Anyone here play Dwarf fortress?
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Love hearing about them too, sadly I can't contribute.
DF is one of those games I WISH I could get into, but the UI and graphics just put me off way too much, each time I tried learning the basis I'd get frustrated >< But yeah, reading about DF stories is always cool.
DF is one of those games I WISH I could get into, but the UI and graphics just put me off way too much, each time I tried learning the basis I'd get frustrated >< But yeah, reading about DF stories is always cool.
Nothing recently but sure, been playing DF on and off for a few years now. I consider it one of the most ambitious games ever made, although in this case I guess 'in the process of being made' would be a more apt description.
No spectacular new stories to tell since the last time one of these topics popped up though.
No spectacular new stories to tell since the last time one of these topics popped up though.
My last fort didn't have any incredible stories. Though i did enjoy a Vampire that i had. I had the suspicion right when he arrived and he did turn out to be one. So i build him a little shelter with nothing but an armor stand and a closable bridge in front of the entrance, drafted him, sent him in and then let him train the whole time, since he doesn't need sleep or food or anything.
It was a good thing too, because when my first ambush arrived i hadn't finished the bridge to close of the fort yet. So i opened the vampires den. I hadn't much hope because he had no armor yet, but hoped he would keep the goblins of my back till i finished the bridge. To my big surprise he actually defeated the goblins by himself. It was insane with just an axe againt a squad of speargoblins and a squad of bowgoblins and he murdered them.
The thing about Vampires is that they are incredibly fast, so he killed all the speargoblins before they could even try to hit him and he ran fast enough to evade the arrows from the arrowsquad. Luckily he only had to kill one bowgoblin before they choose to flee.
Sadly during the next ambush i was stupid enough to give him armor, but i hadn't had a full set yet. So he had a breastplate and greaves but nothing else yet. The armor wasn't enough protection from the goblins weapons, yet at the same time slowed him down enough so he couldn't strike them down fast enough. It was a sad day.
It was a good thing too, because when my first ambush arrived i hadn't finished the bridge to close of the fort yet. So i opened the vampires den. I hadn't much hope because he had no armor yet, but hoped he would keep the goblins of my back till i finished the bridge. To my big surprise he actually defeated the goblins by himself. It was insane with just an axe againt a squad of speargoblins and a squad of bowgoblins and he murdered them.
The thing about Vampires is that they are incredibly fast, so he killed all the speargoblins before they could even try to hit him and he ran fast enough to evade the arrows from the arrowsquad. Luckily he only had to kill one bowgoblin before they choose to flee.
Sadly during the next ambush i was stupid enough to give him armor, but i hadn't had a full set yet. So he had a breastplate and greaves but nothing else yet. The armor wasn't enough protection from the goblins weapons, yet at the same time slowed him down enough so he couldn't strike them down fast enough. It was a sad day.
Yeah the other thing about vampires is that thier physical stats are frozen the moment they become one.Amaror said:
So while a fully trained dwarf clad in more steel than is really nessesary can get around at a decent pace, a vampire immigrant with the same equipment would be slowed to a crawl.
My most successful fort was attacked by a dragon, it decided to perch just above the main entrance to my fortress, just behind a small hill that meant that my crossbow dwarfs couldn't fire at it.
I left it a while, figuring it wasn't doing any harm there and I live underground and it might protect me from goblins. Eventually it killed a dwarven trader, so I decided to take vengeance upon it.
I sent out my squads of professional soldiers, axe dwarfs in the best armor my magma forges could produce, backed up by crossbow dwarfs fully stocked with iron bolts. They lasted about a second to its fire...
After this the dragon was still just staying still, it hadn't really moved since it arrived. I prepared a desperate attack with my hastily constructed militia, dwarfs that had some skill with weapons, but were rusty. I had a professional army before so didn't think it necessary to train the rest of the fort to fight.
