View Issue Details

IDProjectCategoryView StatusLast Update
0003431Dwarf FortressDwarf Mode -- Interface, Announcementspublic2011-11-08 23:45
ReporterOgg the Blinky Sock Assigned Touser6 
PrioritynormalSeveritymajorReproducibilityhave not tried
Status resolvedResolutionno change required 
PlatformiMac IntelOSWine (Windows) on OS X 
Product Version0.31.16 
Summary0003431: Abduction of Baby Not Announced
DescriptionDear Sirs,

Recently an announcement was made that a kidnapper had made off with Dwarven baby Mörul Zuntîrzkon. This announcement appeared on the bottom of the screen; I believe that it also forced a pause.

There had been no prior announcement of the poor child's abduction. I have searched the announcements, and the only prior mention of her is that of her birth. The mother seems unaware of the abduction, and is not upset about the loss of her child.

Additional InformationI'm running the Windows version of DF, using the Wine libraries, on an intel iMac. Everything is going swimmingly, and I don't expect that this aspect of the game will prove platform dependent; however, I thought I should mention it, just in case.
Tagssnatcher

Activities

Logical2u

2010-10-16 06:20

manager   ~0013386

Theft and kidnapping announcements are only displayed when the object leaves the game area. Essentially, after it is too late.

Does this explain your behaviour?

Ogg the Blinky Sock

2010-10-16 18:43

reporter   ~0013389

It is expected that theft and kidnapping announcements will be displayed when the object leaves the game area. Such an announcement occurred.

My recollection was that in prior versions of DF, there had been an pausing announcement regarding a 'baby snatcher' at the moment when the kidnapping occurred, and the goblin would become visible. A desperate goblin chase would ensue.

What has happened here is that the mother appears to have remained unaware of the kidnapping. No goblin became visible. If the mother was sleeping at the time, the goblin would have needed to pass through a single guarded entrance and several chambers of a small, very busy dwarven colony, so I think it is unlikely. If the mother was awake, I believe that she should have noticed the kidnapping as above.

The mother does not recall the kidnapping as a source of unhappiness, but I do not recall if this was already the case in prior versions.

Logical2u

2010-10-16 19:58

manager   ~0013390

Ok.
Is it possible the baby got separated from the mother in some way? Or perhaps the mother went to sleep outside the baby?
As for the last bit, are you sure you've got the right dwarf?

Ogg the Blinky Sock

2010-10-16 20:07

reporter   ~0013391

It's possible for the baby to have been separated from the mother. The mother could have come up for training in the schedule, and lost the baby while wresting. Dwarves were training two months out of every year. Also, this wrestling would have occurred on the surface, increasing the ease of kidnapping.

[Of course, the mother should have canceled orders and picked up the child, but that's a different bug.]

I don't think that it's very likely, but I can imagine this happening. The baby would have had to get out of a continually populated 5x5 training area to get to a place where a goblin could nab it undetected.

I'm sure I have the right dwarf; I've checked the name against the announcements, and noted that there was no memory back when the abduction first occurred; at this point, I had verified that the dwarf was the mother of the missing baby (first baby of colony) using the relations item.

Malibu Stacey

2010-10-26 08:05

reporter   ~0013520

Seen the same thing happen in my current fort in 0.31.16. Had a couple of children snatched by Goblin Snatchers until I learned to restrict the children to my main fortress burrow (I'm assuming the kids were out in the countryside or something when a Goblin Snatchers stuffed them into their bags).
It's understandable for theft of items & even children to go unannounced if it's not within view of another dwarf but babies being stolen should be noticed by the mother within a very short time & raise an alarm. As Ogg says this is how it worked in 40d for all thefts which was a little overpowered as you'd essentially be able to stop any thefts by intercepting the thief before they could reach the edge of the map.

Quietust

2010-10-26 08:37

reporter   ~0013522

Interesting note: back in the 2D versions of Dwarf Fortress, goblin thieves were completely undetectable (but could still trigger traps) until they managed to capture a child, and only then could they be spotted by your citizens or animals.

There has never been any announcement for children actually being captured - a sufficiently stealthy (and lucky) goblin snatcher can capture a child and escape off the map edge without ever being detected.

user6

2010-12-07 19:43

  ~0014448

My recollection was that in prior versions of DF, there had been an pausing announcement regarding a 'baby snatcher' at the moment when the kidnapping occurred, and the goblin would become visible. A desperate goblin chase would ensue.

Yeah, as Quietust said, this was never the case. Everything you observed is expected behavior.

Issue History

Date Modified Username Field Change
2010-10-16 05:42 Ogg the Blinky Sock New Issue
2010-10-16 06:20 Logical2u Note Added: 0013386
2010-10-16 18:43 Ogg the Blinky Sock Note Added: 0013389
2010-10-16 19:58 Logical2u Note Added: 0013390
2010-10-16 20:07 Ogg the Blinky Sock Note Added: 0013391
2010-10-26 08:05 Malibu Stacey Note Added: 0013520
2010-10-26 08:37 Quietust Note Added: 0013522
2010-12-07 19:43 user6 Note Added: 0014448
2010-12-07 19:44 user6 Status new => resolved
2010-12-07 19:44 user6 Resolution open => no change required
2010-12-07 19:44 user6 Assigned To => user6
2011-11-08 23:45 Kogut Tag Attached: snatcher