Dwarf Fortress Wiki - User contributions [en]

v0.31:Bauxite

2010-04-07T16:09:04Z

Walliard:

{{av}}
{{Stone|name=Bauxite|tile=+|color=#800
|location =
* Large clusters in [[40d:Sedimentary layer|Sedimentary layer]]s
|properties =
* [[40d:Magma proof|Magma proof]]
* [[40d:Material value|Material value]] 1}}
Bauxite used to be the only [[Magma-safe]] [[stone]]. Thus it used to be highly valuable as being the only practical source of magma-safe [[mechanism|mechanism]]s to be used in [[floodgate]]s. However nowadays dwarfs have a wide selection of hard to melt rocks, and bauxite is no longer nearly as unique.

Some older players might still prefer to use it for the sake of nostalgia though, and it's pleasing dark red color makes it look like the walls are always dripping with [[blood]].

In real life, bauxite is an ore of [[aluminum]], but the technology required to extract it is beyond the level posessed by dwarves.

{{Rocks}}
[[Category:Stone]]
[[Category:Sedimentary Stone Layers]]

23a:Noble

2010-03-30T01:48:24Z

Walliard:

Nobles
From Dwarf Fortress Wiki
Contents

* 1 Who Are These Purple Dwarves?
o 1.1 Social Complexity
o 1.2 They do some work, after all
* 2 Noble requirements
o 2.1 General
o 2.2 Mandates
o 2.3 Guild Mandates
o 2.4 Demands
o 2.5 Consequences of ignoring noble mandates
* 3 Managing your nobles
* 4 So Why Not Just Drown the Snooty Buggers?
* 5 Types of nobles
o 5.1 Assorted
o 5.2 Economy & trade
o 5.3 Guild representatives
o 5.4 Military order representatives
o 5.5 True nobility
* 6 Summary of Requirements

[edit]
Who Are These Purple Dwarves?

Nobles are special dwarves who will immigrate to your fortress when you meet certain requirements. They have far greater requirements for happiness than a common dwarf and will perform almost no labor in the normal sense of the word. They can and will make extremely inconvenient demands of your time and production and are usually well armed and armored, which becomes relevant if you ignore their happiness long enough for them to throw tantrums or go berserk.
[edit]
Social Complexity

Nobles add to the complexity and depth of the game. They give you entirely new levels of power and control over your dwarves at the cost of requiring you to pay more attention to their happiness. They are introduced into your game gradually, as you meet certain requirements, in order to stagger out the difficulty of accommodating them and to accustom yourself to the new options that open up with their cooperation.
[edit]
They do some work, after all

When it comes to actual work, nobles are dwarves with all labor options turned off. There are a few tasks that cannot be influenced by that menu, and nobles will perform all of them. For example: flipping switches, caging and chaining animals, carrying goods to the trade depot. They will also harvest plants if the option "all dwarves harvest" is set in the standing orders.
[edit]
Noble requirements

Nobles have significant requirements that must be fulfilled for them to be happy.
[edit]
General

Each noble's profile will give the exact details of what he requires. In general, they demand several rooms of a quality dependent on the rank of the noble. Usually, this is an Office (built from chairs) a Dining Room (built from tables) and a Bedroom (built from beds). In addition, they will want furniture of certain kinds. The specifics vary, but most nobles like having chests, cabinets, weapon racks, and armor stands in their rooms.

Nobles have an inherent desire to maintain the status quo. Pursuant to this, they will always receive an unhappy thought if they do not have more material possessions and better property than their subordinates. Only Legendary dwarves are exempt from this comparison with nobles. Nobles may also have worries or concerns related to their specific field. The Sheriff, for example, will receive an unhappy thought if you do not have sufficient cages or chains, and the Captain of the Guard will be upset if there are too few Fortress Guards.
[edit]
Mandates

Some nobles also issue mandates for production of different items - usually items they like personally - or prohibit exports of a certain products. Nobles become upset if production mandates aren't met at the appointed deadline. These Mandates seem to increase in volume as time passes, and they also seem to increase in number if the nobles are living in rooms that are below their standards.
[edit]
Guild Mandates

Once you have a Mayor and one or more guild nobles you may periodically see another type of mandate. If a dwarf spends too much of a season idle or doing tasks outside their profession, they will become unhappy about the amount of work available and will seek out a meeting with their guild representative (if their guild is present). The guild noble will then take their complaints to the Mayor, who will issue a mandate the next season requiring a certain number of profession-specific tasks to be completed. These mandates can be avoided entirely by making sure all dwarves have plenty of work related to their profession; if you have too many immigrants in a profession you don't need, train them in something else until their profession changes or draft them into the military if you want to avoid them taking time off to complain to the guilds.
[edit]
Demands

Finally, some nobles might demand a certain item in their personal rooms. They can demand a specific type of furniture, material, or both. If they don't get their wish, they will become more and more upset. Regardless of whether you have given them their demanded item or not, nobles will "forget about a demand" after some time.

Encrusting doesn't count for making an item, so the only way to satisfy a gem item demand is to build a window ([b]-[y]) out of cut gems.
[edit]
Consequences of ignoring noble mandates

If a Mandate goes for an extended period of time without being met, and if your fortress has a jail (or restraints that are reserved for justice), a dwarf will be arrested and briefly imprisoned for insubordination. They may also (or instead) be given a beating.

In the case of build orders and demands, a dwarf with the appropriate labor preference will be punished; so, for example, if a noble asks for some statues to be built, and they are not built, a mason will be imprisoned or beaten.

If you sell an item that a noble has commanded you not to export, all of the dwarves who carried the forbidden item(s) to the trade depot will be punished. If any of the perpetrators are nobles, legendary dwarves, or champions, then they will be listed in the Justice screen as having committed Violation of Export Prohibition crimes, but no actual punishments will be given.

Needless to say, punishments cause a lot of unhappy thoughts, especially in the case of long prison sentences. This can cause an undesirable cycle of tantrums on the part of the "criminal."
[edit]
Managing your nobles

On the Noble screen ([n]), there is a colour-coded list of nobles and some basic information about their current mandates and demands. If a noble's name is white, that means that they are satisfied with their living arrangements. If it is yellow, that means that they have everything they need but one or more rooms are of lower quality than they expect. (For example, a noble who demands a Modest bedroom will appear in yellow on the list if all she has is a Meager bedroom.) If the name is in red, then something is missing: either a room (such as an Office) or an item (such as a Chest).

Mandates and demands are also colour-coded. Export restrictions always appear in white. Build orders and Demands first appear in brown, then move through yellow and red the longer they are ignored.
[edit]
So Why Not Just Drown the Snooty Buggers?

Despite their downsides, nobles usually provide you with significant advantages as well. As examples, the Broker will allow you to see the cash value of the goods you trade in the trade interface and the Manager will allow you to place large-scale production orders for any item in the game rather than locating individual workshops and queueing up the jobs one at a time. Additionally, though most nobles "will not work" (according to the [v] menu), this merely means they will not do any job from the official "jobs list." They will, however, harvest food, move items to the trade depot, pull levers, and, in some cases, move caged animals/monsters.

Right now, killing a noble is only slightly worse than killing a normal dwarf: deaths cause your immigration to be lower, and noble deaths have a larger impact on immigration. However, Toady has made it clear that he intends on making the death of a noble a very serious problem for a fortress in future patches.

Nobles that die are replaced in a later immigration season. If a Noble with a consort dies, the arrival of their replacement will result in multiple consorts. (Yes, they are multiplying. Be very afraid.)
[edit]
Types of nobles

The nobles available to a fortress include the following. Requirements for each noble are in italics.
[edit]
Assorted

* The Manager (20 dwarves, perform "diverse tasks") - Activates mass orders, allows workshops to require a particular skill range, needed for Dwarven Economy along with the Bookkeeper
o The Sheriff (20 dwarves) - Activates Dwarven Justice, comes with Manager
* The Captain of the Guard (50 dwarves; promoted from Sheriff)
* The Mayor (50 dwarves) - Activates Fortress Guard, enables Sieges.
* The Governor (80 Dwarves, perform "diverse tasks")
* The Philosopher (100 dwarves)

[edit]
Economy & trade

* The Broker (Export enough goods) - Attracts Human Representative, Activates Trade Agreements
* The Trade Minister (Export enough goods (3000?)) - Attracts Human Merchant Baron, enables Sieges.
* The Guildmaster (Export enough goods (10000?)) - Attracts Human Merchant Prince
* The Bookkeeper (Wealth + 2500 coins) - Activates Dwarven Economy when combined with a manager
* The Treasurer (Wealth + 15000 (mixed) coins)
* The Hoardmaster (Wealth + 50000 coins)
* The Dungeon Master (Dig deep (to chasm/magma flow?) + 25000 coins) - Make electrum, tame exotics

[edit]
Guild representatives

* The House Ber (Berite) representative. (Active farming)
* The House Fer (Ferite) representative. (Active animal-related work)
* The House Råsh (Råshid) representative. (Have many dead dwarves) - House of Death
* The Mason's Guild representative.
* The Miner's Guild representative.
* The Craftsdwarves Guild representative.
* The Carpenter's Guild representative.
* The Metalsmith's Guild representative.
* The Alchemist (Extracts & Make soap)

[edit]
Military order representatives

* The Order of the Axe representative. (Forge 50 axes)
* The Order of the Crossbow representative. (Forge 50 crossbows)
* The Order of the Hammer representative. (Forge 50 hammers)
* The Order of the Mace representative. (Forge 50 maces)
* The Order of the Spear representative. (Forge 50 spears)
* The Order of the Sword representative. (Forge 50 swords)

[edit]
True nobility

* The Baron and his Baroness Consort (or vice-versa). (Manager, Broker, Bookkeeper) - Attracts Human and Elf Diplomats
o The Tax Collector (Comes with Baron)
o The Hammerer (Comes with Baron)
* The Count and his Count Consort (Mayor, Trade Minister, Treasurer)
* The Duke and his Duke Consort (Governor, Guildmaster, Hoardmaster)
* The King and his King Consort (Adamantine found or Duke and others)
o The Advisor (Comes with King/Queen)

[edit]
Summary of Requirements
Noble Bedroom Dining Room Office / Throneroom Burial Chamber Cabinets Containers Weapon Racks Armor Stand
Manager Modest Modest Modest 1 1 1 1
Sheriff Modest Modest Modest 1 1 1 1
Captain of the Guard Normal Normal Normal 1 1 1 1
Mayor Decent Decent Decent 1 2 1 1
Governor Fine Fine Splendid 2 3 2 2
Philosopher
Broker Meager Meager Meager 1 1 1 1
Trade Minister Normal Normal Normal 1 2 1 1
Guildmaster Decent Decent Decent 2 3 2 2
Bookkeeper Meager Meager Meager 1 1 1 1
Treasurer Normal Normal Normal 1 2 1 1
Hoardmaster Decent Decent Decent 2 3 2 2
Dungeon Master Normal Normal Normal Normal 1 1 1 1
House Ber Decent Decent 1 1 1 1
House Fer Decent Decent 1 1 1 1
House Råsh Decent Decent Decent Normal 1 1 1 1
Mason's Guild Decent Decent Decent 1 1 1 1
Miner's Guild Decent Decent Decent 1 1 1 1
Craftsdwarves Guild Decent Decent Decent 1 1 1 1
Carpenter's Guild Decent Decent Decent 1 1 1 1
Metalsmith's Guild Decent Decent Decent 1 1 1 1
Alchemist Meager Meager Meager 1 1 1 1
Order of the Axe Normal Normal Normal 1 1 3 1
Order of the Crossbow Normal Normal Normal 1 1 3 1
Order of the Hammer Normal Normal Normal 1 1 3 1
Order of the Mace Normal Normal Normal 1 1 3 1
Order of the Spear Normal Normal Normal 1 1 3 1
Order of the Sword Normal Normal Normal 1 1 3 1
Baron Decent Decent Decent Tomb 1 2 1 1
Baroness Consort Decent Decent Tomb 1 2 1 1
Tax Collector Modest Modest Normal 1 2 1 1
Hammerer Modest Normal 1 2 1 1
Count Great Great Throne Room Mausoleum 2 3 2 2
Count Consort Great Great Mausoleum 2 3 2 2
Duke Grand Grand Opulent Throne Room Grand Mausoleum 3 5 3 3
Duke Consort Grand Grand Grand Mausoleum 3 5 3 3
King Royal Royal Royal Throne Room Royal Mausoleum 5 10 5 5
King Consort Royal Royal Royal Mausoleum 5 10 5 5
Advisor Great Great Throne Room 2 3 2 2
TOTALS: 3/4/10/13/1/3/2/2 (38) 3/3/11/13/1/3/2/2 (38) 3/2/11/11/1/2/1/1 (32) 0/0/2/2/0/2/2/2 (10) 56 83 68 56

23a:Noble

2010-03-30T01:47:36Z

Walliard: Retrieved from Internet Archive

23a:Main Page
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Welcome to the Dwarf Fortress Wiki! This is a collection of user-submitted guides, information and advice for the Roguelike game "Dwarf Fortress". Dwarf Fortress is a Windows game (though it can be played on other systems using Wine), developed by Bay 12 Games featuring two modes of play, a distinct, randomly-generated world (complete with terrain, wildlife and legends), gruesome combat mechanics and vicious hordes of elephants.

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23a:Cavern map

2010-03-30T01:46:49Z

Walliard: Created page with 'This article is a rough guide to what you can expect to find as you dig into the mountain. Every mountain in Dwarf Mode has the same internal geological features stretching from …'

This article is a rough guide to what you can expect to find as you dig into the mountain. Every mountain in Dwarf Mode has the same internal geological features stretching from the top edge of the map to the bottom in a narrow band, found in the same sequence. From west to east, they are: the underground river, the chasm, the magma flow, the glowing pits, and adamantine. The first three features (river, chasm, and magma) zigzag back and forth quite a bit, so the gems and ores listed may occasionally be found slightly on the near side of the corresponding feature. For instance, you may find a vein of hematite extending just a little bit west of the chasm.

Additionally, when mining gems, you will occasionally get a message that "a miner has found some <gem> mixed in with <some other gem>". This can happen anywhere in the cave and will always produce a gem (of the same color) one level rarer than the type displayed in the cluster. For instance, rose quartz (red) may have red spinel mixed in with it, red spinel may have ruby, or ruby may have red diamond. As always, the Random Number Generator is both your enemy and your friend.

Usually one kind of enemy humanoid will be predominant at each geological feature. For instance, if you encounter antmen at the chasm, you will not see many, if any, ratmen or batmen. However, you may still encounter any of the nonhumanoid enemies.
Contents

* 1 Initial rock
* 2 Cave river
* 3 After the river
* 4 Chasm
* 5 After the chasm
* 6 Magma flow
* 7 The Pits
* 8 Adamantine

[edit]
Initial rock

The "initial rock" is the part of the mountain that stretches from the mountain face to the cave river.

New gems

* Turquoise
* Rock Crystal
* Aventurine
* Rose Quartz

New ore

* Sphalerite (zinc ore; half of brass)
* Cassiterite (tin ore; half of bronze)
* Malachite (copper ore; half of bronze; half of brass)
* Galena (silver ore)

[edit]
Cave river

This river is between 5 and 8 spaces wide, and twists and turns between roughly 48 spaces from the cliff face to about 103 spaces from the cliff face. It is surrounded by limestone 1-2 squares deep on both banks. "Offshoots" of the river will contain either waterfalls or small chasms. These offshoots will stay inside the range of the river, that is, offshoots would appear on the left side only when the river bends far to the right.

Waterfalls and sinks

Waterfalls appear at the ends of "offshoots" that flow downstream into river (i.e. offshoots that point north). In their center, they produce a "fine mist" which causes a happy thought for each dwarf that comes into contact with it.

Sinks appear at the ends of "offshoots" that receive a downstream flow of water from a river (i.e. offshoots that point south ). They are surrounded by a few chasm tiles. A dwarf that falls in the water at the end of one of these channels will immediately die, with the message "Fell down a deep chasm."

Enemies

* Frogmen
* Giant Toads
* Cave Crocodiles
* Snakemen
* Lizardmen
* Mud Men

Directly interacting with the river (drinking, fishing, etc.) will trigger subsequent attacks from its denizens. Using wells built anywhere inside the mountain can also trigger attacks, which will sometimes cause enemies to emerge from the wells themselves.
[edit]
After the river

New gems

* Opal
* Aquamarine
* Red Spinel
* Chrysoberyl

New ore

* None

[edit]
Chasm

This obstacle is between 3 and 5 spaces wide, and angles between 148 to 200 spaces from the cliff face. The chasm tends to make sharper turns than the river, and its offshoots are always straight and between 1 and 2 spaces wide.

Enemies

* Antmen
* Giant Rats
* Giant Bats
* Batmen
* Ratmen
* Troglodytes
* Trolls
* Gremlins
* Giant Mole Rats
* Iron Men

Chasming refuse will trigger attacks from chasm-based creatures. This can result in an extended series of attacks as creatures emerge, kill or get killed, and leave remains behind which get thrown into the chasm, triggering more attacks. Flooding the chasm with magma will increase attacks for a short time, then attacks will stop as the bottom of the chasm fills with magma (the center of the chasm turns red). Flooding the chasm with water may reduce attacks, but will never eliminate them.

Attacks from trolls are very rare, but can be dangerous. Trolls are strong and are capable of destroying buildings (including doors and floodgates). Gremlins can throw levers, which can lead to all sorts of havoc, so hide your levers behind a door and a trap or two. But be warned, Gremlins themselves do not set off traps.
[edit]
After the chasm

New gems

* Diamond
* Emerald
* Sapphire
* Ruby

Rare gems can only be found when mixed in with these.

New ore

* Gold Nuggets
* Platinum Nuggets
* Hematite (iron ore)
* Bituminous Coal (technically not an ore but with many related properties)

[edit]
Magma flow

This obstacle is between roughly 240 and 310 spaces from the cliff face, and is between 7 and 11 spaces wide. Only steel or adamantium may be used to create any bridges or aqueducts that cross it, though there is an exploit where only the topmost material selected to build a structure determines its material. The magma river is surrounded by obsidian 1-2 squares deep on both banks.

Enemies

* Imps
* Magma Men
* Fire Men

[edit]
The Pits

Digging past the magma is extremely dangerous. From about 330 to 360 spaces from the cliff face, 1x3 pits are randomly scattered. These pits are usually arranged such that it is impossible to completely avoid them when trying to dig past them (unless you're psychic). Demons emerge from pits not long after they are unearthed, so keep your military ready.

Enemies

* Frog Demons
* Spirits of Fire
* Tentacle Demons

Approximately a half-dozen demons will show up shortly after you first reach the pits, and not all at once. They are tougher than anything else you are likely to have encountered before this point, and can easily wipe out an entire fortress that is not thoroughly prepared for their arrival. They are wholly immune to traps, magma and steam. Frog demons can breathe underwater, but the others can't.

Beyond the pits is one of the game's greatest rewards: adamantine.
[edit]
Adamantine

The final part of the cave is a layer of adamantine in front of a cave system that you cannot go past (because the game simply won't scroll that far). The chasm occasionally sends a 1x10 cut to the left that is surrounded by adamantine. The adamantine is 1-2 squares thick on the edge of this chasm, much like limestone lines the edge of the cave river. Once you start mining adamantine, the game will check each season and use your total adamantine mined so far as a percentage chance to doom your fortress. When this happens, a one-season timer will start, and then the game will end with a screen describing how you have dug too deep, and released a demon. There is no safe level of adamantine to mine: Once you have mined any, your game will end eventually. You can find (and kill, if you're fast, lucky, and smart) this demon in Your Fortress In Adventure Mode if you find your old fortress again.

40d Talk:Trap design

2009-10-20T07:05:58Z

Walliard: /* Dragonfire Pillbox */

:'''Editors & Contributors''' - Please include diagrams or ''clear'' and well-sized [[http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Images images]] if appropriate. For diagrams, use [[Character table|standard Dwarf Fortress symbols]] for your diagrams - an x is an up/down stairwell, a ╬ is a fortification, a ▲ is an up-ramp/slope, etc. etc. For screenshots, use the standard tileset, not a custom one that few may recognize.

:Please do NOT add a "theoretical" trap design, that you have not actually tested, unless you are 100% sure it will work.

:If your suggestion is lengthy and complex, consider placing it on your User: page with simpler explanation and a link here.

:Lastly, if you can keep similar or alternate suggestions grouped within like subsections/topics/categories, that would be a good thing. Future wiki users and DF players thank you.

=New Pages, new organization=
There had been about 5-6 pages on "defense", and articles and advice on various topics were scattered and repeated across all of them. This is an effort to re-organize them into 4 tightly defined and user-friendly topics using current DF wiki naming conventions - a General guide and overview [[Defense guide]], and 3 articles on specific design - layout and architecture ([[Defense design]]), traps ([[Trap design]]), and specific advice on organizing your military ([[Military design]]).

Discussion from any pages removed or renamed will be placed (or linked) under one of those four.--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 06:21, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

== Dragonfire Pillbox ==

Does anyone know if this will/not work? Do captured dragons flame at kobolds/orcs/siegers? Can this also be used w/ fire imps? (I think the answer to that last is "no" - iirc, imps need to have a path to their targets, which would require that a trap be much more complex - but still possible.)
:If there is no confirmation, we should probably delete the design, unfortunately.--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 12:52, 6 June 2009 (UTC)
::Don't be lame. It would totally work. Just nobody has done it yet.--[[User:Zchris13|Zchris13]] 22:20, 6 June 2009 (UTC)
:::The only thing "lame" would be including a design that is based on guesswork and doesn't actually work. I've read forum articles about this same set-up w/ fire imps NOT working - because they need a [[path]] to their target. And some creatures don't attack goblins unless they're [[Modding guide|modified]] to do so - very disappointing, but true. I just don't remember if the same is true with dragons or not - do you?--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 08:04, 7 June 2009 (UTC)
:It doesn't work. Dragons don't flame at goblins. Already tried with one. It flamed at my dwarves over the channel when I ordered a squad to execute it, though.
::Was he tied to a chain?--[[User:CrazyMcfobo|CrazyMcfobo]] 18:17, 3 August 2009 (UTC)
::Alternatively, was he tamed? You'd need a Dungeon Master for that, but that way at least they wouldn't kill your dwarves. (Actually, screw it. It doesn't work, even if it is tame. Nearly lost my dragon that way. Maybe some modding would be necessary. So help me, I WILL build this) [[User:Mythsage|Mythsage]]
:::Tame dragons definitely '''will''' breathe fire at goblins under the right circumstances. In my case, this was chaining them up outside and pulling a lever to release them when a siege arrived - flames everywhere. --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 23:02, 25 August 2009 (UTC)
::::But will they do so without a path? The general consensus seems to be otherwise.--[[User:Walliard|Walliard]] 07:05, 20 October 2009 (UTC)

== Weapon trap 'Spike strips'==
Despite the image, no, its not for wagons, but rather its an idea I have for killing animals like maybe unicorns. I'm in an area with plenty of unicorns (didn't bring along hunters and its still my first year of the fortress), and stuff made from unicorn parts are generally valuable, right? Also, knowing from the entry saying that they are rather dangerous, I have an idea of a way to get materials from them with minimal risk to the dwarves. My idea is to have an area of weapon traps, most likely single weapon traps to minimize corpse mangling, and maybe have them in rows or a grid in an area so that the animals will cross and die. This could also apply to huntable creatures that are able to move fast like gazelles. I haven't actually done this and so I don't know how effective it would really be. Of course though, there is no real substitue for a good hunter as far as bringing back an intact corpse 100% of the time.....as long as the corpse isn't the hunters....--[[User:Smjjames|Smjjames]] 18:37, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

== Bridge Land Mines ==

Pretty sure this is another Guessworked idea, as you can't build anything directly on a bridge. 
Nominate for removal unless someone's got proof otherwise. -[[User:N9103|Edward]] 00:42, 14 June 2009 (UTC)
:One of the masses of text I copied/pasted when re-formating the previous jumble. I'm going to ''guess''(?) that the OP meant a constructed span, and not a retractable/drawbridge, since he mentions a length of "at least 20 tiles" and that would be the max for ''two'' retractable bridges ''if'' they met in the middle. That would allow you to build the pp's on the span, but it would also mean that the collapse would take down the span, right? Dunno, never gone there myself. If you're sure it's faulty, scratch it. Or, better, rewrite it so it would work - on solid ground, for instance, with channels on either side. The "knock your enemy out" ploy should be represented in some form.--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 01:45, 14 June 2009 (UTC)

::Hmm, I guess that could've been faulty wording on their part. I wouldn't really know anything about developing/deploying traps that aren't simple and straightforward, as my fortress design sticks to the KISS principals. -[[User:N9103|Edward]] 01:39, 16 June 2009 (UTC)
:::If the bridge was made of constructed '''walls''' (on the Z-level directly below) instead of floors, then the mines wouldn't punch holes through it. --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 16:15, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

== Mousetrap ==
I don't think this would ever actually work, since I'm pretty sure the only creatures that pull levers are the chasm-dwelling Gremlins. Also, the creature would have to pull the lever and then step off of it and wait long enough for the spike to hit it (since there's a 100 tick delay), making it quite likely to miss entirely. The "landmine" is far more effective in general (since it's a guaranteed kill), though it won't catch kobolds (but certainly will catch goblin thieves), and the term "suicide booth" is more apt for a chamber dwarves (particularly [[noble]]s) can use to kill themselves. --[[User:Quietust|Quietust]] 13:09, 9 October 2009 (UTC)
But what is not as well known is that Thieves also have a rather annoying tendency to pull levers they come across, or let animals out of cages.
:All depends on the veracity of this assertion - never heard of this, but that doesn't make it false. Needs verification, and then be included in [[thief]] article. Verification discussion belongs in [[talk:thief]], and has been started there.--[[User:Albedo|Albedo]] 18:39, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

40d:Flux

2009-10-20T05:58:40Z

Walliard: Clarified point about melting goods.

[[Stone]]s which are classified as '''flux''' materials can be used in the creation of [[pig iron]] and [[steel]] at a [[smelter]]. They are considered [[economic stone|economic stones]], and so can be manipulated on the [[Status#Stone_Status_Screen|z-stone]] menu. All flux has a material [[value]] of 2, which is twice that of common stone (material value 1), making it preferable for [[workshop]]s, [[construction]], and most all stone products. ''(Only [[obsidian]] and some higher-value [[ore]]s have a higher material value for stonework.)''

Note that [[blocks]] made out of flux materials cannot be used in the production of pig iron or steel.

The following stones fall under this reaction class:

:*[[Calcite]]
:*[[Chalk]]
:*[[Dolomite]]
:*[[Limestone]]
:*[[Marble]]

All flux stones form [[layer]]s, except for [[calcite]], which exists as small clusters within other flux layers. Therefore, whether or not a site has flux can be determined from the pre-embark screen. [[Limestone]], [[dolomite]] and [[chalk]] form [[sedimentary]] layers, which can have large deposits of [[iron]]-bearing ore. [[Marble]] is a [[metamorphic layer]], so it can be found within almost any [[biome]]; notably, marble can be found in the same biome as [[igneous extrusive layer]]s (i.e. near [[volcano]]es and [[magma vent]]s), unlike sedimentary layers*.
:(* What this means is that it's very unusual for a map to have all three of magma, flux and high-iron-bearing sedimentary layers together. It can happen, and larger maps increase the chances of such, but it's unexpected when found close to each other.)

=== Trading for flux ===

If your map has no flux on it (which is a common situation), then you can request it from the [[dwarf|dwarven]] traders (assuming the traders have access to flux, which is not guaranteed*). Make sure you order (flux material) ''stone'', which is in the material section, since you can't use flux'' blocks'' to create steel.

:* If you are able to bring flux stone at [[embark]], you will be able to request it from the [[caravan]] in meetings with the [[liaison]] (as with pretty much everything else), but they aren't likely to bring much, generally 3 or 4 stones of each type. Your [[steel]] industry may be better served by requesting steel bars directly or, if you have access to [[magma]], buying up everything they have that's made of steel, especially toys, instruments, and crafts, and [[melt]]ing it all down.

----

See also:
:* [[steel]]
:* [[pig iron]]
[[Category:Materials]]

40d:Tree

2009-04-20T03:51:25Z

Walliard:

Across the [[world]], '''trees''' can be found littering the landscape. They are a great renewable source of [[wood]], and there are many different varieties that grow in different [[biomes]]. While [[tower cap]]s grow indoors, every other variety occurs only outdoors.

''Trees'' are a type of [[map tile]], not [[construction]]s, similar to solid [[rock]] or [[bush]]es. They must be designated for removal from the [[designations|{{Key|d}}esignations menu]] chop {{k|t}}rees, which will instruct [[dwarves]] with the [[woodcutter]] skill to grab an [[axe]] and begin chopping down the tree.

Trees grow from saplings, which start growing randomly on tiles of a suitable biome. Saplings can be destroyed by heavy [[traffic]]. To grow from a sapling to a tree takes about a year and a half.

Trees viewed from one tile above look like coloured [[stone]] [[block]]s floating in the air. Also, deciduous trees will change colour to red or yellow in [[autumn]], and lose their leaves in [[winter]]: {{tile|╞|#770}}.

Trees also gain names near [[elf|elven]] settlements. It is unclear what effect this has on gameplay, if any at all.

Trees ''will not'' as of yet be destroyed by [[magma]] or [[fire]] (nor will [[water]] damage them in any way).
Saplings can 'drown' in water and magma, though.

