Advanced world generation

2025-09-10T18:11:35Z

Zymlex: Reordering CUSTOM_NAME param to match order of advanced gen menu and world_gen.txt

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:''This article contains information on advanced world generation. For information on basic world generation, see [[World generation]].'' ''See [[World token]] to more easily find information by the names used in the world_gen.txt file, [[World rejection]] for information on solving problems related to worlds always being rejected, and [[Worldgen examples]] for example worlds.''

[[File:adv_worldgen_v50.png|thumb|400px|right|The advanced world generation screen. ''(Click to enlarge)'']]'''Advanced world generation''', also labeled as '''detailed mode''', allows substantially more detail-oriented options of customization than standard, basic world generation. This gives the player much more control over how their world is generated. To better understand this article, it is advised that one should read about [[World generation|'''basic world generation''']] first.

The advanced world generation screen is reached by clicking "Create new world" at the main menu, then clicking "Detailed mode". Once at that screen, clicking "Basic options" will return the user to the standard world generation screen.

== Parameter sets ==
There are multiple default sets of all the advanced world generation parameters hard coded in ''Dwarf Fortress''. These will be overridden by the <tt>prefs/world_gen.txt</tt> file in the main ''Dwarf Fortress'' directory, if it exists. It does not exist by default, you must create it, either by saving the default sets, or saving a copy from the [[world_gen.txt]] wiki page or else where. This file can then be edited with a text editor, and you can copy and paste other players' sets of parameters into it. For sources of such parameter sets see [[Advanced_world_generation#Parameter_set_examples|Parameter set examples]] below.

To get back the default sets, move the existing <tt>prefs/world_gen.txt</tt> to somewhere else (like Documents), or delete it if you do not want to keep the changes, then load the sets in the game, it will then use the hard coded defaults.

== User interface ==
First, there is a line of text inputs and buttons along the top of the screen, from left to right:
* The drop down menu of currently defined parameter sets, click the down arrow to select a set that you want to work with. The currently selected set can be renamed by clicking the current name or the [[File:Quill.png]] button. The first set in the file is selected by default, usually "LARGE ISLAND". See [[#Parameter set title|Parameter set title]].
* The dimensions of the world for the selected set, see [[#World dimensions|World dimensions]].
* A text entry box to set all of the seed options to the same seed, will show "Random seed", "Various seeds", or, if all four seeds are set to use the same value, that value. See [[Advanced_world_generation#Seed_values|Seed values]] and [[Advanced_world_generation#Seed_values|Seed notes]].
* The Copy Button to make a copy of the currently selected set and appends it to the bottom of the list.
* The red Delete button to delete the currently selected set, you will be prompted to confirm the deletion.
* The New parameter set to create a new parameter set and appends it to the bottom of the list. This seems to just copy the default "LARGE REGION" set.
* The Save button to save all of the current sets to the <tt>prefs/world_gen.txt</tt> file.
* The Load button to load from the same file, there is no confirmation, '''any unsaved changes will be lost'''. If that file does not exist, this resets all of the sets to the defaults.

Most of the middle is the parameters themselves, with a scroll bar to the right. Each row of the list can include:
* The name of the option
* The range of accepted values; not every option has this, and does not always match the displayed value, for example "0 to 1" might show as "No" and "Yes".
:* Sometimes the range might not initially show on rows that it should, reloading the sets with the Load button sometimes fixes that.{{bug|13176}}
* A plus button to increase the value or cycle through options, when applicable (this button will be missing if the range is missing.)
* The current value; can be clicked to edit, to actually set a value you must press {{k|enter}}, without doing that, clicking another entry box or right clicking will instead reset to the currently set value.
* An edit button to show that the previous box is editable, same as clicking on the text box.
* A minus button to decrease the value or cycle through options, when applicable (this button will be missing if the range is missing).
* A red button to disable this parameter, when applicable, usually setting the value to 0, or -1.

{{notice bar|bgcolor=#faa|bordercolor=#f00|All of the buttons below leave this screen and do not prompt to save the sets, so unsaved changes may be lost.}}
At the bottom right are 3 or 4 more buttons:
* The Create world button to do just that using the currently selected set, '''unsaved changes are lost'''.
* The Basic options button to go back to the normal world generation screen, unsaved changes are not lost if you come directly back to Detailed mode.
* The [[Mods]] button to go to the mod selection screen, unsaved changes are not lost if you come directly back to Detailed mode. Only shown if mods are available.
* Back to main menu button to do just that, '''unsaved changes are lost'''.

=== World painter ===
:''Main article: [[World painter]]
The '''world painter''' tool is not in the current version of ''Dwarf Fortress''; it allowed you to paint features onto a map. '''However''', those maps can still be used when generating a world by pasting world painter parameter set maps created in old versions into the <tt>prefs/world_gen.txt</tt> file. [[Utilities#Perfect_World_DF|Perfect World DF]] is a utility that uses the same parameter functionality as the world painter to paint a map, and it also can work with the current version of ''Dwarf Fortress''.

== Generating a world ==
You can either use an already-defined parameter set, or you can edit them, though it is highly suggested to edit a copy of one of the defaults. Once you are happy with the parameters you should save the values you just edited before you click the Create world button. Information about each parameter is documented below.

The phases of the world generation process are (this order is not completely correct):
* Preparing elevation...
* Setting temperature...
* Running rivers...
* Forming lakes and minerals...
* Growing vegetation...
* Verifying terrain...
* Importing wildlife...
* Recounting legends...
* Placing civilizations...
* Making cave civilizations...
* Making cave pops...
* Placing other beasts...
* Placing megabeasts...
* Placing good/evil...
* Placing caves...
* Prehistory generation
* Finalizing civ mats...
* Finalizing art...
* Finalizing uniforms...
* Finalizing sites...

== Seed notes ==
The world generation process uses a PRNG (Pseudo Random Number Generator) algorithm. A PRNG will produce a sequence of numbers that "looks" random, even though the actual sequence of numbers will always be the same if the PRNG is started with the same seed value. Basically this means that if you run world generation with a certain seed value on your computer, and someone else runs world generation with the same seed value on their computer, the same sequence of random numbers will be generated on both computers. The practical impact of this is that someone else can generate exactly the same world that you generated by entering the same seed value that you used.

In the current version, the seed values for the world itself and the names seem to produce the same result, but you will get changes in events which will result in a very different world history.{{bug|6934}} Keep this in mind if you want to regenerate a particular world.

The way that a world is generated can also be affected by certain world tokens. Changing them causes that code to use more or fewer PRNG values, causing later uses to get different parts of the sequence. So, you cannot for example, change the minimum and maximum rainfall and get 'the same world but drier or wetter', instead, a different world is generated. That said, it would also seem that certain small changes to these world tokens can occasionally generate a very similar world, however, other tokens are more sensitive. For more information see the forum thread [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=112132.msg3404199#msg3404199 here].

The following are tokens which use the PRNG values in ways that changing them will likely cause broader changes:

* [DIM:X:X]
* [ELEVATION:X:X:X:X]
* [RAINFALL:X:X:X:X]
* [TEMPERATURE:X:X:X:X]
* [DRAINAGE:X:X:X:X]
* [VOLCANISM:X:X:X:X]
* [SAVAGERY:X:X:X:X]
* [ELEVATION_FREQUENCY:X:X:X:X:X:X]
* [RAIN_FREQUENCY:X:X:X:X:X:X]
* [DRAINAGE_FREQUENCY:X:X:X:X:X:X]
* [TEMPERATURE_FREQUENCY:X:X:X:X:X:X]
* [SAVAGERY_FREQUENCY:X:X:X:X:X:X]
* [VOLCANISM_FREQUENCY:X:X:X:X:X:X]
* [PARTIAL_OCEAN_EDGE_MIN:X]
* [COMPLETE_OCEAN_EDGE_MIN:X]
* [HAVE_BOTTOM_LAYER_1:X]
* [MINERAL_SCARCITY:X] {{cite talk/this|Mineral scarcity}}

Many other world parameters, such as end year and embark points, can, however, be changed without it having any effect on the geography of the world generated from the seed values.

Normally, you don't enter these seed values, the game comes up with values based on some other sort of pseudo-random information from things like the current date and time.

When generating a world, ''Dwarf Fortress'' records the seeds it used in [[gamelog.txt]].

== Advanced parameters ==
There are essentially 4 types of controls for the generation of the surface map;

'''Terrain parameters''': as described below, these 5 variables define the basic background world, how hot or cold it is, how much rainfall, how high the mountains are. The world automatically goes through the temperature range along the Y axis, although sometimes it will be hotter in the north, other times in the south, or cold at both. Minimum, maximum and X,Y variance can drastically alter the world.

'''Weighted meshes''': these are a way to fine-tune the amount of the 5 basic variables on the map. They can be used to set the specific distribution of different elevations or rainfall areas for example.

'''Feature parameters''': such as rivers, mountain peaks, volcanoes, and oceans, which can cause rejections if the terrain parameters don't allow enough suitable locations for the features to be placed.

'''Rejection parameters''': ''Dwarf Fortress'' uses a 'belt-and-braces' approach to world generation. The above controls allow you to shape the world, then the rejection parameters throw it out if it does not meet certain criteria. There are a number of rejection parameters for the number and degree of the 5 basic variables, for biome types, etc. If the world does not meet the requirements of any one rejection parameter the world is rejected and re-randomised. Also see [[World rejection]].

Leaving tokens out of a set in <tt>world_gen.txt</tt> will cause the game to use default values which are not adjusted for smaller world sizes, this may cause smaller worlds to always be rejected.

If you are experimenting with world design, there is also a [[Settings#Feature_toggles|game setting]] that will log the rejection reasons. With that information you can then either adjust the rejection parameters to allow those worlds, or the other parameters to prevent them from trying to generate. ''Dwarf Fortress'' will keep adding to the file, so you may want to trim or delete it occasionally.

The parameters are described below in the order that they appear in the list in the game, which is not necessarily the order they appear in <tt>world_gen.txt</tt>. See [[world token]] for an index that will help you look things up by token name. The tokens used in <tt>world_gen.txt</tt> are at the bottom of each of the following parameter descriptions.

=== Parameter set title ===
This sets the name of the parameter set itself, as used in the list of sets (this has nothing to do with the name of the generated world).
{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[TITLE:<name>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[TITLE:MEDIUM ISLAND]</nowiki></tt>
| Required
|}

=== World name ===
As previously mentioned, the title of the parameter set doesn't affect the name of the world. You can specify a particular name for your world, or leave the value blank for a random one. (The [[DFHack]] utility adds an option to rename the world using the in-game languages.)
{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[CUSTOM_NAME:<name>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[CUSTOM_NAME:Realm of Cheese Engravings]</nowiki></tt>
| For a random name, simply don't use this token.
|}

=== World dimensions ===
The size of the map for the current set can be changed by changing the Width and Height values at the top next to the set title. You will need to confirm this, since changing the dimensions of the world will change other parameters, because many of them have different defaults depending on the surface area available.

Larger maps usually take longer to generate and may reduce [[Frames per second|FPS]] in-game, though this is really a matter of larger worlds usually having more civilizations, sites, historical figures, and events; restricting the number of those can speed up the process. Non-square maps may result in crashes{{bug|2928}}.
{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[DIM:<width>:<height>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[DIM:257:257]</nowiki></tt>
| Valid values are 17, 33, 65, 129, and 257, other values will use one of those. Changing the size in the file without adjusting other parameters can cause many rejections.
|}

=== Seed values ===
Enables the use of, and specifies seed values for, different parts of the world generation process. Just entering a specific seed does not enable it, that must be done separately, although using the box at the top to set all the seeds to the same value does enable them all. Enabling a seed puts the token in using what ever is in the text box below. If you enable a seed, but do not enter a seed, the string "Seed text" will be used (<tt><nowiki>[SEED:Seed text]</nowiki></tt>). Trying to use a <tt><nowiki>]</nowiki></tt> in the string in the file will end the seed there, since it closes the token, any text after that will be ignored. Normally, just leave these set to Random, unless trying to reproduce the results of a previous world generation. See also the [[Advanced_world_generation#Seed_notes|seed notes section]] above.
{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[SEED:<text>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[SEED:31337]</nowiki></tt>
| rowspan="4" |
For each of these not in the config file, a random seed will be used, and the first seed is not used to generate the others. The seeds used are output to [[gamelog.txt]] when world generation starts.
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[HISTORY_SEED:<text>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[HISTORY_SEED:31337]</nowiki></tt>
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[NAME_SEED:<text>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[NAME_SEED:31337]</nowiki></tt>
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[CREATURE_SEED:<text>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[CREATURE_SEED:31337]</nowiki></tt>
|}

=== Embark Points ===
The number of points for equipment and animals when embarking in fortress mode (there is no equivalent setting for adventure mode). Normally, the default of 1504 is fine, but can be increased for various purposes like experimentation or to help dwarves survive in a particularly evil world, or reduced for certain [[challenges]].
{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[EMBARK_POINTS:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[EMBARK_POINTS:1504]</nowiki></tt>
| 0 to 10,000
|}

=== End year ===
The maximum number of years generated for the world, although generation can be paused and the world used as is any time after the second year; the same as the [[World_generation#History|History]] parameter in basic world gen, except that you can enter an exact value. A too-short history can limit the materials available to civilizations, and [[Chosen|certain adventure mode features]] are only available after certain site events, while too long a history often leads to civilizations dying.

For more information on the history aspect of the game, see [[Legends]] and [[Calendar#Ages|Ages]].
{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[END_YEAR:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[END_YEAR:250]</nowiki></tt>
| 2 to 10,000
|}

=== Population cap after civ creation ===
A soft limit to the total number of [[historical figure]]s alive at the same time during generation across all civilizations, only preventing the birth of new historical figures.{{cite forum|140544/5701667}} Each civilization is allotted a percentage of the total by the percentage of sites they control.{{cite forum|159164/7553641}} Civilizations also have non-historical populations, and there is no setting to limit those (in early versions, all civilization members were historical figures, this is also why the name of this setting is misleading). Each [[entity]] also has limits from their raws, see the [[Entity_token#Population|population]] entity tokens, and setting this to unlimited will not remove those.

Huge historical figure populations can slow generation and the game in general.
{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[TOTAL_CIV_POPULATION:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[TOTAL_CIV_POPULATION:15000]</nowiki></tt>
| -1 to 100,000, -1 is no limit
|}

=== Site cap after civ creation ===
Total number of [[site]]s that can be directly created by all civilizations combined like [[hillocks]], [[hamlet]]s, [[dark pits]], [[forest retreat]]s, etc. Does not prevent the placement of initial civilization sites, though they will then be counted for the limit. Does not affect creature sites like [[cave]]s or [[lair]]s, group sites like [[castle]]s, [[monastery|monasteries]], [[tower]]s, [[fort]]s, or [[camp]]s, or unpopulated sites like [[tomb]]s. After this limit is reached, no civilization will be able to place new sites. See the [[Entity_token#Placement|placement]] entity tokens for other ways that civilization site placement can be limited.

Increasing this will slow generation down and reduce the available places for player sites. Since the {{token|MAX_SITE_POP_NUMBER|entity}} entity token limits the historical figure population per site, this site cap can also limit the total historical figure population of all civilizations combined, and some expand faster than others getting more sites before the limit is reached.
{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[SITE_CAP:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[SITE_CAP:1500]</nowiki></tt>
| -1 to 100,000, -1 is no limit
|}

=== Beast control ===

These parameters don't usually matter too much, but may matter for small numbers of beasts.

==== Percentage of Megabeasts and Titans Dead for Stoppage ====

The world starts out with a certain number of powerful megabeast and titan entities in existence. If a percentage of the megabeast and titan population dies out during history generation, then history generation will stop early. For example, if the elimination value is 80%, and the generated history starts with 200 entities and 160 of those 200 entities are eliminated by historical events before the End Year is reached, history generation will stop immediately.

If you want to end the creation of your world at the beginning of a certain age, choose the following values:
* Age of Legends: ~34%
* Age of Heroes: ~67%
If there are three or fewer titans or megabeasts in your world, the age will be given a special name reflecting the remaining megabeasts/titans, instead.

==== Year to Begin Checking Megabeast Percentage ====

The percentage of dead [[megabeast]]s and [[titan]]s for stoppage will not be checked until this year is reached in history generation. This can be used to ensure that a world reaches a certain year even if all of the megabeasts in the world are slain earlier.

If the number of living [[megabeast]]s and [[titan]]s starts at or drops to less than four, then world generation will always stop if the current year is equal to or greater than the Year to Begin Checking Megabeast Percentage ''regardless'' of how many [[megabeast]]s and [[titan]]s are dead — Percentage of Megabeasts and Titans Dead for Stoppage is ignored. The number of megabeasts and titans at the start of the world is set by the sum of the [[Advanced_world_generation#Max_Megabeasts_Caves|Max Megabeasts Caves]] and [[Advanced_world_generation#Titan_Parameters|Titan Number]] parameters.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[BEAST_END_YEAR:<year>:<percentage or -1>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[BEAST_END_YEAR:200:80]</nowiki></tt>
| Use -1 as percentage to disable. Year must still be at least 2.
|}

=== Cull Unimportant Historical Figures ===

Whether or not the game will ignore unimportant figures in history generation. The culling of unimportant historical figures is a CPU-intensive step in history generation but it saves memory and will speed up loading/saving games in fortress mode. This does mean that the "unimportant" figures will not appear in Legends mode or in engravings, but unimportant figures would likely not appear in engravings anyway.

Unimportant figures are creatures who suffer early deaths, never have offspring or kill a named creature during world gen. For example, a resident of a goblin tower may get murdered by demons at a young age. After culling unimportant figures, Legends mode would say "In the year 102, the demon Evil McEvilface killed an unknown creature at Eviltower."

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[CULL_HISTORICAL_FIGURES:<0 or 1>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[CULL_HISTORICAL_FIGURES:0]</nowiki></tt>
| 0 = No, 1 = Yes
|}

=== Reveal All Historical Events ===

Setting this to Yes will allow access to most information about the history of the world in [[Legends mode]]. All events will be revealed, but some [[historical figure]]s, [[site]]s, [[region]]s, and [[civilization]]s and other entities may not be, possibly because they are not known to any civilization. If set to No, then you will have to discover historical information in [[adventure mode]] or by instructing dwarves to make engravings.{{Verify}}

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[REVEAL_ALL_HISTORY:<0 or 1>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[REVEAL_ALL_HISTORY::1]</nowiki></tt>
| 0 = No, 1 = Yes
|}

=== Terrain Parameters ===

These set limits and variance for terrain elevation, rainfall, temperature, drainage, volcanism, and savagery which determines how those values are generated. What biomes exist are then determined by how these factors overlap with each other.

==== Minima and Maxima ====
These are the absolute minimum and maximum values that can ever be generated for a particular map square characteristic. By ''subtly'' tweaking the min and max values, vastly different maps can be made. Changing these can cause the occurrence of certain [[Biome|biomes]] to become impossible, so you may want to use [[#Terrain Mesh Sizes and Weights|Weighted Ranges]] instead.

==== X and Y Variance ====
These control how wildly things like elevation and rainfall can vary between adjacent map squares. For example, if these values are set to the maximum of 3,200 for elevation then you will end up with more very low areas right next to very high areas. The number for X determines the east-west variance and the number for Y determines the north-south variance. By setting only one of these to a high value you can, for example, create horizontal or vertical bands of areas which are more similar to each other.

Generally speaking, raising both of these values will create a more random "patchwork" of many small biomes while setting both x and y values to 0 will cause every square on the map to use a single random value for the given characteristic.

For "patchwork" worlds to avoid being rejected, [[#Maximum Number of Subregions|Maximum Number of Subregions]] will probably need to be increased from the default.

==== Elevation ====
This controls the range of terrain elevations that can occur in the world.

Usually you just want to leave the min/max values alone. Raising the minimum elevation can, for example, make it impossible for oceans to exist. This does '''not''' directly control the number of available Z-levels at a particular site, though high maximum values may contribute to peaks which can raise the number of above ground Z-levels. In other words, a maximum elevation of 400 and minimum of 1 does not mean you get 400 Z-levels but it might increase the number of Z-levels somewhat in some regions compared to others.

Raising the variance will result in a more bumpy, uneven landscape.

Some biomes/features that are impacted by elevation:
* A high minimum (above 99) means no oceans as they need elevations below 100.
* A low maximum (below 300) means no mountains as mountains need elevations above 300.
* Rivers will be placed when the elevation maximum is 104 or higher. Therefore, keeping both values above 100 and below 104 will prevent all water tiles from appearing.
* Mountain peaks can only form at elevations of 400.

==== Rainfall ====
Controls the amount of rainfall in each map square/area. Setting the minimum or maximum too high or low can make the formation of certain biomes impossible. Rainfall causes it to [[rain]] more in a given area, which can have various effects. Also makes more rivers appear on the world map.

Note that if [[#Do Orographic Precipitation and Rain Shadows|orographic precipitation and rain shadows]] is on, then mountains will cause additional variance in rainfall, so (for example) rainfall below the specified minimum can occur in the shadow of a mountain. If you want the minimum and maximum for this parameter to be absolutely respected, you must turn off the orographic precipitation option.

Additionally, with 'Orthographic Precipitation' turned on, orthographic precipitation and rain shadows will only occur in regions with greater than or equal to 50 drainage. [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=139916.0 [Report, reproduced 2022]]

==== Temperature ====
These parameters control how hot or cold various areas will be. If you lower the minimum and maximum values, the world will be colder overall, for example. As with the others, changing these values too much could make it impossible for certain biomes to exist. See [[Climate]] for more info.

These parameters form the "base" temperature for an area, and describe peak summer temperature in a scale that isn't used elsewhere in the game. This number also does not correspond 1:1 with the final climate. [[Temperature]] is always influenced by a number of variables, including elevation, time of year, thick forestation, and if [[Advanced_world_generation#Poles|Poles]] are enabled, latitude. These other variables are factored in after the temperature mesh is applied, and frequently bring temperatures above and below their set minimum and maximum values. ''The inclusion of Poles is particularly strong in this regard, as it allows latitude to raise and/or lower temperatures by more than 75 degrees Celsius! That said, the temperatures aren't raised or lowered by more than about 65 degrees past the set minimum and maximum. Furthermore, for typical ranges, the temperature will never be raised more than about 25 degrees past the maximum (but will still drop up to about 65 degrees Celsius below the minimum).'' (unsure about exact values, research needed)

Elves can spawn where the temperature is 10 degrees or warmer. Humans can spawn where the temperature is 0 degrees or warmer.

==== Drainage ====
Changing drainage parameters will change the way water-affected biomes are formed. Low drainage will contribute to the formation of [[Lake|lakes]], [[River|rivers]], and [[Swamp|swamps]]. High drainage will cause water to sink into the ground rather than sit on the surface, which is important for forming hills.

Lower drainage values have been reported to contribute to the formation of thicker soil layers, though it is currently unknown exactly how other factors (such as elevation or perhaps rain) impact soil formation.

==== Volcanism ====
Volcanism controls the occurrence of igneous [[layer]]s, and the formation of volcanoes. For a volcano to form, a square must have a volcanism value of 100, so reducing the maximum from 100 will make volcanoes impossible. Raising the minimum will increase the rarity of non-igneous layers.

Setting the minimum to a high value is not a good way to produce multiple volcanoes, as you are likely to get a "Volcanism not evenly distributed" rejection. Instead, use the Minimum Number of Volcanoes parameter, and possibly adjust the weighted ranges for volcanism as described below.

==== Savagery ====
These parameters control the level of [[Surroundings#Savage|savagery]] on the map. Raising the minimum savagery too high may make it impossible for certain races to exist, and similarly lowering the maximum too far can make it impossible for certain creatures to exist. The largest chance of having unusable maps comes from a too-high savagery value.

