Dwarf Fortress Wiki - User contributions [en]

v0.31:Macros and keymaps

2011-07-18T00:54:37Z

Merkuri: /* Tuning macros */ Correcting grammar

{{av}}
{{Quality|Exceptional|14:18, 4 April 2011 (UTC)}}
Playing Dwarf Fortress means lots of typing. The game has an internal macro/keymap system. Using it or any external program can save you a great deal of time when dumping, rewalling, designating, and so forth.

== DF macros ==
=== Creating macros ===
The controls for creating macros within DF are as follows:

*{{k|Ctrl}}+{{k|r}} = record
*{{k|Ctrl}}+{{k|p}} = play
*{{k|Ctrl}}+{{k|s}} = save
*{{k|Ctrl}}+{{k|l}} = load

To create a macro press {{k|Ctrl}}+{{k|r}} to begin recording your actions. When you have recorded all the action you want stop recording by hitting {{k|Ctrl}}+{{k|r}} again and save ({{k|Ctrl}}+{{k|s}}) the macro. The macro is then added to your macro list. To load a macro from the list just press {{k|Ctrl}}+{{k|l}}. You can then play the macro using {{k|Ctrl}}+{{k|p}}.

There is a directory data/init/macros for them. The macros are saved in .mak format. Even a recorded file for a simple macro - for example to create a 3 tiles wide ramp - may already consist of up to 50 commands listed. This is because every possible {{l|Key_bindings|binding of the key pressed}} is included in the macro and put in a block (and {{k|r}} for ramp has many by default).
<pre>
pressing_enter_recorded
SELECT
CLOSE_MEGA_ANNOUNCEMENT
WORLD_PARAM_ENTER_VALUE
SETUPGAME_SAVE_PROFILE_GO
D_BURROWS_DEFINE
D_MILITARY_ALERTS_SET
End of group
CUSTOM_CTRL_R
End of group
End of macro
</pre>
For this example the recording was started, enter was pressed and the recording was stopped. When using this macro every underlying command in the file will be called, if possible. If you are in the designation menu, it will react as a select, the other commands will be ignored. If you are in the burrow menu, it will work like pressing enter there. The macro alway ends with a block containing the end of it's recording. But executing macros seems to ignore this command. If you have changed your key bindings you'll get another result, because the underlying commands are recorded, not the keys pressed. 
When creating or editing your own macros it is a good idea to use only those commands you really want.
<pre>
ramping_created
DESIGNATE_RAMP
End of group
CURSOR_DOWN_Z
End of group
SELECT
End of group
CURSOR_RIGHT
End of group
CURSOR_RIGHT
End of group
SELECT
End of group
CURSOR_LEFT
End of group
CURSOR_LEFT
End of group
CURSOR_UP
End of group
End of macro
</pre>
This selfmade example will designate a 3 tiles wide ramp one z-level below and place the cursor to make the next execution of the macro continue the way down. The first line has to be the name of the file. You can see that there are grouping tags for every single keypress. These are important for a working macro. 
It is unknown if there is the possibility of creationg loops/iterations, other programming features or comments. 
There seem to be problems with changing removing and adding macros while the game is running. Save, quit and restart the game when you want to change something.

=== Tuning macros ===
The fewer commands a macro consists of, the faster it runs. This means you should avoid unnecessary steps by optimizing the "path" of your designations.

The second and most effective way to increase speed is to remove all unnecessary commands DF recorded with an external texteditor. While the extra commands are ignored by the game, however they take time to be processed. To move a cursor 3 (up/down) or 4 (right/left) commands are recorded, most other keys are bound to more commands. Pressing d for example records more than 30 commands. Depending on what you do, you can increase the speed by 4 or more by reducing the number of commands in every group to the one you need. ''If you edit a macro, you'll have to restart DF afterwards.''

