Dwarf Fortress Wiki - User contributions [en]

Category:Designations

2009-07-19T21:18:38Z

Gnarker:

Using {{K|d}}, one can designate various spots for different tasks or actions.
[[Category:Interface]]

If a dwarf has several possible tiles from that he can perform work on a designated tile (and possibly also to build something), he will choose the one with the lowest of the numbers shown below (currently only tested with digging):

5|3|7 
1|X|2 
6|4|8

Category:Designations

2009-07-19T21:17:06Z

Gnarker:

Using {{K|d}}, one can designate various spots for different tasks or actions.
[[Category:Interface]]

If a dwarf has several possible directions to perform work on a designated tile (and possibly also to build something), he will choose the one with the lowest of the numbers shown below (currently only tested with digging):

5|3|7 
1|X|2 
6|4|8

Category:Designations

2009-07-19T21:16:38Z

Gnarker:

40d Talk:Grate

2009-07-19T20:49:13Z

Gnarker:

Can the bucket from a well pass through a grate? If so, it would be a convenient way to keep dwarves from falling into the well. --[[User:Okita|Okita]] 10:18, 17, June, 2008 (EDT)
:Nope, I tried. I did hear that building a floor hatch in the same square as a well works, but I haven't tried it. [[User:Techhead|Techhead]] 09:17, 16 July 2008 (EDT)

Can fish pass through underwater wall grates? --[[User:Benitosimies|Benitosimies]] 19:08, 10 March 2008 (EDT)
:All vermin can. --[[User:Someone-else|Someone-else]] 12:24, 10 May 2008 (EDT)

Projectiles confirmed to pass through floor grates for v0.27.176.38c. --[[User:Geofferic|Geofferic]] 03:23, 24 March 2008 (EDT)

:Hmmm that seems quite odd, perhaps Toady could make it perform an accuracy check? Similar to firing through fortifications? --[[User:AlexFili|AlexFili]] 05:34, 16 July 2008 (EDT)

Has anyone encountered cats/kittens and children passing through grates with assistance of water? I seem to have a few children, cats, and kittens just falling through a grate that has a lot of water being pulled through it.--[[User:Sphexx|Sphexx]] 05:03, 28 May 2008 (EDT)
:I.E. Vermin. -- [[User:Vaevictus|Vaevictus]] 16:38, 15 July 2008 (EDT)

I've had a whole bunch of grown-up Dorfs pass through wall grates with the help of water. I'm guessing this is not intended? The article is vague on this. [[User:Peppar|Peppar]] 11:09, 16 July 2008 (EDT)

So, grates work with magma then for filtering out undesirables? i.e., could they be used to keep fire imps out of a channel used to supply a magma centre? – [[template:unsigned|unsigned]] comment by [[User:Tenebrys|Tenebrys]]

:Sort of. The bug that pushes creatures through grates/bars (with the assistance of fluids) may or may not apply to magma. Creatures also might spawn on the wrong side of the grate, but aside from that, it should work great.

:Also, ''please'' remember to sign your comments. ~ [[User:Midna|Midna]] 01:47, 27 October 2008 (EDT)

:Adding a double-thick grate might stomp that bug. Umm, assuming creatures that are carried into a grate are h4xx0red to the other side. Hypothetically, a check is performed to see if there's a walkable space at the other end of the grate, and if the check is failed nothing goes through it. So a double-thick grate should ensure the check fails while stile allowing liquid to pass through. Hypothetically of course. --[[User:Xonara|Xonara]] 02:20, 27 October 2008 (EDT)

Is light supposed to not pass through a floor grate? Or is this a bug? I tried to build some tunnels with grates so nobody could get in that way and the tiles below would be considered inside, but now its also dark on these tiles. --[[User:Spectre|Spectre]] 17:39, 8 May 2009 (UTC)

:Perhaps you are referring to the order for dwarfs to stay inside? I have found that the option really means stay on tiles that have NEVER seen outside. Not once. Once a tile has "seen the sun", it is considered outside. Even if you build 40 Z levels of floors above it. That confused me at first too. I had a mill that had a windmill directly above it. Since the tile the millstone was on had "seen light", my miller had a cow when I told the dwarfs to stay inside. Sure confused the heck out of me! Light actually passes through floors as [[exploit|well]]. --[[User:Kwieland|Kwieland]] 21:11, 8 May 2009 (UTC)

:No, I was refering to the fact, that I have dug a chanel above the entrance of my dining hall so to ensure that my dwarves dont get sunsick if going out in the open. I than planned on building grates above the chanels to prevent invaders from going in through the holes. But the grates also prevent the light from passing through, making the whole construction meaningless. --[[User:Spectre|Spectre]] 13:13, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

^ I think if you put Glass floors in the channeled out squares it should work fine
--[[User:Kveldulf|Kveldulf]]

What happens if i first build three grates in a row, and then disconnect the one in the middle via channeling from the floor? --[[User:Gnarker|Gnarker]] 10:49 19 July 2009 (MEST)

40d Talk:Grate

2009-07-19T20:48:17Z

Gnarker:

Can the bucket from a well pass through a grate? If so, it would be a convenient way to keep dwarves from falling into the well. --[[User:Okita|Okita]] 10:18, 17, June, 2008 (EDT)
:Nope, I tried. I did hear that building a floor hatch in the same square as a well works, but I haven't tried it. [[User:Techhead|Techhead]] 09:17, 16 July 2008 (EDT)

Can fish pass through underwater wall grates? --[[User:Benitosimies|Benitosimies]] 19:08, 10 March 2008 (EDT)
:All vermin can. --[[User:Someone-else|Someone-else]] 12:24, 10 May 2008 (EDT)

Projectiles confirmed to pass through floor grates for v0.27.176.38c. --[[User:Geofferic|Geofferic]] 03:23, 24 March 2008 (EDT)

:Hmmm that seems quite odd, perhaps Toady could make it perform an accuracy check? Similar to firing through fortifications? --[[User:AlexFili|AlexFili]] 05:34, 16 July 2008 (EDT)

Has anyone encountered cats/kittens and children passing through grates with assistance of water? I seem to have a few children, cats, and kittens just falling through a grate that has a lot of water being pulled through it.--[[User:Sphexx|Sphexx]] 05:03, 28 May 2008 (EDT)
:I.E. Vermin. -- [[User:Vaevictus|Vaevictus]] 16:38, 15 July 2008 (EDT)

I've had a whole bunch of grown-up Dorfs pass through wall grates with the help of water. I'm guessing this is not intended? The article is vague on this. [[User:Peppar|Peppar]] 11:09, 16 July 2008 (EDT)

So, grates work with magma then for filtering out undesirables? i.e., could they be used to keep fire imps out of a channel used to supply a magma centre? – [[template:unsigned|unsigned]] comment by [[User:Tenebrys|Tenebrys]]

:Sort of. The bug that pushes creatures through grates/bars (with the assistance of fluids) may or may not apply to magma. Creatures also might spawn on the wrong side of the grate, but aside from that, it should work great.

:Also, ''please'' remember to sign your comments. ~ [[User:Midna|Midna]] 01:47, 27 October 2008 (EDT)

:Adding a double-thick grate might stomp that bug. Umm, assuming creatures that are carried into a grate are h4xx0red to the other side. Hypothetically, a check is performed to see if there's a walkable space at the other end of the grate, and if the check is failed nothing goes through it. So a double-thick grate should ensure the check fails while stile allowing liquid to pass through. Hypothetically of course. --[[User:Xonara|Xonara]] 02:20, 27 October 2008 (EDT)

Is light supposed to not pass through a floor grate? Or is this a bug? I tried to build some tunnels with grates so nobody could get in that way and the tiles below would be considered inside, but now its also dark on these tiles. --[[User:Spectre|Spectre]] 17:39, 8 May 2009 (UTC)

:Perhaps you are referring to the order for dwarfs to stay inside? I have found that the option really means stay on tiles that have NEVER seen outside. Not once. Once a tile has "seen the sun", it is considered outside. Even if you build 40 Z levels of floors above it. That confused me at first too. I had a mill that had a windmill directly above it. Since the tile the millstone was on had "seen light", my miller had a cow when I told the dwarfs to stay inside. Sure confused the heck out of me! Light actually passes through floors as [[exploit|well]]. --[[User:Kwieland|Kwieland]] 21:11, 8 May 2009 (UTC)

:No, I was refering to the fact, that I have dug a chanel above the entrance of my dining hall so to ensure that my dwarves dont get sunsick if going out in the open. I than planned on building grates above the chanels to prevent invaders from going in through the holes. But the grates also prevent the light from passing through, making the whole construction meaningless. --[[User:Spectre|Spectre]] 13:13, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

^ I think if you put Glass floors in the channeled out squares it should work fine
--[[User:Kveldulf|Kveldulf]]

What happens if i first build three grates in a row, and the disconnect the one in the middle via channeling? --[[User:Gnarker|Gnarker]] 10:49 19 July 2009 (MEST)

40d:Volcano

2009-07-18T16:13:42Z

Gnarker:

A '''volcano''', in the real world, is a vent in the planet's crust through which lava and pyroclastic materials are expelled. They're usually created through plate tectonics in subduction zones, but they can form anywhere [[magma]] is capable of breaking through to the surface.

== Locating volcanoes ==

[[Image:Volcanoes-located.gif|thumb|400px|right|In order to begin on the volcano the starting plot must cover the ≈. Also note the volcano's name displayed under the biome information - this will be shown even if your plot isn't over the caldera. Click on this image to see the larger version.]]

In Dwarf Fortress, volcanoes are named [[mountain]]s that additionally provide a source of [[magma]].

During world generation, areas of the map have a "volcanism" rating, (see [[advanced world generation]] for more information) much like they have a rainfall or drainage rating. In areas with high volcanism, volcanoes and magma have a higher chance of rising to the surface. A tile with 100 volcanism will become a volcano.

To start on a map that includes a volcano, you will have to search for one on the fortress location selection screen. Most of the time they are not visible on the world map. Scroll around the world looking for a red ^ in the regional map. Select that space, and in the local map, move your starting area to include the square with a dark red ≈, which is the caldera. A volcano is ''not'' a bright red ≈ - those tiles indicate red sand. There may also be additional local [[magma vent]]s in nearby tiles around the volcano. Using the [[site finder]] utility that comes with the latest version of Dwarf Fortress assists in finding volcanoes; see its page for more information.

Sometimes a [[magma vent]] will exist in an area with no volcanoes nearby.

== Living on a volcano ==

Volcanoes provide ready access to [[obsidian]], which a [[craftsdwarf]] can form into a rock short [[sword]]; these are as strong as steel shortswords. It can also be used to make more valuable rock [[craft]]s and [[furniture]], as obsidian has a value of 3, compared to 1 or 2 for all other stones. It's possible to divert [[water]] into magma to form your own obsidian, although obsidian is often already present in great quantities.

The volcanic activity also leads to an abundance of heavy [[igneous extrusive layer|extrusive igneous]] rock (such as [[basalt]], [[felsite]] and [[andesite]]) under a layer of farmable materials. The nature of these rock layers also provides for many useful [[ore]]s such as [[iron]] (through [[hematite]] or other means), [[gold]], [[galena]], and other non-precious [[metal]]s. The rock also provides useful [[gem]]s such as [[turquoise]]s and [[gem|zircons]], and occasionally [[gem|diamonds]]. Genuine volcanoes sometimes have other interesting features, similar to named mountains: they are frequently sites for [[cave]]s, often have a wider than usual variety of [[stone]] and [[ore]], and may include unusual features such as [[cave river]]s, [[chasm]]s or [[pit]]s.

Because of the natural tendency for Magma to turn into obsidian when coming in contact with water, digging alongside the magma chamber may provide an easy route underneath the [[aquifer]] and into the perfectly dry stone and ore deep below.

Due to the random nature of map generation, occasionally your group may end up embarking directly over [[magma|lava]], and it will shortly be time to select a new fort location. Other times a message about the cavern collapsing may occur the instant you embark - this is because the volcano is inserted into the already existing landscape, and it can cut through a supporting wall. There is also a bug where a volcano will appear on the same spot as a bottomless chasm, creating a spectacle that may appear like the volcano is erupting.

See [http://mkv25.net/dfma/movie-701-shortestfortever this movie] for an example.

Creatures like fire imps can and maybe will climb out of volcanos, where they´ll attack everything they see, which may leads to a deadly and nearly unstoppable forestfire, so it´s possibly a good idea to dig a channel around open volcanos in fortress mode as soon as possible.

{{World}}

[[Category:World]]

40d:Volcano

2009-07-18T16:13:12Z

Gnarker: /* Living on a volcano */

A '''volcano''', in the real world, is a vent in the planet's crust through which lava and pyroclastic materials are expelled. They're usually created through plate tectonics in subduction zones, but they can form anywhere [[magma]] is capable of breaking through to the surface.

== Locating volcanoes ==

[[Image:Volcanoes-located.gif|thumb|400px|right|In order to begin on the volcano the starting plot must cover the ≈. Also note the volcano's name displayed under the biome information - this will be shown even if your plot isn't over the caldera. Click on this image to see the larger version.]]

In Dwarf Fortress, volcanoes are named [[mountain]]s that additionally provide a source of [[magma]].

During world generation, areas of the map have a "volcanism" rating, (see [[advanced world generation]] for more information) much like they have a rainfall or drainage rating. In areas with high volcanism, volcanoes and magma have a higher chance of rising to the surface. A tile with 100 volcanism will become a volcano.

To start on a map that includes a volcano, you will have to search for one on the fortress location selection screen. Most of the time they are not visible on the world map. Scroll around the world looking for a red ^ in the regional map. Select that space, and in the local map, move your starting area to include the square with a dark red ≈, which is the caldera. A volcano is ''not'' a bright red ≈ - those tiles indicate red sand. There may also be additional local [[magma vent]]s in nearby tiles around the volcano. Using the [[site finder]] utility that comes with the latest version of Dwarf Fortress assists in finding volcanoes; see its page for more information.

Sometimes a [[magma vent]] will exist in an area with no volcanoes nearby.

== Living on a volcano ==

Volcanoes provide ready access to [[obsidian]], which a [[craftsdwarf]] can form into a rock short [[sword]]; these are as strong as steel shortswords. It can also be used to make more valuable rock [[craft]]s and [[furniture]], as obsidian has a value of 3, compared to 1 or 2 for all other stones. It's possible to divert [[water]] into magma to form your own obsidian, although obsidian is often already present in great quantities.

The volcanic activity also leads to an abundance of heavy [[igneous extrusive layer|extrusive igneous]] rock (such as [[basalt]], [[felsite]] and [[andesite]]) under a layer of farmable materials. The nature of these rock layers also provides for many useful [[ore]]s such as [[iron]] (through [[hematite]] or other means), [[gold]], [[galena]], and other non-precious [[metal]]s. The rock also provides useful [[gem]]s such as [[turquoise]]s and [[gem|zircons]], and occasionally [[gem|diamonds]]. Genuine volcanoes sometimes have other interesting features, similar to named mountains: they are frequently sites for [[cave]]s, often have a wider than usual variety of [[stone]] and [[ore]], and may include unusual features such as [[cave river]]s, [[chasm]]s or [[pit]]s.

Because of the natural tendency for Magma to turn into obsidian when coming in contact with water, digging alongside the magma chamber may provide an easy route underneath the [[aquifer]] and into the perfectly dry stone and ore deep below.

Due to the random nature of map generation, occasionally your group may end up embarking directly over [[magma|lava]], and it will shortly be time to select a new fort location. Other times a message about the cavern collapsing may occur the instant you embark - this is because the volcano is inserted into the already existing landscape, and it can cut through a supporting wall. There is also a bug where a volcano will appear on the same spot as a bottomless chasm, creating a spectacle that may appear like the volcano is erupting.

See [http://mkv25.net/dfma/movie-701-shortestfortever this movie] for an example.

Creatures like fire imps can and maybe will climb out of volcanos, where they´ll attack everything they see, which may leads to a deadly and nearly unstoppable forestfire, so it´s possibly a good idea to dig a channel around open volcanos in forest mode as soon as possible.

{{World}}

[[Category:World]]

40d Talk:Noise

2009-07-17T19:20:57Z

Gnarker: /* Other sources of noise */

== Other sources of noise ==
Any information on whether fighting causes noise? [[User:Zardus|Zardus]] 02:22, 16 April 2008 (EDT)

Does anyone know if dwarves just walking about causes noise? [[User:Yvain|Yvain]] 06:31, 5 March 2008 (EST)

:I can't say for certain now, but I am certain that they did not in the old version. --[[User:Savok|Savok]] 22:50, 18 March 2008 (EDT)

Do machines make noise? --[[User:Juckto|Juckto]] 07:06, 5 May 2008 (EDT)

How about things like doors opening and floodgates being activated? Kinda falls under "machines" but eh. --[[User:Kefkakrazy|Kefkakrazy]] 00:01, 23 September 2008 (EDT)

Does Smoothing Stone or Engraving Stone cause noise? --[[User:Nekojin|Nekojin]]

I observed a dwarf being woken up when a square next to him was mined out. corecting entry. --[[User:mrdudeguy|mrdudeguy]]

Pumping and farming? --[[User:Gnarker|Gnarker]] 18:34, 8 July 2009 (CEST)

== Diagonal Z-Noise ==
How does the Z-direction work with noise in terms of diagonals? If my bedrooms are two layers down, can they be closer than they would be if they were one layer down? Or is noise effectively a cylinder where the nearby squares aren't feasible even when down 3 layers?

I'm not sure how old this comment is, but this is actually brings up a good question. Has anyone actually verified that noise still radiates in a diamond pattern? Rooms used to "radiate" in diamond patterns, but they now expand like a square. Could noise have been modified similarly? If noise does move diagonally, a workshop would produce a noise cube with dimensions 9x9x9. --[[User:Marble Dice|Marble Dice]] 23:29, 18 March 2008 (EDT)

On second thought it would probably look like a pyramid with square cross-sections and a base that was 9x9, which seems to be what the article suggests. I'll have to try and find some room to verify this behavior in my current fortress. --[[User:Marble Dice|Marble Dice]] 23:37, 18 March 2008 (EDT)

:I tested this by stopping all mining, catapults, training, etc, and every workshop except one. I placed beds in places I wanted to check for noise. Here's a list of my results in (X, Y, Z) co-ordinate pairs. Assume the workshop's center tile is the origin (0, 0, 0). Positive X is east, negative Y is south, and negative Z is down.

:* (+5, 0, 0) = No
:* (+4, -4, 0) = Yes
:* (+5, -4, 0) = No
:* (0, 0, -4) = Yes
:* (+1, 0, -4) = Yes
:* (+4, -4, -4) = Yes
:* (+5, -4, -4) = No

:Dwarves get a thought about where they're sleeping when they crash (slept without a proper room, in a good bedroom, etc), but they don't get a thought for noise until they wake up. I assume this is because there are three tiers to the noise thought: uneasily, very uneasily, and was woken up by. I'd hazard a guess as jobs happen, applicable nearby sleeping dwarves will "accumulate" noise until they wake up. If they pass a certain threshold, they wake up prematurely and get the most severe negative thought. Otherwise, they get "uneasily" or "very uneasily" when the wake normally, based on how much noise they accumulated. Perhaps noise has both a loudness (how much it increases the dwarf's counter) and a range, or maybe longer range noises increase the counter more, or maybe all noise is the same loudness and it's just a matter of the number of noise events a dwarf hears while sleeping. It seems reasonable to me, but I've no way to test it. Not sure if any of this additional information belongs in the main article or not. --[[User:Marble Dice|Marble Dice]] 22:26, 20 March 2008 (EDT)

::My guess is that noise doesn't accumulate. I suspect that the reason the thought appears when they wake up is in case they hear a noise that's louder than the one they already heard. Otherwise you could insulate your dwarves from loud noises by making small noises. (not that this would be practical) [[User:Gairabad|Gairabad]] 23:38, 19 December 2008 (EST)

== distances ==

gee, no wonder my dwarves are all upset by noise - 16 squares from anywhere a chair is being moved in is a long way! Here I was being worried about how close the masons' workshop is, when my problem all along was I keep building doors, beds and things just next door.

I think that is broken personally - building furniture should be treated way differently to building a workshop! Building a workshop I can understand being heard easily for 16 squares, but destroying/building a chair, table or bed should be pretty much cut out at 4 squares.[[User:GarrieIrons|GarrieIrons]] 05:55, 13 February 2008 (EST)

== Accurate for the latest version? ==

I built a hatch cover right next to a sleeping dwarf and he wasn't woken up. D'ya think some of this might have been changed? [[User:Gairabad|Gairabad]] 23:36, 19 December 2008 (EST)
:Dwarves being outright awoken due to noise is a pretty severe case - just building a hatch cover wouldn't do it. Check the dwarf when he wakes up and see if he got the sleeping uneasily thought. --[[User:ThunderClaw|ThunderClaw]] 02:13, 20 December 2008 (EST)
::No, I don't think he did. [[User:Gairabad|Gairabad]] 21:23, 22 December 2008 (EST)

40d:Elf

2009-07-08T16:59:38Z

Gnarker: /* Elves in Fortress Mode */

{{CreatureInfo|name=Elf|symbol=E|color={{COLOR:3:0:0}}|butcher=no|
bones=7|chunks=N/A|meat=N/A|fat=N/A|skulls=1|skin=N/A|
biome=
* In their retreats, usually in [[forest]]s
}}
'''Elves''' are intelligent [[humanoid]] [[creature]]s who live in [[Map_legend#Sites|forest retreat]]s. They are one of the races playable in [[Adventure Mode]]. Their retreats have no buildings, but the [[tree]]s in the area were named, before 3-d happened. You can just make up names for the trees. They love nature and are ready to defend it, typically with [[bow]]s. They may invade a fortress which violates their tree-cutting limit.

== Elves in Fortress Mode ==

Elves are a [[trading]] race and send small [[caravan]]s without [[wagon]]s in [[Calendar|spring]]. They usually bring [[Thread]], [[cloth]], [[Restraint|rope]], various [[plants]] and [[seed]]s, [[wood]]en items, and some [[wood]]. They may also bring some [[tame]] [[animal]]s, often even exotic, which are good to build up a zoo. Elves also bring a crapload of useless stuff: [[armor]] and clothes too large to wear, inferior wooden [[weapons]], inferior [[alcohol|booze]], inferior redroot [[dye]], [[bow]]s and [[arrow]]s ''(these can at least be used for weapon traps)''. They are very picky about what they will accept in return: Elves will accept anything except items made out of or decorated with any wood. This includes glass items ''(due to the [[potash]] which comes from [[ash]] which comes from [[Wood burner|burning wood]])''.

[[Metal]] items are acceptable, even when [[charcoal]] is used in their production. Items made from [[silk]] are acceptable, as are all non-wooden plant-based products such as [[plump helmet]]s, seeds, and ☼Dwarven syrup biscuits[45]☼. Dairy products, such as milk and cheese, are currently acceptable. You can also transport your goods to the [[trade depot]] in a wooden [[bin]], as long as you do not try to sell the bin. This also applies to goods in [[barrel]]s. Living [[animals]] are acceptable, as long as the [[cage]] or [[trap]] is not made of [[wood]]. They also no longer mind purchasing blood-soaked items.

Although [[tower-cap]]s are giant mushrooms, they are considered [[trees]] by the elves and thus are not acceptable.

Elves may send [[diplomat]]s, independent of their [[caravan]]s, to warn you when they feel you are cutting down to many trees. please add details

=== Living among them ===
Living with Elves is pretty much the same as living among [[Humans]], but they don't build houses, [[furniture]], or anything else that uses wood. So basically, it's just like living anywhere else, but with guards.

== Elven society ==
The ethics of elven society are substantially divergent from other races; [[liar|Lying]] is punishable by exile, the killing of plants is an unthinkable crime, and eating the corpse of one's opponent in battle is socially acceptable. The elven leaders are referred to as druids, not kings.

== Elves in Adventure Mode ==

Elven forest retreats are represented by yellow symbols in [[forest]]s on the world map. They do not have any [[shop]]s, but they seem to have a great amount of elite marksmen to recruit. The leader and quest giver of a retreat is called the "druid", who can be found wandering the forest floor with the other elves.

Elven characters start with a wooden [[weapon]] and a set of basic wooden [[armor]] that lacks protection for the torso. This limitation often leads to a quick death. They do have some advantages, however: they're one [[size]] larger than [[dwarves]], which makes them hit harder and absorb more damage, though they also have a natural armor penalty which causes them to take slightly more damage than normal. Their main redeeming quality is their speed, being roughly 20% faster than the other playable races.

Those that live among other races may have metal or leather armor fitted for a narrow frame, though elven shopkeepers in human towns will still only sell human equipment. These Elven shopkeepers will also not accept coins, you must trade actual goods with them. Elven adventurers may equip any metal weapons or [[shield]]s they come across, just like any other.

Elves are at peace with wildlife, which means they won't be attacked by most animals (verify if most or all). In addition, they can talk to the animal-man races (such as [[snakeman|snakemen]] and [[batman|batmen]]) and even get the most excitement-seeking ones to join their party.

{{Game_Data|[CREATURE:ELF]
[NAME:elf:elves:elven]
[TILE:'E'][COLOR:3:0:0]
[SPEED:700][GRASSTRAMPLE:0]
[GENPOWER:3]
[INTELLIGENT]
[CANOPENDOORS]
[PREFSTRING:grace]
[BODY:HUMANOID:2EYES:2EARS:NOSE:2LUNGS:HEART:GUTS:ORGANS:HUMANOID_JOINTS:THROAT:NECK:SPINE:BRAIN:5FINGERS:5TOES:MOUTH]
[NARROW]
[DAMBLOCK:-1]
[SIZE:7]
[ATTACK:MAIN:BYTYPE:GRASP:punch:punches:1:2:BLUDGEON][ATTACKFLAG_WITH]
[ATTACK:SECOND:BYTYPE:MOUTH:bite:bites:1:1:GORE][ATTACKFLAG_CANLATCH]
[CHILD:12][BABY:1][MULTIPLE_LITTER_RARE]
[FAT:1]
[EQUIPS]
[DIURNAL]
[SPEECH:elf.txt]
[STANDARD_FLESH]
[HOMEOTHERM:10067]
[SWIMS_LEARNED][SWIM_SPEED:2500]
[PERSONALITY:IMAGINATION:0:55:100]
[PERSONALITY:ARTISTIC_INTEREST:0:60:100]
[PERSONALITY:INTELLECTUAL_CURIOSITY:0:55:100]
[PERSONALITY:SELF_DISCIPLINE:0:45:100]
[PERSONALITY:ACTIVITY_LEVEL:0:40:100]
}}
{{creatures}}
[[Category:Races]]
[[Category:Humanoids]]

40d:Starting build

2009-07-08T16:53:43Z

Gnarker: /* Items */

:* Your First Fortress?
:''Note: If you are a new player looking for a solid basis to survive the first couple of months or years, check out [[Your_first_fortress|this guide]]. It includes a basic starting build aimed at being fail-safe.''

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

This page attempts to give advice on some of the many gameplay elements which influence the flow of your game based on your goals. These include: choosing a ''fortress site'', the ''starting build'' itself, as well as ''challenge builds'' aimed at providing new or unusual challenges to advanced players.

But one thing should be made clear - there is no "best" build, no "perfect" or "clearly superior" final mix of skills and items. There are too many variables to connect, not the least of which is... you! Your play style, what you, as an individual player, consider preferable for the proper mix of fun and challenge. And then there is the environment, where your dwarfs will arrive, the creatures, the resources available, and so forth.

Items are tied to starting skills, and starting skills are tied to the expected environment for your chosen embark, and all are tied to your preferences for playing the game - not all sites require (or invite) the same approach, and no two players would take the same approach to the same environment.

So while suggestions can be made, and new ideas presented for your consideration, ultimately the final "best" mix for you will have to come from your experience, which will begin to grow during your first game. Without understanding "everything", some decisions will just have to be guesswork - and even later you never know "everything".

= Components of a Starting Build =
A starting build must be seen as a whole - the embark location affects the needed supplies, and influences what skills may be most needed or useful. Along with this is player preferences - if you wish an economy based on [[prepared meal]]s, [[glass]], or [[steel]], each of those have very different requirements. Likewise, if you want to play a military game, fighting off sieges with huge battles, that's a very different mix (and different site requirements) than if you want a calm location to build your perfect [[mega construction]].

=== Skills ===
You can't take every skill, so you have to balance what you do take. The considerations are several:

:* Maximizing starting skill ranks vs. generalizing and having more skills covered at lower levels.
:* Balancing multiple skills for a single dwarf, so they aren't constantly needed for two different tasks at critical periods
:* Military vs economic needs
:* Your goals vs "basic survival needs" to keep your fortress healthy and happy.
:* Speed that a skill can be trained in game
:* Demand for a skill during a game
:* Whether quality or speed are significant considerations for tasks/final product

While there are some arguable "no-brainer" choices, the final few selections are often a coin toss, or close to. And there is often more than one way to skin a cat - in fact, while many players recommend ''never'' starting with more than one cat, cat breeding (for leather, bones and meat) is one way to go with a fortress. Until you have some personal experience, the various suggestions and advice may mean little, but will have more meaning after your first fortress inevitably fails - [[Losing|losing is fun]].

=====Matching skills to a dwarf's personal profile=====
Taking the time to {{k|v}}iew each of your individual dwarves and matching skills to their [[preference]]s can be very advantageous; if you have a dwarf who likes steel, [[clear glass]], [[crossbow]]s, [[siege engine]] parts, or something else equally interesting, they're an ideal candidate for matching skills.

Likewise, if they have any obviously advantageous [[personality]] strengths or weaknesses those should be factored in. Some are obscure or abiguous, but some ("Is constantly active and energetic") are a clear sign.

=== Items ===
The starting items are what is needed for your dwarfs to survive until they are self-sufficient, or at least until the first yearly [[caravan]]s will keep them afloat. The first won't show up until Autumn, so that's more than 2 seasons your dwarves are on their own.

A dwarf eats about 2 meals a season, and drinks about 4 drinks in that same time. For 7, that's about 30 meals (2 dwarfs x 2 seasons x 2 meals) and about twice that in alcohol. You can bring all of that, or your [[hunter]]s, [[Plant gathering|plant gatherers]], [[fisherdwarf]]s, [[grower]]s and [[brewer]]s can provide some or most of it. It's always safer to bring enough, and see how things go - losing a fortress to starvation before the first caravan is a painful process.

Most of the finished products are expensive to buy pre-embark, and so a minimum is recommended - maybe a pick or two for immediate mining and basic defense, maybe an axe or two for better defense and cutting wood, thread, cloth or a rope for a [[well]], maybe a few leather to make bags, and call it good.

But you can make any and all of those from scratch if you are willing to wait - and your [[surroundings]] don't kill you first. Raw materials are much cheaper, in the form of [[ore]]s, [[wood]], [[leather]] and so forth.

====Your civilization====
On the map menu, if you hit {{k|Tab}} twice, you will see a list of possible Civilizations that your dwarfs can start from, if there is more than one. Each will have access to different starting equipment and material to offer you - some will be significantly better or worse supplied, and some may be lacking one key item you desire, while another will lack something else equally as critical to your plan.

If you don't like the civilization you chose, or wish to compare what each has to offer, you must use {{k|Esc}} and select "Abort Game", which puts you back at the main game menu. You must then Start again, reload the game world, and find the same embark site - this is not difficult if you made careful notes, but is still a bit of a pain, no doubt.

Every such re-start gives you a different mix of dwarfs with different names, [[personalities]] and [[preference]]s, but the civilizations are part of the map and stay constant. The default civilization chosen for you will vary, however.

===Saving a starting mix===
Once you have the mix of items and skills that you like, you can hit {{k|s}} and save it to a template with a custom name. In a later game, you can pick that profile when you embark. If your selected civilization does not have some of the desired items in your template, this is announced clearly, and a different civilization can be tried as described above, or you can continue and change your mix.

If you match skills to the [[preference]]s and [[personalities]] of your dwarfs, it may be an idea not to include any skills in such a template, as they will simply be applied in the original order to the current dwarves as they appear on the list.

If you find additional items that you wish to add (perhaps another type of cheap meat, or an ore not previously available), you can edit those in by hitting {{k|s}}, overwriting your old template.

:''(You can also go into the .txt file, located at data/init/embark_profiles, and edit in the SKILLS or ITEMS as you want - the syntax is fairly straightforward.)''

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

The differences include what [[biome]]s, [[region]]s and stone [[layer]]s are present in your chosen embark site, as viewable on the starting menu.

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

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

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

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

=== Mountains ===
Mountains often have abundant [[ore]]s, but at the loss of trees and plants. [[Magma]] and rare [[metal]]s lure settlers here, but [[goblins]], [[chasm]] dwellers, and [[giant eagle]]s are potent threats. You'll want to include non-mountainous areas in your embark area to obtain lumber and food - or, failing this, to pack a lot of extra food and logs.

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

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

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

[[Experience|Training]] a [[Miner]] from No Skill to Proficient takes less than a season in soil, and to Legendary in less than another.

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

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

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

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

= "Play Now!" =
This option gives you an automatic, low-powered and generalized starting mix with no thinking involved. When you pick this option, you currently{{version|0.28.181.40d}} start with:

'''Dwarfs:'''
:* one (no label) [[Miner]] (+2 [[Experience|skill levels]], skill = 7)
& six dwarfs with Novice (+1 skill level, rank = 6) in each of the following skills...
:* [[Engraver]]/ [[Mason]]/ [[Mechanic]]/ [[Building designer|Building Designer]]
:* [[Gem cutter|Gem Cutter]]/ [[Gem setter|Gem Setter]]/ [[Woodcrafter]]/ [[Stonecrafter]]/ [[Bone carver|Bone Carver]]
:* [[Fisherdwarf]]
:* [[Fish cleaner|Fish Cleaner]]/ [[Butcher]]/ [[Tanner]]/ [[Weaver]]/ [[Clothier]]/ [[Leatherworker]]
:* [[Carpenter]]/ [[Bowyer]]
:* [[Wood Cutter]]/ [[Brewer]]/ [[Cook]]/ [[Grower]]/ [[Herbalist]]/ [[Wood burner|Wood Burner]]/ [[Furnace operator|Furnace Operator]]/ [[Lye maker|Lye Maker]]/ [[Potash maker|Potash Maker]]

'''Items:'''
:* 1 iron [[anvil]]
:* 2 steel [[axe]]s
:* 2 copper [[pick]]s
:* 12 barrels of [[alcohol]] (60 units)
:* 2 barrels of meat (two random types, 10 + 5 units)
:* 2 barrels of [[plump helmet]]s (10 + 5 units)
:* 5 Plump helmet [[seed]]s (w/ bag)
:* 5 [[pig tail]] seeds (w/ bag)
:* 2 [[dog]]s (breeding pair)
:* 2 [[cat]]s (breeding pair)
:* 2 [[draft animal]]s (random species, random gender)

As a challenge for an experienced player, this is not uncommon. But even as a starting player, you can do better if you choose the "'''Prepare for the journey carefully'''" option and do just that - prepare carefully, as described below...