==== Configuration Tokens ====
{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[ELEVATION:<min>:<max>:<x variance>:<y variance>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[ELEVATION:1:400:401:401]</nowiki></tt>
| Range: 0 to 400 Maximum of 400 required for mountain peaks. Variance range: 0-3200
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[RAINFALL:<min>:<max>:<x variance>:<y variance>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[RAINFALL:0:100:200:200]</nowiki></tt>
| Range: 0 to 100 Variance range: 0-3200
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[TEMPERATURE:<min>:<max>:<x variance>:<y variance>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[TEMPERATURE:25:75:200:200]</nowiki></tt>
| Range: -1000 to 1000 Variance range: 0-3200
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[DRAINAGE:<min>:<max>:<x variance>:<y variance>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[DRAINAGE:0:100:200:200]</nowiki></tt>
| Range: 0 to 100 Variance range: 0-3200
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[VOLCANISM:<min>:<max>:<x variance>:<y variance>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[VOLCANISM:1:100:200:200]</nowiki></tt>
| Range: 0 to 100 Maximum of 100 required for volcanoes. Variance range: 0-3200
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[SAVAGERY:<min>:<max>:<x variance>:<y variance>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[SAVAGERY:1:100:200:200]</nowiki></tt>
| Range: 0 to 100 Variance range: 0-3200
|}

=== Terrain Mesh Sizes and Weights ===

These parameters make it possible to influence the number of squares in a particular range, without making conditions outside of that range impossible. For example, you can make it possible for many more low-elevation squares to exist without making it impossible for high elevations to form. Changing these parameters is often preferable to simply changing the min/max values.

The basic steps of applying weighted ranges are as follows:

# Create a grid with 2''MeshSize'' - 1 tiles in both X and Y direction.
# At each grid intersection, set the value according to the weighted ranges.
# Smooth out the area between the intersection points.
# Add noise according to the variance parameters.

where ''MeshSize'' is the raw parameter value found in the world_gen.txt. See the image on the right for an example.

[[File:World_map-large-32x32-elevation-mesh.png|thumb|300px|A large world generated with an Elevation Mesh Size of 32×32 and range weights set to 1:0:0:0:1 (i.e., only extreme high and low elevations). Note how the grid intersections are either set very high or very low and the space between them is smoothed out.]]

==== Mesh Size/Weighted Ranges ====

Mesh size determines how many grid tiles there will be. Setting this to Ignore will cause the weighted range settings to be ignored for that terrain characteristic. As an example, setting it to 2×2 means the grid will be 2 times 2 tiles large and there will be 3×3 for a total of 9 intersection points. On a pocket world, this means one grid tile will be 8×8 world tiles large, whereas on a large world, one grid tile will be 128×128 world tiles. Note that the highest possible value for a given world size will always make the grid tiles 8×8 world tiles large.

If mesh size is set to something other than Ignore, these weights will be applied at the granularity of the selected mesh size for purposes of generating random values in each range. This allows random number generation to be non-linear for the given terrain characteristic.

For example, if the Elevation Weighted Range parameters were set to (starting with the 0-20 range) 60:10:10:10:10 (these values do not have to add up to any particular number) and elevation min and max are set to 1 and 400 respectively then about 60% of the grid line intersection points (on average) will be set to an elevation in the range of 1-80 (0% to 20%), and the other ranges will be represented by around 10% of the intersection points each. The exact distribution is still left up to chance though ''on average'' it will be close to this specification.

Weighted ranges do not make rejection checks, although they can be responsible for many rejections if you neglect to adjust or disable some of the [[#Minimum Number of Mid/Low/High Characteristic Squares|Minimum Number of Mid/Low/High Characteristic Squares]] for example.

==== Interaction between Mesh Size and Variance ====

The end result can vary greatly depending on how the corresponding [[#X_and_Y_Variance|X and Y Variance]] parameters are set. First of all, if the variance is too large the noise it adds can completely negate the effect of the weighted ranges. For instance, with a 2×2 mesh, the default variance parameters are high enough that usually the mesh grid can hardly be recognized. How strong the variance's effect is, is also dependent on the mesh size. Having a larger mesh size (i.e. smaller grid tiles) means the variance also has to be higher for a visible effect. For instance, with a variance of 400, the effects are clearly visible with a 2×2 mesh and barely visible at all with a 8×8 mesh. Note that this effect is directly dependent on the mesh size and not, as one might expect, on the actual size of the grid tiles. This means, that a large world with a 2×2 mesh will look essentially the same as a pocket world with a 2×2 mesh, only stretched to 256 times the size.

Also see this [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=139916.0 forum post] for more details.

==== Configuration Tokens ====

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[ELEVATION_FREQUENCY:<mesh>:<0-20 weight>:<20-40 weight>:<40-60 weight>:<60-80 weight>:<80-100 weight>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[ELEVATION_FREQUENCY:2:1:2:3:4:5]</nowiki></tt>
| rowspan="6" | Valid mesh values:

1 = Ignore

2 = 2x2

3 = 4x4

4 = 8x8

5 = 16x16

6 = 32x32

(limited by world size)
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[RAIN_FREQUENCY:<mesh>:<0-20 weight>:<20-40 weight>:<40-60 weight>:<60-80 weight>:<80-100 weight>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[RAIN_FREQUENCY:3:1:2:3:4:5]</nowiki></tt>
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[DRAINAGE_FREQUENCY:<mesh>:<0-20 weight>:<20-40 weight>:<40-60 weight>:<60-80 weight>:<80-100 weight>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[DRAINAGE_FREQUENCY:4:1:2:3:4:5]</nowiki></tt>
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[TEMPERATURE_FREQUENCY:<mesh>:<0-20 weight>:<20-40 weight>:<40-60 weight>:<60-80 weight>:<80-100 weight>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[TEMPERATURE_FREQUENCY:1:1:1:1:1:1]</nowiki></tt>
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[SAVAGERY_FREQUENCY:<mesh>:<0-20 weight>:<20-40 weight>:<40-60 weight>:<60-80 weight>:<80-100 weight>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[SAVAGERY_FREQUENCY:5:1:2:3:4:5]</nowiki></tt>
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[VOLCANISM_FREQUENCY:<mesh>:<0-20 weight>:<20-40 weight>:<40-60 weight>:<60-80 weight>:<80-100 weight>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[VOLCANISM_FREQUENCY:1:1:1:1:1:1]</nowiki></tt>
|}

=== Poles ===

With this, you can influence how polar regions are added. The poles can be on the north or south edge, and the equator will be on the opposite edge, or in the middle if there are two poles. If poles are set to NONE, then there will be no seasonal changes in the weather (e.g. no winter snow in temperate biomes).

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[POLE:<placement>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[POLE:NORTH]</nowiki></tt>
| Viable options: NONE, NORTH_OR_SOUTH, NORTH_AND_OR_SOUTH, NORTH, SOUTH, NORTH_AND_SOUTH
|}

=== Minimum Mountain Peak Number ===

This will cause the world to be rejected if fewer than this many peaks (based on elevation) are present on the map. EG: elevations of 400 must be possible for mountain peaks to occur. If set to zero, then worlds will not be rejected based on number of peaks.

You may need to adjust elevation parameters, such as the highest weighted range, in order to get the desired number of elevation-400 squares needed for larger numbers of peaks. Like volcanoes, mountain peaks can make embark zones more interesting, but other than that, they don't appear to "do" anything special. Reportedly, they do increase the highest Z-level above ground in all embark zones in the same region, even if the selected embark zone does not include the peak.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[PEAK_NUMBER_MIN:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[PEAK_NUMBER_MIN:20]</nowiki></tt>
| Elevations of 400 must occur for peaks to form.
|}

=== Minimum Partial Edge Oceans ===

This will cause a world to be rejected unless there are at least this many oceans touching an edge of the map. If set to zero then worlds will not be rejected based on this criterion. Setting both this parameter and Minimum Complete Edge Oceans to values that total more than 4 when added together may cause all worlds to be rejected as you can't have both a partial and complete edge ocean on a given edge.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[PARTIAL_OCEAN_EDGE_MIN:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[PARTIAL_OCEAN_EDGE_MIN:2]</nowiki></tt>
| Maximum of 4
|}

=== Minimum Complete Edge Oceans ===

This will cause a world to be rejected unless there are at least this many oceans which completely cover an edge of the map. Since a square map only has 4 edges, the maximum value possible is 4. If set to zero then worlds will not be rejected based on this criterion but still might end up with complete edge oceans by chance.

Note that the ability for this many edge oceans to exist will be limited by elevation. Therefore, to actually create large oceans you will probably need to change things like the Elevation Mesh Size and Weighted Ranges to increase the number and distribution of very low elevation squares on the map. In addition, if Complete Edge Oceans is set to any value ''other'' than 0 or 4, you may need to lower elevation variance for at least one of the axes: if set too high, such as a variation of 1600 for both X and Y axes (the default for Large Island and Medium Island parameter sets), the game may generate worlds very slowly or even hang.{{bug|565}}

Given appropriate weight, range, and variance values for things like elevation, a setting of: 1 results in a world that seems like a chunk of coastline. One edge of the map will be completely underwater and there will be ocean taking up much of the map on that side (think the east or west coast of the United States, the north coast of Canada, or southern Europe). If your edge ocean happens to pick your world's frozen side, most of it will be glacier.

*2 results in another coastline along with the first one -- the map could end up looking something like Panama if the oceans pick opposite sides of the map.
*3 results in a peninsula, like Florida in the US. There will be oceans surrounding 3 sides of the map, and land touching only one side of the map.
*4 results in one or more island(s) depending on things like elevation variance and weights. Regardless of whether you get one island or multiple islands, the entire map will be surrounded by water.

Unfortunately, there's no easy way to control which oceans end up on which edges, except perhaps setting X/Y variance to different values.

Edge oceans will take up part of the other edges too. For example, a full edge ocean on the east side will have part of the north and south sides underwater, but that does ''not'' add to the ''partial'' edge oceans count.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[COMPLETE_OCEAN_EDGE_MIN:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[COMPLETE_OCEAN_EDGE_MIN:0]</nowiki></tt>
| Maximum of 4
|}

=== Minimum Volcano Number ===

Worlds with less than this number of volcanoes will be rejected. Note that this will not just create this many volcanoes at random; there must be at least this many squares with a Volcanism of 100. Therefore, adjusting Weighted Range for 80-100 to some higher value is recommended if you want to facilitate a large number of volcanoes. In addition, Maximum Volcanism must be set to 100 or squares with volcanism of 100 will be impossible, making volcanoes impossible.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[VOLCANO_MIN:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[VOLCANO_MIN:15]</nowiki></tt>
| Volcanoes require a volcanism of 100 to occur.
|}

=== Mineral Scarcity ===
Controls the frequency at which minerals occur; setting this value higher will decrease both the number of different types and amounts of ore and gems present on a map. The default value will result in many metal ores, while the old default of ''sparse'' would be only a few ores, which may be limiting until other metals can be requested and traded for.

The options "Very Rare", "Rare", "Sparse", "Frequent", and "Everywhere" in the [[World_generation#Basic_world_generation_menu|basic world generation menu]] use the values 50000, 10000, 2500, 500 and 100 respectively.

According to [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=79018.msg2063804#msg2063804 research] by Shandra in v0.31.25, this is the relationship between the value of this setting and the approximate number of gems and ore:

[[File:MineralSetting_v25_limit10k.png]]

This is for the same 8x8 embark region in a world which is otherwise the same, except for the mineral scarcity parameter (although most of the detailed information comes from experiments with previous versions). (The chart legend has an error, the first "Pot.(Types)" should read "Pot.(Amount)".)
{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[MINERAL_SCARCITY:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[MINERAL_SCARCITY:100]</nowiki></tt>
| Range: 100 to 100,000
|}

=== Max Megabeast Caves ===

This is the number of [[megabeast]]s placed at the beginning of history. Megabeasts are [[hydra]]s, [[bronze colossus]]es, [[roc]]s, and [[dragon]]s, which are all placed in equal proportions [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=112465.msg3415177#msg3415177 data].

Increasing this value can lead to early extinction of civilizations.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[MEGABEAST_CAP:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[MEGABEAST_CAP:75]</nowiki></tt>
| Megabeasts count towards BEAST_END_YEAR calculation.
|}

=== Max Semi-Megabeast Caves ===

This is the number of [[semi-megabeast]]s placed at the beginning of history. Semimegabeasts are [[giant]]s, [[ettin]]s, [[minotaur]]s, and [[cyclops]], which are placed in equal proportions [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=112465.msg3415188#msg3415188 data].

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[SEMIMEGABEAST_CAP:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[SEMIMEGABEAST_CAP:150]</nowiki></tt>
| Semimegabeasts do not count towards the BEAST_END_YEAR calculation.
|}

=== Titan Parameters ===

==== Number ====

This controls the number of [[titan]]s that exist at the beginning of history[http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=112465.msg3415203#msg3415203 data]. The number of forgotten beasts is unaffected by this parameter [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=112465.msg3415155#msg3415155 data].

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[TITAN_NUMBER:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[TITAN_NUMBER:33]</nowiki></tt>
| Titans count towards BEAST_END_YEAR calculation.
|}

==== Attack Population Requirement ====

[[Titan]]s will begin to attack your fort once at least this many dwarves inhabit it, regardless of whether any other attack criteria have been met.

This number defaults to 80, which isn't usually too difficult to deal with.

==== Exported Wealth Requirement ====

Titans will begin to attack your fort once you have exported at least this many [[Currency|dwarfbucks]]-worth of goods, regardless of whether or not any other criteria have been met. This parameter defaults to None (disabled).

==== Created Wealth Requirement ====

Titans will begin to attack your fort once the fort's total wealth has reached this many [[Currency|dwarfbucks]] in value. This happens regardless of whether any of the other criteria, such as population, have been met; therefore, even with 1 dwarf, a fort could be attacked if the fort were worth at least this value.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[TITAN_ATTACK_TRIGGER:<population>:<exp wealth>:<created wealth>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[TITAN_ATTACK_TRIGGER:80:0:100000]</nowiki></tt>
| 0 = None (disabled). Only one requirement must be met for an attack.
|}

=== Number of Demon Types ===

[[Demon]]s are similar to [[titan]]s and [[forgotten beast]]s, in that they are procedurally generated, but most are not unique. Thus, many different types of demons can exist in the world, but there will also be many individuals of most types. Thanks to [[Underworld spire|certain fun things]], fewer demon types also means fewer goblin civilizations[http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=7348f68f41a9659443c05b2acf534e6c&topic=112465.15]. You need at least 2 demon types, or else goblin civilizations won't exist initially, though if dwarves breach the underworld during world generation, at least one will be generated then.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[DEMON_NUMBER:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[DEMON_NUMBER:52]</nowiki></tt>
| 0 to 1000
|}

=== Number of Night Troll Types ===

The number of different [[night troll]]s, also procedurally generated, that will exist in the world. Setting this to zero means that the world will have no night trolls, custom or otherwise.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[NIGHT_TROLL_NUMBER:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[NIGHT_TROLL_NUMBER:77]</nowiki></tt>
| 0 to 1000
|}

=== Number of Bogeyman Types ===
The number of different [[bogeyman]] forms that will exist in the world. Bogeymen are procedurally generated, though their forms do not vary by much. Setting this to zero means that the world will have no bogeymen, custom or otherwise.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[BOGEYMAN_NUMBER:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[BOGEYMAN_NUMBER:27]</nowiki></tt>
| 0 to 1000
|}

=== Number of Nightmare Types ===
The number of different [[nightmare]] forms that will exist in the world. Nightmares are procedurally generated. Setting this to zero means that the world will have no nightmares, custom or otherwise.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[NIGHTMARE_NUMBER:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[NIGHTMARE_NUMBER:27]</nowiki></tt>
| 0 to 1000
|}

=== Number of Vampire Curse Types ===

The number of different types of [[Vampire|vampires]] that will exist in the world. Although they are generated at the start of a new world, they aren't different from each other. Setting this to zero means no vampires will exist.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[VAMPIRE_NUMBER:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[VAMPIRE_NUMBER:72]</nowiki></tt>
| 0 to 1000
|}

=== Werebeast Parameters ===

==== Number of Werebeast Curse Types====

The number of different types of [[werebeast]]s that can exist in the world. It is common for werebeasts, unlike vampires, to assume many different forms and variations, the most well-known of these amount to different species of animals, from lizards, to wolves, to even bears. Setting this to zero means no werebeasts will exist, and will also remove a large amount of [[fun]] from the game.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[WEREBEAST_NUMBER:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[WEREBEAST_NUMBER:58]</nowiki></tt>
| 0 to 1000
|}

==== Attack Population Requirement ====

Werebeasts will begin to attack your fort once at least this many dwarves inhabit it, regardless of whether any other attack criteria have been met. This number defaults to 50 which will often be reached in the second year of the fort.

==== Exported Wealth Requirement ====
Werebeasts will begin to attack your fort once you have exported at least this many [[Currency|dwarfbucks]]-worth of goods, regardless of whether or not any other criteria have been met. This parameter defaults to 5000.

==== Created Wealth Requirement ====

Werebeasts will begin to attack your fort once the fort's total wealth has reached this many [[Currency|dwarfbucks]] in value. This happens regardless of whether any of the other criteria, such as population, have been met; therefore, even with 1 dwarf, a fort could be attacked if the fort were worth at least this value.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[WEREBEAST_ATTACK_TRIGGER:<population>:<exp wealth>:<created wealth>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[WEREBEAST_ATTACK_TRIGGER:50:5000:50000]</nowiki></tt>
| 0 = None (disabled). Only one requirement must be met for an attack.
|}

=== Number of Secret Types ===

The number of secrets that exist in the world. Currently, all secrets are secrets of life and death, and the ones holding these secrets are [[necromancer]]s, thus, setting this to zero means that no necromancers will appear.
Non-necromancer towers can still appear (extremely rarely) with zero secrets, constructed by independent undead groups.
The primary difference between having 1 or 1000 secrets is the chance of your world having any necromancer towers at all. With 1, this chance is low. With the default number, it's seemingly guaranteed.
Even with 1 secret, if you have any necromancer towers at all, it is likely a great number will quickly appear in world generation (though this isn't guaranteed).

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[SECRET_NUMBER:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[SECRET_NUMBER:52]</nowiki></tt>
| 0 to 1000
|}

=== Number of Regional Interaction Types ===

The number of interactions that can be caused in regions, which may incorporate evil rain and cloud types. Currently, only evil region interactions are generated this way.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[REGIONAL_INTERACTION_NUMBER:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[REGIONAL_INTERACTION_NUMBER:20]</nowiki></tt>
| 0 to 1000
|}

=== Number of Disturbance Interaction Types ===
The number of different [[Mummy|disturbed dead]] that can exist in the world. Setting this to zero should prevent any mummy from appearing{{verify}}, but it will not prevent the creation of [[tomb]]s.
{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[DISTURBANCE_INTERACTION_NUMBER:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[DISTURBANCE_INTERACTION_NUMBER:10]</nowiki></tt>
| 0 to 1000
|}

=== Number of Evil Cloud / Evil Rain Types ===

This number specifies [[Weather#Evil weather|the total amount of various face-melting, eye-boiling, and zombifyingly-fun]] clouds of pure evil may appear in your world. Setting this to zero means you no longer will ever have to deal with encroaching dust walls of doom in that world.It is generally advised to keep this value low...

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[EVIL_CLOUD_NUMBER:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[EVIL_CLOUD_NUMBER:45]</nowiki></tt>
| 0 to 1000
|}

The latter number states how many different types of green-ooze drenchers, disconcerting blood-showers, and sickly yellow slime-baths can occur in your world. Compared to evil clouds though, this one hardly is worth stressing out about, usually.... Setting this to zero means the only semi-solid to fully-liquid fluids to fall from the sky will be pure H2O.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[EVIL_RAIN_NUMBER:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[EVIL_RAIN_NUMBER:352]</nowiki></tt>
| 0 to 1000
|}

=== Generate Divine Materials ===
This turns the generation of [[Divine_metal|divine metals]] on or off. It does not influence the creation of [[vault]]s. Probably determines whenever or not using divination dice spawns weapons.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[GENERATE_DIVINE_MATERIALS:<1 or 0>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[GENERATE_DIVINE_MATERIALS:1]</nowiki></tt>
| 1/0 = Yes/No
|}

=== Allow Divination, Experiments, and Necromancy types ===
These allow or disallow [[die|divination]], demon or necromancer [[experiment]]s, and the more advanced [[necromancer]] abilities.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[ALLOW_DIVINATION:<1 or 0>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[ALLOW_DIVINATION:1]</nowiki></tt>
| 1/0 = Yes/No
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[ALLOW_DEMONIC_EXPERIMENTS:<1 or 0>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[ALLOW_DEMONIC_EXPERIMENTS:1]</nowiki></tt>
| 1/0 = Yes/No
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[ALLOW_NECROMANCER_EXPERIMENTS:<1 or 0>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[ALLOW_NECROMANCER_EXPERIMENTS:1]</nowiki></tt>
| 1/0 = Yes/No
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[ALLOW_NECROMANCER_LIEUTENANTS:<1 or 0>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[ALLOW_NECROMANCER_LIEUTENANTS:1]</nowiki></tt>
| 1/0 = Yes/No
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[ALLOW_NECROMANCER_GHOULS:<1 or 0>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[ALLOW_NECROMANCER_GHOULS:1]</nowiki></tt>
| 1/0 = Yes/No
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[ALLOW_NECROMANCER_SUMMONS:<1 or 0>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[ALLOW_NECROMANCER_SUMMONS:1]</nowiki></tt>
| 1/0 = Yes/No
|}

=== Desired Good/Evil Square Counts ===

These values change the amount of [[Surroundings#Good|good or evil]] tiles on the map, depending on the size of the region they are being considered for. The counts are for all tiles in all subregions of a given size considered together, ''not'' counts for each subregion considered separately (all tiles in the same subregion share the same [[surroundings]] values).

As used here, a "subregion" is a named world area. Subregion names and locations for a generated world are viewable in legends mode under "Regions". Subregions are classified by size the same way for all map sizes: 1-24 tiles is Small, 25-99 tiles is Medium, and 100+ tiles is Large.

The counts used here will always be restricted to regions of the given size, no matter how large the count. Also, the count is more of a goal than a minimum or maximum. As a result, you can end up with many more or many fewer than the requested number of squares in some situations. In particular, if you have something like a case where only 3 large regions exist in a world, and you request "1 evil square" in large regions, you will end up with one of the large regions being ''entirely evil''. So any non-zero value in one of these settings essentially means "force at least one region of this size to be all good/evil."

Note that the "evilness" of evil biomes is also impacted by savagery. Certain civilizations cannot exist in good and/or evil squares, so too many of one or the other may limit the size of certain types of civilizations - dwarves, for example, need non-aligned biomes. Creating too many evil biomes seems to lead to the danger of many civilizations' early extinction.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[GOOD_SQ_COUNTS::<med region>:<lg region>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[GOOD_SQ_COUNTS:100:1000:2000]</nowiki></tt>
| rowspan="2" | Set count to zero to disable for that region size.
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[EVIL_SQ_COUNTS::<med region>:<lg region>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[EVIL_SQ_COUNTS:100:1000:2000]</nowiki></tt>
|}

=== Minimum Biome Square Counts ===

These numbers control whether or not a world will be rejected based on a lack of different [[biome|biomes]]. Raising these numbers will '''not''' automatically generate the given number of squares of the given biome! For a biome to exist, certain conditions like elevation and rainfall must exist.

These parameters simply filter out worlds that (for example) randomly fail to have enough high elevation squares to support a given number of mountains, etc. Some settings may cause worlds to always be rejected. For example, if for some reason the maximum elevation parameter is set to a value below what will support mountain biomes, it will be impossible to satisfy a non-zero requirement for mountain squares. The same principle goes for other conditions and biomes such as low elevations and oceans, etc.

Certain civilizations require different biomes to exist (such as dwarves and mountains), so eliminating certain biomes will make it impossible for certain civilizations to form.

