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[WanderingKid]

So, someone pointed out to me a the Single Pick Challenge.  Basically, find the worst possible biome, show up with a pick, 7 untrained dwarves, and have at it until you're dead or the mountainhome.  This was originally done about a year ago and detailed in this thread: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=118000.0.  That thread seems a bit dead, so I figured I'd start a new one.

Well, usually I don't like the challenges as they seem a bit contrived, but I've also never been against turning a game up to impossible mode either.

I did a few practice runs to get a feel for the needs and requirements for this type of challenge, also I was having trouble finding the 'perfect' biome for the challenge.  Namely, an all glacier embark with an aquifer.  I finally found it, and it's got enough room for a few black slate tries at it before I need to gen another world.

I'm also trying my hand, for the first time, at doing youtube videos.  I'm using FRAPS, Windows Movie Maker, and my own gaming headset.  It didn't come out too bad but I'll let you be the judge.  I'm sure the average YouTube troll will go on and on about every tiny thing so I'll probably ignore most of that.

Anyways, and without further ado, you can find my attempts listed below.  I'll edit this as I add more attempts.  The first one, well, didn't go so well.  You'll see why:

Single Pick Challenge Attempt 1: FortunePage (Failed)
Single Pick Challenge Attempt 2: IvyLashes (Part 1) - Breaching the aquifer, food, and water
Single Pick Challenge Attempt 2: IvyLashes (Part 2) - Continued digging, some more migrants, and the caravan.  Undead pets, too!
Single Pick Challenge Attempt 2: IvyLashes (Part 3) - Review of status after a few failed recording attempts.  Caverns, constructions, farms, and hospital.
Single Pick Challenge Attempt 2: IvyLashes (Failed) - Tantrum Spiral, Undead overload, and the loss of the fort.
Single Pick Challenge Attempt 3: LashedNuts (Failed) - Arrival, water, butchery, and aquifer pierce via frozen drilling ... and failure.
Single Pick Challenge Attempt 4: FurnaceClans (Ongoing series): Design, Dig, Test, and activation of the Magma Loader via Minecart system.

My apologies for the blurriness.  I'm recompiling the video now in a different format that I hope Youtube will accept without needing to re-stretch the video, which caused that.  Used a different format and we're good now.  Sorry about that.

If anyone wants a dwarf named after them, in the tradition of these types of games, just let me know and I'll get you in there.  I can't promise you'll live, mind, but you'll have yourself a mighty gruesome death, I'm sure.

[itg]

Good luck! I'll be your chief medical dwarf, if you make it that far. Also, would you mind uploading the save?

[WanderingKid]

Thanks.  I'm in the middle of editing Attempt 2.  Water, Food, Search Shaft, and Migrants so far, and just hit Fall, and will need to prep for the caravan.

Save I'll upload to DFFD in the morning.  I'm trying to edit this damned movie so long tonight I think I edit more than I play the game!  I need to learn some tricks and techniques to doing this well.  I grabbed a copy of the world 'virgin' after I found what I wanted so it should be a fresh start for anyone else with an interest... or myself if I needed to reboot it.

Edit: Pregenned world available here:  http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=7904

[Juxtap0se]

cool I always like seeing new techniques. Can you name your first plant gatherer Juxtap0se? I have a habit of making bad decisions, much like a plant gatherer migrating to a glacier...

[edgefigaro]

Yeah, I'm in. You want a competing player? I'll take the challenge.

I ain't never frapped before, but I just got furlowed for a week, so I have some time.  See if I can't get this "uploading videos to youtube" thing going...

[wierd]

Furlowed?

You don't happen to work for Spirit Tulsa do you? I heard they were recently bought out, and undergoing "Restructuring."

I think I will start my "No pick, No Axe, 1 stone" challenge I presented the OP earlier. (He gave me the impression that it was too masochistic We'll see.)

[WanderingKid]

Yeah, I'm in. You want a competing player? I'll take the challenge.

I ain't never frapped before, but I just got furlowed for a week, so I have some time.  See if I can't get this "uploading videos to youtube" thing going...

Sure, I'll take a fellow embarker to compare notes with.  The more the merrier, else I wouldn't have forum posted. 

I'm compiling my video now for IvyLashes, I wanted to make sure my edits made sense after some sleep.  Water, Food, and cavern shaft digging.   To ease your pain, some recommendations.

In Fraps: Set Monitor Aero Desktop on in General.  This means you can show things like Dwarf Therapist.  Otherwise, Fraps records a single window and if you switch around a lot I found it gets a little funky.
In Fraps: Video Capture at 30 fps Full-Size.  I wouldn't worry about the rest of the settings, personally.

In Windows Movie Maker: When you're done editing, save the movie, exit movie maker, then go back in and bring it back up.  THEN publish.  When publishing, the highest I've gotten YouTube to take without doing strange things to my results is the Windows Media HD 720p (5.9mbps) setting.

[edgefigaro]

Furlowed?

