Orderboard - Another attempt at a Dwarf Fortress succession game. With a Thousand Elephants!

[blue emu]

Perhaps make some tabs on teh line to the bottom of the DET?

Another tap on a lower level might be useful, yes... we currently have no access to magma below this level.

 

[blue emu]

Still trying to figure the fort out.

It's obvious that Steel production ceased quite some time ago. We have hundreds of bars in stockpile of iron, copper, lead... but only two steel.

Not good, since Steel is being used for Helmets and Chain Mail Shirts. The kink in the supply chain seems to be charcoal. Which means wood.

Have we stopped ordering wood from the caravans?

 

[blue emu]

We're chopping down a few more trees. If the Elves don't like that, they can talk to me about it.

One of our Animal Dissectors gets into an argument with a belligerent Pangolin. She beats the living crap out of it bare-handed, with a series of Judo throws.

This improves her wrestling and fighting skills.

 

[Wagonlitz]

Have we stopped ordering wood from the caravans?

I don't think we've got any caravans the past coole times due to sieges.

One of our Animal Dissectors gets into an argument with a belligerent Pangolin. She beats the living crap out of it bare-handed, with a series of Judo throws.

What's a pangolin?


Apparently drawbridfes can be destroyed by fire breathing clowns who breathe fire hotter than magma. Or so I've been told,.at least.

 

[blue emu]

I don't think we've got any caravans the past coole times due to sieges.


What's a pangolin?


Apparently drawbridfes can be destroyed by fire breathing clowns who breathe fire hotter than magma. Or so I've been told,.at least.

 

[blue emu]

Currently trying to make more Steel so we can continue expanding our military.

Steel needs Iron, Charcoal and Flux (Marble, for example). Got the Iron already. Made some Charcoal and dug some Marble. Now working on converting all that to Steel.

I have disbanded our "mixed" patrol squad. We now just have a squad of ten Axe Dwarves and a squad of ten Crossbow Dwarves.

What sort of squad should we form next, when we have enough gear made? Ten Hammer Dwarves? Then more Crossbow Dwarves?

 

[Wagonlitz]

What sort of squad should we form next, when we have enough gear made? Ten Hammer Dwarves? Then more Crossbow Dwarves?

Hammer dwarves sound fun, adn sounds very dwarfy.

 

[blue emu]

Yeah, axes and hammers sound like traditional Dwarven weapons.

 

[Culise]

Apparently drawbridfes can be destroyed by fire breathing clowns who breathe fire hotter than magma. Or so I've been told,.at least.

Indeed, but there's a trick to it. Only the center tile (or the tile north-west of the center point if said point does not fall within a single tile) for a drawbridge counts for determining damage to the bridge. A raised bridge is, if I recall, effectively invulnerable as long as it raises towards the point from which damage can originate.

I'm surprised I missed this. I'll be reading through it with interest.

 

[Wagonlitz]

Indeed, but there's a trick to it. Only the center tile (or the tile north-west of the center point if said point does not fall within a single tile) for a drawbridge counts for determining damage to the bridge. A raised bridge is, if I recall, effectively invulnerable as long as it raises towards the point from which damage can originate.

I'm surprised I missed this. I'll be reading through it with interest.

But this was a raised drawbridge being destroyed by a flame spewing clown, though.

 

[Culise]

But this was a raised drawbridge being destroyed by a flame spewing clown, though.

Curiously due to a quirk of the game, that's entirely irrelevant: whether the bridge is raised, lowered, or retracted, its center tile *when it would be lowered* is used for calculating potential damage to a bridge. At least, unless it was fixed in the Steam edition, but the wiki doesn't seem to point to that.

So, if you look at the following, where "#" is used to represent walls or an raised bridge, "o" is used to represent the lowered bridge, "X" is used to represent this center point, and the bridge as a whole is designed to raise to the left/west

####      ####
#  ooo    #  #
#  oXo => #  #X
#  ooo    #  #
####      ####

If that point can be reached by a dragon or HFS, gets covered by magma, or anything else happens to expose that to higher temperatures than the material can survive, the bridge can will break. On the other hand, if it's facing the inside of our fort and there's no way to path around, your bridge is completely, perfectly invulnerable (short of trying to open it on top of an elephant, but let us disregard size mechanics as irrelevant to this). For this example, let's build our bridge so that it raises to the right/east instead of the left/west:

####    ####
#ooo    #  #
#oXo => # X#
#ooo    #  #
####    ####

One tidily-encapsulated front door or pressure gate secured behind completely invulnerable walls, safe from all that might attack. At least, until something swims up the drainpipe from the river/cavern and bursts out of the well into your main dining hall.

EDIT:
Cleared out extraneous bold tags. Curious, as I don't recall typing any bold tags.

I should also explicitly note that this is affected by the note I mentioned earlier about calculating the center tile for bridges where the center falls between two or four tiles. If the center tile as calculated based on this north-west bias is on the raised wall, it is exposed and can be destroyed. As, for example, in the following bridge that raises to the north/up, where the center tile is calculated as the first tile north-west of the center point:

#Xo#    #X##
#oo# => #  #
####    ####

Once that wall tile gets hot enough, all the invulnerability of wall tiles ordinarily won't affect it - the bridge will disintegrate and the two tiles it is blocking will cease to be blocked.