So armed with what I had left in the armory, the militia charged out, attacking from above the dragon this time as the area between my entrance and the dragon was now a burned out barren wasteland. The dragon breathed its fire again and took out all my militia in one go again.
All but my master miner.
She had some how managed to deflect the fire with her shield, she continued to charge forward towards the dragon, trees and comrades alike burning around her. The dragon opened its mouth again to spray fire all over the lone dwarf and again she blocked it with her shield. She reached the dragon and I had a look at her inventory to see what she had to get that far.
A shield and a pick...
I started to yell at her! Why didn't she bring one of the real weapons that was still in the armory!
It didn't matter, she rammed the pick into the dragons head and decapitated it in one strike! How she managed that I will never understand, but after that she became known as 'Dragon Slayer' and became leader of the new militia which would always get some actual training.
The fortress rebuilt, eventually the army restarted and everything went back to normal. More mega beasts came and often the militia was called in to help the fledgling army, often members of the public would distinguish themselves over any of the professional soldiers. Eventually the first militia squad became the fortresses elite unit, often able to take down threats on its own with little casualty. And always lead by the Dragon Slayer, a gruff old dwarf, annoyed to yet again be dragged away from her mining to deal with the latest threat.
I left it a while, figuring it wasn't doing any harm there and I live underground and it might protect me from goblins. Eventually it killed a dwarven trader, so I decided to take vengeance upon it.
I sent out my squads of professional soldiers, axe dwarfs in the best armor my magma forges could produce, backed up by crossbow dwarfs fully stocked with iron bolts. They lasted about a second to its fire...
After this the dragon was still just staying still, it hadn't really moved since it arrived. I prepared a desperate attack with my hastily constructed militia, dwarfs that had some skill with weapons, but were rusty. I had a professional army before so didn't think it necessary to train the rest of the fort to fight.
So armed with what I had left in the armory, the militia charged out, attacking from above the dragon this time as the area between my entrance and the dragon was now a burned out barren wasteland. The dragon breathed its fire again and took out all my militia in one go again.
All but my master miner.
She had some how managed to deflect the fire with her shield, she continued to charge forward towards the dragon, trees and comrades alike burning around her. The dragon opened its mouth again to spray fire all over the lone dwarf and again she blocked it with her shield. She reached the dragon and I had a look at her inventory to see what she had to get that far.
A shield and a pick...
I started to yell at her! Why didn't she bring one of the real weapons that was still in the armory!
It didn't matter, she rammed the pick into the dragons head and decapitated it in one strike! How she managed that I will never understand, but after that she became known as 'Dragon Slayer' and became leader of the new militia which would always get some actual training.
The fortress rebuilt, eventually the army restarted and everything went back to normal. More mega beasts came and often the militia was called in to help the fledgling army, often members of the public would distinguish themselves over any of the professional soldiers. Eventually the first militia squad became the fortresses elite unit, often able to take down threats on its own with little casualty. And always lead by the Dragon Slayer, a gruff old dwarf, annoyed to yet again be dragged away from her mining to deal with the latest threat.
Yeah, picks are actually great weapons. They are sharp and work well as weapons. Additionally the mining skill counts as their weapons skill. So a miner will be incredibly skilled fighting with a pick. I usually have a squad of miners that get used in battle when needed and their usually doing just as well as the other soldiers.Bobular said:
I do, or rather I used to when I still had time. I will though after my re-sits end in two days, so I'll probably download the latest version of the starter pack then. Dwarf Fortress is like Deus Ex; when it's mentioned, someone will reinstall it.
Anywho, as for stories, I don't have really exciting ones, but what did surprise me once is that the fish are not only extremely hardcore, they're also fucking cruel.
When I started out I already heard of the legendary Killer Carp so I was a little worried when I found out my booze supplies had ran out. I didn't think of building a well yet, I was too new for that. Foolish young me thought the river was safe when the unit view did not show any carps in the vicinity. So I thought my populace could get some water safely while I tried getting the booze production up again.
