Re: Please get out of my dwelling!

1

Aaaaaaaaaaieeeeeee


Posted by: Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 4:15 PM
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You murdered them?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 4:17 PM
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Have you considered abandoning this dwelling and taking up elsewhere?


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 4:19 PM
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I know very few of you actually care, but the forgotten beast Ushmal Ngethaczebu Tob Ura killed over 100 dwarves and finally fell into a deep deep mineshaft (*cough*) to its death when it tried to dodge the attack of one of my farmers.

During the months of struggle against the beast, one of my clothiers was possessed by a strange mood and took over a workshop and produced a pair of epic blue silk panties. I'm not even joking.


Posted by: Hamilton-Lovecraft | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 4:25 PM
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3 to 4.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 4:27 PM
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Were there by chance embroidered on the panties many scenes of the forgotten beast Ushmal Ngethaczebu Tob Ura killing dwarves?


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 4:29 PM
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I think these dwarf-related comments are going to remain entertaining only if I don't bother learning what they're actually talking about.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 4:30 PM
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But I dwell here.


Posted by: Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 4:31 PM
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5. Urist Manywires didn't die face down in a pool of muck so we could abandon the fortress. Do you want her sacrifice to be in vain? We must stay the course.


Posted by: Hamilton-Lovecraft | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 4:32 PM
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6. No. There was an image of the founding of the fortress. In granite. Also spikes of opal, granite, and black bronze. Dwarf lingerie is hardcore.


Posted by: Hamilton-Lovecraft | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 4:33 PM
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Is there an aspect to this dwarf game where cats with the speaking mannerisms of infant humans take over the home of Superman? Because a Fortress of LOLitude would be mildly amusing.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 4:36 PM
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And just like Standpipe's current predicament, I meant to add.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 4:37 PM
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10: Crotchless?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 4:44 PM
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Unspecified, but given all the spikes it probably has like thirty goddamned crotches.


Posted by: Hamilton-Lovecraft | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 4:46 PM
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one of my clothiers was possessed by a strange mood and took over a workshop and produced a pair of epic blue silk panties.

Does this mean that you in fact directed the clothier to so act or that you enabled the clothier to act semi-autonomously and that this was one of the programmed subroutines or that someone else actually controls the character?


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 4:53 PM
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Sometimes dwarves just have strange moods, you know?


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 4:56 PM
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15-16. Yeah, believe me, I had nothing to do with it.


Posted by: Hamilton-Lovecraft | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 4:58 PM
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More generally, the player marks various areas for digging, and indicates where workshops and other constructions should be built, where trees should be cut down, etc, what kinds of tasks to perform at each workship, and can toggle on and off each of ~70 different labors for each dwarf, but then the game decides what exactly each dwarf does within those constraints.

Although I think the control is fine enough that I can say 'this workshop should produce a silk thong', I didn't do so in this case.


Posted by: Hamilton-Lovecraft | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 5:03 PM
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But if you ask, your dwarves will make non-epic undergarments?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 5:05 PM
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Holy Christ is that game bureaucratic.


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 5:05 PM
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21

Pwned. Should have previewed.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 5:06 PM
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Contra Ebert, are great computer games, the ones with a lot of detail and randomness, art or virtual life?

I hear about people beating CIV x all the time. A great game should not be beatable period. It should be as hard to play and as hard to abandon as RL.


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 5:16 PM
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Okay, so now you have an "artifact." Of epic blue silk panties. Is that going to help you in some way? The dwarves whose strange moods inspire them to produce kick-ass weaponry or armor would seem to be more welcome...


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 5:18 PM
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Or as easy to play. DF doesn't look like it has a "zoning under the Bodhi Tree" mode.


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 5:18 PM
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20: You can assign a dwarf to bookkeeping, he/she will become unhappy if they have to eat at their desk, so you need to give the a separate table.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 5:18 PM
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Spiky epic blue silk panties might help Standpipe with the guest problem, though.


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 5:19 PM
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23:Oh, follow the links. Apparently an artifact, if nothing else, gives a great, though possibly vulnerable, dwarf.


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 5:22 PM
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28

Are there tenure-track dwarves?


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 5:22 PM
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23. It adds to the value of the fortress, which means more immigration = more dwarves to do stuff = more stuff.

There aren't actually any victory conditions in the game, so the garment in question doesn't help me win, but it is freaking hilarious. DF is all about the lulz.

22. I wouldn't class DF as art, because the 'storyline' is basically randomly emergent and only says things about the human condition by chance. (Although it does say plenty about the dwarven condition.) I would say it is a form of A-life.


Posted by: Hamilton-Lovecraft | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 5:25 PM
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22: Civ is easy to beat, if you are willing to restart a dozen times in the first 500 years.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 5:33 PM
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Boatmurdered is pretty fun.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 5:35 PM
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28. Sort of.


Posted by: Hamilton-Lovecraft | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 5:35 PM
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33

It is apparently not possible to close DF without using the task manager.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 5:56 PM
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34

I put too much maple syrup in my oatmeal.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 5:57 PM
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Well, I'm a bit slow. Tried downloading and installing--not working for me (what seem like must be single key control sequences are appearing as 4 or more key combos ["82493 to accept"] ). More than that, I just am not successfully parsing the display. So: fuck that noise. Give me a CIV-equivalent or give me something to eat.


Posted by: Turgid Jacobian | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 5:58 PM
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34: Add more oatmeal. (Or was that a euphemism?)


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 5:58 PM
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35 is right.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 5:59 PM
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More than that, I just am not successfully parsing the display

You can get sprite packs.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 6:00 PM
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34, 36: add cornstarch.