You don't happen to work for Spirit Tulsa do you? I heard they were recently bought out, and undergoing "Restructuring."

I think I will start my "No pick, No Axe, 1 stone" challenge I presented the OP earlier. (He gave me the impression that it was too masochistic We'll see.)

Nah, I just got a job working as a sorority kitchen assistant. We went in on Thursday to set up the kitchen, and move in day is today. On Friday, I was supposed to go in and put away ~$2000 worth of food as our first (and largest) truck order was coming in. The kitchen was supposed to fire up as lunch only for the first week (this upcoming week). However, thursday evening I got a call from chef saying the house directors got together and talked, and the kitchen isn't going to be running the first week, and he had to cancel the huge orders we had coming in. I'll start up next Friday.

Looks like the money situation isn't getting any better any time soon.

BTW, 1 stone no pick terrifying glacier? You get 3 wood and four blocks. I don't see how it can be done without a feature. No trees and no food unless there is another feature, notably a cave... Find a cave that connects to caverns 1 and you are good to go.

[WanderingKid]

I think I will start my "No pick, No Axe, 1 stone" challenge I presented the OP earlier. (He gave me the impression that it was too masochistic We'll see.)

It IS masochistic. I mean, c'mon. This ain't minecraft.  You can't punch a tree down and make an axe and pick!    Honestly that just doesn't sound fun to me.  You'll have 7 dwarfs sitting around collecting food, perhaps making some farm plots, and just waiting for the caravan for two seasons watching food rot.  Alright alright, yes, you can break up the wagon and make some axes, but still.

Who wants to live on the surface like some frickin' hippies?

[edgefigaro]

Yeah, maybe you can just hole up until the cavern gets there. If there is a terrain feature, you may be able to wall yourself into a nook with a depot outside and wait for the caravan while your dwarves starve.

[wierd]

It forces you out of the mold of "Dig in immediately to avoid instant death when the weather rolls in", for starters.  Learning to deal with issues of that nature can greatly increase your ability as a player. That's why it's a challenge.

I am still giving the worldgen wheel a spin. it's having a hard time grinding out the values I put in. Since this is the masochist challenge, I put masochist values in.

I was actually leaning more towards a mixed embark, with evil tundra + evil glacier.

That gives you possible access to a surface clay tile. Just put a floor tile down, then deconstruct it to expose the clay, use the boulder to create a kiln, and issue a collect clay job. Use the raw clay to build a crude shelter.

[acetech09]

I just recorded me doing a single-pick challenge on a non-terrifying tundra while absolutely dead-tired to the point of making some funny mistakes. Ended up stopping after an hour, only 1 dwarf died due to a cave croc but I was pretty set-up and didn't forsee any issue making that fortress a success.

I'll try again in a terrifying biome.

[wierd]

Allright. I just got what I think looks like a... Promising.. world from the world spinner.  Evil DEFINITELY has a strong presence in this world.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I think the southeast corner of the map has Evil + Tundra + Glacier. I will save this pristine world for further use later, should I screw up.

**
I will make a new thread for this particular bit of FUN. That way I wont hijack this one anymore.

**
Edit:

Oh yes. The site I have chosen is lovely. Auto Undead, huskifying devilish smoke. Starts with zombies.  Has fireclay. All in all, a GREAT place to live.

[Ravendarksky]

I just don't understand why this is seen as a challenge. I often just take a pick/anvil because I'm too lazy to pick embark items.

You don't really need anything and even in glaciers you can always go down to the caverns for wood. As for the haunted/evil biome stuff, lets face it, once you're underground and have sealed the roof it's just a regular embark.

A challenge I'm going to try is to have a fort where we defend ourselves only using military (no retracting bridges, no sealing ourselves in). However I will only be training my dwarfs in kicking biting and wrestling.

Anyway I see no reason why you can't do a NO skill NO items embark. Your wagon provides all you need, as long as there are trees on the map. Even then you can always hope to get lucky and get a pickaxe with a migrant.

[edgefigaro]

I just don't understand why this is seen as a challenge. I often just take a pick/anvil because I'm too lazy to pick embark items.

You don't really need anything and even in glaciers you can always go down to the caverns for wood. As for the haunted/evil biome stuff, lets face it, once you're underground and have sealed the roof it's just a regular embark.

A challenge I'm going to try is to have a fort where we defend ourselves only using military (no retracting bridges, no sealing ourselves in). However I will only be training my dwarfs in kicking biting and wrestling.

Anyway I see no reason why you can't do a NO skill NO items embark. Your wagon provides all you need, as long as there are trees on the map.

Yeah, once you understand this, you have graduated to the next level in dwarf fortress. Its the same reason why I don't care about volcanoes or metals... its all the same...

In any case, such challenges are not always intuitive for those with less experience, and are seen as an 'omg, I would die so fast if I tried to do this' scenario. I used to hold the challenge as such.

So, for now, we have a spectacle playing out on the forums, to entertain those who wish to watch. C'mon! It's going to be fun!