These parameters often result in infinite world rejection problems. See [[World rejection]] for information on solving problems related to worlds always being rejected due to one or more of these parameters.

0 means no minimum for rejection - setting it to 0 does not guarantee 0 squares of that biome.

==== Biome Type Requirement Table ====

Terrain requirements for various biomes are described below.{{Verify}} Note that some of the exact ranges are unknown.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! rowspan="2" | Biome
! colspan="4" | Terrain Requirement
|-
! Elevation
! Rainfall
! Temperature
! Drainage
|-
| Swamp/Marsh
| 100-299
| 33-100
| Non-Freezing
| 0-32
|-
| Desert/Badland
| 100-299
| 0-9
| non-freezing
| note1
|-
| Forest
| 100-299
| 66-100
| non-freezing
| 66-100
|-
| Mountains
| 300-400
| N/A
| N/A
| N/A
|-
| Ocean
| 0-99
| N/A
| N/A
| N/A
|-
| Glacier
| 100-299
| N/A
| Freezing
| 80(?)-100
|-
| Tundra
| 100-299
| N/A
| Freezing
| 0-66
|-
| Grassland
| 100-299
| 0-66
| Non-Freezing
| 0-66
|-
| Hills
| 100-299
| 0-66
| Non-Freezing
| 66-100
|}
note1 drainage: 00-32 sand desert, 33-49 rocky wasteland, 50-65 rocky wasteland but different characters/appearance, 66-100 badlands

==== Minimum Initial Square Count ====

'''Note: The exclusive purpose of these parameters is to cause world rejection.'''

This is the minimum number of squares of the given biome that must exist before things like erosion take place. One thing to keep in mind is the maximum number of squares on a map of a given size - if the total number of squares on a map is lower than the sum of all square count parameters, then you will get infinite world rejection.

To determine the number of squares on a map, just multiply the dimensions. In practice these parameters will need to sum to lower than the maximum because some space is needed for "slack".

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Map Size
! Number of Squares
|-
| 17×17
| 289
|-
| 33×33
| 1089
|-
| 65×65
| 4225
|-
| 129×129
| 16614
|-
| 257×257
| 66049
|}

==== Minimum Initial Region Count ====

This is the minimum number of regions of contiguous biome squares that must exist before other processes such as erosion take place.

==== Minimum Final Region Count ====

This many regions of the given biome must exist after erosion and similar phases of generation have been completed.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[REGION_COUNTS:SWAMP:<init sq>:<init rg>:<final rg>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[REGION_COUNTS:SWAMP:1032:7:6]</nowiki></tt>
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[REGION_COUNTS:DESERT:<init sq>:<init rg>:<final rg>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[REGION_COUNTS:DESERT:1032:7:6]</nowiki></tt>
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[REGION_COUNTS:FOREST:<init sq>:<init rg>:<final rg>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[REGION_COUNTS:FOREST:4128:13:12]</nowiki></tt>
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[REGION_COUNTS:MOUNTAINS:<init sq>:<init rg>:<final rg>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[REGION_COUNTS:MOUNTAINS:8256:9:9]</nowiki></tt>
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[REGION_COUNTS:OCEAN:<init sq>:<init rg>:<final rg>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[REGION_COUNTS:OCEAN:8256:7:6]</nowiki></tt>
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[REGION_COUNTS:GLACIER:<init sq>:<init rg>:<final rg>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[REGION_COUNTS:GLACIER:0:0:0]</nowiki></tt>
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[REGION_COUNTS:TUNDRA:<init sq>:<init rg>:<final rg>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[REGION_COUNTS:TUNDRA:0:0:0]</nowiki></tt>
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[REGION_COUNTS:GRASSLAND:<init sq>:<init rg>:<final rg>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[REGION_COUNTS:GRASSLAND:8256:13:12]</nowiki></tt>
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[REGION_COUNTS:HILLS:<init sq>:<init rg>:<final rg>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[REGION_COUNTS:HILLS:8256:13:12]</nowiki></tt>
|}

=== Erosion Cycle Count ===

Tells the world generator how long the world has to erode its tall peaks down to mountainsides during the 'running rivers...' stage of world creation. The higher this number, the less jagged the world will be, and the more wide the major rivers will be. If you use the maximum number, your mountains will dissolve before your eyes into plains which can lead to rejections if there aren't enough mountains to use for river start points and dwarven civilization origin points.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[EROSION_CYCLE_COUNT:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[EROSION_CYCLE_COUNT:250]</nowiki></tt>
| Range: 0 to 1000
|}

=== Minimum/Desired River Start Locations ===

This is the minimum number of riverheads that must exist before and after erosion takes place. Worlds will be rejected if they fail to meet these numbers. As with minimum biome counts, raising this number doesn't automatically create this many riverheads. Other conditions like terrain and rainfall must exist for rivers to form.

Extremely high pre-erosion values speed erosion greatly, while low post erosion values are useful for limiting rejects due to lack of river origin points. One can try the 800 value to get more lakes.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[RIVER_MINS:<min pre-erosion>:<des post-erosion>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[RIVER_MINS:200:400]</nowiki></tt>
| Range: 0 to 800
|}

=== Periodically Erode Extreme Cliffs ===

If enabled, makes every impassable rock wall into a series of ramps. Some prefer to pump up erosion to about 250, and turn the "Desired pre-erosion river count" to 0 for good erosion and no extra canyons.

Normally this is set to Yes (1).

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[PERIODICALLY_ERODE_EXTREMES:<1 or 0>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[PERIODICALLY_ERODE_EXTREMES:1]</nowiki></tt>
| 1/0 = Yes/No
|}

=== Do Orographic Precipitation and Rain Shadows ===

Toggle that allows terrain height to affect rainfall. For example, moist air coming from the ocean blows over the land. As the terrain gets higher, it forces the moist air up, causing it to rain on the seaward side of a mountain. Eventually, all the rain has fallen if the mountain is tall enough. So, when the breeze goes over the top, there's no moisture left to fall on the other side, creating a rain-shadow. In the current version, regions where drainage is above 50 will also create rain shadows, regardless of the underlying biome and elevation.{{cite forum|140685/5484064}}

Turning this on should create a tendency for more extreme rainfall in regions, creating more forests, deserts, marshlands, and grasslands. Also note that it can create rainfall outside of min-max rainfall settings, so even in a world with a 0 max rainfall you may get rainfall biomes. Turning it off should result in more controllable, less complex rainfall conditions based on rainfall parameters as it adds a random element which can distort or otherwise mess up the climates on a pregenerated map.

This should be disabled if you're importing a map or using a preset map file that has weather.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[OROGRAPHIC_PRECIPITATION:<1 or 0>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[OROGRAPHIC_PRECIPITATION:1]</nowiki></tt>
| 1/0 = Yes/No
|}

=== Maximum Number of Subregions ===

This is the number of separate biomes (the flashing regions you see on embark when you hit F1, F2, etc. when there's more than one biome on the embark location) that are allowed to exist on the entire map.

Setting this to very low values will result in numerous rejections depending on [[#X and Y Variance|variance parameters]]. If variance values are set to high numbers, many small biomes will be created causing rejection if this parameter value is not increased beyond the default.

Increasing the value of this tag is often a must when generating "patchwork" worlds with lots of biome variance, but simply increasing it without increasing variance parameters will not guarantee more biomes.

It is also interesting to note that the maximum subregions is 5000 which is more than the total number of squares for a pocket or small map. However, for a medium or large map (16641 or 66049 squares) it quickly becomes a mere fraction of the total number of possible subregions. In fact it would be quite easy on a large map to end up with far too many subregions and get endless rejections of this type.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[SUBREGION_MAX:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[SUBREGION_MAX:2750]</nowiki></tt>
| Range: 1 to 5000
|}

=== Cavern Parameters ===
[[Caverns]] are the hollow areas underground, which dwarves tend to encounter when they're digging around. The '''Cavern Layer Number''' parameter determines how many cavern systems will be generated, not including the magma layer or the Bottom layer. Defaults to three. Setting it to lower values could help FPS.

Setting it to 2 will merge cavern 3 species into the 2nd cavern, and setting it to 1 will merge all into one cavern. However, disabling them entirely by setting it to 0 will make it impossible to grow any underground plants, as none will exist for your civilization to cultivate, nor will they be available on embark.

*Setting caverns to a sub-3 number (Spoiler, highlight to view) erases about one-third of HFS spires{{Bug|10267}} and prevents dig deep disasters. Additionally, random plant or animal species can be more frequently absent.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[CAVERN_LAYER_COUNT:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[CAVERN_LAYER_COUNT:3]</nowiki></tt>
| Range: 0 to 3
|}

==== Cavern Layout Parameters ====

Open caverns and dense passageways are not mutually exclusive. When both are raised, bizarre results can occur, such as layers showing a combination of open caverns, a cluster of network passages, and natural walls sprinkling the inside of an otherwise open cavern. [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=76355.msg1936859#msg1936859 Reference]

If you want the largest open spaces possible, then decrease the density and increase the openness. If you want a labyrinth of passageways, lower the openness and raise the passage density.

Another interesting note about the cavern layers is that the seed and number of demon types affect the layout of the caverns.

<gallery widths=200 heights=200 perrow=2>
File:Open00Density100.jpg|Cavern slice with Openness of 0 and Density of 100
File:Open100Density00.jpg|Cavern slice with Openness of 100 and Density of 0
File:Open100Density100.jpg|Cavern slice with Openness of 100 and Density of 100
File:Open50Density50.jpg|Cavern slice with Openness of 50 and Density of 50
</gallery>

===== Layer Openness Min/Max =====

Dictates the size of cavern passages. When Passage Density (see below) is set to minimum (0), caverns will be open expanses. Raising the maximum will increase the size of the caverns.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[CAVERN_LAYER_OPENNESS_MIN:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[CAVERN_LAYER_OPENNESS_MIN:0]</nowiki></tt>
| rowspan="2" | Range: 0 to 100
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[CAVERN_LAYER_OPENNESS_MAX:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[CAVERN_LAYER_OPENNESS_MAX:100]</nowiki></tt>
|}

===== Layer Passage Density Min/Max =====

This determines how many passages form the cavern. If openness (see above) is set to minimum and density increased, then you will get a maze-like network of small criss-crossing passages. Raising the values further increases the number of the maze-like passages.

Caverns will be large, open spaces at 0, and comprised of many small vertical shafts of rock at 100. Setting both values to be the same results in a uniform look for the caverns.{{Verify}}

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[CAVERN_LAYER_PASSAGE_DENSITY_MIN:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[CAVERN_LAYER_PASSAGE_DENSITY_MIN:0]</nowiki></tt>
| rowspan="2" | Range: 0 to 100
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[CAVERN_LAYER_PASSAGE_DENSITY_MAX:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[CAVERN_LAYER_PASSAGE_DENSITY_MAX:100]</nowiki></tt>
|}

===== Layer Water min\max =====

Determines how many caverns (out of a max. 3) will have water at the bottom. Note that, even at 100, there will be some amount of ground in caverns, but each cavern 'bubble' will contain some amount of water.

At 0, there will be no water in your caverns. This may impact future underground plant growth, although maps will still start with underground flora.{{Verify}}

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[CAVERN_LAYER_WATER_MIN:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[CAVERN_LAYER_WATER_MIN:0]</nowiki></tt>
| rowspan="2" | Range: 0 to 100
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[CAVERN_LAYER_WATER_MAX:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[CAVERN_LAYER_WATER_MAX:100]</nowiki></tt>
|}

==== Magma Layer ====

This parameter controls whether the [[magma sea]] exists.

Setting 1/Yes causes the magma layer to exist, value 0/No prevents it. Appears not to have any impact on volcanoes nor volcanism, so even if 0/No, there will still be embark locations with magma. If a [[volcano]] exists, it appears to always tap the magma sea, but the magma sea will not be revealed by revealing the volcano.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[HAVE_BOTTOM_LAYER_1:<1 or 0>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[HAVE_BOTTOM_LAYER_1:1]</nowiki></tt>
|}

==== Bottom Layer ====

Determines if the space below the magma sea exists. If Yes the "HFS" layer is always present. Normally you want to leave this set to Yes for maximum fun.

If enabled, this will force the magma layer above it.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[HAVE_BOTTOM_LAYER_2:<1 or 0>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[HAVE_BOTTOM_LAYER_2:1]</nowiki></tt>
|}

=== Z Levels (Depth) Settings ===

These parameters control the "thickness" of various "layers" on the map. Note that a "layer" in this case does not refer to one Z-level, but refers to a number of related Z-levels such as "levels above ground".

The following table assumes that you have 3 cavern layers. (out of a minimum of 0-3) The Levels Above Layer settings control how many Z-Levels are above each layer. A layer may itself consist of multiple Z-Levels (and almost always does).

{|style="margin:1em 1em 1em 0;background:#F9F9F9;border:1px #AAA solid;border-collapse:collapse;" class="wikitable"
|-style="background:#F2F2F2;text-align:center;"
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;" width="120"|Setting Name
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;" width="200"|Token
!style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"| Description
|-
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"| Above Ground
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"| <nowiki>[LEVELS_ABOVE_GROUND:<number>]</nowiki>
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"| The number of Z-levels of air above the highest surface level. Has no impact on how many Z-levels deep the surface layer is.
|-
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"| Above layer 1
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"| <nowiki>[LEVELS_ABOVE_LAYER_1:<number>]</nowiki>
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"| Z-levels of stone above the first cavern layer. Making this higher will guarantee ''at least'' this many levels to build your fortress, but will have no impact on how many z-levels thick the surface layer is. Also, the top of a cavern may be higher than the rest of a cavern, so in practice there will be more "solid" levels than this above the cavern.
As of version 0.31.25 this setting is inaccurate. The actual number of z-levels may vary in a range of approx. ±5, which may result in non-existence of any solid z-levels between a surface layer and first cavern layer.
|-
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"| Above Layer 2
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"| <nowiki>[LEVELS_ABOVE_LAYER_2:<number>]</nowiki>
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"| Z-levels of earth between the very top of the second cavern and the very bottom of the first cavern.
|-
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"| Above Layer 3
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"| <nowiki>[LEVELS_ABOVE_LAYER_3:<number>]</nowiki>
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"| Z-levels of earth between the very top of the third cavern and the very bottom of the second cavern.
|-
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"| Above Layer 4
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"| <nowiki>[LEVELS_ABOVE_LAYER_4:<number>]</nowiki>
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"| Z-levels of earth between the very highest magma and the very bottom of the third cavern. Spoiler Hidden (select invisible text to read): Making this high will give a large area for HFS veins, so that it never touches caverns, giving more to mine '''if''' it was impacting the cavern previously.
|-
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"| Above Layer 5
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"| <nowiki>[LEVELS_ABOVE_LAYER_5:<number>]</nowiki>
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"| Uncertain. May control the number of levels of "Semi Molten Rock" between HFS and Magma, may control number of levels of magma, may impact both. In experimentation, the overall depth of all magma sea and semi-molten rock levels appears to increase, but not consistent enough to say for certain. Only valid if Magma Layer present. Spoiler Hidden:Often the HFS vein will only extend as high as the highest magma, making this the only guaranteed way to increase amount of HFS to mine, but unfortunately also creating enormous useless semi-molten z-levels
|-
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"| At Bottom
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"| <nowiki>[LEVELS_AT_BOTTOM:<number>]</nowiki>
|style="border:1px #AAA solid;padding:0.2em;"| Appears to be number of levels of HFS chamber. Only valid if Bottom Layer present, often having no impact. Values larger than default result in strange things.
|}

Some implications:
* The number of surface layers (e.g. soil), at this time, cannot be controlled. For example, on a map with 1 layer of peat, then a layer of silt, then a layer of obsidian, there is no control to let you increase either one to be, say, 20 z-levels. (though you may get lucky with the obsidian).
* There can be multiple stone layers between the cavern and the surface, so, increasing Levels Above Layer 1 may give you more conglomerate or more granite, and you have no control over which stone layer spans those Z-levels.
* The layers shown on embark span across the cavern layers in an unknown and inconsistent way. Sometimes those 10 different layers of stone are evenly distributed over your 400 z-level deep map, sometimes the first 9 get 1 z-level each and the last gets the other 391 levels. No way to control found yet.
* The HFS chamber, if present, will always extend into the rock layers, and appears to always make contact with the bottom cave. Large values for levels above layer 5 and layer 4 can result in enormous chambers, but the number of levels at the top (the part with undead) appears to be unaffected.
* Unconfirmed whether number of levels between caverns has any impact on cavern height. There will be connecting ramps and/or shafts between cavern layers no matter how many levels are between them.
* '''Very Important''': These values appear to apply across a whole 16x16 region, not just embark areas. That means that if a 16x16 region is completely flat, but has one tall mountain in one far corner, even if you set Levels Above Ground low (e.g. 2 z-levels) you still have all the empty air of the highest mountain in every embark tile (e.g. 200 z-levels). Also can happen to the semi-molten layer, and can lead to unexpected behavior.
* Very large or small values can cause strange things to happen.

=== Cave Parameters ===

Caves are somewhat like caverns, except that they have a passage to the surface, and are generally much smaller – caves can connect to caverns if they are sufficiently deep.

==== Minimum/Maximum Natural Cave Size ====

These parameters appear to control the length and depth of caves.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[CAVE_MIN_SIZE:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[CAVE_MIN_SIZE:5]</nowiki></tt>
| rowspan="2" | Range: 1 to 500
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[CAVE_MAX_SIZE:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[CAVE_MAX_SIZE:25]</nowiki></tt>
|}

==== Number of Caves ====
The number of caves generated in mountainous and non-mountainous regions, mountain caves will always be generated on the edge of mountain ranges next to non-mountainous regions. Lurking [[kobold]]s set up shop in caves, and store their stolen items there - a setting of 0 in both will stop kobold civilizations from appearing. Special note: a cave is not initially a [[lair]], although beasts can later use them as their lair.
{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[MOUNTAIN_CAVE_MIN:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[MOUNTAIN_CAVE_MIN:100]</nowiki></tt>
| rowspan="2" | Range: 0 to 800
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[NON_MOUNTAIN_CAVE_MIN:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[NON_MOUNTAIN_CAVE_MIN:200]</nowiki></tt>
|}

==== Make Caves Visible ====

If set to no (default) then the location of caves will not be marked on the map. If set to yes, caves will appear on the map so that they may be sought out or avoided as desired.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[ALL_CAVES_VISIBLE:<1 or 0>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[ALL_CAVES_VISIBLE:0]</nowiki></tt>
| 1/0 = Yes/No
|}

=== Allow Init Options to Show Tunnels ===

If enabled, you will be able to see the underground tunnels often built by dwarves on the world map, and they will appear as black lines, similar to roads.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[SHOW_EMBARK_TUNNEL:<0-2>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[SHOW_EMBARK_TUNNEL:2]</nowiki></tt>
| 0 = No 1 = Only in Finder 2 = Always
|}

=== Number of Civilizations ===

This number of [[civilization]]s will be placed on the map before history generation begins. These civilizations may later die out due to historical events. It is noteworthy that the chance for any given civilization to be destroyed through megabeasts decreases with a higher total number of civilizations present[http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=7348f68f41a9659443c05b2acf534e6c&topic=112465.15 data]. The five races are dwarf, elf, human, goblin, and kobold; they will generally be placed in equal numbers until the quota has been reached. If there are not enough biomes or other worldgen prerequisites for an even distribution, certain civs will be much more or less frequent than others[http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=7348f68f41a9659443c05b2acf534e6c&topic=112465.15 data]. If there is an odd number of civs (not divisible by 5), then the remainder is distributed randomly. Kobold civs require caves to be placed; if no caves exist, then kobolds are skipped and will not appear. This does not cause rejections [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=112465.msg3415125#msg3415125 data]. Goblin civilizations require multiple demons, see the [[#Number_of_Demon_Types|number of demon types]] section above.

Note that a high value here can cause lots of map rejections, particularly on smaller maps as there simply isn't enough room or regions to put them all in.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[TOTAL_CIV_NUMBER:<number>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[TOTAL_CIV_NUMBER:40]</nowiki></tt>
| Range: 0 to 300
|}

=== Playable Civilization Required ===

If this is set to yes (default) then worlds will be rejected if no civilization with [[Entity token|CIV_CONTROLLABLE]] can be placed. In an unmodded game, only the dwarves have this token.

If set to no, the result may be a world that cannot be played in Fortress Mode.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[PLAYABLE_CIVILIZATION_REQUIRED:<1 or 0>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[PLAYABLE_CIVILIZATION_REQUIRED:1]</nowiki></tt>
| 1/0 = Yes/No
|}

=== Minimum Number of Mid/Low/High Characteristic Squares ===

Sets the minimum possible number of squares of certain ranges of each of the region qualities, such as elevation, rain, drainage, volcanism, savagery, and temperature. These need to be changed to reflect your regional meshes and weights, and are responsible for a HUGE number of map rejections. These values can all be set to 0 for much fewer map rejections, particularly in the case of more wacky, non-standard maps.

These values will cause worlds to be rejected unless at least the given number of squares of the given type are randomly generated. Setting these values too high could result in worlds always being rejected if other parameters such as the maximum/minimums for elevation, etc., don't allow enough of those squares to get generated.

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#dddddd"
! Token
! Example
! Notes
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[ELEVATION_RANGES:<low sq>:<mid sq>:<high sq>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[ELEVATION_RANGES:8256:16512:8256]</nowiki></tt>
| rowspan="5" | Minimum number of squares that must have low, medium, and high amounts of the given attribute. 
0 = No minimum
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[RAIN_RANGES:<low sq>:<mid sq>:<high sq>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[RAIN_RANGES:8256:16512:8256]</nowiki></tt>
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[DRAINAGE_RANGES:<low sq>:<mid sq>:<high sq>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[DRAINAGE_RANGES:8256:16512:8256]</nowiki></tt>
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[SAVAGERY_RANGES:<low sq>:<mid sq>:<high sq>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[SAVAGERY_RANGES:8256:16512:8256]</nowiki></tt>
|-
| <tt><nowiki>[VOLCANISM_RANGES:<low sq>:<mid sq>:<high sq>]</nowiki></tt>
| <tt><nowiki>[VOLCANISM_RANGES:8256:16512:8256]</nowiki></tt>
|}

==World rejection==

:''Main article: [[World rejection]]''

If you are having the common problem of generated worlds always being rejected by the world generator, see [[v0.31:World rejection|Solving World Rejection Problems (v0.31 page)]] as it contains many detailed suggestions on how to troubleshoot and solve these issues.

== Parameter set examples ==

If you're trying to do something specific, then the [[Worldgen examples]] - complete parameter sets that can be copied directly into your ''world_gen.txt'' file and customized as desired - might be helpful.
If none of the examples suit your needs, [[Worldgen tricks]] has strategies and tips on making a world just right for you.

For many, many more examples see:
* [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=101280 DF2012 (v0.34) WorldGen "Cookbook" Thread]
* [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=140180 DF2014 (v0.40) WorldGen "Cookbook" Thread]
* [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=168543.0 DF2014 (v0.44.02+) WorldGen "Cookbook" Thread]
* [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175538 DF2014 (v0.47.01+) WorldGen "Cookbook" Thread]
* [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=180805.0 DF2022 (v0.50.01+) WorldGen "Cookbook" Thread]

{{World}}

User:Zymlex

2025-09-07T17:21:08Z

Zymlex: Created blank page

Sponge man

2025-09-07T17:19:54Z

Zymlex: aquatic notify

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{{Creaturelookup/0
|image=sponge_man_sprite.png
|portrait=sponge_man_portrait.png
|contrib=no
|death=nobutcher
|wiki=no
}}
{{av}}
{{creaturedesc}}
'''Sponge men''' are humanoid versions of the common [[sponge]] and a [[Creature|species]] of [[animal people]], found in most [[savage]] bodies of water. They are exactly as large as a [[dwarf]] and spawn in groups of 1-3 individuals. Because they are made of sponge tissue, they are incredibly fragile (even more so than normal sponges due to having many body parts to attack), making them harmless to all but the most unlucky of dwarves. Sponge men don't need to eat, drink or sleep to survive and are born as full-sized adults, never going through any growth during their lives.