I was wrong. The unit view did show pike whom I ignored. But pike are worse.
At first I was a little surprised why my dwarfs became frightened. Surely it couldn't be the pike? I mean, it's only carp that are infamous? Right? Right?! Ohhh no. Apparently pike started attacking the poor dwarfs who tried to get a bit of water, and how! They eventually caught my mayor, but they didn't just kill him. They broke all of his limbs, making him unable to climb on shore. Then they started biting, and biting, and biting some more. But just enough to severely injure while keeping him alive. Quickly the river around him and downstream started to turn red, so red...
Christ, that goes beyond murderous. That's the kind of terror dictators or ISIS are known for. I can only imagine they had some kind of betting pool going on whether the poor mayor first died of downing or blood loss.
And they didn't stop with that crazy display either. One of my dwarfs was a young mother, walking around with a fresh-faced babe on her arms. And of course she got thirsty too. I thought they gave the mayor a slow, cruel death, but what they did to that poor mother was way slower and way worse. You see, these son-of-a-bitches ripped her baby to shreds and just so that he took nice and long to bleed out. You could follow the trail of blood all the way back to the fortress where it died of blood loss.
So naturally the mother, covered in her babe's blood, spiraled down into insanity. At first she simply locked herself up in her room huddling in a corner and getting more and more depressed. Eventually, after a few months of rocking back and forth becoming dehydrated and starving, she started ripping her clothes off throwing and them everywhere. She then proceeded to crawl around the fortress naked, wailing madly, eventually dying of thirst in the middle of the crafting room floor. I can only imagine the sight she must've made, my other dwarfs didn't even dare to go near her.
That's the story of how I found out it's not carp I really have to fear, it's pike that make the true monsters.
Anywho, as for stories, I don't have really exciting ones, but what did surprise me once is that the fish are not only extremely hardcore, they're also fucking cruel.
When I started out I already heard of the legendary Killer Carp so I was a little worried when I found out my booze supplies had ran out. I didn't think of building a well yet, I was too new for that. Foolish young me thought the river was safe when the unit view did not show any carps in the vicinity. So I thought my populace could get some water safely while I tried getting the booze production up again.
I was wrong. The unit view did show pike whom I ignored. But pike are worse.
At first I was a little surprised why my dwarfs became frightened. Surely it couldn't be the pike? I mean, it's only carp that are infamous? Right? Right?! Ohhh no. Apparently pike started attacking the poor dwarfs who tried to get a bit of water, and how! They eventually caught my mayor, but they didn't just kill him. They broke all of his limbs, making him unable to climb on shore. Then they started biting, and biting, and biting some more. But just enough to severely injure while keeping him alive. Quickly the river around him and downstream started to turn red, so red...
Christ, that goes beyond murderous. That's the kind of terror dictators or ISIS are known for. I can only imagine they had some kind of betting pool going on whether the poor mayor first died of downing or blood loss.
And they didn't stop with that crazy display either. One of my dwarfs was a young mother, walking around with a fresh-faced babe on her arms. And of course she got thirsty too. I thought they gave the mayor a slow, cruel death, but what they did to that poor mother was way slower and way worse. You see, these son-of-a-bitches ripped her baby to shreds and just so that he took nice and long to bleed out. You could follow the trail of blood all the way back to the fortress where it died of blood loss.
So naturally the mother, covered in her babe's blood, spiraled down into insanity. At first she simply locked herself up in her room huddling in a corner and getting more and more depressed. Eventually, after a few months of rocking back and forth becoming dehydrated and starving, she started ripping her clothes off throwing and them everywhere. She then proceeded to crawl around the fortress naked, wailing madly, eventually dying of thirst in the middle of the crafting room floor. I can only imagine the sight she must've made, my other dwarfs didn't even dare to go near her.
That's the story of how I found out it's not carp I really have to fear, it's pike that make the true monsters.
