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Sorry about the delay, work sucks...

18th Granite
Migrants! The rash of deaths before my arrival can finally start to be recovered from.

1st Slate
Reg Koganlolum begins the first of his several small tantrums. I order him to be watched closely for signs of further mental instability
5th Slate
Uzul Kubukamal has decided to withdrawl from the community, locking himself in our only craftsdwarf's shop, and only comes out to grab a few things here and there. Listening to him from the other side of the door all I can hear is him mumbling to himself about "the perfect head"
9th Slate
The inner wall of the first level of the Wall of Bane is finished. It is nowhere near done, but it will hold until I can spare the rescorces to finish it.
14th Slate
After 9 days, Uzul barged into my room, claiming he made perfection. He then pulled out a box and asked if I was ready to have my head blown, to which I eagerly demanded to see it. It was a pair of ing maple earrings...
The rest of Slate
I have ordered the construction of a series of catacombs, to allow our fallen brothers to rest for all time in peace. I have also ordered both a personal quarters and tomb for myself, as the position of Overseer deserves. Further gains to our home are the births of 2 boys, a girl, and 2 litters of puppies. I'm also taking a personal hand in our food and drink production, as we seem to be drinking faster then we can brew. Second still is up and running as a result.
13th Felsite
It's a good thing I am as security minded as I am. Today marks the first time the Wall of Bane will be tersted in battle, as filthy goblins have arrived at our gates. Unfortunatly several of our hunters didn't make it back in time, and were lost in battle. Erush Tenshedustuth was paticuarly crucial in buying us time, singlehandidly killing 2 trolls and wounding a goblin before being rushed by 6 more.


Thats it for Spring. A mixture of having overtime at work, my son this week, and being DF OCD (I am completely renovating parts of the fort, and reorginizing everything from stockpiles to individual dwarf labors, it takes a while) have slowed actual playing to a crawl. I'll put up summer (halfway done plaing) tonight, and hopefully some screenshots will happen as well.

Can I still get tacked onto the list, or am I too late?

I haven't played DF since it was easy, and we had to make our own Fun, like giant inverted pyramids of cast obsidian supported by great spires of clear glass forming the living quarters of the useful/early dwarves, while the wretched migrants who came later had to squat outside the walls and mine for resources given to the priviledged side through special airlocks... (In the interest of honesty, I must say I only got through the casting of the pyramid/removal of the mold and the construction of the glass spires, I never bother to finish the internals of it (though I did get some of the excavation done before getting bored))

I also pioneered reliable water clocks via aquifers and atom smashing (as in, no one else had solved the issue of unreliability before I did, working in concert with the handful of other people on the bay12 forums who were messing around with the problem of reliable timing at that point).

I'll throw you right on, We're a pretty noob bunch here, but its all about the !!FUN!!.
In other news, I just spent 3 hours on Dwarf Therapist and in-game on pause to take a deep look at what we have and what we dont. We had 20 farmhands (8 farmers, !11 planters!, and a few others). Everyone is sorted out for the most part, and I created a slave mason class of workers and wood burners/furnace operators.

Uzolm
Journal of 'Bane' Uzolmïshak, Overseer of Hammersaint
16th Hematite, 503
Still under siege, but too keep the idelers busy and their minds off of the enemy at our gate, I've organized a massive cleanup of the stone left lying around. That made 37 people busy right off the bat, and I also made a new stockpile for metal ores and bars near the forges. The human caravan is due soon, but unless they have some amazing guards, I doubt they will make it through the siege
11th Malachite
Dôbar Udilishlun locked himself away in one of our magma forges today, ranting about the gods and such nonsense. I've also gone over the list of higher up positions, and have asked Mayor Tholtig Ustuthudar to serve as Manager in addition to his current duties, to which he happily accepted the responsibilities. Libosh Thocitavuz has also been promoted to Chief Medical Dwarf, and while reforming Dwarven healthcare is on my to-do list, it might not happen before I leave my position as overseer.
13th Galena
The siege has ended!! And the human caravan has arrives the same day!! Now we can find and bury our honored dead.
22nd Galena
I have tired of the humans constant whining about conditions here, and gave them a reason to go home by taking all of their goods and expelling them form my fortress. We needed the supplies anyway
10 Limestone
We recover more bodies daily, and more importantly, construction on the Wall of Bane continues, with the outer wall in place, and new flooring for both the first and second levels being put down. Whoever succeeds me will have to add fortifications and boltholes (1x1 bridge linked to a lever to block LOS when need be)


