Ben Harris
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bjh21.me.uk
Ben Harris
@bjh21.me.uk
10 followers 1 following 180 posts
[bridged from https://wandering.shop/@bjh21 on the fediverse by https://fed.brid.gy/ ]
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bjh21.me.uk
In my #dwarffortress, Mosus Urdimothil is in a strange mood and wants something we haven't got. Which is a bit of a problem when we're being besieged by zombies. Can I find her what she wants before she goes mad?

https://youtube.com/live/ayDQgtpHXZM
A screenshot of Dwarf Fortress. We are inspecting a craftdwarf's workshop. This building has been claimed by Mosus Urdmothil, Stonecrafter. Mosus Urdmothil mutters "Oshottoral Giken Bûnem needs cloth... thread..."
February 8, 2026 at 8:11 PM
bjh21.me.uk
I'm somewhat pleased to release version 3.261 of my teletext-inspired font, Bedstead.

This version brings better rendering on Microsoft Windows, support for more African languages, two new kinds of semi-graphics, and old-style numerals. Because obviously your […]

[Original post on wandering.shop]
The digits from 0 to 9 in a monospaced terminal font in green on almost-black. The 0, 1, and 2 are small. The 3, 4, 5, 7, and 9 are dropped below the baseline.
February 7, 2026 at 3:50 PM
bjh21.me.uk
In my #dwarffortress, we're very slowly destroying the besieging undead. Can we come up with a way to destroy them faster?

https://youtube.com/live/chDnwIrhBeM
A screenshot of Dwarf Fortress. We are looking at the entrance to the fortress, where a number of zombies (represented by dark cyan 'Ñ') are milling around.
February 7, 2026 at 1:22 AM
bjh21.me.uk
My #dwarffortress is currently under siege by zombies. But they don't seem to be able to get through our defences, so the highest priority is to rescue the bookkeeper, who is holed up in an artificial cave at the top of the mountain and getting quite hungry […]

[Original post on wandering.shop]
A screenshot of Dwarf Fortress. We are at the top of a mountain where a dwarf is bricked into a small cupboard full of stone blocks. He is hungry, dehydrated, frustrated, and lonely, but has importantly not been killed by zombies.
February 1, 2026 at 9:24 PM
bjh21.me.uk
My #dwarffortress has started exploring the caverns, but that also means the caverns' denizens have started exploring the fortress. We'd matter put a stop to that.

https://youtube.com/live/IflFN-C7298
January 30, 2026 at 10:09 PM
bjh21.me.uk
In Friday's #dwarffortress stream, my dwarves penetrated the upper caverns. There are probably dangerous creatures down there, but there are also shiny gems and we do like shiny. Join me for the next instalment:

https://youtube.com/live/XfR5ipGUXw0
A screenshot of Dwarf Fortress. We are somewhere below ground (though at elevation 27). At the north and south of the screen are natural caverns, full of mysterious fungi and sparkling gems. Between them are some dwarf-carved rooms, four roughly rectangular rooms arranged around a corridor, with a staircase leading up. In the top-left corner of the screen is a steep passageway leading downwards, maybe towards more caverns.
January 25, 2026 at 9:18 PM
bjh21.me.uk
My #dwarffortress game seems to have settled down nicely. I wonder what horrors are waiting for me...

https://youtube.com/live/fk0u-9cIWP4
A screenshot of Dwarf Fortress. We are underground, looking at three large rooms clustered around a staircase. Each one contains several workshops and some stockpiles. There are ores in the eastern room, more boring rocks in the northern room, and assorted furniture in the southern one.
January 23, 2026 at 10:10 PM
bjh21.me.uk
Lately I've been listening quite a lot to PaleNeØ's latest album, "FORTISSIMØ". I'm not a great fan of the first track (in part because I can't work our how I want to write its title), so this link drops you in at the much better track 2 […]
Original post on wandering.shop
wandering.shop
January 23, 2026 at 10:54 AM
bjh21.me.uk
I have cycled further today than I have for at least six months, so I'm a bit tired. Let's see what that does for my ability to play #dwarffortress...