The third way is to change settings in the init-files. In the base init file (data/init/init.txt) you will find the follow lines:
<pre>
If you set KEY_REPEAT_ACCEL_LIMIT above one, then after KEY_REPEAT_ACCEL_START repetitions
the repetition delay will smoothly decrease until repetition is this number of times faster
than at the start.

[KEY_REPEAT_ACCEL_LIMIT:8]
[KEY_REPEAT_ACCEL_START:10]

This controls the number of milliseconds between macro instructions.

[MACRO_MS:15]

</pre>
This means that the speed between macro commands will gradually increase until it hits the limit. The secondary command is when the gradual increase in speed increases.

== External utilities ==

=== AutoHotKey ===
# Go to {{L|Utilities#AutoHotKey}} and download AutoHotKey. Installation is simple and the program uses few system resources.
# Write macro scripts (file type .ahk), which may contain any number of commands. You activate scripts by double-clicking .ahk files and deactivate them by right-clicking the AutoHotKey icon on the task bar. Both of these can be done at any time - even right in the middle of a game. AutoHotKey also allows for automated activation of scripts.

:'''Please see also the [[40d:Macros and Keymaps|40d macros page]], as much of what is there works perfectly fine. If you can verify it works, please move it to this page.'''

==== Troubleshooting Scripts ====
Users may experience some issues in getting scripts to work, particularly when using looping scripts when experiencing low frame-rates.
* If experiencing low frame-rates, try adding delays ("Sleep 100" to pause for 100 milliseconds for example) within loops to allow the interface to keep up. If there are nested loops, sometimes adding a pause at the end of an inner loop is all that is needed to flush the keyboard buffer
* Another way to add delay during and after each simulated key press is to put SetKeyDelay, 40, 40 at the start of the macro.
* Make sure that Dwarf Fortress maintains focus. IM windows are the enemy! Who needs friends anyhow? You've got Dwarf Fortress.
* This may go without saying, but most macros assume standard key-mappings. If you're using non-standard ones, you may have to edit the macro to get it to work.
* Visiting liaisons can bring up screens that eat keystrokes, throwing a long-looping script out-of-phase with where it expects the game to be. Wait for the farewell screen before running a long script.
* The SendPlay function supports keys that the Send function does not, for example {{key|Shift-Enter}}. According to the AutoHotKey documentation, SendPlay may also be better at preventing dropped keystrokes.

==== General Fortress Mode Hotkeys Script ====
An attempt at speeding up various designations. Includes an up/down stair builder, a fast move up/down, and some select-and-advance keys. Please see [[user:DDR#Dwarf_Fortress_General_AHK_Script]].

v0.31:Burrow

2011-07-04T03:29:14Z

Merkuri: Added section about military dwarves and burrows, on and off duty.

{{quality|Exceptional|22:23, 10 November 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}

Burrows are part of the new organization of fortresses, user-defined areas in your fort where selected dwarves live and work. You can assign these areas like zones and assign one or more dwarves to them. You may assign the same dwarf to multiple burrows, if desired. Dwarves will only use workshops, dig walls, use rooms, etc. in burrows they are assigned to, though dwarves not assigned to any burrow will still use workshops etc. even if they are located in a burrow assigned to some other dwarves.

Military dwarves that are on duty will ignore burrows. Off duty military dwarves will respect their burrows. If a military dwarf's training area is outside of his burrow, that dwarf will not train when off duty.

== Defining a new burrow ==

To enter the "define burrow" mode, press {{k|w}}.

You'll be presented with a list of all of your existing burrows. Change which burrow is selected with your secondary selection keys.

To add a new burrow to the list, press {{k|a}}. The new burrow created this way starts with no tiles and a default name.

