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User:Kydo

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Revision as of 01:20, 28 January 2010 by Kydo (talk | contribs)
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Who I Am

I am Kydo, a DF player who enjoys this website a lot and is interested in helping. Mostly with grammatical corrections. (If you see any issues on my page, please point them out to me. Everyone makes mistakes. That's why I'm here.) My real name is Jeff. Not that it matters. In rl, I'm an artist with two years of college under his belt... And no money to complete the rest of the degree. I'm a gamer, I play D&D and dabble in tabletop RPG design, I play videogames excessively, and it all tends to get in the way of my art, really. This is probably just another diversion, I suppose. Oh. And I'm a MAN. Let's make that clear.

I have a DA page if you wish to talk to me about art or what-not. Kydo

Observations

Just a collection of things I've noticed. Read it or not, I don't care. Basically just stuff I want to add as little side-notes to other articles, but am too shy to actually do. I think I'll wait until I understand the editor a bit lot more.

Dead Wagons

Wagons of death

Okay, so this illustrates something a little off.

The wagon you start off with is stationary. All it can do is be deconstructed. It doesn't do THAT when you take the thing apart. You just get two pieces of wood.

The wagons traders use are obviously different. For one thing, they move, with two horse-like animals pulling them. (Sometimes they're camels, oxes, donkeys, etc.) They have a width of 3x3 tiles, and cannot pass over a great many objects in the environment. The Depot Accessibility Display shows only the places the center tile can pass over. So long as there's green, the wagon can get there.

The difference between trade wagons and the starting wagon becomes more apparent, in that upon entering the depot, they can be stacked two high, and seem to completely deconstruct themselves from existence.

In the trading article, it claims you can steal from a caravan without marking the objects as stolen, by deconstructing the depot with the traders inside. And it works! Very well! Someone noted that surrounding nations keep track of sent and returned wealth and will still probably invade. I'm tempted to note that dwarfs will never siege dwarfs, meaning you can HEAVILY exploit the trade caravan by deconstructing every time they show up, with NO repercussions... But it also causes the above glitchyness. The wagons, which at the time of depot deconstruction didn't even appear to exist, are now listed as dead, and still do not appear on the map.

When the caravan leaves, the wagons will reappear from the location they originally disappeared on, and wander off the field, leaving their goods behind, and for some reason, remaining in your units list as deceased creatures, despite already having watched them leave your map!

Reconstructing the depot, before or after they leave, even if it's in the same spot, will not "revive" them. Nor will it remove the "deceased" status.

The reason is that the starting wagon is a building, while the wagons the traders use are a creature.

creature_equipment.txt

[OBJECT:CREATURE]

[CREATURE:EQUIPMENT_WAGON]

[NAME:wagon:wagons:wagon]
[TILE:'W'][COLOR:6:0:0]
[EQUIPMENT_WAGON][COMMON_DOMESTIC]
[NOT_BUTCHERABLE]
[HAS_RACEGLOSS:WOOD]
[ITEMCORPSE:WOOD:NO_SUBTYPE:WOOD:USE_RACEGLOSS]
[NOSMELLYROT]
[BODY:WAGON]
[SIZE:12]
[ALL_ACTIVE]
[NO_GENDER]
[MATERIAL:WOOD:USE_RACEGLOSS]
[TRADE_CAPACITY:15000]
[MUNDANE]

TADA! That's why, when you press D to check depot accessibility, it only shows where that center tile can step. That center tile IS the wagon!

Projects

Just whatever things I might be working on. Geology Chart is the only REAL concern at the moment. Whether DFWiki wants it or not; I do.

Industry Flowchart

Yeah, I'm making a flowchart describing the flow of all of the industries together, and how they interact. No easy task. The image is far too large to be reasonably uploaded at the moment, and I'm nowhere near done. Of course, that was kind of predicted.

Requisite Industries These are industries which produce goods needed to produce other goods, and don't really fit inside any of the other industries.
Fuel Industry: 100%
Gem Industry: 0%

Primary Industries These are overarching industries which usually contain several related or overlapping sub-industries. They mostly define the overall branching of where your production effort will be going.
Wood Industry: 0%
Stone Industry: 0%
Metal Industry: 40%
Glass Industry: 70%
Food Industry: 0%

Secondary Industries These are industries which are generally built upon the primary industries, usually more than one.
Crafts Industry: 0%
Clothing Industry: 0%
Soap Industry: 0%
Furniture Industry: 0%

Sub-Industries These are sub-industries within the overall branchings.
Meat Industry: 0%
Plant Industry: 0%
Alcohol Industry: 0%
Weapons Industry: 0%
Armor Industry: 0%

Geology Chart

This is the WIP Geology chart. It's purpose and intent is to describe the relationships between different kinds of minerals and metals as they appear in the environment of Dwarf Fortress. In constructing this, I have learned a lot about the commonalities, and the differences, between the contents of certain kinds of layers. This is partially due to the layout of the wiki as it stands, and partially due to paying attention.

