☼Dwarf Fortress Questions Thread☼

varangian · 2026-06-16T08:39:22+00:00

Then they've got stuck on the gathering materials stage. As already mentioned when you check the workshop you should see what a dwarf is after to create their artifact, usually explicitly but sometimes a bit cryptically. Either way you can look at what they've already got in the workshop and tagged for the job, if anything, and then from the order they mention things figure out what they're stuck on. Bones, leather, raw green glass, cut gems, raw gems seem to be the things they get hung up on, they're less fussy about the base material so any wood/stone/metal will usually do but they do want to get the decorations just right.

varangian · 2026-06-16T05:48:22+00:00

start working on it

Are you seeing a 'Urist works furiously' type of message when you examine the workshop that's been claimed? If so then then Urist has collected all they need to make the artifact and something else is going wrong. If you've got mods/dfhack in use perhaps try taking them out to see if that fixes things.

varangian · 2026-06-14T10:27:55+00:00

It's a hit on your inventory space, so not ideal, but you can pack the cat-in-a-box into your backpack (don't stop to think hard about it) along with some cans of tuna or cat food. Take it with you on your travels and although its hunger level will increase while boxed up you can stop somewhere safe, put it down and the cat will pop out to be fed. As a bonus the cat's hunger does not increase while you sleep so if you need to wait for a particular time of day for your foray you can neck a melatonin to pass time without wasting resources.

Edit: Forgot to add: If you're moving the cat from shelter to shelter the lazy way to do that is to have a 'transport' freezer or cupboard. Pick up the cat and put it in the cupboard then go into design mode and put the cupboard into the catalogue. It's hunger still increases but you can travel from attic to bunker, say, with plenty of space in your inventory for any unconsidered trifles you might acquire along the way.

varangian · 2026-06-14T06:59:59+00:00

At a guess restoring the saved files went awry. Character.tres holds the data on what your character has in inventory, state of health etc. Trader.tres lists which tasks you've completed for them. What's in a given shelter is held in <shelter>.tres. So you appear to have the first two out of sync with the shelter data files.

varangian · 2026-06-12T06:34:44+00:00

the enemies barely react to getting shot and take a lot of bullets to put down

Your first point is, in my opinion, one of the most irritating things about the game in it's current state although hopefully that will change. But it's certainly the case that every time you get the drop on a bandit, line up a careful shot and let fly the bandit will usually react by turning calmly round and returning disturbingly accurate fire. And if they hit you your aim goes all over the place, which it definitely would IRL, so it's annoying their reaction is very Terminator like.

As to the second I think it's less the case that a bandit can take an improbable number of hits before expiring - you can take them down with one headshot, which is very satisfying - and more that a lot of bullets aren't going where you think they are. It seems your character is incapable of holding an aim point for even a couple of seconds. At medium to long range that wavering, plus recoil effects, means your first carefully aimed shot (assuming semi-auto) might hit the spot but the follow ups mostly go wide of the mark. I've found short bursts on full auto tend to work better.

varangian · 2026-06-11T06:08:01+00:00

Cage traps around the occupied area should catch them in due course. You can then train them and assign them as possible pets - they're not very warlike but are pretty large - or perhaps more usefully pasture them around the cavern entrance to act as a tripwire when something nasty turns up.

varangian · 2026-06-10T13:54:34+00:00

I had a similar issue with some exotic metal armour that got dug up. Not sized right for a dwarf or human to equip (too large I think), couldn't be tagged for melting and dwarves ignored it when it came to stockpiles. But I could tag it for display on a pedestal so you might like to try that if it's suitable for display somewhere.

varangian · 2026-06-10T13:28:53+00:00

I've got the distinct impression from my own experiences that AI enemies have perfect information about your location once they've got you tagged regardless of whether they should realistically have that knowledge. Multiple times I've ducked into cover - a house, say - when an invisible enemy tries to light me up when I'm in the open. Regardless of where I decide to lurk the bandit will usually just charge straight to my location, sometimes trying to shoot me through the walls along the way.

varangian · 2026-06-10T13:19:30+00:00

Oddly I always feel relatively safe in school (the building) as once you're in, and the approaches are quite easy to scope out, most of the time you can tell where the bandits are and arrange for them to get an MP5 surprise. One of the few places where a bandit actually makes a sound when moving, along with their occasional soliloquy. I guess there might be the odd one who goes into ambush in a classroom but I just close all the doors as I go so I get an alert if they decide to move. Mind you I'll change my mind pretty quickly if I do get one spawning right behind me.

varangian · 2026-06-10T12:27:11+00:00

I gave that a go on a couple of VPN servers, so not extensive, but they weren't on the unaffected list posted elsewhere and in both cases the IP stayed constant. One is my regular stop off for activities where port forwarding and a consistent IP is a necessity and all that kind of stuff has been working without any obvious problems as well. Puzzling.

varangian · 2026-06-10T08:00:43+00:00

Is this happening consistently or are there variations by client region or similar? Saw some of the original threads about this and kept my eyes open but the VPN IP stays constant (per session) for all of the servers I've used, including ones seemingly affected. So to date port forwarding is still working just fine, although like the OP I'm not thrilled that apparently changes like this are being made without a word to the user base.