== List of Trees ==

{| {{prettytable}}
|- style="background:#ddd"
! Tree Name
! Habitat !! Tile !! Alignment !! Density (Weight) !! Deciduous
|-
! id="mangrove"|Mangrove
| Mangrove Swamp (Wet) || {{tile|♣|green|black}} || All || 500 || No
|-
! id="saguaro"|Saguaro
| Any Desert (Dry) || {{tile|╞|green|black}} || All || 500 || No
|-
! id="pine"|Pine
| Taiga Forest (Dry) Temperate Conifer Forest Tropical Conifer Forest || {{tile|↑|green|black}} || All || 560 || No
|-
! id="cedar"|Cedar
| Temperate Conifer Forest (Dry) Tropical Conifer Forest || {{tile|↨|green|black}} || All || 380 || No
|-
! id="oak"|Oak
| Any Temperate Broadleaf Forest (Dry) || {{tile|♠|green|black}} || All || 700 || Yes
|-
! id="mahogany"|Mahogany
| Any Tropical Forest (Dry) || {{tile|♠|green|black}} || All || 600 || No
|-
! id="acacia"|Acacia
| Tropical Dry Broadleaf Forest (Dry) Tropical Grassland Tropical Savanna Tropical Shrubland || {{tile|♣|green|black}} || All || 500 || No
|-
! id="kapok"|Kapok
| Tropical Moist Broadleaf Forest (Dry) || {{tile|Γ|green|black}} || All || 500 || No
|-
! id="maple"|Maple
| Temperate Broadleaf Forest (Dry) Temperate Grassland Temperate Savanna Temperate Shrubland || {{tile|♣|green|black}} || All || 755 || Yes
|-
! id="willow"|Willow
| Any Temperate (Wet) Any Tropical Forest Tropical Grassland Tropical Savanna Tropical Shrubland Tropical Freshwater Swamp Tropical Saltwater Swamp Tropical Freshwater Marsh Tropical Saltwater Marsh || {{tile|⌠|green|black}} || All || 420 || No
|-
! id="tower-cap"|[[Tower-cap]]
| Subterranean Water (Wet)(Dry) || {{tile|♣|green|black}} || All || 600 || No
|-
! id="glumprong"|Glumprong
| Not Freezing (Dry) || {{tile|┤|green|black}} || Evil || 1200 || No
|-
! id="feathertree"|Feather tree
| Not Freezing (Dry) || {{tile|♣|green|black}} || Good || 100 || No
|-
! id="highwood"|Highwood
| Not Freezing (Dry) || {{tile|¶|green|black}} || Savage || 500 || No
|-
! id="larch"|Larch
| Taiga Forest (Dry) Temperate Conifer Forest || {{tile|↑|green|black}} || All || 590 || Yes
|-
! id="chestnut"|Chestnut
| Any Temperate Broadleaf Forest (Dry) || {{tile|♠|green|black}} || All || 500 || Yes
|-
! id="alder"|Alder
| Any Temperate Broadleaf Forest (Dry) || {{tile|♣|green|black}} || All || 410 || Yes
|-
! id="birch"|Birch
| Any Temperate Broadleaf Forest (Dry) || {{tile|♣|green|black}} || All || 670 || Yes
|-
! id="ashtree"|Ash
| Any Temperate Broadleaf Forest (Dry) || {{tile|♠|green|black}} || All || 620 || Yes
|-
! id="candlenut"|Candlenut
| Any Tropical Forest (Dry) || {{tile|Γ|green|black}} || All || 500 || No
|-
! id="mangotree"|Mango tree
| Any Tropical Forest (Dry) || {{tile|Γ|green|black}} || All || 500 || No
|-
! id="rubbertree"|Rubber tree
| Tropical Moist Broadleaf Forest (Dry) || {{tile|Γ|green|black}} || All || 500 || No
|-
! id="cacaotree"|Cacao tree
| Tropical Moist Broadleaf Forest (Dry) || {{tile|Γ|green|black}} || All || 500 || No
|-
! id="palm"|Palm
| Any Tropical (Dry) || {{tile|Γ|green|black}} || All || 500 || No
|}

[[Category:Map tiles]][[Category:Trees]]

40d:Challenges

2009-04-15T22:32:00Z

Walliard:

:''Part of this article was originally taken from the DF forums thread [http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=466.0 "Goal-Based Dwarf Fortress"].''

The general goal of [[Fortress Mode]] is to survive, acquire wealth, defend your stronghold, and become the capital of your civilization. However, many players find that fighting off repeated [[siege|sieges]] and keeping their people alive just isn't enough anymore. They begin to experiment with different sets of objectives, themes, and restrictions in search of more difficulty and [[fun]]. These are some goals to attempt or use as inspiration.

== Difficult Builds ==
A sub-optimal embark profile can make the first few years more difficult than they might otherwise be. After a few years, however, immigration, trading, and development of new industries will likely bring your fort up to usual standards. For best results, combine with a restriction.

=== Diplomacy ===
* Six dwarves with only social [[skill]]s
* One skilled dwarf

Six courtiers of the king's court made some ill-advised remarks within earshot of the king, and as a result have been ordered to go found an outpost. They've hired you to make sure they survive. The six nobles only have social skills and refuse to do any work that is beneath them.

=== Hunting Party ===
* One marksman/ambusher
* Two camp servants (e.g. one cook/brewer/herbalist, one butcher/tanner/leatherworker/woodcutter)
* Four clients, all dabbling in marksman/ambusher but with primarily civilian skills.

No anvil, lots of hunting dogs ... and a haunted wood. (In a terrifying wood, you may find all the trees & plants are dead, severely reducing long-term prospects.)

=== Stranded Scout Squad ===

The only items you can bring weapons, ammo, and armor (no picks). The only skills you can hand out are military. The only animals you can bring are war dogs. See how it goes.

==Restrictions==
Several of the game's features are rightly considered broken. Creating self-imposed limitations on what you can and cannot do may alleviate this.

=== ASPCA ===
* No [[animals]]

Don't bring any [[animals|pets]]. Furthermore, due to the possibility of animals being caught in them, don't build any [[traps]], either. If [[immigrants]] bring pets, get rid of them somehow. (Whether "them" refers to the pets or the owners is up to the discretion of local [[mayor]]s.)

=== City-States ===
* No [[skill]]s
* 7 or multiple of 7 of everything you bring

At the start your dwarves split everything equally and move to 7 different locales that are not interconnected. They have to mine their own rooms, plant their own crops, use their own craft piles. This will probably require a bit of cross-fertilization until you get [[door]]s and can lock everyone in, but after that it is every dwarf for him/herself!

=== Dieting Dwarves ===
'''Fishing village'''

Give your dwarves only the fishing skill and other fishing related skills (like bonecrafting.) Try to survive off a [[fish]] only diet. Flood the river and build houses above it so the dwarves can fish through their floors. There will be an extra challenge if the river freezes in the winter.

'''Carnivore'''

* No plants or seeds

Only eat strays, pets, and animals you trap and hunt. No farming or plant gathering. Keep all your pets in cages and care for them as little as possible. Eat your dwarves' pets first for an extra challenge. If this upsets your dwarves, ridicule or ignore them. (If you are particularly heartless, you could cage those dwarves as well because anyone that empathizes with animals doesn't deserve any rights either.)

'''Vegan'''

In essence, construct an [http://archive.dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/Main_Glade Elven Forest]: The [[Challenges#Hippy challenge|Hippy Challenge]].

'''IOGT/AA'''

* No alcohol

Quite possibly, this is the cruelest challenge that your dwarves can be given. Don't ever brew any alcohol. Build [[well]]s instead and watch your now teetotaller dwarves work slower and slower by the season.

=== Hippy challenge ===

Peace, man. Don't harm any plants except those you plant yourself. Don't cut down any trees, and don't trade for logs with the filthy humans or dwarves who do. You can trade for plants with the elves, they understand your environmental code. Don't burn any coal, do you know what that does to the environment, man? Never cause any creature's death, so no military, and no lethal traps. You can use cage traps, and either tame the creatures you catch, or release them back into the wild, far from your fort.

For an extra challenge try this in an area with a cave.

=== Hermit ===
* No [[skill]]s
* One [[pick]] and no other supplies

A well known and popular challenge. Kill off 6 starting dwarves and any [[immigrants]] as they arrive, and try to make a living for the last dwarf. Turn away merchants. If they don't leave, kill them.

'''Variants'''
* Keep your starting seven, but no immigrants.
* Selectively admit dwarves based on name, profession, etc.
* Embark with an anvil as well.

=== Nay, no ponderous stone doors or shining silver arcades, not while I live! ===

The new king has decided rocks and metals can no longer be used in construction. He'll be overthrown shortly, but in the meantime construct your fortress without them.

'''Variants'''
* Make everything that you can out of wood. That means nothing underground, though you may excavate to make areas above-ground. Bonus points for bringing no wood at the start and/or going to a treeless area.
* Construct an above-ground fortress made entirely out of glass. Bonus points for not using magma or using clear and crystal glass exclusively.
* Build with soap. Soap is in the form of bars, and so can be used as a building material just like any other type of bar. Show those elven traders just how much you despise their philosophies by building your trading outpost out of stuff derived from dead trees ''and'' dead animals. Too many cats? Build with cat tallow soap.
* Choose one type of rock, one type of metal, one type of gem, and one type of wood. Your whole fortress must be made from these items. You may further narrow it down to bones, skin, and other from one animal, one type of glass, etc. If any artifacts are made using a forbidden item, chuck into lava, a river, or a chasm (you may need to throw the dwarf who made it in as well, since he will throw a tantrum).

=== Luddite ===
* No mechanics or [[mechanism]]s
* No [[machine]]s

[[Traps]] and moving [[bridge]]s are forbidden, water moved for [[farming]] must be accomplished by hand.

=== Master Of One ===
* All starting dwarves can have one skill and one skill only
* No changes are allowed on any dwarf's labor screen
* All immigrants must stay with the profession(s) they arrive with
* All peasants must be activated into the military
Alternatively,
* All starting dwarves can have one skill and one skill only
* No changes are allowed on any dwarf's labor screen, except that hauling may be disabled. You may not enable hauling.
* All immigrants must stay with the profession(s) they arrive with, and only military that immigrates recruited may be military.

=== The Mad Butcher ===
(this requires a tiny amount of editing to the raws) 
*Edit Dwarf Fortress\Raw\object\Creature_Domestic.txt. Remove the tag [BUTCHERABLE_NONSTANDARD] from cats and dogs.
*Start with a normal build except:
**One dwarf should be a dedicated butcher/tanner.
**Buy minimal food.
**Bring as many puppies or kittens as possible.
*Drop all your puppies or kittens into cages or into animal pits as soon as possible.
*Dig a shaft 10 or more Z-levels deep, mark the top an animal pit.
*At the bottom of the shaft set up a butcher shop, a tanner shop, a bedroom, and some food and leather stockpiles.
*Set it all up so that the mad butcher cannot escape.
*As you need food, begin selecting animals to be dropped into your deep pit, next to the butcher.
*To retrieve the food and leather without releasing the butcher, either have him dump it down another hole or use an airlock system.
*See how long a single butcher, butchering splattered kittens, can keep your fortress fed! Cooking and farming are cheating... raw meat for everyone!

=== No death ===

Try to play the game for as long as possible without losing any dwarf (so no death, but also no failed mood, no kidnapping, no beating to death, etc.) A simple challenge, yet harder than what it seems to be.

Some players consider this to be the opposite of the intent of Dwarf Fortress. So naturally, it must be done.

== Megaprojects ==
Instead of deliberately inhibiting yourself, create a wonder of the dwarven world that would make the Mountainhomes proud. Be sure to upload it to the [[http://mkv25.net/dfma/ Dwarf Fortress Map Archive]] when it's finished.

=== Temple ===

Designing a temple to Armok. Aesthetics count - the god will be very angry if there are no stained-glass windows and domed ceilings carved with frescoes. To gain more favor, make regular sacrifices and keep the fountains and rivers red with [[blood]].

=== The great brewery ===

Disaster has struck the kingdom. A strangely glowing [[Fire|‼]]<nowiki></nowiki>peasant[[Fire|‼]] visited the greatest brewery of the empire, and as a result the whole thing exploded. No time for weeping — create its successor, a fort dedicated to alcohol production, and get the alcohol supplies flowing! Try to make the widest variety possible, and give or trade it to the dwarven [[caravan]] each year.

=== Castle ===

Build a castle, greater than anything built by human, elf or dwarf. This is highly time
consuming if you want it to be a good castle. There must be floor indoors, and no underground
constructions except for mining operations and cellars. For an even greater challenge, build
a gigantic tower in the middle, where the nobles stay.

=== Wealth ===

The kingdom's coffers need lining, so hop to! Found a fort and start accumulating wealth as fast as possible. Attain as high a fortress value as possible, and make most of your wealth into coins for the vault. Try to beat your record for one year, two years, or five years.

=== Biodome ===

All material, seeds, food, tools, and dwarves must be in the fortress within one year. Then, seal up the entrance. Any new immigrants... well, they might be in trouble. Survive for as long as possible!

No chasms/underground rivers/magma vents allowed.

=== Underwater fortress ===

Encase your entire fortress in [[water]]! Your fortress should be watersealed: surrounded by water against all [[wall]]s and the top of the fortress.
* Bonus: Build all water-touching walls/roof in clear glass!
* Bonus: Use [[magma]] instead of water!
* Bonus: Build it in the [[ocean]] or a non-freezing lake
* Bonus: Build large glass domes that encase the fortress. A dome 20 tiles wide should be 20 z-levels tall. Which may be hard to cover in water.
* Mod: Make your dwarves amphibious and include airlocks between the wet fortress and the dry.

=== Mountain audit/core sample ===

Start in a mountainous area and strip mine everything down, down, down to ground level. Stockpile everything, and calculate the mountain's composition. For kicks, try not excavating one tile on each z-level. You'll be left with one enormous core sample.

=== Santa Claus ===

Get ten thousand toys built and offered to caravans yearly. Optionally, build ten thousand toys, fetch them in adventure mode and deliver them to every single city of the world.

=== Graveyard Master ===

Ever dwarf deserves a decent resting place:
*Build a tomb for ever dwarf that dies, the more dwarves you manage to bury the better.
*Tombs must be rooms with exactly 5x5 of size and 1 of height, with only one entrance tile that must be closed by a door.
*Tombs must have all its surfaces engraved.
*Tomb must contain at least 4 statues.
*Once complete, the door must be locked and the tomb must not be ever entered again.

=== How high can you go? ===

Construction, construction, construction! Just how big a tower can you build? Out of glass maybe, clear glass? Steel? Pump water to the top? Make your tower a ''pinnacle'' of achievement and stun humans, elves and goblins alike - for they know nothing of construction and engineering like dwarves do!

=== Computing ===

Can your dwarves build the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism Antikythera mechanism]? Can you program the fortress to play tic-tac-toe? More details at [[computing]].

=== Doomsday Clock ===

Build a water or mechanical clock whose final state triggers the support which holds your fortress up or a megabeast out.
See how much wealth you can achieve before the clock runs out.
*Bonus: Create something that resets itself, as well as purging the map, so that you can reuse the same fortress over and over.
*Super-Bonus: Create something that involves pressure plates and a small kitten, when the pressure plates are hit in the right order, your map ends. Toss the kitten in and hope for the best.

=== World Domination ===
Pretend you are an evil mastermind. Now come up with some device or machine to render the world (or at least your portion of the map) totally unliveable, aside from, of course, your hidden lair.

Suggestions:
* Flood the map with water/magma (may require building walls around the edge of the map)
* Build an "Earthquake Machine" (the entire map is supported by a single support, which is connected to a lever)
* Build an extensive holding cell network for "scientific purposes". Fill it with megabeasts and elephants in secret. Have a lever that lets everything free to feed on the general population.


=== Casting ===
Who needs to construct giant statues?! We need ours made from natural walls, however, we want it above ground level as well. For casting your goal is to create some giant structure out of natural obsidian walls through the use of an extremely elaborate scaffold of lava and water pools and screw pumps. When you are finished, just deconstruct the scaffolding and smooth/engrave the statue as you go. Just imagine the bridge over that chasm, now complete with two giant dwarf statues on either side to strike fear into all who enter and to show them the power of your fortress.

=== The Monolith ===
As the inevitability of a fortress-wide mental breakdown looms over every single fortress why not have something that alludes to that precipice of [[insanity]]. Like the book and feature film, 2001: A Space Odyssey you must have a Monolith. This has to be made from [[obsidian]] and have a completely smooth surface (You cannot build it from blocks) You can have it be any size as long as it is outside, at least 2 tiles thick to ensure there are no pillar tiles, and has about the same ratio of width to height as it does in the movie (1:4:9) to make it as close to the real thing as possible. It would be preferable to make it large so that it seems to be dominating the landscape and your dwarves' psyche. The bigger the better.

*If the rock obsidian strata isn't deep enough in parts to make a monolith feasible consider casting a monolith with a large rectangular block in the exact same dimensional criteria as above.

=== Ceremonial Sacrifices ===

Build an amazingly complex or spectacular killing device. A shaft that extends across the entire Z-plane is a good start. A constantly shifting maze of atomsmasher drawbridges is another. For the minimalist, a very confined space where you will drop a dwarf wrestler along with the gobbos once in a while. Perhaps a waterslide that carries your prisoner all the way down into a chasm? Whatever your idea, build it and dedicate your fort to the construction, maintenance and improvement of your device.

Do not kill any of your invaders. Capture them using cage traps, and them set them off in your device. Keep a record of the number of victims you drop into it.

=== Space Ship ===

Create a giant space ship fit for space travel. It should be able to hold about 100 dwarves for at least 2 years.

BONUS: Use exploding [[booze]] as ignitable fuel.

BONUS: Make a removable [[ramp]] for boarding.

BONUS: Make the [[water]] for the 2 years be on the ship using removable pumps.

BONUS+: Make it totally self sufficient. (Make an internal system which pumps the [[water]] supply through a room every few years to muddy the floor. Plant [[seed|seeds]] in the [[mud]] that's now on the floor. Manage your consumption to maintain self sufficiency.)

BONUS+: Make it all out of [[steel]].

[[fun|FUN]]: Let it be held by a single [[support]], ignite the [[booze]], remove the support an let it "fly".

EVEN BETTER: Drop it down a chasm.

=== Aqueducts ===

For some reason, a noble was harmlessly pulling a lever when suddenly, magma flooded the river and exploded the booze! The king requires your band of seven to build a great aqueduct to bring water to the capital. Start with supports, and build up your aqueduct until it is 10 z-levels high!

BONUS: Start over a human town, build a wall around it, pump water through the aqueduct and into it!

=== Dwarf like an Egyptian ===

*Build a pyramid of epic proportion.

Build a legendary dwarven pyramid, with a corridor running to a central tomb for your favourite noble. Perhaps build it entirely out of glass? Or try to make the top twist in a bit of a swirl. Alternatively, make your entire fortress inside a pyramid, which stretches below the ground.

=== Skull collector ===

What proves the might of a civilization better than a hall full of skulls?
*Try to collect as many skulls as you can during your fortress life, and put then in a special skulls-only storage. The more skulls the better.

BONUS: Cover all the skulls in blood, and make the stockpile also a throne room.

SUPERBONUS: Also fill the throneroom with kittens.

=== Moria ===

Build a huge hall - at least 3 z-levels high. Leave few pillars symmetrically placed in the hall (don't build them, carve them out). Smooth and possibly engrave everything (not only the lowest z-level!). Then build thin bridge (not the bridge building, just a thin piece of rock to walk on) above magma - support it with bauxite supports connected to a lever (bauxite mechanisms needed in support). Destroy stone holding it at the both ends and replace it with floor hatches (so when you pull the lever it all goes down). After that build a bridge above the chasm.
When it's all done seal your dwarves deep inside in safe place and get invaded by goblins. At the same time dig out HFS. Lead the HFS across the both bridges and then collapse the second one when one of the champions clashes with it (it doesn't matter that the champion has killed the HFS with one hit).

=== Crematory Fortress ===

* Requires a [[magma pipe]] and [[bauxite]].

Build a temple structure above a [[magma pipe]] and [[engrave]] every available surface. The temple should be as opulent as possible. In the temple, build a retracting [[bridge]] over a hole in the floor, and designate a [[coffin]] [[stockpile]] on it. Whenever a dwarf dies, build a [[bauxite]] or other [[magma-proof]] [[coffin]] for him, place it on the [[bridge]], and retract it, committing his body to the [[magma|fiery blood of the mountain]].

::Note: At the time of writing, the editor isn't sure if coffins falling off the bottom of the map count as being 'lost.' If they do, channel out a magma pool and put the temple above that to avoid tantrums.

=== Swiss Precision ===

Build a working clock. The clock should accurately track DF days, months, and years.

Bonus Points:
*If the clock has a mechanical effect in the fortress proper to announce new days
*If the clock creates seasonally appropriate effects at the change of months and/or seasons.
*If the clock is used to aid in the operation of the fortress in addition to its role as a clock (automatically controls farmland irrigation at particular times, automatically opens the <s>blast doors</s> floodgates in time for merchants, etc...).
*If the clock governs the schedule of a working rail station (which is always on time). (Definitions of 'working' and 'rail station' are subject to player imagination).

But don't worry about the bonus points, a precision time device should be hard enough.

=== The cube ===

Play a fort as usual, but emphasize catching goblins in cages to support and fill this construction:
Construct a series of rooms in a symmetrical fashion, all connected to eachother with appropriate doors. Of course, enough rooms to make a maze-like structure, and if you feel like it, an exit that is hard to reach. Fill a bunch of the rooms with traps and pressureplates. Then fill one room with 4-6 goblins (preferably in cages, opened by an outside lever), release them and watch them randomly walk around the rooms dying to traps and whatnots.

*Bonus: Do multiple story maze (3d-maze)
*Bonus: Use pressureplates to open/close the exit randomly; otherwise, all the goblins will just follow the shortest route to the exit.

=== Land battleship ===

Turn your moutain into a huge battlestation, complete with crew quarters, decks, command centre, cantina, and a large collection of deadly weapons : Batteries of marksdwarves, ballista cannons, catapults, but also lava projector or remote explosive devices (ie, cave-ins in a part of the map triggered by a lever). Dig and mine the mountain so it end looking like a real battleship, with nothing but a plain around (so you could build it from nothing on a plain, or destroy a mountain, choice is yours). The battleship has to be autonomous, and dwarves shouldn't wander outside it.

*Bonus: The weaponry cover every tile of the map (ie, everything who enter the map, from every side, can be shot)
*Bonus: Build several other ships, maybe dedicated to a special production ? (food, ammo etc.)
*Bonus: Each crew member has a civil and military formation, and when the enemy arrive, almost every economic activity is stopped and all hands to quarters !

== Themed fortress ==
The middle ground between restrictions and megaprojects. A theme gives your fort a sense of purpose, while usually being less time-consuming than a megaproject. Additionally, many themes can be combined together.

=== Fort Geneva ===
* Build only nonlethal (cage) traps
* Sentient creatures ([[Goblins]], etc.) are to be considered prisoners of war and treated humanely
* Suggested provisions for prisoners: a bed, a personal cell, a commons area, aboveground exercise yard, and the clothes the creature was wearing when captured
* Inspiration: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conventions Geneva Conventions]

=== Immigration and customs enforcement ===
* One miner/mason/architect
* One woodcutter/carpenter/architect
* Five military dwarves

No anvil, lots of food, in a canyon - spend the first year building fortifications to interdict traffic. Immigrants can build a town around you, but your original dwarves remain dedicated to their mission.

=== Luxury Hotel ===

Build a hotel with large luxurious rooms
* Starting 7 dwarfs will be the only dwarfs that can work.
* All immigrants will be treated like nobles and will have all labors turned off.
* Provide places to throw parties.
*BONUS: Make a large fountain or waterfall centerpiece.
*BONUS: Keep the hotel up to code with health and safety.
** If any of the ''customers'' die or get kidnapped you must abandon the hotel.
*MEGA BONUS: Make the entire hotel out of ice.

=== Segregation ===

Make two separate, working, independent fortresses. All the men go in one, all the women in the other. Married dwarves are excluded from both.

=== No singles ===

As soon as you get a married couple with an immigration wave, kill all single dwarves. Continue to do so with all immigration waves. Try to lose no children.

=== Live up to your name ===

Go with the random name chosen by the game for your fortress and group. Make a handicap/play style based on your group's name, and a personal goal based on your fortress name. For example, if your group is The Iron Fist, your military must consist only of wrestlers in iron armor. If your fortress is Prisonportals, you must capture and jail as many goblins/creatures as possible, and all doors in the prison must be made of glass.

=== Equaland ===

Equaland: where we are all Equal, besides the Almighty Leader. Each dwarf must have their own bedroom, dining room, etc. Make a large tower in the center of your perfect land and put "The Leader" in it. Then make some kind of mechanism to kill the dwarves inside their dwelling, complete with levers so that The Leader can choose who dies next. If dwarves have one too many friends kill them, if they eat too much food kill them, etc.

=== This. Is. SPARTAAAA! ===

At least 50% of your dwarves should be military 100% of the time, and train in spears, shield use and [[wrestling]]. All other dwarves are "helots" and shouldn't be given any skills; they can be pressed into the military during times of war, but given no equipment or at most a bare minimum of inferior weapons. Do not use crossbows or traps. Kill maimed dwarves.

Refuse trade with caravans, instead attacking them if possible. Whenever a messenger appears promptly enter aggressive negotiations and then throw them down the well screaming "THIS IS SPAARRTAAAAA..." at your monitor. Forbid the use of gold and silver, etc., the making of crafts, and the smoothing of walls or any other task that makes your fortress "beautiful".

Don't create chainmail or plate armour. Brew only wine.

Note that the above suggestions are modelled on the popular movie [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300_(film) 300], which was historically inaccurate. For a more "realistic dwarven Sparta", try reading the wiki article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparta#Society the real Sparta]

=== Commune ===

All your dwarves have all labors enabled. Dwarves sleep only in barracks, and no dwarf, including administrators, can be assigned any personal rooms. If the nobles find this upsetting, don't hesitate to make the corridors run red with the [[blood]] of the bourgeoisie. Obviously, don't mint any coins either. (Dwarves can take turns with wood cutting and mining, since they can't have both enabled simultaneously.)

=== Government in Exile ===
All dwarves are either nobles or in the military. The only useful dwarves you'll have will be your broker, manager, mayor, bookkeeper, and dungeon master. If you can survive until the sheriff arrives, transfer your entire military into the fortress guard. With a little luck, and a lot of exported roasts, you too can rule without proletarian interference.

=== Stay Awhile, and Listen ===
Create a world with a lot of large caves and make it possible to see them on the embark map. Build a Fortress near a large cave with a lot of big angry monsters in it (hopefully not too close) and loot lying around that becomes a frontier town for adventurers seeking to clear out the nearby 'dungeon'.

Train up dwarves to become parties of heroes who will descend into the dungeon for fame and fortune (or more likely severed limbs and death). Parties should only be about four or less. You can defend your fortress but luring monsters out into your siege engines is cheating. Give yourself points for large monsters killed and treasure claimed.

'''Variants'''
* Only solo adventurers are allowed to enter the dungeon. 
* Only use 'Thieves' to steal loot and create traps inside the dungeon.

=== Noblesse requiro ===

Build your fortress to please the sick, twisted, evil nobles needs. Build a execution chamber for your rowdy dwarves and build a torture chamber for your dungeon master, using your imagination! Use this to punish pathetic dwarves who dare rebel. Build palaces for your nobles and pamper them in every way. Pour most of your resources into a beautiful place for nobles to live whilst letting your dwarves sleep in tiny, pathetic rooms. The only exception is your mayor, who rises from the rank of the disgusting peons. He must live in squalor as well, preferably next to noble rooms to so the nobles can taunt him. score yourself according to how happy your nobles are, and your worth.

=== Humanlike Fortress ===
Pretend you're a filthy above-ground dwelling [[Human|humie]].
* Build a town wall.
** Only hovels and farms outside the town walls.
* House your dwarves in small town homes
** 5-10 dwarves per house (they had pretty big families back in the day)
** Upstairs bedrooms, small dining room, maybe a single level basement.
* House your workshops according to profession, not convenience.
* Build warehouses for stockpiles, and set guards outside them.
* Create a keep, with its own wall, barracks, treasury, etc.
** House your nobles within the keep.
* Create a market square.
* Create a main street from the town wall to the market square and/or keep. Well-paved blocks, statues and decorative shubbery are a must.
* No underground connections between different areas.
* For obtaining stone, metal, etc. a mine may be built, but must have separate entrance from other buildings. It can be outside the fortress, but must not connect to the interior, or vice versa.
* BONUS: Make a fountain at least 3 Z squares high in the center of the keep, with a +statue+(or better) on top of it.
* BONUS: The fortress is built around a human town.
* BONUS: Town has an awesome inn operating in same building as the brewery. REGULAR parties there, or it isn't good enough!
* BONUS: All booze is kept within a town inn.
* BONUS: An above ground farm complete with crops and cows,mules,horses,etc.
* BONUS+: Modify the raws and actually use humans to make the fort.

=== Sitting on trees ===
Build up your fortress on the top of giant trees (that you have to construct from wood at first). Don´t build anything underground. Show that snobbish elves that dwarves are better in EVERYTHING - even in sitting on trees.
* BONUS: Build your tree-city at a place with low (or even no) vegetation.

[[Category:Guides]]

40d:Challenges

2009-04-14T19:38:28Z

Walliard:

:''Part of this article was originally taken from the DF forums thread [http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=466.0 "Goal-Based Dwarf Fortress"].''

The general goal of [[Fortress Mode]] is to survive, acquire wealth, defend your stronghold, and become the capital of your civilization. However, many players find that fighting off repeated [[siege|sieges]] and keeping their people alive just isn't enough anymore. They begin to experiment with different sets of objectives, themes, and restrictions in search of more difficulty and [[fun]]. These are some goals to attempt or use as inspiration.

== Difficult Builds ==
A sub-optimal embark profile can make the first few years more difficult than they might otherwise be. After a few years, however, immigration, trading, and development of new industries will likely bring your fort up to usual standards. For best results, combine with a restriction.

=== Diplomacy ===
* Six dwarves with only social [[skill]]s
* One skilled dwarf

Six courtiers of the king's court made some ill-advised remarks within earshot of the king, and as a result have been ordered to go found an outpost. They've hired you to make sure they survive. The six nobles only have social skills and refuse to do any work that is beneath them.

=== Hunting Party ===
* One marksman/ambusher
* Two camp servants (e.g. one cook/brewer/herbalist, one butcher/tanner/leatherworker/woodcutter)
* Four clients, all dabbling in marksman/ambusher but with primarily civilian skills.

No anvil, lots of hunting dogs ... and a haunted wood. (In a terrifying wood, you may find all the trees & plants are dead, severely reducing long-term prospects.)