="Prepare for the Journey Carefully"=
Good advice. This option allows you complete control over your starting mix of skills and beginning items. By default, your dwarves start with no skills, and you are offered the following items, which are very similar to the "Play Now" mix. Each item costs a number of "points" - you will buy both your starting items ''and'' the starting skills for your dwarfs with one pool of combined points. The point costs for the default items are listed below.

'''Items:'''
:* 2 Copper [[pick]]s (20 each)
:* 2 Steel battle [[axe]]s (300 each)
:* 1 Iron [[anvil]] (1000)
:* 20 alcohol, random1 (2 each, 4 free barrels)
:* 20 alcohol, random1 (2 each, 4 free barrels)
:* 20 alcohol, random1 (2 each, 4 free barrels)
:* 5 Plump helmet spawn(aka seeds) (1 each, 1 free bag)
:* 5 [[Pig tail]] seeds (1 each, 1 free bag)
:* 15 meat or fish of one random (cheap) type (2 each, 2 free barrels2)
:* 15 [[Plump helmet]]s (4 each, 2 free barrels2)
:* (no cats, no dogs)

: 1. There are only 4 different [[alcohol]]s to choose from at this stage, so if two or three of the same are randomly chosen, it's quite possible to start with 40 or 60 of the same type. A wider variety is usually better.
:2. A barrel can hold up to 10 dry items (or 5 wet). One of these barrels is only half full.

With the above items, your point pool starts at 200 (visible in the lower right corner). This is not close to enough points to buy full skills for all your dwarfs, but you can sell back any or all of the above items that you choose and recover the points, spending them as you prefer. This is often achieve quickly and easily by taking only 1 axe (300 points returned), but the possible options are infinite. Some players return the anvil, for an additional 1000. Returning all equipment is worth 2060 points total, but unused points are of no use after embark, once the actual gameplay starts, so spend now or waste them.

=====Using the menu=====
Use {{k|Tab}} to switch between selecting Skills and Items. Use the 4 directional keys or number pad to navigate to highlight the different choices/columns, and {{k|+}} or {{k|-}} to choose more or less of the highlighted item or skill. When viewing items, hit {{k|n}} to go to a menu for any "new" items, that are not currently listed, including any you removed by reducing the number to 0; select the item, hit {{k|Enter}}, then increase the number desired as above ({{k|+}} or {{k|-}}) in the main menu.

If you cannot buy additional skill levels, you are out of points and must return some items for additional points. Higher-priced items will automatically be removed from viewable new items if you do not have enough points for those selections, showing only what you can afford with your current points.

=== Skills ===
At this stage, pre-embark, skills cost a number of points equal to the current rank of the skill ''(Later, once playing the game, all skills will be trained by practice, and "cost" is no longer a concern.)'' "No Skill" starts at rank 5, so the first additional rank of any skill (Novice) costs 5 points. To buy the next rank would cost 6 more, and so on. To buy up to rank 10, Proficient (the max allowed to start with), costs 5+6+7+8+9, or 35 points.

A dwarf can start with up to 10 additional ranks, regardless whether that's 10 skills at rank 6 (+1 each), or 2 skills at rank 10 (+5 each). So, if you are going to buy the maximum skills allowed (highly recommended!), that can cost from between 50 to 70 points each, but usually around 400+ for all 7.

Each [[dwarf]] can (over time) learn any or all of a wide variety of [[skills]]. Dwarves with little experience in a skill will work slowly and ineffectively, while dwarfs with higher skills work faster and/or produce a significantly higher quality product. Some skills are not used often, and/or produce no "quality" in the final product, or produce qualities that have little impact on the game - with these, it's questionable whether investing in high starting levels is worthwhile, but that's often a judgment call.

* For example inexperienced [[herbalist|herbalists]] will gather stacks of only one or two [[plants]], and often nothing at all, and inexperienced [[farming|farmers]] will often plant stacks of only one or two plants. This results in a small overall output which takes many [[container#container|containers]] to store in, less effective [[food]] preparation in the [[kitchen]], and more space needed for [[stockpiles]].
* Inexperienced [[Miner|miners]] work very slowly and are less likely to recover mined gems or valuable ores. Mining can be levelled up quite quickly by mining [[soil#soil|soil]], but taking two dwarves with at least some points in mining is recommended in many cases.
* In nearly all [[workshop]]s, inexperienced dwarves who create items will only rarely produce high-quality goods, and take a long time doing so. Skilled dwarves work quickly and produce high-quality items far more reliably.
** [[Quality]] is a central concept in the game - it affects [[food]], [[alcohol]], and almost anything you will have your dwarves create in the game: [[trading]] goods, [[barrel|barrels]], [[clothing]], [[armor]], [[furniture]], [[weapons]], and so on. Quality also has a large effect on the worth of an item while [[trading]].

Dwarves improve their skills on a learning-by-doing-basis. Dwarves who have specific labors will attain Dabbling status as soon as they complete one job of that type. (Certain jobs, such as building workshops, won't make your dwarves more experienced. But most will.) As the number of jobs they do increases, their skill will increase as well. Overall, "levelling up" the dwarves' skills quickly is a good game goal to set. Doing so may result in your dwarves efficiently creating a magnificent fortress filled to the brim with valuable items and [[furniture]]. (Or it might [[losing|not]].)

Using and seeing high-quality items gives dwarves happy [[thought]]s. This tends to decrease the incidences of [[tantrum]]s, increasing a fortress's longevity.

==== Which skills do I need, really? ====

The only thing that you absolutely must do in the first year is get your food supplies into a food stockpile, preferably inside, otherwise your food will rot on the ground and your dwarves will starve. Anything else you want to do can be accommodated by sufficient investment in initial food supplies and/or skills. This means the options for possible starting builds are vast because virtually any set of starting skills for your dwarves is viable (and that's before you even think about equipment, which adds more variables).

In the longer term a few other constraints may influence your choices of skills:

#Some skills are harder to gain experience in than others - requiring valuable resources or taking an extended period of time, and thus inconvenient to train from the ground up. Investing in some of these extensively in your initial dwarves can make those industries much less painful to start. For example, metal-related skills generally eat metal bars, and thus the less time you spend training metal workers up to a decent level, the faster they'll be churning out high-quality items for you, and the fewer bars they'll waste becoming skilled. On the other hand, despite its importance, skills like mining train relatively quickly and barring extenuating circumstances (expected need to accomplish particular digging projects in the first month or you'll get mauled by a Giant for example) there's little need to actually invest your starting skills in it - they can learn on the job.
#Keep in mind that some skills are used to make [[legendary artifact]]s, and successfully making an artifact will give the dwarf a lot of experience in the used skill. It can be worth investing in some skills solely to bias your artifact skill pool in the hopes of getting a legendary dwarf in an industry you want to really get working on a year or two in. (See [[Strange moods]] for more info.)
#While its possible to feed your fortress on nothing but caravan goods, you'll never come by enough alcohol that way, so you'll eventually need to grow crops for brewing, and dwarfs will literally go crazy if forced to drink nothing but water for long periods. Thus you'll want to plan for farming eventually. Not that you need to bring a highly skilled [[Grower]], but it'll certainly be ''very'' helpful. Likewise, a skilled [[brewer]] produces higher quality alcohol, which improves your dwarves' mood, as does a skilled [[cook]] with the foods they prepare. However, most food can be eaten raw, and so long as they are not starving there is life.
#If you plan on settling in a dangerous area, consider including at least some military skills, if not a dedicated [[soldier]], or several. The nature of the environment should dictate the military skills chosen (for example, marksdwarves will be an ineffective counter to expected roving hordes of [[skeletal]] wildlife).

The following skills will be "used", to one extent or another, by virtually every fortress:
:[[Mining]]
:[[Carpentry]] (can't make beds out of anything else)
:[[Masonry]]
:[[Grower|Growing]]
:[[Brewing]]
:[[Cooking]]
:[[Mechanics]] (If you want traps, and most people will. Also handy for machinery.)
:[[Architecture|Building Designer]] (mandatory for some buildings and constructions.)
:Leader skills (most importantly [[appraiser]])

Many other skills will certainly be used, but not often enough (or critical enough) to spend (many? any?) points on for your beginning dwarves.

Every other skill is only useful if you want it to be. Skills have to be balanced against your play-style, the environment (danger, ores, other resources), the relative value of the final product, and what you must give up to gain those skills.

Of the above, Masonry, Growing, Brewing, Cooking, and Mechanics are generally worth considering as "highly desirable" starting skills for your dwarves. Carpentry is used, but beds and buckets are just not worth that much, so the difference between high-quality and no-quality is minor. Mining is important but also fast to train. Skill in butchery is irrelevant for the most common use (killing kittens), and you'll be able to easily train a bonecarver off an immigrant (or end up with legendary from a mood), so these three are less worthwhile to start with. Leadership skills are highly recommended to start with at the novice level - it'll make your life much easier (especially appraising).

Of course, even near-certainty that you will use these skills doesn't mean you have to start with dwarves already skilled in them. Ultimately the answer to "What skills do I need?" is "Whichever ''you'' want". Choosing a mixture of these commonly used skills and your desired specialized skills will make starting up your fortress easier and more efficient.

====Generalist vs Specialist====
Any dwarf can have any labor designated, and they will perform that task and learn or improve that skill, even if they have no skill related to that labor when they start. So you don't need an example of every skill. A skilled dwarf will produce a better [[quality]] product, and/or do it faster, but if that's rarely used, "faster" doesn't mean as much. Many jobs have no real "product", and so no quality modifiers - plant gathering, wood cutting, wood burning, smelting, animal trainer, etc. etc. merely produce "stuff", not "quality stuff", or may not be used very often, and/or not be used much after the first year of the fortress. There are as many opinions about balancing generalists with specialists as their are players.

Some skills are also trained up fairly quickly or cheaply, especially where the task consumes no (valuable) materials, or doesn't matter in the final product - mining, furnace operator, wood cutting, butcher, tanner, glass making and (especially) [[administrator]] skills being only a few examples.

Another consideration are [[attributes]] - a dwarf with 10 skills at 1 each has 5000 [[Experience#Increasing skills|experience, or just over 2 attributes, while a dwarf with 2 skills at +5 ranks each has 7000 experience, or almost 3. One extra Agility can make a big difference in tasks, one extra Strength or Toughness make the difference in an unexpected combat, etc. etc.

==== Combining Skills ====
Some [[skills]] are highly time-consuming, and working at different jobs levels up specific [[attribute]]s. One could level up a miner until he becomes mighty and ultra-tough - and then turn him into a soldier, or retire him to haul stone. If you plan on doing so, it may not be a good idea to give this guy a second critical job that will demand a lot of time away from their focus. There are many parts to a suit of armour, so armoursmithing will take more time than weaponsmithing - once you have one weapon per soldier, he's done. Masons, miners, growers, and any craft that your fortress will base their economy off of (glass, stonecrafts, armour, etc) will take a lot of time.

Since tasks will take place in specific areas, another approach is to combine tasks into dwarves who will take care of a specific industry, or spend all their time in one generally narrow part of the fortress - the forges, or the kitchens, or outdoors, for instance. So combining Farming with cooking, rather than mining, for example, and turn on only Haul Food, not Haul Stone. Woodcutter/Herbalist/Mason/Axedwarf (for outdoor walls/projects) might be another combination - the possibilities are endless.

Some combinations follow naturally in sequence to each other, but also can conflict with each other. One animal is butchered, then the leather is tanned, and the meat is cooked. But if you have 5 animals, several will rot before one dwarf can process all of those. A highly skilled craftsdwarf is often better suited at sitting in their [[workshop]] and having others deliver raw materials to them, than going out and obtaining their own raw materials themselves.

Many builds recommend combinations such as:

* '''Outdoors''': Woodcutter/Plant Gatherer. Add [[axeman|Axedwarf]] for added security.
* '''Mason+____''' : In many fortresses, the Mason is a very busy dwarf. He could be a spare miner, have abilities that are only rarely needed, or do tasks that can be accomplished quickly like [[building designer]].
* '''Farmer/Cook, Farmer/Brewer'''. Basic two-person food team.
* '''Farmer/Herbalist, Farmer/Brewer/Cook'''. One bold dwarf to farm and venture outside looking for wild plants, the other to keep busy in the [[still]], kitchen, and indoor farms.
* '''Boss''': Novice [[Negotiator]]/Novice [[Judge of intent]]/Novice [[Appraiser]]. This guy will be your [[Leader]] and [[Trader]]; you can make him [[record keeper]] too (the default), at least to start with. Combine this with a single time-intensive task such as [[Masonry]] and optionally turn off all hauling tasks right at the start of the game. Or keep him a generalist, or combine with one of the other options.
* '''Weaponsmith/Leatherworker''': If they're not arming your military, they're making leather armor for them.
* '''[[Craftsdwarf]]''', depending on your strategy - e.g. [[glass]] maker, [[weaponsmith]] or [[armorsmith]], sometimes combined with related tasks from that industry ([[furnace operating]], [[wood burner|wood burning]]). Typically an item hauler in the initial months of your fortress, this dwarf may become one of your most valuable dwarves later.

Not all combinations have to "look right" together. A weaponsmith will most probably not spend nearly 100% of their time creating weapons - what they do with the other part of their time may have nothing at all to do with forges or smithing.

* '''Grower/GemCutter''' (or Grower/x-Craft): When gems are found, he's there, otherwise he's outstanding in his fields.
* '''Mechanic/Brewer''': usually produces the mechanized defenses, but does moonshining when it's called for.
* '''Miner/______''': This dwarf will quickly become legendary in mining, and then retire to pursue something else full time. On call for important veins of high-value ore.
* '''Brewer/Appraiser/Leatherworker''': several typically low-demand skills
* '''StoneCrafter/Herbalist''' - after quickly finding above-ground plants for seeds for the first season, they never go back unless something goes wrong.
* '''(x-Craft)/Armor User''': Plan for the future - armor using is slow to train in if this dwarf is ever going to join the military.

You can max one skill and have several lower-ranked additional, or just many lower-ranked skills - the combinations are (almost) infinite.

Combinations like these often have one [[moodable]] skill and one non-moodable (or a less desired and lower-ranked moodable skill), so any mood will improve the desired one.

==== Combining Skills for Moods ====

[[Strange mood]]s will create a Legendary skill of the "moodable" skill with the highest level, and moods take hold of dwarfs with different professions at different rates. Some skills are "moodable" where others are not. Another consideration is to place desired moodable skills with non-moodable, to ensure that both the professions and highest skills stay as preferred. Usually this involves one "craft" skill and one "farmer" type skill, such as Armor/Cook, or Weapon/Brewer. This can take some manipulation, and is not of primary concern to many players.

=== Items ===

An experienced player can start out with no skills for their starting dwarves, 2 copper nuggets and an anvil - and nothing else - and have [[Make_your_own_weapons#Minimalist_challenge_build|everything they need]]. So what is "needed" is up to what you think is "fun" vs. "too hard" etc. etc. etc.

Some basics are recommended for all builds. Unless you plan unless to [[DIY]], you definitely need to bring one [[pick]] for each [[miner]], and if you plan to gather wood, you need an [[axe]], which will become a weapon in wartime. Also a minimum of about 25-30* [[food]] and about 55-60* [[alcohol]], which should get 7 dwarfs through to the first [[caravan]] in Fall. Everything else depends on your strategy and on how tough or leisurely a challenge you want the game to be.

::''(* A single dwarf eats about 2x/season, and drinks about 4x/season. With 7 dwarfs that's ~approximately~ 14 meals per season and 28 alcohol per season, or ~28 meals and ~56 alcohol until the end of Summer. The Caravan is due sometime in Autumn, usually early Autumn, in the second week or so, but the first won't have enough to keep you going until whenever the next one arrives. Hopefully you'll have some food and brewing industry going by the first, or soon after.)''

Note: Many builds recommend that you bring many different cheap foods, in quantities ending in a "1" (1, 11, 21, etc.), and alcohols in amounts ending in a "1" or "6". This is to maximize the number of free [[barrels]] you start with; dry foodstuffs fit 10/barrel, and (pre-embark) alcohol fits 5/. More barrels will let you build a larger stockpile for your first winter and conserves the [[wood]] you need to cut and shape in the early game for beds and other necessities. (Seeds are 100/bag, and you don't need near that many of any one type, so 6 bags max with this approach.)

===== Items for moods =====
When a dwarf is taken by a [[strange mood]], they often need obscure material or they will go insane and die, possibly with severe consequences to an entire fortress. Bringing along some of the harder to find ores ([[cassiterite]], [[sphalerite]], [[bismuthinite]], [[garnierite]]) and shells ([[cave lobster]], [[turtle]]), and putting those aside, forbidding their use "just in case", is spending a few points on an insurance policy. Bringing along a few bits of cloth thread is a good idea. Just in case.

===== Free Equipment =====

Dwarves who start with the ambusher skill may get some leather [[armor]], a crossbow and some bolts for free.
: As of 27.176.40, this appears to only be true if they have no civilian trade skills - military and social skills are fine, and administrator skills so long as they are not higher than Ambusher. Replace any of those skills with something civilian and they show up in street clothes.

=Sample starting builds=
See [[starting build design]]

{{Starting FAQ}}
[[Category:Guides]]

40d Talk:Noise

2009-07-08T16:34:25Z

Gnarker:

== Other sources of noise ==
Any information on whether fighting causes noise? [[User:Zardus|Zardus]] 02:22, 16 April 2008 (EDT)

Does anyone know if dwarves just walking about causes noise? [[User:Yvain|Yvain]] 06:31, 5 March 2008 (EST)

:I can't say for certain now, but I am certain that they did not in the old version. --[[User:Savok|Savok]] 22:50, 18 March 2008 (EDT)

Do machines make noise? --[[User:Juckto|Juckto]] 07:06, 5 May 2008 (EDT)

How about things like doors opening and floodgates being activated? Kinda falls under "machines" but eh. --[[User:Kefkakrazy|Kefkakrazy]] 00:01, 23 September 2008 (EDT)

Does Smoothing Stone or Engraving Stone cause noise? --[[User:Nekojin|Nekojin]]

I observed a dwarf being woken up when a square next to him was mined out. corecting entry. --[[User:mrdudeguy|mrdudeguy]]

And farming? --[[User:Gnarker|Gnarker]] 18:34, 8 July 2009 (CEST)

== Diagonal Z-Noise ==
How does the Z-direction work with noise in terms of diagonals? If my bedrooms are two layers down, can they be closer than they would be if they were one layer down? Or is noise effectively a cylinder where the nearby squares aren't feasible even when down 3 layers?

I'm not sure how old this comment is, but this is actually brings up a good question. Has anyone actually verified that noise still radiates in a diamond pattern? Rooms used to "radiate" in diamond patterns, but they now expand like a square. Could noise have been modified similarly? If noise does move diagonally, a workshop would produce a noise cube with dimensions 9x9x9. --[[User:Marble Dice|Marble Dice]] 23:29, 18 March 2008 (EDT)

On second thought it would probably look like a pyramid with square cross-sections and a base that was 9x9, which seems to be what the article suggests. I'll have to try and find some room to verify this behavior in my current fortress. --[[User:Marble Dice|Marble Dice]] 23:37, 18 March 2008 (EDT)

:I tested this by stopping all mining, catapults, training, etc, and every workshop except one. I placed beds in places I wanted to check for noise. Here's a list of my results in (X, Y, Z) co-ordinate pairs. Assume the workshop's center tile is the origin (0, 0, 0). Positive X is east, negative Y is south, and negative Z is down.

:* (+5, 0, 0) = No
:* (+4, -4, 0) = Yes
:* (+5, -4, 0) = No
:* (0, 0, -4) = Yes
:* (+1, 0, -4) = Yes
:* (+4, -4, -4) = Yes
:* (+5, -4, -4) = No

:Dwarves get a thought about where they're sleeping when they crash (slept without a proper room, in a good bedroom, etc), but they don't get a thought for noise until they wake up. I assume this is because there are three tiers to the noise thought: uneasily, very uneasily, and was woken up by. I'd hazard a guess as jobs happen, applicable nearby sleeping dwarves will "accumulate" noise until they wake up. If they pass a certain threshold, they wake up prematurely and get the most severe negative thought. Otherwise, they get "uneasily" or "very uneasily" when the wake normally, based on how much noise they accumulated. Perhaps noise has both a loudness (how much it increases the dwarf's counter) and a range, or maybe longer range noises increase the counter more, or maybe all noise is the same loudness and it's just a matter of the number of noise events a dwarf hears while sleeping. It seems reasonable to me, but I've no way to test it. Not sure if any of this additional information belongs in the main article or not. --[[User:Marble Dice|Marble Dice]] 22:26, 20 March 2008 (EDT)

::My guess is that noise doesn't accumulate. I suspect that the reason the thought appears when they wake up is in case they hear a noise that's louder than the one they already heard. Otherwise you could insulate your dwarves from loud noises by making small noises. (not that this would be practical) [[User:Gairabad|Gairabad]] 23:38, 19 December 2008 (EST)

== distances ==

gee, no wonder my dwarves are all upset by noise - 16 squares from anywhere a chair is being moved in is a long way! Here I was being worried about how close the masons' workshop is, when my problem all along was I keep building doors, beds and things just next door.

I think that is broken personally - building furniture should be treated way differently to building a workshop! Building a workshop I can understand being heard easily for 16 squares, but destroying/building a chair, table or bed should be pretty much cut out at 4 squares.[[User:GarrieIrons|GarrieIrons]] 05:55, 13 February 2008 (EST)

== Accurate for the latest version? ==

I built a hatch cover right next to a sleeping dwarf and he wasn't woken up. D'ya think some of this might have been changed? [[User:Gairabad|Gairabad]] 23:36, 19 December 2008 (EST)
:Dwarves being outright awoken due to noise is a pretty severe case - just building a hatch cover wouldn't do it. Check the dwarf when he wakes up and see if he got the sleeping uneasily thought. --[[User:ThunderClaw|ThunderClaw]] 02:13, 20 December 2008 (EST)
::No, I don't think he did. [[User:Gairabad|Gairabad]] 21:23, 22 December 2008 (EST)

User talk:Gnarker

2009-07-08T16:30:40Z

Gnarker: /* Power, water & transfer */

== Stone & veins ==

(Veins) average at least 100 stones each, but veins with over 200 stones have been found, too.
Hi. What makes you say that the average is ''over'' 100 stones? And are you sure your 200 stone vein was not two veins combined, as shown on the main [[vein]]s page?--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 15:35, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

:At first, i have never been saying, that the average is over 100 stones. But frankly, i don´t know, how you say that in English, but i translated, what i would say in German. And the 200 stones vein looks quite like one for me.[[User:Gnarker|Gnarker]] 19:18 CEST/17:18 UTC, 29 May 2009

::German/English can be close but not always. If you say "at least", that means the average is "that number ''or more''" - so, I'm asking if you've seen evidence that the average "could be more", which is what your statement implies. If not, then it should be reverted to just "average about 100".
::As to the vein... if you say so. But your vein could be two veins that are end-to-end. 200 seems very, ''very'' large for one vein - but I'll admit I don't know what the limit is, or if there is one.--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 17:35, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

:Actually it´s around 220-230. But it´s regardless. To 'at least', i meant, in the most cases it´s 'that number or more'. And i lookedfor the meaning of average after i wrote that. [[User:Gnarker|Gnarker]] 19:40 CEST/17:40 UTC, 29 May 2009

== Power, water & transfer ==

With enough water, power can be transferred trough screw pumps, said water moving through a channel
and one or more water wheels at the destination less power-consuming over great distances, too.

Hey - what exactly are you trying to say here? Because it's not really a sentence, and what is there can be read several different ways, and I didn't want to guess what your intent was. "Enough water" can mean flow or volume, and the 2nd part has no verb. (I understand that English is not your 1st language - this is a complex sentence structure, idioms can be tricky (more "art" than formula), and I feel it's close - but the more complex, the more problems can appear. I've seen native speakers who cannot express themselves as well as you, so no worries there - we'll get it.)--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 03:08, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

With enough water, power can be transferred trough channels, screw pumps and water wheels, too. Just pump the Water to the power destination with the pump and gain power from the flow via water wheels there.

Better? --[[User:Gnarker|Gnarker]] 18.30, 8 July 2009 (CEST)

40d:Power

2009-07-08T16:24:51Z

Gnarker: /* Power transfer */

[[Power]] is used to drive devices such as [[pump]]ing [[water]] using a [[screw pump]] or [[mill]]ing certain types of [[food]] into [[flour]] at a [[millstone]]. Power is produced by [[windmill]]s and [[water wheel]]s.

==Power requirements==
*[[Axle]]: (1) per tile
*[[Gear assembly]]: (5)
*Large machine bits: (10)
*[[Screw pump]]: (10)
*[[Water wheel]]: (10) (When not generating power)
*[[Millstone]]: (10)

==Power generation==
*[[Water wheel]]: (100); flow required.
*[[Windmill]]: Variable; above ground only. Values of (0), (20), and (40) have been reported.
(Different power generators can be combined to produce near infinite power along a power network)

==Power transfer==

Power can be transferred between devices using [[gear assembly|gear assemblies]] and [[axle]]s. Gear assemblies take up a single tile and connect power to any device within the six orthogonally adjacent tiles (north, south, east, west, above, below). Gear assemblies are best used for moving power through right-angles. For example, they can be built as bases for windmills to move power out sideways along an axle.

Because of the high power use of gears assemblies (5), axles are more appropriate and convenient to build when transferring power across horizontal or vertical distances. An axle uses (1) power for every tile of power transfer. An axle 5 tiles long will use (5) power. Axles can be directly attached to windmills, waterwheels and screw pumps in order to provide power.

Devices that use power are also capable of transferring it. Adjacent screw pumps will transfer power between themselves. The only way to prevent this is to leave a tile gap between devices, or move them diagonally from each other.

With enough water, power can be transferred trough channels, screw pumps and water wheels, too. Just pump the Water to the power destination with the pump and gain power from the flow via water wheels there.

==Power control==

Connecting a power source such as a windmill directly to a screw pump will force the device to be in constant operation, causing a [[flood]] if connected to a river. To stop the screw pump either the power source or the pump must be dismantled. One can put floodgates in the way but this needs to be done before pumping begins.

A better alternative is to use a [[lever]] connected to a [[gear assembly]]. Levers can be used to move the gear assembly between a working state and deconstructed state. Note: any hanging devices being supported by the gear assembly will collapse to their base materials when it is disabled{{version|0.28.181.40d}}. To prevent this from happening, hook up the lever to a second gear assembly attached to the supporting one.

[[category:physics]]

40d:Web

2009-06-03T22:52:21Z

Gnarker:

[[Cave spider|Cave spiders]] sometimes leave '''webs''' around the fortress. These can be collected by dwarves with [[Weaving]] enabled.

Webs can be destroyed by [[Flood|flooding]] or contact with a creature.

[[Category:Items]]

40d:Power

2009-06-03T22:26:45Z

Gnarker: /* Power transfer */

[[Power]] is used to drive devices such as [[pump]]ing [[water]] using a [[screw pump]] or [[mill]]ing certain types of [[food]] into [[flour]] at a [[millstone]]. Power is produced by [[windmill]]s and [[water wheel]]s.

==Power requirements==
*[[Axle]]: (1) per tile
*[[Gear assembly]]: (5)
*Large machine bits: (10)
*[[Screw pump]]: (10)
*[[Water wheel]]: (10) (When not generating power)
*[[Millstone]]: (10)

==Power generation==
*[[Water wheel]]: (100); flow required.
*[[Windmill]]: Variable; above ground only. Values of (0), (20), and (40) have been reported.
(Different power generators can be combined to produce near infinite power along a power network)

==Power transfer==

Power can be transferred between devices using [[gear assembly|gear assemblies]] and [[axle]]s. Gear assemblies take up a single tile and connect power to any device within the six orthogonally adjacent tiles (north, south, east, west, above, below). Gear assemblies are best used for moving power through right-angles. For example, they can be built as bases for windmills to move power out sideways along an axle.

Because of the high power use of gears assemblies (5), axles are more appropriate and convenient to build when transferring power across horizontal or vertical distances. An axle uses (1) power for every tile of power transfer. An axle 5 tiles long will use (5) power. Axles can be directly attached to windmills, waterwheels and screw pumps in order to provide power.

Devices that use power are also capable of transferring it. Adjacent screw pumps will transfer power between themselves. The only way to prevent this is to leave a tile gap between devices, or move them diagonally from each other.

With enough water, power can be transferred trough screw pumps, said water moving through a channel and one or more water wheels at the destination less power-consuming over great distances, too.

==Power control==

Connecting a power source such as a windmill directly to a screw pump will force the device to be in constant operation, causing a [[flood]] if connected to a river. To stop the screw pump either the power source or the pump must be dismantled. One can put floodgates in the way but this needs to be done before pumping begins.

A better alternative is to use a [[lever]] connected to a [[gear assembly]]. Levers can be used to move the gear assembly between a working state and deconstructed state. Note: any hanging devices being supported by the gear assembly will collapse to their base materials when it is disabled{{version|0.28.181.40d}}. To prevent this from happening, hook up the lever to a second gear assembly attached to the supporting one.

[[category:physics]]

40d:Glass

2009-06-03T19:35:02Z

Gnarker:

[[Glass]] is a translucent material with widespread uses. Glass is manufactured at a [[glass furnace]] or [[magma glass furnace]]. There are three types of glass: Green, Clear and Crystal, each with different colour and value.

Green glass can be churned out in massive amounts if produced at a magma furnace, because there are no ingredients other than sand used and sand sources cannot be depleted. This makes it a valuable resource for construction; it is as valuable as limestone, but can be used for more things. Green glass goods are manufactured from one [[bag]] of any [[sand]].

Clear glass uses both a bag of sand and one [[pearlash]]. 

Crystal glass is manufactured from one rough [[rock crystal]] and one pearlash.

In order to produce glass, sand must be gathered in bags using a task available at a glass furnace. You must designate a sand-gathering zone from the ({{k|i}})-menu in order for this task to succeed. Gathering sand requires [[item hauling]] whilst moving sand bags to stockpiles requires [[furniture hauling]]. You will need spare bags in order to collect sand.

Apparently you can neither import sand bags nor glass til now (Thoug you can produce crystal glass without sand).

==Products==
Glass can be manufactured into a wide variety of products:

* Raw glass is essentially a low-value [[gem]], a frequent request of dwarves undergoing a [[strange mood]]. Given its abundance, raw green glass makes an excellent training material for practicing the [[gem cutting]] skill.
* Glass can be formed into [[block]]s which can then be used for most building purposes.
* Glass can be used to manufacture a number of [[furniture]] items, including [[armor stand]]s, [[chest|boxes]], [[floodgate]]s, [[hatch cover]]s, [[grate]]s, [[door|portals]], [[statue]]s, [[table]]s, [[throne]]s and [[weapon rack]]s.
* Glass can be converted into [[trap]] components, such as [[spiked ball]]s or [[giant axe blade]]s.
* Glass windows can be made at a [[glass furnace]] as an alternative to making windows from gems.
* [[Cage]]s may be made from glass. A glass cage is called a terrarium, and is unique among cages in that it may be converted into an [[aquarium]] using the an option in the building tasks/prefs menu{{key|q}}{{key|w}}. Terraria may not be used for justice applications.
* Glass [[vial]]s are used in some types of plant processing, making extracts, and three clear glass vials are required to build an [[alchemist's laboratory]]
* Glass can be formed into a variety of crafts.

Glass items often have unique names:
* A glass [[chest]] is called a box.
* A glass [[door]] is called a [[portal]]. Behind a green glass door, there is cinnamon grossular and yellow spessartine, but no pink garnet or purple spinel.
* A glass [[pipe]] is called a tube.
* A glass [[cage]] is called a terrarium.

==Material value==
* Green glass has a value of 2.
* Clear glass has a value of 5.
* Crystal glass has a value of 10.

The damage value of green glass weapons is 50%.

==See also==
*[[Workshops_FAQ#How_do_I_make_glass.3F|How do I make glass?]]
*[[Glass Industry]]

[[Category:Materials]]

User talk:Gnarker

2009-06-03T15:37:12Z

Gnarker: /* Mispost in Floodgates */

40d Talk:Floodgate

2009-06-03T15:30:09Z

Gnarker:

==Floodgates vs magma==
... but only '''stone''' and metal will hold back magma.

Is this true? In the last version only steel was strong enough to contain magma. --[[User:Mizipzor|Mizipzor]] 15:29, 1 November 2007 (EDT)

: Well, my dolomite floodgates were enough to hold magma. So stone floodgates are capable of holding magma. Dunnoe about wooden ones though. [[User:Noctis|Noctis]] 15:59, 1 November 2007 (EDT)

:Not true. I used stone floodgates all the time with magma in the last version. --[[User:RedKing|RedKing]] 00:52, 2 November 2007 (EDT)

::Perhaps the confusion comes from the fact that you needed steel to bridge over magma --[[User:Moller|Moller]] 02:11, 2 November 2007 (EDT)

:::Alright, the dolomite floodgates that I've mentioned earlier seem to have disappeared, presumably melted away. Thus I'm led to belive that only steel(or better) floodgates are capable of holding magma now. [[User:Noctis|Noctis]] 09:29, 3 November 2007 (EDT)

::::From what I've seen stone floodgates are, at the moment, one use like the steel ones listed in the article...but for different reasons. A closed stone floodgate will hold back magma indefinitely (probably for the same reason that the normal stone walls hold magma as they do), but once you link and open it the magma enters the same tile and turns any stone into it's molten counterpart. This means both your stone floodgate and stone mechanism are turned to slag and eventually lost to the magma forever. I would bet that the steel floodgates are still there, but forever locked in their open state since your mechanism just got turned to goo and you can no longer select the flood gate from the lever's link menu. Perhaps [[Bauxite|Bauxite]] might be able to survive the magma, but I need to find some first in order to test that theory.{{version|0.27.169.33b}} --[[User:TheUbie|TheUbie]] 04:28, 19 November 2007 (EST)
::Interestingly enough, I do believe dolomite has a high melting point and is somewhat heat resistant...