To configure a burrow, select it and press enter. This is where you'll be able to set the burrow's name, define what tiles it encompasses, and add or remove individual dwarves. Defining the burrow's tiles can be done using rectangles much like other mass-selection or mass-designation situations elsewhere in the game, or you can paint with the mouse. Unlike other area selections, burrow selections can take place over multiple z-levels, meaning that you can select cubes, rather than rectangles; also unlike most other area selections, they may overlap. '''Press {{k|r}} to set whether you're adding or subtracting tiles from the burrow.''' You can also set the colors and symbols used for different burrows to help tell them apart. A burrow may span multiple Z levels, so long as a means of getting from one Z level to another is within the Burrow zone.

Unlike {{L|activity zone}}s, burrows can also be extended through not-yet revealed tiles, thus allowing to designate "mining zones" for differently {{L|skill}}ed miners. You can only see the parts of the burrow that have been revealed, but the burrow actually extends exactly as far as you defined it.

After defining the area of the burrow, you can add citizens, who will then attempt to move directly to the area and not leave it unless they are starving or dehydrated and there is no food and water in the burrow. Note, however, that citizens may walk from one point of the burrow to another point even if the path they walk on is not part of the burrow. If you define a burrow which is split into two areas, the citizens may walk between those two areas, outside of the burrow you defined.

== Deleting Burrows ==

Deleting a burrow is easy, just enter "define burrow" mode by pressing {{k|w}}, select the burrow to delete, then press {{k|d}}. It's easy enough that many players have managed to do it by mistake, after setting up large and complicated systems. If you find yourself deleting your burrows by mistake too often, you can edit /data/init/{{L|Key bindings|interface.txt}} and find where it says

[BIND:D_BURROWS_DELETE:REPEAT_NOT]
[KEY:d]

Then change that to something you won't hit by accident, such as alt+d, like this:

[BIND:D_BURROWS_DELETE:REPEAT_NOT]
[SYM:4:d]

== Uses for Burrows ==
=== Defending an Area ===
''Full article: {{l|Scheduling}}

Burrows are one of the ways you can give passive orders to {{l|squads}} and civilians during {{l|Scheduling#Alert levels|alerts}}. Under the squad schedule menu (Press {{k|m}} {{k|s}}) you can add an order to any particular month for the chosen alert with {{k|o}} or edit their existing orders with {{k|e}}. On the Give Orders menu, use {{k|o}} to cycle through the orders given to squads. The order "Defend Burrows" '''cannot''' be given without first creating burrows to assign defenders to. Under a "Defend Burrows" order, dwarves in the squad are stationed in the specific area and will defend it proactively.

=== Civilian Alerts ===

Normally, you need to add citizens to a burrow manually when defining it to have them respect the boundaries. But there is another way. Burrows can be added to alerts in the military alerts screen. When you set the civilian alert level to an alert including a defined burrow, all non military dwarves will be restricted to that burrow for as long as the alert is in place.

=== Burrows as Dedicated Workshops ===

A nice little trick you can do with burrows is to create one encompassing a workshop, such as a Mason's Workshop, and a small pile of raw material to work with, then assign the Dwarf you want to that burrow and order the items you want made at that shop. Only the items and shops inside the burrow will be used for the tasks, so it can be used to produce items like furniture for individual Dwarves. Let's say a Dwarf likes a particular rock; you can create a small stockpile to only accept that stone near a shop, or move the desired stones by dumping them, then create a burrow around the two and assign a mason to it. Then produce various items of furniture. All of them will be of that one type of stone. This can also be used with a stockpile of furniture and another one of gems to only encrust the items you want with in-burrow gems. It is very useful to raise the happiness of individual Dwarves by sprucing up their rooms with items they like.

=== Trader to the Depot, STAT ===

You can define your trade depot as a burrow, then when the traders appear, add your broker to that burrow. He will stop what he is doing, go to the trade depot, and wait for the traders. If you include trade stockpiles in the burrow, he can even help move goods until they get there

=== I'm sorry, the Mayor is busy ===
This is an easy fix for the current bug that prevents elevation of your nobles while traders are present on the map. Create a burrow around your leader's rooms. Stockpile some food and drink inside. When the liaison shows up, add the leader to the burrow and he will scurry off to his rooms. Lock the door. Wait until the merchants have left the map entirely. Unlock the door. If he is also the bookkeeper or manager, so much the better. Set accuracy to 'highest' or queue up a lot of tiny jobs, and the leader will have something to do while locked in his rooms.