When I started this project, I originally felt that the overall presentation of the stones and such to be absolutely wretched. However, as I've worked with them, I've learned why they were arranged that way. Even so, the whole thing needs massive cleanup for sure, and I think this would be a good first step. This is still mainly for my personal use.

Stone
Sedimentary
Name State Found In Contains Stone Contains Ore Contains Gems
Chalk Sedimentary Layer
Chert Sedimentary Layer
Claystone Sedimentary Layer
Conglomerate Sedimentary Layer
Dolomite Sedimentary Layer
Flint Sedimentary Layer
Limestone Sedimentary Layer
Mudstone Sedimentary Layer
Rock Salt Sedimentary Layer
Sandstone Sedimentary Layer
Shale Sedimentary Layer
Siltstone Sedimentary Layer
Igneous Intrusive
Name State Found In Contains Stone Contains Ore Contains Gems
Diorite Igneous Intrusive Layer
Gabbro Igneous Intrusive Layer
Granite Igneous Intrusive Layer
Igneous Extrusive
Name State Found In Contains Stone Contains Ore Contains Gems
Andesite Igneous Extrusive Layer
Basalt Igneous Extrusive Layer
Felsite Igneous Extrusive Layer
Obsidian Igneous Extrusive Layer
Rhyolite Igneous Extrusive Layer
Metamorphic
Name State Found In Contains Stone Contains Ore Contains Gems
Gneiss Metamorphic Layer
Marble Metamorphic Layer
Phyllite Metamorphic Layer
Quartzite Metamorphic Layer
Schist Metamorphic Layer
Slate Metamorphic Layer

Design Ideas

Standard key 

  Key:
symbol  tile
 ·   -  Empty space
 +   -  Constructed floor, or top of wall section from lower level
 0   -  Isolated wall section
╔╦═╗
╠╬═╣ -  Connected wall 
║║ ║
╚╩═╝
 ╬   -  Fortifications
 X   -  Up/down stairs
 <   -  Up stair
 >   -  Down stair
 ▲   -  Up ramp/slope
 ▼   -  Down ramp/slope
 ,   -  natural ground
 ☺   -  dwarf

Anti-Hauling Animal Trainer

I recently noticed that my animal trainer doesn't really need the animal next to him to train it. Specifically, if a dog, (Or any other trainable animal) is on the floor below or above the kennel, the animal trainer can simply walk to the kennel and train it, without hauling the animal or even bothering with uncaging/unrestraining it! I believe the effect only works in a 3x3x3 cube around the center tile of the kennel, where training is actually done.

Entry Hall

For an underground trading depot...

A six z-level entry hall, 5 wide, 40 long, filled with traps. It is open through all levels, but has a ceiling at the very top. It is lined with fortifications, which are then lined by staircases, which are then lined by platforms full of food, alcohol and bolts. The end result is that my marksdwarves can move almost any direction they want up and down a fortification wall, firing down into a chamber of whatever threat may appear.

z0 

    ╔════════════════════╗
    ║++++++++++++++++++++║
    ║XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX║
   ╔╩════════════════════╣
   ║▲                    ╚═══
   ║▲                    ·····
   ║▲                    Bridge     To Depot ->
   ║▲                    ·····
   ║▲                    ╔═══
   ╚╦════════════════════╣
    ║XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX║
    ║++++++++++++++++++++║
    ╚════════════════════╝

z+1 and up 

    ╔═══════════════════════╗
    ║+++++++++++++++++++++++║
    ║XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX+║
╔══ ╩╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬X+║
║▲· ·····················╬X+║
║▲· ·····················╬X+║
║▲· ·····················╬X+║
║▲· ·····················╬X+║
║▲· ·····················╬X+║
╚══ ╦╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬╬X+║
    ║XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX+║
    ║+++++++++++++++++++++++║
    ╚═══════════════════════╝

I generally have the fortress guard barracks underneath this, separating my fortress from my prison, which is underneath THAT.

z-1 

    ╔════════════════════╗
    ║XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX║
    ║                    ║
    ║                    ║
  ╔═╝                    ╚═══
  ║>   Room full of beds      To Fortress Spine ->
  ╚═╗                    ╔═══
    ║                    ║
    ║                    ║
    ║XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX║
    ╚════════════════════╝

Then, because the ceiling of my murderous entry hall is generally also the floor of the great outdoors, I also build the keep directly up out of the entrance form. The bottom floor of the keep is usually my barracks for my standing military, but it's also occasionally used for my control room, as there's a bridge at the entrance, and a bridge before the depot, to keep things from getting out. Or in. There's also usually lots of other things I have, like atom smashers and spikes. My keep is generally surrounded by the usual gauntlet of traps and marksdwarves from above. The whole thing can, of course, be streamlined for traders by the pull of a lever! I plan to line their path with statues to show how much cooler than them I am.