That about does it for me. Here's some screenshots of the progress made:

As a side note, can we please avoid pissing off any elves? I want war tigers.

OK, I couldn't finish my turn due to real life events, but I put up what /i accomplished. Its near the end of sandstone, and the first thing people need to do is build a new trade depot, I de-constructed the last one to sieze the goods, and ran out of stockpile space to put the stuff in. Other then that the place is in really good shape. Everyone is working on either the Wall of Bane, or hauling stones from the mines. Healthcare needs to be worked on, I never got around to it


Here


When I can I'll edit my last post to include the rest of the journal

Apologies for the delay, currently posting this from the library, afraid to say my laptop had a few troubles of the frazzle and pop kind and insisted on showing me some pretty blue screens. Sorry about that chaps but whoever is next may want to take over. Sorry again!

I'll wait a few days for the next person on the list to show up (also, I seem to need a proper computer with a proper internet connection to download this; I just downloaded it around five times, each ending with "download successful" and prompt, inexplicable deletion by this wretched phone (I managed to download the latest DF version with it, and transfer it to my computer, at least)). I was planning on grabbing it, playing through today, and uploading it if the next player hadn't shown up by then, but see above about the download issues.

Has anyone had a miner just up and break their neck and die while channeling? Back in 40d it was dangerous to designate large channel areas, so the standard was to go down a z level and designate a bunch of up ramps, though since channeling is now basically just "dig down ramps" it seems safe all around. Except for the miner with the inexplicable broken neck, of course... (same fort: several unarmored dabbling sworddwarves with wooden shields took on a firebreathing titan, killing it while suffering no injuries.)

I've sent VezrilX several PMs throughout this game and have received no response, even when I originally posted turn order. If he doesn't make himself known in the next 24 hours, feel free to pick it up Sir. Worst case he goes after you instead

Well you guys got me interested in trying this game out, went in fully green with no aid or what have you. So far im doing ok (started 2nd year of the fort), just trying to figure out how to get a well going for a reliable water source. Only troubles ive had was some werepanther came into my fort and killed a couple cats before my militia of 3 chased him off

 Tazz Azrael wrote:
Well you guys got me interested in trying this game out, went in fully green with no aid or what have you. So far im doing ok (started 2nd year of the fort), just trying to figure out how to get a well going for a reliable water source. Only troubles ive had was some werepanther came into my fort and killed a couple cats before my militia of 3 chased him off

Just make sure he didn't infect any of your dwarves, that wont have a happy ending...


EDIT: edited my last post for the journal and added screenshots above

I'll try to get the file in the next couple of days. If it seems like it'll be longer than that, I'll check back so the next person can go in the meantime.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Tazz Azrael wrote:
Well you guys got me interested in trying this game out, went in fully green with no aid or what have you. So far im doing ok (started 2nd year of the fort), just trying to figure out how to get a well going for a reliable water source. Only troubles ive had was some werepanther came into my fort and killed a couple cats before my militia of 3 chased him off

Use the wiki extensively. A lot of the difficulty can be overcome with some planning and caution, but there's a lot of idiosyncratic stuff that an get you anyways, if you don't know what to look for. I suppose there can be some fun in stumbling through yourself, but sooner or later you'll hit a point where it's just annoying when disaster comes about from an unintuitive or buggy feature.

