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0010167Dwarf FortressDwarf Mode -- Invasionspublic2017-03-18 18:232017-10-31 02:54
Pookie 
 
urgentmajorN/A
newopen 
Lenovo Thinkpad E545Windows 7Win7 SP2 64bit
0.43.05 
 
0010167: Enemies Sieging Base Won't attack player Dwarf Base and instead huddle at edge of map around an undead goblin
I was sieged by some dwarves and coincidentally a necromancer with some undead who seemingly showed up at the same time, which happened to me before, but the weird thing is that long after the Necromancer was gone they all decided to huddle at the edge of the map where they came from and didn't even try to get into my base. I only have 7 dwarves as my fortress is very new so I am helpless to fight them outside of the traps I built. The problem is that even though there is a clear path inside of my base with no obstruction as my dwarves can exit and enter freely, they will not move from their huddle, as they all seem to be gravitating around the single undead goblin that came with the necromancer. Every time he moves they all quickly swarm around and so he never seems to be on the edge of the group for too long. I think maybe they are trying to attack him but are unable to for whatever reason. I even put a craft-worker in my squad and sent him out as a sacrifice to hopefully break their trance but after slaughtering him they all had no qualms with going back to huddling the zombie goblin thereafter.
It was totally out of my control.
The last fortress I had, had a goblin with a team of dwarves accompanying him, but they were all killed by a disembodied godlike undead Giant Chinchilla head that they and myself were unable to kill. So I know they aren't supposed to be friendly with undead.
I can supply a save file if you email me.
No tags attached.
related to 0009236new  Seige either lock at edge of screen or flees immediately 
Issue History
2017-03-18 18:23PookieNew Issue
2017-03-18 18:26PookieIssue Monitored: Pookie
2017-03-18 18:48PookieNote Added: 0036334
2017-03-18 19:55Shonai_DwellerNote Added: 0036335
2017-03-18 20:09PookieNote Edited: 0036334bug_revision_view_page.php?bugnote_id=0036334#r14658
2017-03-18 20:18PookieNote Added: 0036336
2017-03-18 21:11Shonai_DwellerNote Edited: 0036335bug_revision_view_page.php?bugnote_id=0036335#r14660
2017-03-19 07:35PookieNote Added: 0036338
2017-03-20 16:33DetrosRelationship addedrelated to 0009236
2017-03-21 00:35PatrikLundellNote Added: 0036349
2017-03-21 02:55Shonai_DwellerNote Added: 0036350
2017-03-23 01:48DetrosNote Added: 0036357
2017-03-23 02:49Shonai_DwellerNote Added: 0036358
2017-03-23 02:50Shonai_DwellerNote Edited: 0036358bug_revision_view_page.php?bugnote_id=0036358#r14675
2017-03-25 11:45PookieNote Added: 0036370
2017-03-25 11:45PookieNote Edited: 0036370bug_revision_view_page.php?bugnote_id=0036370#r14679
2017-03-25 16:32Shonai_DwellerNote Added: 0036371
2017-10-31 02:54NagidalNote Added: 0036828

Notes
(0036334)
Pookie   
2017-03-18 18:48   
(edited on: 2017-03-18 20:09)
I went ahead and supplied a save file: http://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=12775 [^]
I should note that the dwarves were not part of a dwarven civilization. I am aware that Dwarven civilizations behave the same as humans and will setup camp outside a fort during a siege, but I did not modify the game to allow dwarven civilizations to do so. The game is vanilla and the only changes I made were to the population limits and the amount of seeds available on each fortress.
I also tried digging directly under them with a tunnel that went directly into my fort, and the invaders killed one of my miners and ignored the other one that ran away because apparently the undead goblin was more interesting to them. The save file is of course before trying this so you are free to experiment without any of my mistakes.

(0036335)
Shonai_Dweller   
2017-03-18 19:55   
(edited on: 2017-03-18 21:11)
Upload your save to dffd and post a link here. There are 10 year old bugs here and who knows if you'll be able to answer your email 10 years from now.

Were the dwarves from the goblin civ, or were they actually members of the Dark Tower? I've had a live dwarf (non-necromancer) safely lead a zombie siege before. Legends Mode says he was a member of the Tower. Later he came back leading other live dwarves (and no zombies) in a succession of hello-goodbye sieges.

Pretty sure it's not supposed to happen as visiting the Tower in Adventurer results in the zombies turning on their live teammates and tearing them apart.

(0036336)
Pookie   
2017-03-18 20:18   
I uploaded the file, and I just checked the legends and the Dwarves were indeed members of a Dark Tower. None of them were necromancers except for the one that briefly arrived.
(0036338)
Pookie   
2017-03-19 07:35   
Okay they are definitely swarming around the goblin, it's too consistent to be a coincidence, he's basically the center of movement for the whole blob and can never be on the edge unless its during combat when they are all rushing to kill a dwarf before going back to huddling him.
(0036349)
PatrikLundell   
2017-03-21 00:35   
The behavior described occurred more often than not with 0.40.X on necro sieges in my experience. For some reason they are less common with 0.42.01 onwards, but still occur (and hello/goodbye sieges started to appear, which may or may not be related).
My observations agree with Pookie's, i.e. that there's often a non necromancer living "handler" acting as the center of a group of undead.
(0036350)
Shonai_Dweller   
2017-03-21 02:55   
Probably unrelated, but may as well add it here to get as much info in one place as possible.
When my fortress was attacked by zombies lead (according to Legends) by a living axedwarf (member of the Tower - didn't become 'historical' until the siege), although they didn't attack him, the zombie marksdwarf would occasionally take a shot at him (by mistake?!) while fighting other stuff. It never managed to hit him, he dodged each time, but I don't think I've ever seen that happen in a regular invasion.

The bolts apparently remembered to be Opposed_to_life, even if the zombies didn't...
(0036357)
Detros   
2017-03-23 01:48   
So to sum it: it seems like some sieges are just too busy infighting at the side of map to proceed with the attack on your fort. Interesting.
(0036358)
Shonai_Dweller   
2017-03-23 02:49   
(edited on: 2017-03-23 02:50)
Ah, well no. Although they were swarming around the living guy, I didn't get the behavior above. When I opened the front gate zombies (and their living leader) started moving towards the fortress as you'd expect.

(0036370)
Pookie   
2017-03-25 11:45   
Yeah in this case, the swarm of living invaders would stick around the (dead leader) while seeming to be completely disinterested in besieging the base, even after I made a direct tunneled path right under them that went past my defenses.
Another weird thing is I had never actually gotten the arrival/leave siege forces until that particular save. Now all future sieges even after generating new worlds results in them insta-leaving after arriving to siege.
Is it possible something external the individual worlds in the gamefiles was modified?
I have tried all sorts of worlds before and the sieges always worked until this exact save.

(0036371)
Shonai_Dweller   
2017-03-25 16:32   
Insta-leaving sieges are a problem beyond just zombies and their odd behavior. But, yeah, in my case, after the zombies left. their dwarf leader (along with 5 new living dwarf pals) turned up for about 4 seasons in a row just to say hello-goodbye. Even though they're still from the tower I got the "Enemy is laying siege to your fortress" rather than "The dead walk!" message.

However I got a real siege a few months later from another civ, so I don't think your sieges will be completely broken (unless your only neighbour is the Tower, then I don't know).
(0036828)
Nagidal   
2017-10-31 02:54   
Here is two 43.05 ascii savegames just three days before the Siege announcement, both showing a siege enter and leave the map immediately, with a minimal difference: http://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=13153 [^]