Jail Design

I've been looking at better ways of designing prisons in such a way as to more effectively rehabilitate prisoners and catch tantrumers before they cause too much damage. Some things I've noticed...

  1. A restraint allows a dwarf a 3x3x3 cube of movement. This means you can have your jail "cells" have 3 rooms on three levels, increasing the number of nice things you can put around your prisoners.
  2. Building a well somewhere in your prison complex will decrease the time it takes for water to be delivered to any tantrumers who may have been hurt prior to or during the imprisonment process.
  3. Putting a barracks full of soldiers between your prison and the rest of your fortress may help. There are ways of escaping, and I like to be careful.
  4. If a dwarf is unhappy for long enough, they'll go insane. Nearing the end of a fortress, dwarves tend to stay sad for a fair while. Any imprisoned dwarves who go nuts can be locked away (somewhat) safely if you put each restraint in it's own chamber with a door.
  5. Expanding on the insanity thing, trapping your prison may be helpful, as could guard dogs. Although, I did that more because I had too much of everything. Mostly overkill by that point.
  6. Expanding on the "too much of everything" tangent, I also designed my prison with a COMPLETE AND TOTAL LOCKDOWN lever. Just in case of an inmate uprising the game isn't normally capable of generating.
  7. Just for the hell of it, I have been thinking about making a specific execution chamber for prisoners I particularly dislike. Is there any way to control what cell a prisoner is placed in? Aside from locking all but one?
  8. To reduce the number of dwarves grabbing food/drink/bedding from your prisoners, you can put long hallways with restricted traffic designations. Then only dwarves who are way closer than (random large number) steps from the normal stockpiles or beds will go into the prison.
  9. Another surefire way to prevent beds from being inappropriately occupied, is to assign a single low-value bed to all of your dwarves. This, of course, becomes a little silly when the economy activates, but it'll help until then.
  10. If you want to be SUPER accurate, you could simply lock the prisoner's cell until he's free to go, but you'll have to keep track of the sentence, or you may find yourself with a pile of miasmiating dwarf-jerky in your prison, pissing off your guards.
  11. If I were better at Dwarven computing, I'd try to make a giant adjustable timer that can open a prisoner's cell once their sentence is up.

Fort Okilor (testdrink)

Okay, after reading this, I'm curious as to the exact details on a number of things. I'm setting up an experiment fortress, and putting the results here. I'll be uploading the save file elsewhere, for anyone who wants to see working examples of different well types. It is dedicated to one thing only. Wells. Okay, not just wells, but different ways of building and managing wells, and their properties.

