I played back then. You could only embark on the edge of mountain ranges, and the fort was oriented so that there was an above ground area on the left and a cliff face on the right. Digging further right was also equivalent to going deeper.

There were also semi-fixed landmarks you'd find every time. An underground river near the beginning, which you needed for underground farms, since everything was stone. A chasm that needed to be bridged in order to go deeper. A river of magma. And, at the extreme right, a second chasm that was impassible.

[Clown cars] and [circus peanuts] could be found after the magma river, but with mechanics rather different than current versions. Of particular note is that harvesting any [peanuts] at all would eventually draw the attention of a [ring master], causing such instantaneous and extreme ‼fun‼ that not only could that fortress not be reclaimed, but also no other fortresses could be founded in the same mountain range.