=== Stranded Scout Squad ===

The only items you can bring weapons, ammo, and armor (no picks). The only skills you can hand out are military. The only animals you can bring are war dogs. See how it goes.

==Restrictions==
Several of the game's features are rightly considered broken. Creating self-imposed limitations on what you can and cannot do may alleviate this.

=== ASPCA ===
* No [[animals]]

Don't bring any [[animals|pets]]. Furthermore, due to the possibility of animals being caught in them, don't build any [[traps]], either. If [[immigrants]] bring pets, get rid of them somehow. (Whether "them" refers to the pets or the owners is up to the discretion of local [[mayor]]s.)

=== City-States ===
* No [[skill]]s
* 7 or multiple of 7 of everything you bring

At the start your dwarves split everything equally and move to 7 different locales that are not interconnected. They have to mine their own rooms, plant their own crops, use their own craft piles. This will probably require a bit of cross-fertilization until you get [[door]]s and can lock everyone in, but after that it is every dwarf for him/herself!

=== Dieting Dwarves ===
'''Fishing village'''

Give your dwarves only the fishing skill and other fishing related skills (like bonecrafting.) Try to survive off a [[fish]] only diet. Flood the river and build houses above it so the dwarves can fish through their floors. There will be an extra challenge if the river freezes in the winter.

'''Carnivore'''

* No plants or seeds

Only eat strays, pets, and animals you trap and hunt. No farming or plant gathering. Keep all your pets in cages and care for them as little as possible. Eat your dwarves' pets first for an extra challenge. If this upsets your dwarves, ridicule or ignore them. (If you are particularly heartless, you could cage those dwarves as well because anyone that empathizes with animals doesn't deserve any rights either.)

'''Vegan'''

In essence, construct an [http://archive.dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/Main_Glade Elven Forest]: The [[Challenges#Hippy challenge|Hippy Challenge]].

'''IOGT/AA'''

* No alcohol

Quite possibly, this is the cruelest challenge that your dwarves can be given. Don't ever brew any alcohol. Build [[well]]s instead and watch your now teetotaller dwarves work slower and slower by the season.

=== Hippy challenge ===

Peace, man. Don't harm any plants except those you plant yourself. Don't cut down any trees, and don't trade for logs with the filthy humans or dwarves who do. You can trade for plants with the elves, they understand your environmental code. Don't burn any coal, do you know what that does to the environment, man? Never cause any creature's death, so no military, and no lethal traps. You can use cage traps, and either tame the creatures you catch, or release them back into the wild, far from your fort.

For an extra challenge try this in an area with a cave.

=== Hermit ===
* No [[skill]]s
* One [[pick]] and no other supplies

A well known and popular challenge. Kill off 6 starting dwarves and any [[immigrants]] as they arrive, and try to make a living for the last dwarf. Turn away merchants. If they don't leave, kill them.

'''Variants'''
* Keep your starting seven, but no immigrants.
* Selectively admit dwarves based on name, profession, etc.
* Embark with an anvil as well.

=== Nay, no ponderous stone doors or shining silver arcades, not while I live! ===

The new king has decided rocks and metals can no longer be used in construction. He'll be overthrown shortly, but in the meantime construct your fortress using only <material>.

Anything that can be made out of <material> will be made only from <material>. Doors, chairs, floodgates, bridges, stairs, workshops, towers, you name it.

'''Wood'''

Make everything that you can out of wood. That means nothing underground, though you may excavate to make areas above-ground. Bonus points for bringing no wood at the start and/or going to a treeless area.

'''Glass'''

Construct an above-ground fortress made entirely out of glass. Bonus points for not using magma or using clear and crystal glass exclusively.

'''Soap'''

Cleanliness is next to godliness! Soap is in the form of bars, and so can be used as a building material just like any other type of bar. Show those elven traders just how much you despise their philosophies by building your trading outpost out of stuff derived from dead trees ''and'' dead animals. Too many cats? Build with cat tallow soap.

'''Variant'''
Choose one type of rock, one type of metal, one type of gem, and one type of wood. Your whole fortress must be made from these items. You may further narrow it down to bones, skin, and other from one animal, one type of glass, etc. If any artifacts are made using a forbidden item, chuck into lava, a river, or a chasm (you may need to throw the dwarf who made it in as well, since he will throw a tantrum).

=== Luddite ===
* No mechanics or [[mechanism]]s
* No [[machine]]s

[[Traps]] and moving [[bridge]]s are forbidden, water moved for [[farming]] must be accomplished by hand.

=== Master Of One ===
* All starting dwarves can have one skill and one skill only
* No changes are allowed on any dwarf's labor screen
* All immigrants must stay with the profession(s) they arrive with
* All peasants must be activated into the military
Alternatively,
* All starting dwarves can have one skill and one skill only
* No changes are allowed on any dwarf's labor screen, except that hauling may be disabled. You may not enable hauling.
* All immigrants must stay with the profession(s) they arrive with, and only military that immigrates recruited may be military.

=== The Mad Butcher ===
(this requires a tiny amount of editing to the raws) 
*Edit Dwarf Fortress\Raw\object\Creature_Domestic.txt. Remove the tag [BUTCHERABLE_NONSTANDARD] from cats and dogs.
*Start with a normal build except:
**One dwarf should be a dedicated butcher/tanner.
**Buy minimal food.
**Bring as many puppies or kittens as possible.
*Drop all your puppies or kittens into cages or into animal pits as soon as possible.
*Dig a shaft 10 or more Z-levels deep, mark the top an animal pit.
*At the bottom of the shaft set up a butcher shop, a tanner shop, a bedroom, and some food and leather stockpiles.
*Set it all up so that the mad butcher cannot escape.
*As you need food, begin selecting animals to be dropped into your deep pit, next to the butcher.
*To retrieve the food and leather without releasing the butcher, either have him dump it down another hole or use an airlock system.
*See how long a single butcher, butchering splattered kittens, can keep your fortress fed! Cooking and farming are cheating... raw meat for everyone!

=== Bandit Camp ===

* At least 3 marksdwarves.
* Ideally, settle on a hillside, along a canyon or a valley.

Attack and loot every intelligent creatures who enter your territory : Goblins & kobolds, but also merchants, diplomats, and even migrants. You can't tell your guys to directly attack allies, but you can build traps linked to a lever (eg. a big pit under the road, with a linked pillar under the pit "roof".) and pull them to kill groups.

=== Graveyard Master ===

Ever dwarf deserves a decent resting place:
*Build a tomb for ever dwarf that dies, the more dwarves you manage to bury the better.
*Tombs must be rooms with exactly 5x5 of size and 1 of height, with only one entrance tile that must be closed by a door.
*Tombs must have all its surfaces engraved.
*Tomb must contain at least 4 statues.
*Once complete, the door must be locked and the tomb must not be ever entered again.

=== No death ===

Try to play the game for as long as possible without losing any dwarf (so no death, but also no failed mood, no kidnapping, no beating to death, etc.) A simple challenge, yet harder than what it seems to be.

Some players consider this to be the opposite of the intent of Dwarf Fortress. So naturally, it must be done.

== Megaprojects ==
Instead of deliberately inhibiting yourself, create a wonder of the dwarven world that would make the Mountainhomes proud. Be sure to upload it to the [[http://mkv25.net/dfma/ Dwarf Fortress Map Archive]] when it's finished.

=== Temple ===

Designing a temple to Armok. Aesthetics count - the god will be very angry if there are no stained-glass windows and domed ceilings carved with frescoes. To gain more favor, make regular sacrifices and keep the fountains and rivers red with [[blood]].

=== The great brewery ===

Disaster has struck the kingdom. A strangely glowing [[Fire|‼]]<nowiki></nowiki>peasant[[Fire|‼]] visited the greatest brewery of the empire, and as a result the whole thing exploded. No time for weeping — create its successor, a fort dedicated to alcohol production, and get the alcohol supplies flowing! Try to make the widest variety possible, and give or trade it to the dwarven [[caravan]] each year.

=== Castle ===

Build a castle, greater than anything built by human, elf or dwarf. This is highly time
consuming if you want it to be a good castle. There must be floor indoors, and no underground
constructions except for mining operations and cellars. For an even greater challenge, build
a gigantic tower in the middle, where the nobles stay.

=== Wealth ===

The kingdom's coffers need lining, so hop to! Found a fort and start accumulating wealth as fast as possible. Attain as high a fortress value as possible, and make most of your wealth into coins for the vault. Try to beat your record for one year, two years, or five years.

=== Biodome ===

All material, seeds, food, tools, and dwarves must be in the fortress within one year. Then, seal up the entrance. Any new immigrants... well, they might be in trouble. Survive for as long as possible!

No chasms/underground rivers/magma vents allowed.

=== Underwater fortress ===

Encase your entire fortress in [[water]]! Your fortress should be watersealed: surrounded by water against all [[wall]]s and the top of the fortress.
* Bonus: Build all water-touching walls/roof in clear glass!
* Bonus: Use [[magma]] instead of water!
* Bonus: Build it in the [[ocean]] or a non-freezing lake
* Bonus: Build large glass domes that encase the fortress. A dome 20 tiles wide should be 20 z-levels tall. Which may be hard to cover in water.
* Mod: Make your dwarves amphibious and include airlocks between the wet fortress and the dry.

=== Mountain audit/core sample ===

Start in a mountainous area and strip mine everything down, down, down to ground level. Stockpile everything, and calculate the mountain's composition. For kicks, try not excavating one tile on each z-level. You'll be left with one enormous core sample.

=== Santa Claus ===

Get ten thousand toys built and offered to caravans yearly. Optionally, build ten thousand toys, fetch them in adventure mode and deliver them to every single city of the world.

=== How high can you go? ===

Construction, construction, construction! Just how big a tower can you build? Out of glass maybe, clear glass? Steel? Pump water to the top? Make your tower a ''pinnacle'' of achievement and stun humans, elves and goblins alike - for they know nothing of construction and engineering like dwarves do!

=== Computing ===

Can your dwarves build the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism Antikythera mechanism]? Can you program the fortress to play tic-tac-toe? More details at [[computing]].

=== Doomsday Clock ===

Build a water or mechanical clock whose final state triggers the support which holds your fortress up or a megabeast out.
See how much wealth you can achieve before the clock runs out.
*Bonus: Create something that resets itself, as well as purging the map, so that you can reuse the same fortress over and over.
*Super-Bonus: Create something that involves pressure plates and a small kitten, when the pressure plates are hit in the right order, your map ends. Toss the kitten in and hope for the best.

=== World Domination ===
Pretend you are an evil mastermind. Now come up with some device or machine to render the world (or at least your portion of the map) totally unliveable, aside from, of course, your hidden lair.

Suggestions:
* Flood the map with water/magma (may require building walls around the edge of the map)
* Build an "Earthquake Machine" (the entire map is supported by a single support, which is connected to a lever)
* Build an extensive holding cell network for "scientific purposes". Fill it with megabeasts and elephants in secret. Have a lever that lets everything free to feed on the general population.


=== Casting ===
Who needs to construct giant statues?! We need ours made from natural walls, however, we want it above ground level as well. For casting your goal is to create some giant structure out of natural obsidian walls through the use of an extremely elaborate scaffold of lava and water pools and screw pumps. When you are finished, just deconstruct the scaffolding and smooth/engrave the statue as you go. Just imagine the bridge over that chasm, now complete with two giant dwarf statues on either side to strike fear into all who enter and to show them the power of your fortress.

=== The Monolith ===
As the inevitability of a fortress-wide mental breakdown looms over every single fortress why not have something that alludes to that precipice of [[insanity]]. Like the book and feature film, 2001: A Space Odyssey you must have a Monolith. This has to be made from [[obsidian]] and have a completely smooth surface (You cannot build it from blocks) You can have it be any size as long as it is outside, at least 2 tiles thick to ensure there are no pillar tiles, and has about the same ratio of width to height as it does in the movie (1:4:9) to make it as close to the real thing as possible. It would be preferable to make it large so that it seems to be dominating the landscape and your dwarves' psyche. The bigger the better.

*If the rock obsidian strata isn't deep enough in parts to make a monolith feasible consider casting a monolith with a large rectangular block in the exact same dimensional criteria as above.

=== Ceremonial Sacrifices ===

Build an amazingly complex or spectacular killing device. A shaft that extends across the entire Z-plane is a good start. A constantly shifting maze of atomsmasher drawbridges is another. For the minimalist, a very confined space where you will drop a dwarf wrestler along with the gobbos once in a while. Perhaps a waterslide that carries your prisoner all the way down into a chasm? Whatever your idea, build it and dedicate your fort to the construction, maintenance and improvement of your device.

Do not kill any of your invaders. Capture them using cage traps, and them set them off in your device. Keep a record of the number of victims you drop into it.

=== Space Ship ===

Create a giant space ship fit for space travel. It should be able to hold about 100 dwarves for at least 2 years.

BONUS: Use exploding [[booze]] as ignitable fuel.

BONUS: Make a removable [[ramp]] for boarding.

BONUS: Make the [[water]] for the 2 years be on the ship using removable pumps.

BONUS+: Make it totally self sufficient. (Make an internal system which pumps the [[water]] supply through a room every few years to muddy the floor. Plant [[seed|seeds]] in the [[mud]] that's now on the floor. Manage your consumption to maintain self sufficiency.)

BONUS+: Make it all out of [[steel]].

[[fun|FUN]]: Let it be held by a single [[support]], ignite the [[booze]], remove the support an let it "fly".

EVEN BETTER: Drop it down a chasm.

=== Aqueducts ===

For some reason, a noble was harmlessly pulling a lever when suddenly, magma flooded the river and exploded the booze! The king requires your band of seven to build a great aqueduct to bring water to the capital. Start with supports, and build up your aqueduct until it is 10 z-levels high!

BONUS: Start over a human town, build a wall around it, pump water through the aqueduct and into it!

=== Dwarf like an Egyptian ===

*Build a pyramid of epic proportion.

Build a legendary dwarven pyramid, with a corridor running to a central tomb for your favourite noble. Perhaps build it entirely out of glass? Or try to make the top twist in a bit of a swirl. Alternatively, make your entire fortress inside a pyramid, which stretches below the ground.

=== Skull collector ===

What proves the might of a civilization better than a hall full of skulls?
*Try to collect as many skulls as you can during your fortress life, and put then in a special skulls-only storage. The more skulls the better.

BONUS: Cover all the skulls in blood, and make the stockpile also a throne room.

SUPERBONUS: Also fill the throneroom with kittens.

=== Moria ===

Build a huge hall - at least 3 z-levels high. Leave few pillars symmetrically placed in the hall (don't build them, carve them out). Smooth and possibly engrave everything (not only the lowest z-level!). Then build thin bridge (not the bridge building, just a thin piece of rock to walk on) above magma - support it with bauxite supports connected to a lever (bauxite mechanisms needed in support). Destroy stone holding it at the both ends and replace it with floor hatches (so when you pull the lever it all goes down). After that build a bridge above the chasm.
When it's all done seal your dwarves deep inside in safe place and get invaded by goblins. At the same time dig out HFS. Lead the HFS across the both bridges and then collapse the second one when one of the champions clashes with it (it doesn't matter that the champion has killed the HFS with one hit).

=== Crematory Fortress ===

* Requires a [[magma pipe]] and [[bauxite]].

Build a temple structure above a [[magma pipe]] and [[engrave]] every available surface. The temple should be as opulent as possible. In the temple, build a retracting [[bridge]] over a hole in the floor, and designate a [[coffin]] [[stockpile]] on it. Whenever a dwarf dies, build a [[bauxite]] or other [[magma-proof]] [[coffin]] for him, place it on the [[bridge]], and retract it, committing his body to the [[magma|fiery blood of the mountain]].

::Note: At the time of writing, the editor isn't sure if coffins falling off the bottom of the map count as being 'lost.' If they do, channel out a magma pool and put the temple above that to avoid tantrums.

=== Swiss Precision ===

Build a working clock. The clock should accurately track DF days, months, and years.

Bonus Points:
*If the clock has a mechanical effect in the fortress proper to announce new days
*If the clock creates seasonally appropriate effects at the change of months and/or seasons.
*If the clock is used to aid in the operation of the fortress in addition to its role as a clock (automatically controls farmland irrigation at particular times, automatically opens the <s>blast doors</s> floodgates in time for merchants, etc...).
*If the clock governs the schedule of a working rail station (which is always on time). (Definitions of 'working' and 'rail station' are subject to player imagination).

But don't worry about the bonus points, a precision time device should be hard enough.

=== The cube ===

Play a fort as usual, but emphasize catching goblins in cages to support and fill this construction:
Construct a series of rooms in a symmetrical fashion, all connected to eachother with appropriate doors. Of course, enough rooms to make a maze-like structure, and if you feel like it, an exit that is hard to reach. Fill a bunch of the rooms with traps and pressureplates. Then fill one room with 4-6 goblins (preferably in cages, opened by an outside lever), release them and watch them randomly walk around the rooms dying to traps and whatnots.

*Bonus: Do multiple story maze (3d-maze)
*Bonus: Use pressureplates to open/close the exit randomly; otherwise, all the goblins will just follow the shortest route to the exit.

=== Land battleship ===

Turn your moutain into a huge battlestation, complete with crew quarters, decks, command centre, cantina, and a large collection of deadly weapons : Batteries of marksdwarves, ballista cannons, catapults, but also lava projector or remote explosive devices (ie, cave-ins in a part of the map triggered by a lever). Dig and mine the mountain so it end looking like a real battleship, with nothing but a plain around (so you could build it from nothing on a plain, or destroy a mountain, choice is yours). The battleship has to be autonomous, and dwarves shouldn't wander outside it.

*Bonus: The weaponry cover every tile of the map (ie, everything who enter the map, from every side, can be shot)
*Bonus: Build several other ships, maybe dedicated to a special production ? (food, ammo etc.)
*Bonus: Each crew member has a civil and military formation, and when the enemy arrive, almost every economic activity is stopped and all hands to quarters !

== Themed fortress ==
The middle ground between restrictions and megaprojects. A theme gives your fort a sense of purpose, while usually being less time-consuming than a megaproject. Additionally, many themes can be combined together.

=== Fort Geneva ===
* Build only nonlethal (cage) traps
* Sentient creatures ([[Goblins]], etc.) are to be considered prisoners of war and treated humanely
* Suggested provisions for prisoners: a bed, a personal cell, a commons area, aboveground exercise yard, and the clothes the creature was wearing when captured
* Inspiration: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conventions Geneva Conventions]

=== Immigration and customs enforcement ===
* One miner/mason/architect
* One woodcutter/carpenter/architect
* Five military dwarves

No anvil, lots of food, in a canyon - spend the first year building fortifications to interdict traffic. Immigrants can build a town around you, but your original dwarves remain dedicated to their mission.

=== Luxury Hotel ===

Build a hotel with large luxurious rooms
* Starting 7 dwarfs will be the only dwarfs that can work.
* All immigrants will be treated like nobles and will have all labors turned off.
* Provide places to throw parties.
*BONUS: Make a large fountain or waterfall centerpiece.
*BONUS: Keep the hotel up to code with health and safety.
** If any of the ''customers'' die or get kidnapped you must abandon the hotel.
*MEGA BONUS: Make the entire hotel out of ice.

=== Segregation ===

Make two separate, working, independent fortresses. All the men go in one, all the women in the other. Married dwarves are excluded from both.

=== No singles ===

As soon as you get a married couple with an immigration wave, kill all single dwarves. Continue to do so with all immigration waves. Try to lose no children.

=== Live up to your name ===

Go with the random name chosen by the game for your fortress and group. Make a handicap/play style based on your group's name, and a personal goal based on your fortress name. For example, if your group is The Iron Fist, your military must consist only of wrestlers in iron armor. If your fortress is Prisonportals, you must capture and jail as many goblins/creatures as possible, and all doors in the prison must be made of glass.

=== Equaland ===

Equaland: where we are all Equal, besides the Almighty Leader. Each dwarf must have their own bedroom, dining room, etc. Make a large tower in the center of your perfect land and put "The Leader" in it. Then make some kind of mechanism to kill the dwarves inside their dwelling, complete with levers so that The Leader can choose who dies next. If dwarves have one too many friends kill them, if they eat too much food kill them, etc.

=== This. Is. SPARTAAAA! ===

At least 50% of your dwarves should be military 100% of the time, and train in spears, shield use and [[wrestling]]. All other dwarves are "helots" and shouldn't be given any skills; they can be pressed into the military during times of war, but given no equipment or at most a bare minimum of inferior weapons. Do not use crossbows or traps. Kill maimed dwarves.

You should refuse trade with caravans, instead attacking them if possible. Whenever a messenger appears promptly enter aggressive negotiations and then throw them down the well screaming "THIS IS SPAARRTAAAAA..." at your monitor. You should forbid the use of gold and silver, etc., the making of crafts, and the smoothing of walls or any other task that makes your fortress "beautiful".

Don't create chainmail or plate armour. Brew only wine.

Note that the above suggestions are modelled on the popular movie [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300_(film) 300], which was historically inaccurate. For a more "realistic dwarven Sparta", try reading the wiki article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparta#Society the real Sparta]

=== Commune ===

All your dwarves have all labors enabled. Dwarves sleep only in barracks, and no dwarf, including administrators, can be assigned any personal rooms. If the nobles find this upsetting, don't hesitate to make the corridors run red with the [[blood]] of the bourgeoisie. Obviously, don't mint any coins either. (Dwarves can take turns with wood cutting and mining, since they can't have both enabled simultaneously.)

=== Government in Exile ===
All dwarves are either nobles or in the military. The only useful dwarves you'll have will be your broker, manager, mayor, bookkeeper, and dungeon master. If you can survive until the sheriff arrives, transfer your entire military into the fortress guard. With a little luck, and a lot of exported roasts, you too can rule without proletarian interference.

=== Stay Awhile, and Listen ===
Create a world with a lot of large caves and make it possible to see them on the embark map. Build a Fortress near a large cave with a lot of big angry monsters in it (hopefully not too close) and loot lying around that becomes a frontier town for adventurers seeking to clear out the nearby 'dungeon'.

Train up dwarves to become parties of heroes who will descend into the dungeon for fame and fortune (or more likely severed limbs and death). Parties should only be about four or less. You can defend your fortress but luring monsters out into your siege engines is cheating. Give yourself points for large monsters killed and treasure claimed. 
BONUS: Only solo adventurers are allowed to enter the dungeon. 
BONUS: Only use 'Thieves' to steal loot and create traps inside the dungeon.

=== Noblesse requiro ===

Build your fortress to please the sick, twisted, evil nobles needs. Build a execution chamber for your rowdy dwarves and build a torture chamber for your dungeon master, using your imagination! Use this to punish pathetic dwarves who dare rebel. Build palaces for your nobles and pamper them in every way. Pour most of your resources into a beautiful place for nobles to live whilst letting your dwarves sleep in tiny, pathetic rooms. The only exception is your mayor, who rises from the rank of the disgusting peons. He must live in squalor as well, preferably next to noble rooms to so the nobles can taunt him. score yourself according to how happy your nobles are, and your worth.

=== Humanlike Fortress ===
Pretend you're a filthy above-ground dwelling [[Human|humie]].
* Build a town wall.
**Only hovels and farms outside the town walls.
*House your dwarves in small town homes
**5-10 dwarves per house (they had pretty big families back in the day)
**upstairs bedrooms, small dining room, maybe a single level basement.
*House your workshops according to profession, not convenience.
*Build warehouses for stockpiles, and set guards outside them.
*Create a keep, with its own wall, barracks, treasury, etc.
**House your nobles within the keep.
*Create a market square.
*Create a main street from the town wall to the market square and/or keep. Well-paved blocks, statues and decorative shubbery are a must.
*No underground interconnections between different areas.
*For obtaining stone, metal, etc. a mine must be built, but must have separate entrance from other buildings, can be outside the fortress, but must not have a connection within it, or vice versa.
* BONUS: Make a fountain at least 3 Z squares high in the center of the keep, with a +statue+(or better) on top of it.
* BONUS: The fortress is built around a human town.
* BONUS: Town has an awesome inn operating in same building as the brewery. REGULAR parties there, or it isn't good enough!
* BONUS: All booze is kept within a town inn.
* BONUS: An above ground farm complete with crops and cows,mules,horses,etc.
* BONUS+: Modify the raws and actually use humans to make the fort.

=== Sitting on trees ===
Build up your fortress on the top of giant trees (that you have to construct from wood at first). Don´t build anything underground. Show that snobbish elves that dwarves are better in EVERYTHING - even in sitting on trees.
* BONUS: Build your tree-city at a place with low (or even no) vegetation.

[[Category:Guides]]

40d Talk:Challenges

2009-04-14T04:06:37Z

Walliard:

==Colorful==
This is an idea I got by reading trough all the challenges, what if you make it a goal to have the fortress in the colour of the rainbow. (Example, 80x80 tile fortress, first 10 tiles are red, second 10 tiles are brown-orange, the third 10 are yellow and go on) --[[User:G1real|G1real]] 08:43, 27 June 2008 (EDT)

==Sparta==
"You shouldn't create chainmail or plate armour."
 why? --Savok
:because spartans don't wear chest armor. you should definately watch 300, it's like Dwarf Fortress on crack! --AlexFili
::from what I've read, 300 isn't an accurate depiction of Spartan life. However, this challenge build is based on 300 --Savok
:::Alright, fair point, 300 was based from a graphic novel, but many similarities between Spartans in 300 and in real history are present. --[[User:AlexFili|AlexFili]] 10:39, 9 June 2008 (EDT)
::::"However, this challenge build is based on 300" No it isn't. At least, it wasn't intended to be. I guess I shouldn't have referred to pop culture when I added it. --juckto
:::::The hell with it. Split off spartans from 300. [[User:Juckto|Juckto]] 16:55, 14 June 2008 (EDT)
::::::Not only did Spartans use chest armour (although in the form of bronze muscel cuirasses), but it was illegal and finable to fight without your armour. Theres one story of a Prince praying in Temple when some enemies attacked, he ran out naked and killed them, the Oligarchs awarded and praised him with one hand and then fined him with the other. Further specific Spartan attributes, the largely did not wear sandals except during war (don't want your feet to be soft and flabby, gotta make them rock-proof), Sparta itself didn't rely on walls (although they did use them [notably at the battle of the Hot Gates to keep the Persians from landing south of the gates] and the city did eventually make some). Theres also the complicated issue of their government, not sure how to replicate that, dual monarchy with the Kings having no real governmental powers and an oligarchy ruling at home. Maybe having a Legendary warrior lead each of two squads and having every position (Book Keeper, Mayor, Captain of the Guard even maybe) filled by a useless fat rich guy in a nice shiny house. I should also point out alot of their generals and kings were known for a love of gold and that 50% of the population being in the military is not very accurate, actual Spartan soldiers were vastly outnumbered by the Helots. --[[User:Lowlandlord|Lowlandlord]] 01:37, 31 July 2008 (EDT)
==No mining==
Now that you construct walls and fortifications out of wood, I wonder if anyone is going to take on a 'no mining' challenge? You're going to need a ''lot'' of wood! --[[User:Mechturk|Mechturk]] 17:00, 6 November 2007 (EST)

:Some people already are :p --[[User:Turgid Bolk|Turgid Bolk]] 17:44, 6 November 2007 (EST)

::I'm running a game with Elves as the playable civilization, a challenge on its own--The Forest Retreat of Inalamina is well into its ninth year, with a population of 220, and this is without mining ''or'' cutting down any trees. It's defended entirely by spearmen, swordsmen, and wrestlers, and the nobles/admins and wounded elves live happily in tree forts and lean-tos! Worth adding, maybe? I'd even consider writing an article for it... --[[User:Navian|Navian]] 10:23, 6 November 2008 (EST)

::: I am completely enthralled. I'd love to see it written up. Screenshots, the whole thing. --[[User:RomeoFalling|RomeoFalling]] 10:37, 6 November 2008 (EST)

::Oh, you mean for the game I'm running itself? I'd love to, but I can't seem to find what the rules for that are and I don't want to step on any toes by randomly creating a page. --[[User:Navian|Navian]] 10:48, 6 November 2008 (EST)

::: Either for the game itself, or a general essay sorta thing on the challenges and solutions for that kind of gameplay. As for the [[rules]], I don't know what you're talking about exactly. A wiki is a kind of anarchistic democracy. If you think it's worth putting up, you are free to put it up. If someone wants to take it down, they're free to do that too. – [[template:unsigned|unsigned]] comment by [[User:RomeoFalling|RomeoFalling]]

:::Put the writeup on your userpage, and if it can be broadened into something else, we'll move it into the mainspace.--[[User:Maximus|Maximus]] 23:09, 6 November 2008 (EST)

==Assassination==
I tried "Assassination" the other day and found that it was incredibly easy with a group of axedwarves. Not only did I kill the hardest-to-get-at goblin, I killed every last other goblin too. In the end, there were only 2 dogs and 2 dwarves dead (the last one fell, sadly, to the last goblin left, who was hiding in the tunnels.--[[User:Smoking Gnu|Smoking Gnu]] 22:51, 15 December 2007 (EST)

:Now do it with 7 untrained dwarves with no armor. --[[User:TheUbie|TheUbie]] 19:30, 29 December 2007 (EST)

::Mwa ha ha ha!--[[User:Jackrabbit|Jackrabbit]] 18:38, 11 December 2008 (EST)

::: How did you get it to work? I've tried starting with goblins and they are always "friendly" on the unit screen and so I can not attack them. Is there some trick to getting them hostile so you can do this sort of thing? 40d, by the way. --[[User:Kwieland|Kwieland]] 11:33, 18 February 2009 (EST)

== Humanlike? ==
It should be noted that the 'human-like fortress' as described is historically inaccurate. In particular, its either misrepresenting or confusing various details. One major point is that a _castle_ never incorporated a town. There are walled towns and there are castles, but these are entirely different things. A couple of historical periods/styles would lead to the following different suggestions:

(A) Larger (stone) medieval castles sometimes had industry in the bailey. This was often pressed up against the outer wall to save on space and wall building. It was usually militarily useful industry (ie, metalsmithing of various types). Cooking and possibly brewing might also happen, and cooking at least would have been handled in the keep itself. Industries including jewelry, carpentry (on a permanent basis), and other non-military production would have been outside the castle, quite possibly in a town nearby.