:::To clear things up: build both floodate and mechanism from a material listed at [[Magma-safe materials]].[[User:GarrieIrons|GarrieIrons]] 03:13, 6 July 2008 (EDT)

::::In the current version (40d) I've successfully used bauxite floodgates/mechanisms to control magma flow. Bauxite is your best bet (and less costly than steel in terms of material). Sdu - 01/11/2008
----

==Activation time==
Interesting note, floodgates seem to take approximately 100 steps to open after activation, from my experimentation. Maybe this could be used in the article somehow?
[[User:NullAshton|NullAshton]] 23:51, 1 January 2008 (EST)

:Ooh, interesting. Exactly the same amount as a bridge. --[[User:Savok|Savok]] 20:36, 11 June 2008 (EDT)

== opening and closing ==

do I '''have''' to use a lever to open and close a floodgate? Early on - I have a room next to a river - I want to put a floodgate in the corridor and "bucket fill" a "pond" from the outside.

will this plan work or do I '''need''' a lever?[[User:GarrieIrons|GarrieIrons]] 01:55, 5 January 2008 (EST)

:You need some kind of machine to trigger it, yes. Pressure plates work as well. --[[User:N9103|Edward]] 06:20, 5 January 2008 (EST)

== Construction ==

All right... I have a 1-wide channel, with a floodgate "placed" not "built" somewhere along it.
Access is from a stair to the right.
No matter if I put the build command closer to the stair, or further away from the stair, the dwarves seem to build the floodgate so that it cuts off their exit! WTF is one to do here? I keep ordering the dwarf that just built the floodgate to remove it so they can get out again.[[User:GarrieIrons|GarrieIrons]] 23:34, 2 February 2008 (EST)

:Hook it to a mechanism and open it. --[[User:Ikkonoishi|Ikkonoishi]] 00:59, 3 February 2008 (EST)

::Yeah well when I get a mechanic that is the general plan ;) but right now it's sitting in the middle of a channel while I prey for more immigrants before all of my dwarves die of thirst![[User:GarrieIrons|GarrieIrons]] 01:48, 3 February 2008 (EST)

:::All right, I have opening and closing floodgates now.[[User:GarrieIrons|GarrieIrons]] 07:45, 5 February 2008 (EST)

::::Would you mind posting a pic of your setup? I'm a mite confused on this also....[[User:Holyfool|Holyfool]] 22:38, 3 February 2008 (EST)

:::::Sorry that fortress is lost to it being a very early experiment.[[User:GarrieIrons|GarrieIrons]] 03:13, 6 July 2008 (EDT)
== River crossings ==

I can dam/divert a river with floodgates I hope.
If I dig a channel 1 z-level down, then build a wall, the top is a floor I can walk across. Why isn't the top of a floodgate a floor? it is silly that I have to build a floodgate then a bridge as well, and connect them to the same lever, if I want a floodgate I can walk over. (in real life even a simple drop-board weir - which is pretty mcuh a timber floodgate - can be walked over so that you can put the boards in and out).[[User:GarrieIrons|GarrieIrons]] 07:45, 5 February 2008 (EST)
:PS. I am diverting my brook by digging a channel through it while it is frozen then building a series of floodgates in the resulting channel. I guess this will work (here's for trying) but how would one divert a river?[[User:GarrieIrons|GarrieIrons]] 07:47, 5 February 2008 (EST)

::Non-freezing? Very difficult to get to work properly, dependent on the terrain of course. Basically, you'd have to dig quite a large pond/lake for the river to fill while scrambling like mad to get those dwarves to install all the floodgates or build the walls before the flow into the lake slows enough for construction-blocking waterlevels to start flowing again. Definitely suggest a stockpile immediately adjacent to the closest entry point to the downstream side of the dam to hopefully avoid a waste of time if only one or two dwarves get their lazy butts over to the work that needs to be done! As for freezing; well, that's always been child's play, and I always wonder why people bother asking someone "if the map they're on freezes," anytime someone says they need help trying to dam a flow. ;) --[[User:N9103|Edward]] 09:30, 5 February 2008 (EST)

:Well, I have dug a channel in the ice. There are some boulders left behind as well as it seems some ice blocks. I think these will be off to make a pond as ice hauling seems much more efficient to me than bucket hauling?
:But anyway, the channel is all marked as "blocked" when I try to build floodgates. Will see what it's like when the ice blocks are all gone.[[User:GarrieIrons|GarrieIrons]] 06:40, 6 February 2008 (EST)

:::To make your dwarf build on the right side you can "suspend" ('s' key is the shortcut) the building as soon as the dwarf starts on the wrong side. As soon as they move away you then un-"suspend" the construction and they should attempt to build it again. It can take a few tries but it works.

:::Another way is just to let them build it on the wrong side and have a miner dig out a square adjacent to the floodgate. You may need to dig out one more square but then you you can wall them up with the (C)onstruction building task. - Sdu 01/11/2008

:::Some people use doors instead of floodgates to do the same job which means that whatever side your dwarf builds it, he can still walk back through it. - Sdu 01/11/2008

== Floodgate swept away ==

With version 38a I noticed that floodgates can be swept away by molten rock which is pushed by the flowing lava. I don't know if this also happend with earlier versions since this was the first time, because of lack of fule and wood, that I actually used magma.
Somebody should probably mention in the article that it is advisable to remove rocks from the magma channel to prevent this. [[User:Buckermann|Buckermann]] 11:53, 9 February 2008 (EST)

:The floodgate was verified beforehand to have been built, and not simply dropped and forgotten? --[[User:N9103|Edward]] 07:39, 13 February 2008 (EST)

::I'm quite sure that it was build, and not just dropped. It was even connected to a lever and was working. For a short time at least... And I'm also quite sure that I used Bauxit mechanism for it. [[User:Buckermann|Buckermann]] 09:53, 13 February 2008 (EST)

:::A non-bauxite mech. would be my next point of inquiry, and just to make sure we're not missing the obvious, the floodgate itself was magma-proof? --[[User:N9103|Edward]] 04:14, 14 February 2008 (EST)
::::Yes, the floodgate too was made of Bauxit, and it is still visible in my magma silo. ([http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t243/TaBu-NiW/magmachamber.png?t=1203005405 Link to image]) [[User:Buckermann|Buckermann]] 11:11, 14 February 2008 (EST)
:::::Can you reproduce this? [[User:VengefulDonut|VengefulDonut]] 12:21, 14 February 2008 (EST)
::::::No. I tried a few times to reproduce this, but never succeeded. Probably I just forgot to use bauxit mechanism the first time. Though, I would have sworn that I did. [[User:Buckermann|Buckermann]] 20:14, 8 March 2008 (EST)

== No Access ==

I dug a diagonal tunnel towards a water source and I wanted to put a floodgate inside it - and one on the end where my farm will be - to create a reservoir. But I get the message, "no access" when I try to build the floodgate inside the tunnel. Apparently floodgates can only be placed when there is horizontal or vertical access to the square? (I planned to connect a lever to it so I don't need to stand next to it.) 
That does indeed seem to be the case. I was able to place one in the middle of a horizontal tunnel but not in a diagonal one. I dug an extra square (ruining my perfect symmetry with an ugly dogleg :)) and was able to put the floodgate inside my diagonal tunnel. --[[User:Danny Rathjens|Danny Rathjens]] 01:15, 6 April 2008 (EDT)

== bug? ==

i wanted to water some rock below my fortress with the water from my moat, so i built a setup like this:
..~. 
..x. 
.> . surface level -1 
..x. 
..~. 

.... 
.< x surface level -2 
.... 

basically, the idea was that the area between the floodgates on the top level would fill with water, BUT while the top two were open, the bottom one would be closed. so i hooked up the top two to a lever, pulled it, built the third floodgate, linked that to the lever. so now my top two gates are open, and the bottom one closed. this would make sure that only the amount of water i wanted would go onto my plot. however, when i next pulled the lever, the top two closed, but the bottom one didnt open. i pulled it again and all 3 opened. so dont go doing this yourself, use two levers instead of 1. [[User:Twiggie|Twiggie]] 12:09, 16 May 2008 (EDT)

::This is intended. Levers have an "on" and an "off" state. Pulling them switches the lever state and updates all connected constructions to the new state. --[[User:Doniazade|Doniazade]] 12:47, 16 May 2008 (EDT)
::use a pressure plate to cut off the area you don't want flooded beyond a certain depth.[[User:GarrieIrons|GarrieIrons]] 03:23, 6 July 2008 (EDT)

== A Question on Flow and Floodgates ==

So I had my two-[[floodgate]] system for letting [[magma]] into the trench below my smelting and forging rooms, each floodgate hooked up to a separate [[lever]]. The 'downstream' gate was right next to the [[ramp]] down which the magma was meant to [[flow]]. The upstream floodgate worked fine, and the magma went into the trench fine, but when I attempted to close the downstream gate, it re-appeared at the bottom of the channel. Was it swept away by the flow as it was trying to close? What happened there? --[[User:Zombiejustice|Zombiejustice]] 19:21, 11 June 2008 (EDT)

:What material was the floodgate made out of? What material were the mechanisms made out of? It seems that the magma melted something and deconstructed the floodgate. --[[User:Savok|Savok]] 20:36, 11 June 2008 (EDT)

::It looks like this was answered higher on this page: The floodgate was made of bauxite, but the mechanism was not and must have melted once the gate was opened. Should really have seen that coming, I guess. Well, only a few rooms are full of magma, I'm sure it'll cool in a month or two. Lesson learned. --[[User:Zombiejustice|Zombiejustice]] 22:19, 11 June 2008 (EDT)

== Placement and seeing it work ==

I'm not sure if my flood gate is working. Once you place it, is it able to block water already or only after you connect a lever and pull it? It doesn't move in the z-axis? I'm not sure if it goes up or down from placement like if I had to dig and extra level down below them in order to get it move. I'm sure it just blocks one z-level of water right?--[[User:Seaneat|Seaneat]] 10:18, 4 July 2008 (EDT)
:They start working as soon as they're built. They block water and dwarves, which can lead to a dwarf being trapped behind the floodgate until you ''very quickly'' get another dwarf to built a lever, connect it to the floodgate, and pull it, to open the floodgate. When they're opened, like bridges, they don't occupy a different z-level position - they just disappear. It only blocks one z-level of water, yes. --[[User:AlexChurchill|AlexChurchill]] 12:39, 4 July 2008 (EDT)
::Well - they are "1 square wide". Nobody ever said the open part of a floodgate is the full 1-square wide, but they don't show up when opened.
::Maybe there should be a tile for an open floodgate which shows posts on both sides and an opening in the middle. But then you would need to "orient" the floodgate.
::My guess for a rock one: a ten foot (square) by two foot slab of rock that pivots centrally when opened. So when open it's still there in the middle of the tile, just oriented to let the fluid move through.
::[http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/resources/soils/ass/leaflet/6 Look here] for some pictures of low-tech real-world ones - I'm sure the dwarves build ones which are pretty similar, just they use rock instead of concrete.[[User:GarrieIrons|GarrieIrons]] 03:20, 6 July 2008 (EDT)
:::And for "tidal floodgates" that link contains the following disadvantage:
::::''Disadvantages: There is a minor risk of being jammed open (as with normal gates). May require a new gate to be made in some cases.''
:::So don't be too hard on your dwarves building floodgates that can't handle high temperatures, us humans can't even get it right (low-tech) with just water![[User:GarrieIrons|GarrieIrons]] 03:31, 6 July 2008 (EDT)

:::A pivoting slab (basically a giant butterfly valve) sounds like a good idea, but it wouldn't match the behavior of floodgates in the game. I routinely use a row of three floodgates as my fortress' main entrance, left open by default. Since caravan wagons can pass through when open there can't be any obstructions in those three squares, so I assume the floodgates must operate like vertical sliding sluice gates instead. [[User:Bryan Derksen|Bryan Derksen]] 04:34, 6 July 2008 (EDT)

== Advantage over doors? ==

Aside from being able to make them wider than two tiles, is there any reason to use a floodgate rather than a (stone) door? The floodgates take longer to open and close, and block dwarves from whatever they desperately want that's always behind them... --[[User:Azaram|Azaram]] 01:39, 1 December 2008 (EST)
:Desire for authenticity and/or accuracy generally. Basically, a fair amount of people feel that doors shouldn't be as good as floodgates for holding back the waters. And Toady has said that this will be fixed in a later release. -[[User:Fuzzy|Fuzzy]] 08:49, 1 December 2008 (EST)
:Can floodgates be smashed by megabeasts as doors can? That might be another reason. --[[User:Aristoi|Aristoi]] 20:00, 4 January 2009 (EST)
::Yeah. They can. --[[User:GreyMario|GreyMaria]] 20:59, 4 January 2009 (EST)

== Materials to build a Floodgate ==

Hello everybody, shouldn't be there a list of the needed components to build a floodgate? Chris – [[template:unsigned|unsigned]] comment by [[User:Sherelian|Sherelian]]

:*10 seconds- time taken to look for floodgate jobs in the manager's job queue. (u>m>q>floodgate)
:*1 minute- time taken to copypaste and adjust identical sentence from [[door]].
:*50 seconds- time taken to find out who you *actually* are and sign your comment for you.
:*1 minute- time taken to give you a response.
:*3 minutes- time I donated to your life. Hope you enjoy it! --[[User:N9103|Edward]] 18:01, 2 December 2008 (EST)

== Atomsmasher Floodgates? ==
Can I kill goblins if i trap them on an open floodgate and then close it? [[User:Gnarker|Gnarker]] 16:30, 3 June 2009 (EST)

40d:Challenges

2009-06-03T14:35:53Z

Gnarker: /* Restrictions */

:''Part of this article was originally taken from the DF forums thread [http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=466.0 "Goal-Based Dwarf Fortress"].''

The general goal of [[Fortress Mode]] is to survive, acquire wealth, defend your stronghold, and become the capital of your civilization. However, many players find that fighting off repeated [[siege|sieges]] and keeping their people alive just isn't enough anymore. They begin to experiment with different sets of objectives, themes, and restrictions in search of more difficulty and [[fun]]. These are some goals to attempt or use as inspiration.

== Difficult Builds ==
A sub-optimal embark profile can make the first few years more difficult than they might otherwise be. After a few years, however, immigration, trading, and development of new industries will likely bring your fort up to usual standards. For best results, combine with a restriction.

=== Diplomacy ===
* Six dwarves with only social [[skill]]s
* One skilled dwarf

Six courtiers of the king's court made some ill-advised remarks within earshot of the king, and as a result have been ordered to go found an outpost. They've hired you to make sure they survive. The six nobles only have social skills and refuse to do any work that is beneath them.

=== Hunting Party ===
* One marksman/ambusher
* Two camp servants (e.g. one cook/brewer/herbalist, one butcher/tanner/leatherworker/woodcutter)
* Four clients, all dabbling in marksman/ambusher but with primarily civilian skills.

No anvil, lots of hunting dogs ... and a haunted wood. (In a terrifying wood, you may find all the trees & plants are dead, severely reducing long-term prospects.)

=== Stranded Scout Squad ===

The only items you can bring weapons, ammo, and armor (no picks). The only skills you can hand out are military. The only animals you can bring are war dogs. See how it goes.

=== Bandit Camp ===

* At least 3 marksdwarves.
* Ideally, settle on a hillside, along a canyon or a valley.

Attack and loot every sentient creatures who enter your territory : Goblins & kobolds, but also merchants, diplomats, and even migrants. You can't tell your guys to directly attack allies, but you can build traps linked to a lever (eg. a big pit under the road, with a linked pillar under the pit "roof".) and pull them to kill groups.

=== Minimal ===
* No skills
* No items

This challenge is moderately to very difficult, depending on the wildlife and outdoor food sources. Note that the three logs from the wagon are just enough to build a trade depot.

==Restrictions==
Several of the game's features are rightly considered broken. Creating self-imposed limitations on what you can and cannot do may alleviate this.

=== ASPCA ===
* No [[animals]]

Don't bring any [[animals|pets]]. Furthermore, due to the possibility of animals being caught in them, don't build any [[traps]], either. If [[immigrants]] bring pets, get rid of them somehow. (Whether "them" refers to the pets or the owners is up to the discretion of local [[mayor]]s.)

=== City-States ===
* No [[skill]]s
* 7 or multiple of 7 of everything you bring

At the start your dwarves split everything equally and move to 7 different locales that are not interconnected. They have to mine their own rooms, plant their own crops, use their own craft piles. This will probably require a bit of cross-fertilization until you get [[door]]s and can lock everyone in, but after that it is every dwarf for him/herself!

=== Dieting Dwarves ===
'''Fishing village'''

Give your dwarves only the fishing skill and other fishing related skills (like bonecrafting.) Try to survive off a [[fish]] only diet. Flood the river and build houses above it so the dwarves can fish through their floors. There will be an extra challenge if the river freezes in the winter.

'''Carnivore'''

* No plants or seeds

Only eat strays, pets, and animals you trap and hunt. No farming or plant gathering. Keep all your pets in cages and care for them as little as possible. Eat your dwarves' pets first for an extra challenge. If this upsets your dwarves, ridicule or ignore them. (If you are particularly heartless, you could cage those dwarves as well because anyone that empathizes with animals doesn't deserve any rights either.)

'''Vegan'''

In essence, construct an [http://archive.dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/Main_Glade Elven Forest]: The [[Challenges#Hippy challenge|Hippy Challenge]].

'''IOGT/AA'''

* No alcohol

Quite possibly, this is the cruelest challenge that your dwarves can be given. Don't ever brew any alcohol. Build [[well]]s instead and watch your now teetotaller dwarves work slower and slower by the season.

=== Hippy challenge ===

Peace, man. Don't harm any plants except those you plant yourself. Don't cut down any trees, and don't trade for logs with the filthy humans or dwarves who do. You can trade for plants with the elves, they understand your environmental code. Don't burn any coal, do you know what that does to the environment, man? Never cause any creature's death, so no military, and no lethal traps. You can use cage traps, and either tame the creatures you catch, or release them back into the wild, far from your fort.

For an extra challenge try this in an area with a cave.

=== Hermit ===
* No [[skill]]s
* One [[pick]] and no other supplies

A well known and popular challenge. Kill off 6 starting dwarves and any [[immigrants]] as they arrive, and try to make a living for the last dwarf. Turn away merchants. If they don't leave, kill them.

'''Variants'''
* Keep your starting seven, but no immigrants.
* Selectively admit dwarves based on name, profession, etc.
* Embark with an anvil as well.

=== Nay, no ponderous stone doors or shining silver arcades, not while I live! ===

The new king has decided rocks and metals can no longer be used in construction. He'll be overthrown shortly, but in the meantime construct your fortress without them.

'''Variants'''
* Make everything that you can out of wood. That means nothing underground, though you may excavate to make areas above-ground. Bonus points for bringing no wood at the start and/or going to a treeless area.
* Construct an above-ground fortress made entirely out of glass. Bonus points for not using magma or using clear and crystal glass exclusively.
* Build with soap. Soap is in the form of bars, and so can be used as a building material just like any other type of bar. Show those elven traders just how much you despise their philosophies by building your trading outpost out of stuff derived from dead trees ''and'' dead animals. Too many cats? Build with cat tallow soap.
* Choose one type of rock, one type of metal, one type of gem, and one type of wood. Your whole fortress must be made from these items. You may further narrow it down to bones, skin, and other from one animal, one type of glass, etc. If any artifacts are made using a forbidden item, chuck into lava, a river, or a chasm (you may need to throw the dwarf who made it in as well, since he will throw a tantrum).

=== Luddite ===
* No mechanics or [[mechanism]]s
* No [[machine]]s

[[Traps]] and moving [[bridge]]s are forbidden, water moved for [[farming]] must be accomplished by hand.

=== Master Of One ===
* All starting dwarves can have one skill and one skill only
* No changes are allowed on any dwarf's labor screen
* All immigrants must stay with the profession(s) they arrive with
* All peasants must be activated into the military
Alternatively,
* All starting dwarves can have one skill and one skill only
* No changes are allowed on any dwarf's labor screen, except that hauling may be disabled. You may not enable hauling.
* All immigrants must stay with the profession(s) they arrive with, and only military that immigrates recruited may be military.

=== The Mad Butcher ===
(this requires a tiny amount of editing to the raws) 
*Edit Dwarf Fortress\Raw\object\Creature_Domestic.txt. Remove the tag [BUTCHERABLE_NONSTANDARD] from cats and dogs.
*Start with a normal build except:
**One dwarf should be a dedicated butcher/tanner.
**Buy minimal food.
**Bring as many puppies or kittens as possible.
*Drop all your puppies or kittens into cages or into animal pits as soon as possible.
*Dig a shaft 10 or more Z-levels deep, mark the top an animal pit.
*At the bottom of the shaft set up a butcher shop, a tanner shop, a bedroom, and some food and leather stockpiles.
*Set it all up so that the mad butcher cannot escape.
*As you need food, begin selecting animals to be dropped into your deep pit, next to the butcher.
*To retrieve the food and leather without releasing the butcher, either have him dump it down another hole or use an airlock system.
*See how long a single butcher, butchering splattered kittens, can keep your fortress fed! Cooking and farming are cheating... raw meat for everyone!

=== No death ===

Try to play the game for as long as possible without losing any dwarf (so no death, but also no failed mood, no kidnapping, no beating to death, etc.) A simple challenge, yet harder than what it seems to be.

Some players consider this to be the opposite of the intent of Dwarf Fortress. So naturally, it must be done.

=== Specialized Fortress ===

Your Dwarfes may only produce one type of Products (Clothing, Crafts, etc.). Everything else has to be imported.

== Megaprojects ==
Instead of deliberately inhibiting yourself, create a wonder of the dwarven world that would make the Mountainhomes proud. Be sure to upload it to the [[http://mkv25.net/dfma/ Dwarf Fortress Map Archive]] when it's finished.

=== Temple ===

Designing a temple to Armok. Aesthetics count - the god will be very angry if there are no stained-glass windows and domed ceilings carved with frescoes. To gain more favor, make regular sacrifices and keep the fountains and rivers red with [[blood]].

=== The great brewery ===

Disaster has struck the kingdom. A strangely glowing [[Fire|‼]]<nowiki></nowiki>peasant[[Fire|‼]] visited the greatest brewery of the empire, and as a result the whole thing exploded. No time for weeping — create its successor, a fort dedicated to alcohol production, and get the alcohol supplies flowing! Try to make the widest variety possible, and give or trade it to the dwarven [[caravan]] each year.

=== Castle ===

Build a castle, greater than anything built by human, elf or dwarf. This is highly time
consuming if you want it to be a good castle. There must be floor indoors, and no underground
constructions except for mining operations and cellars. For an even greater challenge, build
a gigantic tower in the middle, where the nobles stay.

=== Wealth ===

The kingdom's coffers need lining, so hop to! Found a fort and start accumulating wealth as fast as possible. Attain as high a fortress value as possible, and make most of your wealth into coins for the vault. Try to beat your record for one year, two years, or five years.

=== Biodome ===

All material, seeds, food, tools, and dwarves must be in the fortress within one year. Then, seal up the entrance. Any new immigrants... well, they might be in trouble. Survive for as long as possible!

No chasms/underground rivers/magma vents allowed.

=== Underwater fortress ===

Encase your entire fortress in [[water]]! Your fortress should be watersealed: surrounded by water against all [[wall]]s and the top of the fortress.
* Bonus: Build all water-touching walls/roof in clear glass!
* Bonus: Use [[magma]] instead of water!
* Bonus: Build it in the [[ocean]] or a non-freezing lake
* Bonus: Build large glass domes that encase the fortress. A dome 20 tiles wide should be 20 z-levels tall. Which may be hard to cover in water.
* Mod: Make your dwarves amphibious and include airlocks between the wet fortress and the dry.

=== Mountain audit/core sample ===

Start in a mountainous area and strip mine everything down, down, down to ground level. Stockpile everything, and calculate the mountain's composition. For kicks, try not excavating one tile on each z-level. You'll be left with one enormous core sample.

=== Santa Claus ===

Get ten thousand toys built and offered to caravans yearly. Optionally, build ten thousand toys, fetch them in adventure mode and deliver them to every single city of the world.

=== Graveyard Master ===

Ever dwarf deserves a decent resting place:
*Build a tomb for ever dwarf that dies, the more dwarves you manage to bury the better.
*Tombs must be rooms with exactly 5x5 of size and 1 of height, with only one entrance tile that must be closed by a door.
*Tombs must have all its surfaces engraved.
*Tomb must contain at least 4 statues.
*Once complete, the door must be locked and the tomb must not be ever entered again.

=== How high can you go? ===

Construction, construction, construction! Just how big a tower can you build? Out of glass maybe, clear glass? Steel? Pump water to the top? Make your tower a ''pinnacle'' of achievement and stun humans, elves and goblins alike - for they know nothing of construction and engineering like dwarves do!

=== Computing ===

Can your dwarves build the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism Antikythera mechanism]? Can you program the fortress to play tic-tac-toe? More details at [[computing]].

=== Doomsday Clock ===

Build a water or mechanical clock whose final state triggers the support which holds your fortress up or a megabeast out.
See how much wealth you can achieve before the clock runs out.
*Bonus: Create something that resets itself, as well as purging the map, so that you can reuse the same fortress over and over.
*Super-Bonus: Create something that involves pressure plates and a small kitten, when the pressure plates are hit in the right order, your map ends. Toss the kitten in and hope for the best.

=== World Domination ===
Pretend you are an evil mastermind. Now come up with some device or machine to render the world (or at least your portion of the map) totally unliveable, aside from, of course, your hidden lair.

Suggestions:
* Flood the map with water/magma (may require building walls around the edge of the map)
* Build an "Earthquake Machine" (the entire map is supported by a single support, which is connected to a lever)
* Build an extensive holding cell network for "scientific purposes". Fill it with megabeasts and elephants in secret. Have a lever that lets everything free to feed on the general population.


=== Casting ===
Who needs to construct giant statues?! We need ours made from natural walls, however, we want it above ground level as well. For casting your goal is to create some giant structure out of natural obsidian walls through the use of an extremely elaborate scaffold of lava and water pools and screw pumps. When you are finished, just deconstruct the scaffolding and smooth/engrave the statue as you go. Just imagine the bridge over that chasm, now complete with two giant dwarf statues on either side to strike fear into all who enter and to show them the power of your fortress.

=== The Monolith ===
As the inevitability of a fortress-wide mental breakdown looms over every single fortress why not have something that alludes to that precipice of [[insanity]]. Like the book and feature film, 2001: A Space Odyssey you must have a Monolith. This has to be made from [[obsidian]] and have a completely smooth surface (You cannot build it from blocks) You can have it be any size as long as it is outside, at least 2 tiles thick to ensure there are no pillar tiles, and has about the same ratio of width to height as it does in the movie (1:4:9) to make it as close to the real thing as possible. It would be preferable to make it large so that it seems to be dominating the landscape and your dwarves' psyche. The bigger the better.

*If the rock obsidian strata isn't deep enough in parts to make a monolith feasible consider casting a monolith with a large rectangular block in the exact same dimensional criteria as above.

=== Ceremonial Sacrifices ===

Build an amazingly complex or spectacular killing device. A shaft that extends across the entire Z-plane is a good start. A constantly shifting maze of atomsmasher drawbridges is another. For the minimalist, a very confined space where you will drop a dwarf wrestler along with the gobbos once in a while. Perhaps a waterslide that carries your prisoner all the way down into a chasm? Whatever your idea, build it and dedicate your fort to the construction, maintenance and improvement of your device.

Do not kill any of your invaders. Capture them using cage traps, and them set them off in your device. Keep a record of the number of victims you drop into it.

=== Space Ship ===

Create a giant space ship fit for space travel. It should be able to hold about 100 dwarves for at least 2 years.

BONUS: Use exploding [[booze]] as ignitable fuel.

BONUS: Make a removable [[ramp]] for boarding.

BONUS: Make the [[water]] for the 2 years be on the ship using removable pumps.

BONUS+: Make it totally self sufficient. (Make an internal system which pumps the [[water]] supply through a room every few years to muddy the floor. Plant [[seed|seeds]] in the [[mud]] that's now on the floor. Manage your consumption to maintain self sufficiency.)

BONUS+: Make it all out of [[steel]].

[[fun|FUN]]: Let it be held by a single [[support]], ignite the [[booze]], remove the support an let it "fly".

EVEN BETTER: Drop it down a chasm.

=== Aqueducts ===

For some reason, a noble was harmlessly pulling a lever when suddenly, magma flooded the river and exploded the booze! The king requires your band of seven to build a great aqueduct to bring water to the capital. Start with supports, and build up your aqueduct until it is 10 z-levels high!

BONUS: Start over a human town, build a wall around it, pump water through the aqueduct and into it!

=== Dwarf like an Egyptian ===

*Build a pyramid of epic proportion.

Build a legendary dwarven pyramid, with a corridor running to a central tomb for your favourite noble. Then construct lots of different [[traps]] in it to avoid grave robbery. Perhaps build it entirely out of glass? Or try to make the top twist in a bit of a swirl. Alternatively, make your entire fortress inside a pyramid, which stretches below the ground.

*Build rows of Obelisks

Build a double row of Obelisks before the Pyramid, and engrave the sides. Build ramps on the tops.

=== Skull collector ===

What proves the might of a civilization better than a hall full of skulls?
*Try to collect as many skulls as you can during your fortress life, and put then in a special skulls-only storage. The more skulls the better.

BONUS: Cover all the skulls in blood, and make the stockpile also a throne room.

SUPERBONUS: Also fill the throneroom with kittens.

=== Moria ===

Build a huge hall - at least 3 z-levels high. Leave few pillars symmetrically placed in the hall (don't build them, carve them out). Smooth and possibly engrave everything (not only the lowest z-level!). Then build thin bridge (not the bridge building, just a thin piece of rock to walk on) above magma - support it with bauxite supports connected to a lever (bauxite mechanisms needed in support). Destroy stone holding it at the both ends and replace it with floor hatches (so when you pull the lever it all goes down). After that build a bridge above the chasm.
When it's all done seal your dwarves deep inside in safe place and get invaded by goblins. At the same time dig out HFS. Lead the HFS across the both bridges and then collapse the second one when one of the champions clashes with it (it doesn't matter that the champion has killed the HFS with one hit).

=== Crematory Fortress ===

* Requires a [[magma pipe]] and [[bauxite]].

Build a temple structure above a [[magma pipe]] and [[engrave]] every available surface. The temple should be as opulent as possible. In the temple, build a retracting [[bridge]] over a hole in the floor, and designate a [[coffin]] [[stockpile]] on it. Whenever a dwarf dies, build a [[bauxite]] or other [[magma-proof]] [[coffin]] for him, place it on the [[bridge]], and retract it, committing his body to the [[magma|fiery blood of the mountain]].

::Note: At the time of writing, the editor isn't sure if coffins falling off the bottom of the map count as being 'lost.' If they do, channel out a magma pool and put the temple above that to avoid tantrums.

=== Swiss Precision ===

Build a working clock. The clock should accurately track DF days, months, and years.

Bonus Points:
*If the clock has a mechanical effect in the fortress proper to announce new days
*If the clock creates seasonally appropriate effects at the change of months and/or seasons.
*If the clock is used to aid in the operation of the fortress in addition to its role as a clock (automatically controls farmland irrigation at particular times, automatically opens the <s>blast doors</s> floodgates in time for merchants, etc...).
*If the clock governs the schedule of a working rail station (which is always on time). (Definitions of 'working' and 'rail station' are subject to player imagination).

But don't worry about the bonus points, a precision time device should be hard enough.

=== The cube ===

Play a fort as usual, but emphasize catching goblins in cages to support and fill this construction:
Construct a series of rooms in a symmetrical fashion, all connected to eachother with appropriate doors. Of course, enough rooms to make a maze-like structure, and if you feel like it, an exit that is hard to reach. Fill a bunch of the rooms with traps and pressureplates. Then fill one room with 4-6 goblins (preferably in cages, opened by an outside lever), release them and watch them randomly walk around the rooms dying to traps and whatnots.

*Bonus: Do multiple story maze (3d-maze)
*Bonus: Use pressureplates to open/close the exit randomly; otherwise, all the goblins will just follow the shortest route to the exit.

=== Land battleship ===

Turn your moutain into a huge battlestation, complete with crew quarters, decks, command centre, cantina, and a large collection of deadly weapons : Batteries of marksdwarves, ballista cannons, catapults, but also lava projector or remote explosive devices (ie cave-ins in a part of the map triggered by a lever). Make sure it ends up looking like a real battleship, with nothing but plains surrounding it (you could build it on an actual plain, or destroy a mountain, choice is yours). The battleship has to be autonomous, and dwarves shouldn't wander outside it.

*Bonus: The weaponry covers every tile of the map (ie, everything that enters the map can be shot)
*Bonus: Build several other ships, maybe dedicated to a specific product (food, ammo etc.)
*Bonus: Each crew member has a civil and military formation, and when the enemy arrives, stop every economic activity. All hands to quarters !
*Mega Bonus: After building your Ship(s), flood the surrounding countryside.

=== The Great Wall of Urist ===
Build a dwarven great wall of china that splits the map in half. Must be at least 10 tiles thick and reach the highest z-level.
* BONUS: Make it block the <s>mongols</s> goblins out of your half of the map.
* BONUS: Make it out of obsidian.
**BONUS+: Embark on a map without obsidian.
* BONUS: Find a way to make it touch the boundaries.
* BONUS: Build one gate
* BONUS: Arm it with ballistas.

=== Collosseum ===
Build a pit, around it on steps lots of Thrones, make the whole thing a meeting area, train Gladiators, capture goblins, leave them their weapons and let them fight against your gladiators. If they win, let them go.

== Themed fortress ==
The middle ground between restrictions and megaprojects. A theme gives your fort a sense of purpose, while usually being less time-consuming than a megaproject. Additionally, many themes can be combined together.

=== Fort Geneva ===
* Build only nonlethal (cage) traps
* Sentient creatures ([[Goblins]], etc.) are to be considered prisoners of war and treated humanely
* Suggested provisions for prisoners: a bed, a personal cell, a commons area, aboveground exercise yard, and the clothes the creature was wearing when captured
* Inspiration: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conventions Geneva Conventions]

=== Immigration and customs enforcement ===
* One miner/mason/architect
* One woodcutter/carpenter/architect
* Five military dwarves

No anvil, lots of food, in a canyon - spend the first year building fortifications to interdict traffic. Immigrants can build a town around you, but your original dwarves remain dedicated to their mission.

=== Luxury Hotel ===

Build a hotel with large luxurious rooms
* Starting 7 dwarfs will be the only dwarfs that can work.
* All immigrants will be treated like nobles and will have all labors turned off.
* Provide places to throw parties.
*BONUS: Make a large fountain or waterfall centerpiece.
*BONUS: Keep the hotel up to code with health and safety.
** If any of the ''customers'' die or get kidnapped you must abandon the hotel.
*MEGA BONUS: Make the entire hotel out of ice.