  1. The super-deep well. Because of alligator infested above-land, I cannot yet make a well tower to fully test it, but as far as I can tell, there is no limit to the functional depth of a well. The current super-deep well is 13 levels from bottom to top. The bottom level is at 6/7 depth. The well at the top? Perfectly functional. This kind of bothers me, because if I tied a dog to the chain, it wouldn't be able to go any father than 1 tile away. It means a rope's length is defined by it's function, rather than it's own properties.
  2. I decided to build another well half way down the same shaft, directly in the path of the one above. It does not block the well above. Both function just fine.
  3. I constructed a hatch cover even further below, again, on the same shaft as the first two wells. this, of course, blocked the wells, preventing them from functioning. I then connected the hatch to a lever, and pulled the lever, to see if the wells would suddenly become functional again. They did. That means we could use a one-shot pressure plate to close a hatch directly under a well when it senses overflowing water, preventing further flooding. I guess wells don't obscure because they're just a special hole in the ground. I read that grates, though they do allow water to pass through, will also obstruct a well. This is also confirmed. Personally, I'd say it's because a bucket can't fit between the bars, and leave it at that. Even so, grates can be connected to a lever, like a hatch. Don't know why you'd want grates in a well, but okay!
  4. I've made a single large reservoir underneath the residential district, and put a well in several of the larger bedrooms. Multiple wells can draw from one source, no concerns. All a well considers is whether there is a single tile of 7/7 water somewhere below it in a straight line, with nothing obscuring. Also, a wide well reservoir takes FOREVER to fill. It's virtually impossible to accidentally flood your fortress, when it takes a half hour to go from 0/7 to 5/7. Oh also, in doing this, I've discovered that if you leave any stone on the floor of a well, and it accessible to your dwarves, it is elligible to be selected as an item for construction, from workshops AND architecture. My dwarves have been repeatedly opening the side door my miners used to dig out the well, grabbing stone for construction, and getting out before they drown. My dwarves are quickly becoming excellent swimmers, though my fortress' main stairwell is flooding. I've dug a huge sump to deal with that, and once the stone's been cleared out, I'll just lock the door. (hey, if they aren't drowning, why the heck not?)
  5. I made a single-tile reservoir for a well, and just filled it from the large one with buckets. Just to see whether even such a small well is functional, given the rate of evaporation. With such a simple well literally directly next to it's source, yes, absolutely. It spams your dwarves with hauling tasks, but it will always be full to what your dwarves need, it will never overflow, it takes up almost no space, dwarves can't die from falling in, (Unless they REALLY suck) and you don't have to mess around with all kinds of complicated things with levers and floodgates and safely mining out filling pipes.
  6. I tried to get a dwarf to try and fill a pond well from it's own reservoir. I simply forbade all the other wells' buckets. Sure enough, the carpenter came along with a bucket, took water from the only available well, the one he was filling, walked to the other side of the well, and dumped the water back in. To confirm, if your dwarves are filling a well from it's own reservoir, forbid that well's bucket AND rope. If the rope is still usable, they'll still use the well... Somehow.
  7. By this point, a lot of the alligators had just... Kind of... Left? I dunno. There were five, now there's one. None deceased. In any case, it's much safer to go above ground now, even with the carp, so I'm going to make the super deep well into a super deep, super tall well tower. While making the well tower, the remaining alligator was killed by the carp. Okay, so, at 30 levels above water, I'd say wells have no depth limit, because this thing's still active.
  8. In doing all of this, I've found a pretty effective way of avoiding flooding your well. Digging out and filling the reservoir first, and not even channeling a hole for the well, completely prevents the well from flooding. So long as you have something, like a flood gate, that can then be used to prevent further flow into the reservoir, it will be filled to 7/7 depth, with no pressure behind it, totally safe to mine into with a channel and build a well on top. It's making sure that there really is no force behind it that gets tricky.
  9. Okay, my next idea is just sillyness. I'm going to make a well with a running water fall going down through the well into it's reservoir. Usually, I fill my wells from the side of the bottom level of their reservoir, but I've never filled one directly from above the well opening itself. If this works, it'll be a perpetual motion machine, waterfall and well, all-in-one. Oh, and of course I hit Hematite and lignite in the process of mining this out... Oh well, not like I really plan on playing this fort outside of well construction experiments... Okay, that didn't work. I'm-a gonna' save this now, and put it on DFFD, if anyone wants to see examples of what I've made. (Or if they want to make my perpetual motion machine work) Okilor Example

Preventing dwarves from falling down a well is actually fairly easy, from what I can see. I've had a well in my dining room and nobody's ever (to my knowledge) fallen in. Even so, that's mostly just luck. (And short-lived forts) So, to prevent dwarves and animals from falling into wells:

  1. Put it somewhere out of the way. If your dwarves don't have any reason to path over it, they won't fall into it.
  2. Surround it with restricted traffic control. Then dwarves will be less likely to actually walk over it, even if they do go through that area.
  3. Don't make it a meeting hall, or people will throw parties at it, and dwarves don't really care about traffic, when they're on break/partying/nojob, because they aren't trying to find the fastest rout to their task, because they don't have a task. Also, animals like to ignore traffic control.
  4. For the same reasons, don't put it in a meeting hall.
  5. Don't put it in a barracks, or around other places where dwarves may be fighting for any reason, as dwarves don't look before they leap. Though, now that I'm thinking about it, it would be funny to watch a bunch of goblins go tumbling down a well... Hm... I'll have to think on that.
  6. Making a well so it's at the end of a hall, with only one tile dwarves can stand on next to it, will dramatically decrease the chances of anything ever falling in. because then the only reason anything could have to go there, is to use the well, which does not involve standing ON the well.
  7. Making a well's reservoir shallow, but wide, is also a good idea, I think. A wider reservoir holds a LOT of water, and takes a LONG time to dry out. If a reservoir is shallow, that means a dwarf will only fall one level or so, which can only cause momentary unconsciousness at the worst, from what I've seen of simple cave-ins. That means your dwarves won't fall down the well, break their leg and drown. Making an escape rout from a well is probably also a good idea, I think.

I noticed in the Well guide it says murky pools and brooks can be used as water sources for wells. This should probably be stated there, but just building a well over such a thing is a bad idea. Any dwarf who drinks from a well over stagnant water gets a negative thought about the nasty water. That water only becomes not-bad when you channel it to some other place. On the same line, I've also experienced that simply building a well makes salt water drinkable. Which means that desalinating by pump is not a particularly valuable bug, by comparison, though it makes a tiny bit more sense. --Kydo 01:06, 28 January 2010 (UTC)

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