40d:Known bugs and issues

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v50.13 · v0.47 · v0.34 · v0.31 · v0.28.181.40d · v0.23 This article is about an older version of DF. More Info · V

Dwarf Fortress is a constant work in progress, and is thus full of bugs. Some of them are minor and completely harmless, some are small and annoying, and some are major and even game-changing. This page is a historical list of some of the best-known bugs in 40d; an official compilation of all bugs, and their development status, can be found on the Mantis Bug Tracker. Please do not report new bugs for this version; if the problem still exists in the current development version it should be reported on the bug tracker for that version instead. If you have issues signing up for the bug tracker, see the forum bug tracker board for instructions (but don't report bugs on the forum either).

"Large [blank]"

I was minding my own business, trading with some nice human merchants... when all of a sudden I find a very very strange item.

It costs 40# and has a weight of 6r. The weirdest thing is both its name and description; Name: <-large -> Description: This is a well-crafted large .

As you can see, the game tried to create a large something... but whatever it was didn't exist. Just thought you might like to know. AlexFili 10:30, 7 May 2008 (EDT)

This... is already known and floats around the known bugs list on the dev pages. --GreyMario 14:06, 7 May 2008 (EDT)

Oh alright. Just making sure it isn't just me. By the way, the item in question is a gem. Hope that helps. AlexFili 08:09, 8 May 2008 (EDT)

My Dungeon Master is demanding "item in Throne Room/Office", a similar sort of bug perhaps? I have no idea what sort of item he wants, but man, does he ever want it. Bryan Derksen 19:34, 14 June 2008 (EDT)

Merchant in Adventure Mode

(This conversation pretty much sums up the whole issue).

Flauncy, Swordsman: Let's trade.

Mispi Emanraji, Merchant: You should probably try a merchant.

>_< --AlexFili 10:05, 16 June 2008 (EDT)

Was the aforementioned merchant in his shop? Was he about to leave or did he just enter? If so, "Merchants don't act like merchants unless in their shop." --Savok 12:47, 16 June 2008 (EDT)

Was it an Elf Merchant? As far as I can tell, only shopkeepers trade, and only in their shops; and elf merchants don't have shops, so. I imagine (though I haven't observed it) that a human merchant who wasn't a shopkeeper would have the same issue. My advice: Grab merchant by throat with right upper arm. Choke merchant by throat with right upper arm. Strangle merchant by throat with right upper arm. Repeat last step as necessary. Problem solved! --Zombiejustice 13:51, 16 June 2008 (EDT)

I should probably mention, the merchant in question was in the Mayor's house with all the drunks. Still, I would have expected him to say "Oh, I'm not in my merchants house, sorry." or something similar not "You should probably try a merchant". --AlexFili 06:59, 17 June 2008 (EDT)

Legendary Wagon (I'm serious)

In legends mode, I've got about 10 entries that are strange. I will quote one of them;

, ""

was a wagon born in 883. In the early autumn of 1058, was scuttled in Flowervoiced.

Any idea what this means? --AlexFili 10:01, 16 June 2008 (EDT)

It means that wagons are actually living, breathing entities! I discovered something similar when i accidentally 'killed' a pair of human caravan wagons in fortress mode. they appproached my fortress through an area where a wall was being built, and as they were passing the square that was directly above my underground trade depot (don't know if that was coincidence or played into the bug) they both somehow got stuck in the semi constructed wall. then after a few months they vanished... leaving all their stuff on the ground for my dwarves to loot. the guards and merchants wandered off, and they showed up on the list of units as dead wagons. as this was only my second fortress playing with version 39e, I was extremely confused at the time. --FruityBix 19:52, 31 August 2008 (EDT)

Teleporting Goblin Items

When you drop a goblin cage into magma, their charred, burning clothes and red-hot weapons magically appear at the trap location they were caught in. Be sure you didn't catch them inside before you dump! Toady already knows about this one, but it's not yet listed as solved on the official page. --Corona688 13:08, 2 November 2008 (EST)

Pitting Creatures

Once you capture a hostile creature in a Cage Trap and place the cage in a stockpile / somewhere away from the capture point, and select a zone for the creature to be pitted, your dwarves will take the creature out, cancel all tasks and run away from it, Leaving the creature to escape. Weird glitch / bug. Only way to bypass it is to build a cage, press X to expand the list and select the creature cage I.E. Kobold Cage (Pine), link the cage up to a lever to release it - Good for a massive prisoner war. Or, to leave the cage as it is after the trap has sprung.

