Dwarf Fortress

'Nother problem; can't make Up/Down Stairs anymore. Made them once before, but that was the only time it worked.

Sandy walls? That's the only thing that stopped me from making up/down stairs in the past.

Not sandy, silty-clay.

Press K and move the cursor over the offending space and tell us what it says it is. Instead of digging a staircase you may have build one over the spot instead. You may have accidentally dug the wrong stair set in it's place.

Kinda already put in a Downward staircase instead.

If you dug a down stair you can build a up/down over it. C menu to find it. If you built one go into d menu then N to take apart already built items like stair cases and walls.

Can't designate the stairs to be removed, can't build over the ones already made.

edited 10th May '14 2:40:58 PM by TruthHurts22

Are your stairs dug or built?

yeah, the UI is especially terrible there. designating a construction to be removed only applies to walls/stairs/fortifications/etc that you've constructed through the [b]->[C] menu. But you deconstruct a building that you build through the general [b] menu by pressing [q]->[x]. But but you remove stairs and ramps that you've build using [d]->[z].

No, I dug them already. I wanted to go farther down.

So they are a set of dug down stairs right? If so you should be able to build either a set of up down stairs or a ramp on the same spot. Unless this is the top set of stairs at a new level. Worst case scenario dig a spot out to the side and continue down that way.

You can also as noted previously above remove dug stairs. Try doing that and then building an up down stair.

edited 10th May '14 3:24:58 PM by TuefelHundenIV

No, I mean I literally can't dig up/down stairs anymore. I've tried a few times.

? Like you can't access it from the D menu, they are not designating, or not being dug?

Not being designated.

back all the way out of the menu and try going back in. If that doesn't work save it, quit, close the game, and then start it again.

As an FYI I've been having this problem since I first started this morning, and I've done plenty more things besides trying to build stairs. And I've been quitting/restarting a few times now.

edited 10th May '14 3:41:08 PM by TruthHurts22

hmmm. DF is known for odd and sometimes random glitches.

I'll just need to set aside more space for the various stairs, no biggie. It was just weird.

oh, i misunderstood. have you tried building (not digging) an up/down underneath your downward staircase?

Yes, and it worked.

Also, some migrants arrived towards the very top of the map. 1) How do I recruit them? Or do they just mill around for a while until they join in themselves?

2) I don't think they could get to me, because they're on the other side of a small mountain/hill.

They're part of your crew as soon as they enter the map. If they can't get to your fort, then they'll just mill around.

I recommend tunnelling through the hill since it's still an early fort and you probably need more hands to get the industries going.

So, what do the flashing gray X's mean on the migrants?

also while i'm at it sorry for all the questions but is there a way to check on a dwarf's thoughts in-game because i've only been using dwarf therapist for that but it's a bit of a hassle

I believe it means that they're carrying things, but I don't know for sure, not having played in a while.

Xs are the symbol for bins which are used to store miscellaneous goods. I don't think they're actually carrying bins, but the same idea is there in that they're carrying a bunch of stuff.

it's even more of a hassle to check a dwarf's thoughts in game. Select them with [v], hit [z] to open up their character summary, then hit [enter] for thoughts and preferences.

There is also a problem with my Siege Engineer, the only Dwarf with decent Brewing experience, not doing any of the tasks at the still. Though I'll just chalk that up to him probably having an authority problem and hope he does it soon.