v0.34:Dining room

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v50.14 · v0.47 · v0.34.11 · v0.31 · v0.28 · v0.23 This article is about an older version of DF. More Info · V

A dining room is a room designated from a table. The assigned room may be either assigned to a specific dwarf or designated as a dining hall. A valuable communal dining hall is an excellent way to keep dwarves happy.

It is also possible to further designate a dining hall as a meeting hall, allowing parties. Dwarves that are on break or jobless will also meet here and become further acquainted.

Constructing a dining hall

In order to construct a dining hall, first build a table, then use the q menu to designate the table as a room. Some players place food stockpiles nearby in hopes that this will lessen the time it takes dwarves to grab a bite to eat, but note that dwarves grab the closest food to them when they decide to eat, not the closest to where they dine.

Once a dining hall has been designated, you may assign the room to a specific dwarf or further designate it as a meeting hall using the q menu. Dining halls assigned as meeting halls will attract idle dwarves and serve as a party hub, which may or may not be useful, depending on individual play style.

Happiness considerations

• While a single table is enough to create a dining room, dwarves will receive unhappy thoughts from "sharing" this table, eating at a dining room (or anywhere else) without a chair and table. To prevent this, build multiple tables and add a chair or throne next to each table. A good general rule of thumb is to have enough tables and chairs to serve one fifth of your fortress population at any given time. While it makes sense to put a chair on either side of a table, dwarves will receive an unhappy thought if forced to share a table.

• Since the room quality is determined solely by the total value of all items and furniture, it is possible to make a legendary room simply by having a great many more chairs and tables than you actually need, which will give your mason something to do and give your fort room to grow in the future. Artifacts that can be used in animal and weapon traps, like mechanisms, will add immensely to room value and impress any dwarf that looks at them, even if they are useless where they are placed. Artifacts you can build are a huge boon for this reason.

• The total value of a dining room will affect how happy dwarves get about eating there. Because dining rooms tend to be large and have lots of potentially valuable furniture, it is fairly simple to get incredibly valuable dining rooms that help offset the depression of a dwarf's best friend being torn apart by goblins. Building furniture from valuable materials such as flux, obsidian, or various metals helps. Decorating the walls and floors is also an easy way to make a dining hall more valuable. Try to use an experienced engraver for this important task to maximize room value.

• Dwarves with a table or chair in their quarters may opt to eat their meals there instead of using your magnificent dining hall (forgoing the happy thought and possibly generating unhappy thoughts as well). To avoid this, do not install tables or chairs in your non-noble dwarves' quarters.

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