Issues

Trader Problem

I just had a group of traders spend so long "unloading" that they left before I could do any trading. This is only the second time the dwarven trade wagon has been here and I really need an anvil...

Update... I've tested (five times each to make certain):

-- One merchant and three wagons with five depots that were operational and accessible BEFORE the wagons arrived.

Result: Merchant heads to Depot #1, all 3 wagons head to Depot #2, and one of them stops one square short of arrival into the depot. Merchants are "unloading" the whole season and leave before letting me trade. Year 3. (human)

-- No merchant, two wagons, one depot op/acc as normal.

Result: Both wagons successfully enter depot. Year 2. (human)

-- No merchant, three wagons, one depot op/acc as normal.

Result: All wagons successfully enter depot. Year 5. (human)

I just had the same issue with elves. About a month later I get the message, 'one-humped camel has gone stark raving mad!' ...What? I don't even HAVE a camel. I find it trapped and alone at the far lower-right corner of the map and under siege by batmen, carrying all sorts of elven goods. So maybe this happens when a beast of burden that's part of a caravan gets attacked unattended. Corona688 23:48, 6 October 2008 (EDT)

Magma Flow

Magma does not naturally have pressure because it is "chunky": when a magma pipe is tapped at a certain level, it will not flow upwards like a volcano, even if there is a considerable reservoir of magma nearby. This is not a bug and is very intentional. However, if magma is pumped, it gains pressure up to the level of the screw pump, and a pump can push magma through a U shaped passage just fine.

Perfect Swimming

"Brook" tiles are treated as floor tiles over top of caverns. Think of a thin "force-field" built over top of a river. The force field allows people to walk across, but also allows them to dip their hands into the water below in order to drink. Though silly from a realism standpoint, this is currently the only possible implementation, and is meant to represent very shallow water flowing through and around rocky gravel.

Milking Issue

To milk something it has to be a verminous creature. The only milkable thing you can carry is a purring maggot. Larger creatures are not yet milkable because the AI is not yet implemented to bring the creatures to the farmer's workshop. It would be relatively simple to implement, but is not a priority at this time.

Note that while you cannot milk larger animals yourself, civilisations can still milk animals "off screen" for your benefit.

Building a Wooden Weapon... Rack

There is a minor problem with the carpenter's workshop. Inexperienced players might be confused because in the build menu it says "Construct wooden Weapon", but they will get a weapon rack out of the deal. This isn't a bug, merely a shortcoming of the interface. You cannot actually build wooden weapons at the carpenter's workshop; the full name, "Construct wooden Weapon rack", is cut off in the default view, and can be seen if Tab is used to expand the menu. Expanding the menu will reveal that the option does not specify constructing a wooden weapon, but rather a wooden weapon rack.

Split-level River

I loaded up a section of my world and found a split-level river- that is, a river that for half of the map is on ground-level and half of the map is one z-level up. This may just seem like a cool thing to most of you, but the upper river has now started flooding out and consuming the entire lower river basin- something that I've been informed shouldn't happen. If someone will give me the address and directions for sending my world / creation log, I can pass it along to the developers for review. --Lucien 23:30, 13 June 2008 (EDT)

I also have this issue, however it is really satisfying to watch the carp the killed 4 of my original 7 dwarves spawn outside the river, die and then fall in, the weird thing is, it empties and then about 15 grid squares farther along the river, it is still ful and flowing on its original course. I also have an issue at a river junction where on one z-level there is blood, that looks like it is flowing into a waterfall, one z-level lower, there is no blood, another z-level down, there is still another river without a side wall, yet it is still running. please, this is on a community fortress, can we get this fixed?

Creatures Don't Always Use Graphics

When a creature is caught in a cage and put in a stockpile, and graphic sets are used, the creature is displayed with the correct graphic tile. But should you install the goblin cage anywhere, the graphic is ignored and the traditional letter displayed instead. this also happens with dead creatures, even dwarves.

Official bug list

The official list of bugs is available on the Dwarf Fortress bug tracker.