While they can learn and are able to join [[civilization]]s, they never do so, as they are completely [[aquatic]] and cannot survive on the surface.

Some dwarves [[Preferences|like]] sponge men for their ''squishy texture''.

[[File:sponge_man.png|thumb|177px|center|"F" is for friends who do stuff together!" ''Art by Arne'']]

===Creature behavior===
{{D for Dwarf}}


Sponge men are often known for wearing, unusually for an animal, [[trousers]]. Said trousers are often, even more unusually, square. They are known for their piercing, demonic laughter, and inability to commandeer a [[wagon]]. They are often at odds with [[squid man|squid men]], although they are rarely aware of the fact. Sponge men tend to come under the employment of [[crab man|crab men]], usually working in [[kitchen|kitchens]].

{{Translation| dwarven = adbok udos | elvish = meca onino | goblin = gestrast ngorûg | human = muma abo}}

{{gamedata}}
{{Creatures}}

Modding

2025-09-07T14:14:16Z

Zymlex: Wrong path

{{Quality|Fine}}
{{av}}
{{For/see|a list of Dwarf Fortress mods|[[List of mods]]}}
{{Modding}}
'''Modding''', or creating [[mod]]s, refers to modifying the behavior of the base game (vanilla). ''Dwarf Fortress'' is remarkably moddable.

== Resource Overview==
[[File:modding_icon.png|120px|right]]This section serves as a portal to all modding-related pages on the wiki.

; Using Mods:
* [[Mod#Downloading mods|Downloading mods]]
* [[Mod#Enabling/installing mods|Enabling mods in-game]]

; Guides and references:
* [[Modding guide|DF RAWs modding guide]]
* [[Modding pitfalls]] for troubleshooting

* [[Mod#Mod format|Mod format]] and [[Game folders and files]]
* [https://github.com/Putnam3145/DF-Raws/tree/master Official DFRaws repository] and [https://github.com/DF-Wiki/DFRawFunctions Wiki mirror]
* [[Mod#Publishing on Steam Workshop|Publish on Steam Workshop]]
* [[Character table]]
* [[String dump]]

* [https://github.com/Putnam3145/Dwarf-Fortress--libgraphics-- Official SLD2 repository]
* [https://docs.dfhack.org/en/latest/docs/guides/modding-guide.html#dfhack-modding-guide DFHack modding guide]
* [[Memory hacking]], [[Main:Offset Finding Methods|Offset Finding Methods]]

; Where to get help?
* The official [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?board=13.0 modding subforum] on the [[Bay 12 Forums]].
* [https://discord.com/channels/329272032778780672/629902895138996264 #modding-discussion] and [https://discord.com/channels/329272032778780672/1069640085718450218 #modding-technical] channels on [[Kitfox Games]]' Discord.
* [https://docs.dfhack.org/en/stable/docs/Introduction.html#getting-help DFHack questions]

; Modding tools
* There are several specialized [[Utilities#Modding tools|utilities]] that assist in modding efforts. There is [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=28829.0 a longer list of them] on the [[Bay 12 Forums]].
:*[https://putnam3145.github.io/helper Material Helper] by [[User:Putnam3145]], for calculating [[Material definition token|material properties]].
:*[https://jose96xd.github.io/DF_Tools/index.html DF Tools] by [[User:Jose96xd]], a collection of web tools.
:*[https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=1738 DFLang] (by Igfig) and [https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=7174 LangCreate] (by Talvieno) for generating [[Language token|translations]].
:*[http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=158930.0 Dwarf Portrait] by Rose, for visualizing unit [[Body token|bodies]].
* Text editors are used in all areas of modding. Use a good text editor to edit files and search into multiple files (like the free [https://notepad-plus-plus.org/ Notepad++] for example) or more advanced editors capable of highlighting and formatting the displayed text (like [[Utilities#DF RAW Language server|DF RAW Language server]])
* Image editors are needed for doing custom graphics. [https://www.getpaint.net/ Paint.NET], Photoshop and GIMP are the most used, but whatever supports the .png format will work.

=== Documentation===
; [[Raw file]]s

These object files, stored in <code>/data/vanilla/*/objects/</code>, define various specifics of game items, materials, and creatures, and can be changed using mods to alter how the game behaves. These are text based and can be edited with any text editor, however, editing the vanilla raw files is now discouraged.

See [[Token|Token reference]] - It's always good to refer to tokens on the wiki. Even experienced modders have to look up tokens! A list of articles about tokens can be found here.

; [[Graphics|Graphics files]]:

The `/data/art/` subfolder of Dwarf Fortress is used to store user-customizable [[tileset]]s while mods can include their own [[Graphics#Premium Graphics|graphics files]].

; [[Reaction]]s:

; [[Language token|Language]] and [[Speech file]]:

; [[Audio|Sound and Music files]]:

All sound and music files used by ''Dwarf Fortress'' are stored in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogg .ogg] format within the <code>/data/sound/</code> subfolders. Mods can load new audio files. You can also change some of the definitions of when certain musical cues are played, using available [[music token]]s and [[sound token]]s in the raw files.

An example mod by [[User:Putnam3145]] is available on [https://github.com/Putnam3145/dwarf-fortress-example-sound-mod Github].

; [[Lua scripting]]:

An experimental feature used for procedural generation.

=== Best practice ===
The current best practice is to not modify the original raw files, since most modifications can be made via mods. Mods can add new objects, add tokens to existing objects, and cut objects entirely. You should prefer ``SELECT`` over ``CUT``, and prefer ``CUT`` over unloading ([[Mod info token|conflicting with]]) vanilla raws.

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

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

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

=== Token reference ===
It's always good to refer to tokens on the wiki. Even experienced modders have to look up tokens! A list of articles about tokens can be found [[Token|here]].

=== Basics of DF modding ===
To make a mod, one must put a folder into the <code>/mods/</code> directory in the game's AppData [[File|folder]] or the portable directory. When a mod is first installed, it is copied to <code>/data/installed_mods/</code> and the game loads all data from the installed copy. Changes are NOT immediately propagated from <code>/mods/</code> to <code>/data/installed_mods/</code>. You can create a new installed copy by deleting the old copy or by incrementing the [[Mod info token|version info]] - see [[modding pitfalls]] for more information. The vast majority of modifications to the game can be done via this method.

Your mod folder should contain a file named "info.txt" and two subfolders: "graphics" (where you insert [[Graphics set repository|graphics sets]]), and "objects", which contains all the data for, generally, everything in the game that is not hardcoded.

The [[info.txt]] is formatted like so:

{{code|
[ID:my_first_mod]
[NUMERIC_VERSION:1]
[DISPLAYED_VERSION:1.0.0]
[EARLIEST_COMPATIBLE_NUMERIC_VERSION:1]
[EARLIEST_COMPATIBLE_DISPLAYED_VERSION:1.0.0]
[AUTHOR:Your Name Here]
[NAME:My First Mod]
[DESCRIPTION:A cool mod I made!]
}}

A mod should have all of these. There are a [[mod info token|few more tokens]], but the above are the important ones.

Most of the game's vanilla content is in the same format as mods. Many text files can be found in the subfolders of the <code>/data/vanilla</code> folder - these are the [[raw file|raw files]], and using them as a basis for modification is quite easy. For now, we will take a look at one of the existing files. For example, if you open <code>/data/vanilla/vanilla_creatures/objects/creature_standard.txt</code>, it should look something like this:

{{code|
creature_standard

[OBJECT:CREATURE]

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

As you can see, each file comprises a header string stating the file name, a second header stating the type of object data it contains, followed by the contents of the file itself. These are all necessary elements of the file, and without them, the file will be ignored by the game.

'''In other words, to be recognized by the game, a raw file must have all of the following:'''

# A filename that refers to the type of objects contained therein. '''Creature files must start with creature_, entity files must start with entity_, and so on.'''
# The filename on the first line of the file.
# ``[OBJECT:type]``, where "type" is replaced with the relevant object type.

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

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

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

* Try to avoid modifying the existing raw files when possible. You should make a mod instead!
* When adding files, token identifiers are all you need to include to ensure proper references are maintained. The game searches through all loaded raw files by tokens.
** For example, you can add a new pair of leather boots and not even have to add it to a file named ``item_shoes.txt``, but rather your own file, say ``item_shoes_new.txt``.
** All objects must have a unique token identifier. Adding a consistent prefix or suffix to your mod's objects (ie: ``[ITEM_SHOES:ITEM_SHOES_BOOTS_NEW]``) greatly reduces the chance that another mod uses the same token. If two mods define objects with the same token without cutting the other, then they will be incompatible due to [[duplicated raws]].
* When a new world is generated, the mods included are "baked in" and cannot be modified except to be updated—for this, the game checks that the mod used by the save is of a compatible {{token|NUMERIC_VERSION|modinfo}}.
* There's nothing stopping you from just copying an existing creature/entity/whatever, changing the identifier, and modifying it. This can save you a lot of time, especially when it comes to entities.

=== Modifying the vanilla objects ===

You should not modify the vanilla raws where they originally are if you can help it. Instead, patch them using the patching functions provided with ''Dwarf Fortress'' since v50.01.

There are two patching functions: ``SELECT`` and ``CUT``. When ``SELECT`` is used, it lets you make changes to an object without needing the entire entry to be present in your mod file. When ``CUT`` is used, it forces the game to not use that object, even though it is still found in the vanilla raws (or in any other mods earlier in the load order). Both of these functions take the form of tokens. These functions are not universally applicable to any token found in any entry, just the following list of base objects:

* [[Creature token|CREATURE]]
* [[Entity token|ENTITY]]
* [[Interaction token|INTERACTION]]
* [[Item definition token|ITEM]]
* [[Language token|WORD, TRANSLATION, SYMBOL]]
* [[Inorganic material definition token|INORGANIC]]
* [[Plant token|PLANT]]
* [[Audio|MUSIC, SOUND]]
* [[Reaction token|REACTION]]

The syntax required for these functions is: ``[<function>_<object>:<specific object being affected>]``. For instance, ``[CUT_PLANT:MUSHROOM_HELMET_PLUMP]`` cuts the plump helmet object originally defined in the vanilla file ``[https://github.com/DF-Wiki/DFRawFunctions/blob/master/raws/v50/plant_standard.txt plant_standard.txt]``, so the game will not use that object at all. However, ``[SELECT_ITEM_HELM:ITEM_HELM_HELM]`` does not select the helm object from the vanilla file ``[https://github.com/DF-Wiki/DFRawFunctions/blob/master/raws/v50/item_helm.txt item_helm.txt]``, even though that's how the object appears in that file, because there is no ``[SELECT_ITEM_HELM]`` token. Instead, the helm would be selected with ``[SELECT_ITEM:ITEM_HELM_HELM]``.

For example, if you wanted to mod beards onto dwarven women while also removing elephants from the game:

{{code|
creature_mypatch

[OBJECT:CREATURE]

[SELECT_CREATURE:DWARF] starts editing DWARF from the end of the entry
[SELECT_CASTE:FEMALE]
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:FACIAL_HAIR_TISSUE_LAYERS]

[CUT_CREATURE:ELEPHANT] removes the ELEPHANT creature
}}

Or, say, add your own reaction and building to dwarves:

{{code|
entity_mypatch

[OBJECT:ENTITY]

[SELECT_ENTITY:MOUNTAIN]
[PERMITTED_REACTION:MY_REACTION]
[PERMITTED_BUILDING:MY_BUILDING]
}}

And in any of these, one can add the token ``[LOG_CURRENT_ENTRY]`` somewhere under one of the objects of the file, which logs the full contents of the object in question to ``logs\current_entry.txt``. This can be useful to make sure that the patch is doing what you think it is. For instance if ``[LOG_CURRENT_ENTRY]`` were added on the next line after ``[CREATURE:DWARF]`` in your mod file, then the dwarf object would be the object detailed in the log entry.

Note that it is not possible to remove an existing token from most objects using ``SELECT`` or ``CUT`` alone. Creatures can make use of {{token|CV_REMOVE_TAG|cv}}; for other objects, it is currently necessary to ``CUT`` the entire object and redefine it.

...Speaking of, let's move on to modifying and adding entities.

=== Modding civilizations (entities) ===

Entities - the objects that determine how civilizations work - are stored in <code>[https://github.com/DF-Wiki/DFRawFunctions/blob/master/raws/v50/entity_default.txt vanilla_entities/objects/entity_default.txt]</code> (though, like all other files, you may add more). They follow the same format as any other raw file:

{{code|
entity_default

[OBJECT:ENTITY]

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

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

{{token|CREATURE|e}} links the civilization with a specific creature defined in a creature file. This is the creature that'll be making up the entity's population, and, therefore, the creature you'll be playing as in fortress or adventure mode if the entity is a playable one. For example, if you wanted to do something silly, you could switch the {{token|CREATURE|e|DWARF}} entry in ``entity_default.txt`` with {{token|CREATURE|e|ELF}} and you would be marching elves around in fortress mode, although they would still use dwarven technology, [[Dwarven language|language]] and [[name]]s and so forth. Oh, and before you get any funny ideas - it ''is'' possible to define more than one creature for a civ, but that won't work in quite the way you probably expect; it will pick only one of the defined creatures at random to use for the civ. Later on, in the creature section, you'll learn about castes, which will provide a much more viable alternative, so try to bear with us until then.

{{token|TRANSLATION|e}} defines the language file that the entity will be using, which will determine what their native words are for things. This doesn't determine which words they use for naming things, only the way those words are spelled. The default language files are ``HUMAN``, ``DWARF``, ``ELF``, and ``GOBLIN``, as well as the generated ``GEN_DIVINE`` and ``GEN_IDENTITY``.{{version|51.06-Lua}}

{{token|BIOME_SUPPORT|e}} defines the [[Biome token|biomes]] that civs will attempt to settle in. The ``FREQUENCY`` value determines the likelihood of them building there, but also raises an important point: most of the values you'll be setting for things are relative to each other. If one were to type:

{{code|
[BIOME_SUPPORT:ANY_FOREST:1]
[BIOME_SUPPORT:SAVANNA:2]
}}

This would have very much the same effect as:

{{code|
[BIOME_SUPPORT:ANY_FOREST:5]
[BIOME_SUPPORT:SAVANNA:10]
}}

This holds true for a lot of values throughout the files, excluding when it simply doesn't make sense, such as in materials. For more information, see [[entity token]]s.

Besides those mentioned, some fundamental ones are the {{token|SITE_CONTROLLABLE|e}} token, which lets you control the civ in fortress mode, and the {{token|ALL_MAIN_POPS_CONTROLLABLE|e}} token, which allows you to play a civ native (non-outsider) in adventure mode. Other tokens that you should pay attention to are {{token|START_BIOME|e}} and the ones regarding sites, but in general, you can just run through the aforementioned list and add or remove what you want.

Also see the creature-level {{token|OUTSIDER_CONTROLLABLE}} token, which allows you to play in adventure mode as an outsider.

By default, the game chooses a {{token|SITE_CONTROLLABLE|e}} civ (and therefore a species if there is more than one) at random when starting a fortress mode game. The group selection section on the embark screen lists all available civs and their primary creature.

You can also attempt to discern the civ yourself by the names it uses - this is the realm of [[Language#language_SYM|symbols]], collections of words centered around a specific concept. The civ will use words from whatever symbols are selected for it for various things. This association might be a little confusing at first, so, let's refer to the "MOUNTAIN" entity:

{{code|
[SELECT_SYMBOL:WAR:NAME_WAR]
[SUBSELECT_SYMBOL:WAR:VIOLENT]
[SELECT_SYMBOL:BATTLE:NAME_BATTLE]
[SUBSELECT_SYMBOL:BATTLE:VIOLENT]
[SELECT_SYMBOL:SIEGE:NAME_SIEGE]
[SUBSELECT_SYMBOL:SIEGE:VIOLENT]
}}

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

{{code|
[SELECT_SYMBOL:ROAD:NAME_ROAD]
[SELECT_SYMBOL:TUNNEL:NAME_TUNNEL]
[SELECT_SYMBOL:BRIDGE:NAME_BRIDGE]
[SELECT_SYMBOL:WALL:NAME_WALL]
}}

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

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

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

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

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

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

==== Trade ====
The following [[entity token]]s affect the appearance of [[trading]] [[caravan]]s:

* {{token|ACTIVE_SEASON|e}} - Defines the seasons when an entity may visit your fortress.
* ``[[Entity token#PROGRESS_TRIGGER_POPULATION|[PROGRESS_TRIGGER_*]]]`` - Defines the triggers which control when an entity will become interested in your fortress.
* {{token|COMMON_DOMESTIC_PACK|e}} - Allows the civilization to use domestic pack animals. If an entity lacks pack animals (or ability to pull wagons), it will be unable to send caravans (showing as {{DFtext|No Trade|6:1}} at the [[embark]] screen), unless it has domesticated any suitable animal species or is forced to use a non-suitable creature by the {{token|ANIMAL|e}} definition {{token|ALWAYS_WAGON_PULLER|e}} on creature, caste or class.
* {{token|COMMON_DOMESTIC_PULL|e}} - Allows the civilization to use domestic animals to pull [[wagon]]s, assuming their ``[[Ethic#KILL_PLANT|[ETHIC:KILL_PLANT]]]`` permits them to use wagons in the first place.
* {{token|MERCHANT_BODYGUARDS|e}} - Caravan will be guarded by [[soldier]]s.

=== Modding creatures ===

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

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

==== Creature materials and tissues ====

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

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

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

Below the {{token|BODY}} token you'll see a {{token|TISSUE}} token, followed by an identifier, much like the others we've seen. The {{token|TISSUE}} block is determining how the tissue works, and which purposes it'll serve. As the colossus is just going to be made out of this one tissue, this tissue needs to act like bone, muscle, and everything else combined, hence the {{token|MUSCULAR|tissue}}, {{token|FUNCTIONAL|tissue}} and {{token|STRUCTURAL|tissue}} tokens. The tissue also references a material - ``[INORGANIC:BRONZE]`` - the properties of which are declared in the [[Inorganic material definition token|inorganic materials]] file ``[https://github.com/DF-Wiki/DFRawFunctions/blob/master/raws/v50/inorganic_metal.txt inorganic_metal.txt]``, and the tissue is subsequently made out of this material. With us so far?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This is where [[Body detail plan token|body detail plans]], which have their own file, and are designed to help automate some of the more common processes in creature creation, come in. The first entry in ``[https://github.com/DF-Wiki/DFRawFunctions/blob/master/raws/v50/b_detail_plan_default.txt b_detail_plan_default.txt]`` does exactly what we've been trying to do above: it takes all the common materials and shoves them into one plan, which can be referenced with a single token.

{{code|
...
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:STANDARD_MATERIALS]
...
}}

Much easier. But what about the {{token|TISSUE_LAYER}} tokens? Will we have to type out all of those manually? Nope, detail plans have that covered as well. It's possible to place variable arguments into a detail plan. For example:

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

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

{{code|
[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:VERTEBRATE_TISSUE_LAYERS:SKIN:FAT:MUSCLE:BONE:CARTILAGE]
}}

``ARG1`` in the detail plan is replaced by "SKIN", the first tissue we entered. ``ARG2`` is replaced by "FAT", ``ARG3`` by "MUSCLE", ``ARG4`` by "BONE", and ``ARG5`` by "CARTILAGE". Hence, our creature's body part designated as {{token|CATEGORY|body|BODY}} is made up of "SKIN" with thickness 1, "FAT" with thickness 5, and "MUSCLE" with thickness 50. Its nose is made up of "SKIN" (thickness 1) and "CARTILAGE" (thickness 4).

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

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

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

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

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

We then, in our own mod, select the appropriate material:

{{code|
[SELECT_CREATURE:DWARF]
[SELECT_MATERIAL:SKIN]
[MAT_FIXED_TEMP:10600]
...
}}

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

{{code|
[SELECT_CREATURE:DWARF]
[SELECT_MATERIAL:SKIN]
[MAT_FIXED_TEMP:10600]
[SELECT_MATERIAL:ALL]
[HEATDAM_POINT:NONE]
...
}}

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

==== Creature castes ====

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

To understand the true potential of the caste system, we only need to take a look at the raws for antmen, found in ``[https://github.com/DF-Wiki/DFRawFunctions/blob/master/raws/v50/creature_subterranean.txt creature_subterrenean.txt]``:

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

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

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

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

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

=== Modding items ===

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

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

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

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

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

Weapons involve a little more detail:

{{code|
[ITEM_WEAPON:ITEM_WEAPON_SWORD_2H]
[NAME:two-handed sword:two-handed swords]
[SIZE:900]
[SKILL:SWORD]
[TWO_HANDED:67500]
[MINIMUM_SIZE:62500]
[MATERIAL_SIZE:5]
[ATTACK:EDGE:100000:8000:slash:slashes:NO_SUB:1250]
[ATTACK_PREPARE_AND_RECOVER:3:3]
[ATTACK:EDGE:50:4000:stab:stabs:NO_SUB:1000]
[ATTACK_PREPARE_AND_RECOVER:3:3]
[ATTACK:BLUNT:100000:8000:slap:slaps:flat:1250]
[ATTACK_PREPARE_AND_RECOVER:3:3]
[ATTACK:BLUNT:100:1000:strike:strikes:pommel:1000]
[ATTACK_PREPARE_AND_RECOVER:3:3]
}}

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

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

Following these are the nouns and verb used; they should be self-explanatory. Finally, we have the velocity modifier, which has a multiplying effect on the weapon's size for the purposes of determining how powerful it is in combat. But more accurate it describe distribution of momentum across length of weapon. So "STAB" perfomed with only muscular power and modifier is x1 (1000). "SLASH" performed with some rotating momentum of cutting edge, but sword is pretty balanced thru it's length and modifier is just x1.25 (1250). Axes, hammers and maces have more unbalanced mass distribution and weapon mass concentrated far from grasp, so higher modifiers.

{{token|ATTACK_PREPARE_AND_RECOVER|weapon}} determines number of game frames to perform these actions. In vanilla, all attacks except [[whip|lashing]] use 3:3.

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

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

=== Modding language files ===
{{main|Language token}}

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

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

All raw files use [[Character table|Code Page 437]] encoding, and you should make sure you are editing these files in that format. As many text editors default to UTF-8, some characters with diacritical marks may fail to show properly. Saving one of the default language raw files in this state will overwrite these characters with the Unicode question mark, which will corrupt the file. To fix this replace the file with a clean one downloaded from the distributed version of DF.

(Note that the name of the file doesn't actually matter; but it's typical to name the file after a creature if it's exclusive to their civilization.)

=== Modding body parts ===

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

All of the default body definitions are located in ``[https://github.com/DF-Wiki/DFRawFunctions/blob/master/raws/v50/body_default.txt body_default.txt]`` and then linked to a creature in the creature's entry. We've talked about how bodyparts make up creatures earlier, in the creature section. You can mix and match them in the creature entry and it makes no difference, as long as they're there: each body part will link itself to the appropriate connection automatically when the creature is first created.

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

{{code|
[BODY:BODYNAME]
[BP:TOKENID:name][TOKENSGOHERE][DEFAULT_RELSIZE:][CATEGORY:WHATEVER]
}}

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

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

Let's take a simple example, a head:

{{code|
[BODY:BASIC_HEAD]
[BP:HD:head:STP][CONTYPE:UPPERBODY][HEAD][CATEGORY:HEAD]
[DEFAULT_RELSIZE:300]
}}

It connects directly to an upper body.

