players believing that [[elf|elves]] have beards, which is incorrect.

{{D for Dwarf}}
===Characteristics===

Dwarven hair is extremely hearty; the average dwarf hair is many times longer and several times thicker than the average human hair. The range of colors is quite large; common colors include dark blues, black, any number of shades of gray, silver, white, brown, copper, rust, and even [[Main:fire|flaming orange-red]].

Because they are grown to such incredible lengths and thicknesses, dwarven beards act as an extra layer of defense against external dangers - the resiliency of the beard helps protect the dwarf's face from physical blows, the expansiveness of the beard helps protect the dwarf's face and upper body against sources of radiation, and in its normal state, the beard almost completely covers the nasal passages and the mouth, acting as a sort of natural gas mask, which keeps noxious gases and other airborne contaminants from being inhaled. Also, each hair is coated with unique oils that give it the ability to attract and trap some germs and bacteria, which are then either scrubbed out in the bath, or (more commonly) immersed in strong [[Main:alcohol|alcohol]] from the inevitable poorly-aimed quaff.

===Dwarven beards as a sensory organ===

The remarkably thick hairs of the male dwarf's beard are a marvel of biology. Each hair contains millions of sensory receptors of incredible diversity, including but not limited to hairs that gauge humidity and air flow, hairs highly sensitive to the presence of [[alcohol]], air pressure sensing "[[hidden fun stuff|<s>Bad</s> Fun Decision]]" hairs that are hooked directly to the brain's pleasure center and chemically reward dwarves for digging deeper, and even hairs that produce more and more vitamin D the longer a dwarf spends underground, to the point where any solar contact at all results in an [[cave adaptation|overload of vitamins]] and immediate [[vomit|nausea]]. The only sense that dwarven beards lack, are heat sensories.

Female dwarves use their long, luxurious knuckle hairs for the same purposes.

===Dwarven beards as a symbiotic organism===
In actuality, dwarves are not singular creatures such as humans, but are colonial organisms consisting of a single humanoid body (referred to as a 'Dwarf' for simplicity's sake here), and a colony of beard strands. Dwarves and beards have formed a symbiotic relationship over the years, to the point where neither is capable of survival without the other, similar to a Portuguese Man o' War.

Strangely enough, all of the agency and decisionmaking of the colony is not handled by the humanoid part, but by a hive mind residing in the beard. While each individual beard strand is very small, much like cloud computing, together they are able to form complex thoughts. Because they are each rather simple, they tend to all get aligned on the same thought at once, leading to a dwarf deciding "Getting -troll fur sock- at all costs" is the only thing worth doing right now. The body is essentially a sack of meat used to move the beard from place to place.

Dwarven beard strands have been observed to attempt to bond with humans, due to a similar body structure, but such symbiosis is always short lived for the human.

"Dwarven Ghosts" are actually the remaining beard strands when the 'body' segment dies. The strands, similar to muscle memory, assume the shape of the body they once inhabited and attempt to carry out their routines. Due them just being thin strands in a humanoid shape, they appear gossamer and ethereal to onlookers, and objects pass through them by slipping past the strands. This also explains why ghosts die of old age; it takes a while, but eventually the strands exhaust their nutrient supply, being unable to draw from the dead host.

===Elven Commentary on Beards===

Elf1: Sir! i have the report from our last attack on the dwarves!

Elf2: Ah, good. Have we wiped them out this time?

Elf1: No, sir. everyone is dead....However, we did discover something strange.

Elf2: Well, what is it...?

Elf1: While examining the mutilated corpse of one of our kin, our scout noticed that he seemed to be clutching what appears to be some rough strands of hair. I had him bring them back.

Elf2: Alright, let me see them i suppose....*the elf examines the hairs closely for a moment*

Elf2: My...god.....it's the beards....

Elf1:what was that, sir?

Elf2: IT'S THE BEEAARRDSS!!!

Elf2:*Runs to the highest tree in the forest* IT'S THE BEEEEEAAAARRRDSS!!!!!!!!

Elf2: Ready the troops! Tonight, we siege!! Not against their fortress....But against. their. CHINS.

v0.34:Megabeast

2012-09-27T03:33:36Z

Emufarmers: /* Description */ no, not quite

{{quality|Exceptional|15:15, 18 April 2011 (UTC)}}{{av}}

'''Megabeasts''' are just that: mighty creatures that will tear your dwarves apart in a heartbeat if given the chance. They are named [[world generation|historical figures]], and the game will [[announcement|announce]] their presence by name. They are distinct from, and larger than, [[semi-megabeast]]s.