What can I say, I was but a young, inexperienced player. But it's manageable if you just build a well nearby, those are safe, no pike or carp there. Sadly, to the detriment of my mayor (and only negotiator) and that poor mother I hadn't learned that yet.Pyrian said:
But in later fortresses a properly placed well was a lifesaver during a siege or something, when for some reason booze production was interrupted.
Nothing amusing recently.
Had one fort where the caves had a giant 3 cavern pit in them, circular in the middle of a room [God I wish I could get those caves back, they were amazing]. I had this ridiculous dwarf that seemed to have all the epicness and luck in the world. Sworddwarf. Not even especially skilled. Fights a forgotten beast around the pit, and after a few swings kicks it down in a "THIS IS SPARTA" moment. It died. This dwarf then went on to solo another 5 Titans before lag killed the fort. Didn't matter what he fought, he'd just run up to them blocking anything ranged with his shield, then instantly decapitate them. It was ridiculous.
My friend has had quite a few amusing forts though. One fort the Goblins came to attack his fort with a giant force led by a demon, all riding cave crocodiles. He had built a moat. The demon was made of salt. Demon commander charges forward on his cave crocodile, which decides it'd be a brilliant idea to swim. Demon dissolves. Entire goblin army turns around and runs.
A forgotten beast attacked his fort one time too, that somewhat resembled a Triceratops from its description. Having no military, he just sent every dwarf he had at it. 60 Dwarfs grabbed hold of literally every limb on the damn thing and prevented it from moving whilst another couple punched it in the eyes repeatedly until it died. Surprisingly an army of unarmed dwarves is actually able to defend itself.
Then there's the classic vampire forts. Someone migrates as a vampire, so he takes measures to find out who it is. Rather than kill them, he waits until the Vampire becomes Mayor, builds it its own little room at the bottom of the fort, shoves it in there as manager, mayor and bookkeeper, then walls the whole area off so that its inaccessible. His fort had no efficiency problems from then on, what with the mayor never sleeping and tirelessly working day and night to take stock of everything in the fort. When the fort was overrun by demons, the lone vampire survived, just sitting in his room counting stocks all day.
One fort he also ended up taming... Druffalos? No, I know that's not it. These big hairy cow like things found in the caverns some times. Their hide is stupidly thick. Goblins struggle to pierce it with their weapons. So he tamed them, set a few as 'guards', and every time a goblin attack came they'd just keep attacking the damn things without doing anything more than bruising the fat.
Oh, and we also had our fun fort of just caging a number of lava crabs, setting them up behind bridges in our entrance hall, and lowering the bridges when goblin attacks came. The Dwarf Fortress equivalent of a machine gun nest, and about as effective too... If you sit them in some lava.
We also did a tandem map at one point, a year each. He gave me control of the world gen parameters and the starting location. Our starting location had no fewer than 3 Roc nests [One of which was on this weird hill cave thing that went all the way from 10 height above sea level, to the third cavern layer], a Dragon, a 2 cyclops, a minotaur in its maze, a hydra, an ettin and probably more. His reaction when he first got control was priceless.
Had one fort where the caves had a giant 3 cavern pit in them, circular in the middle of a room [God I wish I could get those caves back, they were amazing]. I had this ridiculous dwarf that seemed to have all the epicness and luck in the world. Sworddwarf. Not even especially skilled. Fights a forgotten beast around the pit, and after a few swings kicks it down in a "THIS IS SPARTA" moment. It died. This dwarf then went on to solo another 5 Titans before lag killed the fort. Didn't matter what he fought, he'd just run up to them blocking anything ranged with his shield, then instantly decapitate them. It was ridiculous.
My friend has had quite a few amusing forts though. One fort the Goblins came to attack his fort with a giant force led by a demon, all riding cave crocodiles. He had built a moat. The demon was made of salt. Demon commander charges forward on his cave crocodile, which decides it'd be a brilliant idea to swim. Demon dissolves. Entire goblin army turns around and runs.