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

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

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

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

``[[Bodygloss|[BODYGLOSS]]]`` entries, which you can sometimes find applied to creature entries, are simply replacement words for specific part name strings in a creature. For example, you'll find the bodygloss definition ``[BODYGLOSS:CLAW_HAND:hand:claw]`` in ``[https://github.com/DF-Wiki/DFRawFunctions/blob/master/raws/v50/body_default.txt body_default.txt]``; you can then use this in a creature via ``[BODYGLOSS:CLAW_HAND]`` and it'll replace all instances of "hand" with "claw" in that creature. Be warned, however—if you were to, say make a bodygloss ``[BODYGLOSS:EARSTALK:ear:stalk:ears:stalk]``, it would not only change "ear" and "ears" to "stalk" and "stalks", it would also change "h'''ear'''t" to "h'''stalk'''t"! For all intents and purposes the body part will still function as the proper part, though.

=== Modding plants ===

Plants are, again, not unlike creatures. With what you've learned so far in regard to tokens and the materials system, running through the notes included in ``[https://github.com/DF-Wiki/DFRawFunctions/blob/master/raws/v50/plant_standard.txt plant_standard.txt]`` should explain most things. Here's the list of [[Plant token]]s.

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

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

[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:SEED:SEED_TEMPLATE]
[MATERIAL_VALUE:1]
[EDIBLE_VERMIN]
[EDIBLE_COOKED]
[SEED:plump helmet spawn:plump helmet spawn:4:0:1:LOCAL_PLANT_MAT:SEED]
[SPRING][SUMMER][AUTUMN][WINTER]
[FREQUENCY:100]
[CLUSTERSIZE:5]
[PREFSTRING:rounded tops]
[WET][DRY]
[BIOME:SUBTERRANEAN_WATER]
[UNDERGROUND_DEPTH:1:3]
[SHRUB_TILE:58]
[DEAD_SHRUB_TILE:58]
[SHRUB_COLOR:5:0:0]
[DEAD_SHRUB_COLOR:0:0:1]
}}

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

{{code|
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:STRUCTURAL:STRUCTURAL_PLANT_TEMPLATE]
[MATERIAL_VALUE:2]
[BASIC_MAT:LOCAL_PLANT_MAT:STRUCTURAL]
}}

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

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

{{code|
[EDIBLE_VERMIN]
[EDIBLE_RAW]
[EDIBLE_COOKED]
}}

Next, {{token|PICKED_TILE|p|6}} is the character (6, or ♠) shown when the crop is harvested. See [[Main:Character table|character table]] for a table of usable tiles. {{token|PICKED_COLOR|p|5:0:0}} is the [[color]] used for the crop's tile when harvested. It's in a ``<foreground>:<background>:<brightness>`` format, resulting in a purple spade: {{Tile|♠|5:0}}

{{code|
[PICKED_TILE:6][PICKED_COLOR:5:0:0]
}}

{{token|GROWDUR|p|300}} is how long it takes for your crop to grow. There are 1008 growdur units in a [[Time|season]]. You can calculate this value [https://jose96xd.github.io/DF_Tools/Modules/TimeConverter.html here]. 
{{token|VALUE|p|2}} is the [[item value]] of the harvested plant (default 1).

{{code|
[GROWDUR:300][VALUE:2]
}}

This defines the plant's alcohol states. {{token|STATE_NAME_ADJ|ALL_SOLID|md}} is the frozen name, followed is the actual drink name, and then its boiling name. Drinks can evaporate and freeze in Scorching or Freezing [[Temperature|climates]], respectively.

{{token|DISPLAY_COLOR|md}} is ASCII color, and {{token|STATE_COLOR|md}} is a [[Color#Color tokens|named color]] linked to a graphical [[palette]].

{{token|EDIBLE_RAW|md}} and {{token|EDIBLE_COOKED|md}} are saying you can drink the alcohol raw or cooked.

{{code|
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:DRINK:PLANT_ALCOHOL_TEMPLATE]
[STATE_NAME_ADJ:ALL_SOLID:frozen dwarven wine]
[STATE_NAME_ADJ:LIQUID:dwarven wine]
[STATE_NAME_ADJ:GAS:boiling dwarven wine]
[STATE_COLOR:ALL:AMETHYST]
[MATERIAL_VALUE:2]
[DISPLAY_COLOR:5:0:0]
[EDIBLE_RAW]
[EDIBLE_COOKED]
[PREFIX:NONE]
[DRINK:LOCAL_PLANT_MAT:DRINK]
}}

After that we get our seed template:

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

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

And finally for the last chunk we have this:

{{code|
[SPRING][SUMMER][AUTUMN][WINTER]
[FREQUENCY:100]
[CLUSTERSIZE:5]
[PREFSTRING:rounded tops]
[WET][DRY]
[BIOME:SUBTERRANEAN_WATER]
[UNDERGROUND_DEPTH:1:3]
[SHRUB_TILE:58]
[DEAD_SHRUB_TILE:58]
[SHRUB_COLOR:5:0:0]
[DEAD_SHRUB_COLOR:0:0:1]
}}

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

Plump helmet shrubs look like {{Tile|:|5:0}}.

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

==== Trees ====

[[Tree]]s are another kind of plant that can be modded. Being plants, they use many of the same tokens as edible crops, but differ in having a few tree-specific tokens.

Below is the [[apple|apple tree]] raw description:

{{code|
[PLANT:APPLE] malus sieversii
[NAME:apple tree][NAME_PLURAL:apple trees][ADJ:apple tree]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:STRUCTURAL:STRUCTURAL_PLANT_TEMPLATE]
[BASIC_MAT:LOCAL_PLANT_MAT:STRUCTURAL]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:WOOD:WOOD_TEMPLATE]
[STATE_NAME:ALL_SOLID:apple wood]
[STATE_ADJ:ALL_SOLID:apple wood]
[PREFIX:NONE]
[SOLID_DENSITY:745] *** http://www.csudh.edu/oliver/chemdata/woods.htm
[STATE_COLOR:ALL_SOLID:CHOCOLATE] *** http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,61009.0.html
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:DRINK:PLANT_ALCOHOL_TEMPLATE]
[STATE_NAME_ADJ:ALL_SOLID:frozen apple cider]
[STATE_NAME_ADJ:LIQUID:apple cider]
[STATE_NAME_ADJ:GAS:boiling apple cider]
[MATERIAL_VALUE:2]
[DISPLAY_COLOR:6:0:0]
[EDIBLE_RAW]
[EDIBLE_COOKED]
[PREFIX:NONE]
[DRINK:LOCAL_PLANT_MAT:DRINK]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:LEAF:LEAF_TEMPLATE]
[STATE_COLOR:ALL:GREEN]
[DISPLAY_COLOR:2:0:0]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:FLOWER:FLOWER_TEMPLATE]
[STATE_COLOR:ALL:ROSE]
[DISPLAY_COLOR:5:0:1]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:FRUIT:FRUIT_TEMPLATE]
[STATE_COLOR:ALL:RUST]
[DISPLAY_COLOR:4:0:0]
[EDIBLE_VERMIN]
[EDIBLE_RAW]
[EDIBLE_COOKED]
[STOCKPILE_PLANT_GROWTH]
[MATERIAL_REACTION_PRODUCT:DRINK_MAT:LOCAL_PLANT_MAT:DRINK]
[MATERIAL_REACTION_PRODUCT:SEED_MAT:LOCAL_PLANT_MAT:SEED]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:SEED:SEED_TEMPLATE]
[MATERIAL_VALUE:1]
[EDIBLE_VERMIN]
[SEED:apple seed:apple seeds:0:0:1:LOCAL_PLANT_MAT:SEED]
[TREE:LOCAL_PLANT_MAT:WOOD][TREE_TILE:5]
[TRUNK_PERIOD:10]
[HEAVY_BRANCH_DENSITY:25]
[BRANCH_DENSITY:50]
[MAX_TRUNK_HEIGHT:3]
[HEAVY_BRANCH_RADIUS:1]
[BRANCH_RADIUS:2]
[TRUNK_BRANCHING:2]
[MAX_TRUNK_DIAMETER:1]
[TRUNK_WIDTH_PERIOD:200]
[ROOT_DENSITY:5]
[ROOT_RADIUS:3]
[STANDARD_TILE_NAMES]
[PREFSTRING:fruit]
[DRY]
[BIOME:ANY_TEMPERATE]
[SAPLING]
[GROWTH:LEAVES]
[GROWTH_NAME:apple leaf:apple leaves]
[GROWTH_ITEM:PLANT_GROWTH:NONE:LOCAL_PLANT_MAT:LEAF]
[GROWTH_DENSITY:1000]
[GROWTH_HOST_TILE:BRANCHES_AND_TWIGS]
[GROWTH_HOST_TILE:SAPLING]
[GROWTH_TIMING:0:300000]
[GROWTH_PRINT:0:6:2:0:0:0:209999:1]
[GROWTH_PRINT:0:6:6:0:1:210000:239999:1] autumn color
[GROWTH_PRINT:0:6:4:0:1:240000:269999:1]
[GROWTH_PRINT:0:6:4:0:0:270000:300000:1]
[GROWTH_DROPS_OFF]
[GROWTH:FLOWERS]
[GROWTH_NAME:apple flower:STP]
[GROWTH_ITEM:PLANT_GROWTH:NONE:LOCAL_PLANT_MAT:FLOWER]
[GROWTH_DENSITY:1000]
[GROWTH_HOST_TILE:BRANCHES_AND_TWIGS]
[GROWTH_TIMING:60000:119999]
[GROWTH_PRINT:5:5:5:0:1:60000:119999:2]
[GROWTH:FRUIT]
[GROWTH_NAME:apple:STP]
[GROWTH_ITEM:PLANT_GROWTH:NONE:LOCAL_PLANT_MAT:FRUIT]
[GROWTH_DENSITY:1000]
[GROWTH_HOST_TILE:BRANCHES_AND_TWIGS]
[GROWTH_TIMING:120000:200000]
[GROWTH_DROPS_OFF_NO_CLOUD]
[GROWTH_PRINT:'%':'%':4:0:0:120000:200000:3]
[GROWTH_HAS_SEED]
}}

The first lines are the same as the ones we saw being used in the plump helmets, defining the plant object, giving it a name, and setting up the basic materials.

{{code|
[PLANT:APPLE] malus sieversii
[NAME:apple tree][NAME_PLURAL:apple trees][ADJ:apple tree]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:STRUCTURAL:STRUCTURAL_PLANT_TEMPLATE]
[BASIC_MAT:LOCAL_PLANT_MAT:STRUCTURAL]
}}

Adding the token {{token|DISPLAY_COLOR|md}} (ASCII) / {{token|STATE_COLOR|md}} ([[graphics]]) directly after {{token|USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE|plant}} would allow us to change the color of the tree.

{{code|
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:STRUCTURAL:STRUCTURAL_PLANT_TEMPLATE]
[DISPLAY_COLOR:1:0:0]
[BASIC_MAT:LOCAL_PLANT_MAT:STRUCTURAL]
}}

would give us a {{DFtext|dark blue|1:0}} apple tree. This method is used by the game by [[birch|birches]] and [[spore tree|various]] [[nether-cap|underground]] [[blood thorn|trees]].

Next come the definitions of various other materials used by the tree:

{{code|
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:WOOD:WOOD_TEMPLATE]
[STATE_NAME:ALL_SOLID:apple wood]
[STATE_ADJ:ALL_SOLID:apple wood]
[PREFIX:NONE]
[SOLID_DENSITY:745] *** http://www.csudh.edu/oliver/chemdata/woods.htm
[STATE_COLOR:ALL_SOLID:CHOCOLATE] *** http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,61009.0.html
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:DRINK:PLANT_ALCOHOL_TEMPLATE]
[STATE_NAME_ADJ:ALL_SOLID:frozen apple cider]
[STATE_NAME_ADJ:LIQUID:apple cider]
[STATE_NAME_ADJ:GAS:boiling apple cider]
[MATERIAL_VALUE:2]
[DISPLAY_COLOR:6:0:0]
[EDIBLE_RAW]
[EDIBLE_COOKED]
[PREFIX:NONE]
[DRINK:LOCAL_PLANT_MAT:DRINK]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:LEAF:LEAF_TEMPLATE]
[STATE_COLOR:ALL:GREEN]
[DISPLAY_COLOR:2:0:0]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:FLOWER:FLOWER_TEMPLATE]
[STATE_COLOR:ALL:ROSE]
[DISPLAY_COLOR:5:0:1]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:FRUIT:FRUIT_TEMPLATE]
[STATE_COLOR:ALL:RUST]
[DISPLAY_COLOR:4:0:0]
[EDIBLE_VERMIN]
[EDIBLE_RAW]
[EDIBLE_COOKED]
[STOCKPILE_PLANT_GROWTH]
[MATERIAL_REACTION_PRODUCT:DRINK_MAT:LOCAL_PLANT_MAT:DRINK]
[MATERIAL_REACTION_PRODUCT:SEED_MAT:LOCAL_PLANT_MAT:SEED]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:SEED:SEED_TEMPLATE]
[MATERIAL_VALUE:1]
[EDIBLE_VERMIN]
[SEED:apple seed:apple seeds:0:0:1:LOCAL_PLANT_MAT:SEED]
}}

From them, we get to know what the parts of the tree can be used for, as well as how they will appear when separated from the tree. Any alterations that can be done to materials normally can be done here, such as changing the value or adding a [[syndrome]].

[TREE:LOCAL_PLANT_MAT:WOOD][TREE_TILE:5]

{{token|TREE|p}} is what turns your plant object into an actual tree. The following argument describes what material the harvested logs should be made of. If ``NONE``, the felled tree will give no logs. {{token|TREE_TILE|p}} is the tile the tree shows up as on the world map, in this case {{Tile|♣|2:1}}.

Note that all vanilla trees (that give logs) use the "WOOD" material defined above as the argument for {{token|TREE|p}}, as opposed to the "STRUCTURAL" material. Thus, any changes to the properties of the wood harvested should be done to the "WOOD" material.

The following tokens decide the dimensions of the tree, and how it grows.

{{code|
[TRUNK_PERIOD:10]
[HEAVY_BRANCH_DENSITY:25]
[BRANCH_DENSITY:50]
[MAX_TRUNK_HEIGHT:3]
[HEAVY_BRANCH_RADIUS:1]
[BRANCH_RADIUS:2]
[TRUNK_BRANCHING:2]
[MAX_TRUNK_DIAMETER:1]
[TRUNK_WIDTH_PERIOD:200]
[ROOT_DENSITY:5]
[ROOT_RADIUS:3]
}}

{{token|TRUNK_PERIOD|p}} and {{token|TRUNK_WIDTH_PERIOD|p}} determine how long it takes for the trunk to grow one tile taller respectively wider, in years. {{token|MAX_TRUNK_HEIGHT|p|3}} and {{token|MAX_TRUNK_DIAMETER|p|1}} determine the maximum value the above can reach. {{token|TRUNK_BRANCHING|p}} decides how "curvy" the tree is, with {{token|TRUNK_BRANCHING|p|0}} meaning the tree is entirely straight.

{{token|HEAVY_BRANCH_DENSITY|p|25}}, {{token|HEAVY_BRANCH_RADIUS|p|1}}, {{token|BRANCH_DENSITY|p|50}}, {{token|BRANCH_RADIUS|p|2}}, {{token|ROOT_DENSITY|p|5}}, and {{token|ROOT_RADIUS|p|3}} determine the density (how many are there, integer ranging 0-100) and radius (in tiles) away from the trunk, of heavy branches, normal branches and roots respectively.

{{token|STANDARD_TILE_NAMES|p}} makes the tree use standard names for the trunk, branches etc. Otherwise custom ones can be used. (see [[Plant_token|full plant token list]])

{{token|SAPLING|p}} ensures saplings of this tree are called "[tree name] sapling", instead of the standard "young [tree name]".

Lastly, we are introduced to the {{token|GROWTH|p}} token. {{token|GROWTH|p}} defines growths growing on a plant, in this case our apple tree. Apple trees have three growths: leaves, flowers and fruits.

{{code|
[GROWTH:FRUIT]
[GROWTH_NAME:apple:STP]
[GROWTH_ITEM:PLANT_GROWTH:NONE:LOCAL_PLANT_MAT:FRUIT]
[GROWTH_DENSITY:1000]
[GROWTH_HOST_TILE:BRANCHES_AND_TWIGS]
[GROWTH_TIMING:120000:200000]
[GROWTH_DROPS_OFF_NO_CLOUD]
[GROWTH_PRINT:'%':'%':4:0:0:120000:200000:3]
[GROWTH_HAS_SEED]
}}

First comes the name of the growth. Then, with {{token|GROWTH_ITEM|p}}, what kind of growth it is, in this case a {{token|PLANT_GROWTH|i}} made out of the local "FRUIT" material. {{token|GROWTH_DENSITY|p}} says how densely the growth grows, and {{token|GROWTH_HOST_TILE|p}} where on the tree it grows. {{token|GROWTH_TIMING|p}} decides when the growth appears, in [[Time|annual ticks]]. The growth then drops off, leaving no clouds (items to be picked up by your dwarves). {{token|GROWTH_PRINT|p}} sets it to look like {{Tile|%|4:0}}, and {{token|GROWTH_HAS_SEED|p}} implies that eating this growth will leave you with a seed.

=== Workshops ===

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

{{code|code=
[BUILDING_WORKSHOP:SOAP_MAKER]
[NAME:Soap Maker's Workshop]
[NAME_COLOR:7:0:1]
[DIM:3:3]
[WORK_LOCATION:2:2]
[BUILD_LABOR:SOAP_MAKER]
[BUILD_KEY:CUSTOM_SHIFT_P]
[BLOCK:1:0:0:0] workbenches no longer block
[BLOCK:2:0:0:0]
[BLOCK:3:0:0:0]
[TILE:0:1:' ':' ':150]
[TILE:0:2:' ':' ':'/']
[TILE:0:3:'-':' ':' ']
[COLOR:0:1:0:0:0:0:0:0:6:0:0]
[COLOR:0:2:0:0:0:0:0:0:6:0:0]
[COLOR:0:3:6:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0]
[TILE:1:1:' ':' ':'=']
[TILE:1:2:'-':' ':8]
[TILE:1:3:' ':' ':150]
[COLOR:1:1:0:0:0:0:0:0:6:0:0]
[COLOR:1:2:6:0:0:0:0:0:6:0:0]
[COLOR:1:3:0:0:0:0:0:0:6:0:0]
[TILE:2:1:'-':' ':8]
[TILE:2:2:' ':' ':8]
[TILE:2:3:' ':150:' ']
[COLOR:2:1:6:0:0:0:0:0:6:0:0]
[COLOR:2:2:0:0:0:0:0:0:6:0:0]
[COLOR:2:3:0:0:0:6:0:0:0:0:0]
[TILE:3:1:150:' ':8]
[TILE:3:2:' ':' ':8]
[TILE:3:3:' ':240:' ']
[COLOR:3:1:6:0:0:0:0:0:6:7:0]
[COLOR:3:2:0:0:0:0:0:0:6:7:0]
[COLOR:3:3:0:0:0:7:0:1:0:0:0]
[BUILD_ITEM:1:BUCKET:NONE:NONE:NONE][EMPTY][CAN_USE_ARTIFACT]
[BUILD_ITEM:1:NONE:NONE:NONE:NONE][BUILDMAT][WORTHLESS_STONE_ONLY][CAN_USE_ARTIFACT]
[TOOLTIP:Use tallow (rendered fat) or oil here with lye to make soap.]
}}

A line-by-line breakdown:

{{code|
[NAME:Soap Maker's Workshop]
[NAME_COLOR:7:0:1]
}}

These define the name of the workshop ({{DFtext|Soap Maker's Workshop|7:1}}) and [[color]] of the workshop's name when examined.

{{code|
[DIM:3:3]
[WORK_LOCATION:2:2]
}}

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

{{code|
[BUILD_LABOR:SOAP_MAKER]
[BUILD_KEY:CUSTOM_SHIFT_S]
}}

These refer to the worker required to build it ([[Soaper|soap maker]]) and the key used to build it in the workshop menu (capital {{k|S}}).

{{code|
[BLOCK:1:0:0:0]
...
}}
This is a bit more complex, and is where we get to the meaty part of workshop making--the tiles' properties. {{token|BLOCK|b}} refers to which tiles will be untraversable--1 means blocked, 0 means unblocked. The first number refers to row, and the next 3 refer to column, so 1:0:0:0 means that, on the first row, all tiles will be unblocked. This is the case for all vanilla workshops, as of now.

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

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

For the first row (``0:1``) our colors are [``0:0:0``, ``0:0:0``, ``6:0:0``]. Combining tile and color, this is our result:
{{Tile| |0:0}}{{Tile| |0:0}}{{Tile| |0:0}}{{Tile| |0:0}}{{Tile|û|6:0}}

{{code|
[BUILD_ITEM:1:BUCKET:NONE:NONE:NONE][EMPTY][CAN_USE_ARTIFACT]
[BUILD_ITEM:1:NONE:NONE:NONE:NONE][BUILDMAT][WORTHLESS_STONE_ONLY][CAN_USE_ARTIFACT]
}}
These refer to items required to build the building. These are in the same format as [[Reaction|reaction reagents and products]]:
``<quantity>:<[[Item token|item]]>:<item subtype>:<[[Material token|material]]>:<material subtype>``.

You'll learn more about those on the article about [[Reaction|reactions]], though. The second {{token|BUILD_ITEM|b}} is special— it uses modifiers exclusively to determine its requirements.

{{token|BUILDMAT|b}} refers to [[wood]] logs, wood [[block]]s, [[stone]] boulders, and stone blocks; {{token|WORTHLESS_STONE_ONLY|b}} means it can't use economic stone; {{token|CAN_USE_ARTIFACT|b}} means that it... can use artifacts. {{token|EMPTY|b}}, in the bucket's case, means that the bucket must be empty.

{{code|
[TOOLTIP:Use tallow (rendered fat) or oil here with lye to make soap.]
}}

This is the text in the tooltip shown when the building is highlighted by the mouse in the workshops list.

More can be seen at the [[Building token|building tokens]] article, including links to graphical editors for assembling workshop tile visuals.

=== Reactions ===

Reactions are the crafting recipes used in [[workshop]]s, and by the [[adventurer mode|adventurer]]. By adding new reactions you can make new items available, or enable you to get items or materials in new ways. The reactions can also be given to entities, in which case they will make use of them during both world gen and play; making a reaction that creates [[steel]] directly from [[plant fiber]]s could allow the elves to craft steel, and arrive clad in it in a [[siege]].

Not all crafting jobs are custom reactions. Reactions are explicitly defined in raws, such as those for [[ceramic industry|pottery]] and [[Metal#Alloys 2|alloy]] making.

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

=== Materials ===

As we've seen when talking about creatures, materials are vital. Materials can be defined in three forms: material templates, organic materials local to creatures and plants, and inorganic materials such as stone or metal.

Let's take a look at "METAL_TEMPLATE" in ``[https://github.com/DF-Wiki/DFRawFunctions/blob/master/raws/v50/inorganic_metal.txt material_template_default.txt]``. It's evident that most of the basic properties of metals are already defined in the template - it goes red and melts at a high enough temperature, it's heavy, and (as noted by the very bottom token) is a metal. We already know just how useful templates can be to creatures, and the same applies to other materials.

Now let's take a look at ``[https://github.com/DF-Wiki/DFRawFunctions/blob/master/raws/v50/inorganic_metal.txt inorganic_metal.txt]``. You can see that the metals here refer to the templates, and, just like we did with creatures, then modify the properties of that template and expand upon it.

Finally, let's look at ``[https://github.com/DF-Wiki/DFRawFunctions/blob/master/raws/v50/inorganic_stone_mineral.txt inorganic_stone_mineral.txt]``. Here we can see that in addition to the changes made to the template, there are also {{token|ENVIRONMENT|im}} tokens - these tell the game where to place these minerals during worldgen.