The latest version seems much better in this regard than the old 40d, where I learned it, though since I just automatically avoid the problems that had, I don't know if they've actually been fixed to any extent, or if I'm just not running into them.

Oh, one possibly big thing: disable cooking of raw crops in the kitchen menu unless you just have a ridiculous number of one of them, because cooking destroys the seeds and can very quickly destroy your whole farming operation.

If you want an easy way to effectively bring more stuff on embark, remove the tools (but not the anvil) and take three cheap rocks, ten logs or so, and a piece of tetrahedrite. For ~140 points, you get the anvil and everything you need to make two picks and two axes, three picks and an axe, or, if you take a few more logs, four picks and a wooden axe, though you shouldn't need more than two miners until much later, when you have a bunch of worthless layabouts with redundant skills or skills in industries you're not bothering with.

There are also a bunch of more exploitish things, like getting free containers by taking one or-container-capacity-plus-one of an item that comes in a bag or barrel (capacity is five or ten for most things (booze, food, seeds) or one for things like sand), you might want to avoid those if you don't want to be cheap.

Turkeys are an excellent food source from their eggs alone, and if you let the eggs hatch you'll get ~ten more turkeys inside a year, for every clutch of eggs that's allowed to hatch (read the wiki for how that industry works: you need nestboxes and if you want the eggs to hatch, you have to keep anyone from harvesting them (which means having the turkey+nestbox behind a locked door), and there's more caveats), and they're only six points a piece on embark (and you only need one male).

After looking at the latest pics, I'm suddenly not surprised by the invasion problems anymore...

 Laughing Man wrote:
After looking at the latest pics, I'm suddenly not surprised by the invasion problems anymore...

Yeah, literally within 5 minutes of finishing a goblin army came-a-knockin. She may not look like much, but shes got it where it counts

Sir Pseudonymous wrote:
I'll try to get the file in the next couple of days. If it seems like it'll be longer than that, I'll check back so the next person can go in the meantime.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Tazz Azrael wrote:
Well you guys got me interested in trying this game out, went in fully green with no aid or what have you. So far im doing ok (started 2nd year of the fort), just trying to figure out how to get a well going for a reliable water source. Only troubles ive had was some werepanther came into my fort and killed a couple cats before my militia of 3 chased him off

Use the wiki extensively. A lot of the difficulty can be overcome with some planning and caution, but there's a lot of idiosyncratic stuff that an get you anyways, if you don't know what to look for. I suppose there can be some fun in stumbling through yourself, but sooner or later you'll hit a point where it's just annoying when disaster comes about from an unintuitive or buggy feature.

The latest version seems much better in this regard than the old 40d, where I learned it, though since I just automatically avoid the problems that had, I don't know if they've actually been fixed to any extent, or if I'm just not running into them.

Oh, one possibly big thing: disable cooking of raw crops in the kitchen menu unless you just have a ridiculous number of one of them, because cooking destroys the seeds and can very quickly destroy your whole farming operation.

If you want an easy way to effectively bring more stuff on embark, remove the tools (but not the anvil) and take three cheap rocks, ten logs or so, and a piece of tetrahedrite. For ~140 points, you get the anvil and everything you need to make two picks and two axes, three picks and an axe, or, if you take a few more logs, four picks and a wooden axe, though you shouldn't need more than two miners until much later, when you have a bunch of worthless layabouts with redundant skills or skills in industries you're not bothering with.

There are also a bunch of more exploitish things, like getting free containers by taking one or-container-capacity-plus-one of an item that comes in a bag or barrel (capacity is five or ten for most things (booze, food, seeds) or one for things like sand), you might want to avoid those if you don't want to be cheap.