== Description ==
Megabeasts are created systematically during world generation. Newly generated worlds are populated by initial populations of historical figures, megabeasts among them. The amount of megabeasts created at world generation is random, but based on two factors: the size of the world ("World Size"), and their prevalence ("Number of Beasts"). Megabeasts' presence (or lack thereof) is a major factor in world history. Over time, they will accumulate long [[kill list]]s, and the baddest of the bunch will acquire nicknames and [[deity|god]]-like associations with their [[sphere]]s.

Megabeasts are a distinct and serious threat to early development, threatening many a young outpost; but, inevitably, as the world matures, populations rise, and new settlements are founded, they become increasingly harassed. Although megabeasts will come out on top of almost any encounter, enough dice rolls and they ''will'' go down, felled by a lucky human or other sapient creature clearing the way for his fellows. The longer the world history, the more megabeasts are confronted and killed off, and the safer the world becomes for [[civilization]]. In most worlds, calender [[Calendar#Ages|ages]] go through three stages, the Age of Myth, the Age of Legends, and the Age of Heroes, each with a progressively higher percentage killed of megabeasts.

Some megabeasts (namely [[dragon]]s and [[roc]]s) can reproduce during world generation, but such an event is fantastically unlikely, for two reasons. The first is that megabeasts are immensely rare and elusive, and almost never bump into another. The second is that the starting population of megabeasts is also their population cap, meaning that other megabeasts must die before new ones can be born. They will also reproduce within players' fortresses if they are lucky enough to [[cage trap|cage]] and [[animal training|tame]] two specimens of opposite sexes. Megabeasts can be divided into two classes, "normal" ones, and randomly generated ones. Normal megabeasts are [[roc]]s, [[bronze colossus]]es, and [[dragon]]s; randomly generated beasts are either [[titan]]s or [[forgotten beast]]s ([[demon]]s are considered separately).

In world generation, all megabeasts claim and live in a [[lair]], a hunting (or, perhaps, haunting) ground from which they will attack other [[creature]]s, both wildlife and civilized settlements. A megabeast sharing its lair with another megabeast of the other gender is also far more likely to reproduce than if the two had been wandering the world. Lairs can and do change, however, sometimes regularly, and older megabeasts have called many a place their home.

Megabeasts will not attack the player until they have accumulated a minimum wealth of 100,000☼ or a minimum population of 80 dwarves. What megabeasts appear, if any do at all, is influenced by which ones are closest to the player; a dragon with a lair nearby is far more likely to attack than a roc several weeks away. Nonetheless, force-quitting and loading a fortress from a few days before a megabeast attack may result in a different one arriving on the same day, or later, or no one arriving at all, depending on what has survived world generation.

After an attack on a settlement in worldgen, megabeasts tend to be worshiped by [[dwarves]], most likely out of fear and the hope that worshiping the megabeast may persuade it to not eat its worshipers (this does not work at all). The megabeast is listed as ''object of worship'' on the dwarfs' [[relationship]] screen. This does not change your dwarves' behavior when confronted with an object of worship, nor the megabeast's behavior when bumping into its worshipers.

==See also==
*[[Creature]]
*[[Dragon]]
*[[Hydra]]
*[[Roc]]
*[[Bronze colossus]]

{{Military}}
{{Category|Megabeasts}}

v0.34:Combat

2012-08-29T04:25:52Z

Emufarmers: Some copy-editing; this article would probably benefit from having relevant information from the old version imported

{{quality|Fine|20:16, 26 December 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}

(This page ''will'' cover the mechanics of combat - once they're figured out. For now, you may want to refer to [[Combat skill]]s, [[Armor]] or [[Weapon]]s)

Combat in Dwarf Fortress is unlike that in most strategy and role playing games. Rather than having hit points, units have a collection of body parts, such as limbs, head(s) and a torso. These have sub parts: limbs have skin, fat, muscle, tendons, bones, nerves and arteries; heads have brains; and torsos have internal organs. Damage to these parts and sub parts causes various negative effects, such as fainting, vomiting, loss of mobility due to bone fractures or nerve damage, and eventually leading to death from organ failure or blood loss. The combat system tries to present a fairly realistic depiction of combat, with several important consequences.