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

== Selecting and Cutting ==

[[#Modifying the vanilla objects|As explained above]], existing raws can be altered with the use of ``SELECT``, and can also be culled with ``CUT`` for more granular control, compared to simply unloading vanilla content in the mod loader. Token behavior when multiple tokens are added depends on the individual token, such as adding to or overwriting the past value. Removing tags from an object without cutting and recreating the object in question is typically impossible, except for creature object tags removed and/or replaced with the use of [[creature variation token]]s.

The syntax for selecting and cutting objects is as follows:

{{code|code=
Substitute X for the desired object. A CUT does not need a SELECT prior, this is simply a list of available options.
Functions that apply only to local sub-objects are indented. In order to edit these, the base object must be currently being defined or have been selected prior.

[SELECT_CREATURE:X]
[CUT_CREATURE:X]

[SELECT_CASTE:X]
[SELECT_ADDITIONAL_CASTE:X]

[SELECT_MATERIAL:X]
[PLUS_MATERIAL:X]
[REMOVE_MATERIAL:X]

[SELECT_TISSUE:X]
[REMOVE_TISSUE:X]

[SELECT_TISSUE_LAYER:X]
[PLUS_TISSUE_LAYER:X]

[SELECT_ENTITY:X]
[CUT_ENTITY:X]

[SELECT_INTERACTION:X]
[CUT_INTERACTION:X]

[SELECT_ITEM:X]
[CUT_ITEM:X]

[SELECT_WORD:X]
[CUT_WORD:X]

[SELECT_TRANSLATION:X]
[CUT_TRANSLATION:X]

[SELECT_SYMBOL:X]
[CUT_SYMBOL:X]

[SELECT_INORGANIC:X]
[CUT_INORGANIC:X]

[SELECT_PLANT:X]
[CUT_PLANT:X]

[SELECT_MATERIAL:X]

[SELECT_GROWTH:X]

[SELECT_REACTION:X]
[CUT_REACTION:X]

[SELECT_MUSIC:X]
[CUT_MUSIC:X]

[SELECT_SOUND:X]
[CUT_SOUND:X]

}}

Note that the {{token|SELECT_SYMBOL|e}} [[entity token]] is separate from the ``[SELECT_SYMBOL]`` [[language token]].

== Examples ==
:''Main articles: [[:Category:Modding_Examples]]''

The Hydling below was made by Mysteryguye (and annotated, updated and separated into blocks by Putnam), to act as an example creature.

{{code|code=
[CREATURE:HYDLING]
[DESCRIPTION:A seven-headed small hairy thing, about the size of a dog. It is very loyal to its masters, and will promptly disembowel any enemy straying too close.]
This is the description that shows up in-game when viewing the creature.

[NAME:hydling:hydlings:hydlish] If there were a civ made of hydlings, it would appear as "hydlings" in the neighbors screen.

[CASTE_NAME:hydling:hydlings:hydlish]

[CREATURE_TILE:'='][COLOR:2:0:1] Will appear as a light green "=".

[PETVALUE:40][NATURAL] Creature is known to be naturally occurring by the game. Will cost 40 embark points to buy.

[LARGE_ROAMING] Will spawn outdoors, wandering around.

[COMMON_DOMESTIC][TRAINABLE][PET] Can be bought on embark as a pet, war animal, or hunting animal.

[BONECARN] Can eat meat and bones only--no vegetables.

[PREFSTRING:loyalty] Dwarves will like it for its loyalty.

[LARGE_PREDATOR] Will attack rather than flee.

[BODY:BASIC_2PARTBODY:7HEADNECKS:BASIC_FRONTLEGS:BASIC_REARLEGS:TAIL:2EYES:NOSE:2LUNGS:HEART:GUTS:ORGANS:THROAT:SPINE:BRAIN:SKULL:3TOES_FQ_REG:3TOES_RQ_REG:MOUTH:TONGUE:GENERIC_TEETH_WITH_FANGS:RIBCAGE]

Has a lower body, upper body, 4 legs, a tail, fourteen eyes, fourteen ears, seven noses, two lungs, a heart, guts, a pancreas etc., and 7 heads with all that goes with those.

[BODYGLOSS:PAW] Feet will be called "paws"

[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:STANDARD_MATERIALS] Declares the standard materials that most creatures' tissues are made of.

[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:STANDARD_TISSUES] This declares the tissues that the creature's tissue layers are made of.

[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:VERTEBRATE_TISSUE_LAYERS:SKIN:FAT:MUSCLE:BONE:CARTILAGE] And this describes the tissue layers that the creature is made of.

[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:BODY_HAIR_TISSUE_LAYERS:HAIR] Creature will be covered with a layer of fur.

[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:NAIL:NAIL_TEMPLATE] And it'll have nails.

[USE_TISSUE_TEMPLATE:NAIL:NAIL_TEMPLATE]

[TISSUE_LAYER:BY_CATEGORY:TOE:NAIL:FRONT] On the toe, specifically.

[SELECT_TISSUE_LAYER:HEART:BY_CATEGORY:HEART]
[PLUS_TISSUE_LAYER:SKIN:BY_CATEGORY:THROAT]
[TL_MAJOR_ARTERIES] Heart and throat--called above--will cause heavy bleeding if ruptured.

[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:STANDARD_HEAD_POSITIONS] Places eyes, ears and what-have-you into their correct placement, so that you don't have people punching out eyes from behind.

[BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:HUMANOID_RIBCAGE_POSITIONS] Sets the ribcage as being around lungs and heart.

[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:SINEW:SINEW_TEMPLATE] Defines sinew so that...
[TENDONS:LOCAL_CREATURE_MAT:SINEW:200] Tendons...
[LIGAMENTS:LOCAL_CREATURE_MAT:SINEW:200] ...And ligaments can be defined.

[HAS_NERVES] Creature has nerves, and as such can be disabled by severing them.

[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:BLOOD:BLOOD_TEMPLATE] Defines the material BLOOD using the template BLOOD_TEMPLATE.
[BLOOD:LOCAL_CREATURE_MAT:BLOOD:LIQUID] Defines the creature's BLOOD as being made of the above-defined BLOOD material in a LIQUID state.

[CREATURE_CLASS:GENERAL_POISON] Creature can be affected by syndromes that affect GENERAL_POISON.

[GETS_WOUND_INFECTIONS] Pretty much self-explanatory. Creature can get infected from wounds.
[GETS_INFECTIONS_FROM_ROT] And from necrosis.

[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:PUS:PUS_TEMPLATE] Defines PUS using PUS_TEMPLATE.
[PUS:LOCAL_CREATURE_MAT:PUS:LIQUID] Defines PUS as being made of PUS.

[BODY_SIZE:0:0:1000] Creature will be 1000 cubic centimeters at birth...
[BODY_SIZE:1:0:12500] 12500 cubic centimeters at 1 year old...
[BODY_SIZE:2:0:30000] and 30000 cubic centimeters at 2.

[BODY_APPEARANCE_MODIFIER:LENGTH:90:95:98:100:102:105:110] Creature can be anywhere from 90% to 110% as long as others.
[BODY_APPEARANCE_MODIFIER:HEIGHT:90:95:98:100:102:105:110] As above, but with height.
[BODY_APPEARANCE_MODIFIER:BROADNESS:90:95:98:100:102:105:110] As above, but with broadness. This puts the minimum size of the creature (when fully grown) at 21870 and the maximum size at 39930.

[MAXAGE:20:30] Creature will die of old age between the ages of 20 and 30, no later than 30, no sooner than 20.

[CAN_DO_INTERACTION:MATERIAL_EMISSION] Creature can use the MATERIAL_EMISSION interaction.
[CDI:ADV_NAME:Hurl fireball] In adventurer mode, the MATERIAL_EMISSION interaction will appear as "Hurl fireball".
[CDI:USAGE_HINT:ATTACK] Creature will use MATERIAL_EMISSION when it's attacking, on creatures that it's attacking.
[CDI:BP_REQUIRED:BY_CATEGORY:HEAD] Creature must have at least one HEAD to use MATERIAL_EMISSION.
[CDI:FLOW:FIREBALL] The MATERIAL_EMISSION will shoot a fireball.
[CDI:TARGET:C:LINE_OF_SIGHT] The target for the emission--a location--must be within the line of sight of the Hydling.
[CDI:TARGET_RANGE:C:15] And must be, at most, 15 tiles away.
[CDI:MAX_TARGET_NUMBER:C:1] The hydling can only shoot at one target at a time...
[CDI:WAIT_PERIOD:30] and only every 30 ticks (3 tenths of a second at 100 FPS)

[ATTACK:BITE:CHILD_BODYPART_GROUP:BY_CATEGORY:HEAD:BY_CATEGORY:TOOTH] Defines a BITE attack that uses teeth.
[ATTACK_SKILL:BITE] Attack uses the BITE skill.
[ATTACK_VERB:nom:noms] "The Hydling noms the Elf in the left first toe, tearing the muscle!"
[ATTACK_CONTACT_PERC:100] Will use all of the tooth. Note that this can be more than 100.
[ATTACK_PENETRATION_PERC:100] Will sink the tooth all the way in. This can also be more than 100.
[ATTACK_FLAG_EDGE] Attack is an EDGE attack.
[ATTACK_PRIORITY:MAIN] Attack is of priority MAIN. Other option is SECOND.
[ATTACK_FLAG_CANLATCH] Attack can latch on.
[ATTACK_PREPARE_AND_RECOVER:3:3] Takes 3 ticks to wind up attack and 3 to recover from it.
[ATTACK_FLAG_INDEPENDENT_MULTIATTACK] Can use each head independently.

[ATTACK:SCRATCH:CHILD_TISSUE_LAYER_GROUP:BY_TYPE:STANCE:BY_CATEGORY:ALL:NAIL] As above, but for nail instead of teeth.
[ATTACK_SKILL:STANCE_STRIKE] Uses the kicking skill.
[ATTACK_VERB:slice:slices] "You slice the Elf in the left foot and the severed part sails off in an arc!"
[ATTACK_CONTACT_PERC:100] Uses the whole nail.
[ATTACK_PENETRATION_PERC:100] The whole nail goes in.
[ATTACK_FLAG_EDGE] Attack is an edge attack.
[ATTACK_PREPARE_AND_RECOVER:3:3]
[ATTACK_PRIORITY:SECOND]

[CHILD:1] Hydling will become an adult at 1 year old.

[GENERAL_CHILD_NAME:hydie:hydies] Children will appear as "hydies".

[DIURNAL] Is active during the daytime.

[HOMEOTHERM:10070] Has a body temperature of 102 Fahrenheit.

[APPLY_CREATURE_VARIATION:STANDARD_QUADRUPED_GAITS:900:730:561:351:1900:2900] Can run at 25 kph
[APPLY_CREATURE_VARIATION:STANDARD_SWIMMING_GAITS:3512:2634:1756:878:4900:6900] Can swim at 10 kph
[APPLY_CREATURE_VARIATION:STANDARD_CRAWLING_GAITS:6561:6115:5683:1755:7456:8567] Can crawl at 5 kph
[SWIMS_INNATE]Swims innately.

[CASTE:FEMALE] Defines a caste called FEMALE.
[FEMALE] FEMALE caste is female.

[CASTE:MALE] As above, but with male.
[MALE] See above.
}}

== See also ==
{{catbox|Modding}}

* [[Raw file]]
* [[Token]]
* [[Modding pitfalls]]
* [[Cheating]]
* Bay 12 Guide: https://bay12games.com/dwarves/modding_guide.html

{{Category|Modding}}
{{Category|Guides}}
[[ru:Modding]]

Stupid dwarf trick

2025-09-06T17:44:24Z

Zymlex: Removed version bind in 2 links

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

{{D for Dwarf}}

A '''stupid dwarf trick''' is any project that requires a large amount of time and/or effort. They may provide a practical benefit, but are frequently done for the sake of doing them; they exist primarily as a [[challenge]] for experienced players.

==Adventure mode fortress==


Build a fortress specifically for exploring in [[adventure mode]]. You can either make a nasty monster-filled challenge, or a smörgåsbord of masterpiece adamantine weapons and armor. Possibly both. Breaching the [[caverns]] or [[hidden fun stuff]] should ensure the fortress is occupied. Building a fortress is now possible ''inside'' of adventure mode as of DF v0.43.

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

'''Usefulness:''' None for fortress mode, but filling it with high-quality equipment can certainly be useful for adventure mode.

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

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

'''Usefulness:''' Limited. They'll sleep through <s>'''anything'''</s> the noise. Although they have been known to awaken when drenched in water, possibly due to thinking it's alcohol. This means an alarm clock is not impossible if carefully prepared.

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

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

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

==Altar of Armok==

Build a large altar made out of adamantine, clear glass, magma, and obsidian. The main altar should be hollow adamantine with clear glass "windows." It should have magma inside. The altar should be adorned with large obsidian spikes, as it pleases Armok.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium, raising with the amount (and respective difficulty) of bonuses you add.

'''Usefulness:''' Low to medium. If the chamber containing the altar is consecrated as a [[temple]], dwarves will go there to pray, and may gain additional happy thoughts for admiring the altar's materials and craftsdwarfship.

*Bonus: Guard the altar with a megabeast.
*Bonus: Cover the altar with blood of a Titan.
**MegaBonus: Cover the altar with blood of a denizen of the HFS.
***ArmokBonus: Build the altar in the HFS.
*MegaBonus: Cover the altar in a temporarily lasting strength inducing extract.
*BerserkBonus: Cover the altar in a nausea-inducing extract.
*BloodBonus: Also cover the altar in an extract inducing slow death.
**SychronizationBonus: Make it so that a dwarf that goes into contact with the altar dies the moment the strength runs out.
*SacrificialBonus: Sacrifice a dwarf to the altar every day.
**MegaSacrificialBonus: Sacrifice an elf to the altar every day.
**HistorySacrificialBonus: Sacrifice a human to the altar every day
***MegaArmokBonus: Sacrifice all three species to the altar every day!
*MonarchBonus: Build the altar in the monarch's throne room! Yes, this stacks with the ArmokBonus up above.

==Anthill==
Build your fortresses hallways and rooms on the same Z-axis. Building rooms with depth is fine, as long as their west/east walls are on the same Z-coordinate. All the walls on the Z-coordinate should be glass. Hollow out the opposite section so that the area beside the glass is empty. Build viewing platforms in the hollowed-out space.
'''Difficulty''' High. The limited space is a huge restraint, and caverns are a huge issue.

'''Usefulness''' Very low, although intruders can be forced to climb the viewing area to enter, letting marksdwarves pick them off easily through fortifications.

*MirrorBonus* Instead of a viewing area, build a perfect replica of the fort.
*SuperDwarfGalaxyBonus* Make it horizontal instead of vertical.
**MegaBonus** Build it into the magma sea.

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

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

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

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

'''Difficulty:''' High. Anything to do with draining aquifers is very [[Fun]]. It is now very rare to find a powerful enough aquifer.

'''Usefulness:''' High.

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

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

'''Usefulness:''' Variable. Carving a premade fort or building controlled access to caverns can potentially be useful for a Reclaim effort, effectively making the first wave dispoable setup so your would-be archologists to dig up and exploit their new home. The more Fun you leave behind, the harder it will be for your second wave to repurpose the place.

*Bonus: A museum detailing the lives of those early dwarves.
*Bonus: Create a save with your First Tribe fort collapsed/flooded/etc, for other users to explore. Leave them some Fun what-does-this-lever-do problems to solve.
*EncinoDwarfBonus: Some of those early dwarves frozen in a block of ice.
*FunBonus: Breach the HFS.
**MegaBonus: Do a cave in to the HFS after fighting it leaving multiple signs of battle in the fortress, to be dug by your modern dwarves.

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

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

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

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

==Ballista battery==
{{main|Ballista}}
Overlap a few ballistas to completely cover a narrow corridor. There is an unavoidable risk of your operators wandering into the line of fire.

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

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

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

* Bonus: Build your bastion at least in part in a clay or sand layer, add a little magma, and continue manufacturing useless crap even as the world crumbles around you!
** StonksBonus: Rig a way for your bastion to transfer supplies to the outside world without exposing themselves to danger, so they can be somewhat useful to the rest of your fort before their inevitable downfall. Doubles as a way to restock the bastion with fresh supplies and/or bodies, or a way to let the apocalypse in a little at a time if your survivors get too comfortable.
* Bonus: Build it on top of a tower outside, and then deconstruct the stairs up.
* Bonus: Fill it exclusively with vampires, to avoid having to worry about food, children, and aging.
* MegaDwarfBonus: Hollow out a shell around your bastion, connecting it to the rest of the cavern by a single 1x1 adamantine support, and flood the shell with magma.

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

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

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

'''Difficulty:''' Moderate

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

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

==Boat==
In intermittently freezing biomes, [[ice]] may be used to create actual floating boats, submarines, or other floating objects/forts; as constructions built on top of ice do not collapse when the ice thaws.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Needs an intermittently freezing biome, construction is limited to frozen periods, and there's a substantial risk of flooding, drowning and being encased in ice.

'''Usefulness:''' Low. Forts within boats are protected from invaders while the water is unfrozen, but they're also trapped within the confines of the boat.

Note: You'll probably want to limit your saves to the colder months.

* DwarfBonus: Have the dwarves live on the boat.
* MegaDwarfBonus: Make miscreants/nobles walk the plank.
* *MegaDwarfBonus*: Bury your treasure on shore.
* ≡MegaDwarfBonus≡ : Have a pet [[kea]] for each of your dwarves.
* ☼MegaDwarfBonus☼: Build it on top of an ice tower.

==Bolt splitting operation==

## Note: no longer works due to climbing mechanics ##

One curious property of Dwarven physics is that a bar of metal makes 25 bolts, but if each of those 25 bolts is melted separately, they will become 2.5 bars, generating metal from nothing. Prior to the update that allowed splitting stacks at the [[trade depot]], the difficult part was separating the stacks of bolts into individual bolts without destroying them. EliDupree originally discovered this trick:
{{diagram|spaces=yes|color=#888|\
∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙
∙++++[#05F]☻∙+++++++++
∙+∙∙∙[#0A0]┼∙+++++++++++++[#BBB]╬[#BBB]╬
∙+∙[#F00]g∙[#0A0]┼∙+++++++++++++[#BBB]╬[#FF0]@
∙+∙∙∙[#0A0]┼∙+++++++++++++[#BBB]╬[#BBB]╬
∙+++++∙+++++++++
∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙
}}

The yellow @ at the right is a stack of marksdwarves (all in different squads so that they'll stand on the same tile) equipped with [[adamantine]] (or [[Divine metal]] if you don't have it; or [[Steel]] if you have neither) bolts, standing on top of a stairway surrounded by [[fortification]]s. The blue ☻ at the left is a single [[Attributes#Agility|Perfectly Agile]] soldier with orders to patrol up and down the line of green doors, with little delays at the top and bottom. (The doors are free-standing; they were built attached to a wall, then the wall was removed.) The "g" at the left is a goblin standing on a pillar (pitted from the z-level above).

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

Another design resembles a tower where marksdwarves shoot from the top, with the following setup: (click then press '<' and '>' to go through different z-levels)
<diagram>
<frame type="level" level=0>
[#7:0]
[%201][%205][%203][%203][%205][%187]
[%186]<[%204][%185][#5:1]g[#7:0][%186]
[%200][%205][%202][%202][%205][%188]

< 01
</frame>
<frame type="level" level=1>
[#7:0]
[%201][%205][%203][%203][%205][%187]
[%186]X[%204][%185][#7:1]O[#7:0][%186]
[%200][%205][%202][%202][%205][%188]

< 02 >
</frame>
<frame type="level" level=2>
[#7:0]
[%201][%205][%205][%205][%205][%187]
[%186]X+[#3:1]/[#7:0].[%186]
[%200][%205][%205][%205][%205][%188]

< 03 >
</frame>
<frame type="level" level=3>
[#7:0]
[%201][%205][%203][%205][%187]+
[%186]X[%186].[%186]+
[%200][%205][%202][%205][%188]+

< 04 >
</frame>
<frame type="level" level=4>
[#7:0]
[%201][%205][%203][%205][%187].
[%186]X[%186].[%186].
[%200][%205][%202][%205][%188].

< 05 >
</frame>
<frame type="level" level=5>
[#7:0]
[%201][%205][%205][%205][%187]
[%186]>+[#6:1]@[#7:0][%186]
[%200][%205][%205][%205][%188]

06 >
</frame>
</diagram>
The '@' is any number of marksdwarves standing on a down stair. You may want to use a defend burrow order to restrict them to that tile. The 'g' is a goblin or any other creature your marksdwarves will normally fire at upon encounter (pitted from 2 z-levels above). The 'O' is a well, which is suspected to be preventing dwarves from plunging in and starting brawling with the creature. Marksdwarves will be able to see the goblin or whatever creature below and will loose all bolts in their quivers on them. Curiously, nearly all the bolts will fail to cross the bend in the middle and will fall onto the tile '/' where they can be collected. This disregards crossbow and archery skills and the only difference they make is the speed at which the bolts are split. This design has the advantage of taking less space and being easier to set up, however it is reported that sometimes the dwarves will not miss some of the bolts. If you are only stationing one marksdwarf in the tower, stationing another one may help the first one miss all of his bolts, even after the newly added one is then removed. Sometimes dwarves will spam job cancellation on the bolt collection level, and it is also reported that sometimes some dwarves will start firing when they are on the bolt collection level. In such cases you may want to seal the collection level off and open it once in a while to retrieve the bolts.

'''Difficulty:''' Moderate. The hardest part is keeping the system running reliably.

'''Usefulness:''' Moderate. While there are certainly [[Exploit#Infinite metal|easier ways to generate adamantine]], this is perhaps the most dwarfy.

*Bonus: Build a [[repeater]] to open and close the doors automatically.

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

'''Difficulty:''' Low

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

*DwarfBonus: Use magma.

==Bridge-a-pult==
A bridge that raises under its victims' feet, flinging enemies away.

Bridges don't fling creatures in any specific direction, apart from "up". So it's more of a spring-board than a catapult. If there's a lot of open space above the bridge, creatures can get flung very high - ten z-levels and more - and take appropriate falling damage. Most of them will land atop the bridge, and bringing the same bridge down will simply crush them.

'''Difficulty:''' Fairly easy. Getting the timing right promises to be the biggest challenge.

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

===Cat-a-pult===
Essentially a Bridge-a-pult with specific ammo.

'''Difficulty''': Very easy, given that you have live cats in your fortress.

'''Usefulness''': Can be used as a way to stop a [[catsplosion]] if used with male cats. [[Unfortunate accident|Cats can also be replaced with elite citizens of your fortress.]] 

==Corpse processing facility==
WARNING: The system can freely jam on any body parts, besides hands and heads, without killing undead.
With the help of a necromancer, corpses your dwarves refuse to butcher can be brought back to life and re-killed to yield bones and skulls for your bonecarvers if they are mushed up enough.

1. The simplest way to do this is with the help of height. A 1x1 pit with a minecart stop that dumps corpses down the chute, and several alternating [[floor hatch]]es that close and open (linked to a repeater) with necromancers behind windows overlooking each layer of hatches to revive the bits of corpses. 2 windows with a mechanism controlled door in between, in front of each necromancer group can be used to control vision; but the system can only be stopped by unlinking the minecart dump to the refuse pile in your routes. Note: when I built this I had 3 hatches with 6 necromancers overlooking each (I had plenty of them since I embarked close to 4 towers). Revived corpses drop to their death and explode onto a tile with unright spikes linked (note that some of them will survive, so you need the spikes with a repeater or lever). The corpses that explode from the impact of height (or from other body parts/undead crashing into them) will hopefully yield bones. You make choose to re-haul up the body parts for another round, but only body parts still attached to a grasping part or the head will be revived, and this system isn't very efficient in the first place, so it may not be worth the trouble. Note that whole corpses usually yield 5-8 bones upon death (avg 6), arms only yield 1-4 (avg 2). You may also use this system with or without necromancers and pit live [[goblin]]s into it, they usually yield 6 bones and some body parts.