https://youtube.com/live/lIKtuDHZ3DM
A screenshot of Dwarf Fortress. We're looking at the configuration of a farm plot, and can see that it's scheduled to grow spinach in the spring.
January 18, 2026 at 10:10 PM
bjh21.me.uk
I've decided that this magnetite cluster will make a good temple in #dwarffortress. And so far the neighbours are staying out of my hair so that I can build it (and some defences).

https://youtube.com/live/OZEhxOzzX8c
A screenshot of Dwarf Fortress. We are looking at the inside of a mountain. There is a large cluster of magnetite that two dwarves are mining. The edge of the mined area is highlighted in green to indicate that it should be automined.
January 16, 2026 at 10:27 PM
bjh21.me.uk
I intended to spend this evening doing something annoying, but ended up taking the tumble dryer apart instead. That was also annoying, but I did get to be cheered by #hotpoint's spare-parts operation, which will sell me a kit to fix the thoroughly destroyed rear drum bearing for a vaguely […]
Original post on wandering.shop
wandering.shop
January 14, 2026 at 12:38 AM
bjh21.me.uk
In #dwarffortress, I seem to have my new fortress well underway and so far the neighbours haven't seemed hostile. But you never can tell with necromancers...

https://youtube.com/live/UNHJfnLfhqw
A screenshot of Dwarf Fortress. We are looking at the entrance to a fort, set into a hillside. There's a small level area in front of the entrance holding some animals (a reindeer, a water buffalo, and two goats). Inside the entrance, the tunnel dips down and we can't see where it goes. It is snowing outside.
January 11, 2026 at 9:37 PM
bjh21.me.uk
My new #dwarffortress seems to be going well. The new fortress is built, we've got trade and immigrants, and nothing nasty has come out of the sinister forest. Will my luck hold, I wonder?

https://youtube.com/live/Yr_G42_tF9k
January 9, 2026 at 10:16 PM
bjh21.me.uk
I've just declared that the new #dwarffortress at FilledTombs is ready for occupation, in that it now has a front door. Pay no attention to the sinister name. And the sinister trees.

https://youtube.com/live/kIIJ8E2zQ9s
A screenshot of Dwarf Fortress. For unclear reasons, we're looking at the stock list of body parts, most of which seem to have come from yaks.
January 4, 2026 at 11:01 PM
bjh21.me.uk
My new #dwarffortress, Esmulrakust ("Filledtombs") is currently a small hole under the snow. Tonight I hope to start building the fortress proper.

Also I hope that Xwayland will not eat all my RAM.

https://youtube.com/live/9cwv76KtlVE
A screenshot of Dwarf Fortress. We are in the snow surrounded by dead trees. There's a small burrow dug out of a hillside and filled with useful objects.
January 2, 2026 at 11:05 PM
bjh21.me.uk
Each year, I try to be at the (WGS-84) zero meridian at (UTC) midnight at the end of the year. This year's latitude will be 52.2448° N, on the footpath between Dry Drayton and somewhere-near-Boxworth.

https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=52.2448&mlon=0
OpenStreetMap
OpenStreetMap is a map of the world, created by people like you and free to use under an open license.
www.openstreetmap.org
December 31, 2025 at 5:55 PM
bjh21.me.uk
Before Christmas, Keskalokil fell to the goblin horde. So it's time to start a new game of #dwarffortress in the same world and see if we can work out how to defend against sieges a bit better.

https://youtube.com/live/tyeqRYaIEPY
A screenshot of Dwarf Fortress. Most of the screen is black, but there's a menu in the middle headed "Select a game type to begin!" The options are "Fortress", "Adventurer", "Legends", and "Return to title menu".
December 28, 2025 at 9:21 PM
bjh21.me.uk
Things are continuing to go badly in Keskalokil. The goblins are inside the fortress and we're expecting to make a heroic last stand near the library (where the bolt throwers are).