(B) More isolated smaller castles would have done necessary production in the bailey on a temporary basis (ie, erecting a carpentry work area when needed and disassembling it afterwards), with a few permanent industries (notably blacksmithing).

(C) 'Dark Ages' castles would be made of wood, and weren't large enough to accomodate much industry. Instead they would have imported everything. The early castle was a defensible home for the lord and his family, and would only house them and a few military retainers.

It should be noted that the lack of focus on industry in a castle meant diverse tasks might share the same workspace and in fact be handled by the same person. The purpose of a castle is military, not production, and castle's only produced goods for internal demand that either could not be imported, would be inconvenient to import, or were critical to the military purpose (and couldn't afford access to those goods being lost during a siege).

(D) A walled town would have no keep. Nobles would not live there. Basically, towns would build a wall around their perimeter for defense. More important towns often grew to encompass nearby castles, and often outgrew their walls - which might either lead to substantial portions beyond the walls or accruing walls occasionally to encompass new growth. Despite a castle potentially being encompassed by a town, the castle and town were administratively separate - towns receiving independent charters from the crown - and the town was never subject to the lord of the castle (who may well control the surrounding countryside).

Given the nature of Dwarf Fortress, treating it as a town rather than a castle is probably preferable unless you really want to emphasize military skills, which could be interesting. You could, of course, create a castle and a town, keeping them as virtually separate entities, with military dwarves and nobles living in the castle and other dwarves living in the town.

--[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 18:11, 30 April 2008 (EDT)

:When did we start trying to make DF fit real-world history?
:His idea seems perfectly fine when compared to in-game human towns/cities, as they have a keep and whatnot as part of the city. Only difference is adding a wall around it all. --[[User:N9103|Edward]] 18:25, 30 April 2008 (EDT)

== Insane Renegade (just a thought) ==

Well I was thinking something along these lines,

They all think that your crazy, so you and some others ran. You shouldn't trust them... They want you dead. Except for the (random profession/job) they think like you. KILL THEM KILL ALL THAT OPPOSE YOU!!,

Description:
Xenophobia, Do not trade with others, Kill all immigrants except ones of a certain job/profession. If you want to go as a truly insane person, ban all statues and engravings of Dwarven faces (the statues, THE ROCKS! THEY ALL WANT ME DEAD!!!!) Be prepared for a long life of hatred and sieges.

P.S. if anyone edits this and puts it on the main thing please give me partial credit... Thank you and goodnight! – [[template:unsigned|unsigned]] comment by [[User:LrZeph|LrZeph]]

:How is this different from [[Challenges#Outcast|Outcast]], aside from the RP? --[[User:Savok|Savok]] 16:41, 22 June 2008 (EDT)

::Oh dear, i missed that one. never mind – [[template:unsigned|unsigned]] comment by [[User:LrZeph|LrZeph]]

== Dystopian society ==

Anyone thought of making a fortress based off one of those dystopian futures found in scifi novels like 1984, We, Brave New World, and Fahrenheit 451? The way I imagine it, it would be similar to the Equaland challenge, with variations based on the dystopian principle of your choice. For example, if you want to encourage uniformity across your population, enable all labor for every dwarf and persecute anyone who skills up too quickly at a given skill. A strict caste system might also be implementable, a la Brave New World. Another idea would be to kill off or at least "re-educate" any dwarf that falls below ecstatic for an extended period of time. Tons of ideas at {{wiki|Dystopia}}. Thoughts? --[[User:Mikaka|Mikaka]] 04:56, 24 June 2008 (EDT)

:That sounds like a good challenge. --[[User:Savok|Savok]] 08:24, 24 June 2008 (EDT)

== Underwater Building ==

I've decided to take on the underwater building challenge, and have started Migrurmestthos, The Ocean-Citadel. But ah... I can't for the live of me figure out how I'm going to get glass blocks to the bottom of the ocean. Any ideas? --[[User:Anfini|Anfini]] 20:36, 19 July 2008 (EDT) 
''P.S.: I've altered the creature tokens and set my Dwarves to Aquatic.''

:I recommend either
:#Don't build it in the ocean.
:#Use pumping to pump a large area of the top level of the ocean out. Do the same with a slightly smaller area one level down. Repeat as desired.
:#Pump the ocean out, build, then let it flow back in. This is like the above, but with the whole visible ocean. --[[User:Savok|Savok]] 22:45, 20 July 2008 (EDT)

:::Oookay, okay. I have single-handedly diverted the courses of raging rapids to give my children something to drink, harnessed the power of lava, and built towers of glass. However, I cannot help but approach the idea of pumping out '''the entire ocean''' with a bit of skepticism. Is this ''really'' possible? --[[User:Anfini|Anfini]] 22:53, 21 July 2008 (EDT)

::::Aye, it is. Aside from waves, the "entire" ocean is really, due to map limitations, just a large, fast-refilling lake. If you build a ring of pumps properly, you should be able to clear the water from a section, which can be as large as your fortress map. --[[User:Savok|Savok]] 02:34, 23 July 2008 (EDT)

::::: I've personally been using 'canals' in my fortress for quite a while, and what I do is simply allocate nobles' rooms along the side of the canal, and before flooding the waterway, I dig into it and build glass windows and blocks so the nobles can watch the fish swim by. I doubt it actually raises the room value by any more than the glass windows' base value, but I like the effect. This isn't really an "underwater city" per se, but it's born of the same concept. --[[User:Eddie|Eddie]] 07:45, 26 July 2008 (EDT)

:Check out [[User:Squirrelloid/Under the Sea]], then note that I haven't quite tested any of the possible methods yet. I'm about ready to turn on the magma tap and see if I can create an obsidian stalagmite with successive bursts of magma followed by channelling - that may provide a way to build stairs down through and assemble a mass pump appartus - yes, this is going to be a lot of work. Its took 6 years of game time to get to the point where I was ready and able to do a trial run - admittedly, it wasn't the only thing I was focused on. --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 12:28, 19 November 2008 (EST)

== Dwarf Factory ==

--[[User:Bilkinson|Bilkinson]] 18:12, 28 August 2008 (EDT)
Looking to develop this callenge concept:

Your fortress is a highly specialized industrial complex. Select one item, or very narrow category of items. (ie Flour, Scepters, Shoes, Silk Bags, Crossbow Bolts) This is your factory's product. You must produce as much of it as possible, and it may only be used for export to any any and all caravans which visit your factory. Set up shift schedules, assign massive teams of dwarves (or even all of them!) to your core product, and generally devote your fort to maximizing output.

Variants: 
Assembly line - Each Dwarf is assigned a single stage of the production cycle, this is their only labour. Workshops should be grouped togeather by type, ordered based on the production cycle and grouped with relevant stockpiles. 
Communal - Every Dwarf has every relevant labour enabled, in addition to whatever else they do for the fort. 
High Management - For each Task in your production, appoint a department head. As the number of workers in each department grows, start appointing shift managers. As your factory expands in size, appoint reigonal coordinators and quality control bureaus. Cap this off with a board of directors and a CEO. None of these dwarves do anything but fill noble slots and build social skills. 
Prison/Work Camp - Noble dwarves do not contribute to labour. Max the fortress/royal Guard at all times and draft 20% of the population into the army. The remaining dwarves are prisoners who must produce output. Build walls, rig traps, and make an example of anyone who fails to meet their quota. 
People's Glorious Five-Year Plan - As above, but arrive with no skilled workers, rig all facilities with self destructs and kill switches, and only arm one in ten of your soldiers. 

Bonus: Only produce things vital to the survival of your workers, or directly involved in making your product. Anything else must be imported. 
Further Bonus: Produce only your final product, all raw materials must be imported. spend the surplus on anything else you may need.

How's it sound?

== Luxurious Tomb ==

Build an extravagant mausoleum for your entire dwarf community. Make it multi-leveled, make it a pyramid, make it out of glass if you want - but it must serve no other purpose than to be a dying place, and must not be accessed for any purpose other than to build it. Add a few decorations here and there, statues, tables, and a whole lot of coffins to house everyone.

Once it's complete, turn your fortress into a ghost town. Remove the designation of all your stockpiles. Forbid all the workshops and forbid access to the different areas of the fort as they get deserted to limit dwarf movement. Lure everyone into the tomb, seal the entrance from the inside and watch everyone die inside their new mausoleum. The tomb should be designed such that the initial entry point cannot easily be guessed (i.e.: The entrance should be sealed using a wall or some other solid structure - not via a door you just mark forbidden.

BONUS: make access to the tomb difficult or impossible, either by causing a cave-in in the tunnel that leads towards it, or by flooding the surrounding area in water or magma.

BONUS #2: Build the tomb over a chasm. Find a way to drop the whole tomb-building into it once everyone's inside.

:Suggestion: DON'T build it over a chasm; build it over a very large pit (deep enough to be called a 'chasm' by some) and make a set of ramps that lead down to the bottom. 1x2 setup; that is:
^^
^^
^^
^^
^^
^^
..
That is, up ramps, turn on normal flooring, then continue back up in the opposite direction. So a dwarf would travel in this path:
VV
VV
VV
VV
VV
VV
>^
:They'd come down the left ramp, turn left twice, and go down via the right ramp. Then they'd take two more lefts, and go down the left ramp, etc..
:Just a neat little suggestion that's way too complicated, but'd look nice...also, {{k|V}} is a ramp; {{k|^}} is not.
:I can't wait to try this out, then watch the temple I build go down, down, down, and '''SMASH'''--then use the ramps alongside it to view (and plunder, of course--it IS a tomb in adventure mode) it.
:Oh, and just a Z-level view:
| /
| /
| /
|/
|\
| \
| \
| \
:Or:
| /
| /
| /
|/___
| /
| /
| /
|/___
:Etc.. ~ [[User:Midna|Midna]] 23:45, 25 October 2008 (EDT)

== Agoraphobia ==

Your dwarves are absolutely terrified of the great outdoors, ([[carp|and]] [[Elephant|with]] [[Giant eagle|good]] [[undead|reason]] and want nothing more than to be nestled tightly in the "[[Giant Cave Spider|relative]] [[Pit|saftey]]" of the underground. Upon arrival, immediately burrow into the ground and haul all your supplies out of the sun's glare, and then never set foot on the surface again. Also, to help reduce anxiety, have no single chamber larger than 5x5, and let no hall stretch farther than 5 tiles between doors.--[[User:Bilkinson|Bilkinson]] 11:42, 15 September 2008 (EDT)

== <insert material> Fort....wait, what? ==

Ok, now I can understand a glass fort...and I can understand making it all outside, but how does one build it under water? Can someone please tell me how to do this so I can try to create my own Dwarven SeaLab? [[User:Alkyon|Alkyon]] 05:58, 17 October 2008 (EDT)
:I believe its either done via pump rings (enough screw pumps can hollow out sections of the ocean long enough to build something to hold the water back), or in a cold enough seasonal environment, only doing construction during the winter. [[User:HeWhoIsPale|HeWhoIsPale]] 08:44, 17 October 2008 (EDT)
:: The third option would be building the fort, and then making a lake around it. --[[User:Bilkinson|Bilkinson]] 08:51, 17 October 2008 (EDT)
::The real trick with building enough screw pumps is in water deeper than 1 z-level you need to find a way to build down - you cannot hang down staircases off sides like you can up staircases. I'm attempting to pump magma to form an obsidian sheen - tunnel down through it and channel a hole, pump more magma, and so on. I'll let people know how it works... --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 12:41, 19 November 2008 (EST)
:::So I've heard. Have you tried just carving a staircase along the underwater cliff on your game? I hope to see, or at least hear, the results of your work. As for me, I'm trying this challenge the other way around: Turn a hilly desert map into a massive glass aquarium, with my dwarves living the good life inside. --[[User:Alkyon|Alkyon]] 13:41, 19 November 2008 (EST)
:::::Well, my goal was to build a free-standing structure in 15 z-levels of water, so yes, if there is a convenient cliff it works, but that limits you to cliffs which start 1 z-level below water. As all my really deep water areas aren't even close to being accessible in that way, its not even an option. --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 19:34, 19 November 2008 (EST)

::::To me, the solution that comes to mind is to place a weapon rack on a narrow causeway and get recruits to wrestle until one punts another into the abyss. The lucky winner gets to build the up staircase. Getting materials below is easy, you can just build something and deconstruct it, among other more elaborate means. --[[User:Navian|Navian]] 17:41, 19 November 2008 (EST)

:::::That only works if its only 2 z-levels down, because otherwise the dwarf falls into deeper water and drowns... and as 2 z-levels is boring... --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 19:34, 19 November 2008 (EST)

==Genesis==
Kill all but two of your starting dwarves off (one male and one female). Seal them in your fortress (no trading). Repopulate the earth. Measure of success is based on number of children before the fortress dies. Thoughts?
--[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 05:12, 22 November 2008 (EST)

:How reliably can you get them to mate?--[[User:Maximus|Maximus]] 16:57, 22 November 2008 (EST)

:: Tried this out - 3 years in and not even lovers yet. Ick. So, here's the problem: you really want two dwarves who won't start as friends with many other people (although each other is ok), and who can handle stress and aren't quick to anger. Because of course your first hurdle is going to be surviving the unhappiness generated by killing off everyone else. (You may just want to build some coffins early just in case). Unfortunately, the embark screen view mode won't let you see who they're friends with before embarking, so if you want to assign just two of them skills you're making guesses based solely on their personality traits as two which dwarves will be compatible and likely to survive the initial culling. After that you then need to reduce your job queue to almost nothing and basically lock them in the same room together so they spend their time talking - because you've already chosen otherwise self-reliant and anti-social dwarves.

::Some evidence on the Relationships talk page suggests giving some social skills to your dwarves may increase the rate at which they progress to friends/lovers.

::My first attempt was a Carpenter 5/Cook 5 and a Mason 5/Grower 5... I might have to revise that to Mason 5/Grower 3/Something social 2 and Carpenter 4/Cook 4/something social 2 - but carpenter and mason are going to be important for generating happy thoughts.

::Apparently setting the .init file to a max of 2 dwarves doesn't stop immigrants from coming - which is annoying because I really don't want to keep killing them off, and they keep stealing my moods. (Yes, i put a stone stockpile outside so the immigrants can build their own deathtrap over the lava vent). I do recommend playing on an island so you only have to deal with not going outside for the dwarf caravan each year. And the liaison will happily join your migrants on the death trap if you make it a meeting area.

::--[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 10:18, 23 November 2008 (EST)

:::It's all a matter of compatibility. Dwarves actually don't start out friends, they just make them almost instantly at the start (and can make grudges here, too. I had one who had a very low sense of adventure while everyone else had high, and five of the seven had grudges with her.) To become lovers and get married requires a very, very high compatibility--whatever that means. It seems that some dwarves never upgrade from lovers to married, either, perhaps due to being not compatible enough, but being faced with a lack of programming to handle breakups. (I'll leave that one to the playwrights.) Getting this challenge to work is probably more than half the challenge! --[[User:Navian|Navian]] 11:29, 23 November 2008 (EST)

:::Do social skills make dwarves more likely to make friends, or does being friendly make dwarves more likely to gain social skills? Instead of focusing on social skills, you might need to pick dwarves with a lot of friendly traits (or even compatible traits, like Navian suggests). You can check their personalities before setting out -- if you don't see compatible traits, scrap it and start building another party.

:::For happiness, build several native gold (i.e., masonry) statues and put them in their bedrooms -- that will dwarf (ahem) the bonus you will get from the bed itself being high-quality. You can potentially skip carpentry altogether.

:::For them to actually form a relationship, you might need to give them idle time, during which they will socialize.

:::To keep other dwarves away, you could try putting a moat around the entire perimeter of the map (better still, a magma moat). This worked with the 2D version, but with finite quantities of fluid in the 3D version, it might not work anymore. But if you do want to try, put a wall as close to the edge of the map as it allows you, and flood everything outside it. Have the sacrificial five (and all immigrants) work on that.

:::Supposedly you won't get moods at all in a fortress with less than 20 dwarves. You also won't get moods if you haven't produced enough goods or revealed enough tiles through mining (see [[strange mood]]).--[[User:Maximus|Maximus]] 12:30, 23 November 2008 (EST)

==Noblesse requis==

Build your fortress to please the sick, twisted, evil nobles needs. Build a execution chamber for your rowdy dwarves and build a torture chamber for your dungeon master, using your imagination! Use this to punish pathetic dwarves who dare rebel. Build palaces for your nobles and pamper them in every way. Pour most of your resources into a beautiful place for nobles to live whilst letting your dwarves sleep in tiny, pathetic rooms. The only exception is your mayor, who rises from the rank of the disgusting peons. He must live in squalor as well, preferably next to noble rooms to so the nobles can taunt him. score yourself according to how happy your nobles are, and your worth. Evil. And fun! can I add this to the main page? --[[User:Jackrabbit|Jackrabbit]] 03:04, 11 December 2008 (EST)

:Sure – it's a wiki, after all. You can edit the pages yourself!
:Also, is that really what [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noblesse_oblige Noblesse/noblis oblige] means? --[[User:Savok|Savok]] 10:55, 11 December 2008 (EST)
::Nope, just sounds good. I was hoping nobody would look it up. Maybe I'll change the name. Also, I'm new to wikis in general so I don't really know how everything works, desipte making this profile about a year ago. Thanks!--[[User:Jackrabbit|Jackrabbit]] 18:26, 11 December 2008 (EST)
:::Okay, changed it to Noble demand. Thanks!--[[User:Jackrabbit|Jackrabbit]] 18:30, 11 December 2008 (EST)

== Magma/Lava Waterfall ==

Would creating a sustainable magmafall, or one that can be triggered as part of a defense system, be considered a challenge? Or is it more of a Stupid Dwarf Trick? I'm just curious because one has to take into account building the thing, making sure it won't set your dwarves on fire, and where to put the excess magma/lava since you can't really just pump it back into the magma pipe without some sort of massive and elaborate pump system. (Oh wow, I feel stupid. I created a new subject and forgot to sign it for at least two days.) --[[User:Alkyon|Alkyon]] 20:26, 10 January 2009 (EST)

:I'm inclined to declare it a SDT, due to the overly dangerous side effects. But then... I'd also call half the challenges SDTs too. I think that if the side effects are more dangerous than the intended effect, it's no longer a challenge, but something some random (insane) dwarf felt needed to be done. To put it in perspective, there's few cases where a 20-dwarf squad can't handle an entire siege, with or without fortifications and traps. Give them those, and they can handle all the siegers rushing and arriving at the same time. Even if you never have any mistakes during the construction of the magma-defenses (and that's a rare thing) then you could easily lose more than 20 in the first siege alone from dwarves trying to gather dropped goods. It's also almost useless against any other defenses (thieves & ambushes) since you'll have little, if any forewarning that you need to clear the area and throw the switch.
:On the other side of the fence, if you're particularly interested in making this, you should do the little things, like making a near-exact count of how much lava you'll need to let flow, to both keep all tiles where it will settle to less than 2/7 (since then it would never evaporate, the best cleaning method) and how to direct the flow so that it covers the path, but doesn't flow to other areas you didn't intend. --[[User:N9103|Edward]] 15:38, 11 January 2009 (EST)

::Well, it doesn't have to be part of a defense system, one could just have massive magma waterfalls lining their entrance. Though I have to say from experience that the hardest part is drainage. Creating a massive magma cistern is one thing, it just takes some pumps and construction, but getting the stuff to not backup on the way to the disposal chasm and therefore not flood your fortress is a bit more complex than it first seems.--[[User:Alkyon|Alkyon]] 11:13, 12 January 2009 (EST)

:::Which is why it's great building your fort into the the ledge a few levels over a Magma Pipe ;) --[[User:N9103|Edward]] 21:01, 12 January 2009 (EST)

::::Hmm, that would be one way to do it, too bad I can't search for maps with that specific of a terrain set. Anyways, there has to be a way to spill off at least some of the magma as the magma pipes fill slowly but constantly from the bottom. Also, I learned from my failed experiment that Coke roads + magma spillover = road of fire. Unusable except for turning your fortress into Mordor, which is awesome in it's own way. --[[User:Alkyon|Alkyon]] 21:29, 12 January 2009 (EST)

:::::LOL, yes, I saw that and was thinking something along the lines of Mordor myself ;) As for spill over, the magma tends to flow off to the side off the top of the magma pipe where I'm at, resulting in a net loss to evaporation, so I just turn it off for a season once or twice a year. As for finding a magma pipe that's exposed *and* sunken, to provide atleast one level of inaccessible floor around the pipe, I'd look in the mountains, where you've got many many levels of elevation. Or atleast, that's what my map looks like (50+ levels) with the majority of the map being mountain tiles, and one corner (of a 2x4 map) being desert. It had two * listed in the height map, '''''but no chasm''''', so that could help to find one. --[[User:N9103|Edward]] 23:35, 14 January 2009 (EST)

:Or, how about a dual water/magma waterfall, meeting on the road leading in? Encase your enemies in carbonite, err, obsidian. [[User:Random|Random]] 20:31, 15 January 2009 (EST)

== "Real time" challenge talk ==

1) As mentioned in the challenge, opening any menu pauses the game

2) "You have struck Alunite!" Anyone else get this message and a pause every 5 minutes?

If you were to keep the game running while you slept -- and trust me, I have -- all it takes is one minor inconvenience of the legion the game contains to pause it. I set the game to keep running before I went to bed one night, and between doing that and going to brush my teeth, it paused. I resumed, lay down in bed, and not a minute later, I opened my eyes to see the game had paused ''again.'' Too much stuff causes the game to pause to really execute this without constant babying.

Overall, I don't see this challenge as being feasible. Not bad in theory, but impossible in practice. --[[User:Eddie|Eddie]] 06:15, 16 January 2009 (EST)

:Yes, thats true. That challenge would require either a new version where pausing-for-announcements can be disabled or a helper program to automatically acknowledge them and unpause the game. [[User:Random|Random]] 20:54, 16 January 2009 (EST)

== Hermit Challenge ==

Does anyone have any tips for not having any damn migrants? The carps can't eat everyone.
: Well, you can just kill them all. Atom smasher, lava, water, goblin siege, choose your way to kill them. Even random ballista bolt could do the trick! Bonus point for the creative part !? :D [[User:Karl|Karl]] 19:45, 21 January 2009 (EST)
::Well, if the problem gets too extreme, you can adjust your maximum population to 1 in the ini files, and see if that works...--[[User:Quil|Quil]] 20:43, 21 January 2009 (EST)
::: It doesn't work. The POPULATION_CAP seems bugged something awful. [[User:AbuDhabi|AbuDhabi]] 02:36, 23 January 2009 (EST)

== The Great Wall of [Kingdom] ==

Here's an interesting challenge:

Your kingdom needs a great impenetrable defense to protect against your goblin enemies. You have been assigned to build a giant wall!

The wall must stretch from one side to the opposite, have a height of 5 z-axis, be four tiles wide complete with gate(s), towers, fortifications, ballistas and catapults. You must also position a crossbowdwarf at every ten tiles.

* BONUS: Build it right next to a goblin lair.
* BONUS: Build it all using only wood.
* BONUS++: Build it all using only soap!

[[User:Myroc|Myroc]] 15:16, 22 January 2009 (EST)

:This wouldn't work due to the fact that you can't build walls (among other things) too close to the edge. At best, it would have to start six tiles in on both sides. However, you could implement an existing hill/mountain to "assist" with the completion of the wall.
:[[User:Nocash|Nocash]] 18:30, 24 January 2009 (EST)

::Ah, good point. I kinda forgot about that. [[User:Myroc|Myroc]] 05:50, 25 January 2009 (EST)

:::You could use raised bridges at the ends, they can be built right up to the edges. --[[User:Torasin|Torasin]] 13:25, 25 January 2009 (EST)

== Pave the World? ==

If one where to flood the world with magma, then flood it with water, you would be left with a solid block of obsidian, am I right? (along with ALOT of steam.) Bonus for paving the elves. --[[User:Zchris13|Zchris13]] 18:13, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

== Rewrite ==
Alright, this article is getting way too messy. 60 top-level items is more than most talk pages, many of them overlap each other, the ones involving goblin forts are out of date (as local goblins are automatically friendly as of 40d) and some of them just plain aren't challenges.

For now I've split them up into three broad categories, and I plan to weed out redundant/wrong bits and streamline the whole thing while still hopefully preserving some of the "flavor text". [[User:Walliard|Walliard]] 04:06, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

40d:Challenges

2009-04-14T03:56:27Z

Walliard: Categorization

:''Part of this article was originally taken from the DF forums thread [http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=466.0 "Goal-Based Dwarf Fortress"].''

The general goal of [[Fortress Mode]] is to survive, acquire wealth, defend your wealth, and become the capital of your civilization. However, many players find that fighting off repeated [[siege|sieges]] and keeping their people alive just isn't enough anymore. They begin to experiment with different sets of objectives, themes, and restrictions in search of more [[fun]]. These are some goals to attempt or use as inspiration.

==Gameplay restrictions==
=== ASPCA ===
* No [[animals]]

Don't bring any [[animals|pets]]. Furthermore, due to the possibility of animals being caught in them, don't build any [[traps]], either. If [[immigrants]] bring pets, get rid of the pets somehow. (If you're a particularly rabid ASPCA member, you could get rid of the pet-bearing immigrants, too, but that's probably excessive.)

=== City-States ===
* No [[skill]]s
* 7 or multiple of 7 of everything you bring

At the start your dwarves split everything equally and move to 7 different locales that are not interconnected. They have to mine their own rooms, plant their own crops, use their own craft piles. This will probably require a bit of cross-fertilization until you get [[door]]s and can lock everyone in, but after that it is every dwarf for him/herself!

=== Dieting Dwarves ===
'''Fishing village'''

Give your dwarves only the fishing skill and other fishing related skills (like bonecrafting.) Try to survive off a [[fish]] only diet. Flood the river and build houses above it so the dwarves can fish through their floors. There will be an extra challenge if the river freezes in the winter.

'''Carnivore'''

* No plants or seeds

Only eat strays, pets, and animals you trap and hunt. No farming or plant gathering. Keep all your pets in cages and care for them as little as possible. Eat your dwarves' pets first for an extra challenge. If this upsets your dwarves, ridicule or ignore them. (If you are particularly heartless, you could cage those dwarves as well because anyone that empathizes with animals doesn't deserve any rights either.)

'''Vegan'''

In essence, construct an [http://archive.dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/Main_Glade Elven Forest]: The [[Challenges#Hippy challenge|Hippy Challenge]].

'''IOGT/AA'''

* No alcohol

Quite possibly, this is the cruelest challenge that your dwarves can be given. Don't ever brew any alcohol. Build [[well]]s instead and watch your now teetotaller dwarves work slower and slower by the season.

=== Hippy challenge ===

Peace, man. Don't harm any plants except those you plant yourself. Don't cut down any trees, and don't trade for logs with the filthy humans or dwarves who do. You can trade for plants with the elves, they understand your environmental code. Don't burn any coal, do you know what that does to the environment, man? Never cause any creature's death, so no military, and no lethal traps. You can use cage traps, and either tame the creatures you catch, or release them back into the wild, far from your fort.

For an extra challenge try this in an area with a goblin fort or cave.

=== Fort Geneva ===
* Build only nonlethal (cage) traps
* Sentient creatures ([[Goblins]], etc.) are to be considered prisoners of war and treated humanely
* Suggested provisions for prisoners: a bed, a personal cell, a commons area, aboveground exercise yard, and the clothes the creature was wearing when captured
* Inspiration: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conventions Geneva Conventions]

=== Hermit ===
* No [[skill]]s
* One [[pick]] and no other supplies

A well known and popular challenge. Kill off the 6 starting dwarves and any [[immigrants]] as they arrive, and try to make a living for the last dwarf.

=== Immigration and customs enforcement ===
* One miner/mason/architect
* One woodcutter/carpenter/architect
* Five military dwarves

No anvil, lots of food, in a canyon - spend the first year building fortifications to interdict traffic. Immigrants can build a town around you, but your original dwarves remain dedicated to their mission.

=== Nay, no ponderous stone doors or shining silver arcades, not while I live! ===

The new king has decided rocks and metals can no longer be used in construction. He'll be overthrown shortly, but in the meantime construct your fortress using only <material>.

Anything that can be made out of <material> will be made only from <material>. Doors, chairs, floodgates, bridges, stairs, workshops, towers, you name it.

'''Wooden'''

Make everything that you can out of wood. That means nothing underground, though you may excavate to make areas above-ground. Bonus points for bringing no wood at the start and/or going to a treeless area.

'''Glass'''

Construct an above-ground fortress made entirely out of glass. Bonus points for not using magma or using clear and crystal glass exclusively.

'''Soap'''

Cleanliness is next to godliness! Soap is in the form of bars, and so can be used as a building material just like any other type of bar. Show those elven traders just how much you despise their philosophies by building your trading outpost out of stuff derived from dead trees ''and'' dead animals. Too many cats? Build with cat tallow soap.

'''Variation:''' Choose one type of rock, one type of metal, one type of gem, and one type of wood. Your whole fortress must be made from these items. You may further narrow it down to bones, skin, and other from one animal, one type of glass, etc. If any artifacts are made using a forbidden item, chuck into lava, a river, or a chasm (you may need to throw the dwarf who made it in as well, since he will throw a tantrum).

=== Luddite ===
* No mechanics or [[mechanism]]s
* No [[machine]]s

[[Traps]] and moving [[bridge]]s are forbidden, water moved for [[farming]] must be accomplished by hand.

=== Master Of One ===
* All starting dwarves can have one skill and one skill only
* No changes are allowed on any dwarf's labor screen
* All immigrants must stay with the profession(s) they arrive with
* All peasants must be activated into the military
Alternatively,
* All starting dwarves can have one skill and one skill only
* No changes are allowed on any dwarf's labor screen, except that hauling may be disabled. You may not enable hauling.
* All immigrants must stay with the profession(s) they arrive with, and only military that immigrates recruited may be military.

=== Outcast ===
* No [[skill]]s
* One [[pick]] and no other supplies

Same as the hermit challenge, only with multiple hermits. Turn off immigrants or kill them. Turn away merchants. If they don't leave, kill them.