=== Good miners mine ore, bad miners mine rooms ===
If you'd like your legendary miners to continue mining ores while your rookie miners mine out rooms, you can create burrows encompassing your mining areas. Add your good miners to the burrows with the ores, add your unskilled miners to the burrow with the rooms.

===Help! Goblins are chasing me in circles!===
One problem with outdoor work is the lack of safe areas, the presence of ambushers, and civilian dwarfs who will, by default, run in the dumbest direction possible. You can create small bolt-holes in the wilderness outside your fort and give them a floor hatch as a door.. When ambushers appear, add your outdoor workers to the nearest bolt-hole burrow. After they run inside, lock the door. You don't even need to (and probably shouldn't) hook these bolt holes up to your main fort, they are for short term emergencies. But you could stock them with a little food and booze, just in case.

===Alternate to Hot Keys===
You can define small burrows to areas you would like to zoom to. Then by pressing "w", select the burrow, "z" to 'center on burrow' your view will be moved to that spot like a hot key. This is useful when you run out of hotkey slots.

== Bugs ==

Currently there are several bugs in the burrow implementation, the most notable being the burrow alternative to the [[Planepacked]] glitch: If you put a material-gathering moody dwarf into a burrow that does not contain the claimed workshop, the dwarf will "forget" that he already brought this type of item to his workshop and repeat this until there are no more items of this type in the burrow, or you let him out of the burrow. When the dwarf starts working on his artifact, he will use ''everything'' he brought to the burrow to make an artifact of potentially infinite value. On the other hand, the most common bug is the "{{l|Dwarf cancels Store Item: Item inaccessible}}" message spam that results from idle dwarves being in a burrow that contains a stockpile but not the item the stockpile wants to have.

40d:Mayor

2008-03-20T18:03:46Z

Merkuri:

{{Noble
| noble=Mayor
| quarters=Decent Quarters
| dining=Decent Dining Room
| office=Decent Office
| stands=1
| racks=1
| chests=2
| cabinets=1
| arrival=
* 50 population
* Election
| function=
* Meet with [[Liaison]]
* Leadership
* Listen to complaints
}}
When the population of a fortress reaches 50, the [[Expedition leader]] becomes the Mayor.

After a period of time, the fortress's dwarves may elect a new Mayor, who will demand the rooms accordingly. The former Mayor will revert to the job they had previously and will no longer require those rooms. Becoming Mayor gives a happy thought.

The Mayor will listen to complaints of the other dwarves - this will give them a happy [[thought]], while giving the mayor an unhappy one.

The amount of [[friends]] a dwarf has may be the main factor in his election to the office of Mayor.
It is still possible for a dwarf with no [[social skills]] to be elected over a dwarf who has them.

A mayor will sometimes makes [[mandate]]s, which includes banning exports or producing certain goods.

[[Category:Nobles]]

40d:Corpse

2008-03-19T19:35:53Z

Merkuri: /* fortress mode */

A '''Corpse''' is a dead body. It could be anyone's body, from a [[creature]] to a [[dwarf]], or even [[Adventure mode|you]].

All corpses will rot away, eventually. All corpses will leave behind their posessions where they died. Corpses left to rot in an enclosed space, such as your fortress, will emit [[miasma]]. After a time, the flesh will rot away, leaving behind [[bones]] and a [[skull]].

If the corpse was involved in a fight before death, it is possible for parts of the corpse to be scattered around. [[Hammerlord|Hammerlords]] and the like are notorious for blasting apart bodies in one swing. Should a corpse be severed from its parts, all the equipment you'd expect to be on the limbs will usually be located where the limb fell.