Although creatures and players may direct and focus their attacks, combat is random in nature. A glancing blow can get lucky and damage a vital organ, or open an artery to cause massive blood loss. Weapons cause damage specific to their class, be they axes or swords or backpacks. You will often see creatures attacked with impaling weapons such as spears or crossbow bolts die of asphyxiation when their lungs are pierced, while slashing weapons are more likely to open an artery or lop off a limb, and blunt weapons will cause fractures. Some weapons may become stuck in the enemy: if the weapon wielder can maintain control he can continue to do damage and immobilize the enemy, but if the enemy gains control of the stuck weapon, the weapon's wielder will be disarmed.

Reading the combat {{k|r}}eports will give you a gruesome blow-by-blow of the fighting, telling you exactly what each strike did. It is important to note that while most natural creatures have the same sorts of vulnerabilities due to their similar collection of body parts, procedurally generated creatures such as Titans, Megabeasts and Demons may lack these vulnerabilities entirely. Killing a shambling pile of refuse may prove to be a very, very long process due to the fact that it has no vital parts, and metallic creatures may prove to be nearly invulnerable. When all else fails, a cave-in means certain death for anything caught underneath.

As in real life, combat in Dwarf Fortress is chaotic, deadly, and gruesome. Numbers seem to matter, as defending against multiple opponents can be difficult even for a decent fighter. Your warriors will not suffer loss of generic hit points, and can not simply rest to regain them. Injuries must be dealt with in an appropriate fashion for healing to occur: broken bones must be set, wounds must be cleaned and stitched up, and for some things such as concussions, you can only wait and hope the victim eventually regains consciousness.

==General Observations==
* Blunt weapons seem to use density for material strength
* Blunt weapons probably use "contact area" and weapon mass for relative strength

* Edge weapons seem to use the progression Silver->Copper->Bronze->Iron->Steel->Adamantine for material strength
* Edge weapons probably use "penetration size" for relative strength

==Mechanics==

:Based on information in the RAWs and in-game, Toady seems to use real-world physics and material properties for in-game behaviour. Using this as a starting point, we can roughly estimate some of the combat damage mechanics for both blunt and edged weapons.

==General Terms==
:'''Stress''' - Force per area = F/A
:'''Strain''' - Deformation of a solid due to stress = Stress/Young's Modulus

:'''Yield Strength''' is the amount of stress required to permanently deform (bend) a material (plastic deformation)
:'''Fracture Strength''' is the amount of stress required to permanently break (rupture) a material
:'''Strain at yield''' is the amount of deformation (bending) that occurs at the yield point
:Implications to Dwarf Fortress Combat

==Armor Properties==

*Material Properties
:* Blunt Protection
::*'''Impact yield'''
::*'''Impact fracture'''
::*'''Impact strain at yield'''

:* Edge Protection
::*'''Shear yield'''
::*'''Shear fracture'''
::*'''Shear strain at yield'''

*Item Properties
:*'''Armor Level''': Layer number in which armor is worn. Lower numbers will be equipped first, and later numbers equipped if space is available.
:*'''Coverage'': Some armor covers more of the body than others.

==Weapon Properties==

*Material Properties
:*Common
::*'''Contact Area''': Determines the surface area hit by the weapon. Likely in mm2.
::*'''Velocity Multiplier''': Effectively increases the velocity of the weapon swing.

:*Blunt Weapons
::*Blunt weapons are all about weapon mass, contact area, and velocity. Apply a large force to a small area for bone crushing goodness.
::*'''Mass''' is likely material '''Density''' times weapon '''Size'''
::*'''Momentum''' is '''Mass''' times '''Velocity'''
::*'''Velocity''' is based on the '''Mass''' of the weapon, the '''Strength''' of the wielder, and the '''Velocity Multiplier''' of the weapon
::*Any impact must have a conservation of momentum, and thusly, impart the weapon's momentum to the target
::*'''Stress''' is the '''Force''' of the strike divided by the '''Contact Area'''
:::*Material '''Impact Yield''' determines the '''Stress''' required to dent the armor (likely not used)

:*Edged Weapons
::*Edged weapons rely on a combination of size, mass, impact area, penetration depth, and velocity

==Arena Test Results==

* Forthcoming...