Posted by: Turgid Jacobian | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 6:00 PM
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Now my computer is dusty and I still can't figure out how I can hit the '82493 key'.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 6:01 PM
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38: I really prefer my leisure to come to me without my having to do stuff like that. The beauty of the non-unix world is never having to say "where can I get that library"


Posted by: Turgid Jacobian | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 6:04 PM
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Yeah, there are two kinds of people in the world: those who can face the UI of dwarf fortress, and those who have lives.


Posted by: Hamilton-Lovecraft | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 6:20 PM
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33. From fortress mode, ESCape until you're at "Dwarf Fortress Options", select Save Game to get back to the main-main menu, scroll down to find "Quit". "Save" = "Quit This Session" is a holdover from roguelike philosophy.


Posted by: Hamilton-Lovecraft | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 6:23 PM
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43 kind of nicely illustrates the point of 42, don't it? Have a nice new year's eve, Mineshaft.


Posted by: Hamilton-Lovecraft | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 6:24 PM
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43: Saving hadn't occured to me.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 6:26 PM
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45: Spoken like a Real Amurickan.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 6:27 PM
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Ok,I have spent some time at the DF Wiki, and have a question.

Real-time or turn-based?


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 6:42 PM
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48

Jesus Saves, Moby Hick Kills.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 6:42 PM
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47: Continuous "real-time" play but you can pause at any time, and it pauses when you're giving orders.

I quote "real-time" because it's got the same kind wacky overlapped time scales that e.g. SimCity does; dwarves will have a handful of sleep periods in a game year, which usually takes a couple of hours to play. The relationship between game time and real time is also quite variable because as you get more dwarves and more complicated tunnels in play, pathfinding and job-matching takes longer and longer and the game slows down.


Posted by: Hamilton-Lovecraft | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 6:46 PM
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It also auto-pauses when certain special events occur, though the choice of which events cause this is questionable.


Posted by: Hamilton-Lovecraft | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 6:49 PM
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I would say it is a form of A-life.

Is that like m-fun?

Happy new year, all.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 7:34 PM
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48: Speaking of killing, like others in the affected region we've had a steady but manageable stream of stink bugs over the past few weeks. I attributed it to them being driven out of marginal over-wintering sites by the cold, but today, which has been much warmer than it has been for a month or so, they are moving about in full force. My wife just came downstairs in Tippi Hedren mode and threw her full support behind my on/off project to re-side the house and replace many of the windows.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 7:35 PM
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Actually 52 -> post title.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 7:47 PM
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boring place


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 9:31 PM
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Kurosawa, One Wonderful Sunday, 1947

A young couple...oops

Happy 2011, or at least a bearable one with consolations and pleasant surprises. It too will pass, dammit.


Posted by: bob mcmanus | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 9:54 PM
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I'm eating chocolate chips and stale marshmallows.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 10:09 PM
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This may be alcohol related, or it may just be that I'm too frugal to open the fresh marshmallows.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 10:12 PM
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So what explains the chocolate chips?


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 10:13 PM
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They cannot run.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 10:15 PM
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Or make epic underwear.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 10:17 PM
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They cannot run.

Give them time.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 10:20 PM
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59: So you can put your chocolate chips in the wash with your epic underwear?


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 10:24 PM
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61: I didn't eat them all. Just the slow ones.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 12-31-10 10:26 PM
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Do the dwarves procrastinate from their epic-panty making duties to comment on blogs?

Is there a way to evaluate their efficiency?


Posted by: will | Link to this comment | 01- 1-11 6:49 AM
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They procrastinate from panty-making duty to drink, mostly. (Every dwarf, on their personality and status page, has the phrase "S/he needs alcohol to get through the working day." When the fortress runs out of booze, all the work slows down drastically.)

Occasionally they also take a break to admire a tastefully arranged statue.


Posted by: Hamilton-Lovecraft | Link to this comment | 01- 1-11 3:04 PM
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Speaking of procrastination & gaming, if anyone wants to play Dominion (or Carcassonne, or Settlers of Catan ...) online (free, obvs) through BrettspielWelt--don't worry, no German needed--don't hesitate to email me.


Posted by: x.trapnel | Link to this comment | 01- 1-11 3:13 PM
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Speaking of procrastination & gaming, if anyone wants to play Dominion ... don't hesitate to email me.

I could be interested in that. Though likely not for the next month or two. My e-mail is below, you should remind if you're still looking for a player at that point.


Posted by: NickS | Link to this comment | 01- 1-11 4:19 PM
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66: Possibly. One of the kids just got the board version of Settlers. I was going to try it online last night from the main site, but got tangled up in getting it to load in the browser and did not have the patience or interest to sort through it.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 01- 1-11 5:25 PM
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DF downloads and installs easily. The trouble starts after that.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 01- 1-11 6:13 PM
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66/67: isotropic has a slick js implementation of dominion. I haven't checked out BSW in a while but, unless it's improved tremendously, its interface is a lot clunkier (and it doesn't have everything from the expansions).


Posted by: Suomen Radioamatööriliitto | Link to this comment | 01- 1-11 10:47 PM
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Moby, you're probably just not awesome enough to play DF. Don't feel bad.

You can try the tutorials on the wiki if you want to see just how far you fall short, though.


Posted by: Hamilton-Lovecraft | Link to this comment | 01- 2-11 3:51 AM
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is Suomen Radioamatööriliitto 'opinionated' or someone who deserves a fruit basket? perhaps a traditional finnish tango?


Posted by: alameida | Link to this comment | 01- 2-11 7:21 AM
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72: neither, just as ephemeral and occasional as a distant shortwave broadcast.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 01- 2-11 7:24 AM
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71: It's like learning SAS, except it doesn't help pay the mortgage.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 01- 2-11 7:37 AM
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