=== The Mad Butcher ===
(this requires a tiny amount of editing to the raws) 
#Edit Dwarf Fortress\Raw\object\Creature_Domestic.txt. Remove the tag [BUTCHERABLE_NONSTANDARD] from cats and dogs. 
#Start with a normal build except:
#*One dwarf should be a dedicated butcher/leather worker
#*buy minimal food
#*bring as many puppies or kittens as possible
#Drop all your puppies or kittens into cages or into animal pits as soon as possible. 
#Dig a shaft 10 or more Z-levels deep, mark the top an animal pit. 
#At the bottom of the shaft set up a butcher shop, a tanner shop, a bedroom, and some food and leather stockpiles. 
#Set it all up so that the mad butcher cannot escape. 
#As you need food, begin selecting animals to be dropped into your deep pit, next to the butcher. 
#See how long a single butcher, butchering splattered kittens, can keep your fortress fed! Cooking and farming are cheating... raw meat for everyone! 

=== This. Is. SPARTAAAA! ===

At least 50% of your dwarves should be military 100% of the time, and train in spears, shield use and [[wrestling]]. All other dwarves are "helots" and shouldn't be given any skills – they can be pressed into the military during times of war, but given no equipment or at most a bare minimum of inferior weapons. Do not use crossbows or traps. Kill maimed dwarves.

You should refuse trade with caravans, instead attacking them if possible. Whenever a messenger appears promptly enter aggressive negotiations and then throw them down the well screaming "THIS IS SPAARRTAAAAA..." at your monitor. You should forbid the use of gold and silver, etc., the making of crafts, and the smoothing of walls or any other task that makes your fortress "beautiful".

You shouldn't create chainmail or plate armour. You should only brew wine.

Note that the above suggestions are modelled on the popular movie [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300_(film) 300], which was historically inaccurate. For a more "realistic dwarven Sparta", try reading the wiki article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparta#Society the real Sparta]

=== Human "alliance" ===

Start a game centered on a human town. Build a wall around the town in stone, using a mine under the town. Do not take anything from the town, though the human guards will probably help with any sieges. For an extra challenge after finishing the wall, dig down to the [[aquifer]] and flood the town.

=== Stealth ===

Create a hidden outpost close to a goblin lair. Impact the outside as minimally as possible - dig down right away, and deconstruct the wagon ASAP. No building outside or even going outside. Once your army is ready, launch a surprise attack.

=== Retirement resort ===

Build a dwarven paradise, free from labor. All peasant immigrants should be removed from every job, including hauling, and given a great place to live. Make sure to include fun activities and plenty of parties.

=== Commune ===

All your dwarves have all labors enabled. Dwarves sleep only in barracks, and no dwarf, including administrators, can be assigned any personal rooms. If the nobles find this upsetting, don't hesitate to make the corridors run red with the [[blood]] of the bourgeoisie. Obviously, don't mint any coins either. (Dwarves can take turns with wood cutting and mining, since they can't have both at once.)

=== Segregation ===

Make two separate, working, independent fortresses. All the men go in one, all the women in the other. Married dwarves are excluded from both.

=== No singles ===

As soon as you get a married couple with an immigration wave, kill all single dwarves. Continue to do so with all immigration waves. Try to lose no children.

=== Live up to your name ===

Go with the random name chosen by the game for your fortress and group. Make a handicap/play style based on your group's name, and a personal goal based on your fortress name. For example, if your group is The Iron Fist, your military must consist only of wrestlers in iron armor. If your fortress is Prisonportals, you must capture and jail as many goblins/creatures as possible, and all doors in the prison must be made of glass.

=== Equaland ===

Equaland: where we are all Equal, besides the Almighty Leader. Each dwarf must have their own bedroom, dining room, etc. Make a large tower in the center of your perfect land and put "The Leader" in it. Then make some kind of mechanism to kill the dwarves inside their dwelling, complete with levers so that The Leader can choose who dies next. If dwarves have one too many friends kill them, if they eat too much food kill them, etc.

=== Government in Exile ===
All dwarves are either nobles or in the military. The only useful dwarves you'll have will be your broker, manager, mayor, bookkeeper, and dungeon master. If you can survive until the sheriff arrives, transfer your entire military into the fortress guard. With a little luck, and a lot of exported roasts, you too can rule without proletarian interference.

=== Stay Awhile, and Listen ===
Create a world with a lot of large caves and make it possible to see them on the embark map. Build a Fortress near a large cave with a lot of big angry monsters in it (hopefully not too close) and loot lying around that becomes a frontier town for adventurers seeking to clear out the nearby 'dungeon'. Train up dwarves to become parties of heroes who will descend into the dungeon for fame and fortune (or more likely severed limbs and death). Parties should only be about four or less. You can defend your fortress but luring monsters out into your siege engines is cheating. Give yourself points for large monsters killed and treasure claimed. 
BONUS: Only solo adventurers are allowed to enter the dungeon. 
BONUS: Only use 'Thieves' to steal loot and create traps inside the dungeon.

=== Noblesse requiro ===

Build your fortress to please the sick, twisted, evil nobles needs. Build a execution chamber for your rowdy dwarves and build a torture chamber for your dungeon master, using your imagination! Use this to punish pathetic dwarves who dare rebel. Build palaces for your nobles and pamper them in every way. Pour most of your resources into a beautiful place for nobles to live whilst letting your dwarves sleep in tiny, pathetic rooms. The only exception is your mayor, who rises from the rank of the disgusting peons. He must live in squalor as well, preferably next to noble rooms to so the nobles can taunt him. score yourself according to how happy your nobles are, and your worth.

=== Bandit Camp ===

* At least 3 marksdwarves.
* Ideally, settle on a hillside, along a canyon or a valley.

Attack and loot every intelligent creatures who enter your territory : Goblins & kobolds, but also merchants, diplomats, and even migrants. You can't tell your guys to directly attack allies, but you can build traps linked to a lever (eg. a big pit under the road, with a linked pillar under the pit "roof".) and pull them to kill groups.

=== Real Time ===

:''Half this game is spent paused!'' - Dogfather

Don't use pause. Ever.

(Every single tool in the game pauses the game, so, instead, you'll have to unpause while tools are not in constant use.)

*BONUS: Don't save. Ever. If you need to sleep, arrange your jobs, close the gates, and let the dwarves take care of themselves.
** You've struck Alunite!

=== Graveyard Master ===

Ever dwarf deserves a decent resting place:
*Build a tomb for ever dwarf that dies, the more dwarves you manage to bury the better.
*Tombs must be rooms with exactly 5x5 of size and 1 of height, with only one entrance tile that must be closed by a door.
*Tombs must have all its surfaces engraved.
*Tomb must contain at least 4 statues.
*Once complete, the door must be locked and the tomb must not be ever entered again.

=== Luxury Hotel ===

Build a hotel with large luxurious rooms
* Starting 7 dwarfs will be the only dwarfs that can work.
* All immigrants will be treated like nobles and will have all labors turned off.
*BONUS: Make a large fountain or waterfall centerpiece.
*BONUS: Keep the hotel up to code with health and safety.
** If any of the ''customers'' die or get kidnapped you must abandon the hotel.
*MEGA BONUS: Make the entire hotel out of ice.

=== No death ===

Try to play the game for as long as possible without losing any dwarf (so no death, but also no failed mood, no kidnapping, no beating to death, etc.) A simple challenge, yet harder than what it seems to be.

Some players consider this to be the opposite of the intent of Dwarf Fortress. So naturally, it must be done.

=== One or more dwarves against the world ===

Like the hermit challenge, but admit any immigrant dwarves sharing the same first name as your founder. Bonus points, obviously, if the name in question is Urist.

== Megaprojects ==

=== Humanlike Fortress ===
Pretend you're a filthy above-ground dwelling [[Human|humie]].
* Build a town wall.
**Only hovels and farms outside the town walls.
*House your dwarves in small town homes
**5-10 dwarves per house (they had pretty big families back in the day)
**upstairs bedrooms, small dining room, maybe a single level basement.
*House your workshops according to profession, not convenience.
*Build warehouses for stockpiles, and set guards outside them.
*Create a keep, with its own wall, barracks, treasury, etc.
**House your nobles within the keep.
*Create a market square.
*Create a main street from the town wall to the market square and/or keep. Well-paved blocks, statues and decorative shubbery are a must.
*No underground interconnections between different areas.
*For obtaining stone, metal, etc. a mine must be built, but must have separate entrance from other buildings, can be outside the fortress, but must not have a connection within it, or vice versa.
* BONUS: Make a fountain at least 3 Z squares high in the center of the keep, with a +statue+(or better) on top of it.
* BONUS: The fortress is built around a human town.
* BONUS: Town has an awesome inn operating in same building as the brewery. REGULAR parties there, or it isn't good enough!
* BONUS: All booze is kept within a town inn.
* BONUS: An above ground farm complete with crops and cows,mules,horses,etc.
* BONUS+: Modify the raws and actually use humans to make the fort.
* ÜBERBONUS : Make all of the fortress out of wood. And have a dragon attack it. Send us pictures!

=== Sitting on trees ===
Build up your fortress on the top of giant trees (that you have to construct from wood at first). Don´t build anything underground. Show that snobbish elves that dwarves are better in EVERYTHING - even in sitting on trees.
* BONUS: Build your tree-city at a place with low (or even no) vegetation.
* BONUS: get attacked by a dragon.
* +BONUS: Dig down to a glowing pit with Spirits of Fire and get attacked by them.

=== Temple ===

Designing a temple to Armok. Aesthetics count - the god will be very angry if there are no stained-glass windows and domed ceilings carved with frescoes. To gain more favor, make regular sacrifices and keep the fountains and rivers red with [[blood]].

=== The great brewery ===

Disaster has struck the kingdom. A strangely glowing [[Fire|‼]]<nowiki></nowiki>peasant[[Fire|‼]] visited the greatest brewery of the empire, and as a result the whole thing exploded. No time for weeping — create its successor, a fort dedicated to alcohol production, and get the alcohol supplies flowing! Try to make the widest variety possible, and give or trade it to the dwarven [[caravan]] each year.

=== Castle ===

Build a castle, greater than anything built by human, elf or dwarf. This is highly time
consuming if you want it to be a good castle. There must be floor indoors, and no underground
constructions except for mining operations and cellars. For an even greater challenge, build
a gigantic tower in the middle, where the nobles stay.

=== Wealth ===

The kingdom's coffers need lining, so hop to! Found a fort and start accumulating wealth as fast as possible. Attain as high a fortress value as possible, and make most of your wealth into coins for the vault. Try to beat your record for one year, two years, or five years.

=== Assassination ===

Your group of seven has been chosen to assault a goblin fortress – and you're not getting any backup. Turn off immigration, and try to slay the goblin leader and escape without casualties. For extra challenge, bring no picks.

=== Biodome ===

All material, seeds, food, tools, and dwarves must be in the fortress within one year. Then, seal up the entrance. Any new immigrants... well, they might be in trouble. Survive for as long as possible!

No chasms/underground rivers/magma vents allowed.

=== Underwater fortress ===

Encase your entire fortress in [[water]]! Your fortress should be watersealed: surrounded by water against all [[wall]]s and the top of the fortress.
* Bonus: Build all water-touching walls/roof in clear glass!
* Bonus: Use [[magma]] instead of water!
* Bonus: Build it in the [[ocean]] or a non-freezing lake
* Bonus: Build large glass domes that encase the fortress. A dome 20 tiles wide should be 20 z-levels tall. Which may be hard to cover in water.
* Mod: Make your dwarves amphibious and include airlocks between the wet fortress and the dry.

=== Mountain audit/core sample ===

Start in a mountainous area and strip mine everything down, down, down to ground level. Stockpile everything, and calculate the mountain's composition. For kicks, try not excavating one tile on each z-level. You'll be left with one enormous core sample.

=== Santa Claus ===

Get ten thousand toys built and offered to caravans yearly. Optionally, build ten thousand toys, fetch them in adventure mode and deliver them to every single city of the world.

=== How high can you go? ===

Construction, construction, construction! Just how big a tower can you build? Out of glass maybe, clear glass? Steel? Pump water to the top? Make your tower a ''pinnacle'' of achievement and stun humans, elves and goblins alike - for they know nothing of construction and engineering like dwarves do!

=== Computing ===

Can your dwarves build the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism Antikythera mechanism]? Can you program the fortress to play tic-tac-toe? More details at [[computing]].

=== Doomsday Clock ===

Build a water or mechanical clock whose final state triggers the support which holds your fortress up or a megabeast out.
See how much wealth you can achieve before the clock runs out.
*Bonus: Create something that resets itself, as well as purging the map, so that you can reuse the same fortress over and over.
*Super-Bonus: Create something that involves pressure plates and a small kitten, when the pressure plates are hit in the right order, your map ends. Toss the kitten in and hope for the best.

=== World Domination ===
Pretend you are an evil mastermind. Now come up with some device or machine to render the world (or at least your portion of the map) totally unliveable, aside from, of course, your hidden lair.

Suggestions:
* Flood the map with water/magma (may require building walls around the edge of the map)
* Build an "Earthquake Machine" (the entire map is supported by a single support, which is connected to a lever)
* Build an extensive holding cell network for "scientific purposes". Fill it with megabeasts and elephants in secret. Have a lever that lets everything free to feed on the general population.


=== Casting ===
Who needs to construct giant statues?! We need ours made from natural walls, however, we want it above ground level as well. For casting your goal is to create some giant structure out of natural obsidian walls through the use of an extremely elaborate scaffold of lava and water pools and screw pumps. When you are finished, just deconstruct the scaffolding and smooth/engrave the statue as you go. Just imagine the bridge over that chasm, now complete with two giant dwarf statues on either side to strike fear into all who enter and to show them the power of your fortress.

=== The Monolith ===
As the inevitability of a fortress-wide mental breakdown looms over every single fortress why not have something that alludes to that precipice of [[insanity]]. Like the book and feature film, 2001: A Space Odyssey you must have a Monolith. This has to be made from [[obsidian]] and have a completely smooth surface (You cannot build it from blocks) You can have it be any size as long as it is outside, at least 2 tiles thick to ensure there are no pillar tiles, and has about the same ratio of width to height as it does in the movie (1:4:9) to make it as close to the real thing as possible. It would be preferable to make it large so that it seems to be dominating the landscape and your dwarves' psyche. The bigger the better.

*If the rock obsidian strata isn't deep enough in parts to make a monolith feasible consider casting a monolith with a large rectangular block in the exact same dimensional criteria as above.

=== Ceremonial Sacrifices ===

Build an amazingly complex or spectacular killing device. A shaft that extends across the entire Z-plane is a good start. A constantly shifting maze of atomsmasher drawbridges is another. For the minimalist, a very confined space where you will drop a dwarf wrestler along with the gobbos once in a while. Perhaps a waterslide that carries your prisoner all the way down into a chasm? Whatever your idea, build it and dedicate your fort to the construction, maintenance and improvement of your device.

Do not kill any of your invaders. Capture them using cage traps, and them set them off in your device. Keep a record of the number of victims you drop into it.

=== Space Ship ===

Create a giant space ship fit for space travel. It should be able to hold about 100 dwarves for at least 2 years.

BONUS: Use exploding [[booze]] as ignitable fuel.

BONUS: Make a removable [[ramp]] for boarding.

BONUS: Make the [[water]] for the 2 years be on the ship using removable pumps.

BONUS+: Make it totally self sufficient. (Make an internal system which pumps the [[water]] supply through a room every few years to muddy the floor. Plant [[seed|seeds]] in the [[mud]] that's now on the floor. Manage your consumption to maintain self sufficiency.)

BONUS+: Make it all out of [[steel]].

[[fun|FUN]]: Let it be held by a single [[support]], ignite the [[booze]], remove the support an let it "fly".

EVEN BETTER: Drop it down a chasm.
=== Aqueducts ===

For some reason, a noble was harmlessly pulling a lever when suddenly, magma flooded the river and exploded the booze! The king requires your band of seven to build a great aqueduct to bring water to the capital. Start with supports, and build up your aqueduct until it is 10 z-levels high!

BONUS: Start over a human town, build a wall around it, pump water through the aqueduct and into it!

=== Dwarf like an Egyptian ===

*Build a pyramid of epic proportion.

Build a legendary dwarven pyramid, with a corridor running to a central tomb for your favourite noble. Perhaps build it entirely out of glass? Or try to make the top twist in a bit of a swirl. Alternatively, make your entire fortress inside a pyramid, which stretches below the ground.

=== Skull collector ===

What proves the might of a civilization better than a hall full of skulls?
*Try to collect as many skulls as you can during your fortress life, and put then in a special skulls-only storage. The more skulls the better.

=== Moria ===

Build a huge hall - at least 3 z-levels high. Leave few pillars symmetrically placed in the hall (don't build them, carve them out). Smooth and possibly engrave everything (not only the lowest z-level!). Then build thin bridge (not the bridge building, just a thin piece of rock to walk on) above magma - support it with bauxite supports connected to a lever (bauxite mechanisms needed in support). Destroy stone holding it at the both ends and replace it with floor hatches (so when you pull the lever it all goes down). After that build a bridge above the chasm.
When it's all done seal your dwarves deep inside in safe place and get invaded by goblins. At the same time dig out HFS. Lead the HFS across the both bridges and then collapse the second one when one of the champions clashes with it (it doesn't matter that the champion has killed the HFS with one hit).

=== Crematory Fortress ===

* Requires a [[magma pipe]] and [[bauxite]].

Build a temple structure above a [[magma pipe]] and [[engrave]] every available surface. The temple should be as opulent as possible. In the temple, build a retracting [[bridge]] over a hole in the floor, and designate a [[coffin]] [[stockpile]] on it. Whenever a dwarf dies, build a [[bauxite]] or other [[magma-proof]] [[coffin]] for him, place it on the [[bridge]], and retract it, committing his body to the [[magma|fiery blood of the mountain]].

::Note: At the time of writing, the editor isn't sure if coffins falling off the bottom of the map count as being 'lost.' If they do, channel out a magma pool and put the temple above that to avoid tantrums.

=== Swiss Precision ===

Build a working clock. The clock should accurately track DF days, months, and years.

Bonus Points:
:If the clock has a mechanical effect in the fortress proper to announce new days
:If the clock creates seasonally appropriate effects at the change of months and/or seasons.
:If the clock is used to aid in the operation of the fortress in addition to its role as a clock (automatically controls farmland irrigation at particular times, automatically opens the <s>blast doors</s> floodgates in time for merchants, etc...).
:If the clock governs the schedule of a working rail station (which is always on time). (Definitions of 'working' and 'rail station' are subject to player imagination).

But don't worry about the bonus points, a precision time device should be hard enough.

=== The cube ===

Play a fort as usual, but emphasize catching goblins in cages to support and fill this construction:
Construct a series of rooms in a symmetrical fashion, all connected to eachother with appropriate doors. Of course, enough rooms to make a maze-like structure, and if you feel like it, an exit that is hard to reach. Fill a bunch of the rooms with traps and pressureplates. Then fill one room with 4-6 goblins (preferably in cages, opened by an outside lever), release them and watch them randomly walk around the rooms dying to traps and whatnots.

*Bonus: Do multiple story maze (3d-maze)
*Bonus: Use pressureplates to open/close the exit randomly, else all goblins will just run the shortest route to the exit.

=== Land battleship ===

Turn your moutain into a huge battlestation, complete with crew quarters, decks, command centre, cantina, and a large collection of deadly weapons : Batteries of marksdwarves, ballista cannons, catapults, but also lava projector or remote explosive devices (ie, cave-ins in a part of the map triggered by a lever). Dig and mine the mountain so it end looking like a real battleship, with nothing but a plain around (so you could build it from nothing on a plain, or destroy a mountain, choice is yours). The battleship has to be autonomous, and dwarves shouldn't wander outside it.

*Bonus: The weaponry cover every tile of the map (ie, everything who enter the map, from every side, can be shot)
*Bonus: Build several other ships, maybe dedicated to a special production ? (food, ammo etc.)
*Bonus: Each crew member has a civil and military formation, and when the enemy arrive, almost every economic activity is stopped and all hands to quarters !

== Diifcult Builds ==

=== Diplomacy ===
* Six dwarves with only social [[skill]]s
* One skilled dwarf

Six courtiers of the king's court made some ill-advised remarks within earshot of the king, and as a result have been ordered to go found an outpost. They've hired you to make sure they survive. The six nobles only have social skills and refuse to do any work that is beneath them.

=== Hunting Party ===
* One marksman/ambusher
* Two camp servants (e.g. one cook/brewer/herbalist, one butcher/tanner/leatherworker/woodcutter)
* Four clients, all dabbling in marksman/ambusher but with primarily civilian skills.

No anvil, lots of hunting dogs ... and a haunted wood. (In a terrifying wood, you may find all the trees & plants are dead, severely reducing long-term prospects.)

=== Stranded Scout Squad ===

The only items you can bring weapons, ammo, and armor (no picks). The only skills you can hand out are military. The only animals you can bring are war dogs. See how it goes.
[[Category:Guides]]

40d:Challenges

2009-04-14T03:00:03Z

Walliard:

:''Part of this article was originally taken from the DF forums thread [http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=466.0 "Goal-Based Dwarf Fortress"].''

The general goal of [[Fortress Mode]] is to survive, acquire wealth, defend your wealth, and become the capital of your civilization. However, many players find that fighting off repeated [[siege|sieges]] and keeping their people alive just isn't enough anymore. They begin to experiment with different sets of objectives, themes, and restrictions in search of more [[fun]]. These are some goals to attempt or use as inspiration.

== ASPCA ==
* No [[animals]]

Don't bring any [[animals|pets]]. Furthermore, due to the possibility of animals being caught in them, don't build any [[traps]], either. If [[immigrants]] bring pets, get rid of the pets somehow. (If you're a particularly rabid ASPCA member, you could get rid of the pet-bearing immigrants, too, but that's probably excessive.)

== City-States ==
* No [[skill]]s
* 7 or multiple of 7 of everything you bring

At the start your dwarves split everything equally and move to 7 different locales that are not interconnected. They have to mine their own rooms, plant their own crops, use their own craft piles. This will probably require a bit of cross-fertilization until you get [[door]]s and can lock everyone in, but after that it is every dwarf for him/herself!

== Dieting Dwarves ==
'''Fishing village'''

Give your dwarves only the fishing skill and other fishing related skills (like bonecrafting.) Try to survive off a [[fish]] only diet. Flood the river and build houses above it so the dwarves can fish through their floors. There will be an extra challenge if the river freezes in the winter.

'''Carnivore'''

* No plants or seeds

Only eat strays, pets, and animals you trap and hunt. No farming or plant gathering. Keep all your pets in cages and care for them as little as possible. Eat your dwarves' pets first for an extra challenge. If this upsets your dwarves, ridicule or ignore them. (If you are particularly heartless, you could cage those dwarves as well because anyone that empathizes with animals doesn't deserve any rights either.)

'''Vegan'''

In essence, construct an [http://archive.dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/Main_Glade Elven Forest]: The [[Challenges#Hippy challenge|Hippy Challenge]].

'''IOGT/AA'''

* No alcohol

Quite possibly, this is the cruelest challenge that your dwarves can be given. Don't ever brew any alcohol. Build [[well]]s instead and watch your now teetotaller dwarves work slower and slower by the season.

== Hippy challenge ==

Peace, man. Don't harm any plants except those you plant yourself. Don't cut down any trees, and don't trade for logs with the filthy humans or dwarves who do. You can trade for plants with the elves, they understand your environmental code. Don't burn any coal, do you know what that does to the environment, man? Never cause any creature's death, so no military, and no lethal traps. You can use cage traps, and either tame the creatures you catch, or release them back into the wild, far from your fort.

For an extra challenge try this in an area with a goblin fort or cave.

== Diplomacy ==
* Six dwarves with only social [[skill]]s
* One skilled dwarf

Six courtiers of the king's court made some ill-advised remarks within earshot of the king, and as a result have been ordered to go found an outpost. They've hired you to make sure they survive. The six nobles only have social skills and refuse to do any work that is beneath them.

== Fort Geneva ==
* Build only nonlethal (cage) traps
* Sentient creatures ([[Goblins]], etc.) are to be considered prisoners of war and treated humanely
* Suggested provisions for prisoners: a bed, a personal cell, a commons area, aboveground exercise yard, and the clothes the creature was wearing when captured
* Inspiration: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conventions Geneva Conventions]

== Hermit ==
* No [[skill]]s
* One [[pick]] and no other supplies

A well known and popular challenge. Kill off the 6 starting dwarves and any [[immigrants]] as they arrive, and try to make a living for the last dwarf.

== Humanlike Fortress ==
Pretend you're a filthy above-ground dwelling [[Human|humie]].
* Build a town wall.
**Only hovels and farms outside the town walls.
*House your dwarves in small town homes
**5-10 dwarves per house (they had pretty big families back in the day)
**upstairs bedrooms, small dining room, maybe a single level basement.
*House your workshops according to profession, not convenience.
*Build warehouses for stockpiles, and set guards outside them.
*Create a keep, with its own wall, barracks, treasury, etc.
**House your nobles within the keep.
*Create a market square.
*Create a main street from the town wall to the market square and/or keep. Well-paved blocks, statues and decorative shubbery are a must.
*No underground interconnections between different areas.
*For obtaining stone, metal, etc. a mine must be built, but must have separate entrance from other buildings, can be outside the fortress, but must not have a connection within it, or vice versa.
* BONUS: Make a fountain at least 3 Z squares high in the center of the keep, with a +statue+(or better) on top of it.
* BONUS: The fortress is built around a human town.
* BONUS: Town has an awesome inn operating in same building as the brewery. REGULAR parties there, or it isn't good enough!
* BONUS: All booze is kept within a town inn.
* BONUS: An above ground farm complete with crops and cows,mules,horses,etc.
* BONUS+: Modify the raws and actually use humans to make the fort.
* ÜBERBONUS : Make all of the fortress out of wood. And have a dragon attack it. Send us pictures!

== Sitting on trees ==
Build up your fortress on the top of giant trees (that you have to construct from wood at first). Don´t build anything underground. Show that snobbish elves that dwarves are better in EVERYTHING - even in sitting on trees.
* BONUS: Build your tree-city at a place with low (or even no) vegetation.
* BONUS: get attacked by a dragon.
* +BONUS: Dig down to a glowing pit with Spirits of Fire and get attacked by them.

== Hunting Party ==
* One marksman/ambusher
* Two camp servants (e.g. one cook/brewer/herbalist, one butcher/tanner/leatherworker/woodcutter)
* Four clients, all dabbling in marksman/ambusher but with primarily civilian skills.

No anvil, lots of hunting dogs ... and a haunted wood. (In a terrifying wood, you may find all the trees & plants are dead, severely reducing long-term prospects.)

== Immigration and customs enforcement ==
* One miner/mason/architect
* One woodcutter/carpenter/architect
* Five military dwarves

No anvil, lots of food, in a canyon - spend the first year building fortifications to interdict traffic. Immigrants can build a town around you, but your original dwarves remain dedicated to their mission.

== Nay, no ponderous stone doors or shining silver arcades, not while I live! ==

The new king has decided rocks and metals can no longer be used in construction. He'll be overthrown shortly, but in the meantime construct your fortress using only <material>.

Anything that can be made out of <material> will be made only from <material>. Doors, chairs, floodgates, bridges, stairs, workshops, towers, you name it.

'''Wooden'''

Make everything that you can out of wood. That means nothing underground, though you may excavate to make areas above-ground. Bonus points for bringing no wood at the start and/or going to a treeless area.

'''Glass'''

Construct an above-ground fortress made entirely out of glass. Bonus points for not using magma or using clear and crystal glass exclusively.

'''Soap'''

Cleanliness is next to godliness! Soap is in the form of bars, and so can be used as a building material just like any other type of bar. Show those elven traders just how much you despise their philosophies by building your trading outpost out of stuff derived from dead trees ''and'' dead animals. Too many cats? Build with cat tallow soap.

'''Variation:''' Choose one type of rock, one type of metal, one type of gem, and one type of wood. Your whole fortress must be made from these items. You may further narrow it down to bones, skin, and other from one animal, one type of glass, etc. If any artifacts are made using a forbidden item, chuck into lava, a river, or a chasm (you may need to throw the dwarf who made it in as well, since he will throw a tantrum).

== Luddite ==
* No mechanics or [[mechanism]]s
* No [[machine]]s

[[Traps]] and moving [[bridge]]s are forbidden, water moved for [[farming]] must be accomplished by hand.

== Master Of One ==
* All starting dwarves can have one skill and one skill only
* No changes are allowed on any dwarf's labor screen
* All immigrants must stay with the profession(s) they arrive with
* All peasants must be activated into the military
Alternatively,
* All starting dwarves can have one skill and one skill only
* No changes are allowed on any dwarf's labor screen, except that hauling may be disabled. You may not enable hauling.
* All immigrants must stay with the profession(s) they arrive with, and only military that immigrates recruited may be military.

== Outcast ==
* No [[skill]]s
* One [[pick]] and no other supplies

Same as the hermit challenge, only with multiple hermits. Turn off immigrants or kill them. Turn away merchants. If they don't leave, kill them.

== The Mad Butcher ==
(this requires a tiny amount of editing to the raws) 
#Edit Dwarf Fortress\Raw\object\Creature_Domestic.txt. Remove the tag [BUTCHERABLE_NONSTANDARD] from cats and dogs. 
#Start with a normal build except:
#*One dwarf should be a dedicated butcher/leather worker
#*buy minimal food
#*bring as many puppies or kittens as possible
#Drop all your puppies or kittens into cages or into animal pits as soon as possible. 
#Dig a shaft 10 or more Z-levels deep, mark the top an animal pit. 
#At the bottom of the shaft set up a butcher shop, a tanner shop, a bedroom, and some food and leather stockpiles. 
#Set it all up so that the mad butcher cannot escape. 
#As you need food, begin selecting animals to be dropped into your deep pit, next to the butcher. 
#See how long a single butcher, butchering splattered kittens, can keep your fortress fed! Cooking and farming are cheating... raw meat for everyone! 

== This. Is. SPARTAAAA! ==

At least 50% of your dwarves should be military 100% of the time, and train in spears, shield use and [[wrestling]]. All other dwarves are "helots" and shouldn't be given any skills – they can be pressed into the military during times of war, but given no equipment or at most a bare minimum of inferior weapons. Do not use crossbows or traps. Kill maimed dwarves.