A forgotten beast attacked his fort one time too, that somewhat resembled a Triceratops from its description. Having no military, he just sent every dwarf he had at it. 60 Dwarfs grabbed hold of literally every limb on the damn thing and prevented it from moving whilst another couple punched it in the eyes repeatedly until it died. Surprisingly an army of unarmed dwarves is actually able to defend itself.
Then there's the classic vampire forts. Someone migrates as a vampire, so he takes measures to find out who it is. Rather than kill them, he waits until the Vampire becomes Mayor, builds it its own little room at the bottom of the fort, shoves it in there as manager, mayor and bookkeeper, then walls the whole area off so that its inaccessible. His fort had no efficiency problems from then on, what with the mayor never sleeping and tirelessly working day and night to take stock of everything in the fort. When the fort was overrun by demons, the lone vampire survived, just sitting in his room counting stocks all day.
One fort he also ended up taming... Druffalos? No, I know that's not it. These big hairy cow like things found in the caverns some times. Their hide is stupidly thick. Goblins struggle to pierce it with their weapons. So he tamed them, set a few as 'guards', and every time a goblin attack came they'd just keep attacking the damn things without doing anything more than bruising the fat.
Oh, and we also had our fun fort of just caging a number of lava crabs, setting them up behind bridges in our entrance hall, and lowering the bridges when goblin attacks came. The Dwarf Fortress equivalent of a machine gun nest, and about as effective too... If you sit them in some lava.
We also did a tandem map at one point, a year each. He gave me control of the world gen parameters and the starting location. Our starting location had no fewer than 3 Roc nests [One of which was on this weird hill cave thing that went all the way from 10 height above sea level, to the third cavern layer], a Dragon, a 2 cyclops, a minotaur in its maze, a hydra, an ettin and probably more. His reaction when he first got control was priceless.
Been playing off and on for a while now but I've never really gotten any of those really awesome stories. Just my own faltering attempts and understanding the game. I managed to flood my map twice trying to build a moat and my fortress...well, several times trying to make cisterns. I think the most hilarous moment I've ever had as a player was in my most recent fort I looked at the idler list and saw I had 30 odd dwarves doing nothing in my meeting hall and my first impulse was;
'Shit, they're forming relationships, this isn't good...'
Another fort I had a Captain of the Guard decide to start tantruming in the barracks where the fortress guard was stationed. I tend towards four dwarf squads, so the other three were standing around the bed he was lying in (he had one missing leg and one broken leg at that point) just staring at him as his action was 'looking for a fight'...while he was lying in bed. I can only imagine that the other three Macedwarves of the team were standing there looking at each other as their Captain belted out obscenities at them.
'Shit, they're forming relationships, this isn't good...'
Another fort I had a Captain of the Guard decide to start tantruming in the barracks where the fortress guard was stationed. I tend towards four dwarf squads, so the other three were standing around the bed he was lying in (he had one missing leg and one broken leg at that point) just staring at him as his action was 'looking for a fight'...while he was lying in bed. I can only imagine that the other three Macedwarves of the team were standing there looking at each other as their Captain belted out obscenities at them.
I never got very far into DF (I seem to always get bored once things start running smoothly) but I did once have a situation where one of the dorfs went into the first stage of craziness, and I, in my ignorance, thought that locking him in his room with two puppies might snap him out of it.
Suffice it to say that the room was quickly and violently painted a brilliant shade of crimson and that door was never unlocked again.
Suffice it to say that the room was quickly and violently painted a brilliant shade of crimson and that door was never unlocked again.
I view it like EVE personally. It is fascinating to hear about but just isn't my kind of thing. I do have a fondness for the story of Boatmurdered though, the great fortress that encouraged interspecies friendship and cooperation by uniting elephants and goblins in their mutual hatred of dwarves.