This is a compilation of mechanics and glitches that being aware of would have spared me a great deal of distress.
Room Values and Engraving
Doors that are external can be used to enclose a room and are viewed as part of the wall. Internal doors are viewed as a gap in the wall, allowing for expansion into other rooms. It is important to know that doors can be set as either external or internal. The values of rooms are determined by the construction of the walls and the furnishings, which are fairly straightforward. Most of your dwarves won’t need a fancy room, but they do appreciate it.
There are disadvantages and limitations, but rooms can overlap to make use of valuable tiles. Its value is reduced by 75% if any room shares a floor tile with another room. The floor tile under an external door is the only exception, as it can be shared by multiple rooms without any penalty, just like the walls. The penalty of 75% remains the same, regardless of the number of overlapping rooms. Furthermore, the bonus for engravings on walls only applies to rooms that include both the wall and the floor tile it was engraved on. This means that unless the engraving was done on the doorway, it cannot be shared by two rooms without any penalty.
The material value of the wall or floor is determined by its type. Billon or Brass, which are easily produced semi-precious alloys, have a value of 6 or 7. Copper or flux stones (Calcite, Chalk, Dolomite, Limestone and Marble), which are of lower value, have a value of 2. Common materials such as wood and non-economic stone have a value of 1. The value of the walls and floors in a room is influenced by their construction method and the composition of the tiles.
The floors and walls, whether they are constructed or natural, can be engraved to provide an additional bonus and are smooth. (I am uncertain about walls made from uncut stone) They are made from bars or blocks.
The bonus for floors is straightforward: Material Value x10 x Quality (x1, x2, x3, x4, x5 or x12). So, an engraving on a stone floor will vary between 10 and 120, while one on a brass floor will be from 70 to 840.
The walls are less simple. It was engraved on the floor, and this applies only to rooms that include a wall engraving above as stated. The material of the wall is made from the most common material in the room, but the material for the engraving is not the same. Other walls will have a significantly higher value if there is a gemstone or gold pillar in an otherwise rocky room, but it will not have the same value due to its engraving.
The tile floor cannot be applied without engraving the wall, as the floor contains engraved tiles. If you want to expand the room by constructing walls with engravings, you cannot apply the floor as the engravings on the walls cannot be erased and the tiles with engravings will still remain. This can lead to further problems, as the floor cannot be resmoothed by carving tracks to erase the engravings. However, this is not a huge issue as the floor or wall can be mined or deconstructed to remove the engravings – this will not lead to major bugs with engravings in stone caverns.
If you are aiming to create a room of great worth, the most advantageous choice would be to construct it using metal. By using metal blocks, you can ensure that your inventory remains precise, since the bars utilized for constructing walls and floors will continue to be accounted for. Additionally, the distinction between placed and available objects only pertains to the bars themselves as a whole, rather than the individual types of metals. By taking this additional measure, bars will function effectively.
Without providing any explanation, I will input the original sentence. This will include the tiles on the floor and 11 walls. It will take up a room of dimensions 1×3, in order to give an idea of relative values.
For uncut gemstones, the chamber will be modest, with a worth of 15.
Polished stone will enhance that to 71, still modest, but much nearer to the 100 required for a modest outcome.
Incorporating fabricated stone will elevate it to 127, converting it into a modest area, even without any furniture or embellishments.
Placing the polished organic rock close to the rudimentary room, easily accessible through superior engravings or decent furnishings, could increase the room’s value by at least 150 if the room is adorned with engravings on all walls.
If you contrast it, by making the room out of Billon, which can always be made from ore (instead of bars), the room would have a base value of at least 762, with all the engravings on the walls, and even outside the floor, providing an additional value to the fine room.
Adding a meticulously crafted Aluminum or Platinum floor can enhance the worth of a room by 5,000, provided that you have an adept engraver. This simple technique allows for a boost in room value without the need for furniture adorned with precious gems, making it particularly useful when creating rooms for individuals of high status such as Nobles, Temples, or Guilds.
Basic Construction
Building is quite simple, so there are only a few factors to remember.
First and foremost, if you tell your Dwarves that there is a large section of the floor that they can remove, they will almost certainly remove all the support from the tile and cause it to crash down to the floor below. If you are removing a constructed flooring and there is no natural floor underneath, you have to be doubly careful. Unlike construction, deconstruction does not require a tile to be unoccupied. It is entirely possible for a Dwarf to remove the floor tile, then remove the adjacent blocks, and recover the blocks on top of the tile.