You should refuse trade with caravans, instead attacking them if possible. Whenever a messenger appears promptly enter aggressive negotiations and then throw them down the well screaming "THIS IS SPAARRTAAAAA..." at your monitor. You should forbid the use of gold and silver, etc., the making of crafts, and the smoothing of walls or any other task that makes your fortress "beautiful".

You shouldn't create chainmail or plate armour. You should only brew wine.

Note that the above suggestions are modelled on the popular movie [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300_(film) 300], which was historically inaccurate. For a more "realistic dwarven Sparta", try reading the wiki article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparta#Society the real Sparta]

== Human "alliance" ==

Start a game centered on a human town. Build a wall around the town in stone, using a mine under the town. Do not take anything from the town, though the human guards will probably help with any sieges. For an extra challenge after finishing the wall, dig down to the [[aquifer]] and flood the town.

== Stealth ==

Create a hidden outpost close to a goblin lair. Impact the outside as minimally as possible - dig down right away, and deconstruct the wagon ASAP. No building outside or even going outside. Once your army is ready, launch a surprise attack.

== Temple ==

Designing a temple to Armok. Aesthetics count - the god will be very angry if there are no stained-glass windows and domed ceilings carved with frescoes. To gain more favor, make regular sacrifices and keep the fountains and rivers red with [[blood]].

== The great brewery ==

Disaster has struck the kingdom. A strangely glowing [[Fire|‼]]<nowiki></nowiki>peasant[[Fire|‼]] visited the greatest brewery of the empire, and as a result the whole thing exploded. No time for weeping — create its successor, a fort dedicated to alcohol production, and get the alcohol supplies flowing! Try to make the widest variety possible, and give or trade it to the dwarven [[caravan]] each year.

== Castle ==

Build a castle, greater than anything built by human, elf or dwarf. This is highly time
consuming if you want it to be a good castle. There must be floor indoors, and no underground
constructions except for mining operations and cellars. For an even greater challenge, build
a gigantic tower in the middle, where the nobles stay.

== Wealth ==

The kingdom's coffers need lining, so hop to! Found a fort and start accumulating wealth as fast as possible. Attain as high a fortress value as possible, and make most of your wealth into coins for the vault. Try to beat your record for one year, two years, or five years.

== Assassination ==

Your group of seven has been chosen to assault a goblin fortress – and you're not getting any backup. Turn off immigration, and try to slay the goblin leader and escape without casualties. For extra challenge, bring no picks.

== Biodome ==

All material, seeds, food, tools, and dwarves must be in the fortress within one year. Then, seal up the entrance. Any new immigrants... well, they might be in trouble. Survive for as long as possible!

No chasms/underground rivers/magma vents allowed.

== Retirement resort ==

Build a dwarven paradise, free from labor. All peasant immigrants should be removed from every job, including hauling, and given a great place to live. Make sure to include fun activities and plenty of parties.

== Commune ==

All your dwarves have all labors enabled. Dwarves sleep only in barracks, and no dwarf, including administrators, can be assigned any personal rooms. If the nobles find this upsetting, don't hesitate to make the corridors run red with the [[blood]] of the bourgeoisie. Obviously, don't mint any coins either. (Dwarves can take turns with wood cutting and mining, since they can't have both at once.)

== Underwater fortress ==

Encase your entire fortress in [[water]]! Your fortress should be watersealed: surrounded by water against all [[wall]]s and the top of the fortress.
* Bonus: Build all water-touching walls/roof in clear glass!
* Bonus: Use [[magma]] instead of water!
* Bonus: Build it in the [[ocean]] or a non-freezing lake
* Bonus: Build large glass domes that encase the fortress. A dome 20 tiles wide should be 20 z-levels tall. Which may be hard to cover in water.
* Mod: Make your dwarves amphibious and include airlocks between the wet fortress and the dry.

== Mountain audit/core sample ==

Start in a mountainous area and strip mine everything down, down, down to ground level. Stockpile everything, and calculate the mountain's composition. For kicks, try not excavating one tile on each z-level. You'll be left with one enormous core sample.

== Segregation ==

Make two separate, working, independent fortresses. All the men go in one, all the women in the other. Married dwarves are excluded from both.

== No singles ==

As soon as you get a married couple with an immigration wave, kill all single dwarves. Continue to do so with all immigration waves. Try to lose no children.

== Santa Claus ==

Get ten thousand toys built and offered to caravans yearly. Optionally, build ten thousand toys, fetch them in adventure mode and deliver them to every single city of the world.

== How high can you go? ==

Construction, construction, construction! Just how big a tower can you build? Out of glass maybe, clear glass? Steel? Pump water to the top? Make your tower a ''pinnacle'' of achievement and stun humans, elves and goblins alike - for they know nothing of construction and engineering like dwarves do!

== Computing ==

Can your dwarves build the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism Antikythera mechanism]? Can you program the fortress to play tic-tac-toe? More details at [[computing]].

== Doomsday Clock ==

Build a water or mechanical clock whose final state triggers the support which holds your fortress up or a megabeast out.
See how much wealth you can achieve before the clock runs out.
*Bonus: Create something that resets itself, as well as purging the map, so that you can reuse the same fortress over and over.
*Super-Bonus: Create something that involves pressure plates and a small kitten, when the pressure plates are hit in the right order, your map ends. Toss the kitten in and hope for the best.

== Live up to your name ==

Go with the random name chosen by the game for your fortress and group. Make a handicap/play style based on your group's name, and a personal goal based on your fortress name. For example, if your group is The Iron Fist, your military must consist only of wrestlers in iron armor. If your fortress is Prisonportals, you must capture and jail as many goblins/creatures as possible, and all doors in the prison must be made of glass.

== Equaland ==

Equaland: where we are all Equal, besides the Almighty Leader. Each dwarf must have their own bedroom, dining room, etc. Make a large tower in the center of your perfect land and put "The Leader" in it. Then make some kind of mechanism to kill the dwarves inside their dwelling, complete with levers so that The Leader can choose who dies next. If dwarves have one too many friends kill them, if they eat too much food kill them, etc.

== World Domination ==
Pretend you are an evil mastermind. Now come up with some device or machine to render the world (or at least your portion of the map) totally unliveable, aside from, of course, your hidden lair.

Suggestions:
* Flood the map with water/magma (may require building walls around the edge of the map)
* Build an "Earthquake Machine" (the entire map is supported by a single support, which is connected to a lever)
* Build an extensive holding cell network for "scientific purposes". Fill it with megabeasts and elephants in secret. Have a lever that lets everything free to feed on the general population.


== Government in Exile ==
All dwarves are either nobles or in the military. The only useful dwarves you'll have will be your broker, manager, mayor, bookkeeper, and dungeon master. If you can survive until the sheriff arrives, transfer your entire military into the fortress guard. With a little luck, and a lot of exported roasts, you too can rule without proletarian interference.

== Stay Awhile, and Listen ==
Create a world with a lot of large caves and make it possible to see them on the embark map. Build a Fortress near a large cave with a lot of big angry monsters in it (hopefully not too close) and loot lying around that becomes a frontier town for adventurers seeking to clear out the nearby 'dungeon'. Train up dwarves to become parties of heroes who will descend into the dungeon for fame and fortune (or more likely severed limbs and death). Parties should only be about four or less. You can defend your fortress but luring monsters out into your siege engines is cheating. Give yourself points for large monsters killed and treasure claimed. 
BONUS: Only solo adventurers are allowed to enter the dungeon. 
BONUS: Only use 'Thieves' to steal loot and create traps inside the dungeon.

== Casting ==
Who needs to construct giant statues?! We need ours made from natural walls, however, we want it above ground level as well. For casting your goal is to create some giant structure out of natural obsidian walls through the use of an extremely elaborate scaffold of lava and water pools and screw pumps. When you are finished, just deconstruct the scaffolding and smooth/engrave the statue as you go. Just imagine the bridge over that chasm, now complete with two giant dwarf statues on either side to strike fear into all who enter and to show them the power of your fortress.

== The Monolith ==
As the inevitability of a fortress-wide mental breakdown looms over every single fortress why not have something that alludes to that precipice of [[insanity]]. Like the book and feature film, 2001: A Space Odyssey you must have a Monolith. This has to be made from [[obsidian]] and have a completely smooth surface (You cannot build it from blocks) You can have it be any size as long as it is outside, at least 2 tiles thick to ensure there are no pillar tiles, and has about the same ratio of width to height as it does in the movie (1:4:9) to make it as close to the real thing as possible. It would be preferable to make it large so that it seems to be dominating the landscape and your dwarves' psyche. The bigger the better.

*If the rock obsidian strata isn't deep enough in parts to make a monolith feasible consider casting a monolith with a large rectangular block in the exact same dimensional criteria as above.

== Ceremonial Sacrifices ==

Build an amazingly complex or spectacular killing device. A shaft that extends across the entire Z-plane is a good start. A constantly shifting maze of atomsmasher drawbridges is another. For the minimalist, a very confined space where you will drop a dwarf wrestler along with the gobbos once in a while. Perhaps a waterslide that carries your prisoner all the way down into a chasm? Whatever your idea, build it and dedicate your fort to the construction, maintenance and improvement of your device.

Do not kill any of your invaders. Capture them using cage traps, and them set them off in your device. Keep a record of the number of victims you drop into it.

== Noblesse requiro ==

Build your fortress to please the sick, twisted, evil nobles needs. Build a execution chamber for your rowdy dwarves and build a torture chamber for your dungeon master, using your imagination! Use this to punish pathetic dwarves who dare rebel. Build palaces for your nobles and pamper them in every way. Pour most of your resources into a beautiful place for nobles to live whilst letting your dwarves sleep in tiny, pathetic rooms. The only exception is your mayor, who rises from the rank of the disgusting peons. He must live in squalor as well, preferably next to noble rooms to so the nobles can taunt him. score yourself according to how happy your nobles are, and your worth.

== Stranded Scout Squad ==

The only items you can bring weapons, ammo, and armor (no picks). The only skills you can hand out are military. The only animals you can bring are war dogs. See how it goes.

== Bandit Camp ==

* At least 3 marksdwarves.
* Ideally, settle on a hillside, along a canyon or a valley.

Attack and loot every intelligent creatures who enter your territory : Goblins & kobolds, but also merchants, diplomats, and even migrants. You can't tell your guys to directly attack allies, but you can build traps linked to a lever (eg. a big pit under the road, with a linked pillar under the pit "roof".) and pull them to kill groups.

== Space Ship ==

Create a giant space ship fit for space travel. It should be able to hold about 100 dwarves for at least 2 years.

BONUS: Use exploding [[booze]] as ignitable fuel.

BONUS: Make a removable [[ramp]] for boarding.

BONUS: Make the [[water]] for the 2 years be on the ship using removable pumps.

BONUS+: Make it totally self sufficient. (Make an internal system which pumps the [[water]] supply through a room every few years to muddy the floor. Plant [[seed|seeds]] in the [[mud]] that's now on the floor. Manage your consumption to maintain self sufficiency.)

BONUS+: Make it all out of [[steel]].

[[fun|FUN]]: Let it be held by a single [[support]], ignite the [[booze]], remove the support an let it "fly".

EVEN BETTER: Drop it down a chasm.
== Aqueducts ==

For some reason, a noble was harmlessly pulling a lever when suddenly, magma flooded the river and exploded the booze! The king requires your band of seven to build a great aqueduct to bring water to the capital. Start with supports, and build up your aqueduct until it is 10 z-levels high!

BONUS: Start over a human town, build a wall around it, pump water through the aqueduct and into it!

== Dwarf like an Egyptian ==

*Build a pyramid of epic proportion.

Build a legendary dwarven pyramid, with a corridor running to a central tomb for your favourite noble. Perhaps build it entirely out of glass? Or try to make the top twist in a bit of a swirl. Alternatively, make your entire fortress inside a pyramid, which stretches below the ground.

== Real Time ==

:''Half this game is spent paused!'' - Dogfather

Don't use pause. Ever.

(Every single tool in the game pauses the game, so, instead, you'll have to unpause while tools are not in constant use.)

*BONUS: Don't save. Ever. If you need to sleep, arrange your jobs, close the gates, and let the dwarves take care of themselves.
** You've struck Alunite!

== Graveyard Master ==

Ever dwarf deserves a decent resting place:
*Build a tomb for ever dwarf that dies, the more dwarves you manage to bury the better.
*Tombs must be rooms with exactly 5x5 of size and 1 of height, with only one entrance tile that must be closed by a door.
*Tombs must have all its surfaces engraved.
*Tomb must contain at least 4 statues.
*Once complete, the door must be locked and the tomb must not be ever entered again.

== Skull collector ==

What proves the might of a civilization better than a hall full of skulls?
*Try to collect as many skulls as you can during your fortress life, and put then in a special skulls-only storage. The more skulls the better.

== Moria ==

Build a huge hall - at least 3 z-levels high. Leave few pillars symmetrically placed in the hall (don't build them, carve them out). Smooth and possibly engrave everything (not only the lowest z-level!). Then build thin bridge (not the bridge building, just a thin piece of rock to walk on) above magma - support it with bauxite supports connected to a lever (bauxite mechanisms needed in support). Destroy stone holding it at the both ends and replace it with floor hatches (so when you pull the lever it all goes down). After that build a bridge above the chasm.
When it's all done seal your dwarves deep inside in safe place and get invaded by goblins. At the same time dig out HFS. Lead the HFS across the both bridges and then collapse the second one when one of the champions clashes with it (it doesn't matter that the champion has killed the HFS with one hit).

== Crematory Fortress ==

* Requires a [[magma pipe]] and [[bauxite]].

Build a temple structure above a [[magma pipe]] and [[engrave]] every available surface. The temple should be as opulent as possible. In the temple, build a retracting [[bridge]] over a hole in the floor, and designate a [[coffin]] [[stockpile]] on it. Whenever a dwarf dies, build a [[bauxite]] or other [[magma-proof]] [[coffin]] for him, place it on the [[bridge]], and retract it, committing his body to the [[magma|fiery blood of the mountain]].

::Note: At the time of writing, the editor isn't sure if coffins falling off the bottom of the map count as being 'lost.' If they do, channel out a magma pool and put the temple above that to avoid tantrums.

== Swiss Precision ==

Build a working clock. The clock should accurately track DF days, months, and years.

Bonus Points:
:If the clock has a mechanical effect in the fortress proper to announce new days
:If the clock creates seasonally appropriate effects at the change of months and/or seasons.
:If the clock is used to aid in the operation of the fortress in addition to its role as a clock (automatically controls farmland irrigation at particular times, automatically opens the <s>blast doors</s> floodgates in time for merchants, etc...).
:If the clock governs the schedule of a working rail station (which is always on time). (Definitions of 'working' and 'rail station' are subject to player imagination).

But don't worry about the bonus points, a precision time device should be hard enough.

== Luxury Hotel ==

Build a hotel with large luxurious rooms
* Starting 7 dwarfs will be the only dwarfs that can work.
* All immigrants will be treated like nobles and will have all labors turned off.
*BONUS: Make a large fountain or waterfall centerpiece.
*BONUS: Keep the hotel up to code with health and safety.
** If any of the ''customers'' die or get kidnapped you must abandon the hotel.
*MEGA BONUS: Make the entire hotel out of ice.

== The cube ==

Play a fort as usual, but emphasize catching goblins in cages to support and fill this construction:
Construct a series of rooms in a symmetrical fashion, all connected to eachother with appropriate doors. Of course, enough rooms to make a maze-like structure, and if you feel like it, an exit that is hard to reach. Fill a bunch of the rooms with traps and pressureplates. Then fill one room with 4-6 goblins (preferably in cages, opened by an outside lever), release them and watch them randomly walk around the rooms dying to traps and whatnots.

*Bonus: Do multiple story maze (3d-maze)
*Bonus: Use pressureplates to open/close the exit randomly, else all goblins will just run the shortest route to the exit.

== Land battleship ==

Turn your moutain into a huge battlestation, complete with crew quarters, decks, command centre, cantina, and a large collection of deadly weapons : Batteries of marksdwarves, ballista cannons, catapults, but also lava projector or remote explosive devices (ie, cave-ins in a part of the map triggered by a lever). Dig and mine the mountain so it end looking like a real battleship, with nothing but a plain around (so you could build it from nothing on a plain, or destroy a mountain, choice is yours). The battleship has to be autonomous, and dwarves shouldn't wander outside it.

*Bonus: The weaponry cover every tile of the map (ie, everything who enter the map, from every side, can be shot)
*Bonus: Build several other ships, maybe dedicated to a special production ? (food, ammo etc.)
*Bonus: Each crew member has a civil and military formation, and when the enemy arrive, almost every economic activity is stopped and all hands to quarters !

== No death ==

Try to play the game for as long as possible without losing any dwarf (so no death, but also no failed mood, no kidnapping, no beating to death, etc.) A simple challenge, yet harder than what it seems to be.

Some players consider this to be the opposite of the intent of Dwarf Fortress. So naturally, it must be done.

== One or more dwarves against the world ==

Like the hermit challenge, but admit any immigrant dwarves sharing the same first name as your founder. Bonus points, obviously, if the name in question is Urist.

[[Category:Guides]]

40d:Challenges

2009-04-14T02:41:07Z

Walliard: Urist challenge

:''Part of this article was originally taken from the DF forums thread [http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=466.0 "Goal-Based Dwarf Fortress"].''

The general goal of [[Fortress Mode]] is to survive, acquire wealth, defend your wealth, and become the capital of your civilization. However, many players find that fighting off repeated [[siege|sieges]] and keeping their people alive just isn't enough anymore. They begin to experiment with different sets of objectives, themes, and restrictions in search of more [[fun]]. These are some goals to attempt or use as inspiration.

== ASPCA ==
* No [[animals]]

Don't bring any [[animals|pets]]. Furthermore, due to the possibility of animals being caught in them, don't build any [[traps]], either. If [[immigrants]] bring pets, get rid of the pets somehow. (If you're a particularly rabid ASPCA member, you could get rid of the pet-bearing immigrants, too, but that's probably excessive.)

== City-States ==
* No [[skill]]s
* 7 or multiple of 7 of everything you bring

At the start your dwarves split everything equally and move to 7 different locales that are not interconnected. They have to mine their own rooms, plant their own crops, use their own craft piles. This will probably require a bit of cross-fertilization until you get [[door]]s and can lock everyone in, but after that it is every dwarf for him/herself!

== Dieting Dwarves ==
'''Fishing village'''

Give your dwarves only the fishing skill and other fishing related skills (like bonecrafting.) Try to survive off a [[fish]] only diet. Flood the river and build houses above it so the dwarves can fish through their floors. There will be an extra challenge if the river freezes in the winter.

'''Carnivore'''

* No plants or seeds

Only eat strays, pets, and animals you trap and hunt. No farming or plant gathering. Keep all your pets in cages and care for them as little as possible. Eat your dwarves' pets first for an extra challenge. If this upsets your dwarves, ridicule or ignore them. (If you are particularly heartless, you could cage those dwarves as well because anyone that empathizes with animals doesn't deserve any rights either.)

'''Vegan'''

In essence, construct an [http://archive.dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/Main_Glade Elven Forest]: The [[Challenges#Hippy challenge|Hippy Challenge]].

'''IOGT/AA'''

* No alcohol

Quite possibly, this is the cruelest challenge that your dwarves can be given. Don't ever brew any alcohol. Build [[well]]s instead and watch your now teetotaller dwarves work slower and slower by the season.

== Hippy challenge ==

Peace, man. Don't harm any plants except those you plant yourself. Don't cut down any trees, and don't trade for logs with the filthy humans or dwarves who do. You can trade for plants with the elves, they understand your environmental code. Don't burn any coal, do you know what that does to the environment, man? Never cause any creature's death, so no military, and no lethal traps. You can use cage traps, and either tame the creatures you catch, or release them back into the wild, far from your fort.

For an extra challenge try this in an area with a goblin fort or cave.

== Diplomacy ==
* Six dwarves with only social [[skill]]s
* One skilled dwarf

Six courtiers of the king's court made some ill-advised remarks within earshot of the king, and as a result have been ordered to go found an outpost. They've hired you to make sure they survive. The six nobles only have social skills and refuse to do any work that is beneath them.

== Fort Geneva ==
* Build only nonlethal (cage) traps
* Sentient creatures ([[Goblins]], etc.) are to be considered prisoners of war and treated humanely
* Suggested provisions for prisoners: a bed, a personal cell, a commons area, aboveground exercise yard, and the clothes the creature was wearing when captured
* Inspiration: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conventions Geneva Conventions]

== Hermit ==
* No [[skill]]s
* One [[pick]] and no other supplies

A well known and popular challenge. Kill off the 6 starting dwarves and any [[immigrants]] as they arrive, and try to make a living for the last dwarf.

== Humanlike Fortress ==
Pretend you're a filthy above-ground dwelling [[Human|humie]].
* Build a town wall.
**Only hovels and farms outside the town walls.
*House your dwarves in small town homes
**5-10 dwarves per house (they had pretty big families back in the day)
**upstairs bedrooms, small dining room, maybe a single level basement.
*House your workshops according to profession, not convenience.
*Build warehouses for stockpiles, and set guards outside them.
*Create a keep, with its own wall, barracks, treasury, etc.
**House your nobles within the keep.
*Create a market square.
*Create a main street from the town wall to the market square and/or keep. Well-paved blocks, statues and decorative shubbery are a must.
*No underground interconnections between different areas.
*For obtaining stone, metal, etc. a mine must be built, but must have separate entrance from other buildings, can be outside the fortress, but must not have a connection within it, or vice versa.
* BONUS: Make a fountain at least 3 Z squares high in the center of the keep, with a +statue+(or better) on top of it.
* BONUS: The fortress is built around a human town.
* BONUS: Town has an awesome inn operating in same building as the brewery. REGULAR parties there, or it isn't good enough!
* BONUS: All booze is kept within a town inn.
* BONUS: An above ground farm complete with crops and cows,mules,horses,etc.
* BONUS+: Modify the raws and actually use humans to make the fort.
* ÜBERBONUS : Make all of the fortress out of wood. And have a dragon attack it. Send us pictures!

== Sitting on trees ==
Build up your fortress on the top of giant trees (that you have to construct from wood at first). Don´t build anything underground. Show that snobbish elves that dwarves are better in EVERYTHING - even in sitting on trees.
* BONUS: Build your tree-city at a place with low (or even no) vegetation.
* BONUS: get attacked by a dragon.
* +BONUS: Dig down to a glowing pit with Spirits of Fire and get attacked by them.

== Hunting Party ==
* One marksman/ambusher
* Two camp servants (e.g. one cook/brewer/herbalist, one butcher/tanner/leatherworker/woodcutter)
* Four clients, all dabbling in marksman/ambusher but with primarily civilian skills.

No anvil, lots of hunting dogs ... and a haunted wood. (In a terrifying wood, you may find all the trees & plants are dead, severely reducing long-term prospects.)

== Immigration and customs enforcement ==
* One miner/mason/architect
* One woodcutter/carpenter/architect
* Five military dwarves

No anvil, lots of food, in a canyon - spend the first year building fortifications to interdict traffic. Immigrants can build a town around you, but your original dwarves remain dedicated to their mission.

== Nay, no ponderous stone doors or shining silver arcades, not while I live! ==

The new king has decided rocks and metals can no longer be used in construction. He'll be overthrown shortly, but in the meantime construct your fortress using only <material>.

Anything that can be made out of <material> will be made only from <material>. Doors, chairs, floodgates, bridges, stairs, workshops, towers, you name it.

'''Wooden'''

Make everything that you can out of wood. That means nothing underground, though you may excavate to make areas above-ground. Bonus points for bringing no wood at the start and/or going to a treeless area.

'''Glass'''

Construct an above-ground fortress made entirely out of glass. Bonus points for not using magma or using clear and crystal glass exclusively.

'''Soap'''

Cleanliness is next to godliness! Soap is in the form of bars, and so can be used as a building material just like any other type of bar. Show those elven traders just how much you despise their philosophies by building your trading outpost out of stuff derived from dead trees ''and'' dead animals. Too many cats? Build with cat tallow soap.

'''Variation:''' Choose one type of rock, one type of metal, one type of gem, and one type of wood. Your whole fortress must be made from these items. You may further narrow it down to bones, skin, and other from one animal, one type of glass, etc. If any artifacts are made using a forbidden item, chuck into lava, a river, or a chasm (you may need to throw the dwarf who made it in as well, since he will throw a tantrum).

== Luddite ==
* No mechanics or [[mechanism]]s
* No [[machine]]s

[[Traps]] and moving [[bridge]]s are forbidden, water moved for [[farming]] must be accomplished by hand.

== Master Of One ==
* All starting dwarves can have one skill and one skill only
* No changes are allowed on any dwarf's labor screen
* All immigrants must stay with the profession(s) they arrive with
* All peasants must be activated into the military
Alternatively,
* All starting dwarves can have one skill and one skill only
* No changes are allowed on any dwarf's labor screen, except that hauling may be disabled. You may not enable hauling.
* All immigrants must stay with the profession(s) they arrive with, and only military that immigrates recruited may be military.

== Outcast ==
* No [[skill]]s
* One [[pick]] and no other supplies

Same as the hermit challenge, only with multiple hermits. Turn off immigrants or kill them. Turn away merchants. If they don't leave, kill them.

== The Mad Butcher ==
(this requires a tiny amount of editing to the raws) 
#Edit Dwarf Fortress\Raw\object\Creature_Domestic.txt. Remove the tag [BUTCHERABLE_NONSTANDARD] from cats and dogs. 
#Start with a normal build except:
#*One dwarf should be a dedicated butcher/leather worker
#*buy minimal food
#*bring as many puppies or kittens as possible
#Drop all your puppies or kittens into cages or into animal pits as soon as possible. 
#Dig a shaft 10 or more Z-levels deep, mark the top an animal pit. 
#At the bottom of the shaft set up a butcher shop, a tanner shop, a bedroom, and some food and leather stockpiles. 
#Set it all up so that the mad butcher cannot escape. 
#As you need food, begin selecting animals to be dropped into your deep pit, next to the butcher. 
#See how long a single butcher, butchering splattered kittens, can keep your fortress fed! Cooking and farming are cheating... raw meat for everyone! 

== This. Is. SPARTAAAA! ==

At least 50% of your dwarves should be military 100% of the time, and train in spears, shield use and [[wrestling]]. All other dwarves are "helots" and shouldn't be given any skills – they can be pressed into the military during times of war, but given no equipment or at most a bare minimum of inferior weapons. Do not use crossbows or traps. Kill maimed dwarves.

You should refuse trade with caravans, instead attacking them if possible. Whenever a messenger appears promptly enter aggressive negotiations and then throw them down the well screaming "THIS IS SPAARRTAAAAA..." at your monitor. You should forbid the use of gold and silver, etc., the making of crafts, and the smoothing of walls or any other task that makes your fortress "beautiful".

You shouldn't create chainmail or plate armour. You should only brew wine.

Note that the above suggestions are modelled on the popular movie [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300_(film) 300], which was historically inaccurate. For a more "realistic dwarven Sparta", try reading the wiki article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparta#Society the real Sparta]

== Human "alliance" ==

Start a game centered on a human town. Build a wall around the town in stone, using a mine under the town. Do not take anything from the town, though the human guards will probably help with any sieges. For an extra challenge after finishing the wall, dig down to the [[aquifer]] and flood the town.

== Stealth ==

Create a hidden outpost close to a goblin lair. Impact the outside as minimally as possible - dig down right away, and deconstruct the wagon ASAP. No building outside or even going outside. Once your army is ready, launch a surprise attack.

== Temple ==

Designing a temple to Armok. Aesthetics count - the god will be very angry if there are no stained-glass windows and domed ceilings carved with frescoes. To gain more favor, make regular sacrifices and keep the fountains and rivers red with [[blood]].

== The great brewery ==

Disaster has struck the kingdom. A strangely glowing [[Fire|‼]]<nowiki></nowiki>peasant[[Fire|‼]] visited the greatest brewery of the empire, and as a result the whole thing exploded. No time for weeping — create its successor, a fort dedicated to alcohol production, and get the alcohol supplies flowing! Try to make the widest variety possible, and give or trade it to the dwarven [[caravan]] each year.

== Castle ==

Build a castle, greater than anything built by human, elf or dwarf. This is highly time
consuming if you want it to be a good castle. There must be floor indoors, and no underground
constructions except for mining operations and cellars. For an even greater challenge, build
a gigantic tower in the middle, where the nobles stay.

== Wealth ==

The kingdom's coffers need lining, so hop to! Found a fort and start accumulating wealth as fast as possible. Attain as high a fortress value as possible, and make most of your wealth into coins for the vault. Try to beat your record for one year, two years, or five years.

== Assassination ==

Your group of seven has been chosen to assault a goblin fortress – and you're not getting any backup. Turn off immigration, and try to slay the goblin leader and escape without casualties. For extra challenge, bring no picks.

== Biodome ==

All material, seeds, food, tools, and dwarves must be in the fortress within one year. Then, seal up the entrance. Any new immigrants... well, they might be in trouble. Survive for as long as possible!

No chasms/underground rivers/magma vents allowed.

== Retirement resort ==

Build a dwarven paradise, free from labor. All peasant immigrants should be removed from every job, including hauling, and given a great place to live. Make sure to include fun activities and plenty of parties.

== Commune ==

All your dwarves have all labors enabled. Dwarves sleep only in barracks, and no dwarf, including administrators, can be assigned any personal rooms. If the nobles find this upsetting, don't hesitate to make the corridors run red with the [[blood]] of the bourgeoisie. Obviously, don't mint any coins either. (Dwarves can take turns with wood cutting and mining, since they can't have both at once.)

== Underwater fortress ==

Encase your entire fortress in [[water]]! Your fortress should be watersealed: surrounded by water against all [[wall]]s and the top of the fortress.
* Bonus: Build all water-touching walls/roof in clear glass!
* Bonus: Use [[magma]] instead of water!
* Bonus: Build it in the [[ocean]] or a non-freezing lake
* Bonus: Build large glass domes that encase the fortress. A dome 20 tiles wide should be 20 z-levels tall. Which may be hard to cover in water.
* Mod: Make your dwarves amphibious and include airlocks between the wet fortress and the dry.