==Fortress Mode==
The corpse of a dead dwarf should be buried. To avoid unhappy thoughts, the sooner it is placed in a [[burial receptacle]], the better. Any dwarf that dies will make unhappy thoughts for anyone it is related to, but left to rot where it is, all dwarves passing by will have unhappy thoughts.

The corpse of an animal can be valuable to your dwarves. When brought to the [[butchery]], a butcher will dice up the corpse into [[meat]], bones and [[fat]]. Depending on the animal, [[raw hide]] and skulls may also be rendered.

The corpses of enemies will often contain their [[clothing]], [[armor]] and [[weapons]], if any. Your dwarves are automatically set to retrieve these items and put them into your containers. This can be a very bad thing in the middle of a [[siege]], as dwarves that not locked away and do not have [[hauling]] jobs turned off will walk into the middle of a battlefield to retrieve these items. In addition to locking up your dwarves or turning off hauling, you can also [[forbid]] these items to prevent this behavior.

40d:Crop

2008-03-19T19:34:16Z

Merkuri:

[[Image:Df-crops-diagram.png|thumb|100px|Flowchart]]
'''Crops''' are plants that may be grown at [[Farming|farm plots]]. There are two types of crops: above ground and subterranean. The [[seed|seeds]] of subterranean crops may be brought from the starting screen or purchased from the dwarf traders. Above ground crops and seeds may be purchased from human or elven traders or gathered by dwarves with the [[plant gathering]] labor enabled. Seeds may also be won by processing the plants or eating them (but not by cooking!). Some of the plants listed below are not crops as such as they have no seeds and can't be planted. They are listed for the sake of completeness only.

The list below uses the legend:

a) [[Farmer's workshop]]

* P - Process
* b - Process to [[Bag]]
* B - Process to [[Barrel]]
* V - Process to [[Vial]]

b) [[Mill]] or [[Quern]]

* M - Milling (requires a bag)