2. The second way is much more efficient than the first, but requires 1 or more [[artifact]] [[mechanisms]] to make it work. Instead of using height to kill the corpses, a weapon trap with an artifact mechanism and 10 serrated blades of any material can be used instead (since artifact mechanisms never jam). Only 1 necromancer is needed for this method, and is positioned 3 tiles away from the weapon trap, overlooking it behind 2 glass windows with a mechanism [[door]] in between to control its vision. Your 1x1 pit should still be 5 tiles deep at least though, to prevent dwarves being spooked by the revived corpses. When you're ready, link up the route to the minecart and watch body parts revive and slowly get mowed down. It's recommended you have more than 1 of these small pits set up so you can grind more corpses and clear out 1 pit at a time while the others keep grinding.

Note: To clear out pits, turn off all refuse stockpiles that accept anything other than bones and skulls by turning on "accept from links only" so your dwarves only haul out the bones and not the trash.

Note: Try to use raising bridges as the door for each pit, kobold body parts tend to get mixed into the grinders which can lock-pick its way out of doors and result in doors with "door taken by intruder" and a couple hundred zombie body parts overrunning your fortress from the inside (a.k.a fun).

Note: I didn't try this with many building destroyers, but I'm pretty sure the glass windows are safe. Fortifications are not usable since corpses and body parts tend to get tangled up in them and are hard to get out, and spook dwarves trying to clean out the pits.

*Bonus: Use water to clean out the contents of the pits and wash them onto a 1x1 refuse stockpile.

'''Difficulty:''' Hard

'''Usefulness:''' High, and becomes higher the more corpses you have; especially useful for getting something more out of necromancer sieges than just useless corpses. Can also be used to recycle dead stray animals and your own dwarves that your dwarves refuse to butcher (don't forget slabs).

NOTE: necromancer siege's corpses now drop clothes and gear.

==Crocodile farm==
They're a thing in real life, and you can make them a thing in-game too! Use cage traps to capture multiple breeding pairs of [[alligator]]s, [[cave crocodile]]s or [[saltwater crocodile]]s, [[Animal trainer|train]] them, then create an area to store them with [[nest box]]es. Breed them so you have more crocodilians to keep laying eggs, rinse and repeat.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium, somewhat dependent on RNG - you need to find someplace with available crocs, you want said crocs to actually spawn and you want said crocs to actually get caught in the traps. <s>May</s> Will also lead to an explosive and FPS-shattering [[Catsplosion#Crocsplosion|crocsplosion]] sooner or later.

'''Usefulness:''' Very high, you'll never have to worry about food again simply from cooking the eggs, and that's not counting butchering the crocs when they're adults.

*Bonus: Have alligators, cave crocs and saltwater crocs '''all''' present in the farm.
*SwampBonus: Have your croc farm submerged in anywhere between 1/7 to 3/7 [[water]]. You gotta keep your crocs healthy and wet! But make sure not to submerge the nest boxes!
*SavageBonus: Have [[giant alligator]]s or/and [[giant saltwater crocodile]]s as part of your farm.
**Archcrystal bonus: Replace the crocs with [[Hydras]]. Keep them in a usually unseen location, as any Urist McFoolhardy walking by will try to attack them on sight.
*TrainerBonus: Have your dwarves become Expert alligator/cave croc/saltwater croc trainers.
**SteveIrwinBonus: Have your dwarves become Expert trainers of all croc species.
*HungryHungryCrocBonus: Build your farm in such a way that [[siege]]s have to go through it to reach your fortress.
*UltraCrocBonus: Have [[Alligator man|alligator men]] or/and [[Saltwater crocodile man|saltwater crocodile men]] inhabiting your fortress and helping train the croc farm.
**UltraArmokCrocBonus: Have an entire fortress of croc men handling a croc farm. You're dwarves in spirit.

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

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

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

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

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

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

'''Usefulness''': Low. While this used to be a very effecting training method in past versions, the combat changes in 0.43.04 has made them much more deadly, even for militiadwarves. They also wear down your dwarves' armor and shields quickly, making them harmful for your long-term survival, even if your militiadwarves manage to survive the room itself.

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

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

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

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

'''Usefulness:''' Varies, depending on the bonuses built. With v50, children are a lot easier to mentally scar for life, making them prone to fell moods and tantrums, so having a safe form of daycare allows them to grow up into adults whose stress levels are usually easier to manage

*SchoolBonus: Make the daycare a guild hall, and add a highly skilled dwarf and another adult to the burrow. The two will give demonstrations that the kids will occasionally watch, gaining experience in a profession of your choice
*OlympicBonus: Build a swimming pool of 4/7 between critical parts of the daycare, so the kids have to go through the water for their everyday tasks, gaining swimming skill and associated stats.
*ChildSoldierBonus: Make the daycare a barracks, and have your crack squad of dwarves spar and demonstrate there to train up the military skills of your dwarven children
*HighSchoolBonus: All of the above, and make [[nobles]] and unskilled migrants stay there to learn.

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

'''Difficulty:''' Low to high, depending on the animal you use

'''Usefulness:''' Medium to very high, potentially fortress-saving

*Bonus: Train the dogs inside as war dogs
**DwarfBonus: Use [[giant badger]]s, [[tiger]]s, [[alligator]]s, bears, or anything big and aggressive when tamed
***MegaDwarfBonus: Use [[giant cave spider]]s, [[cave dragon]]s, [[blind cave ogre]]s, [[jabberer]]s or something really dangerous and rare.
****UltraMagmaArmokBonus: Use one (or more!) of the following list: [[dragon]]s, [[bronze colossus]]es, [[forgotten beast]]s (bonus points for flesh-melting secretions), an [[undead]] [[giant sponge]], or [[Hidden Fun Stuff|Clowns of Hidden Funland]].

==Drophole==
Imagine an execution tower, for rocks and pants. It's nothing but a very deep 1x1 up-down staircase for express service to the depths. Designate a garbage dump beside the top and dwarves will pitch anything marked for [[Dumping]] into it.

'''Difficulty:''' Harder than it sounds, there's always snags along the way. Surprise caverns can cost you miners and tools. Hitting water can be vexing. Dumping and reclaiming things can be a chore. It may serve as an unintended highway for Fun of any liquid or airborne variety

'''Usefulness:''' It's '''far''' easier to drop ore 100 z-levels to the magma sea than carry it. You can use this to transfer items between burrows.

*Bonus: Minecarts can make this semi-automatic, fed from a stockpile.

==Drowning chamber==
{{main|Drowning chamber}}
'''Difficulty:''' Moderate.

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

*Bonus: Utilize lava.
*Bonus: Utilize trained fish.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Edit the raws and do both.

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

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

'''Usefulness:''' Your mechanics will level up very fast. Manual pumps give something for your haulers to do. Try and make a clock to trigger different mechanisms in different seasons. See if enemies actually blunder into your intricate traps. Watch all hell break loose as water freezes and building destroyers (''bugs, perhaps?'') enter your computer.
*Bonus: Use lava.
**Doombonus: Use lava ''and'' build it so that building destroyers that enter the complex get killed by the mechanisms they destroy.
***SelfRepairingbonus: Use both lava and water and implement the building destroyer killing system, but modify it so it's self-repairing, filling up broken spaces with obsidian.

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

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

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

*MegaDwarfBonus: Extend the tower to have levels below ground as well as above.
*MegaOrwellBonus: Make the whole construction out of clear glass. (privacy? Whatever for?)

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

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

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

*Bonus: Punch a large shaft through a multi-level aquifer (hint: punch through the aquifer from below).
*MegaDwarfBonus: Create a network of self-sufficient communities per shaft, allowing them to be sectioned off in case of disaster. (I plan on colonizing HFS eventually on this paradigm, creating a mining team of soldiers to extract, manufacture and ultimately use adamantine products without being connected to the main colony in order to take on the [[Demon|clowns]] while keeping the rest of the burrow safe.)

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

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

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

*Bonus: Alternating [[alunite]] and [[obsidian]] tiles to make a 'dance floor'.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Use lava contained in glass for illumination.
*UltraDwarfBonus: Caged "[[Elf|dancers]]".

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

*Bonus: Build the giant digging machines. They don't actually have to dig anything.
*Bonus: Go into the raws and rename the beverage of your choice to "Dwarven Vodka", and drink to the glory of the Motherland!
*MegaBonus: Escape. Wait for a goblin siege, then get everyone underground and block the entrance. Let the goblins in. Wait a few months. The goblins are now the guards you must kill.

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

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

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

Step 4. Unleash the horde: Attack!

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

*Bonus: Use a ballista.

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

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

Step 8. Freedom!

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

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

'''Difficulty:''' Low to Medium

'''Usefulness:''' Low. Booze stored inside will not perish due to heat if say, [[magma]] is dumped on it.

Bonus: Also use nether-cap wood to build the walls, floor, ceiling, and door.

Bonus: While we are at it make all your coffins out of it. 'Cryogenically' freeze those corpses!

==Dwarven machine gun==
Build a high fire rate, minecart firing machine gun. Must be fully automatic, capable of reloading itself, and should not jam due to minecarts being disrupted by collisions or derailments.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium to high, depending on fire rate, reload downtime, and whether or not minecarts are filled with [[magma]].

'''Usefulness:''' High. A sophisticated minecart trap can keep out even the most persistent invaders.

*Bonus: Automatically reload minecarts with [[magma]].
*MegaDwarfBonus: Integrate the trap with a dwarfputer so that it can automatically send minecarts to where they are needed most.

==Elephant man armor factory==
[[Elephant man]] are incredibly strong in combat — both in [[Dwarf fortress mode|Fortress]] and [[Adventurer mode|Adventurer]] modes. However, they can't put on normal-sized [[Armor]] — and therefore, walk around in crappy starting armor at best, naked at worst. We'll put [[Elephant man]] to make [[Armor]] — and another [[Elephant man]] for [[Clothes]].

'''Difficulty:''' Easy. Depends on amount of [[Elephant man]] spawning in the world.

'''Usefulness:''' Your [[Elephant man]] [[Military|super-soldiers]] are now properly armored. Considering their size, strength, and possibly training, they are now borderline-invulnerable. Also, you have enough armor complects for your [[Elephant man]] [[Adventurer mode|Adventurers]].

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

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

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

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

'''Difficulty:''' Easy.

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

*MegaDwarfBonus: Send prisoners straight to the [[HFS]]. If some mod makes them survive, the [[Clown]]s will have their way with them. May make retrieving items difficult, however.

==Flak==
If flying enemies circumventing your walls and causing mayhem inside your fortress is a problem, don't use marksdwarves, just make some flak! Simply cover a series of drawbridges in rocks, and when fliers come by pull the lever.

'''Difficulty:''' Easy

'''Usefulness:''' Low. Contrary to the description, marksdwarves are more accurate, versatile, and just better. However, if you manage to hit something with this, there's a large chance of it getting stunned and crashing to the ground. Remember, what goes up must come down, wear your helmet Urist!

*Bonus: Use minecarts and pressure plates to make it fully automatic.
*SuperBonus: Make it closer to real world flak by using burning lignite bins.
*EfficiencyBonus: Use goblins as ammo
*AlternateBonus: Instead of drawbridges and stone, use jets of water to stun flyers, and then release the dogs. Alternatively, burn them in midair with lava.
*FunBonus: Use the above method with lava, except use the lava as a propellent to throw the circus at the local crow population.
*ArmokBonus: Use all of the above to emulate what happens when you drift into American airspace.

==Flamethrower bunker==
If your fortress happens to be visited by a [[dragon]], capture it in a [[cage trap]], then release it into a sealed bunker with [[fortification]]s around the edge. When invaders arrive, watch them get roasted.

'''Difficulty:''' Low, but requires a fair bit of luck - a dragon (or fire-breathing forgotten beast) needs to survive worldgen, then it needs to attack your fortress (instead of a giant/minotaur/ettin/cyclops or other megabeast), and finally it needs to make it to your cage trap without being killed by something else.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. [[Dragonfire]] can kill almost anything, but will be blocked by a [[shield]] greater than 99% of the time. Adding a combustible floor (such as a paved [[lignite]] [[road]]) will significantly increase lethality for shield-toting targets. Also, any protective bridges in front of the fortifications may melt under sustained fire, leaving you with a bunker that ''nobody'' can safely approach; ensuring the bridge center tile isn't near the fire, or building the bridges (and mechanisms) from [[ash]], dragon [[soap]], [[divine metal|divine]]{{version|0.43.03}} [[metal]] (or [[slade]]) will make them immune to the fire. Additionally, a skilled enemy archer can easily kill your dragon with a lucky shot, if line-of-sight access is available.

*Bonus: Capture a fire-breathing [[titan]] or [[forgotten beast]] and use it.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Release the denizens of the hidden fun stuff and use them.

==Flood the world==
'''Difficulty:''' High danger. Will kill your frame rate unless you sink the world below water level (river or ocean).

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

*Bonus: Use magma, just like [[Main:Boatmurdered|Boatmurdered]].
*MegaDwarfBonus: Use trained fish to kill off all creatures not of your colony.
*MegaArmokBonus: Mod the game and do both.

==Gladiator arena==
{{main|Live training}}
Station some soldiers at the bottom of a shallow [[Activity_zone#Pit/Pond|pit]] and dump your captives in. You can also use dangerous animals instead of soldiers. For extra points, put the prisoners in cages connected to ramps underneath the arena floor. One lever will open both the cage and a hatch above the ramp. Variant: build prisoner cages inside the arena, link to a lever outside the arena, lock the soldiers in, and then open the cages. Keep in mind that you can't actually make your dwarves "watch" the battles like an actual gladiator arena, as civilians will flee in fear at the sight of non-restrained hostile creatures, even if they're in a pit and not actively attacking them.

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

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

*Bonus: Losers get incinerated by Magma.
*DwarfBonus: Winners also get incinerated by Magma.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Use your arena as a "trial by fire" for migrants.

==Grazer reanimation facility==
Just as stables, but without grass, and on a reanimating biome. Pasture every grazer in a separate box, and build [[cage trap]]s to recapture the animal after it joins [[undead|the Dark Side]]. Make sure to forbid the area after you finish setting things up, because you don't want your dwarves getting <s>killed</s> caught instead.

'''Difficulty:''' Low. You always get some grazing animals to start with.

'''Usefulness:''' You get a decent supply of zombies to use in your [[trap design|cunning traps]]. Depending on your style of play, this may prove to be worth the effort.

* DwarfBonus: Use war [[elephant]]s, or any other giant {{catlink|Grazer|grazing animal}} you <s>bought</s> seized from elves.
** MegaDwarfBonus: Use [[giant elephant]]s.
*** BoatMurderedBonus: Release them all simultaneously to challenge your militia/play out a [[fun|!fun!]] scenario for your fort.
* MenagerieBonus: Create a zoo using only undead grazers.
** DwarvenMenagerieBonus: Combine this with the [[#Zombie_thunderdome|Zombie Thunderdome]] and have a rotation of undead cows fighting in the arena only to be re-caged when they try to leave.
*** ChampionBonus: Give each grazer rooming in the zoo according to their kills, with the champion having the most luxurious room.
**** AltarBonus: Turn the champion's room into an [[#Altar_of_Armok|Altar of Armok]].
**** FreedomBonus: Let the champion and higher-ranking zombies roam freely in their rooms, having to be re-captured for each battle.
***** !FreedomBonus!: Release the champion into your fort.
* HolyGrailBonus: Use white [[bunny|bunnies]].

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

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

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

*Bonus: Give it a glass floor to allow surface plants even lower down.
**DwarfBonus: Utilize [[obsidian|volcanic glass]].

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

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

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

* Bonus: Cover it with blood.
* MegaDwarfBonus: Make it hollow and fill it with Magma
* ArmoksMachineHammerBonus: Set up an automated system that allows you to reset it quickly. Obsidianizers and the magma sea will be your friends here.

==Human Fortress==
Instead of digging a fortress, build above-ground houses. Create walls to keep the nasties out. The only thing you may have underground are mines and stockpiles. Create a huge stone fort for your nobles.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Building stuff will cost you resources instead of gaining them and flyers can be a real pain. Keep several Marksdwarfs handy!

'''Usefulness:''' N/A. (No cave adaptation)

*Bonus: Pave the roads between houses.
*HumanBonus: Dig a moat around your castle.
*MegaHumanBonus: Fill the moat with lava.
*MegaHumanBonusPlus: Designate multiple dumping spots into the lava moat.
*SurfaceDwellerBonus: Get the stone for your constructions entirely from open-pit quarries, i.e. by c[h]annelling instead of [d]igging.
*MegaSurfaceDwellerBonus: Never use picks at all, all stone and metal must come from caravans or embark.
*WhereTheBeardedLadiesAtBonus: Enforce as many <s>pointless</s> quaint human quirks as feasible, for instance: nominating officials per wealth/popularity/relationships instead of merit and suitedness, coddling Nobles, burrowing farmers, miners, brewers, craftsdwarves and other backbones of society into the most tattered ridings, enforcing a specific religion upon the populace, and so forth.

==Ice tower==

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

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

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

* BabelBonus: Use [[DFHack]]'s <code>infiniteSky</code> and build to the heavens themselves.

==Journey to the Center of the Earth==

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

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

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

*Bonus: Drop the vessel into a deep cavern
*SuperBonus: Make the outer walls, roof and ground floor completely out of glass, so that the explorers can watch everything around them.
*VampireBonus: Send a vampire with the crew!
*MegaDwarfBonus: Drop the vessel into a halfway-empty adamantine vein
*YouHorribleEvilDwarfBonus: Drop the vessel into the [[Hidden Fun Stuff]]!
*YouHorribleInsaneDwarfBonus: Drop the vessel into a glowing chasm.
*OhMyArmokBonus: When you arrive to the bottom of the magma sea, excavate and then create a new community under it!
**OhMyF****ingArmokBonus: Send supplies every year!
**IsThatEvenPossibleBonus: Send a piece of an aquifer down there to provide water! (Mine around a water-producing tile, build the ship around it, then send it!)
**≡MegaDwarfBonus≡: create a high enough tower and drop it into the magma sea to connect the surface and the undersea community!
***☼MegaDwarfBonus☼: create ''two'' towers and use one to send water down there!

==Single-lever emergency lockdown (LEL)==

The only real requirement is that you need a fort based around a central stairwell. All you need to do is leave space for and eventually build the same number of bridges (that raise!) as your stairway is tall on each side of your stairwell on every level, and then link them all to the same lever. Friends get through all your best traps and champions? Simply pull the lever, and they're trapped in the central stairwell forever! Remember to roof off the entrance if your fort is situated on flat land otherwise the bonuses become much less useful. Also important is to ensure that you either wall off access or include sealable bridges or doors (linked to the same lever of course) for any inter-level paths that bypass the main stairwell, like vertical axles running out of centralised power generators.

3*3 stairwell setup:

{{diagram|1=
O[#6ff]╞[#6ff]═[#6ff]╡O
[#6ff]╥XXX[#6ff]╥
[#6ff]║XXX[#6ff]║
[#6ff]╨XXX[#6ff]╨
O[#6ff]╞[#6ff]═[#6ff]╡O
}}

'''Difficulty:''' Medium to High, depending on whether you use the MegaDwarfBonus below or not and how much you spread your fortress over the layers - although more spread means more usefulness. Extremely time-consuming, and requires architects, masons, and mechanics, as well as a lot of mechanisms (2 per bridge, ~4 bridges per level)

'''Usefulness:''' Medium to High, also depending on whether you use the Bonuses. With all bonuses applied it becomes a guaranteed last resort way of destroying the toughest enemies with minimal dwarven casualties; without the bonuses it's still a damn sight better than letting temporarily victorious enemies run freely about your fortress.

*DwarfBonus: Connect your cistern to the stairwell (remember to put a floodgate in too). Once the impossible-to-defeat enemies are safely trapped inside, Pull lever number 2 and watch them slowly, slowly, drown (VERY IMPORTANT: have the level of the cistern input at at least the same height as the level of the stairwell, else there won't be enough pressure to properly flood the stairwell, meaning nasties WILL survive).
*MegaDwarfBonus: Connect your MAGMA cistern to the stairwell. Laugh maniacally. (Remember to build your bridges and floodgates out of magma-safe material or a lot of !!FUN!! will be had)
*MegaArmokEntombmentBonus: Do both and cast your enemies in obsidian and boil the survivors in steam as a semi-permanent testament to their foolhardiness. This also means that you will have stairs cut out of lovely obsidian once your miners are finished making your stairwell usable again.
*MegaArmokEntombmentEXTREME+Bonus: "Forget" to pull the lockdown lever before you pull lever number 2.
*MegaArmokEntombment<s>'''Bait&Switch'''</s>Diplomatic+Bonus: Set the highest level up on another switch, with a particularly <s>'''demanding and annoying noble'''</s> skilled diplomatic representative is waiting at the very bottom to <s>'''lure'''</s> invite them all down for a nice meal on <s>'''his flesh'''</s> the stockpile of food and booze that's keep him ever so happy. Then you can wait for the entire army to flow into the stairwell before flipping the switches. Don't forget to carve a statue out of the block of the noble! What noble doesn't want their grand <s>'''sacrificial defense'''</s> diplomatic skills to be immortalized in volcanic glass?
**UltraArmokBonus: Defeat all your invasions this way, and build a temple to Armok full of the once noble, now obsidian statues, as well as only the highest of quality (and value) memorial slabs.

==Magma Lock System==
This system is a little more complicated than the LEL system described above, and requires that you space out all of your floors so that there's a 'plumbing floor' between each level. From there you set up tons and tons of magma proof floodgates and hatches. Each 'area' you wish to be self-contained from one another needs at least a 3x2 hallway separating it from the other areas. 4 of these will contain flood gates, and the other two must remain bare. Above one of the two bare points you need to have a hollowed out space, and connecting into it from one side you need to have a hatch leading to your water plumbing system, to the other, a hatch to your lava plumbing system. You need two levers for controlling this, one lever is connected to all of the lower floodgates, the other to the upper floodgates. Pull the first hatch to lock in the flood gates just in case, the second to the upper flood gates to begin pouring in water and magma and have them make obsidian filling the entire hallway, sterilizing it of literally anything that could have contaminated it. You do this instead of hatches so they'll drop in properly and mix with no risk of only one side or the other of the hallway turning to obsidian and resulting in a dangerous leak. Throw the first switch again to open up the floodgates and begin mining to access the old chambers again. Whatever was invading your fortress, whether plague, necromancer, clowns, or forgotten beast, will be safely locked away, and unable to break back out whether or not it possesses building destroyer or not. Then you just have to wait for your miners to dig their way out. You can simply avoid the chambers that still have FUN inside, and any the purity of magma and obsidian will have utterly obliterated any traces of contaminants between containment zones.

'''Difficulty''': Medium to High. While not dealing with anything overtly hostile, this process more or less demands that you plan your fortress from the start for this specific system and deal with lots and lots of moving parts, mechanisms, and similar, plus the power necessary to pump magma and water into this network in a timely manner.. If you screw up part of it then it's very easy to end up with your entire fortress flooded with water or magma. Build it on small and give it a test run then expand it once you've gotten the process working for a single chamber, such as the chamber leading to your cavern layer.

'''Usefulness''': High. Depending on how you prepare things (See the bonuses below) the necessary set up for all of this will result in a network of magma and water pipes in every single level of your fortress, powering forges, wells, baths, showers, and defenses of all sorts. Then when things are at their worst, throw a switch and barring one or two (or many depending on how many dwarves are transitioning between containment areas) horribly swift deaths, your entire fortress is safe from any possible threats. You can also prepare chambers ahead of time for other activities and use this to trap enemies in them for later usage.