== Mountain audit/core sample ==

Start in a mountainous area and strip mine everything down, down, down to ground level. Stockpile everything, and calculate the mountain's composition. For kicks, try not excavating one tile on each z-level. You'll be left with one enormous core sample.

== Segregation ==

Make two separate, working, independent fortresses. All the men go in one, all the women in the other. Married dwarves are excluded from both.

== No singles ==

As soon as you get a married couple with an immigration wave, kill all single dwarves. Continue to do so with all immigration waves. Try to lose no children.

== Santa Claus ==

Get ten thousand toys built and offered to caravans yearly. Optionally, build ten thousand toys, fetch them in adventure mode and deliver them to every single city of the world.

== How high can you go? ==

Construction, construction, construction! Just how big a tower can you build? Out of glass maybe, clear glass? Steel? Pump water to the top? Make your tower a ''pinnacle'' of achievement and stun humans, elves and goblins alike - for they know nothing of construction and engineering like dwarves do!

== Computing ==

Can your dwarves build the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism Antikythera mechanism]? Can you program the fortress to play tic-tac-toe? More details at [[computing]].

== Doomsday Clock ==

Build a water or mechanical clock whose final state triggers the support which holds your fortress up or a megabeast out.
See how much wealth you can achieve before the clock runs out.
*Bonus: Create something that resets itself, as well as purging the map, so that you can reuse the same fortress over and over.
*Super-Bonus: Create something that involves pressure plates and a small kitten, when the pressure plates are hit in the right order, your map ends. Toss the kitten in and hope for the best.

== Live up to your name ==

Go with the random name chosen by the game for your fortress and group. Make a handicap/play style based on your group's name, and a personal goal based on your fortress name. For example, if your group is The Iron Fist, your military must consist only of wrestlers in iron armor. If your fortress is Prisonportals, you must capture and jail as many goblins/creatures as possible, and all doors in the prison must be made of glass.

== Equaland ==

Equaland: where we are all Equal, besides the Almighty Leader. Each dwarf must have their own bedroom, dining room, etc. Make a large tower in the center of your perfect land and put "The Leader" in it. Then make some kind of mechanism to kill the dwarves inside their dwelling, complete with levers so that The Leader can choose who dies next. If dwarves have one too many friends kill them, if they eat too much food kill them, etc.

== World Domination ==
Pretend you are an evil mastermind. Now come up with some device or machine to render the world (or at least your portion of the map) totally unliveable, aside from, of course, your hidden lair.

Suggestions:
* Flood the map with water/magma (may require building walls around the edge of the map)
* Build an "Earthquake Machine" (the entire map is supported by a single support, which is connected to a lever)
* Build an extensive holding cell network for "scientific purposes". Fill it with megabeasts and elephants in secret. Have a lever that lets everything free to feed on the general population.


== Government in Exile ==
All dwarves are either nobles or in the military. The only useful dwarves you'll have will be your broker, manager, mayor, bookkeeper, and dungeon master. If you can survive until the sheriff arrives, transfer your entire military into the fortress guard. With a little luck, and a lot of exported roasts, you too can rule without proletarian interference.

== Stay Awhile, and Listen ==
Create a world with a lot of large caves and make it possible to see them on the embark map. Build a Fortress near a large cave with a lot of big angry monsters in it (hopefully not too close) and loot lying around that becomes a frontier town for adventurers seeking to clear out the nearby 'dungeon'. Train up dwarves to become parties of heroes who will descend into the dungeon for fame and fortune (or more likely severed limbs and death). Parties should only be about four or less. You can defend your fortress but luring monsters out into your siege engines is cheating. Give yourself points for large monsters killed and treasure claimed. 
BONUS: Only solo adventurers are allowed to enter the dungeon. 
BONUS: Only use 'Thieves' to steal loot and create traps inside the dungeon.

== Casting ==
Who needs to construct giant statues?! We need ours made from natural walls, however, we want it above ground level as well. For casting your goal is to create some giant structure out of natural obsidian walls through the use of an extremely elaborate scaffold of lava and water pools and screw pumps. When you are finished, just deconstruct the scaffolding and smooth/engrave the statue as you go. Just imagine the bridge over that chasm, now complete with two giant dwarf statues on either side to strike fear into all who enter and to show them the power of your fortress.

== The Monolith ==
As the inevitability of a fortress-wide mental breakdown looms over every single fortress why not have something that alludes to that precipice of [[insanity]]. Like the book and feature film, 2001: A Space Odyssey you must have a Monolith. This has to be made from [[obsidian]] and have a completely smooth surface (You cannot build it from blocks) You can have it be any size as long as it is outside, at least 2 tiles thick to ensure there are no pillar tiles, and has about the same ratio of width to height as it does in the movie (1:4:9) to make it as close to the real thing as possible. It would be preferable to make it large so that it seems to be dominating the landscape and your dwarves' psyche. The bigger the better.

*If the rock obsidian strata isn't deep enough in parts to make a monolith feasible consider casting a monolith with a large rectangular block in the exact same dimensional criteria as above.

== Ceremonial Sacrifices ==

Build an amazingly complex or spectacular killing device. A shaft that extends across the entire Z-plane is a good start. A constantly shifting maze of atomsmasher drawbridges is another. For the minimalist, a very confined space where you will drop a dwarf wrestler along with the gobbos once in a while. Perhaps a waterslide that carries your prisoner all the way down into a chasm? Whatever your idea, build it and dedicate your fort to the construction, maintenance and improvement of your device.

Do not kill any of your invaders. Capture them using cage traps, and them set them off in your device. Keep a record of the number of victims you drop into it.

== Noblesse requiro ==

Build your fortress to please the sick, twisted, evil nobles needs. Build a execution chamber for your rowdy dwarves and build a torture chamber for your dungeon master, using your imagination! Use this to punish pathetic dwarves who dare rebel. Build palaces for your nobles and pamper them in every way. Pour most of your resources into a beautiful place for nobles to live whilst letting your dwarves sleep in tiny, pathetic rooms. The only exception is your mayor, who rises from the rank of the disgusting peons. He must live in squalor as well, preferably next to noble rooms to so the nobles can taunt him. score yourself according to how happy your nobles are, and your worth.

== Stranded Scout Squad ==

The only items you can bring weapons, ammo, and armor (no picks). The only skills you can hand out are military. The only animals you can bring are war dogs. See how it goes.

== Bandit Camp ==

* At least 3 marksdwarves.
* Ideally, settle on a hillside, along a canyon or a valley.

Attack and loot every intelligent creatures who enter your territory : Goblins & kobolds, but also merchants, diplomats, and even migrants. You can't tell your guys to directly attack allies, but you can build traps linked to a lever (eg. a big pit under the road, with a linked pillar under the pit "roof".) and pull them to kill groups.

== Space Ship ==

Create a giant space ship fit for space travel. It should be able to hold about 100 dwarves for at least 2 years.

BONUS: Use exploding [[booze]] as ignitable fuel.

BONUS: Make a removable [[ramp]] for boarding.

BONUS: Make the [[water]] for the 2 years be on the ship using removable pumps.

BONUS+: Make it totally self sufficient. (Make an internal system which pumps the [[water]] supply through a room every few years to muddy the floor. Plant [[seed|seeds]] in the [[mud]] that's now on the floor. Manage your consumption to maintain self sufficiency.)

BONUS+: Make it all out of [[steel]].

[[fun|FUN]]: Let it be held by a single [[support]], ignite the [[booze]], remove the support an let it "fly".

EVEN BETTER: Drop it down a chasm.
== Aqueducts ==

For some reason, a noble was harmlessly pulling a lever when suddenly, magma flooded the river and exploded the booze! The king requires your band of seven to build a great aqueduct to bring water to the capital. Start with supports, and build up your aqueduct until it is 10 z-levels high!

BONUS: Start over a human town, build a wall around it, pump water through the aqueduct and into it!

== Dwarf like an Egyptian ==

*Build a pyramid of epic proportion.

Build a legendary dwarven pyramid, with a corridor running to a central tomb for your favourite noble. Perhaps build it entirely out of glass? Or try to make the top twist in a bit of a swirl. Alternatively, make your entire fortress inside a pyramid, which stretches below the ground.

== Real Time ==

:''Half this game is spent paused!'' - Dogfather

Don't use pause. Ever.

(Every single tool in the game pauses the game, so, instead, you'll have to unpause while tools are not in constant use.)

*BONUS: Don't save. Ever. If you need to sleep, arrange your jobs, close the gates, and let the dwarves take care of themselves.
** You've struck Alunite!

== Graveyard Master ==

Ever dwarf deserves a decent resting place:
*Build a tomb for ever dwarf that dies, the more dwarves you manage to bury the better.
*Tombs must be rooms with exactly 5x5 of size and 1 of height, with only one entrance tile that must be closed by a door.
*Tombs must have all its surfaces engraved.
*Tomb must contain at least 4 statues.
*Once complete, the door must be locked and the tomb must not be ever entered again.

== Skull collector ==

What proves the might of a civilization better than a hall full of skulls?
*Try to collect as many skulls as you can during your fortress life, and put then in a special skulls-only storage. The more skulls the better.

== Moria ==

Build a huge hall - at least 3 z-levels high. Leave few pillars symmetrically placed in the hall (don't build them, carve them out). Smooth and possibly engrave everything (not only the lowest z-level!). Then build thin bridge (not the bridge building, just a thin piece of rock to walk on) above magma - support it with bauxite supports connected to a lever (bauxite mechanisms needed in support). Destroy stone holding it at the both ends and replace it with floor hatches (so when you pull the lever it all goes down). After that build a bridge above the chasm.
When it's all done seal your dwarves deep inside in safe place and get invaded by goblins. At the same time dig out HFS. Lead the HFS across the both bridges and then collapse the second one when one of the champions clashes with it (it doesn't matter that the champion has killed the HFS with one hit).

== Crematory Fortress ==

* Requires a [[magma pipe]] and [[bauxite]].

Build a temple structure above a [[magma pipe]] and [[engrave]] every available surface. The temple should be as opulent as possible. In the temple, build a retracting [[bridge]] over a hole in the floor, and designate a [[coffin]] [[stockpile]] on it. Whenever a dwarf dies, build a [[bauxite]] or other [[magma-proof]] [[coffin]] for him, place it on the [[bridge]], and retract it, committing his body to the [[magma|fiery blood of the mountain]].

::Note: At the time of writing, the editor isn't sure if coffins falling off the bottom of the map count as being 'lost.' If they do, channel out a magma pool and put the temple above that to avoid tantrums.

== Swiss Precision ==

Build a working clock. The clock should accurately track DF days, months, and years.

Bonus Points:
:If the clock has a mechanical effect in the fortress proper to announce new days
:If the clock creates seasonally appropriate effects at the change of months and/or seasons.
:If the clock is used to aid in the operation of the fortress in addition to its role as a clock (automatically controls farmland irrigation at particular times, automatically opens the <s>blast doors</s> floodgates in time for merchants, etc...).
:If the clock governs the schedule of a working rail station (which is always on time). (Definitions of 'working' and 'rail station' are subject to player imagination).

But don't worry about the bonus points, a precision time device should be hard enough.

== Luxury Hotel ==

Build a hotel with large luxurious rooms
* Starting 7 dwarfs will be the only dwarfs that can work.
* All immigrants will be treated like nobles and will have all labors turned off.
*BONUS: Make a large fountain or waterfall centerpiece.
*BONUS: Keep the hotel up to code with health and safety.
** If any of the ''customers'' die or get kidnapped you must abandon the hotel.
*MEGA BONUS: Make the entire hotel out of ice.

== The cube ==

Play a fort as usual, but emphasize catching goblins in cages to support and fill this construction:
Construct a series of rooms in a symmetrical fashion, all connected to eachother with appropriate doors. Of course, enough rooms to make a maze-like structure, and if you feel like it, an exit that is hard to reach. Fill a bunch of the rooms with traps and pressureplates. Then fill one room with 4-6 goblins (preferably in cages, opened by an outside lever), release them and watch them randomly walk around the rooms dying to traps and whatnots.

*Bonus: Do multiple story maze (3d-maze)
*Bonus: Use pressureplates to open/close the exit randomly, else all goblins will just run the shortest route to the exit.

== Land battleship ==

Turn your moutain into a huge battlestation, complete with crew quarters, decks, command centre, cantina, and a large collection of deadly weapons : Batteries of marksdwarves, ballista cannons, catapults, but also lava projector or remote explosive devices (ie, cave-ins in a part of the map triggered by a lever). Dig and mine the mountain so it end looking like a real battleship, with nothing but a plain around (so you could build it from nothing on a plain, or destroy a mountain, choice is yours). The battleship has to be autonomous, and dwarves shouldn't wander outside it.

*Bonus: The weaponry cover every tile of the map (ie, everything who enter the map, from every side, can be shot)
*Bonus: Build several other ships, maybe dedicated to a special production ? (food, ammo etc.)
*Bonus: Each crew member has a civil and military formation, and when the enemy arrive, almost every economic activity is stopped and all hands to quarters !

== No death ==

Try to play the game for as long as possible without losing any dwarf (so no death, but also no failed mood, no kidnapping, no beating to death, etc.) A simple challenge, yet harder than what it seems to be.

Some players consider this to be the opposite of the intent of Dwarf Fortress. So naturally, it must be done.

== One or more dwarves against the world ==

Kill off any inital dwarves, immigrants, and children not named Urist. Essentially a slightly more dynamic Hermit challenge.

[[Category:Guides]]

40d:Matgloss token

2009-04-05T20:48:55Z

Walliard:

Preliminary information on tokens used in the material description files, stored at raw/objects/matgloss_*.txt in the default distribution.

These files begin with the filename as the other raws do, then [OBJECT:MATGLOSS]. Individual entries begin with [MATGLOSS_METAL:ID], [MATGLOSS_PLANT:ID], [MATGLOSS_STONE:ID], or [MATGLOSS_WOOD:ID].

__TOC__

==General tokens==

{| {{prettytable}}
|- bgcolor="#ddd"
! Token !! Description
|-
| NAME
| The name of the material
|-
| ADJ
| The adjective applied to objects made of the item
|-
| COLOR
| The [[color]] of the material. Note that the background is not always used (i.e. bars, stones)
|-
| BASIC_COLOR
| The [[color]] of raw stones and gems.
|-
| VALUE
| The value multiplier of the material. Not wood?
|-
| SPEC_HEAT
| The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_heat_capacity specific heat] of the material, in units of J/kg·K. Only on metal and stone?
|-
| MELTING_POINT
| See [[temperature scale]].
|-
| BOILING_POINT
| See [[temperature scale]].
|-
| SOLID_DENSITY
| Density in kg/m3.
|-
| DEEP
| [[glowing pit|Hidden fun stuff]].
|}

== Metal-specific tokens ==
* TILE is the tile (character or 437 ordinal) for the material while still in the ground (trees, plants, rough walls)
* Usage - different metals can be used for different things
** WEAPON (fun fact: the WEAPON token only appears in the list of items)
** WEAPON_RANGED
** DIGGER - e.g. for picks
** AMMO
** ANVIL
** ANY_USE
* BRITTLE - Unknown gameplay effect
* DAMAGE_PERC, BLOCK_PERC - weapons and armor respectively. Relative to Iron.
* WAFERS - Instead of bars. Items take three times as many wafers as bars to make.
== Wood-specific tokens ==
Some of these are also on plants.
* AUTUMNCOLOR - changes color with the seasons
* WET, DRY - Same as [[Plant tokens|for plants]]
* SAPLING - Young trees are called saplings instead of e.g. "young tower-cap"
* BIOME
* PREFSTRING
== Plant-specific tokens ==
See [[Plant tokens]].
== Stone-specific tokens ==
* STONE_NAME - Loose stones are called this, e.g. for "nuggets" vs native metal
* [METAL_ORE:<metal>:<percentage>] - automatically creates a smelter reaction requiring fuel and one stone to make one bar.
** Multiple METAL_ORE tokens mean that there is a percentage chance of each metal - c.f. [[tetrahedrite]] or [[galena]].
* ITEM_SYMBOL: Loose stones use this tile. Used to make [[bituminous coal]] show up as ☼ and ores as *.
* LAVA - lines the magma pipe; formed with water + magma
* SHARP - can be made into CAN_STONE weapons
* GLASS - [[rock crystal]].
* [GEM:singular:plural] - the stone drops gems, instead of loose stones. The plural can be STP, which seems to be short for "standard plural", i.e. just add an S after the singular.

===Layer types===
Note: Soils are considered to be a subtype of stone in the raws.

A stone material can be tagged with one of:
*[SEDIMENTARY]
*[IGNEOUS_INTRUSIVE]
*[IGNEOUS_EXTRUSIVE]
*[METAMORPHIC]
*[SOIL]
*[SOIL_OCEAN]

Additionally these can occur:
*[SEDIMENTARY_OCEAN_SHALLOW]
*[SEDIMENTARY_OCEAN_DEEP]
*[SOIL_SAND] - can be made into glass
*[AQUIFER] - aquifers can be in these layers

Layer tags are not mutually exclusive with ENVIRONMENT tags.

===ENVIROMENT and ENVIRONMENT_SPEC===

Format:
*[ENVIRONMENT:<class>:<inclusion type>:<frequency>]
** class may also be ALL_STONE, IGNEOUS_ALL, ALLUIVAL.
*[ENVIRONMENT_SPEC:<id>:<inclusion type>:<frequency>]

The inclusion type can be CLUSTER, CLUSTER_SMALL, CLUSTER_ONE, or VEIN. CLUSTERs are large ovoids that occupy their entire local map tile if present. CLUSTER_SMALL inclusions are blobs of 3-9 tiles; CLUSTER_ONE inclusions are single tiles; and VEINs are large streaks.

If no CLUSTER is present, then zero to two VEINs as well as roughly five to seven other clusters will be present in the local map tile.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that each z-layer will tend to reuse the same type of inclusions, leading to multiple clusters of the same type of opal rather than several different types.

== Tokens not found in the raws ==
These do not appear in any shipped raw file. They were found [[string dump|in the EXE]]. We can only speculate as to their syntax and meaning. Athough, some are obvious. Others may be easily discovered by modding. It is unknown whether any of these do anything.

* LIQUID_DENSITY
* BUILD_COLOR
* TILE_COLOR
* DROWN_LEVEL - probably for plants
* Probably Wood-specific, based on their positioning in the token table
** DEAD_TILE
** SAPLING_TILE
** DEAD_COLOR
** SAPLING_COLOR
** SAPLING_DROWN_LEVEL
** TREE_DROWN_LEVEL

[[Category:Modding]]
[[Category:Tokens]]

40d Talk:Quickstart guide

2008-12-11T02:14:27Z

Walliard:

So, this page is kinda pointless as it stands. It doesn't really provide anything that isn't on the far superior [[Your first fortress]] guide, yet we still link to it from the front page.

I'm thinking of taking it in a different direction entirely and providing a ready-made save, maybe one month in, to use as a tutorial. This gets new players past the fiddly min-maxing of the embark screen and provides the essentials, so they can get right to work learning the interface. [[User:Walliard|Walliard]] 21:14, 10 December 2008 (EST)

40d Talk:Quickstart guide

2008-12-11T02:14:00Z

Walliard: New page: So, this page is kinda pointless as it stands. It doesn't really provide anything that isn't on the far superior Your First Fortress guide, yet we still link to it from the front page....

So, this page is kinda pointless as it stands. It doesn't really provide anything that isn't on the far superior [[Your First Fortress]] guide, yet we still link to it from the front page.

I'm thinking of taking it in a different direction entirely and providing a ready-made save, maybe one month in, to use as a tutorial. This gets new players past the fiddly min-maxing of the embark screen and provides the essentials, so they can get right to work learning the interface. [[User:Walliard|Walliard]] 21:14, 10 December 2008 (EST)

40d:Version number

2008-11-15T05:20:05Z

Walliard:

The '''version number''' identifies each [[Dwarf Fortress]] release. [[Toady|Tarn Adams]] assigns it when he publishes a release. Version numbers are composed of four numbers and a letter. Each component has its own meaning:

# The first number is how many hundreds of core components have been completed.
# The second number is the total number of [http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/dev_core_1-20.html core] components completed.
# The third number is the total number of [http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/dev_req_1-50.html required] components completed.
# The fourth number is the total number of [http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/dev_bloat_1-50.html bloat] components completed.
# The adjacent letter is increased by one alphabetically for each bug-fix release of a version.

== Example ==

{| style='width: 35em; margin: 1em auto; border-spacing: 0; text-align: center'
|-
| colspan='4' |
| colspan='2' width='1%' style='font-size: 200%; padding: 0.2em; border-bottom: 3px solid #999; background: #eeeeee' | 0
| colspan='2' width='1%' style='font-size: 200%; padding: 0' | .
| colspan='2' width='1%' style='font-size: 200%; padding: 0.2em; border-bottom: 3px solid #9df; background: #eef5ff' | 28
| colspan='2' width='1%' style='font-size: 200%; padding: 0' | .
| colspan='2' width='1%' style='font-size: 200%; padding: 0.2em; border-bottom: 3px solid #db8; background: #fff5ee' | 181
| colspan='2' width='1%' style='font-size: 200%; padding: 0' | .
| colspan='2' width='1%' style='font-size: 200%; padding: 0.2em; border-bottom: 3px solid #bd8; background: #f5ffee' | 40
| colspan='3' width='1%' style='font-size: 200%; padding: 0.2em; border-bottom: 3px solid #999; background: #eeeeee' | d
| colspan='4' |
|-
| style='height: 1em' |
| style='border-bottom: 1px solid #999' |
| style='width: 1em; border-bottom: 1px solid #999' |
| style='width: 15em' style='border-bottom: 1px solid #999' |
| width='1%' style='border-right: 1px solid #999; border-bottom: 1px solid #999' |
| width='1%' style='border-left: 1px solid #999' |
| width='1%' style='border-bottom: 1px solid #9df' |
| width='1%' style='border-bottom: 1px solid #9df' |
| width='1%' style='border-right: 1px solid #9df; border-bottom: 1px solid #9df' |
| width='1%' style='border-left: 1px solid #9df' |
||
||
| width='1%' style='border-right: 1px solid #db8' |
| width='1%' style='border-left: 1px solid #db8' |
||
||
| width='1%' style='border-right: 1px solid #bd8' |
| width='1%' style='border-left: 1px solid #bd8; border-bottom: 1px solid #bd8' |
| width='1%' style='border-bottom: 1px solid #bd8' |
| style='border-right: 1px solid #999' |
| width='1%' style='border-bottom: 1px solid #999; border-left: 1px solid #999' |
| style='width: 3em; border-bottom: 1px solid #999'|
| style='width: 3em; border-bottom: 1px solid #999' |
| style='border-bottom: 1px solid #999' |
| style='height: 1em' |
|-
| style='height: 1em; border-right: 1px solid #999' |
| style='border-left: 1px solid #999; border-top: 1px solid #999' |
| style='border-top: 1px solid #999' |
| style='border-top: 1px solid #999' |
| style='border-top: 1px solid #999' |
| style='border-right: 1px solid #9df' |
| style='border-left: 1px solid #9df; border-top: 1px solid #9df' |
| style='border-top: 1px solid #9df' |
| width='1%' style='border-top: 1px solid #9df' |
| width='1%' |
||
||
| width='1%' style='border-right: 1px solid #db8' |
| width='1%' style='border-left: 1px solid #db8' |
||
||
||
| width='1%' style='border-top: 1px solid #bd8' |
| width='1%' style='border-right: 1px solid #bd8; border-top: 1px solid #bd8' |
| width='1%' style='border-left: 1px solid #bd8' |
| width='1%' style='border-top: 1px solid #999' |
| style='border-top: 1px solid #999' |
| style='border-top: 1px solid #999' |
| style='border-right: 1px solid #999; border-top: 1px solid #999' |
| style='border-left: 1px solid #999' |
|-
| colspan='2' style='padding: 0.25em; border: 2px solid #999; background: #eeeeee' | Less than 100 '''core''' components complete
| colspan='1' | <div style='width: 1.5em'></div>
| colspan='5' style='padding: 0.25em; border: 2px solid #9df; background: #eef5ff' | 28 '''core''' components completed
| colspan='1' | <div style='width: 0.5em'></div>
| colspan='8' style='padding: 0.25em; border: 2px solid #db8; background: #fff5ee' | 181 '''required''' components completed
| colspan='1' | <div style='width: 0.5em'></div>
| colspan='4' style='padding: 0.25em; border: 2px solid #bd8; background: #f5ffee' | 40 '''bloat''' components completed
| colspan='1' | <div style='width: 1.5em'></div>
| colspan='2' style='padding: 0.25em; border: 2px solid #999; background: #eeeeee' | A fourth '''bug-fix''' release
|}

== Version 1 ==

{{Bay 12|Version 1 Development|http://bay12games.com/dwarves/dev_v1.html}}

Dwarf Fortress is currently in an alpha development stage. There are still basic game features missing. The following goals need to be completed before alpha and beta are complete and version 1 will be released:

* In [[fortress mode]], the fortress needs to be able to grow into a capital that can interact with the outside world in various ways, including trade, diplomacy and war.
* In [[adventure mode]], the adventurer needs to be able to interact with all elements added.
* The core and required components need to be implemented.

== See Also ==
* [[Development Arcs|Development arcs]]
* [[:Category:Version|Version list]]

[[Category:Game development]]

40d:Version number

2008-11-15T05:19:43Z

Walliard:

The '''version number''' identifies each [[Dwarf Fortress]] release. [[Toady|Tarn Adams]] assigns it when he publishes a release. Version numbers are composed of four numbers and a letter. Each component has its own meaning:

# The first number is how many hundreds of core components have been completed.
# The second number is the total number of [http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/dev_core_1-20.html core] components completed.
# The third number is the total number of [http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/dev_req_1-50.html required] components completed.
# The fourth number is the total number of [http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/dev_bloat_1-50.html bloat] components completed.
# The adjacent letter is increased by one alphabetically for each bug-fix release of a version.

== Example ==

{| style='width: 35em; margin: 1em auto; border-spacing: 0; text-align: center'
|-
| colspan='4' |
| colspan='2' width='1%' style='font-size: 200%; padding: 0.2em; border-bottom: 3px solid #999; background: #eeeeee' | 0
| colspan='2' width='1%' style='font-size: 200%; padding: 0' | .
| colspan='2' width='1%' style='font-size: 200%; padding: 0.2em; border-bottom: 3px solid #9df; background: #eef5ff' | 28
| colspan='2' width='1%' style='font-size: 200%; padding: 0' | .
| colspan='2' width='1%' style='font-size: 200%; padding: 0.2em; border-bottom: 3px solid #db8; background: #fff5ee' | 181
| colspan='2' width='1%' style='font-size: 200%; padding: 0' | .
| colspan='2' width='1%' style='font-size: 200%; padding: 0.2em; border-bottom: 3px solid #bd8; background: #f5ffee' | 40
| colspan='3' width='1%' style='font-size: 200%; padding: 0.2em; border-bottom: 3px solid #999; background: #eeeeee' | d
| colspan='4' |
|-
| style='height: 1em' |
| style='border-bottom: 1px solid #999' |
| style='width: 1em; border-bottom: 1px solid #999' |
| style='width: 15em' style='border-bottom: 1px solid #999' |
| width='1%' style='border-right: 1px solid #999; border-bottom: 1px solid #999' |
| width='1%' style='border-left: 1px solid #999' |
| width='1%' style='border-bottom: 1px solid #9df' |
| width='1%' style='border-bottom: 1px solid #9df' |
| width='1%' style='border-right: 1px solid #9df; border-bottom: 1px solid #9df' |
| width='1%' style='border-left: 1px solid #9df' |
||
||
| width='1%' style='border-right: 1px solid #db8' |
| width='1%' style='border-left: 1px solid #db8' |
||
||
| width='1%' style='border-right: 1px solid #bd8' |
| width='1%' style='border-left: 1px solid #bd8; border-bottom: 1px solid #bd8' |
| width='1%' style='border-bottom: 1px solid #bd8' |
| style='border-right: 1px solid #999' |
| width='1%' style='border-bottom: 1px solid #999; border-left: 1px solid #999' |
| style='width: 3em; border-bottom: 1px solid #999'|
| style='width: 3em; border-bottom: 1px solid #999' |
| style='border-bottom: 1px solid #999' |
| style='height: 1em' |
|-
| style='height: 1em; border-right: 1px solid #999' |
| style='border-left: 1px solid #999; border-top: 1px solid #999' |
| style='border-top: 1px solid #999' |
| style='border-top: 1px solid #999' |
| style='border-top: 1px solid #999' |
| style='border-right: 1px solid #9df' |
| style='border-left: 1px solid #9df; border-top: 1px solid #9df' |
| style='border-top: 1px solid #9df' |
| width='1%' style='border-top: 1px solid #9df' |
| width='1%' |
||
||
| width='1%' style='border-right: 1px solid #db8' |
| width='1%' style='border-left: 1px solid #db8' |
||
||
||
| width='1%' style='border-top: 1px solid #bd8' |
| width='1%' style='border-right: 1px solid #bd8; border-top: 1px solid #bd8' |
| width='1%' style='border-left: 1px solid #bd8' |
| width='1%' style='border-top: 1px solid #999' |
| style='border-top: 1px solid #999' |
| style='border-top: 1px solid #999' |
| style='border-right: 1px solid #999; border-top: 1px solid #999' |
| style='border-left: 1px solid #999' |
|-
| colspan='2' style='padding: 0.25em; border: 2px solid #999; background: #eeeeee' | Less than 100 '''core''' components complete
| colspan='1' | <div style='width: 1.5em'></div>
| colspan='5' style='padding: 0.25em; border: 2px solid #9df; background: #eef5ff' | 28 '''core''' components completed
| colspan='1' | <div style='width: 0.5em'></div>
| colspan='8' style='padding: 0.25em; border: 2px solid #db8; background: #fff5ee' | 181 '''required''' components completed
| colspan='1' | <div style='width: 0.5em'></div>
| colspan='4' style='padding: 0.25em; border: 2px solid #bd8; background: #f5ffee' | 40 '''bloat''' components completed
| colspan='1' | <div style='width: 1.5em'></div>
| colspan='2' style='padding: 0.25em; border: 2px solid #999; background: #eeeeee' | A third '''bug-fix''' release
|}

== Version 1 ==

{{Bay 12|Version 1 Development|http://bay12games.com/dwarves/dev_v1.html}}

Dwarf Fortress is currently in an alpha development stage. There are still basic game features missing. The following goals need to be completed before alpha and beta are complete and version 1 will be released:

* In [[fortress mode]], the fortress needs to be able to grow into a capital that can interact with the outside world in various ways, including trade, diplomacy and war.
* In [[adventure mode]], the adventurer needs to be able to interact with all elements added.
* The core and required components need to be implemented.