https://youtube.com/live/POxteyS3u5M

#dwarffortress
A screenshot of Dwarf Fortress. We are just below ground level and there are rather more lower-case g's in the fortress (representing goblins) than would be ideal. The cursor is on a square in the top-left of the screen where there are four goblins, a staircase, and 7/7 of water.
December 21, 2025 at 9:30 PM
bjh21.me.uk
Things are going very badly in Keskalokil. But Bomrek Aranzefon is doing his best to fight back against the overwhelming goblin force. And meanwhile the oom-killer seems to have it in for #dwarffortress.

https://youtube.com/live/Us_uXkNwyPQ
A screenshot of Dwarf Fortress. We are inspecting the Axe Lord Bomrek Aranzefon Limârolin. He has 95 kills to his name and has fallen in the river.
December 19, 2025 at 10:53 PM
bjh21.me.uk
Things are going badly in #DwarvFortress. The goblins have turned up, and not from the direction I expected. Join me and we'll see if this is salvageable.

https://youtube.com/live/oRhLycYbtIc
A screenshot of Dwarf Fortress. We are at ground level. There is a large bay to the east and a river, mostly with walls on the sides. There are two squads of goblins advancing towards the river from the north. One squad has crossed the river somehow and is surrounded by dead bodies, both goblin and dwarven. The goblins have also brought some cave dragons, two trolls and a battering ram. There are a few military dwarves approaching the battlefield from the east. Some clouds of mist over the river suggest that someone has fallen in.
December 14, 2025 at 9:54 PM
bjh21.me.uk
We're planning to try out more kinds of enhanced siege engine in #DwarfFortress. But that means we need to find some wood, ideally without annoying the wildlife any more.

https://youtube.com/live/f-Nv_unxF5E
A screenshot of Dwarf Fortress. We are inspecting a cat called Rith Dîshmabnicat, a pet of ‘One-Hand’ Emaldodók. The cat is stunned.
December 12, 2025 at 11:14 PM
bjh21.me.uk
I spent too long yesterday looking for a font to match the existing number on our house. The 'A' is pretty generic, but the '2' has some distinctive features. The curved part only curves one way (unlike Helvetica) and the top-left is cut horizontally (unlike […]

[Original post on wandering.shop]
The characters "2A" cut out of metal sheet and fixed to a brick wall. They are in a bold sans-serif face as described in the text. The characters are one brick high and have faded to a mid-brown colour. The left half of the same photo with the end of the phrase "Rail Alphabet 2" overlaid so that the 2s overlap. There are only tiny differences between them: the Rail Alphabet 2 character has a slightly narrower base and its top-left terminal is slightly lower. In each case the difference is about 1% of the character height. The same photo with the grey text "2A" overlaid precisely on the metal letters. IN addition to the differences we noticed with Rail Alphabet 2, the overlaid 2 here also has a slightly different curve to it, meaning that the new downward stroke curves away from the vertical more slowly than the old one.
December 12, 2025 at 1:13 PM
bjh21.me.uk
Recently in #dwarffortress we seem to have vaguely got ourselves organised, but we live in fear of the goblins' doing the same.

https://youtube.com/live/K_M1J9mFm6E
A screenshot of Dwarf Fortress. We're looking at a magma smelter, which has jobs queued to smelt hematite ore, make coke from lignite, and make coke from bituminous coal.
December 7, 2025 at 10:02 PM
bjh21.me.uk
Last weekend in #dwarffortress, the goblins went easy on us and we found our bolt throwers less useful than hoped. I'm not sure where it's going today, but I think we probably need more equipment.

https://youtube.com/live/mxgVLHCF8yE
A screenshot of Dwarf Fortress. We are looking at the equipment view of a small squad of dwarves. Someone who understood this screen would recognise that three members of the squad are lacking weapons and quivers.
December 5, 2025 at 10:40 PM
bjh21.me.uk
A fun consequence of having servers in the NTP Pool is that it gives me a 10,000-packet-per-second distributed monitoring system for the University's Internet connection.

So if, for example, the border firewall and routers briefly have trouble talking to one another, I get to see it in my graphs.
A line graph headed "NTP traffic from NTP Pool". It stretches in time from 11:50 to 12:20. There are three lines across the graph at around 4 kp/s, with occasional peaks, but at 12:04 there's a sharp downward spike as all the lines go to zero very briefly.
December 5, 2025 at 6:31 PM