Hello everyone, I thought it would be nice to have a little "how-to-play-MasterworkDF" in form of a narrated succession fort. Here the setup and the first month. I will focus on the tutorial part, so other users can chime in with lore and narration.
- Embark and early spring - Slate 26, mid spring - Interlude, The dorfed dwarves - Felsite 26, late spring - Hematite 26, early summer - Malachite 26, mid summer - Galena 26, late summer - Limestone 26, early autum
Lets start with some basic stuff:
I download the mod.I unpack the MasterworkDF V.3.rar using
WinRar or any other free unpacker.
I go to the MasterworkDF V.3 folder and run Settings.exe (I didnt change anything, because this fort is played with default settings, but you change what you like. See the manual for full info on the Settings.exe)
I start the game and come to this menu:
I generate a new world with the advanced worldgen, using one of the included templates.
After pressing play, loading the map and choosing the embark, I PAUSE AND THINK. Do I want to run Nanofortress, a included tool that allows 1 tile embarks, for 1x1 small forts, or 10x1 long maps? Do I want to run EmbarkEverywhere, a included tool that allows me to embark on fortresses, tombs, necromancer towers, towns? Both can be found in the bottom bar of the Settings.exe.
Then, before pressing 'e', I decide how many settlers I want. I open the dfhack window and type "startdwarf #". I my case its "startdwarf 13", the luckiest number there is.
I select my embark profile. Since I am a veteran user of the mod (
) I select "Empty Template" and make my own one, which fits the embark.
Nice, we have 4 special castes at embark. An alchemist, a farmer, a beast-warden and an earthkin. I give herbalims and brewing skill to the alchemist, farming and pressing&milling to the farmer, crossbow and hunting to the beast-warden and sword and dodging to the earthkin. I now have early food from gathering plants (herbalism) and meat (hunting), while the earthkin can protect the fort, and the farmer starts a stable, but very slow, food production in the fort.
I also pick 5 miners and 2 lumberjacks and 1 negotiator and appraiser. I only give the miners and lumberjacks 1 point in the skill, they level up fast enough. That leaves us with over 1200 points for items.
That leaves us with items and animals:
I also name the group "The Greatest Smiths" and the fortress, using a random name. "Ruthless" was fitting, because thats my prefered playstyle. And now, its finally time to embark.
I imediatly test the forumdwarves script by pressing Ctrl+Shift+P, which results in this:
fortressintro [TITLE]A Dwarven Outpost[/TITLE]
You have arrived. After a journey from the Mountainhomes into the forbidding wilderness beyond, your harsh trek has finally ended. Your party of seven is to make an outpost for the glory of all of [VAR:NATIVENAME:GLOBAL:YOURCIV].
There are almost no supplies left, but with stout labor comes sustenance. Whether by bolt, plow or hook, provide for your dwarves. You are expecting a supply caravan just before winter entombs you, but it is Spring now. Enough time to delve secure lodgings, ere the [VAR:NAME_PLURAL:GLOBAL:LOCAL_LARGE_PREDATOR] get hungry. A new chapter of dwarven history begins here at this place, [VAR:NATIVENAME:GLOBAL:YOURFORT], "[VAR:TRANSLATEDNAME:GLOBAL:YOURFORT]". Strike the earth!
Yes, that beautiful example is a bit broken, because of the random tags in it that show the predator or fort name. But dont let that deter you. Whenever you see text in the game, you can extract it to the forumdwarves.txt in your dwarf fortress folder by pressing Ctrl+Shift+P. A better example would be a dwarf:
`Mephistopheles' Bunsothrozsed has been quite content lately.
She is a dubious worshipper of Vanel Teachclarity and a worshipper of Akrul.
She is a citizen of The Excavation of Abbeys. She is a member of The Greatest Smiths. She arrived at Bocashteshkad on the 1st of Granite in the year 26.
She has the appearance of somebody that is thirty-four years old and is one of the first of her kind.
She is weak. She is weak. Her hair is dry. Her very long hair is tied in a pony tail. Her slightly wide-set eyes are narrow. Her teeth are gapped. She has very low cheekbones, and she has a narrow chin. Her broad ears have nearly fused lobes. Her narrow nose is hooked. Her eyebrows are quite sparse. Her head is somewhat broad. Her hair is pumpkin. Her skin is brown. Her eyes are rust.
She is very agile and rarely sick, but she is quick to tire and very weak.
`Mephistopheles' Bunsothrozsed likes slade, ebonglass, emerald, genie tooth, turret silk, axe heads, coins, turrets for their whirring mechanisms and strawberries for their vivid red color. When possible, she prefers to consume fisher berries, hell wine, honey bee royal jelly and roasted seeds. She absolutely detests crayfish.
She has a good feel for social relationships, but she has a shortage of patience, a questionable spatial sense and lousy creativity.
She is self-conscious. She appreciates art and natural beauty. She prefers familiar routines. She finds helping others rewarding. She is easily moved to pity. She dislikes contracts and regulations. She strives for excellence. She needs alcohol to get through the working day. She likes working outdoors and grumbles only mildly at inclement weather.
*EARTHKIN - EARTH LVL1* This dwarf bears a spark of magic in her. A fresh member of the school of earth, her skin turned to solid stone. She can caste an additional rock armor to further toughen her up. Being arcane in nature she can still cast her magic conceal spell. She is a novice in the use of the earth staff. Earthkins like to fight and feel less pain thanks to their stone skin. If carrying an earthen aura, she will be able to paralyze any enemy that gets too close for a short while.
Nice, isnt it? Respect that color tokens and all that, pre-set for the bay12 forum.
It also appears that I am female, but meh, I'm ok with that.
Ok, we have a nice embark on a lake, with trees and an easily defended peninsula. I start with planting 3 fields, first thing. For the 3 above ground plants. I tell the 2 lumberjacks to take about the wagon, build a carpenter, make 2 training axes and start felling trees. The herbalist gathers plants. The hunter trains the mastiffs and brings the animals into better positions. The 5 miners dig a central staircase, a place for an underground farm... while doing so I discover a hematit bearing rock-vein. I designate it for digging and some space for stockpiles around at as well. With the underground space now available I station my sprites and changelings into the relative safety of the rock, and pasture that leatherwing bats on my food stockpiles and farms, to have them hunt approaching vermin.
Workshops are simple at first. A butcher, tanner, mason, mason, craftdwarf, mechanic, carpenter. All on the surface for now. I also build a smelter and an ore processor next to the digged hematite vein. I bring the birds into the farming room, which is finally fully mined. I also declare the fourth and last farm to be build, for the plump helmets. The first blocks from the mason go towards the wall, which should give us a little bit of safety. I start tool production, wooden wheelbarrows so people dont lug around boulders in slow-motion. Nestboxes for the birds, more mechanisms, querns and millstones. We have a finished wall now, with a 3tile entry guarded by 2 war mastiffs.
I found some lignite and started mining... and commanded the smelter to make coke from it. The ore processor is sortin hematite bearing rock into ore and rock in the meantime. Slow work with only so few dwarves. I also start a farmworkshop, next to the tanners shop, to shear the leatherwing bats. Next door, the butchery is taking care of the two tuskoxen we used as wagonpullers. Being both male and therefore unable to breed or give milk, they are of no use to us but meat and leather.
And thus ends the first month of the "Ruthless". No surprises, no deaths, no attacks. Only two deaths, the two oxen I butchered. Boring, but successful.