Calling all dwarf metagods!

[zespri]

The entire DF gameplay is based around the fact that eventually, your fortress will fall.

Meh, I never was fan of survival game, where it's not the question weather you win or lose, but rather how quick you lose. Playing a game you know you can't win is depressing. I do understand the merits of the game, engaging gameplay and such, it's just that the idea that no matter what you do sooner or later you lose is not appealing at all.

Do I understand it right, that the point of the game is to survive as long as possible?

[Lancefighter]

more or less, yeah.

Granted, mere survival is simple - dig a hole in the ground and start farming plump helmets.

my last game, before it got eaten by the crash monster I was busy getting proper steel foundries operational, setting up a giant bedchamberlevel, and trying to figure out why I had over 300 raw turtle, when I dont remember ever fishing. Oh yeah, and /attempting/ to build enough barrels to both hold all my plump helmets and make booze out of them.

I had also just found the first cave layer, so I was gearing up my military for a expedition. 

Dont get me wrong, in the end, it is 'just' survival, but I dont always feel the need to be gratified by a giant YOU WIN banner at the conclusion to something.
Then again, I also play eve, and lets be honest here - eve is just as much about survival as DF 

[Winter Born]

Sound like life -- no one gets out alive, but what you do between begining and end is what counts.

[Mánagarmr]

urgg why is this not in giant words someplace on the wiki :\ not a single one of the 'starter guides' or videos I've read/watched/glazed over mention this!

I admit it's rather obscure, but I'm always interested in the insides of these kinds of games. So the articles on init and d_init kinda put me on the track.

[Mánagarmr]

Meh, I never was fan of survival game, where it's not the question weather you win or lose, but rather how quick you lose. Playing a game you know you can't win is depressing. I do understand the merits of the game, engaging gameplay and such, it's just that the idea that no matter what you do sooner or later you lose is not appealing at all.

Do I understand it right, that the point of the game is to survive as long as possible?

The game is an extremely early alpha released to the public. The game isn't even near finished yet, and as such, there are no win-conditions. People usually make their own types of win conditions though. Mine is usually somewhere along the line of "Find magma", "Explore the caverns", "Defeat an ambush", "Get a working hospital" and other such goals.

The game itself can't be "won" in the traditional sense, and unless you are very conservative, you will eventually lose. Mostly out of boredom, or lag. Yes, lag. Eventually your fortress will grow so large that your computer simply can't handle it (unless you limit population caps in the inits), or you Dig Too Deep™ and die.

I can sit here all day and explain, but frankly, the wiki does a better job than me. Read the topic on "fun".


EDIT: "url" is not spelt "rul"

[Mánagarmr]

Also Lance, how do you keep the game running for eight hours straight? Provided the game doesn't pause at every caravan, born baby, moody dwarf or whatever, dwarves would eventually starve or dehydrate because noone is producing food over these long hours.

[Lancefighter]

not running the simulation straight, just the executable itself running straight - id estimate maybe more than half of that is actual sim running time.

And feeding them is simple, even a 5x5 plot of plump helmets will feed upwards of 80 people with a good farmer. I like to get a well setup fairly early for lack of drink, so that keeps people *mostly* content. Only major issue seems to stem from strange moods wanting shell or spider silk early on, but lately i just bring some of each at embark

also, what exactly is the point of caravans? they arrive like clockwork, yet I systematically ignore every single one.. then that damn liaison annoys me with a dozen and a half windows yearly

[quickstix]

also, what exactly is the point of caravans? they arrive like clockwork, yet I systematically ignore every single one.. then that damn liaison annoys me with a dozen and a half windows yearly

They're for trading I believe. http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Caravan#Caravans should point you in the right direction. Make sure you have a Trade Depot (requires the architecture skill).

And yes, their liason will bug you about stuff. Especially the elven one. I'm also reminded of the time that Boatmurdered traded an elephant for everything the elven caravan had.

[Mánagarmr]

Caravans are for trading your crafts away for materials you need. Some embark locations are more challenging than others and you might lack vital materials (like silk, as you mentioned) which can then be traded from caravans. The caravans from the Mountainhomes (dwarven caravans) can even bring things you request from the liason.

On my current embark I have the perfect location, but none of the basic metals (tin, iron, copper) which means I can't make any weapons or armor. I usually trade stone or glass crafts for iron and bronze items that I later melt in my smelters to make bars. I also smelt all the goblinite (goblin armor and weapons from sieges) I come across. This way I can keep a decent metal industry going without having access to local raw materials.

I have shittons of silver, nickel, zinc and gold, but no decent armor or weapon grade metals. I have silver warhammers though. But for armors I'm up to bronze atm. Once I get a bit more hematite (iron ore), I'll start smelting steel. (Have plenty of marble, which is a flux material needed for steel).

[Winter Born]

note on the elven trade caravans - do not offer any wood in trade including bins or barrels. You will make them mad and done often enough they will go to war with you. More Df "Fun"

You can build the trading post in a floodable pit to drown them all, then loot the remains of the caravan.


Hey Moonshine - what is the editor you are using for Xcom?  I have an old copy of TFTD I feel like playing again.

[Mánagarmr]

Ooh that was a while ago. Uuh, let's see if I can dig it up. I'm however very sure that the mod I'm using does NOT work with TFTD. Instead of messing with game files it accesses the game directly in system memory and changes it on the fly. That way you don't need to mess up the game files, so if anything goes wrong, the game is safe.

Here's the link to the mod I'm using: http://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=User:Seb76

[Winter Born]

Ooh that was a while ago. Uuh, let's see if I can dig it up. I'm however very sure that the mod I'm using does NOT work with TFTD. Instead of messing with game files it accesses the game directly in system memory and changes it on the fly. That way you don't need to mess up the game files, so if anything goes wrong, the game is safe.

Here's the link to the mod I'm using: http://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=User:Seb76

ty

saw your lets play vid

BTW very nice work on the new tutorial vids

[Mánagarmr]

BTW very nice work on the new tutorial vids

Thanks!

[zespri]

The game is an extremely early alpha released to the public. The game isn't even near finished yet

You've got to be kidding me. If the game started in 2002 is yet "extremely early alpha" at the end of 2010 you can't really expect it to be finished in your life time. 

[Mánagarmr]

The game is an extremely early alpha released to the public. The game isn't even near finished yet

You've got to be kidding me. If the game started in 2002 is yet "extremely early alpha" at the end of 2010 you can't really expect it to be finished in your life time. 

You might want to consider that it is one of the most extensive, advanced and complicated simulations ever released to gaming public. And it's one guy doing it. In his spare time. While studying. Might give you an idea on how extreme it is

For an alpha though, it's pretty playable.