In the mining menu, you can utilize the eliminate building symbol (the staircase with the negative symbol on it) to globally cancel construction requests.
Construct the stairs in a way that the rough edges, where the floor and the stairs meet, are smoothed out if you desire to have a hallway that is free of jagged edges; otherwise, you can build the stairs using blocks, considering the floor to be smooth.
You can place most furniture under the smooth floor, except for altars. You cannot place existing furniture under the floor.
Dwarves have the ability to perform various activities in a diagonal manner such as moving, mining, engraving… However,
Constructions are impervious. Magma cannot melt them; neither closed doors nor walls and floors can be melted by magma; there is no need to worry; if you are searching for magma-safe rock to build channels for your Smelters and Forge, you should consider that open doors are a different matter.
If you decide to change the original construction materials, you can simply replace them with the new ones. Regardless of what you choose, whether it is the original construction materials or the new ones, you can lay them on a wall or overwrite them with the existing ones. Finally, if you select a particular material for the original construction, you can use it in the opposite way as well.
Introduction
Dwarf Fortress is a great game, although it has its quirks. Hopefully, it will save some of your frustration, but I may add to it later and it’s not organized very well. This is just a list of things I learned over my first few games, starting from when I first knew that I felt like an idiot for not knowing.
Stockpiles and Refuse
Everything except for stockpiles is not allowed. Stockpiling falls under the category of refusal. You should never want to store refuse with other objects, as objects decay much faster in a refuse stockpile. This includes armor, weapons, clothing, etc. Instead, create a separate stockpile for your wool and bones. Maybe consider using the outdoors for those things.
It is likely the reason why, if you consistently end up with deceased rodents in your collection of supplies, the remains of pests also fall into this classification. Instead of being categorized by specific types, all dead vermin are grouped together as generic “Remains.”
If you have a standing order to ignore outdoor refuse, they will also refuse to ignore orders to dump it. If the zone adjacent to a cliff is over the edge, they will chuck the item into the magma (trash icon can be used to dump). Dwarves take things that are flagged to be dumped where there are dumping zones. Stockpiles for refuse are automatically filled and have an increased rate of decay. The refuse stockpile is separate from the dumping zone.
Workshop Shenanigans
Farmer’s Workshop:.
The diverse tasks in Process Plants all involve various types of plants.
Clothier’s Workshop:.
When setting up work orders, use the adjective “Plant” to restrict the use of materials to only those made from plant cloth such as pig tail and hemp. Making cloth items exclusively utilizes plant cloth.
There are distinct assignments for Yarn products that utilize Wool Fabric. Their job requests employ the descriptor “Yarn”.
Thread made from hair cannot be converted into fabric, but it can be utilized by bookbinders and attendants.
Glass Making and Pottery:
Loamy Sand is not classified as Sand, nor is any form of “sandy” soil.
Sand is kept in Sand Bags.
Sand Bags are categorized under Furniture in the stockpile sorting menu.
In regards to work orders, the term “Sand-Bearing”
Clay cannot be dug from Sandy Clay Loam or Silty Clay Loam. Any other Clay tile, including Clay Loam, can be used.
Clay is preserved in the form of Clay Rocks.
The mineral Koalinite can also be utilized.
The majority of clays will create Earthenware objects. Earthenware containers need to be coated with glaze in order
Fire Clay will create Stoneware, which is more valuable and does not require glazing.
Kaolinite can generate Porcelain, which is even more precious and also does not necessitate glazing.
Strange Moods.
When a Dwarf takes over a workshop with a strange mood, you can either find clues or figure out the items they need by clicking on the workshop. If you don’t have the items the Dwarf is looking for, they will go to the workshop insanely and fatally.
Backpacks, Weapon Racks and Armor Stands (All Bugged)
Avoid Creating Backpacks!
With it or, more likely, it decomposes and fills the room with a foul odor, it will remain in that location until the Owner takes action regarding it. Others will not handle it, so the nourishment is deemed as “Owned” by the Dwarf. Typically in their sleeping quarters, they discard all their food on the ground, discarding their knapsack when your Dwarf finishes their shift. They cause more harm than benefit unless your only squads are permanently assigned (training, patrol, etc.), But theoretically this holds true. Military Dwarves who are deployed are present to consume, knapsacks are hypothetically.
I have never seen personal armor or weapon racks in the barracks, but once I saw a Dwarf store armor on a stand. I don’t know what prompted it, but I have never seen them use personal armor or weapon racks in the room assigned to me (I have only seen the cabinet used for personal storage… Or personal chest).