=== Segregation ===

Make two separate, working, independent fortresses. All the men go in one, all the women in the other. Married dwarves are excluded from both.

=== No singles ===

As soon as you get a married couple with an immigration wave, kill all single dwarves. Continue to do so with all immigration waves. Try to lose no children.

=== Live up to your name ===

Go with the random name chosen by the game for your fortress and group. Make a handicap/play style based on your group's name, and a personal goal based on your fortress name. For example, if your group is The Iron Fist, your military must consist only of wrestlers in iron armor. If your fortress is Prisonportals, you must capture and jail as many goblins/creatures as possible, and all doors in the prison must be made of glass.

=== Equaland ===

Equaland: where we are all Equal, besides the Almighty Leader. Each dwarf must have their own bedroom, dining room, etc. Make a large tower in the center of your perfect land and put "The Leader" in it. Then make some kind of mechanism to kill the dwarves inside their dwelling, complete with levers so that The Leader can choose who dies next. If dwarves have one too many friends kill them, if they eat too much food kill them, etc.

=== This. Is. SPARTAAAA! ===

At least 50% of your dwarves should be military 100% of the time, and train in spears, shield use and [[wrestling]]. All other dwarves are "helots" and shouldn't be given any skills; they can be pressed into the military during times of war, but given no equipment or at most a bare minimum of inferior weapons. Do not use crossbows or traps. Kill maimed dwarves.

Refuse trade with caravans, instead attacking them if possible. Whenever a messenger appears promptly enter aggressive negotiations and then throw them down the well screaming "THIS IS SPAARRTAAAAA..." at your monitor. Forbid the use of gold and silver, etc., the making of crafts, and the smoothing of walls or any other task that makes your fortress "beautiful".

Don't create chainmail or plate armour. Brew only wine.

Note that the above suggestions are modelled on the popular movie [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300_(film) 300], which was historically inaccurate. For a more "realistic dwarven Sparta", try reading the wiki article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparta#Society the real Sparta]

=== Commune ===

All your dwarves have all labors enabled. Dwarves sleep only in barracks, and no dwarf, including administrators, can be assigned any personal rooms. If the nobles find this upsetting, don't hesitate to make the corridors run red with the [[blood]] of the bourgeoisie. Obviously, don't mint any coins either. (Dwarves can take turns with wood cutting and mining, since they can't have both enabled simultaneously.)

=== Government in Exile ===
All dwarves are either nobles or in the military. The only useful dwarves you'll have will be your broker, manager, mayor, bookkeeper, and dungeon master. If you can survive until the sheriff arrives, transfer your entire military into the fortress guard. With a little luck, and a lot of exported roasts, you too can rule without proletarian interference.

=== Stay Awhile, and Listen ===
Create a world with a lot of large caves and make it possible to see them on the embark map. Build a Fortress near a large cave with a lot of big angry monsters in it (hopefully not too close) and loot lying around that becomes a frontier town for adventurers seeking to clear out the nearby 'dungeon'.

Train up dwarves to become parties of heroes who will descend into the dungeon for fame and fortune (or more likely severed limbs and death). Parties should only be about four or less. You can defend your fortress but luring monsters out into your siege engines is cheating. Give yourself points for large monsters killed and treasure claimed.

'''Variants'''
* Only solo adventurers are allowed to enter the dungeon. 
* Only use 'Thieves' to steal loot and create traps inside the dungeon.

=== Noblesse requiro ===

Build your fortress to please the sick, twisted, evil nobles needs. Build a execution chamber for your rowdy dwarves and build a torture chamber for your dungeon master, using your imagination! Use this to punish pathetic dwarves who dare rebel. Build palaces for your nobles and pamper them in every way. Pour most of your resources into a beautiful place for nobles to live whilst letting your dwarves sleep in tiny, pathetic rooms. The only exception is your mayor, who rises from the rank of the disgusting peons. He must live in squalor as well, preferably next to noble rooms to so the nobles can taunt him. score yourself according to how happy your nobles are, and your worth.

=== Humanlike Fortress ===
Pretend you're a filthy above-ground dwelling [[Human|humie]].
* Build a town wall.
** Only hovels and farms outside the town walls.
* House your dwarves in small town homes
** 5-10 dwarves per house (they had pretty big families back in the day)
** Upstairs bedrooms, small dining room, maybe a single level basement.
* House your workshops according to profession, not convenience.
* Build warehouses for stockpiles, and set guards outside them.
* Create a keep, with its own wall, barracks, treasury, etc.
** House your nobles within the keep.
* Create a market square.
* Create a main street from the town wall to the market square and/or keep. Well-paved blocks, statues and decorative shubbery are a must.
* No underground connections between different areas.
* For obtaining stone, metal, etc. a mine may be built, but must have separate entrance from other buildings. It can be outside the fortress, but must not connect to the interior, or vice versa.
* BONUS: Make a fountain at least 3 Z squares high in the center of the keep, with a +statue+(or better) on top of it.
* BONUS: The fortress is built around a human town.
* BONUS: Town has an awesome inn operating in same building as the brewery. REGULAR parties there, or it isn't good enough!
* BONUS: All booze is kept within a town inn.
* BONUS: An above ground farm complete with crops and cows,mules,horses,etc.
* BONUS+: Modify the raws and actually use humans to make the fort.
* MEGABONUS: Build your entire fortress as [[mega constructions|one huge arcology]].
* MEGABONUS: Build your City in a giant, artifical cave.

=== Sitting on trees ===
Build up your fortress on the top of giant trees (that you have to construct from wood at first). Don´t build anything underground. Show that snobbish elves that dwarves are better in EVERYTHING - even in sitting on trees.
* BONUS: Build your tree-city at a place with low (or even no) vegetation.
* BONUS: Light it on fire.
[[Category:Guides]]

40d:Floodgate

2009-06-03T14:01:33Z

Gnarker: /* Uses */

A '''floodgate''' is an object used to regulate the flow of fluids, such as [[water]] and [[magma]]. 
They can be built from [[rock]] (at a [[mason's workshop]]), [[wood]] (at a [[carpenter's workshop]]), [[metal]] (at a [[metalsmith's forge]]), or [[glass]] (at a [[glass furnace]]). 
== Placement ==
Floodgates must be built on solid [[floor]] (i.e. not over a channel). Dwarves must be able to stand orthogonally to the floodgate in order to build it. In order to control a vertical water flow, a solution is to build the floodgate on a constructed [[wall]], and then remove the wall.

Floodgates generally have to be built prior to flooding the area (obvious for [[magma]], isn't it?) but can still be built at a [[water]] level of 1/7.

If there is no roof above a floodgate nor above an incoming water flow that comes from a source with higher elevation, the water can spill over the floodgate. See the [[pressure]] article for more information.

[[Dwarves]] often like to stand on the wrong side of the floodgate they are constructing so that they may conveniently decline any subsequent labor. They'll sit there with their feet propped up on a conveinent rock, twiddling their thumbs until such time as the floodgate is opened mechanically or deconstructed. To avoid this situation you should build something on the tile you ''don't'' want them to stand on, <tt>Suspend</tt> its construction until the floodgate is complete, and <tt>Cancel</tt> its construction when you're finished.

== Activation ==
Floodgates have to be linked to [[lever]]s or [[pressure plate]]s to allow them to be opened and closed <s>remotely</s> at all. An open floodgate also can be walked through, whereas a closed one can not.
Once activated, it will take approximately 100 steps for the floodgate to open or close: the same as [[bridge]]s.

== Floodgates vs Magma ==
Closed floodgates of any material will resist magma, much like constructed [[wall]]s. However, once a [[magma]] floodgate is opened, the magma will flow though and destroy:
* the floodgate itself if it was not made of [[magma-safe materials]].
* the [[mechanism]] if it was not made of [[magma-safe materials]] ([[bauxite]] or [[raw adamantine]]), thus deconstructing the floodgate.

== Uses ==
A water floodgate connected to a [[river]] can be opened to create a shallow pool, then closed, the pool then be drained or allowed to evaporate. The resulting [[mud]] can be used for [[underground]] [[farm]]s. Standing water can be used for drinking, or sufficiently rushing water used as a defense against invaders.

A floodgate can also be used to cover [[fortification]]s when they are not being used. This will prevent enemies from firing into your fort through the fortifications, and can be useful if your [[marksdwarf]]s arrive at the fortification one at a time.

Unlike doors, floodgates can be built directly adjacent to each other; that is, floodgates do not require an adjacent wall. This allows [[channel]]s wider than two squares to be regulated. This characteristic also permits for the construction of "siege doors", allowing areas wider than two tiles to be sealed off from the enemy. For instance, the three tile wide access point for a [[Trade Depot]] within the fortress can be closed down into a chokepoint with floodgates and a lever, giving your marksdwarves more of a chance to shoot invaders.

Using floodgates to halt or reroute enemies must be planned carefully, as large creatures such as [[Troll]]s can destroy floodgates.

What happens to goblins, that are trapped over an open floodgate, when it closes?

{{Buildings}}
[[Category:Furniture]]

40d:Mountain goat

2009-06-01T18:52:26Z

Gnarker:

{{CreatureInfo|name=Mountain goat|symbol=g|color={{COLOR:7:0:1}}|bones=5|chunks=5|meat=5|fat=2|skulls=1|skin=Yes|biome= [[Mountain]]}}

'''Mountain goats''' are fairly weak animals and can be wrestled to death by a dabbling wrestler. They can also, of course, be hunted for meat, bones and skin. But don´t confuse them with a goblin ambush.

{{Game_Data|[CREATURE:GOAT_MOUNTAIN]
[NAME:mountain goat:mountain goats:mountain goat]
[TILE:'g'][COLOR:7:0:1]
[LARGE_ROAMING]
[POPULATION_NUMBER:15:30]
[CLUSTER_NUMBER:1:4]
[BENIGN][MEANDERER]
[PETVALUE:50]
[GRASSTRAMPLE:0]
[PREFSTRING:beards]
[PREFSTRING:long horns]
[PREFSTRING:surefootedness]
[NATURAL][PET]
[BODY:QUADRUPED:TAIL:2EYES:2EARS:NOSE:2LUNGS:HEART:GUTS:ORGANS:THROAT:NECK:SPINE:BRAIN:2HEAD_HORN:MOUTH]
[BODYGLOSS:HOOF]
[MAXAGE:20:30]
[ATTACK:MAIN:BYTYPE:STANCE:kick:kicks:1:2:BLUDGEON][ATTACKFLAG_WITH]
[CHILD:1][CHILDNAME:mountain goat kid:mountain goat kids]
[SIZE:5]
[FAT:2]
[DIURNAL]
[BIOME_MOUNTAIN]
[STANDARD_FLESH]
[HOMEOTHERM:10067]
[LAYERING:200]
}}
{{Creatures}}
[[Category:Animals]]

40d:Fortress defense

2009-06-01T14:29:44Z

Gnarker: /* Water trap */

{{Image Rules Notice}}
There are two important things to consider when designing defenses for your fortress. First, you must protect the fortress itself. Second, protecting your [[dwarves]] is also often a priority. These two goals can often be rather divergent, as without careful planning your dwarves may wander the open countryside to collect herbs, cut trees, hunt, fish, or otherwise just enjoy nature, and while outside your fortress are vulnerable.

==Entrance design and traps==

You can help your soldiers a great deal by sensible entrance design and use of [[trap]]s and [[siege engine]]s. Simple approaches include clustering [[Trap|stone fall traps]] or [[Trap|cage traps]] in your entrance. More care is needed when placing [[ballista]]s or [[catapult]]s as they can hurt your dwarves too. Below are some example designs of more elaborate possibilities.

===Fortification based entrance designs===
Keep in mind that the entrance to defensive chokepoints should be outside. If you try to set up your defense somewhat underground, ordering your dwarves to stay inside has the result that your carefully designed 'kill zone' will be chock full of your own dwarves at the critical moment.

This particular design works well with plenty of archers, siege engines, and other ranged weaponry.
*<tt>═</tt> - Wall
*<tt>╬</tt> - [[fortification]]
*<tt>+</tt> - Floor, the path the attackers must take
*<tt>\</tt> - pit (filled with [[Trap#Upright Spear/Spike|spikes]], [[water]], [[magma]], whatever you prefer)
*<tt>@</tt> - [[Marksman|Marksdwarves]]
*<tt>1, 2, 3</tt> - Bridges (3 shown) over pits
<pre>
|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|E|N|T|R|A|N|C|E|+
|═|═|╦|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|1|1|1|═|╦|═|═
|+|@|╬|\|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|+|@|╬|\|+|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|2|2|2|\|╬|@|+
|+|@|╬|\|+|\|\|+|\|\|\|+|\|\|\|+|\|\|\|+|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|+|@|╬|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|+|@|╬|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|+|@|╬|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|+|@|╬|\|\|+|\|\|\|+|\|\|\|+|\|\|\|+|\|\|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|+|@|╬|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|+|+|╚|╬|╬|╬|╬|╬|╬|╬|╬|╬|╬|╬|╬|╬|╬|╬|╗|\|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|+|+|+|@|@|@|@|@|@|@|@|@|@|@|@|@|@|@|╬|\|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|@|╬|\|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|@|╬|\|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|╗|+|+|@|╬|\|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|║|+|+|@|╬|\|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|║|+|+|@|╬|\|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|║|+|+|@|╬|\|3|3|3|\|╬|@|+</pre>
The 3 tile wide lane is for traders, so if you have your [[trade depot]] before this location,
cut it down to a 1 tile lane to slow down invaders more.

Retract [[bridge]] 2 to force invaders to take the long way, first running along the wall (to the west in this diagram) and then zig-zagging back for maximum exposure to your ranged units on the walls above them. The pits at the base of the walls are necessary to target down one z-level at enemy units.

''(Note - [[Trader]]s will NOT stop at your fortress unless there is a clear, 3-wide path to a [[Trade Depot]] when they arrive. Bridge 2 should be kept down if you want/expect Traders.)''

Bridges 1 and 3 can be put down to allow enemies into this pit entrance, then retracted again to trap them in the kill zone. Note - Attackers must have a complete "path" to where they want to go, so bridge 3 must be down to lure them in.

=== The "Reverse Battlement" design ===

<pre> |'|'|'|'|'|║|+|+|+|║|'|'|'|'|'
F |═|═|═|═|═|║|+|+|+|║|═|═|═|═|═
O |.|.|.|.|.|╬|@|+|+|║|.|g|.|g|.
R |.|.|.|g|.|╬|@|+|+|║|.|.|.|.|g
T |.|.|.|.|.|╬|@|+|+|║|.|.|g|.|. <- Direction <-
R |.|.|.|.|g|╬|@|+|+|║|g|.|.|g|g <- of attack <-
E |.|.|.|.|.|╬|@|+|+|║|.|g|.|.|.
S |═|═|═|═|═|║|+|+|+|║|═|═|═|═|═
S |'|'|'|'|'|║|+|+|+|║|'|'|'|'|'</pre>

:* <tt>.</tt> = ground level
:* + = bridge/overpass
:* ╬ = fortification
:* <tt>═</tt> = wall, channel or other obstacle (to force path of attackers)
:* <tt>@</tt> = marksdwarf
:* <tt>g</tt> = goblin attackers

Note that in this diagram, the fortress interior is to the West, and the enemy forces come from the East. The marksdwarves on the bridge with the [[fortification]]s are one level above the [[goblin]]s (or other attackers), who will pass under the bridge and charge on toward the west. As the first clear from under the bridge, they are targeted from behind (which is one level above), as the marksdwarves wait in ambush. This allows the marksdwarves to face far fewer enemies at any one time, at least to begin with, and any enemy archers must clear the bridge, take their lumps, and then return fire back the other way before the marksdwarves are ever under attack.

For extra safety, hollow this tunnel out from under a ledge of the mountain (so it counts as "surface" and Dwarfs can "stay inside"). The bridge part can then be made out of construction, as soldiers can be ordered to go outside anyway.

If you're feeling especially nasty, make the tunnel really long into the mountain and add a [[Fortress defense#Siege Engines|ballista battery]] (see below). In my current version of the fortress, the goblins have to cross a long series of drawbridges to even get inside the mountain, so the ballista dwarf gets a lot of shots, and I can launch any escaping troops into the air.

''(Adding ammo stockpiles, of your best quality bolts, to these stations will speed up reloading for longer sieges/battles. Even adding small, convenient food and alcohol stockpiles is not unheard of. Some designers place access to/from archery ranges very close to these stations, for faster deployment.)''

===Flooded entrance===
Using a chamber as your entrance alongside a chamber full of water and some machinery you can flood or drain the entrance at will.

The basic premise requires two levers, two [[screw pump]]s and two [[Gear assembly|gear assemblies]]. The amount of power required and the number of additional components needed to get the power to the screw pumps varies depending on distance/setup. One pump is placed to draw from chamber 1 and dump into chamber 2. The other is set in reverse. A gear assembly is placed next to each pump and connected to the main power system. Each gear is linked to a lever. Now at the flip of a switch you can submerge your entrance with [[water]] or [[magma]] for easy, secure defense against creatures that aren't amphibious or magma-dwelling, depending.

[[Image:Entflood.jpg]]

The picture above shows the design in action. The green pump is currently on while the red has been disconnected through the grey marked axle. The yellow X is just to mark that there is a channel under the axle.

=== Water trap ===
'''Level 0'''
<pre>
=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=
-|>|.|.|\|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|/|.|.|-|>
-|>|.|.|\|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|/|.|.|-|>
-|>|.|.|\|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|/|.|.|-|>
=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=</pre>

'''Level -1'''
<pre>
=|=|=|=|=|=|X|X|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|X|X|=|=|=|=|=|=
=|=|\|.|.|\|_|_|/|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|\|_|_|/|.|.|/|=|=
=|=|\|.|.|\|_|_|/|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|\|_|_|/|.|.|/|=|=
=|=|\|.|.|\|_|_|/|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|\|_|_|/|.|.|/|=|=
=|=|=|=|=|=|X|X|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|X|X|=|=|=|=|=|=</pre>

'''Level -2'''
<pre>
=|=|=|=|=|=|x|x|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|x|x|=|=|=|=|=|=
=|=|=|=|=|\|.|.|/|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|\|.|.|/|=|=|=|=|=
=|=|=|=|=|\|.|.|/|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|\|.|.|/|=|=|=|=|=
=|=|=|=|=|\|.|.|/|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|\|.|.|/|=|=|=|=|=
=|=|=|=|=|=|x|x|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|x|x|=|=|=|=|=|=</pre>

*<tt>=</tt> - Wall
*<tt>.</tt> - Floor
*<tt>_</tt> - open Space
*<tt>\</tt> - ramp (direction should be clear)
*<tt>X</tt> - Inflow
*<tt>x</tt> - Outflow

If enemies are in the middle of Level -1, open the inflow, then the water will first trap, and then drown them. If the pit is full, close the in- and open the outflow. You can automate this by using pressure plates, or if you want to have more fun, replace the water with magma (pressure plates and floodgates have to be magma-save then).

===Siege Engines===
One effective way to have [[Siege engine]]s (help) defend your fortress is:

*<tt>+</tt> - floor
*<tt>═</tt> - wall
*<tt>▼</tt> - ramp
*<tt>\</tt> - channel
*<tt>╬</tt> - fortification

 '''One ballista vs 3-wide hallway'''
<pre>|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|╦|═|═|═|═|═
|E|n|t|r|a|n|c|e|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|▼|\|\|\|\|\|║|▐|▀|▀|
|E|n|t|r|a|n|c|e|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|▼|\|\|\|\|\|╬|◄|═|«
|E|n|t|r|a|n|c|e|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|▼|\|\|\|\|\|║|▐|▄|▄|
|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|╩|═|═|═|═|═</pre>

Using this design you can cripple an army using a well timed volley. The hallway can be much longer than shown if you wish, as ballistae have extended ranges well over 100 tiles. The channeled area is necessary, as civilians (siege operators are "civilians") will run when enemies get within about 5-10 tiles of them, regardless of the actual path to that threat.

3 (or more!) ballistae can be put into a "battery" if overlapped - one per tile-width of the hallway, with each ballista aiming down their row of tiles.
<pre> |╦|═|═|═|
|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|╦|═|═|╦|═|═|║|▐|▀|▀|
|E|n|t|r|a|n|c|e|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|▼|\|\|\|\|\|║| ║|▐|▀|▀|◄|═|« (~ammo~)
|E|n|t|r|a|n|c|e|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|▼|\|\|\|\|\|╬|▐|▀|▀|◄|═|«|▐|▄|▄|
|E|n|t|r|a|n|c|e|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|▼|\|\|\|\|\|║|◄|═|«|▐|▄|▄| (~ammo~)
|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|╩|▐|▄|▄| (~ammo~)
|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|</pre>
Be sure to use fortifications to prevent dwarfs from wandering in front of the ballista to their deaths. If desired (and you have the <s>man</s>dwarfpower to spare), catapults may be put behind those, as they shoot safely ''over'' workers in front of them. Altho' less effective than ballistae, it's a little more firepower - and that can't be a bad thing.

===Tar Baby===
Enemies will hunt down and kill friendly tame animals wandering outside if they have nothing better to do. Put a puppy on a chain in some random spot outside, build a few columns around it to reduce the chance of them shooting it, and trap that area to hell and back.

===Obstacle Course===
Combined with some intentional cave-ins, lots of cage traps, some weapon and stone fall traps, combined with channels and pressure plates can be sure-fire way to fend off an invading goblin army.

Create a small area 1 tile wide prefferably, and channel it out leaving one support under it. This MUST be connected to your base by a bridge so enemies will take it. the place a pressure plate at the end, linked to the support and another bridge into your fortress. line this area with weapon traps and line the exits of the subterranean area underneath this with cage traps. the area underneath must also lead to your base so the enemies will walk into the cages. then build another area just like this except have the entrance bridge be retracted/raised and have the first pressure plate link to it, so it is an endless game of at and mouse (sort of)

I have a screenshot but I don't know how to upload

==Defending your dwarves==

The best way to prevent dwarves outside from being ambushed and slaughtered by hostile creatures is to keep them from going outside. Unfortunately, there are valuable commodities like wood which are hard to acquire inside.

The next best thing is to provide defenses which protect your dwarves while outside. On the truly labor intensive end, you can fully enclose areas of wilderness you wish to utilize in walls or behind moats with the only access being from within your base. While faster, the moat is less effective because it can be seen over, and unless the area beyond the moat also has no access to any entrance to the fortress (and no dwarves) you will still be vulnerable to archers. Hostile creatures, even 'invisible' ones like ambushers, start at map edges and travel across the map - they will only spawn in regions where they can path to a dwarf. By controlling which areas have access to paths to dwarves, you can force all hostile forces to appear in predictable and limited areas. Basically, creating artificially constrained outdoors areas for dwarves to work in is like keeping your dwarves inside - you're only vulnerable while establishing the defense system, afterward its part of the fortress for most purposes.

Another options for outside defenses is scattered traps. Most hostile forces will flee if they take enough casualties, and stone-fall traps can be quite damaging to goblins and are easy to set up. Cage traps work even on [[Bronze colossus|Bronze Colossi]] and [[Dragon]]s. You just have to make sure your dwarves working outside actually stay near your traps - a fisherdwarf who goes wandering screens away from the nearest trap is not protected.

[[Dog|War dogs]] can also be assigned to dwarves who go outside frequently. Then when the dwarf encounters danger, the war dog runs at the danger while the dwarf runs away from it. Unfortunately, war dogs can't be reassigned once they are assigned. To get around this, have the dwarf you want to be guarded train the dog. (Dogs follow the one who trained them until they are assigned.)

Finally, a sufficiently large military could be used as a reactive force to rescue ambushed dwarves. The disadvantages are many - soldiers must physically move to the conflict zone which may be many screens away from the nearest entrance to your fortress, by which point dwarven lives may have already been lost. And while squad organization may make ordering a large army easier, a squad commander who is sleeping, eating, or drinking prevents his entire squad from responding. At best, an army should be considered supplemental for defending dwarves outside your fortress.

==Armed Civilians (Gobbo Season Open!)==
It can be a fairly decent idea to keep mass numbers of cheaply-made crossbows (or your lower-quality rejects) and bone/wood bolts on hand, and all expendable dwarves in one mass military squad set to use crossbows (and leather armor, if you have enough). What [[skill|dabbling]] marksdwarves lack in speed and accuracy, they more than make up for with incredible enthusiasm, as a hailstorm of pathetically-aimed bolts will tear over anything stupid enough to move. Not nearly as effective or useful as properly-emplaced marksdwarves with high skill and proper equipment, but a good emergency measure, especially if you keep your [[craftsdwarf|craftsdwarves]] busy churning out cheap ammo from spare bones from the [[kitchen]]s and cheap crossbows from fishbones from the [[dining hall]].

===non-hunting hunters===
Sometime you will embark in an area devoid of (huntable) wildlife. In that case, you can turn on the [[Hunting]] skill for all civilians and use the {{key|m}}ilitary menu to arm (and more importantly, armor and shield) them. Normally turning on hunting will cause dwarves to wander outside looking for wildlife, and turning it on on all your dwarves would delay your economy greatly - but without wildlife, no hunting jobs are generated, and they go about their business armed and armoured. Note that if X number of hunt-able animals do appear on the map, that many dwarves will then go hunt them.

== See also ==
* [[Defense guide]] for a complete guide

[[Category:World]]
[[Category:Fortress defense| ]]
[[Category:Design]]

40d:Fortress defense

2009-05-31T20:06:25Z

Gnarker: /* Entrance design and traps */

{{Image Rules Notice}}
There are two important things to consider when designing defenses for your fortress. First, you must protect the fortress itself. Second, protecting your [[dwarves]] is also often a priority. These two goals can often be rather divergent, as without careful planning your dwarves may wander the open countryside to collect herbs, cut trees, hunt, fish, or otherwise just enjoy nature, and while outside your fortress are vulnerable.

==Entrance design and traps==

You can help your soldiers a great deal by sensible entrance design and use of [[trap]]s and [[siege engine]]s. Simple approaches include clustering [[Trap|stone fall traps]] or [[Trap|cage traps]] in your entrance. More care is needed when placing [[ballista]]s or [[catapult]]s as they can hurt your dwarves too. Below are some example designs of more elaborate possibilities.

===Fortification based entrance designs===
Keep in mind that the entrance to defensive chokepoints should be outside. If you try to set up your defense somewhat underground, ordering your dwarves to stay inside has the result that your carefully designed 'kill zone' will be chock full of your own dwarves at the critical moment.

This particular design works well with plenty of archers, siege engines, and other ranged weaponry.
*<tt>═</tt> - Wall
*<tt>╬</tt> - [[fortification]]
*<tt>+</tt> - Floor, the path the attackers must take
*<tt>\</tt> - pit (filled with [[Trap#Upright Spear/Spike|spikes]], [[water]], [[magma]], whatever you prefer)
*<tt>@</tt> - [[Marksman|Marksdwarves]]
*<tt>1, 2, 3</tt> - Bridges (3 shown) over pits
<pre>
|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|E|N|T|R|A|N|C|E|+
|═|═|╦|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|1|1|1|═|╦|═|═
|+|@|╬|\|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|+|@|╬|\|+|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|2|2|2|\|╬|@|+
|+|@|╬|\|+|\|\|+|\|\|\|+|\|\|\|+|\|\|\|+|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|+|@|╬|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|+|@|╬|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|+|@|╬|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|\|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|+|@|╬|\|\|+|\|\|\|+|\|\|\|+|\|\|\|+|\|\|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|+|@|╬|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|+|+|╚|╬|╬|╬|╬|╬|╬|╬|╬|╬|╬|╬|╬|╬|╬|╬|╗|\|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|+|+|+|@|@|@|@|@|@|@|@|@|@|@|@|@|@|@|╬|\|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|@|╬|\|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|@|╬|\|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|╗|+|+|@|╬|\|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|║|+|+|@|╬|\|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|║|+|+|@|╬|\|+|+|+|\|╬|@|+
|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|█|║|+|+|@|╬|\|3|3|3|\|╬|@|+</pre>
The 3 tile wide lane is for traders, so if you have your [[trade depot]] before this location,
cut it down to a 1 tile lane to slow down invaders more.

Retract [[bridge]] 2 to force invaders to take the long way, first running along the wall (to the west in this diagram) and then zig-zagging back for maximum exposure to your ranged units on the walls above them. The pits at the base of the walls are necessary to target down one z-level at enemy units.

''(Note - [[Trader]]s will NOT stop at your fortress unless there is a clear, 3-wide path to a [[Trade Depot]] when they arrive. Bridge 2 should be kept down if you want/expect Traders.)''

Bridges 1 and 3 can be put down to allow enemies into this pit entrance, then retracted again to trap them in the kill zone. Note - Attackers must have a complete "path" to where they want to go, so bridge 3 must be down to lure them in.

=== The "Reverse Battlement" design ===

<pre> |'|'|'|'|'|║|+|+|+|║|'|'|'|'|'
F |═|═|═|═|═|║|+|+|+|║|═|═|═|═|═
O |.|.|.|.|.|╬|@|+|+|║|.|g|.|g|.
R |.|.|.|g|.|╬|@|+|+|║|.|.|.|.|g
T |.|.|.|.|.|╬|@|+|+|║|.|.|g|.|. <- Direction <-
R |.|.|.|.|g|╬|@|+|+|║|g|.|.|g|g <- of attack <-
E |.|.|.|.|.|╬|@|+|+|║|.|g|.|.|.
S |═|═|═|═|═|║|+|+|+|║|═|═|═|═|═
S |'|'|'|'|'|║|+|+|+|║|'|'|'|'|'</pre>

:* <tt>.</tt> = ground level
:* + = bridge/overpass
:* ╬ = fortification
:* <tt>═</tt> = wall, channel or other obstacle (to force path of attackers)
:* <tt>@</tt> = marksdwarf
:* <tt>g</tt> = goblin attackers

Note that in this diagram, the fortress interior is to the West, and the enemy forces come from the East. The marksdwarves on the bridge with the [[fortification]]s are one level above the [[goblin]]s (or other attackers), who will pass under the bridge and charge on toward the west. As the first clear from under the bridge, they are targeted from behind (which is one level above), as the marksdwarves wait in ambush. This allows the marksdwarves to face far fewer enemies at any one time, at least to begin with, and any enemy archers must clear the bridge, take their lumps, and then return fire back the other way before the marksdwarves are ever under attack.

For extra safety, hollow this tunnel out from under a ledge of the mountain (so it counts as "surface" and Dwarfs can "stay inside"). The bridge part can then be made out of construction, as soldiers can be ordered to go outside anyway.

If you're feeling especially nasty, make the tunnel really long into the mountain and add a [[Fortress defense#Siege Engines|ballista battery]] (see below). In my current version of the fortress, the goblins have to cross a long series of drawbridges to even get inside the mountain, so the ballista dwarf gets a lot of shots, and I can launch any escaping troops into the air.

''(Adding ammo stockpiles, of your best quality bolts, to these stations will speed up reloading for longer sieges/battles. Even adding small, convenient food and alcohol stockpiles is not unheard of. Some designers place access to/from archery ranges very close to these stations, for faster deployment.)''

===Flooded entrance===
Using a chamber as your entrance alongside a chamber full of water and some machinery you can flood or drain the entrance at will.

The basic premise requires two levers, two [[screw pump]]s and two [[Gear assembly|gear assemblies]]. The amount of power required and the number of additional components needed to get the power to the screw pumps varies depending on distance/setup. One pump is placed to draw from chamber 1 and dump into chamber 2. The other is set in reverse. A gear assembly is placed next to each pump and connected to the main power system. Each gear is linked to a lever. Now at the flip of a switch you can submerge your entrance with [[water]] or [[magma]] for easy, secure defense against creatures that aren't amphibious or magma-dwelling, depending.

[[Image:Entflood.jpg]]

The picture above shows the design in action. The green pump is currently on while the red has been disconnected through the grey marked axle. The yellow X is just to mark that there is a channel under the axle.

=== Water trap ===
'''Level 0'''
<pre>
=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=
-|>|.|.|\|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|/|.|.|-|>
-|>|.|.|\|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|/|.|.|-|>
-|>|.|.|\|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|/|.|.|-|>
=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=</pre>

'''Level -1'''
<pre>
=|=|=|=|=|=|X|X|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|X|X|=|=|=
=|=|\|.|.|\|_|_|/|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|\|_|_|/|.|.|/|=|=
=|=|\|.|.|\|_|_|/|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|\|_|_|/|.|.|/|=|=
=|=|\|.|.|\|_|_|/|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|\|_|_|/|.|.|/|=|=
=|=|=|=|=|=|X|X|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|X|X|=|=|=</pre>

'''Level -2'''
<pre>
=|=|=|=|=|=|x|x|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|x|x|=|=|=|=|=
=|=|=|=|=|\|.|.|/|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|\|.|.|/|=|=|=|=|=
=|=|=|=|=|\|.|.|/|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|\|.|.|/|=|=|=|=|=
=|=|=|=|=|\|.|.|/|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|\|.|.|/|=|=|=|=|=
=|=|=|=|=|=|x|x|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|x|x|=|=|=|=|=</pre>

*<tt>=</tt> - Wall
*<tt>.</tt> - Floor
*<tt>_</tt> - open Space
*<tt>\</tt> - ramp (direction should be clear)
*<tt>X</tt> - Inflow
*<tt>x</tt> - Outflow

If enemies are in the middle of Level -1, open the inflow, then the water will first trap, and then drown them. If the pit is full, close the in- and open the outflow. You can automate this by using pressure plates, or if you want to have more fun, replace the water with magma (pressure plates and floodgates have to be magma-save then).

===Siege Engines===
One effective way to have [[Siege engine]]s (help) defend your fortress is:

*<tt>+</tt> - floor
*<tt>═</tt> - wall
*<tt>▼</tt> - ramp
*<tt>\</tt> - channel
*<tt>╬</tt> - fortification

 '''One ballista vs 3-wide hallway'''
<pre>|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|╦|═|═|═|═|═
|E|n|t|r|a|n|c|e|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|▼|\|\|\|\|\|║|▐|▀|▀|
|E|n|t|r|a|n|c|e|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|▼|\|\|\|\|\|╬|◄|═|«
|E|n|t|r|a|n|c|e|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|▼|\|\|\|\|\|║|▐|▄|▄|
|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|╩|═|═|═|═|═</pre>

Using this design you can cripple an army using a well timed volley. The hallway can be much longer than shown if you wish, as ballistae have extended ranges well over 100 tiles. The channeled area is necessary, as civilians (siege operators are "civilians") will run when enemies get within about 5-10 tiles of them, regardless of the actual path to that threat.