== See Also ==
* [[Development Arcs|Development arcs]]
* [[:Category:Version|Version list]]

[[Category:Game development]]

40d:Fishing

2008-11-14T00:29:20Z

Walliard: D for Dwarf

{{D for Dwarf}}

'''Fishing''' is the [[labor]] used to catch [[fish]]. It is an excellent source of food (and some raw materials) in the early game, though its usefulness diminishes somewhat as your fortress grows.

Any dwarf with the [[Fisherdwarf]] labor enabled will fish, either in a [[cave river]], an outside river, the [[swamp]]s (i.e., outdoor lakes, murky pools) or artificial lakes connected to the river. Fisherdwarves can catch various kinds of [[fish]], as well as other aquatic creatures like turtles. Turtles can be very useful to a starting fortress, since eating them uncooked leaves behind bone and shell which your [[craftsdwarf|craftsdwarves]] can use to make trade goods, armour, and ammunition.

Fishing requires no equipment, as Fisherdwarves have developed a highly superior fishing method. When tasked, the dwarf will go out to a body of water he has picked and wade in knee deep. The dwarf then simply lowers his prestigious beard into the water and waits. Inevitably a fish will arrive, attracted by the remains of the dwarf's last meal still lodged in his beard. When the fish makes the fatal error of attempting to acquire this morsel, it is hopelessly entangled.(In some kobold societies they fish exclusively with nets made from dwarf beard hair.) The only flaw in this method is that devilish [[carp]] have learned to drag dwarves into rivers by their beard. In some instances, when the carp rips out a significant portion of the Fisherdwarf's beard, he will simply allow himself to drown. Most dwarves see this as more honorable than returning home in horrible beardless shame.

Overfishing can exhaust the fish population of a pond or river temporarily. For this reason, it may be advisable to keep your fishing below a certain limit if you rely on fishing as a major food source.

Note that the game considers fishing a very high-priority labour, meaning that fisherdwarves will often waste time fishing, usually at the expense of more urgent tasks that need doing. It is sometimes a good idea to turn Fishing off for a while so that your dwarves can work on other tasks. However extremely skilled [[fisherdwarf|fisherdwarves]] can produce a really immense amount of turtle which can either be tossed near the water in horrible rotting piles or end up in your food store.

Swamp-fishing can draw your dwarves far away from the safety of the fortress. If your map has a lot of dangerous wildlife, you may want to consider assigning guard dogs to your fisherdwarves, or post a military squad near each lake.

Fish cannot be eaten as soon as it is caught; it must be cleaned in a [[fishery]] first. (An exception is the raw mussel, which can be cooked at a kitchen instead of cleaned at a fishery). Again, even if your fisherdwarves have the Fish Cleaning labor turned on, they may prefer to keep fishing rather than clean the fish that they've already caught. (Can you blame them?) More than one dwarf has starved to death because of this: don't let it happen to you!

[[Category:tasks]]

40d:Batman

2008-11-11T20:17:43Z

Walliard:

{{D for Dwarf}}
{{CreatureInfo|name=Batman|symbol=b|color={{COLOR:0:0:1}}|butcher=no|bones=4|fat=N/A|skin=N/A|skulls=1|chunks=N/A|meat=N/A|biome=* Subterrenean [[chasm]]}}

Half [[man]], half [[bat]]. These weak [[creatures]] are commonly found around [[chasm]] areas. As a properly-armed [[dwarf]] can easily take them down with sufficient [[armour]]/weapons, they provide good military training.

They can fly and are sometimes armed with [[weapon]]s.

''Some things to watch out for when dealing with batmen:''
 They show a preference for working individually, or paired up with a different birdman of some type.
 They are most likely to target the dwarf whose "comedian" attribute is at the highest level.
 They are exceptional detectives: given enough preparation time, they can defeat any foe.
 Their default identities are a secret. If you turn this off, their chasm will flood your fortress with [[noble]]s instead.
 They can breathe in space.
 They are vengeance, they are the night.

{{Game_Data|[CREATURE:BATMAN]
[NAME:batman:batmen:batman]
[TILE:'b'][COLOR:0:0:1]
[LARGE_ROAMING]
[BIOME:SUBTERRANEAN_CHASM]
[PATTERNFLIER][FLIER]
[GENPOWER:4]
[BUTCHERABLE_NONSTANDARD]
[LARGE_PREDATOR]
[CAN_LEARN][CAN_SPEAK]
[CANOPENDOORS]
[POPULATION_NUMBER:15:30]
[CLUSTER_NUMBER:5:7]
[PREFSTRING:mystery]
[BODY:HUMANOID_FLIER:2EYES:2EARS:NOSE:2LUNGS:HEART:GUTS:ORGANS:HUMANOID_JOINTS:THROAT:NECK:SPINE:BRAIN:4FINGERS:4TOES:MOUTH]
[SIZE:4]
[MAXAGE:10:20]
[ATTACK:MAIN:BYTYPE:GRASP:punch:punches:1:2:BLUDGEON][ATTACKFLAG_WITH]
[ATTACK:SECOND:BYTYPE:MOUTH:bite:bites:1:2:GORE][ATTACKFLAG_CANLATCH]
[FEATURE_ATTACK_GROUP]
[EQUIPS]
[FAT:1]
[ALL_ACTIVE]
[STANDARD_FLESH]
[HOMEOTHERM:10067]
[LAYERING:100]
[SWIMS_INNATE][SWIM_SPEED:2500]
}}
{{Creatures}}
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Humanoids]]

40d Talk:Your first fortress

2008-11-04T16:43:51Z

Walliard: /* Dwarf with appropriate skills not necessarily the leader */

=Other=
===== Content from [[Getting started]] =====
The goal of this page is to explain in detail, and for newbies, how to:
#Generate a world (possibly from a seed)(probably will link to article(s) on the topic)
#Pick a fortress location
#Name your fortress and starting group
#Buy skills and items, for the biome type picked in #2 (probably will give the newbie build from the [[starting builds]] page)
#Play the first month or two of the game, for the biome type picked in #2
I don't know how to write an article that does this, but I do know that this is what this article should be. 
--[[User:Savok|Savok]] 11:19, 2 November 2007 (EDT)

I'd like to avoid having an overabundance of tutorial articles again. It sounds to me like all of the above would fit into [[Your first fortress]] just as easily. --[[User:Peristarkawan|Peristarkawan]] 12:00, 2 November 2007 (EDT)

:Should we go ahead and just #redirect it?--[[User:Draco18s|Draco18s]] 12:07, 2 November 2007 (EDT)

::Done. --[[User:Peristarkawan|Peristarkawan]] 12:14, 2 November 2007 (EDT)

===== Recording a Movie =====
I was thinking that someone could record a movie following the steps given here, as a visual aid. As DF is very structure-based it would help to visualize how the fortress is supposed to look. [[User:Memo|Memo]] 15:13, 4 November 2007 (EST)

=Choosing a location=
==Your surrondings==

===== flux, iron, etc. =====

Is it really necessary to recommend a sedimentary layer? You don't really need to start with iron at all, you can just let the goblins import it for you and melt their armor for an essentially infinite supply. Unless this changes at the end of Army Arc I'm not sure starting iron is needed.

*Who said this? Anyway, goblins aren't that reliable, at least in the early years. I've settled in everything but Terrifying regions and I've yet to be sieged or raided. Kobold thieves up the wazoo but no goblins except the odd snatcher. [[User:Corona688|Corona688]] 19:24, 30 October 2008 (EDT)
*Melting is a terrible way to get metal unless you have magma, that's pretty much impossible to argue. Goblins show up at population hurdles, though, so you probably just haven't gotten big enough yet. Regardless, iron-level equipment can be replicated with masterwork leather and bone equipment. Iron is far from critical. Helpful, but not critical. --[[User:ThunderClaw|ThunderClaw]] 20:23, 30 October 2008 (EDT)

===== Have to be in contact with dwarves? =====

"You will want to be in contact with dwarves to get immigrants and a dwarven trading caravan."

Is it even possible to settle somewhere without dwarves? --[[User:Juckto|Juckto]] 18:18, 24 May 2008 (EDT)

:Nope. Even on a volcanic island on the opposite side of the map from any dwarven mountainhome, caravans visited. It's worth noting that the local map was all land, but still they took ships over to get to the island itself, I suppose.--[[User:Dadamh|Dadamh]] 14:49, 30 May 2008 (EDT)

::Ships don't exist. <tt>"Boats are the enemy of tiles. And tiles are the enemy of boats." --Toady One</tt>
::They don't need to, either - the caravans just bring along seven units of lava, one block of green glass, and a legendary glassmaker. Once they get to the beach, they turn a tiny patch of sand into an ocean-spanning bridge.
::That, or they tunnel under the ocean with an unskilled miner - he'll become legendary soon enough. --[[User:Savok|Savok]] 23:01, 30 May 2008 (EDT)

:::Well, I sort of meant it as a joke. Off-screen boats. My entire tile was flat land, but they still got there somehow, so I was supposing boats over the water.--[[User:Dadamh|Dadamh]] 07:32, 31 May 2008 (EDT)

=Buying Skills and Items=
==Skills==
===== Skill choices =====
I know skill choices are largely a matter of preference, but the inclusion of a Bookkeeper, Manager, Expedition Leader, and Broker in the landing party definitely merit a mention, as well as whether or not a beginning player should throw a few skill points at improving his Broker's and Leader's key skills. Being able to talk that first dwarven caravan into throwing some extra sides of meat in could mean the difference in survival for a newer player.--[[User:Xazak|Xazak]] 19:29, 3 November 2007 (EDT)
:I agree with this. When I make a new Caravan, I often make a Leader-type with ONLY leader/trade related skills. Even just having the ability to SEE the values of the items (even if you have them memorized) helps aid in making a good first-year trade session. And the first-year Dwarven caravan doesn't expect a large profit. I've done large deals with them that only netted them a 10-coin profit. --[[User:Nekojin|Nekojin]] 12:45, 14 November 2007 (EST)

I think good bridging points are the seasons and end of the years; To aid readability and to separate into chunks, I think a listing of 'things to accomplish by winter', 'things to accomplish by spring (your first immingants!)', that sort of thing -- To avoid having a gigantic page, it might be better to split them off into "your first year", "your second year", especially because the gameplay changes signifiantly when you start getting nobles and your construction focus starts to shift from mere survival into making your dwarves happy, trading, and onward to economy and such. If people are interested in taking this approach, I'd certainly help with the writing. [[User:Bhodi|Bhodi]] 13:10, 4 November 2007 (EST)

Current skill list could be improved. Gem setter? Just wait for immigrant... Starting points can be spent in better ways. Mechanic/architect won't have time for architecture if he has well-planned day. Woodcutting goes up really quick. 4 points in axedwarf will give you enough active defense for everything that isn't strong enough to force you to lock all dwarves underground. Weaponsmith isn't really needed at start. Your unskilled dwarves aren't good fighters, and this 20-40% damage won't change much. Proficient in herbalism is too much. It's either only to bootstrap aboveground farming or to replace it entirely (for starting fortresses) in which case you don't need grower skill. --[[User:Someone-else|Someone-else]] 16:35, 24 April 2008 (EDT)
:Speaking of gem setters, they're completely worthless because it takes more time to stud 300 exceptional mugs with gems than it takes to make 300 masterwork mugs. --[[User:GreyMario|GreyMario]] 16:50, 24 April 2008 (EDT)
::Hey now, the point of gem setting (after you've gotten a legendary one of course) isn't to stud your mugs, its to decorate those statues/thrones/tables/doors for the king or just general enjoyment of the fortress. Its not like you need gems or gem-studded objects for trade, buying out caravans is so trivially easy without that. And if you're going to stud a tradegood with gems, stud something with more intrinsic value than a mug - even a masterwork one isn't worth all that much.
::More generally on skills, i've been finding that once you get comfortable with the game you want to load up on skills that are harder to level up. I haven't even been starting with miners my last couple games, leveling miners is pretty easy. I often grab dwarves who can do one to two of the following: Carpentry, Building Design, Masonry, Mechanics, Weaponsmith, Armorsmith, Metalsmith. After that, choose one of Clothier or Glassworker (and possibly grab some related profession skills). Make sure one dwarf has leader skills (I prefer 1 in each of Negotiator/Appraiser/Judge Intent/Persuader/Consoler). Combine these as you see fit (though I generally combo Architect/Mason and make my Mechanic my broker/trader/bookkeeper/hopefully leader). And make sure to get a Brewer/Grower to handle your food needs (starting with a trained cook I find to be less important than a trained brewer). Anything left I put into other possibly useful and hard to train skills - gem cutter or setter being most typical. The real trick is suitably micromanaging the 'easy-train' necessary jobs to avoid polluting your desired mood skill before the first wave of immigrants arrive. I've also been starting with an anvil most of the time too, and crafting my axe (and sometimes my picks, although you don't save much doing that).
::Which isn't to say beginners shouldn't start with some experienced miners and so forth. But the herbalist is wholely unnecessary (I've only above ground farmed once, and that was for dye plants and 4 years in). It would be more worthwhile to recommend they start in an area with a soil layer to make underground farming easier (and soil layers seem to be pretty common). But the starting advice recommends so much food that the only difficulty is figuring out how to irrigate, not having the time to do so before they run out of food. Finally, defensive skills are overrated. You want defense? That's what the mechanic is for. Stonefall traps are far more reliable than a military dwarf, and won't take ages getting into position, be sleeping/eating/drinking when you need them, or take an unlucky hit and die instead of finishing the critter. Far too much of a gamble, especially for a new player. (Kobold thieves are easily dealt with by drafting everyone within a small radius, or just letting it run away if only one dwarf is nearby - they won't try to engage your dwarves once spotted - or by dogs for that matter).
::--[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 01:31, 30 April 2008 (EDT)

I have a concern that fisherdwarf is a suggested skill. If you are along a river or ocean, chances are any fisherdwarves will be horribly mauled by deadly carp and longnose gar. Fish are deadly enough to any dwarves getting a drink from a river without tempting fate by actually fishing. One dwarf dying along a river creates a deadly cycle of dwarves attempting to loot the body and then being killed by fish.--[[User:Quartic|quartic]] 14:19, 30 May 2008 (EDT)

Of note, if your map has at least one layer of sand, it's better to spend your skill points on your miners into something else like mechanics instead of mining. Sand digs fast even with unskilled miners and they skill up at a fast rate. A much faster rate then any trade-skill, so it's a far more efficient setup. Also, if you embark to any location with stone a Proficient Stonecrafter is essential for generating wealth and more importantly clearing up all the stone laying around.--[[User:Robbox|Robbox]] 20:25, 17 October 2008 (EDT)

===== Dwarf with appropriate skills not necessarily the leader =====
I used a skill assignment similar to those recommended here and my presumptive leader with mining/judge of intent/consoler/appraiser/record-keeper/organizer was passed over for the weaponsmith/armorsmith. He was assigned outpost leader, manager, trader, and bookkeeper despite not having a single appropriate skill. And to really rub it it in, one of his traits is "never speaks out or attempts to direct activities." At least I was able to switch the jobs other than leader back to the right dwarf for the job (and I'm forcing the smith to smooth stone all day for his presumption.) One other factor that may have been involved is that the smith is friends with 5 others and the intended boss-dwarf has but one friend and one grudge. --[[User:Danny Rathjens|Danny Rathjens]] 02:12, 7 April 2008 (EDT)
:I believe giving the intended leader a couple points of social skills (Negotiator/Consoler/etc) prevents this, but it could use some testing. [[User:Walliard|Walliard]] 11:43, 4 November 2008 (EST)

===== Switching out Weaponsmith/Armorsmith =====
I was thinking, instead of switching out the weapon/armor smith for a fisher, you could switch them out for a craftsdwarf and remove 1 point from building design for fisherdwarf. --[[User:0todd0|0todd0]] 19:57, 1 September 2008 (EDT)

:The weapon/armor smith is certainly the weakest in this setup, I don't take him with me also. It mostly takes quite a while until you are ready to smelter stuff, usually having quite some migrants already at the time. And even if you have an untrained dwarf. Working with metal is seldom something you need to go really fast. So I for one always take 1 military trained dwarf (marksdwarf) with me instead of the smith, to take care of the early monsters, which can otherwise be quite a pain. --[[User:Catpaw|Catpaw]] 08:56, 22 September 2008 (EDT)

==Items==
=====Huh?=====
Is this still up to date? In the newest version of DF, you don't seem to spend money on skills, but rather use points from a collective pool. There doesn't seem to be enough points to even come close to creating the suggested group. I've never actually played a game (hence my consultation of the "first fortress" page), so I'm not sure if I'm just missing something, though. Any advice? --[[User:DuckAndCower|DuckAndCower]] 23:47, 29 April 2008 (EDT)

Nevermind... I just realized I needed to remove items from the pool first. Maybe a note that you have to hit Tab to get to the items page would help? --[[User:DuckAndCower|DuckAndCower]] 23:52, 29 April 2008 (EDT)

=Beginning the Fortress=
==Intro==
===== Wall of text =====
I think the "Beginning the Fortress" section isn't very pleasant to read. The bullet points help a bit, but I think numbered ones (matching the "TOC" above it) would be a bit more helpful. I'd however prefer to split the steps using numbered headlines, then it'd clearly define each step and automatically be indexed at the top. Thoughts? --[[User:TwoD|TwoD]] 13:03, 2 November 2007 (EDT)
:That's beyond me, but anyone who can should feel free to clean it up and make it as readable as possible. --[[User:BahamutZERO|BahamutZERO]] 01:37, 3 November 2007 (EDT)

I believe the following sentence to be much to hard to understand for its continued existence:
"Stairs can go as deep as you want in a stack if you keep making up/down stairways on top of each other. You can continue stairs from both the top and the bottom of up/down stairways, but only from the bottom of downward stairways, and only from the top of upward stairways so only use the upward stairway or downward stairway when you're not planning to ever go further that direction."
[[User:Iluziat|Iluziat]] 02:23, 15 September 2008 (EDT)

== Trading ==
=====Anvil=====
The caravan is by no means guaranteed to bring an anvil the first year. (Out of ten games started and played through first year, I think I've gotten an anvil twice.) You can request one from the liason, though. I'd edit the entry myself, but I'm not certain how to word it without totally changing that whole paragraph.--[[User:Xazak|Xazak]] 15:41, 11 November 2007 (EST)

:I think that Humans always bring an anvil or two, but I may be wrong. [[User:Memo|Memo]] 17:02, 11 November 2007 (EST)
:: You are not correct, Memo. I've had fortresses that have gone anvil-less for 2 years before a Dwarven Caravan finally brought one (brought three, actually). Edit: The first year's caravans (Fall Dwarven, Spring Elven, and Summer Human) are largely randomized. I've seen vastly different products being brought in on all three of those, with roughly similar settlements and trade requests. --[[User:Nekojin|Nekojin]] 12:18, 14 November 2007 (EST)

===== Trading vs Growing=====
Is it just me, or is it much easier to teach people how to trade for food than it is to farm/grow/brew? I find one dedicated stonecrafter is more than enough to purchase all the food that can be possibly thrown at you, and will likely even be legendary by the time the second trade caravan comes along. For a "newb strategy" this might be the way to go instead of trying to explain floodgates and channels right off the bat. [[User:Weasello|Weasello]] 10:50, 21 March 2008 (EDT)

:Yeah, but you're forgetting something. If a trade caravan gets ambushed or if they don't sell anything to you, then you're in trouble. And of course, trading with an Elf is like trying to get blood out of a stone.
My recommendation is to get food three ways;
1) Grow Plump Helmet
2) Fish
3) Kill animals for meat.[[User:AlexFili|AlexFili]] 07:43, 30 April 2008 (EDT)

::Eeeeeexcept you don't know how to properly trade with the elves. As a general rule of thumb, if it once lived, don't sell it to them. Silk is fine, buy shit from the elves using the *cave spider silk sock*s you made from the dwarves' cave spider silk cloth that you bought with your *cat meat roast [40]*. --[[User:GreyMario|GreyMario]] 15:16, 30 April 2008 (EDT)

:::Alternately, trade them craploads of stonecrafts. I mean, there are two ways to clear a fortress of excess stone (stone blocks and stonecrafts), and one of them provides tradegoods, so stonecraft like mad. You'll get nice clean hallways too. Mechanisms would almost work, except they can't be binned. They're also a great early trade good, but elves will complain about the weight - you can unload a couple on the elves generally though if you clear them out (supplemented by lighter things, like... stonecrafts). Mechanisms are far better for doing things like buying metal bars and an anvil off the dwarf caravan, because they're more value/mass than those are.
:::You can also unload all those Narrow Giant Spider Silk loincloths you'll start collecting on elves, just make sure to check for blood spatters - elves don't like those too much.
:::--[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 17:20, 30 April 2008 (EDT)

===== Office not required to meet with liaison =====
I met him in my barracks with no office built. :) --[[User:Danny Rathjens|Danny Rathjens]] 02:00, 7 April 2008 (EDT)
:I confirm. When I forgot to assign office to my Exp leader, he conducted meeting with liaison at meeting hall (designated from well)--[[User:Dorten|Dorten]] 03:46, 7 April 2008 (EDT)

::I also confirm, my leader's thoughts included 'was embarassed to hold a meeting in a dining room'.--[[User:Dwarven Gemologist|Gemmy]] 13:35, 23 April 2008 (EDT)

:::Despite having built an office for him, he refused to use it while he was still an expedition leader - and received no bad thought because of it. From a different game, after becoming mayor he does receive an embarassed thought if no office is assigned. --[[User:Squirrelloid|Squirrelloid]] 13:48, 23 April 2008 (EDT)

:I fixed this in the article a week ago. [[User:Anydwarf|Anydwarf]] 15:24, 23 April 2008 (EDT)

==Stockpiles==
===== Moving refuse stockpile inside =====
Section about stockpiles recommends moving all stockpiles inside as soon as possible. It's wrong thing as it creates miasma if not handled properly. Best thing that can be done is either making custom stockpiles - one for bones/shells/skulls (inside, near craftdwarf shop) and one for rest (outside, near tanner), designing special anti-miasma room for refuse or order dwarves to dump rotting things into water/magma/chasm etc.

You dont understand the point - if your miasma creating stuff is usually put outside, the shit hits the fan one or another way when u have the first siege or even only ambush. Made this clearer in the article.--[[User:Koltom|Koltom]] 21:36, 23 April 2008 (EDT)

Just for an example, I store my refuge and graveyard in a nearby cave/mountain/basement. I usually make the corridors a bit more winding then usual, and I put a few doors in for an air-lock effect. a 5x5 refuge pit should be enough for the first year, and 1-3 coffins in the graveyard just in case. [[User:AlexFili|AlexFili]] 07:41, 30 April 2008 (EDT)

=Long Term Planning=
Should we add a section discussing what sort of population percentages might be assigned to various tasks once migrants start coming in? Or perhaps adding a page discussing Mid-game and Full Population fortresses and what people can do during them? --[[User:RomeoFalling|RomeoFalling]] 21:41, 25 October 2008 (EDT)

:Sure, I'd love to compare notes. I've got a late-game fortress right now with 164 dwarves. 50 are doing skilled work, 15 are soldiers, 17 are <s>leeches</s> nobles and children, and the remainder (82) are hauling full-time. Legendary dwarves of any sort can turn out so much product, you need like 3 or 4 haulers for each of them just to keep them supplied and their workshops free of clutter.

:Of those 50 skilled dwarves, 4 are miners; 7 are woodcutters who actually spend a lot more time wood hauling; 2-3 are bone carvers or wood crafters turning out practice bolts; one's a glassmaker; 2 are fisherdwarves (they waste most of their time hauling the fish they've caught); 3 are growers who actually haven't grown anything for like three years (they turned out about 5,000 plants in the early years, and booze-roasting and trading for food has kept the fort well-fed since then); one's a brewer/cook doing the booze-roasting; one's a mechanic who made most of my trade goods in the early years (he's mostly hauling these days though); one's a blacksmith churning out nickel bins; and 14 are furnace operators (I've got 3,000 bars, half of which are copper). Most of the hauling at this point is bringing ore to the smelters, bones and corpses to the carvers, and cramming all their output into bins. In the previous "phase", I had at least five dwarves doing everything they could to keep my forges clear of copper armor while I trained up an armorsmith to Legendary+5.

:Oh, and I also have a full-time miller getting rid of all this dimple cup I grew in the first years. Not sure why, I don't have any clothing industry to speak of. And a few of the soldiers with nervous injuries are killing wildlife for the bone carvers to process. I suppose I could butcher some of them but I've got too much meat and leather from the traders as it is. One of the soldiers has 13 goblin kills, 27 elephants, and over 100 other animals. Attaboy.

:The earliest phase of the fortress centered around the farms. After a few years I shut them down altogether and had about 40 clearing all the stone out of an enormous room near the magma pipe, then started up smelting operations. Everybody not involved with that started hauling all the food to the new fort center. The miners have continuously been seeking out ores and digging/widening corridors. Everybody sleeps in a big barracks. Bedrooms are for sissies.

:A few years back I sent some soldiers out to clear the chasm of hostiles, in concert with miners sent to breach their lairs. I've had three sieges and I think four ambushes, with few casualties. The worst losses I've had were to failed moods and The Ogre Incident in the first year. Been quite lucky in this fort. Wardogs took the brunt of the last siege, though I've been replenishing them through trade and still have 58 plus 10 untrained dogs.

:About a year ago I moved my depot to the back of the fortress, where the new operations are, and I finally bridged the chasm, which was visible from the surface and actually was a great natural defensive line against invaders from the south. (The new bridge path is heavily trapped.)

:I still haven't gone hunting for adamantine. I want to train another 20 marksdwarves first. I certainly have enough bolts for it now (about 6,000). And plenty of exceptional steel armor... which the recruits can't carry just yet.--[[User:Maximus|Maximus]] 02:15, 26 October 2008 (EDT)

=Rewrite=
I suggest an almost total overhaul for this article. The major headings are good, as are the images, but it kind of stops there. When talking about your first fortress, we should be explaining the core concepts of the game, providing links to more detailed reading, and encouraging the user to think for themselves, using examples to illustrate the concepts. The way this is set up is a loose example that railroads the user to a specific mold that doesn't even work that well for many people. We should refocus it onto a clear, full explanation of the interface and the considerations for getting started, then use a specific sample from a real game to show the thought process involved. Any other suggestions? --[[User:ThunderClaw|ThunderClaw]] 17:54, 30 October 2008 (EDT)

:I agree. Our "newbie overview" material is scattered all over the place and incomplete. The [[quickstart guide]] has a heavy focus on the interface, like I believe you're suggesting here, although it's really minimal. Other important stuff is scattered throughout the FAQs and [[:category:guides|guides]]. Then there's also [[Indecisive's illustrated fortress mode tutorial]], which is good in its own right, though there's a lot of redundancy between it and other pages. We need to do a lot of consolidation and streamlining of this advice.--[[User:Maximus|Maximus]] 18:46, 30 October 2008 (EDT)

:Actually, in further scrutinizing this page, it's quite good; the only thing I could fault it for is that the recommended [[starting build]] is too specific, which is part of your complaint.

:What interface advice do you think is missing from this page?--[[User:Maximus|Maximus]] 18:58, 30 October 2008 (EDT)
::All the data is there, that's not my gripe. The gripe is that the way it's presented, you already have to know what you're looking for. Most guides that are attempting to introduce concepts will enumerate the concepts very clearly, then list specifics after it's been explicitly described what they're dealing with.

::For example: the descripion of the embark location screen.
# [[Temperature]], amount of [[tree]]s, amount of [[plant]]s, and a hint at the sort of [[Animal|wildlife]] at the center of the selection rectangle.
#* Look at the example picture again. Notice that you are told that you'll see no trees or plants here ([[mountain]]s being too high for either to grow), but that's only true for the exact center of the local area.
#* You'll notice that the local area includes some trees and plants on the edges, which is often all you need.
#* To get more information about the non-mountain areas you can press {{k|F1}} {{k|F2}} {{k|F3}} or {{k|F4}} to view the different types of [[biomes]].
# Nearby [[civilization]]s that are capable of interacting with you. Other settlements are shown with various symbols on the regional map.
#* You will want to be in contact with dwarves to get [[immigrant]]s and a dwarven trading caravan. However, dwarves are, sometimes seemingly magically, everywhere - it is impossible to settle anywhere without dwarves (assuming there is at least one surviving dwarf civilization).
#*You'll want to trade with [[human]]s and [[elves]] if possible.
#*[[Goblin]]s mean trouble, but it's hard to avoid them without hiding on an island and you will be attacked by Goblins some point in the game anyway. Just don't set up your first fortress right on top of a goblin fort.

::In this example, what does Temperature actually mean? How should I interpret the tree count? Why do I care how many plants there are? What is this nebulous hint about the kind of animals I'm going to run into? Aside from what I see in the example pictures, what should I expect to see? The answers to these are NOT obvious for newcomers to the game, but are taken for granted by veterans like us. The biome comments are one of the biggest offenders. I had to read this wiki for hours before I had a good handle on what the alignment and biomes added up to.

::We need ''introduction'', ''enumeration'', ''explanation'', ''example'', in that order. That is how all Prima strategy guides are written, that is how all instruction manuals are written, and that is how most academic textbooks are written, too. It is simply the best way to present alien information, especially when you are in possession of an exhaustive list of topics (which we are, in this case). Currently, we're extremely light on enumeration and and explanation, and too narrow-minded in the examples. Fixing all that is likely going to require a complete rewrite. --[[User:ThunderClaw|ThunderClaw]] 01:22, 31 October 2008 (EDT)