{| class="wikitable" cellspacing="0" border="1" cellpadding="5"
|-
! Crop Name
| '''Growing''' '''Seasons''' || '''Habitat''' || '''Plant''' '''Value''' || '''Brewable''' || '''Brew''' '''Value*''' || '''Cookable'''** || '''Edible''' '''Raw''' || '''Extracts''' || '''Extract''' '''Value'''
|-
! [[Plump helmet]]
| All || Subterranean || 2 || Dwarven wine || 10 || Yes || Yes || None ||
|-
! [[Pig tail]]
| Sum Fall || Subterranean || 2 || Dwarven ale || 10 || No || No || [[Pig tail]] [[thread]] (P)|| ?
|-
! [[Cave wheat]]
| Sum Fall || Subterranean || 2 || Dwarven beer || 10 || if Milled || No || [[Dwarven wheat flour]] (M) || 20
|-
! [[Sweet pod]]
| Spr Sum || Subterranean || 2 || Dwarven rum || 10 || if Milled or Processed || No || [[Dwarven syrup]] (B), [[Dwarven sugar]] (M) || 20, 20
|-
! [[Quarry bush]]
| Spr Sum Fall || Subterranean || 2 || No || || if Processed || No || 5 [[Quarry bush]] leaves (b) || 12?
|-
! [[Dimple cup]]
| All || Subterranean || 2 || No || || No || No || Dimple [[dye]] (M) || 20
|-
! [[Muck root]]***
| All || Wetland (Wet) || 2 || Swamp whiskey || 5 || Yes || Yes || None ||
|-
! [[Bloated tuber]]***
| All || Wetland (Dry) || 2 ||Tuber beer || 10 || Yes || Yes || None ||
|-
! [[Kobold bulb]]***
| All || Wetland (Wet) || 2 || No || || No || No || Gnomeblight (V) || 100
|-
! [[Prickle berry]]
| All || Not Freezing (Dry) || 2 || Prickle berry wine || 5 || Yes || Yes || None ||
|-
! [[Wild strawberry]]
| All || Not Freezing (Dry) || 2 || Strawberry wine || 10 || Yes || Yes || None ||
|-
! [[Longland grass]]
| All || Not Freezing (Dry) || 2|| Longland beer || 10 || if Milled || No || [[Longland flour]] (M) || 20
|-
! [[Valley herb]]***
| Spr || Temperate Grassland (Dry) || 5 || No || || Yes || No || [[Golden salve]] (V) || 100
|-
! [[Rat weed]]
| All|| Not Freezing (Wet)|| 2 || Sewer brew || 5 || Yes || Yes || None ||
|-
! [[Fisher berry]]
| All || Not Freezing (Wet) || 2 || Fisher berry wine || 10 || Yes || Yes || None ||
|-
! [[Rope reed]]
| All || Not Freezing (Wet) || 2 || River spirits || 10 || No || No || [[Rope reed]] [[thread]] (P) || ?
|-
! [[Blade weed]]
| All || Not Freezing (Dry) || 2 || No || || No || No || Emerald [[dye]] (M) || 20
|-
! [[Hide root]]
| All || Not Freezing (Dry) || 1 || No || || No || No || Redroot [[dye]] (M) || 10
|-
! [[Sliver barb]]
| All || Not Freezing (Dry) (Evil) || 2 || Gutter cruor || 5 || No || No || Black [[dye]] (M) || 20
|-
! [[Sun berry]]
| All || Not Freezing (Wet) (Good) || 2 || Sunshine || 25 || Yes || Yes || None ||
|-
! [[Whip vine]]
| All || Not Freezing (Dry) (Savage)|| 2 ||Whip wine || 15 || if Milled || No || [[Whip vine flour]] (M) || 25
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki> The Brewed value of a single plant, which is the value of five Drinks. For comparison with Extracts. 
<nowiki>**</nowiki> Anything that can be cooked is edible afterwards. 
<nowiki>***</nowiki> These plants can not be grown on a farm plot.

==See Also==
* [[Farm plot]]
* [[Shrub]]
* [[Farming]]

[[Category:Agriculture]]
[[Category:Crops]]

40d:Farming

2008-03-19T19:17:40Z

Merkuri: /* Storage */

[[Image:Df-crops-diagram.png|thumb|200px|General farming flowchart.]]
'''Farming''' is the most universal source of [[food]] in Dwarf Fortress. On maps with plentiful [[shrub]]s, [[animal]]s or bodies of [[water]], [[plant gathering]], [[hunting]] or [[fishing]] can also produce a lot of food; however, these practices often do not scale to the level needed to feed a full-sized fortress. Farming is a highly efficient, reliable, renewable and scalable source of food -- and, after [[cooking]], of compact but valuable trade goods. [[Plants]] grown on farms are also excellent for [[brewing]] [[alcohol]], and some have other uses.

== Finding farmland ==

You cannot plant seeds on a bare rock floor, only on [[mud]] or [[soil]]. The easiest way to farm, by far, is to find some soft, arable soil, which is available in great quantity outside the fortress on most maps (the notable exceptions being mountainous maps). If arable soil is unavailable, you will need to set up an [[irrigation]] scheme to deposit mud on the bare rock, which can then have farm plots placed upon it.

== Aboveground or underground? ==

You can plant either underground or aboveground, depending on the type of [[plant]]s you want to grow. The starting [[seed]]s your dwarves may bring with them can only be planted underground. If you want to farm aboveground, you will need to gather seeds from outdoor [[shrub]]s, which can then be planted. Caravans will also sometimes bring additional bags of seeds.