3 (or more!) ballistae can be put into a "battery" if overlapped - one per tile-width of the hallway, with each ballista aiming down their row of tiles.
<pre> |╦|═|═|═|
|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|╦|═|═|╦|═|═|║|▐|▀|▀|
|E|n|t|r|a|n|c|e|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|▼|\|\|\|\|\|║| ║|▐|▀|▀|◄|═|« (~ammo~)
|E|n|t|r|a|n|c|e|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|▼|\|\|\|\|\|╬|▐|▀|▀|◄|═|«|▐|▄|▄|
|E|n|t|r|a|n|c|e|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|▼|\|\|\|\|\|║|◄|═|«|▐|▄|▄| (~ammo~)
|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|╩|▐|▄|▄| (~ammo~)
|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|═|</pre>
Be sure to use fortifications to prevent dwarfs from wandering in front of the ballista to their deaths. If desired (and you have the <s>man</s>dwarfpower to spare), catapults may be put behind those, as they shoot safely ''over'' workers in front of them. Altho' less effective than ballistae, it's a little more firepower - and that can't be a bad thing.

===Tar Baby===
Enemies will hunt down and kill friendly tame animals wandering outside if they have nothing better to do. Put a puppy on a chain in some random spot outside, build a few columns around it to reduce the chance of them shooting it, and trap that area to hell and back.

===Obstacle Course===
Combined with some intentional cave-ins, lots of cage traps, some weapon and stone fall traps, combined with channels and pressure plates can be sure-fire way to fend off an invading goblin army.

Create a small area 1 tile wide prefferably, and channel it out leaving one support under it. This MUST be connected to your base by a bridge so enemies will take it. the place a pressure plate at the end, linked to the support and another bridge into your fortress. line this area with weapon traps and line the exits of the subterranean area underneath this with cage traps. the area underneath must also lead to your base so the enemies will walk into the cages. then build another area just like this except have the entrance bridge be retracted/raised and have the first pressure plate link to it, so it is an endless game of at and mouse (sort of)

I have a screenshot but I don't know how to upload

==Defending your dwarves==

The best way to prevent dwarves outside from being ambushed and slaughtered by hostile creatures is to keep them from going outside. Unfortunately, there are valuable commodities like wood which are hard to acquire inside.

The next best thing is to provide defenses which protect your dwarves while outside. On the truly labor intensive end, you can fully enclose areas of wilderness you wish to utilize in walls or behind moats with the only access being from within your base. While faster, the moat is less effective because it can be seen over, and unless the area beyond the moat also has no access to any entrance to the fortress (and no dwarves) you will still be vulnerable to archers. Hostile creatures, even 'invisible' ones like ambushers, start at map edges and travel across the map - they will only spawn in regions where they can path to a dwarf. By controlling which areas have access to paths to dwarves, you can force all hostile forces to appear in predictable and limited areas. Basically, creating artificially constrained outdoors areas for dwarves to work in is like keeping your dwarves inside - you're only vulnerable while establishing the defense system, afterward its part of the fortress for most purposes.

Another options for outside defenses is scattered traps. Most hostile forces will flee if they take enough casualties, and stone-fall traps can be quite damaging to goblins and are easy to set up. Cage traps work even on [[Bronze colossus|Bronze Colossi]] and [[Dragon]]s. You just have to make sure your dwarves working outside actually stay near your traps - a fisherdwarf who goes wandering screens away from the nearest trap is not protected.

[[Dog|War dogs]] can also be assigned to dwarves who go outside frequently. Then when the dwarf encounters danger, the war dog runs at the danger while the dwarf runs away from it. Unfortunately, war dogs can't be reassigned once they are assigned. To get around this, have the dwarf you want to be guarded train the dog. (Dogs follow the one who trained them until they are assigned.)

Finally, a sufficiently large military could be used as a reactive force to rescue ambushed dwarves. The disadvantages are many - soldiers must physically move to the conflict zone which may be many screens away from the nearest entrance to your fortress, by which point dwarven lives may have already been lost. And while squad organization may make ordering a large army easier, a squad commander who is sleeping, eating, or drinking prevents his entire squad from responding. At best, an army should be considered supplemental for defending dwarves outside your fortress.

==Armed Civilians (Gobbo Season Open!)==
It can be a fairly decent idea to keep mass numbers of cheaply-made crossbows (or your lower-quality rejects) and bone/wood bolts on hand, and all expendable dwarves in one mass military squad set to use crossbows (and leather armor, if you have enough). What [[skill|dabbling]] marksdwarves lack in speed and accuracy, they more than make up for with incredible enthusiasm, as a hailstorm of pathetically-aimed bolts will tear over anything stupid enough to move. Not nearly as effective or useful as properly-emplaced marksdwarves with high skill and proper equipment, but a good emergency measure, especially if you keep your [[craftsdwarf|craftsdwarves]] busy churning out cheap ammo from spare bones from the [[kitchen]]s and cheap crossbows from fishbones from the [[dining hall]].

===non-hunting hunters===
Sometime you will embark in an area devoid of (huntable) wildlife. In that case, you can turn on the [[Hunting]] skill for all civilians and use the {{key|m}}ilitary menu to arm (and more importantly, armor and shield) them. Normally turning on hunting will cause dwarves to wander outside looking for wildlife, and turning it on on all your dwarves would delay your economy greatly - but without wildlife, no hunting jobs are generated, and they go about their business armed and armoured. Note that if X number of hunt-able animals do appear on the map, that many dwarves will then go hunt them.

== See also ==
* [[Defense guide]] for a complete guide

[[Category:World]]
[[Category:Fortress defense| ]]
[[Category:Design]]

User talk:Gnarker

2009-05-29T17:42:19Z

Gnarker: /* Stone & veins */

User talk:Gnarker

2009-05-29T17:41:23Z

Gnarker: /* Stone & veins */

User talk:Gnarker

2009-05-29T17:40:42Z

Gnarker: /* Stone & veins */

User talk:Gnarker

2009-05-29T17:19:52Z

Gnarker: /* Stone & veins */

User talk:Gnarker

2009-05-29T17:19:19Z

Gnarker: /* Stone & veins */

User talk:Gnarker

2009-05-29T17:19:00Z

Gnarker: /* Stone & veins */

== Stone & veins ==

(Veins) average at least 100 stones each, but veins with over 200 stones have been found, too.
Hi. What makes you say that the average is ''over'' 100 stones? And are you sure your 200 stone vein was not two veins combined, as shown on the main [[vein]]s page?--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 15:35, 29 May 2009 (UTC)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At first, i have never been saying, that the average is over 100 stones. Frankly, i don´t know, how you say that in English, but i translated, what i would say in German. And the 200 stones vein looks quite like one for me:
#=Diorite *=Gold

####**#####################*#
##****####################***
*********################***#
*****##***##############***##
########***############***###
#########***##########****###
##########**#########****####
#########***########****#####
##########***#####*****######
###########***####***########
###########***##***##########
############**##*#*##########
#############******##########
##############****###########
##############****###########
###########***#***###########
##########*********##########
#########**##**##****########
########***#***###****#######
#########*#***######***######
###########**########**#*####
##########***#########****###
#########***###########*#**##
#########***##############*##
#########**###############***
########***###############***
#########*################***
###########################**
##########################**#
#########################****
#########################***#
#######################****##
######################***####
######################***####
######################**#####
#####################***#####
####################**#######
###################**########
##################***########
##################**#########
#################***#########
################**###########
###############**############
###############*#############

[[User:Gnarker|Gnarker]] 19:18 CEST/17:18 UTC, 29 May 2009

User talk:Gnarker

2009-05-29T15:20:08Z

Gnarker: /* screwpumps & "pressure */

40d:Stone

2009-05-29T15:18:34Z

Gnarker: /* Other Stone */

''(For the beginning player, see also [[The Non-Dwarf's Guide to Rock]])''
----

'''Stone''' or '''rock''' is a naturally occuring solid aggregate of minerals. It sometimes [[stone management|leaves behind]] material after being mined or [[cave in|collapsing]]. Other types of [[Mining|minable]] tiles include [[soil]] and [[sand]].

Stone is divided into a few key categories:
* [[Metal ore]]: stone that produces [[metal|metal bars]] when [[Smelter|smelted]]
* Rough [[gem]]s: rough gems can be [[gem cutting|cut]], then used to [[encrust]] objects and create [[window]]s.
* Other stone: Stone that is not an [[ore]] or a gem. Few of these have a use outside of items and structures. ([[Obsidian]] is one exception).

[[Economic stone]]s are types of stone that can be reserved for a special purpose. For [[ore]]s, this is smelting and for [[flux|fluxes]], this is steel production. [[Bituminous coal]] and [[lignite]] can be reserved for making [[coke]].

Having created loose stone, many times you'll want to get rid of it or at least move it someplace else. See [[stone management]] for advice.

''This article is about DF geology and the distribution of stones, and does not contain the specific locations of [[metal ore]]s or [[gem]]s.''

== Main layer types ==
There are four types of stone layers (all others are [[soil]]). The type of layer is the primary indicator of what kind of [[ore]] you will find on the map, as well as a sign of [[volcano|volcanic]] activity.
The types are [[sedimentary layer]]s, [[igneous intrusive layer]]s, [[igneous extrusive layer]]s, and [[metamorphic layer]]s.

The primary types of rock only occur in their own layers. (e.g. you won't find [[limestone]] in a [[marble]] layer.)

== Stones forming entire layers ==
These types of stone occur as entire layers, containing some [[cluster|veins and pockets]] of other minerals (see below). If one of the following types of stone is present on your map, it will be listed in one of the [[biome]]s on the embark screen. 
{| border = 1 cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" -valign="top"
|-
! style="background:#efefef;" | [[Sedimentary layer|Sedimentary]]
! style="background:#efefef;" | [[Igneous intrusive layer|Igneous intrusive]]
! style="background:#efefef;" | [[Igneous extrusive layer|Igneous extrusive]]
! style="background:#efefef;" | [[Metamorphic layer|Metamorphic]]
|-valign="top"
|style="padding: 0"|
* {{Raw Tile|░|#FFF|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|●|#FFF|#000}} [[Chalk]]
* {{Raw Tile|=|#880|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|●|#880|#000}} [[Chert]]
* {{Raw Tile|,|#888|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|●|#888|#000}} [[Claystone]]
* {{Raw Tile|∞|#880|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|●|#880|#000}} [[Conglomerate]]
* {{Raw Tile|`|#FFF|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|●|#FFF|#000}} [[Dolomite]]
* {{Raw Tile|▓|#888|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|●|#888|#000}} [[Flint]]
* {{Raw Tile|▓|#FFF|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|●|#FFF|#000}} [[Limestone]]
* {{Raw Tile|≈|#880|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|●|#880|#000}} [[Mudstone]]
* {{Raw Tile|#|#FFF|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|●|#FFF|#000}} [[Rock salt]]
* {{Raw Tile|#|#880|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|●|#880|#000}} [[Sandstone]]
* {{Raw Tile|.|#888|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|●|#888|#000}} [[Shale]]
* {{Raw Tile|%|#880|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|●|#880|#000}} [[Siltstone]] 

|style="padding: 0"|
* {{Raw Tile|░|#888|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|●|#888|#000}} [[Diorite]]
* {{Raw Tile|▒|#888|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|●|#888|#000}} [[Gabbro]]
* {{Raw Tile|▓|#CCC|#000}} {{Raw Tile|●|#CCC|#000}} [[Granite]]

|style="padding: 0"|
* {{Raw Tile|∞|#888|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|●|#888|#000}} [[Andesite]]
* {{Raw Tile|#|#888|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|●|#888|#000}} [[Basalt]]
* {{Raw Tile|.|#888|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|●|#CCC|#000}} [[Felsite]]
* {{Raw Tile|▒|#888|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|●|#888|#000}} [[Obsidian]]
* {{Raw Tile|,|#888|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|●|#888|#000}} [[Rhyolite]]

|style="padding: 0"|
* {{Raw Tile|=|#FFF|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|●|#CCC|#000}} [[Gneiss]]
* {{Raw Tile|▓|#FFF|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|●|#FFF|#000}} [[Marble]]
* {{Raw Tile|-|#888|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|●|#CCC|#000}} [[Phyllite]]
* {{Raw Tile|-|#FFF|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|●|#FFF|#000}} [[Quartzite]]
* {{Raw Tile|`|#880|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|●|#880|#000}} [[Schist]]
* {{Raw Tile|%|#888|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|●|#888|#000}} [[Slate]]
|}

== Other Stone ==
Stones found on this table will occur as [[cluster|pockets and veins]] inside their respective stone layers (see above). When your miners newly encounter one of them, the game will pause and you will receive an announcement; even for the ones that have no use other than to build constructions of unusual colors. Note that the veins or clusters can spread into other layers, and may cause some layers to contain stones they usually wouldn't. A few of these stones, such as [[Olivine]], have other, more interesting minerals appear inside them.

Non-layer stone occurs in these forms:

* [[cluster|Large cluster]] - An oval that occupies nearly half of a 48x48 block, area-wise. Only one appears per block. These average 750 stones each.
* [[Vein]] - A sinuous line of the material crosses the block. These average at least 100 stones each, but veins with over 200 stones have been found, too.
* [[cluster|Small cluster]] - A sprinkle of 1 to 9 adjacent tiles. Multiple small clusters of different materials may be in the same block. These average 5 stones each and do not span more than three tiles in each direction.

''The following table does not contain [[ore]]s and [[gem]]s. The types of stone listed here that do not link to their own article are generic.{{version|0.28.181.40d}}''

{| class="wikitable" cellspacing="0" border="1" cellpadding="5"
|-
! Icons
! Name
! Found in
! Found how
! Can contain
|-
|{{Raw Tile|^|#fff|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#FFF|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alabaster Alabaster]||Gypsum||Small clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|`|#fff|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#FFF|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alunite Alunite]||All [[Igneous extrusive layer|Igneous extrusive]], Kaolinite||Large clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|v|#fff|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#ccc|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anhydrite Anhydrite]||Gypsum, Satinspar, Alabaster, Selenite||Single||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|+|#800|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#800|#000}}||[[Bauxite]]||All [[Sedimentary layer|Sedimentary]]||Large clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|☼|#888|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|☼|#888|#000}}||[[Bituminous coal]]||All [[Sedimentary layer|Sedimentary]]||Veins||[[Fuel]]
|-
|{{Raw Tile|`|#fff|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#FFF|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borax Borax]||Gypsum, Rock salt||Small clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|%|#ff0|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#FF0|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brimstone Brimstone]||All [[Igneous extrusive layer|Igneous extrusive]], Gypsum||Small clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|"|#FFF|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|●|#FFF|#000}}||[[Calcite]]||Limestone, Marble||Small clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|=|#888|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#888|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromite Chromite]||Olivine||Veins||[[Native platinum]]
|-
|{{Raw Tile|£|#f00|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|*|#F00|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnabar Cinnabar]||All [[Igneous extrusive layer|Igneous extrusive]], Shale, Quartzite||Veins||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|£|#00f|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|*|#00F|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobaltite Cobaltite]||All Igneous All [[Metamorphic layer|Metamorphic]]||Veins||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|-|#fff|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#FFF|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryolite Cryolite]||Granite||Small clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|o|#888|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#888|#000}}||[[Graphite]]||Gneiss, Quartzite, Marble, Schist||Small clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|#|#ff0|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#FF0|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gypsum Gypsum]||All [[Sedimentary layer|Sedimentary]]||Large clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|"|#888|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#888|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornblende Hornblende]||All Igneous, All [[:Category:Metamorphic Stone Layers|Metamorphic]]||Small clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|.|#888|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#888|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilmenite Ilmenite]||[[Gabbro]]||Small clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|░|#888|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#888|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_(lignite) Jet]||All [[Sedimentary layer|Sedimentary]]||Large clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|=|#800|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#800|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaolinite Kaolinite]||All [[:Category:Sedimentary Stone Layers|Sedimentary]]||Large clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|%|#008|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#008|#000}}||[[Kimberlite]]||[[Gabbro]]||Veins||[[gems|diamonds]]
|-
|{{Raw Tile|*|#888|#CCC}} {{Raw Tile|●|#888|#000}}||[[Lignite]]||All [[Sedimentary layer|Sedimentary]]||Veins||[[Fuel]]
|-
|{{Raw Tile|%|#fff|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#FFF|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcasite Marcasite]||Kaolinite||Small clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|v|#888|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#888|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mica Mica]||All [[Metamorphic layer|Metamorphic]], Granite||Large clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|%|#0ff|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#0FF|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcline Microcline]||All Stone||Large clusters||none
|-
|{{Raw Tile|%|#080|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#080|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivine Olivine]||[[Gabbro]]||Large clusters||[[Native platinum]]
|-
|{{Raw Tile|-|#ff0|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#FF0|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orpiment Orpiment]||All [[Igneous extrusive layer|Igneous extrusive]]||Small clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|%|#ff0|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#FF0|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthoclase Orthoclase]||All [[Igneous intrusive layer|Igneous intrusive]], All [[:Category:Metamorphic Stone Layers|Metamorphic]]||Large clusters||none
|-
|{{Raw Tile|,|#fff|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#FFF|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periclase Periclase]||Marble||Small clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|%|#f00|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#F00|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrified_wood Petrified wood]||All [[Sedimentary layer|Sedimentary]]||Small clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|*|#808|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#808|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitchblende Pitchblende]||Granite||Small clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|Θ|#880|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#880|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puddingstone_(rock) Puddingstone]||Conglomerate||Large clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|%|#888|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#888|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrolusite Pyrolusite]||All Igneous ||Small clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|%|#f00|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#F00|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realgar Realgar]||All [[Igneous extrusive layer|Igneous extrusive]]||Small clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|`|#808|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#808|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutile Rutile]||All [[Metamorphic layer|Metamorphic]], Granite||Small clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|x|#ff0|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#FF0|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saltpeter Saltpeter]||All [[Sedimentary layer|Sedimentary]]||Small clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|-|#fff|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#FFF|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satinspar Satinspar]||Gypsum||Small clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|;|#fff|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#FFF|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selenite Selenite]||Gypsum||Small clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|≈|#080|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#080|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serpentine Serpentine]||Olivine||Small clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|%|#fff|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#FFF|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stibnite Stibnite]||All [[Igneous extrusive layer|Igneous extrusive]]||Small clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|=|#ff0|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#FF0|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvite Sylvite]||Rock salt||Large clusters||??
|-
|{{Raw Tile|||#fff|#ccc}} {{Raw Tile|●|#FFF|#000}}||[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talc Talc]||Dolomite||Large clusters||??
|}

== DF Geology and real-world Geology ==
The geology and stones of Dwarf Fortress are based on real-world geology and mineralogy. To understand the terms used here, you may want to crack open a geology textbook (a high school one should suffice). If you don't happen to have one close by, the Wikipedia articles for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geology geology], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineralogy mineralogy], or the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_layers terms in question] might help.

[[Category:Stone|*]]
[[Category:Materials]]

40d:Screw pump

2009-05-27T21:00:56Z

Gnarker: /* Pumping up multiple levels */

{{Machine_component|name=Screw pump|key=s|job=[[Pump operator]]
|construction=
* [[Enormous corkscrew]]
* [[Pipe]]
* [[Block]]
|construction_job=
* [[Architecture]]
* 1 of
** [[Carpentry]]
** [[Masonry]]
|power=Needs 10 power.
}}
A '''screw pump''' can lift liquids ([[water]] or [[magma]]) from below onto the same [[Z-level]] as the pump. It is two tiles by one tile in size, and it can be either manually operated by a [[dwarf]] with the [[pump operator]] job or by using [[gear assembly|gear assemblies]] connected to [[water wheel]]s and/or [[windmill]]s. The direction you want the water to travel must be chosen at the time of construction.

== Construction ==

Building a screw pump requires an [[enormous corkscrew]], a [[block]], and a [[pipe]] section. The light green X must be next to the liquid source and the dark green X is where the liquid exits the pump. Having specified the direction of travel, you must ensure that the source side of the pump is placed adjacent to and above (in the [[z-axis]]) a liquid. The screw pump will draw the liquid up from below, and distribute it out of the other side of the pump. Screw pumps are [[building]]s that can be removed to recover the materials.

== Notes ==

* The source of the pump must be directionally adjacent to "Open Space" that is directly above a filled pool of liquid. The adjacent space cannot be a floor, stairway or wall suspended over water. Screw pumps can pump water through a grate or floor bars.
* In order to build pumps in a "hanging" state, as in the stacked screw pump example, one of its tiles must be able to connect to a nearby machine; either already existing or designated to be built.
* A hatch on the input tile makes a useful on/off switch.
* The front pump tile is on the output side.
* The rear pump tile does not block creature movement. The front of the pump does block creature movement.
* The front pump tile blocks liquids flow. The rear of the pump does not block flow.
* Dwarves must be able to access and stand on the rear tile of the pump in order to be able to operate the pump manually and even to build it.
* Active mechanisms connected to the pump will automatically start the pump; to prevent this either restrict liquid flow using floodgates, or put in a [[gear assembly]] linked to a [[lever]] to disconnect [[power|motion]].
* Pumps can also be used in conjunction with a [[water wheel]] or a [[windmill]] to become self-powered.
* Pumps cannot push liquids up additional Z-levels. That is, if you direct the output of a screw pump into a 1-square space surrounded by walls, the water will not "overflow" the walls.
* Consequently, a pump will refuse to move liquid if the level it is pumping to is completely filled.
* In order to safely pump magma, you do not need to build a pump out of [[magma-safe]] materials, unless the open tile is going to be submerged in magma.
** Exception: Wooden parts [[wear]] out fairly quickly when used to pump magma, eventually causing the pump to break down into the non-wooden parts. This is due to the magma heating the adjacent tiles to a temperature at which wood takes heat damage.{{verify}}

== Example layouts ==
=== Single Pump ===

[[Image:jt_screwpump.png|frame|left|A screw pump delivers from the level below to the tile in front.]] 

=== Pumping up multiple levels ===
[[Image:pumpsnc4.png|frame|right|Diagram 2. Another example of a pump]]
The easiest way to do this is to stack the pumps directly on top of each other in alternating directions. I.e. the first one pumps North to South, the one directly above it pumps South to North, the next one above that pumps North to South, ad finitum. Even without walls surrounding the pumps, water still gets up with only minor leakage. 
If there is only open spaces under the pumps, then it only requires power to one pump. All others will be powered by association with the first.

You can transmit power to each pump by simply channeling out the floor at the front (aka output side).

''See Diagram 2.'' This example is from a
[http://www.bay12games.com/cgi-local/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=2&t=001225&p=2 Bay12 forum thread.]

#Side view of the basic pump unit. Water is moved from the lower floor to the upper; notice how the front of the pump does not need a floor.
#Side view of stacked screw pumps. Power is transmitted vertically through the '''missing floor''' tiles under the fronts of the pumps - no need for gearboxes in this design. The screw pump front prevents the water from flowing diagonally downwards.
#Top view of the basic pump unit.
#Top view with walls in place to prevent the receiving area from spilling out. If this is all it needed, these units could be stacked on top of each other, but it's missing one thing - dwarf access. There's no stairs/ramps, and no good place to put them either that wouldn't interfere with the adjacent levels' water containment.
#Solution for a freestanding tower - fire escape! Sure, you could consolidate the up and downstairs into a single up/down stair tile, but I like the zigzag and symmetrical arrangement this one presents. Just build these on top of each other, flipping horizontally each time, and bam. Minimal yet aesthetic multi-level water pumping.

But there´s another, much easier way to pump water up multiple Levels:
Just use a single pump and the water pressure, that lets water moving up.

=== Running a pump with a windmill ===

First, build a [[windmill]] anywhere aboveground (note that it won't do anything yet).

Then, build the pump. The end you selected to 'pump from' will suck water up from the level below, then pump it out of the other end. Build with this in mind. If you want to pump from a river, the 'pump from' end should be on the river.

Both the pipe and corkscrew can be built by a [[carpenter]], (the corkscrew is listed as something like 'enormous wooden cor' if you are using the single-width screen, but hitting {{k|Tab}} to expand the screen should reveal the full text).

Connecting [[Windmill|windmills]] to pumps:

Note that it's much easier if the centre of the [[windmill]] lines up with the pump.

# Dig one level below the [[windmill]] and put a [[gear assembly]] directly beneath the [[axle]] (at centre of windmill). The windmill will start turning.
# You're probably going to want to bring your power up to the surface. To do this, dig away from the first gear until the surface is clear above. Place another gear here.
# Connect the gears together using a horizontal axle.
# Get a [[miner]] to [[channel]] on top of the second gear.
# Build a third gear in this channel. You should now have a turning gear on the surface.
# If you thought ahead, you should only need one axle to connect the surface gear to the pump. A pump can be powered from any side.

I recommend that you connect a lever to one of your gears beforehand. The pump will start pumping as soon as it has power.

You can change stuff around as the situation dictates, but that should get you started.

[[Image:Above.png|frame|none|above]]
[[Image:Below.png|frame|none|below]]

The pictures aren't lined up - the far right gear in the second picture is the one below the surface gear.

== Alternative uses ==

Pumps can also be built with no actual pumping in mind but as dwarven exercise machines. This is an excellent method to train haulers for better strength and agility or for future soldiers.

[[Image:Screwpump-desalination.png|thumb|An example of how to desalinate water. Single-tilde water is salty, double-tilde water is pure.]]
Screw pumps also act to desalinate any water which is pumped through them. This is very useful for providing a source of potable water in otherwise entirely salt-water regions. However, if desalinated water comes into contact with saltwater, or passes through a saltwater [[aquifier]] level (even if it has been walled off), the water will be ''re''salinated.

Screw pumps can be used to "reset" [[water pressure]], preventing a surface water source from flooding a fortress through a [[well]] or fishing hole.

== External links ==

*[[User:Markavian/DFMA|DFMA]] Ingame Videos featuring screw pumps: ([http://mkv25.net/dfma/movie-pump Movies with Pump in the title])

{{Water FAQ}}

[[Category:Machine components]]

40d:Screw pump

2009-05-27T20:59:50Z

Gnarker: /* Pumping up multiple levels */

{{Machine_component|name=Screw pump|key=s|job=[[Pump operator]]
|construction=
* [[Enormous corkscrew]]
* [[Pipe]]
* [[Block]]
|construction_job=
* [[Architecture]]
* 1 of
** [[Carpentry]]
** [[Masonry]]
|power=Needs 10 power.
}}
A '''screw pump''' can lift liquids ([[water]] or [[magma]]) from below onto the same [[Z-level]] as the pump. It is two tiles by one tile in size, and it can be either manually operated by a [[dwarf]] with the [[pump operator]] job or by using [[gear assembly|gear assemblies]] connected to [[water wheel]]s and/or [[windmill]]s. The direction you want the water to travel must be chosen at the time of construction.

== Construction ==

Building a screw pump requires an [[enormous corkscrew]], a [[block]], and a [[pipe]] section. The light green X must be next to the liquid source and the dark green X is where the liquid exits the pump. Having specified the direction of travel, you must ensure that the source side of the pump is placed adjacent to and above (in the [[z-axis]]) a liquid. The screw pump will draw the liquid up from below, and distribute it out of the other side of the pump. Screw pumps are [[building]]s that can be removed to recover the materials.

== Notes ==

* The source of the pump must be directionally adjacent to "Open Space" that is directly above a filled pool of liquid. The adjacent space cannot be a floor, stairway or wall suspended over water. Screw pumps can pump water through a grate or floor bars.
* In order to build pumps in a "hanging" state, as in the stacked screw pump example, one of its tiles must be able to connect to a nearby machine; either already existing or designated to be built.
* A hatch on the input tile makes a useful on/off switch.
* The front pump tile is on the output side.
* The rear pump tile does not block creature movement. The front of the pump does block creature movement.
* The front pump tile blocks liquids flow. The rear of the pump does not block flow.
* Dwarves must be able to access and stand on the rear tile of the pump in order to be able to operate the pump manually and even to build it.
* Active mechanisms connected to the pump will automatically start the pump; to prevent this either restrict liquid flow using floodgates, or put in a [[gear assembly]] linked to a [[lever]] to disconnect [[power|motion]].
* Pumps can also be used in conjunction with a [[water wheel]] or a [[windmill]] to become self-powered.
* Pumps cannot push liquids up additional Z-levels. That is, if you direct the output of a screw pump into a 1-square space surrounded by walls, the water will not "overflow" the walls.
* Consequently, a pump will refuse to move liquid if the level it is pumping to is completely filled.
* In order to safely pump magma, you do not need to build a pump out of [[magma-safe]] materials, unless the open tile is going to be submerged in magma.
** Exception: Wooden parts [[wear]] out fairly quickly when used to pump magma, eventually causing the pump to break down into the non-wooden parts. This is due to the magma heating the adjacent tiles to a temperature at which wood takes heat damage.{{verify}}

== Example layouts ==
=== Single Pump ===

[[Image:jt_screwpump.png|frame|left|A screw pump delivers from the level below to the tile in front.]] 

=== Pumping up multiple levels ===
[[Image:pumpsnc4.png|frame|right|Diagram 2. Another example of a pump]]
The easiest way to do this is to stack the pumps directly on top of each other in alternating directions. I.e. the first one pumps North to South, the one directly above it pumps South to North, the next one above that pumps North to South, ad finitum. Even without walls surrounding the pumps, water still gets up with only minor leakage. 
If there is only open spaces under the pumps, then it only requires power to one pump. All others will be powered by association with the first.

You can transmit power to each pump by simply channeling out the floor at the front (aka output side).

''See Diagram 2.'' This example is from a
[http://www.bay12games.com/cgi-local/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=2&t=001225&p=2 Bay12 forum thread.]

#Side view of the basic pump unit. Water is moved from the lower floor to the upper; notice how the front of the pump does not need a floor.
#Side view of stacked screw pumps. Power is transmitted vertically through the '''missing floor''' tiles under the fronts of the pumps - no need for gearboxes in this design. The screw pump front prevents the water from flowing diagonally downwards.
#Top view of the basic pump unit.
#Top view with walls in place to prevent the receiving area from spilling out. If this is all it needed, these units could be stacked on top of each other, but it's missing one thing - dwarf access. There's no stairs/ramps, and no good place to put them either that wouldn't interfere with the adjacent levels' water containment.
#Solution for a freestanding tower - fire escape! Sure, you could consolidate the up and downstairs into a single up/down stair tile, but I like the zigzag and symmetrical arrangement this one presents. Just build these on top of each other, flipping horizontally each time, and bam. Minimal yet aesthetic multi-level water pumping.

But there´s another, much easier way to pump water up multiple Levels:
Just use a single pump and the water pressure.

----__o
----_--
----_--
-_>>_--
i_-----

- Wall _empty space >> screw pump
i inflow o outflow

=== Running a pump with a windmill ===

First, build a [[windmill]] anywhere aboveground (note that it won't do anything yet).

Then, build the pump. The end you selected to 'pump from' will suck water up from the level below, then pump it out of the other end. Build with this in mind. If you want to pump from a river, the 'pump from' end should be on the river.

Both the pipe and corkscrew can be built by a [[carpenter]], (the corkscrew is listed as something like 'enormous wooden cor' if you are using the single-width screen, but hitting {{k|Tab}} to expand the screen should reveal the full text).

Connecting [[Windmill|windmills]] to pumps:

Note that it's much easier if the centre of the [[windmill]] lines up with the pump.

# Dig one level below the [[windmill]] and put a [[gear assembly]] directly beneath the [[axle]] (at centre of windmill). The windmill will start turning.
# You're probably going to want to bring your power up to the surface. To do this, dig away from the first gear until the surface is clear above. Place another gear here.
# Connect the gears together using a horizontal axle.
# Get a [[miner]] to [[channel]] on top of the second gear.
# Build a third gear in this channel. You should now have a turning gear on the surface.
# If you thought ahead, you should only need one axle to connect the surface gear to the pump. A pump can be powered from any side.

I recommend that you connect a lever to one of your gears beforehand. The pump will start pumping as soon as it has power.

You can change stuff around as the situation dictates, but that should get you started.

[[Image:Above.png|frame|none|above]]
[[Image:Below.png|frame|none|below]]

The pictures aren't lined up - the far right gear in the second picture is the one below the surface gear.

== Alternative uses ==

Pumps can also be built with no actual pumping in mind but as dwarven exercise machines. This is an excellent method to train haulers for better strength and agility or for future soldiers.

[[Image:Screwpump-desalination.png|thumb|An example of how to desalinate water. Single-tilde water is salty, double-tilde water is pure.]]
Screw pumps also act to desalinate any water which is pumped through them. This is very useful for providing a source of potable water in otherwise entirely salt-water regions. However, if desalinated water comes into contact with saltwater, or passes through a saltwater [[aquifier]] level (even if it has been walled off), the water will be ''re''salinated.

Screw pumps can be used to "reset" [[water pressure]], preventing a surface water source from flooding a fortress through a [[well]] or fishing hole.

== External links ==

*[[User:Markavian/DFMA|DFMA]] Ingame Videos featuring screw pumps: ([http://mkv25.net/dfma/movie-pump Movies with Pump in the title])

{{Water FAQ}}

[[Category:Machine components]]

40d:Challenges

2009-05-26T16:40:10Z

Gnarker: /* Megaprojects */

:''Part of this article was originally taken from the DF forums thread [http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=466.0 "Goal-Based Dwarf Fortress"].''

The general goal of [[Fortress Mode]] is to survive, acquire wealth, defend your stronghold, and become the capital of your civilization. However, many players find that fighting off repeated [[siege|sieges]] and keeping their people alive just isn't enough anymore. They begin to experiment with different sets of objectives, themes, and restrictions in search of more difficulty and [[fun]]. These are some goals to attempt or use as inspiration.

== Difficult Builds ==
A sub-optimal embark profile can make the first few years more difficult than they might otherwise be. After a few years, however, immigration, trading, and development of new industries will likely bring your fort up to usual standards. For best results, combine with a restriction.

=== Diplomacy ===
* Six dwarves with only social [[skill]]s
* One skilled dwarf

Six courtiers of the king's court made some ill-advised remarks within earshot of the king, and as a result have been ordered to go found an outpost. They've hired you to make sure they survive. The six nobles only have social skills and refuse to do any work that is beneath them.

=== Hunting Party ===
* One marksman/ambusher
* Two camp servants (e.g. one cook/brewer/herbalist, one butcher/tanner/leatherworker/woodcutter)
* Four clients, all dabbling in marksman/ambusher but with primarily civilian skills.