 

[blue emu]

Wut?... these are not all from the same booze stockpile, by the way. At least three different ones.

 

[blue emu]

A couple of projects on the go...

Digging the duct-work for bringing Magma down to the Dodge-Em Trap bottom.

... and roofing in the Barbican. I'm considering roofing in the whole fortress, to prevent attacks by birds.

 

[Flockingbird]

Fish Dissector cancels Drink

Clothier cancels Drink

Peasant cancels Drink

Presser cancels Drink

Gem Setter cancels Drink

Animal Trainer cancels Drink

Glazer cancels Drink

Animal Trainer cancels Drink

Who is interfering with my customers?! I’ll learn ‘em some manners! *angrily waves around a large beer stein without spilling a drop*

 

[Wagonlitz]

If that point can be reached by a dragon or HFS, gets covered by magma, or anything else happens to expose that to higher temperatures than the material can survive, the bridge can will break. On the other hand, if it's facing the inside of our fort and there's no way to path around, your bridge is completely, perfectly invulnerable (short of trying to open it on top of an elephant, but let us disregard size mechanics as irrelevant to this). For this example, let's build our bridge so that it raises to the right/east instead of the left/west:

I guess that explains Emu's double drawbridges.
The first one is to prevent normal attacks, and if a clown comes spewing fire then the secnd one will jhold, even if it's the front it exposes and hence isn't invulnerable normally.
Correct?

How would an elephant help breach it, or is it dye to it being attacked from the vulnerable side?

At least, until something swims up the drainpipe from the river/cavern and bursts out of the well into your main dining hall.

That can happen?

 

[Wagonlitz]

... and roofing in the Barbican. I'm considering roofing in the whole fortress, to prevent attacks by birds.

As in roofing over the courtyard too?
If not, which parts do we still need to roof then?

Also, the barbican had no roof until now? So something couldhave flown straight intot eh mustering grounds?

Digging the duct-work for bringing Magma down to the Dodge-Em Trap bottom.

Where does the staircase no teh right lead?

 

[blue emu]

I guess that explains Emu's double drawbridges.
The first one is to prevent normal attacks, and if a clown comes spewing fire then the secnd one will jhold, even if it's the front it exposes and hence isn't invulnerable normally.
Correct? - Also to hold off non-fire-breathers coming from either direction.

How would an elephant help breach it, or is it dye to it being attacked from the vulnerable side? - Lowering a drawbridge on top of somebody will squash them flat... but not if they are TOO big and strong. Then lowering your drawbridge on top of them just smashes your drawbridge.


That can happen? - Yes

 

[blue emu]

As in roofing over the courtyard too? - Yes. First the Barbican, then the walkway along the top of the wall, then the courtyard.
If not, which parts do we still need to roof then?

Also, the barbican had no roof until now? So something couldhave flown straight intot eh mustering grounds? - Yup. That's why I led the passage serving the Barbican through the Mustering Grounds. Soldiers.

Where does the staircase no teh right lead? - Nowhere. Those tunnels were Access Tunnels used when digging the Dodge-Em Trap, and later sealed off.

 

[Wagonlitz]

Whybwpyld you lower the drawbridge if there's an elephant, though? And I take it that if you sent lower it then the elephant can't destroy it?
Also, wouldn't it lower the opposite way from where the elephant is, to be able to hide rhe centre tile?
Also, wouldn't that mess with the invulnerability? As I could have sworn you said it ews the underside being invulnerable, but that exposes the centre tile.

 

[Culise]

Whybwpyld you lower the drawbridge if there's an elephant, though? And I take it that if you sent lower it then the elephant can't destroy it?
Also, wouldn't it lower the opposite way from where the elephant is, to be able to hide rhe centre tile?
Also, wouldn't that mess with the invulnerability? As I could have sworn you said it ews the underside being invulnerable, but that exposes the centre tile.

1. Either because (a) you thought you could smash it and found out the hard way you couldn't, (b) you didn't notice the elephant, or (c) the elephant moved under the bridge between the time you gave an instruction to pull the lever and a dwarf reached the lever and pulled it, I imagine there are other edge cases where it could accidentally occur as well, but those three come immediately to mind...oh, can tantrumming dwarves still yank random levers?

As well, you are correct that if the bridge is already lowered, the elephant cannot destroy it. If you try to raise a bridge with a creature that's too heavy on it, the bridge will simply stay in place. It won't raise, but it won't collapse either. Mind, a jammed outer gate can also result in its own fun if the reason you're trying to close it is because of an invading army - another benefit of the airlock design, which has twice as many gates.

2. Depends on if the elephant is inside your airlock/gatehouse or outside of it.

3. The center tile is irrelevant to oversized animals breaking a bridge - for these, the question is if the oversized animal is anywhere in the entire area the bridge would come down on. The center tile matters for materials failure - melting or burning due to temperature. It was a digression mentioned primarily as a joke in passing (immediately undercutting an absolute statement).