Turkeys are an excellent food source from their eggs alone, and if you let the eggs hatch you'll get ~ten more turkeys inside a year, for every clutch of eggs that's allowed to hatch (read the wiki for how that industry works: you need nestboxes and if you want the eggs to hatch, you have to keep anyone from harvesting them (which means having the turkey+nestbox behind a locked door), and there's more caveats), and they're only six points a piece on embark (and you only need one male).

Thanks a ton for all that info! And that bit about cooking the crops destroying the seeds would explain why i ran out so quickly

Ok, I've got the save.

 Tazz Azrael wrote:

Thanks a ton for all that info! And that bit about cooking the crops destroying the seeds would explain why i ran out so quickly

Happy to help. It's a daunting game, and the idiosyncrasies can kill you without giving away the source of the problem. The seed thing happened to me in one of my first games. Also carp, back when that was a problem (due to an oversight in the raws, carp were extremely dangerous animals that could drag fisherdwarves and anyone going to a river for water in, and tear them apart; they're not anymore, so far as I know Edit: not *as* dangerous, but they still freak dwarves out, which can lead to dodging into water according to the wiki). Possibly the same game.

So...in the downtime I downloaded meself a copy of Masterwork Dwarf Fortress


Its fething awesome . I suggest everyone give it a try when they are comfortable with the game, I might even run it for my next succession fortress.

Status update: I've been busy the past few days, but I just played through the winter of the incomplete turn and have gotten into spring of my turn. I couldn't figure out how the wall was supposed to be setup, so I just patched the holes in the defenses and moated off the mountain above the entrance. I've expanded underground operations, and am nearly done with the first part of a secret project I hope to complete within my turn. Should I fail, I'll leave detailed notes on what's left to do. I also breached two cavern layers, one flooded. Did the first person to go get a message about a cavern or the magma sea on starting? I'd like to know if I'm missing a cavern, or if it's just flooded with magma.

I never went into any caverns, although I did pit a tame pig (all hail Comrade Pigonaut) to see if he could find the magma sea and any connected caverns. He found the former but none of the latter, before his radio cut out amid a chorus of confused oinks.

I've stalled out here (mid-spring). The morale situation is grim, but probably salvageable (the newest immigrants, who make up more than half the military, should be insulated, and things shouldn't go too bad before immigrants arrive). I could probably get through it, but every time I try it just gets too depressing since there's nothing to be done but ignore the problem and continue work, and I've taken too long with this anyways. It was ultimately caused by an ambush, a stupid accident (a miner stood on a square she was channeling out, above an eight level drop, despite a safe square next to the designated block), and an inexplicable accident (a block of loam materialized in mid air during the excavation of the great cistern, killing one and injuring two; this is what made the morale situation go critical, leading to a berserk mayor, three murders, a new mayor, who just committed two more murders, and numerous injuries; current casualties stand at eight or nine, counting the accidents and the numerous murders).

I've uploaded the save. The great cistern (5404 squares in size) is complete, and almost 1/6th filled. The stairs down to the site where excavation of a giant space to flood (using the cistern, which currently has a release lever that will drain it into the first level of caverns, though the drain tunnel is accessible and designed to accommodate alternate end points) and use as an underground pasture/farmland/tree farm are designated. The idea was to dig out a ridiculously huge area (something like 50x50) with a large column in the middle, large enough to contain all of a functioning fort's industry and housing, with storage above and below the space, down 3-4 Z levels, with multiple levels in the outside area, so as to maximize the muddied land.


Edit: I'll post a detailed account of my turn later tonight, I was in a hurry and didn't have the logs I kept with me when I uploaded the save.

**cough**

Who is next?

Laughing Man, I believe. I'm a little surprised neither he nor Bane's checked in already.

Sir Pseudonymous wrote:
Laughing Man, I believe. I'm a little surprised neither he nor Bane's checked in already.

I sent him a PM on the 6th. Its been more then two days, so winnertakesall is up by default

Oh god no. Remember what happened last time?

gg, it's all over. Nevermind.

I'll try my best, I just hope everyone doesn't die.