No anvil, lots of hunting dogs ... and a haunted wood. (In a terrifying wood, you may find all the trees & plants are dead, severely reducing long-term prospects.)

=== Stranded Scout Squad ===

The only items you can bring weapons, ammo, and armor (no picks). The only skills you can hand out are military. The only animals you can bring are war dogs. See how it goes.

=== Bandit Camp ===

* At least 3 marksdwarves.
* Ideally, settle on a hillside, along a canyon or a valley.

Attack and loot every sentient creatures who enter your territory : Goblins & kobolds, but also merchants, diplomats, and even migrants. You can't tell your guys to directly attack allies, but you can build traps linked to a lever (eg. a big pit under the road, with a linked pillar under the pit "roof".) and pull them to kill groups.

=== Minimal ===
* No skills
* No items

This challenge is moderately to very difficult, depending on the wildlife and outdoor food sources. Note that the three logs from the wagon are just enough to build a trade depot.

==Restrictions==
Several of the game's features are rightly considered broken. Creating self-imposed limitations on what you can and cannot do may alleviate this.

=== ASPCA ===
* No [[animals]]

Don't bring any [[animals|pets]]. Furthermore, due to the possibility of animals being caught in them, don't build any [[traps]], either. If [[immigrants]] bring pets, get rid of them somehow. (Whether "them" refers to the pets or the owners is up to the discretion of local [[mayor]]s.)

=== City-States ===
* No [[skill]]s
* 7 or multiple of 7 of everything you bring

At the start your dwarves split everything equally and move to 7 different locales that are not interconnected. They have to mine their own rooms, plant their own crops, use their own craft piles. This will probably require a bit of cross-fertilization until you get [[door]]s and can lock everyone in, but after that it is every dwarf for him/herself!

=== Dieting Dwarves ===
'''Fishing village'''

Give your dwarves only the fishing skill and other fishing related skills (like bonecrafting.) Try to survive off a [[fish]] only diet. Flood the river and build houses above it so the dwarves can fish through their floors. There will be an extra challenge if the river freezes in the winter.

'''Carnivore'''

* No plants or seeds

Only eat strays, pets, and animals you trap and hunt. No farming or plant gathering. Keep all your pets in cages and care for them as little as possible. Eat your dwarves' pets first for an extra challenge. If this upsets your dwarves, ridicule or ignore them. (If you are particularly heartless, you could cage those dwarves as well because anyone that empathizes with animals doesn't deserve any rights either.)

'''Vegan'''

In essence, construct an [http://archive.dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/Main_Glade Elven Forest]: The [[Challenges#Hippy challenge|Hippy Challenge]].

'''IOGT/AA'''

* No alcohol

Quite possibly, this is the cruelest challenge that your dwarves can be given. Don't ever brew any alcohol. Build [[well]]s instead and watch your now teetotaller dwarves work slower and slower by the season.

=== Hippy challenge ===

Peace, man. Don't harm any plants except those you plant yourself. Don't cut down any trees, and don't trade for logs with the filthy humans or dwarves who do. You can trade for plants with the elves, they understand your environmental code. Don't burn any coal, do you know what that does to the environment, man? Never cause any creature's death, so no military, and no lethal traps. You can use cage traps, and either tame the creatures you catch, or release them back into the wild, far from your fort.

For an extra challenge try this in an area with a cave.

=== Hermit ===
* No [[skill]]s
* One [[pick]] and no other supplies

A well known and popular challenge. Kill off 6 starting dwarves and any [[immigrants]] as they arrive, and try to make a living for the last dwarf. Turn away merchants. If they don't leave, kill them.

'''Variants'''
* Keep your starting seven, but no immigrants.
* Selectively admit dwarves based on name, profession, etc.
* Embark with an anvil as well.

=== Nay, no ponderous stone doors or shining silver arcades, not while I live! ===

The new king has decided rocks and metals can no longer be used in construction. He'll be overthrown shortly, but in the meantime construct your fortress without them.

'''Variants'''
* Make everything that you can out of wood. That means nothing underground, though you may excavate to make areas above-ground. Bonus points for bringing no wood at the start and/or going to a treeless area.
* Construct an above-ground fortress made entirely out of glass. Bonus points for not using magma or using clear and crystal glass exclusively.
* Build with soap. Soap is in the form of bars, and so can be used as a building material just like any other type of bar. Show those elven traders just how much you despise their philosophies by building your trading outpost out of stuff derived from dead trees ''and'' dead animals. Too many cats? Build with cat tallow soap.
* Choose one type of rock, one type of metal, one type of gem, and one type of wood. Your whole fortress must be made from these items. You may further narrow it down to bones, skin, and other from one animal, one type of glass, etc. If any artifacts are made using a forbidden item, chuck into lava, a river, or a chasm (you may need to throw the dwarf who made it in as well, since he will throw a tantrum).

=== Luddite ===
* No mechanics or [[mechanism]]s
* No [[machine]]s

[[Traps]] and moving [[bridge]]s are forbidden, water moved for [[farming]] must be accomplished by hand.

=== Master Of One ===
* All starting dwarves can have one skill and one skill only
* No changes are allowed on any dwarf's labor screen
* All immigrants must stay with the profession(s) they arrive with
* All peasants must be activated into the military
Alternatively,
* All starting dwarves can have one skill and one skill only
* No changes are allowed on any dwarf's labor screen, except that hauling may be disabled. You may not enable hauling.
* All immigrants must stay with the profession(s) they arrive with, and only military that immigrates recruited may be military.

=== The Mad Butcher ===
(this requires a tiny amount of editing to the raws) 
*Edit Dwarf Fortress\Raw\object\Creature_Domestic.txt. Remove the tag [BUTCHERABLE_NONSTANDARD] from cats and dogs.
*Start with a normal build except:
**One dwarf should be a dedicated butcher/tanner.
**Buy minimal food.
**Bring as many puppies or kittens as possible.
*Drop all your puppies or kittens into cages or into animal pits as soon as possible.
*Dig a shaft 10 or more Z-levels deep, mark the top an animal pit.
*At the bottom of the shaft set up a butcher shop, a tanner shop, a bedroom, and some food and leather stockpiles.
*Set it all up so that the mad butcher cannot escape.
*As you need food, begin selecting animals to be dropped into your deep pit, next to the butcher.
*To retrieve the food and leather without releasing the butcher, either have him dump it down another hole or use an airlock system.
*See how long a single butcher, butchering splattered kittens, can keep your fortress fed! Cooking and farming are cheating... raw meat for everyone!

=== No death ===

Try to play the game for as long as possible without losing any dwarf (so no death, but also no failed mood, no kidnapping, no beating to death, etc.) A simple challenge, yet harder than what it seems to be.

Some players consider this to be the opposite of the intent of Dwarf Fortress. So naturally, it must be done.

== Megaprojects ==
Instead of deliberately inhibiting yourself, create a wonder of the dwarven world that would make the Mountainhomes proud. Be sure to upload it to the [[http://mkv25.net/dfma/ Dwarf Fortress Map Archive]] when it's finished.

=== Temple ===

Designing a temple to Armok. Aesthetics count - the god will be very angry if there are no stained-glass windows and domed ceilings carved with frescoes. To gain more favor, make regular sacrifices and keep the fountains and rivers red with [[blood]].

=== The great brewery ===

Disaster has struck the kingdom. A strangely glowing [[Fire|‼]]<nowiki></nowiki>peasant[[Fire|‼]] visited the greatest brewery of the empire, and as a result the whole thing exploded. No time for weeping — create its successor, a fort dedicated to alcohol production, and get the alcohol supplies flowing! Try to make the widest variety possible, and give or trade it to the dwarven [[caravan]] each year.

=== Castle ===

Build a castle, greater than anything built by human, elf or dwarf. This is highly time
consuming if you want it to be a good castle. There must be floor indoors, and no underground
constructions except for mining operations and cellars. For an even greater challenge, build
a gigantic tower in the middle, where the nobles stay.

=== Wealth ===

The kingdom's coffers need lining, so hop to! Found a fort and start accumulating wealth as fast as possible. Attain as high a fortress value as possible, and make most of your wealth into coins for the vault. Try to beat your record for one year, two years, or five years.

=== Biodome ===

All material, seeds, food, tools, and dwarves must be in the fortress within one year. Then, seal up the entrance. Any new immigrants... well, they might be in trouble. Survive for as long as possible!

No chasms/underground rivers/magma vents allowed.

=== Underwater fortress ===

Encase your entire fortress in [[water]]! Your fortress should be watersealed: surrounded by water against all [[wall]]s and the top of the fortress.
* Bonus: Build all water-touching walls/roof in clear glass!
* Bonus: Use [[magma]] instead of water!
* Bonus: Build it in the [[ocean]] or a non-freezing lake
* Bonus: Build large glass domes that encase the fortress. A dome 20 tiles wide should be 20 z-levels tall. Which may be hard to cover in water.
* Mod: Make your dwarves amphibious and include airlocks between the wet fortress and the dry.

=== Mountain audit/core sample ===

Start in a mountainous area and strip mine everything down, down, down to ground level. Stockpile everything, and calculate the mountain's composition. For kicks, try not excavating one tile on each z-level. You'll be left with one enormous core sample.

=== Santa Claus ===

Get ten thousand toys built and offered to caravans yearly. Optionally, build ten thousand toys, fetch them in adventure mode and deliver them to every single city of the world.

=== Graveyard Master ===

Ever dwarf deserves a decent resting place:
*Build a tomb for ever dwarf that dies, the more dwarves you manage to bury the better.
*Tombs must be rooms with exactly 5x5 of size and 1 of height, with only one entrance tile that must be closed by a door.
*Tombs must have all its surfaces engraved.
*Tomb must contain at least 4 statues.
*Once complete, the door must be locked and the tomb must not be ever entered again.

=== How high can you go? ===

Construction, construction, construction! Just how big a tower can you build? Out of glass maybe, clear glass? Steel? Pump water to the top? Make your tower a ''pinnacle'' of achievement and stun humans, elves and goblins alike - for they know nothing of construction and engineering like dwarves do!

=== Computing ===

Can your dwarves build the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism Antikythera mechanism]? Can you program the fortress to play tic-tac-toe? More details at [[computing]].

=== Doomsday Clock ===

Build a water or mechanical clock whose final state triggers the support which holds your fortress up or a megabeast out.
See how much wealth you can achieve before the clock runs out.
*Bonus: Create something that resets itself, as well as purging the map, so that you can reuse the same fortress over and over.
*Super-Bonus: Create something that involves pressure plates and a small kitten, when the pressure plates are hit in the right order, your map ends. Toss the kitten in and hope for the best.

=== World Domination ===
Pretend you are an evil mastermind. Now come up with some device or machine to render the world (or at least your portion of the map) totally unliveable, aside from, of course, your hidden lair.

Suggestions:
* Flood the map with water/magma (may require building walls around the edge of the map)
* Build an "Earthquake Machine" (the entire map is supported by a single support, which is connected to a lever)
* Build an extensive holding cell network for "scientific purposes". Fill it with megabeasts and elephants in secret. Have a lever that lets everything free to feed on the general population.


=== Casting ===
Who needs to construct giant statues?! We need ours made from natural walls, however, we want it above ground level as well. For casting your goal is to create some giant structure out of natural obsidian walls through the use of an extremely elaborate scaffold of lava and water pools and screw pumps. When you are finished, just deconstruct the scaffolding and smooth/engrave the statue as you go. Just imagine the bridge over that chasm, now complete with two giant dwarf statues on either side to strike fear into all who enter and to show them the power of your fortress.

=== The Monolith ===
As the inevitability of a fortress-wide mental breakdown looms over every single fortress why not have something that alludes to that precipice of [[insanity]]. Like the book and feature film, 2001: A Space Odyssey you must have a Monolith. This has to be made from [[obsidian]] and have a completely smooth surface (You cannot build it from blocks) You can have it be any size as long as it is outside, at least 2 tiles thick to ensure there are no pillar tiles, and has about the same ratio of width to height as it does in the movie (1:4:9) to make it as close to the real thing as possible. It would be preferable to make it large so that it seems to be dominating the landscape and your dwarves' psyche. The bigger the better.

*If the rock obsidian strata isn't deep enough in parts to make a monolith feasible consider casting a monolith with a large rectangular block in the exact same dimensional criteria as above.

=== Ceremonial Sacrifices ===

Build an amazingly complex or spectacular killing device. A shaft that extends across the entire Z-plane is a good start. A constantly shifting maze of atomsmasher drawbridges is another. For the minimalist, a very confined space where you will drop a dwarf wrestler along with the gobbos once in a while. Perhaps a waterslide that carries your prisoner all the way down into a chasm? Whatever your idea, build it and dedicate your fort to the construction, maintenance and improvement of your device.

Do not kill any of your invaders. Capture them using cage traps, and them set them off in your device. Keep a record of the number of victims you drop into it.

=== Space Ship ===

Create a giant space ship fit for space travel. It should be able to hold about 100 dwarves for at least 2 years.

BONUS: Use exploding [[booze]] as ignitable fuel.

BONUS: Make a removable [[ramp]] for boarding.

BONUS: Make the [[water]] for the 2 years be on the ship using removable pumps.

BONUS+: Make it totally self sufficient. (Make an internal system which pumps the [[water]] supply through a room every few years to muddy the floor. Plant [[seed|seeds]] in the [[mud]] that's now on the floor. Manage your consumption to maintain self sufficiency.)

BONUS+: Make it all out of [[steel]].

[[fun|FUN]]: Let it be held by a single [[support]], ignite the [[booze]], remove the support an let it "fly".

EVEN BETTER: Drop it down a chasm.

=== Aqueducts ===

For some reason, a noble was harmlessly pulling a lever when suddenly, magma flooded the river and exploded the booze! The king requires your band of seven to build a great aqueduct to bring water to the capital. Start with supports, and build up your aqueduct until it is 10 z-levels high!

BONUS: Start over a human town, build a wall around it, pump water through the aqueduct and into it!

=== Dwarf like an Egyptian ===

*Build a pyramid of epic proportion.

Build a legendary dwarven pyramid, with a corridor running to a central tomb for your favourite noble. Then construct lots of different [[traps]] in it to avoid grave robbery. Perhaps build it entirely out of glass? Or try to make the top twist in a bit of a swirl. Alternatively, make your entire fortress inside a pyramid, which stretches below the ground.

*Build rows of Obelisks

Build a double row of Obelisks before the Pyramid, and engrave the sides. Build ramps on the tops.

=== Skull collector ===

What proves the might of a civilization better than a hall full of skulls?
*Try to collect as many skulls as you can during your fortress life, and put then in a special skulls-only storage. The more skulls the better.

BONUS: Cover all the skulls in blood, and make the stockpile also a throne room.

SUPERBONUS: Also fill the throneroom with kittens.

=== Moria ===

Build a huge hall - at least 3 z-levels high. Leave few pillars symmetrically placed in the hall (don't build them, carve them out). Smooth and possibly engrave everything (not only the lowest z-level!). Then build thin bridge (not the bridge building, just a thin piece of rock to walk on) above magma - support it with bauxite supports connected to a lever (bauxite mechanisms needed in support). Destroy stone holding it at the both ends and replace it with floor hatches (so when you pull the lever it all goes down). After that build a bridge above the chasm.
When it's all done seal your dwarves deep inside in safe place and get invaded by goblins. At the same time dig out HFS. Lead the HFS across the both bridges and then collapse the second one when one of the champions clashes with it (it doesn't matter that the champion has killed the HFS with one hit).

=== Crematory Fortress ===

* Requires a [[magma pipe]] and [[bauxite]].

Build a temple structure above a [[magma pipe]] and [[engrave]] every available surface. The temple should be as opulent as possible. In the temple, build a retracting [[bridge]] over a hole in the floor, and designate a [[coffin]] [[stockpile]] on it. Whenever a dwarf dies, build a [[bauxite]] or other [[magma-proof]] [[coffin]] for him, place it on the [[bridge]], and retract it, committing his body to the [[magma|fiery blood of the mountain]].

::Note: At the time of writing, the editor isn't sure if coffins falling off the bottom of the map count as being 'lost.' If they do, channel out a magma pool and put the temple above that to avoid tantrums.

=== Swiss Precision ===

Build a working clock. The clock should accurately track DF days, months, and years.

Bonus Points:
*If the clock has a mechanical effect in the fortress proper to announce new days
*If the clock creates seasonally appropriate effects at the change of months and/or seasons.
*If the clock is used to aid in the operation of the fortress in addition to its role as a clock (automatically controls farmland irrigation at particular times, automatically opens the <s>blast doors</s> floodgates in time for merchants, etc...).
*If the clock governs the schedule of a working rail station (which is always on time). (Definitions of 'working' and 'rail station' are subject to player imagination).

But don't worry about the bonus points, a precision time device should be hard enough.

=== The cube ===

Play a fort as usual, but emphasize catching goblins in cages to support and fill this construction:
Construct a series of rooms in a symmetrical fashion, all connected to eachother with appropriate doors. Of course, enough rooms to make a maze-like structure, and if you feel like it, an exit that is hard to reach. Fill a bunch of the rooms with traps and pressureplates. Then fill one room with 4-6 goblins (preferably in cages, opened by an outside lever), release them and watch them randomly walk around the rooms dying to traps and whatnots.

*Bonus: Do multiple story maze (3d-maze)
*Bonus: Use pressureplates to open/close the exit randomly; otherwise, all the goblins will just follow the shortest route to the exit.

=== Land battleship ===

Turn your moutain into a huge battlestation, complete with crew quarters, decks, command centre, cantina, and a large collection of deadly weapons : Batteries of marksdwarves, ballista cannons, catapults, but also lava projector or remote explosive devices (ie cave-ins in a part of the map triggered by a lever). Make sure it ends up looking like a real battleship, with nothing but plains surrounding it (you could build it on an actual plain, or destroy a mountain, choice is yours). The battleship has to be autonomous, and dwarves shouldn't wander outside it.

*Bonus: The weaponry covers every tile of the map (ie, everything that enters the map can be shot)
*Bonus: Build several other ships, maybe dedicated to a specific product (food, ammo etc.)
*Bonus: Each crew member has a civil and military formation, and when the enemy arrives, stop every economic activity. All hands to quarters !
*Mega Bonus: After building your Ship(s), flood the surrounding countryside.

=== The Great Wall of Urist ===
Build a dwarven great wall of china that splits the map in half. Must be at least 10 tiles thick and reach the highest z-level.
* BONUS: Make it block the <s>mongols</s> goblins out of your half of the map.
* BONUS: Make it out of obsidian.
**BONUS+: Embark on a map without obsidian.
* BONUS: Find a way to make it touch the boundaries.
* BONUS: Build one gate
* BONUS: Arm it with ballistas.

=== Collosseum ===
Build a pit, around it on steps lots of Thrones, make the whole thing a meeting area, train Gladiators, capture goblins, leave them their weapons and let them fight against your gladiators. If they win, let them go.

== Themed fortress ==
The middle ground between restrictions and megaprojects. A theme gives your fort a sense of purpose, while usually being less time-consuming than a megaproject. Additionally, many themes can be combined together.

=== Fort Geneva ===
* Build only nonlethal (cage) traps
* Sentient creatures ([[Goblins]], etc.) are to be considered prisoners of war and treated humanely
* Suggested provisions for prisoners: a bed, a personal cell, a commons area, aboveground exercise yard, and the clothes the creature was wearing when captured
* Inspiration: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conventions Geneva Conventions]

=== Immigration and customs enforcement ===
* One miner/mason/architect
* One woodcutter/carpenter/architect
* Five military dwarves

No anvil, lots of food, in a canyon - spend the first year building fortifications to interdict traffic. Immigrants can build a town around you, but your original dwarves remain dedicated to their mission.

=== Luxury Hotel ===

Build a hotel with large luxurious rooms
* Starting 7 dwarfs will be the only dwarfs that can work.
* All immigrants will be treated like nobles and will have all labors turned off.
* Provide places to throw parties.
*BONUS: Make a large fountain or waterfall centerpiece.
*BONUS: Keep the hotel up to code with health and safety.
** If any of the ''customers'' die or get kidnapped you must abandon the hotel.
*MEGA BONUS: Make the entire hotel out of ice.

=== Segregation ===

Make two separate, working, independent fortresses. All the men go in one, all the women in the other. Married dwarves are excluded from both.

=== No singles ===

As soon as you get a married couple with an immigration wave, kill all single dwarves. Continue to do so with all immigration waves. Try to lose no children.

=== Live up to your name ===

Go with the random name chosen by the game for your fortress and group. Make a handicap/play style based on your group's name, and a personal goal based on your fortress name. For example, if your group is The Iron Fist, your military must consist only of wrestlers in iron armor. If your fortress is Prisonportals, you must capture and jail as many goblins/creatures as possible, and all doors in the prison must be made of glass.

=== Equaland ===

Equaland: where we are all Equal, besides the Almighty Leader. Each dwarf must have their own bedroom, dining room, etc. Make a large tower in the center of your perfect land and put "The Leader" in it. Then make some kind of mechanism to kill the dwarves inside their dwelling, complete with levers so that The Leader can choose who dies next. If dwarves have one too many friends kill them, if they eat too much food kill them, etc.

=== This. Is. SPARTAAAA! ===

At least 50% of your dwarves should be military 100% of the time, and train in spears, shield use and [[wrestling]]. All other dwarves are "helots" and shouldn't be given any skills; they can be pressed into the military during times of war, but given no equipment or at most a bare minimum of inferior weapons. Do not use crossbows or traps. Kill maimed dwarves.

Refuse trade with caravans, instead attacking them if possible. Whenever a messenger appears promptly enter aggressive negotiations and then throw them down the well screaming "THIS IS SPAARRTAAAAA..." at your monitor. Forbid the use of gold and silver, etc., the making of crafts, and the smoothing of walls or any other task that makes your fortress "beautiful".

Don't create chainmail or plate armour. Brew only wine.

Note that the above suggestions are modelled on the popular movie [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300_(film) 300], which was historically inaccurate. For a more "realistic dwarven Sparta", try reading the wiki article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparta#Society the real Sparta]

=== Commune ===

All your dwarves have all labors enabled. Dwarves sleep only in barracks, and no dwarf, including administrators, can be assigned any personal rooms. If the nobles find this upsetting, don't hesitate to make the corridors run red with the [[blood]] of the bourgeoisie. Obviously, don't mint any coins either. (Dwarves can take turns with wood cutting and mining, since they can't have both enabled simultaneously.)

=== Government in Exile ===
All dwarves are either nobles or in the military. The only useful dwarves you'll have will be your broker, manager, mayor, bookkeeper, and dungeon master. If you can survive until the sheriff arrives, transfer your entire military into the fortress guard. With a little luck, and a lot of exported roasts, you too can rule without proletarian interference.

=== Stay Awhile, and Listen ===
Create a world with a lot of large caves and make it possible to see them on the embark map. Build a Fortress near a large cave with a lot of big angry monsters in it (hopefully not too close) and loot lying around that becomes a frontier town for adventurers seeking to clear out the nearby 'dungeon'.

Train up dwarves to become parties of heroes who will descend into the dungeon for fame and fortune (or more likely severed limbs and death). Parties should only be about four or less. You can defend your fortress but luring monsters out into your siege engines is cheating. Give yourself points for large monsters killed and treasure claimed.

'''Variants'''
* Only solo adventurers are allowed to enter the dungeon. 
* Only use 'Thieves' to steal loot and create traps inside the dungeon.

=== Noblesse requiro ===

Build your fortress to please the sick, twisted, evil nobles needs. Build a execution chamber for your rowdy dwarves and build a torture chamber for your dungeon master, using your imagination! Use this to punish pathetic dwarves who dare rebel. Build palaces for your nobles and pamper them in every way. Pour most of your resources into a beautiful place for nobles to live whilst letting your dwarves sleep in tiny, pathetic rooms. The only exception is your mayor, who rises from the rank of the disgusting peons. He must live in squalor as well, preferably next to noble rooms to so the nobles can taunt him. score yourself according to how happy your nobles are, and your worth.

=== Humanlike Fortress ===
Pretend you're a filthy above-ground dwelling [[Human|humie]].
* Build a town wall.
** Only hovels and farms outside the town walls.
* House your dwarves in small town homes
** 5-10 dwarves per house (they had pretty big families back in the day)
** Upstairs bedrooms, small dining room, maybe a single level basement.
* House your workshops according to profession, not convenience.
* Build warehouses for stockpiles, and set guards outside them.
* Create a keep, with its own wall, barracks, treasury, etc.
** House your nobles within the keep.
* Create a market square.
* Create a main street from the town wall to the market square and/or keep. Well-paved blocks, statues and decorative shubbery are a must.
* No underground connections between different areas.
* For obtaining stone, metal, etc. a mine may be built, but must have separate entrance from other buildings. It can be outside the fortress, but must not connect to the interior, or vice versa.
* BONUS: Make a fountain at least 3 Z squares high in the center of the keep, with a +statue+(or better) on top of it.
* BONUS: The fortress is built around a human town.
* BONUS: Town has an awesome inn operating in same building as the brewery. REGULAR parties there, or it isn't good enough!
* BONUS: All booze is kept within a town inn.
* BONUS: An above ground farm complete with crops and cows,mules,horses,etc.
* BONUS+: Modify the raws and actually use humans to make the fort.
* MEGABONUS: Build your entire fortress as [[mega constructions|one huge arcology]].
* MEGABONUS: Build your City in a giant, artifical cave.

=== Sitting on trees ===
Build up your fortress on the top of giant trees (that you have to construct from wood at first). Don´t build anything underground. Show that snobbish elves that dwarves are better in EVERYTHING - even in sitting on trees.
* BONUS: Build your tree-city at a place with low (or even no) vegetation.
* BONUS: Light it on fire.
[[Category:Guides]]

40d:Challenges

2009-05-26T16:33:01Z

Gnarker: /* Humanlike Fortress */

:''Part of this article was originally taken from the DF forums thread [http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=466.0 "Goal-Based Dwarf Fortress"].''

The general goal of [[Fortress Mode]] is to survive, acquire wealth, defend your stronghold, and become the capital of your civilization. However, many players find that fighting off repeated [[siege|sieges]] and keeping their people alive just isn't enough anymore. They begin to experiment with different sets of objectives, themes, and restrictions in search of more difficulty and [[fun]]. These are some goals to attempt or use as inspiration.

== Difficult Builds ==
A sub-optimal embark profile can make the first few years more difficult than they might otherwise be. After a few years, however, immigration, trading, and development of new industries will likely bring your fort up to usual standards. For best results, combine with a restriction.

=== Diplomacy ===
* Six dwarves with only social [[skill]]s
* One skilled dwarf

Six courtiers of the king's court made some ill-advised remarks within earshot of the king, and as a result have been ordered to go found an outpost. They've hired you to make sure they survive. The six nobles only have social skills and refuse to do any work that is beneath them.

=== Hunting Party ===
* One marksman/ambusher
* Two camp servants (e.g. one cook/brewer/herbalist, one butcher/tanner/leatherworker/woodcutter)
* Four clients, all dabbling in marksman/ambusher but with primarily civilian skills.

No anvil, lots of hunting dogs ... and a haunted wood. (In a terrifying wood, you may find all the trees & plants are dead, severely reducing long-term prospects.)

=== Stranded Scout Squad ===

The only items you can bring weapons, ammo, and armor (no picks). The only skills you can hand out are military. The only animals you can bring are war dogs. See how it goes.

=== Bandit Camp ===

* At least 3 marksdwarves.
* Ideally, settle on a hillside, along a canyon or a valley.

Attack and loot every sentient creatures who enter your territory : Goblins & kobolds, but also merchants, diplomats, and even migrants. You can't tell your guys to directly attack allies, but you can build traps linked to a lever (eg. a big pit under the road, with a linked pillar under the pit "roof".) and pull them to kill groups.

=== Minimal ===
* No skills
* No items

This challenge is moderately to very difficult, depending on the wildlife and outdoor food sources. Note that the three logs from the wagon are just enough to build a trade depot.

==Restrictions==
Several of the game's features are rightly considered broken. Creating self-imposed limitations on what you can and cannot do may alleviate this.

=== ASPCA ===
* No [[animals]]

Don't bring any [[animals|pets]]. Furthermore, due to the possibility of animals being caught in them, don't build any [[traps]], either. If [[immigrants]] bring pets, get rid of them somehow. (Whether "them" refers to the pets or the owners is up to the discretion of local [[mayor]]s.)

=== City-States ===
* No [[skill]]s
* 7 or multiple of 7 of everything you bring

At the start your dwarves split everything equally and move to 7 different locales that are not interconnected. They have to mine their own rooms, plant their own crops, use their own craft piles. This will probably require a bit of cross-fertilization until you get [[door]]s and can lock everyone in, but after that it is every dwarf for him/herself!

=== Dieting Dwarves ===
'''Fishing village'''

Give your dwarves only the fishing skill and other fishing related skills (like bonecrafting.) Try to survive off a [[fish]] only diet. Flood the river and build houses above it so the dwarves can fish through their floors. There will be an extra challenge if the river freezes in the winter.

'''Carnivore'''

* No plants or seeds

Only eat strays, pets, and animals you trap and hunt. No farming or plant gathering. Keep all your pets in cages and care for them as little as possible. Eat your dwarves' pets first for an extra challenge. If this upsets your dwarves, ridicule or ignore them. (If you are particularly heartless, you could cage those dwarves as well because anyone that empathizes with animals doesn't deserve any rights either.)

'''Vegan'''

In essence, construct an [http://archive.dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/Main_Glade Elven Forest]: The [[Challenges#Hippy challenge|Hippy Challenge]].

'''IOGT/AA'''

* No alcohol

Quite possibly, this is the cruelest challenge that your dwarves can be given. Don't ever brew any alcohol. Build [[well]]s instead and watch your now teetotaller dwarves work slower and slower by the season.

=== Hippy challenge ===

Peace, man. Don't harm any plants except those you plant yourself. Don't cut down any trees, and don't trade for logs with the filthy humans or dwarves who do. You can trade for plants with the elves, they understand your environmental code. Don't burn any coal, do you know what that does to the environment, man? Never cause any creature's death, so no military, and no lethal traps. You can use cage traps, and either tame the creatures you catch, or release them back into the wild, far from your fort.

For an extra challenge try this in an area with a cave.

=== Hermit ===
* No [[skill]]s
* One [[pick]] and no other supplies

A well known and popular challenge. Kill off 6 starting dwarves and any [[immigrants]] as they arrive, and try to make a living for the last dwarf. Turn away merchants. If they don't leave, kill them.

'''Variants'''
* Keep your starting seven, but no immigrants.
* Selectively admit dwarves based on name, profession, etc.
* Embark with an anvil as well.

=== Nay, no ponderous stone doors or shining silver arcades, not while I live! ===

The new king has decided rocks and metals can no longer be used in construction. He'll be overthrown shortly, but in the meantime construct your fortress without them.

'''Variants'''
* Make everything that you can out of wood. That means nothing underground, though you may excavate to make areas above-ground. Bonus points for bringing no wood at the start and/or going to a treeless area.
* Construct an above-ground fortress made entirely out of glass. Bonus points for not using magma or using clear and crystal glass exclusively.
* Build with soap. Soap is in the form of bars, and so can be used as a building material just like any other type of bar. Show those elven traders just how much you despise their philosophies by building your trading outpost out of stuff derived from dead trees ''and'' dead animals. Too many cats? Build with cat tallow soap.
* Choose one type of rock, one type of metal, one type of gem, and one type of wood. Your whole fortress must be made from these items. You may further narrow it down to bones, skin, and other from one animal, one type of glass, etc. If any artifacts are made using a forbidden item, chuck into lava, a river, or a chasm (you may need to throw the dwarf who made it in as well, since he will throw a tantrum).

=== Luddite ===
* No mechanics or [[mechanism]]s
* No [[machine]]s

[[Traps]] and moving [[bridge]]s are forbidden, water moved for [[farming]] must be accomplished by hand.

=== Master Of One ===
* All starting dwarves can have one skill and one skill only
* No changes are allowed on any dwarf's labor screen
* All immigrants must stay with the profession(s) they arrive with
* All peasants must be activated into the military
Alternatively,
* All starting dwarves can have one skill and one skill only
* No changes are allowed on any dwarf's labor screen, except that hauling may be disabled. You may not enable hauling.
* All immigrants must stay with the profession(s) they arrive with, and only military that immigrates recruited may be military.

=== The Mad Butcher ===
(this requires a tiny amount of editing to the raws) 
*Edit Dwarf Fortress\Raw\object\Creature_Domestic.txt. Remove the tag [BUTCHERABLE_NONSTANDARD] from cats and dogs.
*Start with a normal build except:
**One dwarf should be a dedicated butcher/tanner.
**Buy minimal food.
**Bring as many puppies or kittens as possible.
*Drop all your puppies or kittens into cages or into animal pits as soon as possible.
*Dig a shaft 10 or more Z-levels deep, mark the top an animal pit.
*At the bottom of the shaft set up a butcher shop, a tanner shop, a bedroom, and some food and leather stockpiles.
*Set it all up so that the mad butcher cannot escape.
*As you need food, begin selecting animals to be dropped into your deep pit, next to the butcher.
*To retrieve the food and leather without releasing the butcher, either have him dump it down another hole or use an airlock system.
*See how long a single butcher, butchering splattered kittens, can keep your fortress fed! Cooking and farming are cheating... raw meat for everyone!

=== No death ===

Try to play the game for as long as possible without losing any dwarf (so no death, but also no failed mood, no kidnapping, no beating to death, etc.) A simple challenge, yet harder than what it seems to be.

Some players consider this to be the opposite of the intent of Dwarf Fortress. So naturally, it must be done.

== Megaprojects ==
Instead of deliberately inhibiting yourself, create a wonder of the dwarven world that would make the Mountainhomes proud. Be sure to upload it to the [[http://mkv25.net/dfma/ Dwarf Fortress Map Archive]] when it's finished.

=== Temple ===

Designing a temple to Armok. Aesthetics count - the god will be very angry if there are no stained-glass windows and domed ceilings carved with frescoes. To gain more favor, make regular sacrifices and keep the fountains and rivers red with [[blood]].

=== The great brewery ===

Disaster has struck the kingdom. A strangely glowing [[Fire|‼]]<nowiki></nowiki>peasant[[Fire|‼]] visited the greatest brewery of the empire, and as a result the whole thing exploded. No time for weeping — create its successor, a fort dedicated to alcohol production, and get the alcohol supplies flowing! Try to make the widest variety possible, and give or trade it to the dwarven [[caravan]] each year.