*DwarfBonus: Put a stockpile of food, drink, and pickaxes in each containment area.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Put a lever in every zone connected just to their own, so your dwarves can heroically seal off an entire section by themselves if necessary.
*UltraDwarfBonus: Extend the hallways, and make the water half of them use grates and constant water falls to give good thoughts while traversing between zones. Change up your levers to shut off the water for when digging begins again.

==Maze==

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

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

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

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

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

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

==Magma cannon==
[http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=33837 It can be done!] It uses a row of pumps to pressurize the magma in a chamber with only one exit. When the floodgate opens, the magma flies out a short distance.

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

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

==Magma access early==
ASAP from embark, dig down to the magma. 
Make 2 magma proof pumps, 
make a small (5x5?) room that you can pump magma into and out of and 
make a stockpile for only iron & steel minecarts in the room. 
Be sure to make enough minecarts to fill the room. 
Once the room is full of minecarts, seal room and pump it full of magma. 
Then pump the magma out. 
Delete the stockpile. 
Make a new stockpile near your forge/smelt/glass/kiln area. 
Haul minecarts by hand (or magma proof wheelbarrow). 
Use tracks and stops to dump 4 deep magma into shallow pits. 
2 minecart loads per pit. 

'''Difficulty:''' Low. 
'''Usefulness:''' Very High. 
*Bonus: !!Magma Economy By Autumn!!
*ObsidianBonus: Instead of pumping the magma out, drain water from a nearby lake or aquifer cistern onto it to turn it into obsidian. Carve out the minecarts, magma safely still inside, and enjoy the extra obsidian you have. Watch out not to flood the fortress!

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

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

'''Usefulness:''' Medium.

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

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

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

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

==Magma sea colony==

If you cast obsidian around the edges of the magma sea, it is possible to pump out the magma and build a colony in the empty space. Once the colony is built, you can destroy the obsidian walls and refill the magma sea. Note: you cannot cast obsidian on the bottom layer of the magma sea, so building a colony on this layer is nearly, but not quite, impossible (see below).

'''Difficulty:''' High. You need to get water down to each edge of the magma sea, and you need a pump stack to get rid of the magma.

'''Usefulness:''' None.

*☼MegaDwarfBonus☼: Build your colony on the floor of the magma sea. This will require draining the sea to the next-to-bottom layer as described above, then dumping enormous amounts of water into the bottom layer to crowd out the magma while simultaneously draining the magma from holes poked in the magma sea floor. Constructions can be built at the border between the water and the magma. See [http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=128226.0 This forum post] for full, detailed instructions.
* Bonus: Obsidianize the entire magma sea, leaving a single spot to use as a source for pumps. Then proceed to carve your new fortress subsection out of this bounty.

'''Difficulty:''' Insane. The project will take at least ten years of dwarf time and claim many lives.

'''Usefulness:''' Low. You can finally get the last bit of adamantine when you drain the magma sea, and the magma sea floor has a cool twinkly effect.

==<s>Magma</s> Lava sprinkler==
Build a twisting <s>magma</s> lava aqueduct above the entrance to your fortress. Leave a few thin (diagonal) holes in it, so that lava can seep out of it. When invaders arrive, pump magma into the sprinkler. Diagonal holes will limit the rate at which the fluid flows out of them, ensuring a nice steady lava rain rather than a big wave.

'''Difficulty:''' High. Similar to magma canon, except with a bit more engineering, but less pumps and smaller reservoir needed (due to less magma being required for the same effect).

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. Like magma cannon it can obliterate a siege, but this time you can have a bit more control over how it happens. Lava rain doesn't depend on ground structure (your entrance doesn't need to be in a valley for it to work well) and leaves less magma to evaporate.

*Bonus: Cover the holes with floodgates or hatches and keep the lavaduct filled with lava rather than filling it only when using it.
*Bonus+1: Build the lavaduct in such a way that it starts raining on the outermost part of the area first, then goes inwards, to ensure that invaders who start burning can't escape.

==Mass cage recycling system==
{{main|Mass pitting}}
Build a [[mass pitting]] system to recycle your cage trap cages quickly.

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

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

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

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

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

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

==Minecart spiral==
Build a giant spiral [[Minecart#Impulse ramps|minecart impulse ramp]] all the way from the [[magma sea]] to the surface. You can use it to transport ores to the [[magma smelter|magma smelters]] at the bottom from [[sedimentary layer|sedimentary layers]] near the surface. You can build [[statues]] in it to prevent dwarves from walking in and [[fun|dying]].

'''Difficulty:''' Medium-High. You will most likely have to use [[macros]]. Additionally, when crossing caverns you will have to [[construct]] minecart ramps which can be tedious.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. It depends on how tall your map is and how much ores you consume.

*TrapBonus: Use [[bridge|drawbridge]] to guide invaders to the spiral, then [[screw pump|pump]] water into it and drown them.
**BetterTrapBonus: Make it [[magma]] instead.
*SuperBonus: Make the tower go all the way to the highest [[Z-axis|Z level]].
**ArmokBonus: Make it go through the magma sea, and [[HFS|further below]].
*Bonus: At the top, set up a system where dwarves can guide minecarts to different vertical shafts where the will fall to different Z levels, for loading. Then, the minecarts fall further down to the smelters, where the empty minecarts are sent back up for loading.
**MegaBonus: Divide your dwarves into two separate [[burrows]] connected only by the minecart spiral and the shaft. The higher burrow is in charge of mining, growing food, and operating the minecart system, and the lower burrow is in charge of smelting ores and making crafts.
***HyperMegaBonus: Close off all stairs and add a minecart loading and unloading station at every inhabited z level. All vertical transport of goods should be done via minecarts only. Also, dwarves are not allowed in minecarts.
****UltraSuperBonus: Build a minecart loading and unloading station at every Z level, even the uninhabited ones you never use.

==Mist generator==

Using whatever screw-pump-statue contraption your dwarves can muster up, create an endless mist-generating machine which will hopefully not obliterate your [[Frames_per_second|FPS]].

'''Difficulty:''' Extremely easy. You will only need a basic understanding of screwpumps and gear assemblies. However, you can scale it to any size or level of complexity. The [[Mist|mist page]] has a handy guide.

'''Usefulness:''' Borderline cheating. Keeps your dwarves in a state of constant euphoria. Mist does funny things to a dwarf's mind. Also a one-up from artificial waterfalls as they only need to travel a single Z level, (hopefully) reducing the FPS strain.
*Bonus: Build an absolutely horrible fortress with as much [[miasma]] and [[hateable]] vermin that you can fit in one bunker. Keep your dwarves sane with the power of Mist™ alone.
**FUNbonus: Build it in a semi-freezing climate instead. Watch as winter rolls by and your dwarves are deprived of their only source of joy. [[Fun]] will surely ensue.

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

'''Usefulness:''' None.

*Bonus: Make the statue hollow and have dwarves live inside it.
*BestWayToGetRidOfStoneBonus: Make one for every dead dwarf.
**UberTombBonus: Use the statue as a tomb and put their coffins in it.
*Dwarfbonus: Give the statue magma eyes.
**HellNo,DwarfsYesBonus: Combine the magma eyes idea with the magma cannon idea above and place the statue just behind (and above) the entrance to your fortress.

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

'''Difficulty:''' Surprisingly easy.

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

*Bonus: Use the Moses effect to make doors from water, which are opened/closed using a lever.
*TechBonus: Automatize the doors so that they open (only!) when a dwarf is near.

==Never-ending shower==
{{main|Waterfall}}
Don't you get angry when your dwarves carry enough grime on them to dirty the entire fortress? And how they get infected because of that griminess? Suffer no more! With the Never Ending Shower (NES for short), dwarves will be able to stay (relatively) clean without having to take the time to run for a bath or dirtying your drinking water!

It is easy to understand: use the same instructions as in the Artificial Waterfall, but make it so that the waterfall is somewhere where the dwarves will be going through almost daily--a central stairway works well. It cleans them and gives them happy [[thought]]s for the same price!

'''Difficulty:''' Moderate to high. You do have to make sure that dwarves don't try anything funny, and create a drain to draw the dirty water out.

'''Usefulness:''' Incredibly high. Reduces risk of infection and keeps your dwarves happy.

*Bonus: Use an aquifer to get clean water AND drain dirty water.
*Bonus: Use levers to control the NES.
*SuperBonus: Make it work as a trap!
*SuperDuperBonus: Make it work as a trap AND as a recovery system!
*ArmokBonus: Make it so that magma can be poured down, too!

==Nuclear Fallout Bunker==
Build a mini fortress with everything your dwarves could need deep underground. Stock it with enough food, drinks, and materials to last your small band of survivors for years or alternatively make it self-sufficient with its own food production. Lastly, add a bridge that allows you to seal off the bunker from the rest of the world.

'''Difficulty:''' Easy-Medium depending on the relative luxury of the bunker and how many dwarves you intend to shelter from the apocalypse.

'''Usefulness:''' High. If your fort is threatened by some particularly nasty disaster (be it zombie goblin horde or Bronze Colossus) simply rush your best and brightest dwarves down to the Nuclear Fallout Bunker and raise the bridge, sealing it off from the rest of the world.
*MutallyAssuredDestructionBonus: Have a self-destruct lever in the bunker that is pulled once everyone is safely inside.

==Obsidian factory==
{{main|Obsidian farming}}
You need one reservoir of water, and one of magma. Mix, cool, mine, and repeat as necessary.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium.

'''Usefulness:''' Obsidian is 50% more valuable than [[flux]] and 3 times as valuable as ordinary stone, making it ideal for your [[mason]]s and [[stone crafter]]s. Done properly, it can also serve as a magma chamber, a drowning chamber and even an obsidianizing chamber that can kill any creature that gets in (except [[ghost]]s and possibly [[vermin]]).

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

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

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

'''Usefulness:''' Dispose of prisoners, execute nobles, gruesome fatal injuries, laugh maniacally. If high enough, you may be able to recover [[bone]]s from creatures your dwarves refuse to [[butcher]].

* Bonus: Link the spikes to a lever so you can proceed to make swiss cheese of whatever didn't die from the fall.

==Pixel art stockpiles==
Arrange several stockpiles of similar items of different colors (gems work well for this) so the different colors make some sort of picture. Don't forget to set "max bins" to 0 on all the stockpiles so you can actually see the items!

It's probably also a good idea to forbid the items once they're in place, to prevent them from being moved later (and allow you to remove the stockpiles if you want.)

'''Difficulty:''' Medium; only tricky parts are (potentially) finding enough items of different colors, and keeping track of which colors are where before the hauling is done.

'''Usefulness:''' Negative

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

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

'''Usefulness:''' Medium-High. Tested in version 0.28.181.40d with 50 recruits standing in front of it when the floodgates opened, killed 46 of them, including ones not pushed into the pit.

* Bonus: Fill it with Magma instead (though it won't flow out nearly as quickly).

==Quantum Blizzard Cannon==

Do you need to kill something? Is atom-smashing no longer a viable option? Do you wish to bring glory to Armok? Do not fear, the QBC is here! By creating individual stops to fill minecarts with projectiles of your choosing, then loading up to 12 filled minecarts into a final “Launcher” minecart (using a stop designated to fill the "launcher" with minecarts), you can effectively fire as many items as you would like at your foe using a standard minecart shotgun. It is also possible to fill this with fluids, to great effect (and risk of crashing the game). This can often have interesting effects because hitting a goblin with 996 bars of lead at extreme speeds is not good for the squishy bits. The cannon gains its name from its creator.

''' Difficulty:''' excessive, lots of time in menus and loading per shot, but really ((Fun))

''' Usefulness:''' medium to low. The same trick can be used to move large amounts of items via minecart, but ultimately the QBC is excessive for even the HFS.

==Redesign the fortress==
And when we say "redesign", we mean completely replanning and rebuilding the entire fortress, from scratch. Ever thought about a cool thing that you could add to your fortress, but can't because a critical area(such as the dining room, general-purpose stockpile, central workshop area etc.) are in the way? Did you start the fortress by building the most critical areas in the first available spot? Well, now is a good time to get rid of that! For added effects, put the sleeping areas especially close to the booze stockpile so that dwarves are always happy!

'''Difficulty:''' Varies depending on the size of the fortress.

'''Usefulness:''' Varies depending on how you carry it out, a.k.a. the efficiency of the new organization.

* Bonus: use [[obsidian]] casting to carve the new fortress entirely out of obsidian.
** DwarfBonus: but keep valuable walls such as [[native gold]].
*** PurpleDwarfBonus: using controlled [[cave-in]]s, arrange for your king's new room to be entirely bordered by native gold/platinum/aluminium walls.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

* Bonus: Spike a goblin on every trap!
* Megabonus: Spike traders who annoy you on the traps!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

==Sapient zoo==
Start by creating a [[zoo]] containing at least one of every [INTELLIGENT] and [CAN_SPEAK] creature
including [[humans]], [[elves]], [[goblin]]s and [[kobold]]s.

*Bonus: include a berserk dwarf in cage

'''Difficulty:''' Easy for some, Hard for others

'''Usefulness:''' None, really, a place for dwarves to throw a [[party]].

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

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

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

* DorfBonus: Make it have a timer before your fortress self-destructs. You can do this with a water channel, or if you're particularly technical, make a [[Computing|seven segment display]].
** For bonus Dwarfy-ness, make the timer be the depth number of the magma or water that will actually trigger your fortress' destruction.
* Bonus: Build your fortress high above ground, connect the fortress to a roof through just one support and have the system, when activated, drop the whole construction into the magma sea, destroying the whole thing permanently.
* FunBonus: use the lever to drop the fortress off a pillar while simultaneously opening the [[hidden fun stuff]], preferably in a whole lot of places.
*ExtraFunBonus: do as many of these bonuses as you please (as long as they still function together) AND unleash a whole lot of dwarves throwing tantrums near the lever when you wish to set the fun things off.

==Shark catcher==
Capture of [[Bull shark|sharks]] or [[Carp|other]], [[Sturgeon|dangerous fish]] achieved by making an artificial bay, filling it with [[Cage trap|cage traps]], opening the floodgate to the sea or river and some sort of drainage system, likely pumps and/or floodgates.

'''Difficulty''': Low to Medium as drowning while setting up is very possible with bad planning.

'''Usefulness''': Low, purely aesthetic, but very cool to have a shark infested moat (Potentially kills invaders).

==Silk farming==
{{main|Silk farming}}
Capture a web-slinger (generally a [[giant cave spider]]) and build a farm to efficiently harvest its [[silk]].

'''Difficulty''': Low to Medium; the hardest part is generally catching the web-spinner.

'''Usefulness''': Medium to High. Provides an endless supply of potentially-valuable [[silk]] cloth and rapidly [[cross-training|cross-trains]] [[weaver]]s.

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

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

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

*MegaDwarfBonus: Add <s>goblins</s> seasoning.
*ArmokDoubleBonus: Use [[magma mist]].
*DwarfBonus: feed any vegetables you did not steam to your dear friends, the [[Demon|clowns]].

==Swimming pool==
{{main|Swimming#Learning/Teaching swimming|l1=Swimming § Learning/Teaching swimming}}
It's a reservoir that fills to 4/7 exactly. Station soldiers inside, lock them in, and fill. This way they gain [[swimming]] skill.

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

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

==Swimming track==
{{main|Swimming#Minecart_training|l1=Swimming § Minecart_training}}

[[Image:Swim track 0.png|thumb|right|250px|A large swimming track]]

A [[minecart]] ride that trains [[swimming]] safely and automatically.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. Minecart tracks can be fiddly, and adding a non-traversable depth of water makes any mistakes more difficult to fix.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. The swimming skill is only slightly useful, but it does provide [[cross-training]] for attribute gains.

==Tower of Death-Struction==

Have you ever wondered, "What would it take to make my [[Siege|friends]] all [[Gravity|fall]] at once into a pit of [[Trap|fun times]] while also not risking failure?" Elementary, my aspiring architect -- [[Fun|THE TOWER OF DEATH-STRUCTION]]!

Step 1: Build a tower with a [[bridge]], to allow for non-lethal access to the fortress. Build the tower roughly 25-30 blocks high, though higher towers tend to result in roughly equivalent amounts of [[Fun]]. The access bridge should be linked to a lever, to close it like a standard gate.

Step 2: Build a thinner tower 20 blocks away, for maximum bridge length. Any number of middle towers can be constructed, though one is recommended.

Step 3: Build another tower, one that can be ascended by [[Goblin|curious friends]]. Fill it with cage traps, to thin out the number of [[Troll|friends]] to take up space on the bridge.

Step 4: Build two bridges on either side of the skybridge, to trap attackers on the skybridge.

Step 5: Hook up the skybridges to one lever, and the trap bridge to another.

Once this is done, just wait for a [[Siege|surprise party]] to be thrown for you. Close the access bridge, forcing the [[Goblin|visitors]] to path onto it. Trap them, and when the time looks right...

'''Pull the lever, Kronk!'''

'''Difficulty:''' Moderate to hard. If all of your dwarves have cave adaptation, the construction might take a lot longer to complete. As well, the cost of floors and traps alone will mean that just acquiring the materials will need its own stupid dwarf trick.

'''Usefulness:''' Low to high, depending on how well you use it. If you forget to open the access gate, you might find your dwarves trapped inside the tower, or even worse, they may run up to the bridge to fight and meet a [[Gravity|bad time]]. Also, the goblin corpses piling up in the spike pit might cause extra [[Miasma|fun]] depending on how regularly you take care of it. If done correctly, this tower might become the most efficient and effective defence against all problems that one could possibly ask for.

*Bonus: Build enough middle towers to build a bridge path long enough to trap an entire siege and drop them onto spikes below.
*SuperBonus: Build the towers above a river.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Build the towers above a lava pit.
*SuperMegaDwarfBonus: Build the towers above a ticket straight to [[HFS|the circus]].
*ArmokBonus: Build the towers out of [[Slade]] (Note: This should be impossible, so if you do it...))
*HardcoreDwarvenMasterpieceArtifactBonus: Build the fortress at the top of the tower that the goblins have to try to get to.

== Traveling Circus ==
Travel across the world, building megaprojects like pyramids or bridges.

'''Difficulty''': The larger the world, the higher.

'''Usefulness''': ''None at all''.
* Bonus: travel around and actually release [[HFS|the circus]] on every embark. Needless to say, this is the most [[fun]] option. You may consider making sure the clowns get their share of fun, if you want your circus to happen more than once...

==Underground forest==
{{main|Tree farming}}
Break into an underground cavern, make some muddy floors over a big area and wait.

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

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

==Underground perpetual motion power plant==
Combine with a use for the power and you either have an awesome setup, or a ticking time bomb.

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

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

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

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

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

*Bonus: Build it on area with trees and shrubs; make walls from ice or use windows; fill it with fish and merfolk; now you'll get a big aquarium
*Note: It doesn't count if you accidentally flood your fortress and wind up with one of these. It does count if one of your nobles has an unfortunate accident in their sculpture garden.

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

Bonus: Make the A.I. dwarf a vampire. Vampires don't need food, alcohol, or sleep and cannot age, which makes them perfect for the job. As an added bonus, keeping a vampire in this way will make your fortress completely indestructible, as sealing him in will prevent the possibility of the vampire of being killed in combat or from a syndrome, while keeping the vampire from making friends he will inevitably outlive will prevent him from going insane. (It also ensures that the bloodsucker won't use any of your dwarves as a midnight snack.) NOTE: Vampires may still go insane without any blood. Might be worth considering adding on a 3rd "feeding chamber" where you assign an unfortunate victim to sleep whenever the vampire gets hungry.

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

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

Also known by several product names:
*G.O.B.L.I.N.A.T.O.R. - '''G'''oblin '''O'''perated '''B'''astion of '''L'''ogic to '''I'''nfalliably '''N'''eutralize '''A'''ntiquated '''T'''ypes of '''O'''perational '''R'''egimes
*N.G.O.K.A.N.G. - '''N'''efarious '''G'''oblin '''O'''f '''K'''illing '''A'''nd '''N'''eedless '''G'''riping
*S.T.O.Z.U. - '''S'''ecret '''T'''echnological '''O'''perative who '''Z'''aps '''U'''nruly Nobles

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

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

==Vomitorium==
[[Image:Vomit_Trail.png‎|thumb|right|Vomitoria: preventing cave adaptation since [[23a:Vomit|23a]].]]

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

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

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

Bonus: Make an ACTUAL Vomitorium for this - Build a [[meeting hall]] with a [[grate]]d floor. Let [[cave adaptation]] set in, then open the place up for the most extravagant and lavish of parties every 3~4 years! Those will be some Armok grade hangovers though....

==Water tower==
This functions much like real life: Lifting water above ground level creates pressure, allowing buried pipes to deliver water to any elevation below the top of the tower. This is smarter, faster, and cheaper than a map-spanning raised aqueduct. A pump stack at the river, raising water into a sealed, pressurized U-bend, can deliver large volumes of water to whatever level you want, very quickly.

'''Difficulty:''' Medium. No harder than any other pump stack to design, but high pressure can amplify minor errors into abandon-worthy disasters. You could conceivably divert the river into your fort. Be sure to make an off-switch.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. Once the pump stack is operating, you no longer need to be anywhere near your water source.

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

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

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

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

==Werewolf clock==
The changing of the werewolf is the most reliable indicator of the passing of seasons. For precisely one day per full moon, he will go berserk and trigger standard pressure plates.

'''Difficulty:''' You will get a were sooner or later. Getting him pitted in the right spot without havoc is the hard part.

'''Usefulness:''' Low/None. As of Premium, the lunar phase is permanently affixed to the user interface, making a werewolf clock frankly redundant.

*Bonus: Make the werewolf do most of the work himself.

==Zombie thunderdome==
Embark in a [[surroundings#Evil|reanimating]] biome in the current version (preferably savage as well), find or dig a deep pit, and dump any unused (non-dorf) corpses and butchery products into it. They will animate and begin to walk around, providing you with the endless entertainment afforded by watching horse hair walk. Make sure the pit is deep enough not to scare your dwarves!

'''Difficulty:''' Low.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. Keeping your fort safe from the threat of animated beak dog beaks is worth any price. However, [[Defense guide|there may be better things]] [[Mega construction|to do with your time]].

*Bonus: Set up a series of [[bridge|defenses]] that drop invaders into the pit.
*DwarfBonus: Set up a series of bridges and walls that flings invaders into the pit.
*MegaDwarfBonus: Drop a Megabeast into the pit and watch it do battle with multiple layers of undead.
*CavernFunBonus: Channel the bottom into a cavern and let your zombies hunt [[forgotten beast|the wonderful creatures there]].
**BonusFunBonus: Let them hunt [[Demon|Clowns]] as well.
*ZombieDwarfBonus: Ignore the suggestion above and dump dwarven corpses in anyway.

==Zombie shooting gallery==

In a reanimating biome, build a holding room for your undead, wall it off with fortifications. In the adjacent (accessible) area, build an archery range and order your archery squads to train there. Your marksdwarves will go to their scheduled archery training and whenever a zombie is raised, they'll switch focus from the boring old archery target and instead shoot down the undead. Once the zombies are dead, they'll return to regular shooting practice until the corpses rise again. The raised corpses cannot attack through fortifications and thus cause no unhappy thoughts from seeing them, but will spook haulers trying to collect errant socks from the shooting range.

A viable (if finicky) alternative to a reanimating biome could be a [[necromancer]]. This has the benefit of being more controllable, but comes with the threat of [[intelligent undead]] and their abilities. Most would be relatively harmless or a minor inconvenience, but some are potentially lethal to your dwarves. Whether or not this is a downside depends on how many corpses you have available to restock the gallery.

'''Difficulty:''' Low. The difficulty lies in finding a source of permanent undead, the actual construction is trivial.

'''Usefulness:''' Medium. This setup significantly increases the skill gain from bolts used by training dwarves, since every bolt shot at a zombie counts as combat action, giving much more experience. The scheme works without any supervision once set up.

{{Category|Design}}
[[ru:Stupid dwarf trick]]