Bay 12 Forums

NOTE: This section has not been updated since the old forums. Some information may be out of date.

The official Bay 12 Games Forums are the major hub of fan-based activity surrounding the game. Users can ask questions about game play, exchange stories of their exploits, advertise their own contributions (mods, tools, pregenerated worlds), make suggestions (which might inspire Toady One but have no binding nature), or discuss the game in a general fashion. Toady One is known to read the forums and respond to posts when he sees fit, but there is no guarantee for such a response nor any rights to it. One important function offered, which does regularly involve Toady One, is the possibility to report Bug. But usually, activity on the forums is between fans only.

Rules

Contrary to popular myth, there are rules and laws on the internet, just as everywhere else in the world.

While Toady One is very lenient in policing the forums, there are still rules of conduct you should try to abide by.

Check the Wiki

Before posting any questions, please try to find the answer to the question in the wiki. The wiki does offer a lot of information not found in the included help and thus is a useful resource.

The wiki is created by the fans and as such not perfect. Besides searching for the first term that comes to mind, you should also try searching for related terms. Sometimes, features are listed only within articles about some of their constituents.

Check the FAQ

Toady One has provided an FAQ page answering some expected general questions. Since it provides answers to very different questions, checking it before starting a new discussion is well worth your time.

Check the Development Page

Toady One also maintains a detailed development page. Besides listing the current developments, it also lists reported bugs as well as long-term plans and ideas Toady One wishes to implement eventually.

Regardless of whether you are planning to report a bug, ask a question about a really unexpected behavior of the game, or have a good idea for new game features, this page can save you a lot of time as it keeps you from repeating what is already known.

The development page is actually divided into several parts for easier theme based searching. If you are not sure where to look concerning an issue, there is also the consolidated development page which tries to summarize all the other pages. This can be used together with your browser's search feature to find things quickly.

Use the Search Function

The forums offer a search function (look in the upper right corner). The forums see a lot of activity day by day and thus chances are great that someone already asked the same question before or made a similar suggestion previously.

Please note that the search function offers searching a single forum or all forums, defaulting to the forum from where you visited the search function. There may be cases where people posted in an unexpected forum, so you might wish to search in all forums the issue you wish to discuss might fit in (for instance, questions about how to create certain structures in fortress mode could fit both in the DF Gameplay Questions or the DF Dwarf Mode Discussions subforums.

Support Existing Threads

Instead of starting new threads, consider participating in threads already dealing with the issue. This is especially an important issue for suggestions as some of the obvious ones tend to resurface regularly.

Important threads

The following are threads which are considered useful for handling specific discussions.

Threads to Read

• DF Eternal Suggestion Voting - Not strictly a thread (though there is one associated with it) - this is essentially the most recent (and dynamic) incarnation of the master list of popular suggestions - very useful as an index to find the thread for that suggestion that, no, you're not the first to think of.

need more...

Threads to Watch

• The NEW Future of the Fortress - Toady One answers questions about new/planned features (don't forget to read the dev logs.

need more...

Historical perspective

This is the list as it was when this page was created in April. Some links are broken due to the forum move and inability to find the thread again, and all of them are somewhat old.

• The BIGGEST gameplay problems with DF - This thread has seen a major discussion about what people consider major obstacles for full enjoyment of the game. As such, it also includes ideas for solutions. Last active in September.
• Creating a magic system? - This is one of the major discussions about the possible implementation of magic in Dwarf Fortress. The topic is active at the moment. (12.15.2008)
• Magic: By dwarfs for dwarfs - This is one of the major discussions about possible dwarven magic. Last active in June.
• Occam's Razor: Dwarven Magic - Another discussion about dwarven magic. Last active in March.
• Occam's Razor: Elven Magic - Despite the title, the discussion is not limited to elven magic. Last active in March.
• Top 3 Suggestions - This is a list of the most common/preffered suggestions, add your favourites. If what you planned to post is listed here then don't make a new thread. Could not locate a thread by this name.
• Multiplayer Mod - Multiplayer is NOT being implemented in the forseeable future and therefore if you wish to discuss the problem it goes in the modding forum. Could not locate a thread by this name
• Stone "problem" - A lot of people have problems with the clutter of stone in a fortress and suggestions for ways of dealing with it. Search the suggestions forum for topics with the word 'stone' in the subject for another 50 examples. Could not locate a thread by this name

Location

The official Bay 12 Games Forums can be found here.