=== Castle ===

Build a castle, greater than anything built by human, elf or dwarf. This is highly time
consuming if you want it to be a good castle. There must be floor indoors, and no underground
constructions except for mining operations and cellars. For an even greater challenge, build
a gigantic tower in the middle, where the nobles stay.

=== Wealth ===

The kingdom's coffers need lining, so hop to! Found a fort and start accumulating wealth as fast as possible. Attain as high a fortress value as possible, and make most of your wealth into coins for the vault. Try to beat your record for one year, two years, or five years.

=== Biodome ===

All material, seeds, food, tools, and dwarves must be in the fortress within one year. Then, seal up the entrance. Any new immigrants... well, they might be in trouble. Survive for as long as possible!

No chasms/underground rivers/magma vents allowed.

=== Underwater fortress ===

Encase your entire fortress in [[water]]! Your fortress should be watersealed: surrounded by water against all [[wall]]s and the top of the fortress.
* Bonus: Build all water-touching walls/roof in clear glass!
* Bonus: Use [[magma]] instead of water!
* Bonus: Build it in the [[ocean]] or a non-freezing lake
* Bonus: Build large glass domes that encase the fortress. A dome 20 tiles wide should be 20 z-levels tall. Which may be hard to cover in water.
* Mod: Make your dwarves amphibious and include airlocks between the wet fortress and the dry.

=== Mountain audit/core sample ===

Start in a mountainous area and strip mine everything down, down, down to ground level. Stockpile everything, and calculate the mountain's composition. For kicks, try not excavating one tile on each z-level. You'll be left with one enormous core sample.

=== Santa Claus ===

Get ten thousand toys built and offered to caravans yearly. Optionally, build ten thousand toys, fetch them in adventure mode and deliver them to every single city of the world.

=== Graveyard Master ===

Ever dwarf deserves a decent resting place:
*Build a tomb for ever dwarf that dies, the more dwarves you manage to bury the better.
*Tombs must be rooms with exactly 5x5 of size and 1 of height, with only one entrance tile that must be closed by a door.
*Tombs must have all its surfaces engraved.
*Tomb must contain at least 4 statues.
*Once complete, the door must be locked and the tomb must not be ever entered again.

=== How high can you go? ===

Construction, construction, construction! Just how big a tower can you build? Out of glass maybe, clear glass? Steel? Pump water to the top? Make your tower a ''pinnacle'' of achievement and stun humans, elves and goblins alike - for they know nothing of construction and engineering like dwarves do!

=== Computing ===

Can your dwarves build the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism Antikythera mechanism]? Can you program the fortress to play tic-tac-toe? More details at [[computing]].

=== Doomsday Clock ===

Build a water or mechanical clock whose final state triggers the support which holds your fortress up or a megabeast out.
See how much wealth you can achieve before the clock runs out.
*Bonus: Create something that resets itself, as well as purging the map, so that you can reuse the same fortress over and over.
*Super-Bonus: Create something that involves pressure plates and a small kitten, when the pressure plates are hit in the right order, your map ends. Toss the kitten in and hope for the best.

=== World Domination ===
Pretend you are an evil mastermind. Now come up with some device or machine to render the world (or at least your portion of the map) totally unliveable, aside from, of course, your hidden lair.

Suggestions:
* Flood the map with water/magma (may require building walls around the edge of the map)
* Build an "Earthquake Machine" (the entire map is supported by a single support, which is connected to a lever)
* Build an extensive holding cell network for "scientific purposes". Fill it with megabeasts and elephants in secret. Have a lever that lets everything free to feed on the general population.


=== Casting ===
Who needs to construct giant statues?! We need ours made from natural walls, however, we want it above ground level as well. For casting your goal is to create some giant structure out of natural obsidian walls through the use of an extremely elaborate scaffold of lava and water pools and screw pumps. When you are finished, just deconstruct the scaffolding and smooth/engrave the statue as you go. Just imagine the bridge over that chasm, now complete with two giant dwarf statues on either side to strike fear into all who enter and to show them the power of your fortress.

=== The Monolith ===
As the inevitability of a fortress-wide mental breakdown looms over every single fortress why not have something that alludes to that precipice of [[insanity]]. Like the book and feature film, 2001: A Space Odyssey you must have a Monolith. This has to be made from [[obsidian]] and have a completely smooth surface (You cannot build it from blocks) You can have it be any size as long as it is outside, at least 2 tiles thick to ensure there are no pillar tiles, and has about the same ratio of width to height as it does in the movie (1:4:9) to make it as close to the real thing as possible. It would be preferable to make it large so that it seems to be dominating the landscape and your dwarves' psyche. The bigger the better.

*If the rock obsidian strata isn't deep enough in parts to make a monolith feasible consider casting a monolith with a large rectangular block in the exact same dimensional criteria as above.

=== Ceremonial Sacrifices ===

Build an amazingly complex or spectacular killing device. A shaft that extends across the entire Z-plane is a good start. A constantly shifting maze of atomsmasher drawbridges is another. For the minimalist, a very confined space where you will drop a dwarf wrestler along with the gobbos once in a while. Perhaps a waterslide that carries your prisoner all the way down into a chasm? Whatever your idea, build it and dedicate your fort to the construction, maintenance and improvement of your device.

Do not kill any of your invaders. Capture them using cage traps, and them set them off in your device. Keep a record of the number of victims you drop into it.

=== Space Ship ===

Create a giant space ship fit for space travel. It should be able to hold about 100 dwarves for at least 2 years.

BONUS: Use exploding [[booze]] as ignitable fuel.

BONUS: Make a removable [[ramp]] for boarding.

BONUS: Make the [[water]] for the 2 years be on the ship using removable pumps.

BONUS+: Make it totally self sufficient. (Make an internal system which pumps the [[water]] supply through a room every few years to muddy the floor. Plant [[seed|seeds]] in the [[mud]] that's now on the floor. Manage your consumption to maintain self sufficiency.)

BONUS+: Make it all out of [[steel]].

[[fun|FUN]]: Let it be held by a single [[support]], ignite the [[booze]], remove the support an let it "fly".

EVEN BETTER: Drop it down a chasm.

=== Aqueducts ===

For some reason, a noble was harmlessly pulling a lever when suddenly, magma flooded the river and exploded the booze! The king requires your band of seven to build a great aqueduct to bring water to the capital. Start with supports, and build up your aqueduct until it is 10 z-levels high!

BONUS: Start over a human town, build a wall around it, pump water through the aqueduct and into it!

=== Dwarf like an Egyptian ===

*Build a pyramid of epic proportion.

Build a legendary dwarven pyramid, with a corridor running to a central tomb for your favourite noble. Then construct lots of different [[traps]] in it to avoid grave robbery. Perhaps build it entirely out of glass? Or try to make the top twist in a bit of a swirl. Alternatively, make your entire fortress inside a pyramid, which stretches below the ground.

*Build rows of Obelisks

Build a double row of Obelisks before the Pyramid, and engrave the sides. Build ramps on the tops.

=== Skull collector ===

What proves the might of a civilization better than a hall full of skulls?
*Try to collect as many skulls as you can during your fortress life, and put then in a special skulls-only storage. The more skulls the better.

BONUS: Cover all the skulls in blood, and make the stockpile also a throne room.

SUPERBONUS: Also fill the throneroom with kittens.

=== Moria ===

Build a huge hall - at least 3 z-levels high. Leave few pillars symmetrically placed in the hall (don't build them, carve them out). Smooth and possibly engrave everything (not only the lowest z-level!). Then build thin bridge (not the bridge building, just a thin piece of rock to walk on) above magma - support it with bauxite supports connected to a lever (bauxite mechanisms needed in support). Destroy stone holding it at the both ends and replace it with floor hatches (so when you pull the lever it all goes down). After that build a bridge above the chasm.
When it's all done seal your dwarves deep inside in safe place and get invaded by goblins. At the same time dig out HFS. Lead the HFS across the both bridges and then collapse the second one when one of the champions clashes with it (it doesn't matter that the champion has killed the HFS with one hit).

=== Crematory Fortress ===

* Requires a [[magma pipe]] and [[bauxite]].

Build a temple structure above a [[magma pipe]] and [[engrave]] every available surface. The temple should be as opulent as possible. In the temple, build a retracting [[bridge]] over a hole in the floor, and designate a [[coffin]] [[stockpile]] on it. Whenever a dwarf dies, build a [[bauxite]] or other [[magma-proof]] [[coffin]] for him, place it on the [[bridge]], and retract it, committing his body to the [[magma|fiery blood of the mountain]].

::Note: At the time of writing, the editor isn't sure if coffins falling off the bottom of the map count as being 'lost.' If they do, channel out a magma pool and put the temple above that to avoid tantrums.

=== Swiss Precision ===

Build a working clock. The clock should accurately track DF days, months, and years.

Bonus Points:
*If the clock has a mechanical effect in the fortress proper to announce new days
*If the clock creates seasonally appropriate effects at the change of months and/or seasons.
*If the clock is used to aid in the operation of the fortress in addition to its role as a clock (automatically controls farmland irrigation at particular times, automatically opens the <s>blast doors</s> floodgates in time for merchants, etc...).
*If the clock governs the schedule of a working rail station (which is always on time). (Definitions of 'working' and 'rail station' are subject to player imagination).

But don't worry about the bonus points, a precision time device should be hard enough.

=== The cube ===

Play a fort as usual, but emphasize catching goblins in cages to support and fill this construction:
Construct a series of rooms in a symmetrical fashion, all connected to eachother with appropriate doors. Of course, enough rooms to make a maze-like structure, and if you feel like it, an exit that is hard to reach. Fill a bunch of the rooms with traps and pressureplates. Then fill one room with 4-6 goblins (preferably in cages, opened by an outside lever), release them and watch them randomly walk around the rooms dying to traps and whatnots.

*Bonus: Do multiple story maze (3d-maze)
*Bonus: Use pressureplates to open/close the exit randomly; otherwise, all the goblins will just follow the shortest route to the exit.

=== Land battleship ===

Turn your moutain into a huge battlestation, complete with crew quarters, decks, command centre, cantina, and a large collection of deadly weapons : Batteries of marksdwarves, ballista cannons, catapults, but also lava projector or remote explosive devices (ie cave-ins in a part of the map triggered by a lever). Make sure it ends up looking like a real battleship, with nothing but plains surrounding it (you could build it on an actual plain, or destroy a mountain, choice is yours). The battleship has to be autonomous, and dwarves shouldn't wander outside it.

*Bonus: The weaponry covers every tile of the map (ie, everything that enters the map can be shot)
*Bonus: Build several other ships, maybe dedicated to a specific product (food, ammo etc.)
*Bonus: Each crew member has a civil and military formation, and when the enemy arrives, stop every economic activity. All hands to quarters !
*Mega Bonus: After building your Ship(s), flood the surrounding countryside.

=== The Great Wall of Urist ===
Build a dwarven great wall of china that splits the map in half. Must be at least 10 tiles thick and reach the highest z-level.
* BONUS: Make it block the <s>mongols</s> goblins out of your half of the map.
* BONUS: Make it out of obsidian.
**BONUS+: Embark on a map without obsidian.
* BONUS: Find a way to make it touch the boundaries.
* BONUS: Build one gate
* BONUS: Arm it with ballistas.

== Themed fortress ==
The middle ground between restrictions and megaprojects. A theme gives your fort a sense of purpose, while usually being less time-consuming than a megaproject. Additionally, many themes can be combined together.

=== Fort Geneva ===
* Build only nonlethal (cage) traps
* Sentient creatures ([[Goblins]], etc.) are to be considered prisoners of war and treated humanely
* Suggested provisions for prisoners: a bed, a personal cell, a commons area, aboveground exercise yard, and the clothes the creature was wearing when captured
* Inspiration: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conventions Geneva Conventions]

=== Immigration and customs enforcement ===
* One miner/mason/architect
* One woodcutter/carpenter/architect
* Five military dwarves

No anvil, lots of food, in a canyon - spend the first year building fortifications to interdict traffic. Immigrants can build a town around you, but your original dwarves remain dedicated to their mission.

=== Luxury Hotel ===

Build a hotel with large luxurious rooms
* Starting 7 dwarfs will be the only dwarfs that can work.
* All immigrants will be treated like nobles and will have all labors turned off.
* Provide places to throw parties.
*BONUS: Make a large fountain or waterfall centerpiece.
*BONUS: Keep the hotel up to code with health and safety.
** If any of the ''customers'' die or get kidnapped you must abandon the hotel.
*MEGA BONUS: Make the entire hotel out of ice.

=== Segregation ===

Make two separate, working, independent fortresses. All the men go in one, all the women in the other. Married dwarves are excluded from both.

=== No singles ===

As soon as you get a married couple with an immigration wave, kill all single dwarves. Continue to do so with all immigration waves. Try to lose no children.

=== Live up to your name ===

Go with the random name chosen by the game for your fortress and group. Make a handicap/play style based on your group's name, and a personal goal based on your fortress name. For example, if your group is The Iron Fist, your military must consist only of wrestlers in iron armor. If your fortress is Prisonportals, you must capture and jail as many goblins/creatures as possible, and all doors in the prison must be made of glass.

=== Equaland ===

Equaland: where we are all Equal, besides the Almighty Leader. Each dwarf must have their own bedroom, dining room, etc. Make a large tower in the center of your perfect land and put "The Leader" in it. Then make some kind of mechanism to kill the dwarves inside their dwelling, complete with levers so that The Leader can choose who dies next. If dwarves have one too many friends kill them, if they eat too much food kill them, etc.

=== This. Is. SPARTAAAA! ===

At least 50% of your dwarves should be military 100% of the time, and train in spears, shield use and [[wrestling]]. All other dwarves are "helots" and shouldn't be given any skills; they can be pressed into the military during times of war, but given no equipment or at most a bare minimum of inferior weapons. Do not use crossbows or traps. Kill maimed dwarves.

Refuse trade with caravans, instead attacking them if possible. Whenever a messenger appears promptly enter aggressive negotiations and then throw them down the well screaming "THIS IS SPAARRTAAAAA..." at your monitor. Forbid the use of gold and silver, etc., the making of crafts, and the smoothing of walls or any other task that makes your fortress "beautiful".

Don't create chainmail or plate armour. Brew only wine.

Note that the above suggestions are modelled on the popular movie [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300_(film) 300], which was historically inaccurate. For a more "realistic dwarven Sparta", try reading the wiki article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparta#Society the real Sparta]

=== Commune ===

All your dwarves have all labors enabled. Dwarves sleep only in barracks, and no dwarf, including administrators, can be assigned any personal rooms. If the nobles find this upsetting, don't hesitate to make the corridors run red with the [[blood]] of the bourgeoisie. Obviously, don't mint any coins either. (Dwarves can take turns with wood cutting and mining, since they can't have both enabled simultaneously.)

=== Government in Exile ===
All dwarves are either nobles or in the military. The only useful dwarves you'll have will be your broker, manager, mayor, bookkeeper, and dungeon master. If you can survive until the sheriff arrives, transfer your entire military into the fortress guard. With a little luck, and a lot of exported roasts, you too can rule without proletarian interference.

=== Stay Awhile, and Listen ===
Create a world with a lot of large caves and make it possible to see them on the embark map. Build a Fortress near a large cave with a lot of big angry monsters in it (hopefully not too close) and loot lying around that becomes a frontier town for adventurers seeking to clear out the nearby 'dungeon'.

Train up dwarves to become parties of heroes who will descend into the dungeon for fame and fortune (or more likely severed limbs and death). Parties should only be about four or less. You can defend your fortress but luring monsters out into your siege engines is cheating. Give yourself points for large monsters killed and treasure claimed.

'''Variants'''
* Only solo adventurers are allowed to enter the dungeon. 
* Only use 'Thieves' to steal loot and create traps inside the dungeon.

=== Noblesse requiro ===

Build your fortress to please the sick, twisted, evil nobles needs. Build a execution chamber for your rowdy dwarves and build a torture chamber for your dungeon master, using your imagination! Use this to punish pathetic dwarves who dare rebel. Build palaces for your nobles and pamper them in every way. Pour most of your resources into a beautiful place for nobles to live whilst letting your dwarves sleep in tiny, pathetic rooms. The only exception is your mayor, who rises from the rank of the disgusting peons. He must live in squalor as well, preferably next to noble rooms to so the nobles can taunt him. score yourself according to how happy your nobles are, and your worth.

=== Humanlike Fortress ===
Pretend you're a filthy above-ground dwelling [[Human|humie]].
* Build a town wall.
** Only hovels and farms outside the town walls.
* House your dwarves in small town homes
** 5-10 dwarves per house (they had pretty big families back in the day)
** Upstairs bedrooms, small dining room, maybe a single level basement.
* House your workshops according to profession, not convenience.
* Build warehouses for stockpiles, and set guards outside them.
* Create a keep, with its own wall, barracks, treasury, etc.
** House your nobles within the keep.
* Create a market square.
* Create a main street from the town wall to the market square and/or keep. Well-paved blocks, statues and decorative shubbery are a must.
* No underground connections between different areas.
* For obtaining stone, metal, etc. a mine may be built, but must have separate entrance from other buildings. It can be outside the fortress, but must not connect to the interior, or vice versa.
* BONUS: Make a fountain at least 3 Z squares high in the center of the keep, with a +statue+(or better) on top of it.
* BONUS: The fortress is built around a human town.
* BONUS: Town has an awesome inn operating in same building as the brewery. REGULAR parties there, or it isn't good enough!
* BONUS: All booze is kept within a town inn.
* BONUS: An above ground farm complete with crops and cows,mules,horses,etc.
* BONUS+: Modify the raws and actually use humans to make the fort.
* MEGABONUS: Build your entire fortress as [[mega constructions|one huge arcology]].
* MEGABONUS: Build your City in a giant, artifical cave.

=== Sitting on trees ===
Build up your fortress on the top of giant trees (that you have to construct from wood at first). Don´t build anything underground. Show that snobbish elves that dwarves are better in EVERYTHING - even in sitting on trees.
* BONUS: Build your tree-city at a place with low (or even no) vegetation.
* BONUS: Light it on fire.
[[Category:Guides]]

40d:Challenges

2009-05-26T16:17:06Z

Gnarker: /* Dwarf like an Egyptian */

:''Part of this article was originally taken from the DF forums thread [http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=466.0 "Goal-Based Dwarf Fortress"].''

The general goal of [[Fortress Mode]] is to survive, acquire wealth, defend your stronghold, and become the capital of your civilization. However, many players find that fighting off repeated [[siege|sieges]] and keeping their people alive just isn't enough anymore. They begin to experiment with different sets of objectives, themes, and restrictions in search of more difficulty and [[fun]]. These are some goals to attempt or use as inspiration.

== Difficult Builds ==
A sub-optimal embark profile can make the first few years more difficult than they might otherwise be. After a few years, however, immigration, trading, and development of new industries will likely bring your fort up to usual standards. For best results, combine with a restriction.

=== Diplomacy ===
* Six dwarves with only social [[skill]]s
* One skilled dwarf

Six courtiers of the king's court made some ill-advised remarks within earshot of the king, and as a result have been ordered to go found an outpost. They've hired you to make sure they survive. The six nobles only have social skills and refuse to do any work that is beneath them.

=== Hunting Party ===
* One marksman/ambusher
* Two camp servants (e.g. one cook/brewer/herbalist, one butcher/tanner/leatherworker/woodcutter)
* Four clients, all dabbling in marksman/ambusher but with primarily civilian skills.

No anvil, lots of hunting dogs ... and a haunted wood. (In a terrifying wood, you may find all the trees & plants are dead, severely reducing long-term prospects.)

=== Stranded Scout Squad ===

The only items you can bring weapons, ammo, and armor (no picks). The only skills you can hand out are military. The only animals you can bring are war dogs. See how it goes.

=== Bandit Camp ===

* At least 3 marksdwarves.
* Ideally, settle on a hillside, along a canyon or a valley.

Attack and loot every sentient creatures who enter your territory : Goblins & kobolds, but also merchants, diplomats, and even migrants. You can't tell your guys to directly attack allies, but you can build traps linked to a lever (eg. a big pit under the road, with a linked pillar under the pit "roof".) and pull them to kill groups.

=== Minimal ===
* No skills
* No items

This challenge is moderately to very difficult, depending on the wildlife and outdoor food sources. Note that the three logs from the wagon are just enough to build a trade depot.

==Restrictions==
Several of the game's features are rightly considered broken. Creating self-imposed limitations on what you can and cannot do may alleviate this.

=== ASPCA ===
* No [[animals]]

Don't bring any [[animals|pets]]. Furthermore, due to the possibility of animals being caught in them, don't build any [[traps]], either. If [[immigrants]] bring pets, get rid of them somehow. (Whether "them" refers to the pets or the owners is up to the discretion of local [[mayor]]s.)

=== City-States ===
* No [[skill]]s
* 7 or multiple of 7 of everything you bring

At the start your dwarves split everything equally and move to 7 different locales that are not interconnected. They have to mine their own rooms, plant their own crops, use their own craft piles. This will probably require a bit of cross-fertilization until you get [[door]]s and can lock everyone in, but after that it is every dwarf for him/herself!

=== Dieting Dwarves ===
'''Fishing village'''

Give your dwarves only the fishing skill and other fishing related skills (like bonecrafting.) Try to survive off a [[fish]] only diet. Flood the river and build houses above it so the dwarves can fish through their floors. There will be an extra challenge if the river freezes in the winter.

'''Carnivore'''

* No plants or seeds

Only eat strays, pets, and animals you trap and hunt. No farming or plant gathering. Keep all your pets in cages and care for them as little as possible. Eat your dwarves' pets first for an extra challenge. If this upsets your dwarves, ridicule or ignore them. (If you are particularly heartless, you could cage those dwarves as well because anyone that empathizes with animals doesn't deserve any rights either.)

'''Vegan'''

In essence, construct an [http://archive.dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/Main_Glade Elven Forest]: The [[Challenges#Hippy challenge|Hippy Challenge]].

'''IOGT/AA'''

* No alcohol

Quite possibly, this is the cruelest challenge that your dwarves can be given. Don't ever brew any alcohol. Build [[well]]s instead and watch your now teetotaller dwarves work slower and slower by the season.

=== Hippy challenge ===

Peace, man. Don't harm any plants except those you plant yourself. Don't cut down any trees, and don't trade for logs with the filthy humans or dwarves who do. You can trade for plants with the elves, they understand your environmental code. Don't burn any coal, do you know what that does to the environment, man? Never cause any creature's death, so no military, and no lethal traps. You can use cage traps, and either tame the creatures you catch, or release them back into the wild, far from your fort.

For an extra challenge try this in an area with a cave.

=== Hermit ===
* No [[skill]]s
* One [[pick]] and no other supplies

A well known and popular challenge. Kill off 6 starting dwarves and any [[immigrants]] as they arrive, and try to make a living for the last dwarf. Turn away merchants. If they don't leave, kill them.

'''Variants'''
* Keep your starting seven, but no immigrants.
* Selectively admit dwarves based on name, profession, etc.
* Embark with an anvil as well.

=== Nay, no ponderous stone doors or shining silver arcades, not while I live! ===

The new king has decided rocks and metals can no longer be used in construction. He'll be overthrown shortly, but in the meantime construct your fortress without them.

'''Variants'''
* Make everything that you can out of wood. That means nothing underground, though you may excavate to make areas above-ground. Bonus points for bringing no wood at the start and/or going to a treeless area.
* Construct an above-ground fortress made entirely out of glass. Bonus points for not using magma or using clear and crystal glass exclusively.
* Build with soap. Soap is in the form of bars, and so can be used as a building material just like any other type of bar. Show those elven traders just how much you despise their philosophies by building your trading outpost out of stuff derived from dead trees ''and'' dead animals. Too many cats? Build with cat tallow soap.
* Choose one type of rock, one type of metal, one type of gem, and one type of wood. Your whole fortress must be made from these items. You may further narrow it down to bones, skin, and other from one animal, one type of glass, etc. If any artifacts are made using a forbidden item, chuck into lava, a river, or a chasm (you may need to throw the dwarf who made it in as well, since he will throw a tantrum).

=== Luddite ===
* No mechanics or [[mechanism]]s
* No [[machine]]s

[[Traps]] and moving [[bridge]]s are forbidden, water moved for [[farming]] must be accomplished by hand.

=== Master Of One ===
* All starting dwarves can have one skill and one skill only
* No changes are allowed on any dwarf's labor screen
* All immigrants must stay with the profession(s) they arrive with
* All peasants must be activated into the military
Alternatively,
* All starting dwarves can have one skill and one skill only
* No changes are allowed on any dwarf's labor screen, except that hauling may be disabled. You may not enable hauling.
* All immigrants must stay with the profession(s) they arrive with, and only military that immigrates recruited may be military.

=== The Mad Butcher ===
(this requires a tiny amount of editing to the raws) 
*Edit Dwarf Fortress\Raw\object\Creature_Domestic.txt. Remove the tag [BUTCHERABLE_NONSTANDARD] from cats and dogs.
*Start with a normal build except:
**One dwarf should be a dedicated butcher/tanner.
**Buy minimal food.
**Bring as many puppies or kittens as possible.
*Drop all your puppies or kittens into cages or into animal pits as soon as possible.
*Dig a shaft 10 or more Z-levels deep, mark the top an animal pit.
*At the bottom of the shaft set up a butcher shop, a tanner shop, a bedroom, and some food and leather stockpiles.
*Set it all up so that the mad butcher cannot escape.
*As you need food, begin selecting animals to be dropped into your deep pit, next to the butcher.
*To retrieve the food and leather without releasing the butcher, either have him dump it down another hole or use an airlock system.
*See how long a single butcher, butchering splattered kittens, can keep your fortress fed! Cooking and farming are cheating... raw meat for everyone!

=== No death ===

Try to play the game for as long as possible without losing any dwarf (so no death, but also no failed mood, no kidnapping, no beating to death, etc.) A simple challenge, yet harder than what it seems to be.

Some players consider this to be the opposite of the intent of Dwarf Fortress. So naturally, it must be done.

== Megaprojects ==
Instead of deliberately inhibiting yourself, create a wonder of the dwarven world that would make the Mountainhomes proud. Be sure to upload it to the [[http://mkv25.net/dfma/ Dwarf Fortress Map Archive]] when it's finished.

=== Temple ===

Designing a temple to Armok. Aesthetics count - the god will be very angry if there are no stained-glass windows and domed ceilings carved with frescoes. To gain more favor, make regular sacrifices and keep the fountains and rivers red with [[blood]].

=== The great brewery ===

Disaster has struck the kingdom. A strangely glowing [[Fire|‼]]<nowiki></nowiki>peasant[[Fire|‼]] visited the greatest brewery of the empire, and as a result the whole thing exploded. No time for weeping — create its successor, a fort dedicated to alcohol production, and get the alcohol supplies flowing! Try to make the widest variety possible, and give or trade it to the dwarven [[caravan]] each year.

=== Castle ===

Build a castle, greater than anything built by human, elf or dwarf. This is highly time
consuming if you want it to be a good castle. There must be floor indoors, and no underground
constructions except for mining operations and cellars. For an even greater challenge, build
a gigantic tower in the middle, where the nobles stay.

=== Wealth ===

The kingdom's coffers need lining, so hop to! Found a fort and start accumulating wealth as fast as possible. Attain as high a fortress value as possible, and make most of your wealth into coins for the vault. Try to beat your record for one year, two years, or five years.

=== Biodome ===

All material, seeds, food, tools, and dwarves must be in the fortress within one year. Then, seal up the entrance. Any new immigrants... well, they might be in trouble. Survive for as long as possible!

No chasms/underground rivers/magma vents allowed.

=== Underwater fortress ===

Encase your entire fortress in [[water]]! Your fortress should be watersealed: surrounded by water against all [[wall]]s and the top of the fortress.
* Bonus: Build all water-touching walls/roof in clear glass!
* Bonus: Use [[magma]] instead of water!
* Bonus: Build it in the [[ocean]] or a non-freezing lake
* Bonus: Build large glass domes that encase the fortress. A dome 20 tiles wide should be 20 z-levels tall. Which may be hard to cover in water.
* Mod: Make your dwarves amphibious and include airlocks between the wet fortress and the dry.

=== Mountain audit/core sample ===

Start in a mountainous area and strip mine everything down, down, down to ground level. Stockpile everything, and calculate the mountain's composition. For kicks, try not excavating one tile on each z-level. You'll be left with one enormous core sample.

=== Santa Claus ===

Get ten thousand toys built and offered to caravans yearly. Optionally, build ten thousand toys, fetch them in adventure mode and deliver them to every single city of the world.

=== Graveyard Master ===

Ever dwarf deserves a decent resting place:
*Build a tomb for ever dwarf that dies, the more dwarves you manage to bury the better.
*Tombs must be rooms with exactly 5x5 of size and 1 of height, with only one entrance tile that must be closed by a door.
*Tombs must have all its surfaces engraved.
*Tomb must contain at least 4 statues.
*Once complete, the door must be locked and the tomb must not be ever entered again.

=== How high can you go? ===

Construction, construction, construction! Just how big a tower can you build? Out of glass maybe, clear glass? Steel? Pump water to the top? Make your tower a ''pinnacle'' of achievement and stun humans, elves and goblins alike - for they know nothing of construction and engineering like dwarves do!

=== Computing ===

Can your dwarves build the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism Antikythera mechanism]? Can you program the fortress to play tic-tac-toe? More details at [[computing]].

=== Doomsday Clock ===

Build a water or mechanical clock whose final state triggers the support which holds your fortress up or a megabeast out.
See how much wealth you can achieve before the clock runs out.
*Bonus: Create something that resets itself, as well as purging the map, so that you can reuse the same fortress over and over.
*Super-Bonus: Create something that involves pressure plates and a small kitten, when the pressure plates are hit in the right order, your map ends. Toss the kitten in and hope for the best.

=== World Domination ===
Pretend you are an evil mastermind. Now come up with some device or machine to render the world (or at least your portion of the map) totally unliveable, aside from, of course, your hidden lair.

Suggestions:
* Flood the map with water/magma (may require building walls around the edge of the map)
* Build an "Earthquake Machine" (the entire map is supported by a single support, which is connected to a lever)
* Build an extensive holding cell network for "scientific purposes". Fill it with megabeasts and elephants in secret. Have a lever that lets everything free to feed on the general population.


=== Casting ===
Who needs to construct giant statues?! We need ours made from natural walls, however, we want it above ground level as well. For casting your goal is to create some giant structure out of natural obsidian walls through the use of an extremely elaborate scaffold of lava and water pools and screw pumps. When you are finished, just deconstruct the scaffolding and smooth/engrave the statue as you go. Just imagine the bridge over that chasm, now complete with two giant dwarf statues on either side to strike fear into all who enter and to show them the power of your fortress.

=== The Monolith ===
As the inevitability of a fortress-wide mental breakdown looms over every single fortress why not have something that alludes to that precipice of [[insanity]]. Like the book and feature film, 2001: A Space Odyssey you must have a Monolith. This has to be made from [[obsidian]] and have a completely smooth surface (You cannot build it from blocks) You can have it be any size as long as it is outside, at least 2 tiles thick to ensure there are no pillar tiles, and has about the same ratio of width to height as it does in the movie (1:4:9) to make it as close to the real thing as possible. It would be preferable to make it large so that it seems to be dominating the landscape and your dwarves' psyche. The bigger the better.

*If the rock obsidian strata isn't deep enough in parts to make a monolith feasible consider casting a monolith with a large rectangular block in the exact same dimensional criteria as above.

=== Ceremonial Sacrifices ===

Build an amazingly complex or spectacular killing device. A shaft that extends across the entire Z-plane is a good start. A constantly shifting maze of atomsmasher drawbridges is another. For the minimalist, a very confined space where you will drop a dwarf wrestler along with the gobbos once in a while. Perhaps a waterslide that carries your prisoner all the way down into a chasm? Whatever your idea, build it and dedicate your fort to the construction, maintenance and improvement of your device.

Do not kill any of your invaders. Capture them using cage traps, and them set them off in your device. Keep a record of the number of victims you drop into it.

=== Space Ship ===

Create a giant space ship fit for space travel. It should be able to hold about 100 dwarves for at least 2 years.

BONUS: Use exploding [[booze]] as ignitable fuel.

BONUS: Make a removable [[ramp]] for boarding.

BONUS: Make the [[water]] for the 2 years be on the ship using removable pumps.

BONUS+: Make it totally self sufficient. (Make an internal system which pumps the [[water]] supply through a room every few years to muddy the floor. Plant [[seed|seeds]] in the [[mud]] that's now on the floor. Manage your consumption to maintain self sufficiency.)

BONUS+: Make it all out of [[steel]].

[[fun|FUN]]: Let it be held by a single [[support]], ignite the [[booze]], remove the support an let it "fly".

EVEN BETTER: Drop it down a chasm.

=== Aqueducts ===

For some reason, a noble was harmlessly pulling a lever when suddenly, magma flooded the river and exploded the booze! The king requires your band of seven to build a great aqueduct to bring water to the capital. Start with supports, and build up your aqueduct until it is 10 z-levels high!

BONUS: Start over a human town, build a wall around it, pump water through the aqueduct and into it!

=== Dwarf like an Egyptian ===

*Build a pyramid of epic proportion.

Build a legendary dwarven pyramid, with a corridor running to a central tomb for your favourite noble. Then construct lots of different [[traps]] in it to avoid grave robbery. Perhaps build it entirely out of glass? Or try to make the top twist in a bit of a swirl. Alternatively, make your entire fortress inside a pyramid, which stretches below the ground.

*Build rows of Obelisks

Build a double row of Obelisks before the Pyramid, and engrave the sides. Build ramps on the tops.

=== Skull collector ===

What proves the might of a civilization better than a hall full of skulls?
*Try to collect as many skulls as you can during your fortress life, and put then in a special skulls-only storage. The more skulls the better.

BONUS: Cover all the skulls in blood, and make the stockpile also a throne room.

SUPERBONUS: Also fill the throneroom with kittens.

=== Moria ===

Build a huge hall - at least 3 z-levels high. Leave few pillars symmetrically placed in the hall (don't build them, carve them out). Smooth and possibly engrave everything (not only the lowest z-level!). Then build thin bridge (not the bridge building, just a thin piece of rock to walk on) above magma - support it with bauxite supports connected to a lever (bauxite mechanisms needed in support). Destroy stone holding it at the both ends and replace it with floor hatches (so when you pull the lever it all goes down). After that build a bridge above the chasm.
When it's all done seal your dwarves deep inside in safe place and get invaded by goblins. At the same time dig out HFS. Lead the HFS across the both bridges and then collapse the second one when one of the champions clashes with it (it doesn't matter that the champion has killed the HFS with one hit).