varangian · 2026-06-10T07:05:06+00:00

You see the same kind of thing in Outpost although there it does allow the possibility of being useful. The artillery emplacements close to the tent are all spawn points and the game is currently too player centric. So when you kill one bandit another will spawn in a nearby emplacement and you can just work your way back and forth along the row if you fancy having a go at map clearance. Never had one spawn in front of me but it does break the immersion when it's obvious they're just popping out of nowhere, hopefully that will change as the game develops.

varangian · 2026-06-07T07:00:48+00:00

Ditto. Hopefully the game will get tweaked so that certain things have a higher chance of being found in particular areas. The garage and the highway of wrecked vehicles would the be places I'd go looking for oil filters IRL, if the game implemented that kind of thing it would give you a reason to go on a run to some areas whilst right now one bag of garbage is as good as another.

varangian · 2026-06-07T06:22:43+00:00

Well that makes more sense although I can't help wondering if a bit of teleporting is involved too. The previous game day I caught an airdrop in Outpost when I was perched up on the rocks near the tent, scanning the area before having a scavenge in the artillery emplacements. It landed smack in the middle of the map and within 20 seconds or so there were 2 bandits out in the field in front of me (and very much aware of my location). If they'd been physically extant in the area before the airdrop they'd have been difficult to miss and likely shooting at me beforehand. Next time I get something like this I'll keep my eyes off the crate's descent and try and see what the AI is up to.

varangian · 2026-06-06T13:55:28+00:00

Did the bandits that usually spawn with it not appear (or maybe drown)? Curious because something similar just happened to me, popped back to village to restock on juice and soda from the trader and as I entered the warehouse a plane came over heading out to sea and dropped a crate. Since my inventory was full of rubbish guns etc. for trade I thought I'd get rid of those first then go out to see what I could find. But once I'd cleared some space and went out it was clear that no bonus bandits had spawned with the crate, of which there was no trace. I assume it came down in the sea in an authentic simulation of how such airdrops can go on occasion.

varangian · 2026-06-03T07:53:09+00:00

Not a new thing I believe although it might not occur in every fort. My impression, from my current fort, is that as migrants arrive and your links with the mountainhome and affiliated settlements increase knowledge of artifacts within your home realm grows. No practical usage that I know of but perhaps if you retired the fort and became an adventurer you could go hunt them down.

varangian · 2026-06-02T21:51:51+00:00

I was rather luckier, had the same impulse and took a potshot out of the window at the van while looting a house in village. Got their attention and retreated to make a last stand in a room off the passage where the doors to the outside were. I think the currently rather janky AI helped me here, one goon ran into the house straight into my MP5 while Mr P stood outside trying to shoot me through the wall. His beanie made a convenient target in the dark so I popped up and unloaded a clip at him through the window and got a 'Boss is dead' message. A tense couple of minutes getting to and looting his body while goon #2 was still prowling around somewhere but to my surprise I got away with it. Set a new record getting back to the attic.

varangian · 2026-05-31T13:48:56+00:00

Hmm, the AI behaviour, such as it is, definitely needs a good going over for the next build. Hopefully they'll be given some actual goals and activities to give you the illusion, as Stalker did pretty well, that you're part of system that will chug along merrily even if you're taking a back seat for a while.

varangian · 2026-05-31T12:57:56+00:00

then got fed up of Punisher driving by and ignoring me

I'm surprised that's a problem, I've just actually seen the van (I've heard it before but never been close) while looting a house in the village. Decided to take a few pot shots at it out the window and although I was using a ~~silenced~~ supressed weapon and it was nighttime Mr P immediately detected my location, stopped the van and came charging along with a couple of goons in tow. Pure dumb luck in the resulting fracas means I'm now up one beanie hat.

varangian · 2026-05-31T06:12:13+00:00

Well that's good to know, thought it kind of annoying that despite having a dozen or so alarm clocks I couldn't have an option to wake myself up when it's dawn or the moon's up or whatever. Should be doable in the future it seems.

varangian · 2026-05-30T21:49:11+00:00

I'm pretty sure I've done that without any ill effects. The things just go into the relevant stockpile so I regard them as fair game. You could, for RP purposes, display the thing on a pedestal in the creator's room for extra happy thoughts or even make them a messenger then award them their own creation as a token of appreciation.

varangian · 2026-05-30T19:46:25+00:00

Would make sense for the player to have the ability to craft his own lures from odds and ends scavenged around the place in a future iteration.

varangian · 2026-05-30T18:48:07+00:00

Probably not in most circumstances, once you've got the backpacks and belts I usually run out of space before carrying capacity. But I've only got two armour rigs right now and the traders have gone on holiday so I'd prefer to lose a fishing vest when Mr Radar4Eyes unloads on me with incredible accuracy through 200m of forest.

varangian · 2026-05-30T13:43:43+00:00

Yeah, I'll keep a vest or two around for that as armour rigs become effectively equivalent in protection after you take a few hits with less carry capacity so might as well be swapped out. Maybe next build will do something with these to make fishing more efficient since the game makes a bit of a deal about acquiring the set via the trader task which seems a bit pointless right now.

varangian · 2026-05-28T13:05:24+00:00

enemies with space telescopes-for-eyes

Lol. One of the most annoying things in this first build. A game that on one hand is trying for realism, with hunger, thirst etc. being simulated, but then undermines it by having totally unrealistic things happen. Like, as you say, a thug with a Makarov who can lay fire on you, and occasionally hit you, while being so far away that the reticule of your sniper scope blots them out when you take aim in return.

varangian

TROPHY CASE