The lever that closes the outside gate is the one closest to the inner gate, if I'm remembering correctly. When the outside gate closes the fortress becomes completely inaccessible (and, as I redid the gate, there's a ditch to protect against building destroyers). The currently on lever controls the flow of water into the cistern, and the lever near the stairs into the drainage tunnel below the cistern controls the drain.

Some unhappy/miserable dwarves are locked in their rooms, as is a berserk dwarf and an insane one. Let the still sane ones out if they start to get hungry or thirsty, otherwise they'll die and cause more unhappiness. The tombs may need expanding soon, if the murders keep on. The hospital needs more beds in it too, I think.

So enjoy the horrible situation I couldn't bear to deal with. Or look at the improvements I made and then start over from Bane's save.

Sorry, on vacation this week. I've got computer access, so I can download it and mess around with it still. Just might actually take me the full week instead of the night it did last time.

Sir Pseudonymous wrote:
The lever that closes the outside gate is the one closest to the inner gate, if I'm remembering correctly.

This is correct. Its double gated so you can have dwarves hide in the wall if you lose the fortress to a FB or the circus. If I had time I was going to build it 5 or 6 z-levels high and make a full barracks and stuff in there, with a healthy supply of food and booze to wait out a siege.

Some unhappy/miserable dwarves are locked in their rooms, as is a berserk dwarf and an insane one. Let the still sane ones out if they start to get hungry or thirsty, otherwise they'll die and cause more unhappiness. The tombs may need expanding soon, if the murders keep on. The hospital needs more beds in it too, I think.

So enjoy the horrible situation I couldn't bear to deal with. Or look at the improvements I made and then start over from Bane's save.

I don't remember more then just the one dwarf freaking out...hmmm...

Laughing Man wrote:Sorry, on vacation this week. I've got computer access, so I can download it and mess around with it still. Just might actually take me the full week instead of the night it did last time.

At this point, you waited 4 days to respond, though Winner seems a bit...skitish. You two can take a day or so to PM and figure it out if he hasnt started his turn yet. Otherwise you can just take my turn when hes done and I'll sit this round out due to real life stuff

 Inquisitor Lord Bane wrote:

Sir Pseudonymous wrote:
The lever that closes the outside gate is the one closest to the inner gate, if I'm remembering correctly.

This is correct. Its double gated so you can have dwarves hide in the wall if you lose the fortress to a FB or the circus. If I had time I was going to build it 5 or 6 z-levels high and make a full barracks and stuff in there, with a healthy supply of food and booze to wait out a siege.

Some unhappy/miserable dwarves are locked in their rooms, as is a berserk dwarf and an insane one. Let the still sane ones out if they start to get hungry or thirsty, otherwise they'll die and cause more unhappiness. The tombs may need expanding soon, if the murders keep on. The hospital needs more beds in it too, I think.

So enjoy the horrible situation I couldn't bear to deal with. Or look at the improvements I made and then start over from Bane's save.

I don't remember more then just the one dwarf freaking out...hmmm...

In the save I uploaded. We suffered several casualties, three from an ambush, one from a miner digging out a channel over an eight level drop, another from a block of loam appearing in midair during the excavation of the great cistern (a 6 level, 30x30 space with a drain on the bottom and a well breaching the roof), then a murder, then the mayor went berserk and was put down (his father struck the killing blow, no less), then another murder, then, I believe, another, then the new mayor killed two more, then I uploaded the save and stepped away. In the meantime a dwarf went berserk but was in his room, so I locked the door, and another went insane in his own room, so that door got locked too. Like I said, the morale situation is grim.

I'm quite happy to wait for him to do his turn, I don't think he's been yet, and I have a bunch of other stuff I need to do.

I'm the one who started the game. But yeah, I'll try to get a save uploaded tonight once I'm off the slopes.

Out of curiosity, which save did you go with, mine or Bane's?