=== Crematory Fortress ===

* Requires a [[magma pipe]] and [[bauxite]].

Build a temple structure above a [[magma pipe]] and [[engrave]] every available surface. The temple should be as opulent as possible. In the temple, build a retracting [[bridge]] over a hole in the floor, and designate a [[coffin]] [[stockpile]] on it. Whenever a dwarf dies, build a [[bauxite]] or other [[magma-proof]] [[coffin]] for him, place it on the [[bridge]], and retract it, committing his body to the [[magma|fiery blood of the mountain]].

::Note: At the time of writing, the editor isn't sure if coffins falling off the bottom of the map count as being 'lost.' If they do, channel out a magma pool and put the temple above that to avoid tantrums.

=== Swiss Precision ===

Build a working clock. The clock should accurately track DF days, months, and years.

Bonus Points:
*If the clock has a mechanical effect in the fortress proper to announce new days
*If the clock creates seasonally appropriate effects at the change of months and/or seasons.
*If the clock is used to aid in the operation of the fortress in addition to its role as a clock (automatically controls farmland irrigation at particular times, automatically opens the <s>blast doors</s> floodgates in time for merchants, etc...).
*If the clock governs the schedule of a working rail station (which is always on time). (Definitions of 'working' and 'rail station' are subject to player imagination).

But don't worry about the bonus points, a precision time device should be hard enough.

=== The cube ===

Play a fort as usual, but emphasize catching goblins in cages to support and fill this construction:
Construct a series of rooms in a symmetrical fashion, all connected to eachother with appropriate doors. Of course, enough rooms to make a maze-like structure, and if you feel like it, an exit that is hard to reach. Fill a bunch of the rooms with traps and pressureplates. Then fill one room with 4-6 goblins (preferably in cages, opened by an outside lever), release them and watch them randomly walk around the rooms dying to traps and whatnots.

*Bonus: Do multiple story maze (3d-maze)
*Bonus: Use pressureplates to open/close the exit randomly; otherwise, all the goblins will just follow the shortest route to the exit.

=== Land battleship ===

Turn your moutain into a huge battlestation, complete with crew quarters, decks, command centre, cantina, and a large collection of deadly weapons : Batteries of marksdwarves, ballista cannons, catapults, but also lava projector or remote explosive devices (ie cave-ins in a part of the map triggered by a lever). Make sure it ends up looking like a real battleship, with nothing but plains surrounding it (you could build it on an actual plain, or destroy a mountain, choice is yours). The battleship has to be autonomous, and dwarves shouldn't wander outside it.

*Bonus: The weaponry covers every tile of the map (ie, everything that enters the map can be shot)
*Bonus: Build several other ships, maybe dedicated to a specific product (food, ammo etc.)
*Bonus: Each crew member has a civil and military formation, and when the enemy arrives, stop every economic activity. All hands to quarters !
*Mega Bonus: After building your Ship(s), flood the surrounding countryside.

=== The Great Wall of Urist ===
Build a dwarven great wall of china that splits the map in half. Must be at least 10 tiles thick and reach the highest z-level.
* BONUS: Make it block the <s>mongols</s> goblins out of your half of the map.
* BONUS: Make it out of obsidian.
**BONUS+: Embark on a map without obsidian.
* BONUS: Find a way to make it touch the boundaries.
* BONUS: Build one gate
* BONUS: Arm it with ballistas.

== Themed fortress ==
The middle ground between restrictions and megaprojects. A theme gives your fort a sense of purpose, while usually being less time-consuming than a megaproject. Additionally, many themes can be combined together.

=== Fort Geneva ===
* Build only nonlethal (cage) traps
* Sentient creatures ([[Goblins]], etc.) are to be considered prisoners of war and treated humanely
* Suggested provisions for prisoners: a bed, a personal cell, a commons area, aboveground exercise yard, and the clothes the creature was wearing when captured
* Inspiration: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conventions Geneva Conventions]

=== Immigration and customs enforcement ===
* One miner/mason/architect
* One woodcutter/carpenter/architect
* Five military dwarves

No anvil, lots of food, in a canyon - spend the first year building fortifications to interdict traffic. Immigrants can build a town around you, but your original dwarves remain dedicated to their mission.

=== Luxury Hotel ===

Build a hotel with large luxurious rooms
* Starting 7 dwarfs will be the only dwarfs that can work.
* All immigrants will be treated like nobles and will have all labors turned off.
* Provide places to throw parties.
*BONUS: Make a large fountain or waterfall centerpiece.
*BONUS: Keep the hotel up to code with health and safety.
** If any of the ''customers'' die or get kidnapped you must abandon the hotel.
*MEGA BONUS: Make the entire hotel out of ice.

=== Segregation ===

Make two separate, working, independent fortresses. All the men go in one, all the women in the other. Married dwarves are excluded from both.

=== No singles ===

As soon as you get a married couple with an immigration wave, kill all single dwarves. Continue to do so with all immigration waves. Try to lose no children.

=== Live up to your name ===

Go with the random name chosen by the game for your fortress and group. Make a handicap/play style based on your group's name, and a personal goal based on your fortress name. For example, if your group is The Iron Fist, your military must consist only of wrestlers in iron armor. If your fortress is Prisonportals, you must capture and jail as many goblins/creatures as possible, and all doors in the prison must be made of glass.

=== Equaland ===

Equaland: where we are all Equal, besides the Almighty Leader. Each dwarf must have their own bedroom, dining room, etc. Make a large tower in the center of your perfect land and put "The Leader" in it. Then make some kind of mechanism to kill the dwarves inside their dwelling, complete with levers so that The Leader can choose who dies next. If dwarves have one too many friends kill them, if they eat too much food kill them, etc.

=== This. Is. SPARTAAAA! ===

At least 50% of your dwarves should be military 100% of the time, and train in spears, shield use and [[wrestling]]. All other dwarves are "helots" and shouldn't be given any skills; they can be pressed into the military during times of war, but given no equipment or at most a bare minimum of inferior weapons. Do not use crossbows or traps. Kill maimed dwarves.

Refuse trade with caravans, instead attacking them if possible. Whenever a messenger appears promptly enter aggressive negotiations and then throw them down the well screaming "THIS IS SPAARRTAAAAA..." at your monitor. Forbid the use of gold and silver, etc., the making of crafts, and the smoothing of walls or any other task that makes your fortress "beautiful".

Don't create chainmail or plate armour. Brew only wine.

Note that the above suggestions are modelled on the popular movie [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300_(film) 300], which was historically inaccurate. For a more "realistic dwarven Sparta", try reading the wiki article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparta#Society the real Sparta]

=== Commune ===

All your dwarves have all labors enabled. Dwarves sleep only in barracks, and no dwarf, including administrators, can be assigned any personal rooms. If the nobles find this upsetting, don't hesitate to make the corridors run red with the [[blood]] of the bourgeoisie. Obviously, don't mint any coins either. (Dwarves can take turns with wood cutting and mining, since they can't have both enabled simultaneously.)

=== Government in Exile ===
All dwarves are either nobles or in the military. The only useful dwarves you'll have will be your broker, manager, mayor, bookkeeper, and dungeon master. If you can survive until the sheriff arrives, transfer your entire military into the fortress guard. With a little luck, and a lot of exported roasts, you too can rule without proletarian interference.

=== Stay Awhile, and Listen ===
Create a world with a lot of large caves and make it possible to see them on the embark map. Build a Fortress near a large cave with a lot of big angry monsters in it (hopefully not too close) and loot lying around that becomes a frontier town for adventurers seeking to clear out the nearby 'dungeon'.

Train up dwarves to become parties of heroes who will descend into the dungeon for fame and fortune (or more likely severed limbs and death). Parties should only be about four or less. You can defend your fortress but luring monsters out into your siege engines is cheating. Give yourself points for large monsters killed and treasure claimed.

'''Variants'''
* Only solo adventurers are allowed to enter the dungeon. 
* Only use 'Thieves' to steal loot and create traps inside the dungeon.

=== Noblesse requiro ===

Build your fortress to please the sick, twisted, evil nobles needs. Build a execution chamber for your rowdy dwarves and build a torture chamber for your dungeon master, using your imagination! Use this to punish pathetic dwarves who dare rebel. Build palaces for your nobles and pamper them in every way. Pour most of your resources into a beautiful place for nobles to live whilst letting your dwarves sleep in tiny, pathetic rooms. The only exception is your mayor, who rises from the rank of the disgusting peons. He must live in squalor as well, preferably next to noble rooms to so the nobles can taunt him. score yourself according to how happy your nobles are, and your worth.

=== Humanlike Fortress ===
Pretend you're a filthy above-ground dwelling [[Human|humie]].
* Build a town wall.
** Only hovels and farms outside the town walls.
* House your dwarves in small town homes
** 5-10 dwarves per house (they had pretty big families back in the day)
** Upstairs bedrooms, small dining room, maybe a single level basement.
* House your workshops according to profession, not convenience.
* Build warehouses for stockpiles, and set guards outside them.
* Create a keep, with its own wall, barracks, treasury, etc.
** House your nobles within the keep.
* Create a market square.
* Create a main street from the town wall to the market square and/or keep. Well-paved blocks, statues and decorative shubbery are a must.
* No underground connections between different areas.
* For obtaining stone, metal, etc. a mine may be built, but must have separate entrance from other buildings. It can be outside the fortress, but must not connect to the interior, or vice versa.
* BONUS: Make a fountain at least 3 Z squares high in the center of the keep, with a +statue+(or better) on top of it.
* BONUS: The fortress is built around a human town.
* BONUS: Town has an awesome inn operating in same building as the brewery. REGULAR parties there, or it isn't good enough!
* BONUS: All booze is kept within a town inn.
* BONUS: An above ground farm complete with crops and cows,mules,horses,etc.
* BONUS+: Modify the raws and actually use humans to make the fort.
* MEGABONUS: Build your entire fortress as [[mega constructions|one huge arcology]].

=== Sitting on trees ===
Build up your fortress on the top of giant trees (that you have to construct from wood at first). Don´t build anything underground. Show that snobbish elves that dwarves are better in EVERYTHING - even in sitting on trees.
* BONUS: Build your tree-city at a place with low (or even no) vegetation.
* BONUS: Light it on fire.
[[Category:Guides]]

40d:Challenges

2009-04-01T18:55:45Z

Gnarker: /* Humanlike Fortress */

:''Part of this article was originally taken from the DF forums thread [http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=466.0 "Goal-Based Dwarf Fortress"].''

The general goal of [[Fortress Mode]] is to survive, acquire wealth, defend your wealth, and become the capital of your civilization. However, many players find that fighting off repeated [[siege|sieges]] and keeping their people alive just isn't enough anymore. They begin to experiment with different sets of objectives, themes, and restrictions in search of more [[fun]]. These are some goals to attempt or use as inspiration.

== ASPCA ==
* No [[animals]]

Don't bring any [[animals|pets]]. Furthermore, due to the possibility of animals being caught in them, don't build any [[traps]], either. If [[immigrants]] bring pets, get rid of the pets somehow. (If you're a particularly rabid ASPCA member, you could get rid of the pet-bearing immigrants, too, but that's probably excessive.)

== City-States ==
* No [[skill]]s
* 7 or multiple of 7 of everything you bring

At the start your dwarves split everything equally and move to 7 different locales that are not interconnected. They have to mine their own rooms, plant their own crops, use their own craft piles. This will probably require a bit of cross-fertilization until you get [[door]]s and can lock everyone in, but after that it is every dwarf for him/herself!

== Dieting Dwarves ==
'''Fishing village'''

Give your dwarves only the fishing skill and other fishing related skills (like bonecrafting.) Try to survive off a [[fish]] only diet. Flood the river and build houses above it so the dwarves can fish through their floors. There will be an extra challenge if the river freezes in the winter.

'''Carnivore'''

* No plants or seeds

Only eat strays, pets, and animals you trap and hunt. No farming or plant gathering. Keep all your pets in cages and care for them as little as possible. Eat your dwarves' pets first for an extra challenge. If this upsets your dwarves, ridicule or ignore them. (If you are particularly heartless, you could cage those dwarves as well because anyone that empathizes with animals doesn't deserve any rights either.)

'''Vegan'''

In essence, construct an [http://archive.dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/Main_Glade Elven Forest]: The [[Challenges#Hippy challenge|Hippy Challenge]].

'''IOGT/AA'''

* No alcohol

Quite possibly, this is the cruelest challenge that your dwarves can be given. Don't ever brew any alcohol. Build [[well]]s instead and watch your now teetotaller dwarves work slower and slower by the season.

== Hippy challenge ==

Peace, man. Don't harm any plants except those you plant yourself. Don't cut down any trees, and don't trade for logs with the filthy humans or dwarves who do. You can trade for plants with the elves, they understand your environmental code. Don't burn any coal, do you know what that does to the environment, man? Never cause any creature's death, so no military, and no lethal traps. You can use cage traps, and either tame the creatures you catch, or release them back into the wild, far from your fort.

For an extra challenge try this in an area with a goblin fort or cave.

== Diplomacy ==
* Six dwarves with only social [[skill]]s
* One skilled dwarf

Six courtiers of the king's court made some ill-advised remarks within earshot of the king, and as a result have been ordered to go found an outpost. They've hired you to make sure they survive. The six nobles only have social skills and refuse to do any work that is beneath them.

== Fort Geneva ==
* Build only nonlethal (cage) traps
* Sentient creatures ([[Goblins]], etc.) are to be considered prisoners of war and treated humanely
* Suggested provisions for prisoners: a bed, a personal cell, a commons area, aboveground exercise yard, and the clothes the creature was wearing when captured
* Inspiration: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conventions Geneva Conventions]

== Hermit ==
* No [[skill]]s
* One [[pick]] and no other supplies

A well known and popular challenge. Kill off the 6 starting dwarves and any [[immigrants]] as they arrive, and try to make a living for the last dwarf.

== Humanlike Fortress ==
Pretend you're a filthy above-ground dwelling [[Human|humie]].
* Build a town wall.
**Only hovels and farms outside the town walls.
*House your dwarves in small town homes
**5-10 dwarves per house (they had pretty big families back in the day)
**upstairs bedrooms, small dining room, maybe a single level basement.
*House your workshops according to profession, not convenience.
*Build warehouses for stockpiles, and set guards outside them.
*Create a keep, with its own wall, barracks, treasury, etc.
**House your nobles within the keep.
*Create a market square.
*Create a main street from the town wall to the market square and/or keep. Well-paved blocks, statues and decorative shubbery are a must.
*No underground interconnections between different areas.
*For obtaining stone, metal, etc. a mine must be built, but must have separate entrance from other buildings, can be outside the fortress, but must not have a connection within it, or vice versa.
* BONUS: Make a fountain at least 3 Z squares high in the center of the keep, with a +statue+(or better) on top of it.
* BONUS: The fortress is built around a human town.
* BONUS: Town has an awesome inn operating in same building as the brewery. REGULAR parties there, or it isn't good enough!
* BONUS: All booze is kept within a town inn.
* BONUS: An above ground farm complete with crops and cows,mules,horses,etc.
* BONUS+: Modify the raws and actually use humans to make the fort.
* ÜBERBONUS : Make all of the fortress out of wood. And have a dragon attack it. Send us pictures!

== Sitting on trees ==
Build up your fortress on the top of giant trees (that you have to construct from wood at first). Don´t build anything underground. Show that snobbish elves that dwarves are better in EVERYTHING - even in sitting on trees.
* BONUS: Build your tree-city at a place with low (or even no) vegetation.
* BONUS: get attacked by a dragon.
* +BONUS: Dig down to a glowing pit with Spirits of Fire and get attacked by them.

== Hunting Party ==
* One marksman/ambusher
* Two camp servants (e.g. one cook/brewer/herbalist, one butcher/tanner/leatherworker/woodcutter)
* Four clients, all dabbling in marksman/ambusher but with primarily civilian skills.

No anvil, lots of hunting dogs ... and a haunted wood. (In a terrifying wood, you may find all the trees & plants are dead, severely reducing long-term prospects.)

== Immigration and customs enforcement ==
* One miner/mason/architect
* One woodcutter/carpenter/architect
* Five military dwarves

No anvil, lots of food, in a canyon - spend the first year building fortifications to interdict traffic. Immigrants can build a town around you, but your original dwarves remain dedicated to their mission.

== Nay, no ponderous stone doors or shining silver arcades, not while I live! ==

The new king has decided rocks and metals can no longer be used in construction. He'll be overthrown shortly, but in the meantime construct your fortress using only <material>.

Anything that can be made out of <material> will be made only from <material>. Doors, chairs, floodgates, bridges, stairs, workshops, towers, you name it.

'''Wooden'''

Make everything that you can out of wood. That means nothing underground, though you may excavate to make areas above-ground. Bonus points for bringing no wood at the start and/or going to a treeless area.

'''Glass'''

Construct an above-ground fortress made entirely out of glass. Bonus points for not using magma or using clear and crystal glass exclusively.

'''Soap'''

Cleanliness is next to godliness! Soap is in the form of bars, and so can be used as a building material just like any other type of bar. Show those elven traders just how much you despise their philosophies by building your trading outpost out of stuff derived from dead trees ''and'' dead animals. Too many cats? Build with cat tallow soap.

'''Variation:''' Choose one type of rock, one type of metal, one type of gem, and one type of wood. Your whole fortress must be made from these items. You may further narrow it down to bones, skin, and other from one animal, one type of glass, etc. If any artifacts are made using a forbidden item, chuck into lava, a river, or a chasm (you may need to throw the dwarf who made it in as well, since he will throw a tantrum).

== Luddite ==
* No mechanics or [[mechanism]]s
* No [[machine]]s

[[Traps]] and moving [[bridge]]s are forbidden, water moved for [[farming]] must be accomplished by hand.

== Master Of One ==
* All starting dwarves can have one skill and one skill only
* No changes are allowed on any dwarf's labor screen
* All immigrants must stay with the profession(s) they arrive with
* All peasants must be activated into the military
Alternatively,
* All starting dwarves can have one skill and one skill only
* No changes are allowed on any dwarf's labor screen, except that hauling may be disabled. You may not enable hauling.
* All immigrants must stay with the profession(s) they arrive with, and only military that immigrates recruited may be military.

== Outcast ==
* No [[skill]]s
* One [[pick]] and no other supplies

Same as the hermit challenge, only with multiple hermits. Turn off immigrants or kill them. Turn away merchants. If they don't leave, kill them.

== The Mad Butcher ==
(this requires a tiny amount of editing to the raws) 
#Edit Dwarf Fortress\Raw\object\Creature_Domestic.txt. Remove the tag [BUTCHERABLE_NONSTANDARD] from cats and dogs. 
#Start with a normal build except:
#*One dwarf should be a dedicated butcher/leather worker
#*buy minimal food
#*bring as many puppies or kittens as possible
#Drop all your puppies or kittens into cages or into animal pits as soon as possible. 
#Dig a shaft 10 or more Z-levels deep, mark the top an animal pit. 
#At the bottom of the shaft set up a butcher shop, a tanner shop, a bedroom, and some food and leather stockpiles. 
#Set it all up so that the mad butcher cannot escape. 
#As you need food, begin selecting animals to be dropped into your deep pit, next to the butcher. 
#See how long a single butcher, butchering splattered kittens, can keep your fortress fed! Cooking and farming are cheating... raw meat for everyone! 

== This. Is. SPARTAAAA! ==

At least 50% of your dwarves should be military 100% of the time, and train in spears, shield use and [[wrestling]]. All other dwarves are "helots" and shouldn't be given any skills – they can be pressed into the military during times of war, but given no equipment or at most a bare minimum of inferior weapons. Do not use crossbows or traps. Kill maimed dwarves.

You should refuse trade with caravans, instead attacking them if possible. Whenever a messenger appears promptly enter aggressive negotiations and then throw them down the well screaming "THIS IS SPAARRTAAAAA..." at your monitor. You should forbid the use of gold and silver, etc., the making of crafts, and the smoothing of walls or any other task that makes your fortress "beautiful".

You shouldn't create chainmail or plate armour. You should only brew wine.

Note that the above suggestions are modelled on the popular movie [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300_(film) 300], which was historically inaccurate. For a more "realistic dwarven Sparta", try reading the wiki article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparta#Society the real Sparta]

== Human "alliance" ==

Start a game centered on a human town. Build a wall around the town in stone, using a mine under the town. Do not take anything from the town, though the human guards will probably help with any sieges. For an extra challenge after finishing the wall, dig down to the [[aquifer]] and flood the town.

== Stealth ==

Create a hidden outpost close to a goblin lair. Impact the outside as minimally as possible - dig down right away, and deconstruct the wagon ASAP. No building outside or even going outside. Once your army is ready, launch a surprise attack.

== Temple ==

Designing a temple to Armok. Aesthetics count - the god will be very angry if there are no stained-glass windows and domed ceilings carved with frescoes. To gain more favor, make regular sacrifices and keep the fountains and rivers red with [[blood]].

== The great brewery ==

Disaster has struck the kingdom. A strangely glowing [[Fire|‼]]<nowiki></nowiki>peasant[[Fire|‼]] visited the greatest brewery of the empire, and as a result the whole thing exploded. No time for weeping — create its successor, a fort dedicated to alcohol production, and get the alcohol supplies flowing! Try to make the widest variety possible, and give or trade it to the dwarven [[caravan]] each year.

== Castle ==

Build a castle, greater than anything built by human, elf or dwarf. This is highly time
consuming if you want it to be a good castle. There must be floor indoors, and no underground
constructions except for mining operations and cellars. For an even greater challenge, build
a gigantic tower in the middle, where the nobles stay.

== Wealth ==

The kingdom's coffers need lining, so hop to! Found a fort and start accumulating wealth as fast as possible. Attain as high a fortress value as possible, and make most of your wealth into coins for the vault. Try to beat your record for one year, two years, or five years.

== Assassination ==

Your group of seven has been chosen to assault a goblin fortress – and you're not getting any backup. Turn off immigration, and try to slay the goblin leader and escape without casualties. For extra challenge, bring no picks.

== Biodome ==

All material, seeds, food, tools, and dwarves must be in the fortress within one year. Then, seal up the entrance. Any new immigrants... well, they might be in trouble. Survive for as long as possible!

No chasms/underground rivers/magma vents allowed.

== Retirement resort ==

Build a dwarven paradise, free from labor. All peasant immigrants should be removed from every job, including hauling, and given a great place to live. Make sure to include fun activities and plenty of parties.

== Commune ==

All your dwarves have all labors enabled. Dwarves sleep only in barracks, and no dwarf, including administrators, can be assigned any personal rooms. If the nobles find this upsetting, don't hesitate to make the corridors run red with the [[blood]] of the bourgeoisie. Obviously, don't mint any coins either. (Dwarves can take turns with wood cutting and mining, since they can't have both at once.)

== Underwater fortress ==

Encase your entire fortress in [[water]]! Your fortress should be watersealed: surrounded by water against all [[wall]]s and the top of the fortress.
* Bonus: Build all water-touching walls/roof in clear glass!
* Bonus: Use [[magma]] instead of water!
* Bonus: Build it in the [[ocean]] or a non-freezing lake
* Bonus: Build large glass domes that encase the fortress. A dome 20 tiles wide should be 20 z-levels tall. Which may be hard to cover in water.
* Mod: Make your dwarves amphibious and include airlocks between the wet fortress and the dry.

== Mountain audit/core sample ==

Start in a mountainous area and strip mine everything down, down, down to ground level. Stockpile everything, and calculate the mountain's composition. For kicks, try not excavating one tile on each z-level. You'll be left with one enormous core sample.

== Segregation ==

Make two separate, working, independent fortresses. All the men go in one, all the women in the other. Married dwarves are excluded from both.

== No singles ==

As soon as you get a married couple with an immigration wave, kill all single dwarves. Continue to do so with all immigration waves. Try to lose no children.

== Santa Claus ==

Get ten thousand toys built and offered to caravans yearly. Optionally, build ten thousand toys, fetch them in adventure mode and deliver them to every single city of the world.

== How high can you go? ==

Construction, construction, construction! Just how big a tower can you build? Out of glass maybe, clear glass? Steel? Pump water to the top? Make your tower a ''pinnacle'' of achievement and stun humans, elves and goblins alike - for they know nothing of construction and engineering like dwarves do!

== Computing ==

Can your dwarves build the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism Antikythera mechanism]? Can you program the fortress to play tic-tac-toe? More details at [[computing]].

== Doomsday Clock ==

Build a water or mechanical clock whose final state triggers the support which holds your fortress up or a megabeast out.
See how much wealth you can achieve before the clock runs out.
*Bonus: Create something that resets itself, as well as purging the map, so that you can reuse the same fortress over and over.
*Super-Bonus: Create something that involves pressure plates and a small kitten, when the pressure plates are hit in the right order, your map ends. Toss the kitten in and hope for the best.

== Live up to your name ==

Go with the random name chosen by the game for your fortress and group. Make a handicap/play style based on your group's name, and a personal goal based on your fortress name. For example, if your group is The Iron Fist, your military must consist only of wrestlers in iron armor. If your fortress is Prisonportals, you must capture and jail as many goblins/creatures as possible, and all doors in the prison must be made of glass.

== Equaland ==

Equaland: where we are all Equal, besides the Almighty Leader. Each dwarf must have their own bedroom, dining room, etc. Make a large tower in the center of your perfect land and put "The Leader" in it. Then make some kind of mechanism to kill the dwarves inside their dwelling, complete with levers so that The Leader can choose who dies next. If dwarves have one too many friends kill them, if they eat too much food kill them, etc.

== World Domination ==
Pretend you are an evil mastermind. Now come up with some device or machine to render the world (or at least your portion of the map) totally unliveable, aside from, of course, your hidden lair.

Suggestions:
* Flood the map with water/magma (may require building walls around the edge of the map)
* Build an "Earthquake Machine" (the entire map is supported by a single support, which is connected to a lever)
* Build an extensive holding cell network for "scientific purposes". Fill it with megabeasts and elephants in secret. Have a lever that lets everything free to feed on the general population.


== Government in Exile ==
All dwarves are either nobles or in the military. The only useful dwarves you'll have will be your broker, manager, mayor, bookkeeper, and dungeon master. If you can survive until the sheriff arrives, transfer your entire military into the fortress guard. With a little luck, and a lot of exported roasts, you too can rule without proletarian interference.

== Stay Awhile, and Listen ==
Create a world with a lot of large caves and make it possible to see them on the embark map. Build a Fortress near a large cave with a lot of big angry monsters in it (hopefully not too close) and loot lying around that becomes a frontier town for adventurers seeking to clear out the nearby 'dungeon'. Train up dwarves to become parties of heroes who will descend into the dungeon for fame and fortune (or more likely severed limbs and death). Parties should only be about four or less. You can defend your fortress but luring monsters out into your siege engines is cheating. Give yourself points for large monsters killed and treasure claimed. 
BONUS: Only solo adventurers are allowed to enter the dungeon. 
BONUS: Only use 'Thieves' to steal loot and create traps inside the dungeon.

== Casting ==
Who needs to construct giant statues?! We need ours made from natural walls, however, we want it above ground level as well. For casting your goal is to create some giant structure out of natural obsidian walls through the use of an extremely elaborate scaffold of lava and water pools and screw pumps. When you are finished, just deconstruct the scaffolding and smooth/engrave the statue as you go. Just imagine the bridge over that chasm, now complete with two giant dwarf statues on either side to strike fear into all who enter and to show them the power of your fortress.

== The Monolith ==
As the inevitability of a fortress-wide mental breakdown looms over every single fortress why not have something that alludes to that precipice of [[insanity]]. Like the book and feature film, 2001: A Space Odyssey you must have a Monolith. This has to be made from [[obsidian]] and have a completely smooth surface (You cannot build it from blocks) You can have it be any size as long as it is outside, at least 2 tiles thick to ensure there are no pillar tiles, and has about the same ratio of width to height as it does in the movie (1:4:9) to make it as close to the real thing as possible. It would be preferable to make it large so that it seems to be dominating the landscape and your dwarves' psyche. The bigger the better.

*If the rock obsidian strata isn't deep enough in parts to make a monolith feasible consider casting a monolith with a large rectangular block in the exact same dimensional criteria as above.

== Ceremonial Sacrifices ==

Build an amazingly complex or spectacular killing device. A shaft that extends across the entire Z-plane is a good start. A constantly shifting maze of atomsmasher drawbridges is another. For the minimalist, a very confined space where you will drop a dwarf wrestler along with the gobbos once in a while. Perhaps a waterslide that carries your prisoner all the way down into a chasm? Whatever your idea, build it and dedicate your fort to the construction, maintenance and improvement of your device.

Do not kill any of your invaders. Capture them using cage traps, and them set them off in your device. Keep a record of the number of victims you drop into it.

== Noblesse requiro ==

Build your fortress to please the sick, twisted, evil nobles needs. Build a execution chamber for your rowdy dwarves and build a torture chamber for your dungeon master, using your imagination! Use this to punish pathetic dwarves who dare rebel. Build palaces for your nobles and pamper them in every way. Pour most of your resources into a beautiful place for nobles to live whilst letting your dwarves sleep in tiny, pathetic rooms. The only exception is your mayor, who rises from the rank of the disgusting peons. He must live in squalor as well, preferably next to noble rooms to so the nobles can taunt him. score yourself according to how happy your nobles are, and your worth.

== Stranded Scout Squad ==

The only items you can bring weapons, ammo, and armor (no picks). The only skills you can hand out are military. The only animals you can bring are war dogs. See how it goes.

== Bandit Camp ==

* At least 3 marksdwarves.
* Ideally, settle on a hillside, along a canyon or a valley.

Attack and loot every intelligent creatures who enter your territory : Goblins & kobolds, but also merchants, diplomats, and even migrants. You can't tell your guys to directly attack allies, but you can build traps linked to a lever (eg. a big pit under the road, with a linked pillar under the pit "roof".) and pull them to kill groups.

== Space Ship ==

Create a giant space ship fit for space travel. It should be able to hold about 100 dwarves for at least 2 years.

BONUS: Use exploding [[booze]] as ignitable fuel.

BONUS: Make a removable [[ramp]] for boarding.

BONUS: Make the [[water]] for the 2 years be on the ship using removable pumps.

BONUS+: Make it totally self sufficient. (Make an internal system which pumps the [[water]] supply through a room every few years to muddy the floor. Plant [[seed|seeds]] in the [[mud]] that's now on the floor. Manage your consumption to maintain self sufficiency.)

BONUS+: Make it all out of [[steel]].

[[fun|FUN]]: Let it be held by a single [[support]], ignite the [[booze]], remove the support an let it "fly".

== Aqueducts ==

For some reason, a noble was harmlessly pulling a lever when suddenly, magma flooded the river and exploded the booze! The king requires your band of seven to build a great aqueduct to bring water to the capital. Start with supports, and build up your aqueduct until it is 10 z-levels high!

BONUS: Start over a human town, build a wall around it, pump water through the aqueduct and into it!

== Dwarf like an Egyptian ==

*Build a pyramid of epic proportion.

Build a legendary dwarven pyramid, with a corridor running to a central tomb for your favourite noble. Perhaps build it entirely out of glass? Or try to make the top twist in a bit of a swirl. Alternatively, make your entire fortress inside a pyramid, which stretches below the ground.

== Real Time ==

:''Half this game is spent paused!'' - Dogfather

Don't use pause. Ever.

(Every single tool in the game pauses the game, so, instead, you'll have to unpause while tools are not in constant use.)

*BONUS: Don't save. Ever. If you need to sleep, arrange your jobs, close the gates, and let the dwarves take care of themselves.
** You've struck Alunite!

== Graveyard Master ==
Ever dwarf deserves a decent resting place:
*Build a tomb for ever dwarf that dies, the more dwarves you manage to bury the better.
*Tombs must be rooms with exactly 5x5 of size and 1 of height, with only one entrance tile that must be closed by a door.
*Tombs must have all its surfaces engraved.
*Tomb must contain at least 4 statues.
*Once complete, the door must be locked and the tomb must not be ever entered again.

== Skull collector ==
What proves the might of a civilization better than a hall full of skulls?
*Try to collect as many skulls as you can during your fortress life, and put then in a special skulls-only storage. The more skulls the better.

== Moria ==
Build a huge hall - at least 3 z-levels high. Leave few pillars symmetrically placed in the hall (don't build them, carve them out). Smooth and possibly engrave everything (not only the lowest z-level!). Then build thin bridge (not the bridge building, just a thin piece of rock to walk on) above magma - support it with bauxite supports connected to a lever (bauxite mechanisms needed in support). Destroy stone holding it at the both ends and replace it with floor hatches (so when you pull the lever it all goes down). After that build a bridge above the chasm.
When it's all done seal your dwarves deep inside in safe place and get invaded by goblins. At the same time dig out HFS. Lead the HFS across the both bridges and then collapse the second one when one of the champions clashes with it (it doesn't matter that the champion has killed the HFS with one hit).

== Crematory Fortress ==
* Requires a [[magma pipe]] and [[bauxite]].

Build a temple structure above a [[magma pipe]] and [[engrave]] every available surface. The temple should be as opulent as possible. In the temple, build a retracting [[bridge]] over a hole in the floor, and designate a [[coffin]] [[stockpile]] on it. Whenever a dwarf dies, build a [[bauxite]] or other [[magma-proof]] [[coffin]] for him, place it on the [[bridge]], and retract it, committing his body to the [[magma|fiery blood of the mountain]].

::Note: At the time of writing, the editor isn't sure if coffins falling off the bottom of the map count as being 'lost.' If they do, channel out a magma pool and put the temple above that to avoid tantrums.

== Swiss Precision ==
Build a working clock. The clock should accurately track DF days, months, and years.

Bonus Points:
:If the clock has a mechanical effect in the fortress proper to announce new days
:If the clock creates seasonally appropriate effects at the change of months and/or seasons.
:If the clock is used to aid in the operation of the fortress in addition to its role as a clock (automatically controls farmland irrigation at particular times, automatically opens the <s>blast doors</s> floodgates in time for merchants, etc...).
:If the clock governs the schedule of a working rail station (which is always on time). (Definitions of 'working' and 'rail station' are subject to player imagination).

But don't worry about the bonus points, a precision time device should be hard enough.

== Luxury Hotel ==
Build a hotel with large luxurious rooms
* Starting 7 dwarfs will be the only dwarfs that can work.
* All immigrants will be treated like nobles and will have all labors turned off.
*BONUS: Make a large fountain or waterfall centerpiece.
*BONUS: Keep the hotel up to code with health and safety.
** If any of the ''customers'' die or get kidnapped you must abandon the hotel.
*MEGA BONUS: Make the entire hotel out of ice.

[[Category:Guides]]