Subforums

The official Bay 12 Games Forums consist of several subforums, most, but not all of which are concerned with Dwarf Fortress.

Announcements

This forum is a place where Toady One provides general announcements about Bay 12 Games. It does not offer any interactivity for fans.

Dwarf Fortress

DF Announcements

This forum is dedicated to announcements about Dwarf Fortress only. Besides the official statements by Toady One, the threads here regularly see comments by fans, ranging from crash bug reports up to comments and praise about what has been announced (usually new release versions).

DF Bug Reports

This forum has a special role within the forums. This is the place where you should initially post bug reports. If the bug is already known, other fans may inform you about this. Likewise, if it is not a bug but a misunderstanding, it is likely to be resolved with the help of senior fans. If it is indeed a hitherto unknown bug, Toady One himself may respond in your thread and most likely ask for necessary details or even a save file so he can check and eventually fix the bug.

DF Suggestions

This forum is the place where fans can freely discuss ways of how the game could be improved. Any suggestions are welcome, ranging from minor changes to the display up to major additions like magic systems.

While Toady One is known to visit this forum, these suggestions have no special status for him. If he likes an idea, he might implement it, but if not, the idea is not implemented. Because of this non-binding nature, vote counting (which is also not automatically supported by the forums which are lacking a poll feature) is meaningless and Toady One himself has recommended to refrain from using unqualified support posts (in other words, if you do like or dislike a suggestion, you should also state why you feel that way).

Please keep in mind that Toady One is providing all of this voluntarily. You may try to outline what you consider a good idea and try to make it look appealing, but there are no obligations on Toady One's part. Threatening or trying to blackmail Toady One is therefore meaningless.

DF Gameplay Questions

This forum is the place where you can go if you encounter something you do not understand, which neither looks like a bug nor is explained sufficiently in the wiki.

Questions about specific game mechanisms are common, but people also often ask for advice about how to implement certain ideas or features there.

DF Dwarf Mode Discussion

This forum is especially dedicated to discussions about dwarf fortress mode.

This forum usually contains discussions about either ideas for ways to play in fortress mode or experiences with fortress mode. The content therefore ranges from anecdotal to inspirational.

DF Adventure Mode Discussion

This forum is the counterpart to the previously described forum. It is dedicated to discussions about adventurer mode.

Like its fortress mode counterpart, this forum ranges from ideas to anecdotes as people describe both their experiences as well as their ideas for adventurer mode playing.

DF Community Games & Stories

This forum is the youngest of the forums and dedicated to discussions about community games and stories.

In this forum, fans can advertise their community games, succession games, and the like and also handle the actually post exchange that is required for organizing such events. And they also exchange the stories of what happens in the game. Please note that, like the other forums, this forum does not offer upload facilities.

DF Modding

This forum is dedicated to discussions about modding.

Fans use it to advertise their mods, exchange experiences with the modding process, and also ask and answer questions about how to mod the game successfully.

DF General Discussion

This forum is the catch for all forum for dwarf fortress. Any discussions that do not fit nicely in any of the other DF forums go here.

Topics here range from random ranting only losely related to the game, over dwarf fortress' public image, fanart exchanges, general thoughts on the game, Toady One, and the developments surrounding both.

A noteworthy special feature are the Future of the Fortress threads started by Toady One himself to discuss the development. This feature is noteworthy since its content somewhat overlaps with the DF Announcement forum and the suggestion forum.

Other Projects

Slaves to Armok: God of Blood

This forum is dedicated to discussions concerning the predecessor of dwarf fortress.

Curses

This forum is dedicated to discussions about other ASCII based games by Bay 12 Games.

Other Games

This forum is dedicated to discussions about non-ASCII games by Bay 12 Games as well as gaming in general.

Finally...

Various Nonsense

This forum is dedicated to meaningless and general banter. People discuss politics, their pen names, riddles, and heaven knows what else there.

Forum Games and Roleplaying

Exactly what it says on the tin.