The farm plot should be either entirely above ground or entirely subterranean. A mixed-class farm plot will allow you to choose any crop for planting, but the chosen crop will be planted only on tiles capable of growing it. Worse, planters will not skip over the infertile tiles, leaving the rest of the plot fallow whether it can support the crop or not.
=== Greenhouses ===
If you want a secure way to farm out door plants indoors build a greenhouse! 
Channel out a square area, you can also use the remains of a dried up pond. 
Now build floors out of Glass blocks, this will allow light to pass through, but not invaders. 
You can now Plant above ground plants like strawberries or Long Land grass in the light, underground. 
CAUTION,
You must channel out the area first then make the floor, it won't work if you make the block floor and mine underneath.

== Defining the farm plot ==

Once you have a suitable location for farming you can have your farmer(s) prepare a [[farm plot]]. That's the actual bit of soil to be tilled.

Enter the {{K|b}}uild menu and place farm {{K|p}}lots. Use {{K|u}} and {{K|k}} to increase the size of the plot, and {{K|m}} and {{K|h}} to decrease it. When the plot is sized and positioned correctly, pressing {{K|Enter}} will place it. Your grower(s) will now rush in and prepare the field, clearing out rubble and other impediments when necessary.

How much farm space do you need? Surprisingly little. A 5x5 plot will provide enough food to bring you through your first winter, and even smaller fields are sufficient if you stretch out the food by [[brewing]]. If there is rubble in the room, leave a little extra space; otherwise, the farmers tend to stack the boulders under your farm room doors and cause them to get stuck ajar, which if you're not careful can lead to flooding the next time the field is irrigated. You can also avoid putting doors right next to the farm.

Digging out larger farm rooms than you need can be useful in other ways as well: muddied areas can spontaneously produce [[tower-cap]]s (a source of wood), spider webs (a source of [[silk]]), and [[shrub]]s of the same type as your [[crops]].

A 10x20 plot should, with several dedicated farmers, provide enough food to feed a full 200-dwarf fortress.

== Planting ==

Once a farmer builds the plots, it's time to plant. Go into the plot's {{K|q}} menu and select the type of seed to plant. Your farmers will then take care of the rest. Note that your farmers will not work the plot the whole year without being told to do so: you must designate a crop for ''each'' season. You can designate each season ahead of time by using {{K|a}}, {{K|b}}, {{K|c}}, {{K|d}} from the plot selection screen. You cannot designate crops for seasons already past; you will need to remember to do this in the following spring. You do not have to plant the same thing each season, and some plants are only available during certain seasons.

On a farm that is built but not planted, each tile will look like a solid (not blinking) double tilde (~). Once a square has been planted, it will look like a double line. Once the square has been harvested, it will return to the previous state (double tilde).

In the first year, you should focus your production on berries aboveground, or [[plump helmets]] underground, because they can either be eaten raw or brewed. [[Quarry bush]]es, [[cave wheat]] and [[sweet pod]]s require processing before they can be eaten. [[Pig tail]]s and [[dimple cup]]s can produce cloth and dye respectively. Dimple cups are the only underground crop that can neither be brewed nor otherwise processed into food (except for its seed, which can be cooked).

You cannot buy berry seeds upon embarking. If you choose to plant berry shrubs, designate a dwarf with [[herbalism]] to gather plants outside until you get some suitable plants, then brew them to get the seeds. Make sure the outside farm plot is designated in the same [[biome]] that the plants were gathered from.

Should you wish to plant nothing for a season, you can select {{K|z}} "fallow" from the farm plot menu; this is useful when your larder is overful. If you possess [[potash]], you can fertilize the field to increase yield (see below).

== Increasing yield ==
Any crop may bear more or less fruit, or (as is sometimes the case with unskilled growers) it may even bear no fruit at all, thus wasting the seed. A higher yield will have many benefits along the whole assembly line of further food processing: workers will always work one one "stack" at a time – if (for example) a brewer has "sweet pod [5]" to work with, he will produce "dwarven rum [25]" and somehow squeeze it all into a single barrel.

