Dwarf Fortress Noob Help

[Spike88]

Turns out it was an issue with the Bentgirder save.

Started a new settlement and the Thoughts and Preferences work fine.




Edit: Figured it out. Bentgirder is Version .31.12 I'm using .31.16

[Spike88]

How do I get Camels/Bulls/Donkeys out of my meeting hall?

Preferably without slaughtering them as lionclaw suggested.

[Spike88]

And my first fortress starts to starve.

[Dowly]

Originally Posted by Spike88

How do I get Camels/Bulls/Donkeys out of my meeting hall?

Preferably without slaughtering them as lionclaw suggested.

You tried slaughtering them?

[Spike88]

Originally Posted by Dowly

You tried slaughtering them?

Well. I had to start a new map.

[krashkart]

Wow, this is an interesting game.

So, I'm trying hard not to start my fortress over. My dwarves are busy killing vermin for food until I can get the farms producing food. I think my first order of business on the next map will be to dig out some farms, then start mining and build a trade depot.

Question:
I have two large zones laid out topside for harvesting plants, but none of my dwarves are foraging. How do I get them to pick berries?

[Spike88]

Originally Posted by krashkart

Wow, this is an interesting game.

So, I'm trying hard not to start my fortress over. My dwarves are busy killing vermin for food until I can get the farms producing food. I think my first order of business on the next map will be to dig out some farms, then start mining and build a trade depot.

Question:
I have two large zones laid out topside for harvesting plants, but none of my dwarves are foraging. How do I get them to pick berries?

Do you have a dwarf with the herbalist skill? If not choose any dwarf you want to do the job via U and then C on their name. Hit P for Prof, Labor, finding Foraging and assign it to that dwarf.

Starting over is part of the fun. I've restarted 4 times now.


Edit: If you're to the point that they're eating critters, you're probably close to a tantrum spiral.
http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Tantrum_spiral

Just had some fun with an irrigation system for my farm(took me until Autumn to get everything done). Through a mishap I ended up flooding my lower levels. Luckily the water is 1/7 to 2/7. All it means is that my living quarters will now be covered in mud.

[krashkart]

Thank you, Spike.

[NeonSamurai]

Originally Posted by Spike88

How do I get Camels/Bulls/Donkeys out of my meeting hall?

Preferably without slaughtering them as lionclaw suggested.

Pit them. Make a room with locked doors and an opening 1 z level above, designate that opening as a pit and assign the critters to it (i zone, pit, designate the area, P set pit/pond info, and select the critters you want in the pit).

Originally Posted by krashkart

Wow, this is an interesting game.

So, I'm trying hard not to start my fortress over. My dwarves are busy killing vermin for food until I can get the farms producing food. I think my first order of business on the next map will be to dig out some farms, then start mining and build a trade depot.

Question:
I have two large zones laid out topside for harvesting plants, but none of my dwarves are foraging. How do I get them to pick berries?

Check their skills/jobs, you need to set one or more to herbalist for them to forage (view unit, prefs, labor, highlight the desired skill).


PS word of advice, stay they heck away from cats. My advice use a trapper for the pest problem or bring only male cats, and get rid of any female cats that come with migrants (I usually either lock out the whole bunch of them and let em die, or execute the new arrival and the cat). Anything to avoid catsplosion. Animals breed by spores (only caging them stops it and you can't cage pets), cats pick their owner, and you have to be quick to get rid of kittens before they adopt a dwarf. Easier just to not bother with them.

As for farming, my suggestion is bring plump helmets, find earth or sand, dig down (or sideways) and plant. Surface farming is for the beardless ones, real dwarfs gnaw on raw plump helmets in the cold dark.

Personally for starting out I try to make my place as secure as quickly as possible, generally by quickly hollowing out a tunnel (preferably near sand/earth for a quick farm), emptying the wagon, stripping it down and getting it in the tunnel, then getting as much wood as i possibly can while getting the underground farm going, then locking myself away before the gobbos come (generally with stone doors or a drawbridge connected to a lever so pesky kobolds can't pick them open). After that its all the basic stuff (living quarters, beds, production centers, etc), and lining the entrance tunnel with about 30-60 stone fall traps. I also try to keep my trade area inside the base (3 tiles wide tunnel with 1x3 drawbridges acting as doors).

Another tip if using water is use drawbridges, not floodgates, or you might end up with a towercap growing under the open floodgate and blocking up everything (assuming you found an underground river or pool).


If you have any more questions feel free to ask, I more or less know 40d inside and out and am familiar with the newer stuff post 40d. I can also offer suggestions for starting parties (equipment and skills). I may post some later.

[krashkart]

Originally Posted by NeonSamurai

Pit them. Make a room with locked doors and an opening 1 z level above, designate that opening as a pit and assign the critters to it (i zone, pit, designate the area, P set pit/pond info, and select the critters you want in the pit).



Check their skills/jobs, you need to set one or more to herbalist for them to forage (view unit, prefs, labor, highlight the desired skill).


PS word of advice, stay they heck away from cats. My advice use a trapper for the pest problem or bring only male cats, and get rid of any female cats that come with migrants (I usually either lock out the whole bunch of them and let em die, or execute the new arrival and the cat). Anything to avoid catsplosion. Animals breed by spores (only caging them stops it and you can't cage pets), cats pick their owner, and you have to be quick to get rid of kittens before they adopt a dwarf. Easier just to not bother with them.

As for farming, my suggestion is bring plump helmets, find earth or sand, dig down (or sideways) and plant. Surface farming is for the beardless ones, real dwarfs gnaw on raw plump helmets in the cold dark.

Personally for starting out I try to make my place as secure as quickly as possible, generally by quickly hollowing out a tunnel (preferably near sand/earth for a quick farm), emptying the wagon, stripping it down and getting it in the tunnel, then getting as much wood as i possibly can while getting the underground farm going, then locking myself away before the gobbos come (generally with stone doors or a drawbridge connected to a lever so pesky kobolds can't pick them open). After that its all the basic stuff (living quarters, beds, production centers, etc), and lining the entrance tunnel with about 30-60 stone fall traps. I also try to keep my trade area inside the base (3 tiles wide tunnel with 1x3 drawbridges acting as doors).

Another tip if using water is use drawbridges, not floodgates, or you might end up with a towercap growing under the open floodgate and blocking up everything (assuming you found an underground river or pool).


If you have any more questions feel free to ask, I more or less know 40d inside and out and am familiar with the newer stuff post 40d. I can also offer suggestions for starting parties (equipment and skills). I may post some later.

Edit: As luck would have it, the same group with whom I had initiated trade decided to invade when spring rolled around. Gave up on that fortress and started a new one - I was already overwhelmed enough by the sheer complexity of this game.

[Lionclaw]

Dwarf Fortress motto: "Losing is fun!"

[NeonSamurai]

Oh ya other option is to cage the critters rather than pit them, but then they can't breed.

[Spike88]

New map:

Outside:

Level 1: The Irrigation level

Level 2: The farming/production level

Level 9: The living quarters

Not shown Level 3: The Administration level

[NeonSamurai]

I would strongly suggest that you work on your defenses asap. Your setup looks extremely vulnerable to attack.

Wall, moat and drawbridge would be a good start.

[Spike88]

Moat. Another chance to drown my fortress