The yield from a single seed depends on:
*[[grower]] [[skill]] of the farmer who '''planted''' it.
*whether the plot was fertilized. Fertilization increases yield up to about 1.5 times{{Verify}}.
*it does not depend on any skill of the harvester

Dabbling planters will frequently produce stacks of only one, and sometimes even zero plants. Legendary growers will often produce "plant name [5]" stacks from a single seed on a non fertilized field.

To fertilize a field {{K|q}} on it and choose {{K|f}}'''ertilize''' command. The amount of potash needed to fully fertilize a field depends on its size; it is listed on the farm plot.
Using {{K|q}} to view the farm plot, look for the field that looks like N/M ft. N is the amount of fertilizer applied so far, while M is the maximum fertilizer that can be applied. {{K|s}}'''eas Fert''' option tells your dwarves to automatically fertilize a field after each season change. Outdoor plots can be fertilized, indoor plots (on clay loam) not.

== Harvesting ==

A few weeks after planting a seed, a crop will sprout on that spot. Crops must be harvested within another few weeks or they will wither. By default, all dwarves will harvest, including [[children]] and even [[nobles]]. This may or may not be desirable: on the one hand, it makes sure that no crops will wither; on the other, it may lead to far away dwarves interrupting their work and running a long way in order to harvest a single plant.

Harvesting plants earns dwarves [[experience]] in the "growing" [[skill]], so do not be surprised if all your dwarves soon become "dabbling" (or better) growers. Because of that, peasants with no other occupation become farmers almost automatically. Do not be afraid that they might trample your fields: the skill is of no importance during harvest, and no matter how much skill they earn they will still only plant crops if you allow them to in their individual "labor" menu.

If you chose to turn off "All dwarves harvest" in your {{K|o}}rders menu, only dwarves with the "Farming (Fields)" labor enabled will harvest. However, they will often choose to plant new seeds instead of reaping the existing crop, so you risk that some amount may wither. After harvesting a plant (plucking it out of the ground), dwarves will carry it to the nearest [[stockpile]] unless you have "Dwarves ignore food" set in your {{K|o}}rders menu, in which case they will leave the plant blinking on the field. If not moved to a stockpile within a few weeks, it will wither.

== Caveats (warnings) ==

=== Food hauling ===

If you manage to get large-scale farming up and running, you will need to employ many food haulers in order for the food produced on your farms to be edible, even if it has already been harvested. This is because in the current version of the game, items tagged for pending tasks (including Move to Stockpile and Store in Barrel) are unavailable for any other use -- such as eating. An entire fortress of dwarves can starve while they wait for somebody to ''move the food''.

One way to deal with this problem (at least during the heavy farming/harvesting seasons) is to disable hauling of both stone and wood in the top-level {{K|o}}rders menu. This way, most of those jobs will clear out of the job queue, and you will be left mostly with "Store in Barrel" type jobs. You can also increase the number of dedicated food haulers.

=== Storage ===

It can be difficult to manage barrels to store food and drink, and bags to store seeds and processed foods. Combat this by [[Cooking|cooking]] food to consolidate it into larger stacks that won't rot outside of a barrel (it just needs to be indoors on a food stockpile). In the {{K|p}} menu, you can also reserve some empty barrels that will not be used for food storage; instead, they will only be used for brewing and syrup processing tasks. Leaves, sugar, and flour are not edible; to use them up and free their bags, you must cook. You can also cook excess seeds (albeit only up to 4 at a time), to reclaim the bags they occupy. Make sure not to cook your last crop seed!

== See also ==

* [[Crops]]
* [[Irrigation]]
* [[Skills#Growing|Farmers]]

[[Category:Agriculture]]
[[Category:Jobs]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Guides]]

Rock nuts

2008-03-16T23:10:52Z

Merkuri: Redirecting to Quarry bush

#REDIRECT [[Quarry bush]]