Caravan stables and Markets

[carassius]

How are these supposed to work? What do I need to do to make them functional?

[cstoneburner]

For caravans, build one. You get one donkey automatically (getting more either requires putting a donkey in a donkey farm and waiting a LONG time or expeditions and hoping you get one rather than, say, pigs - once you've found everything you can always get donkeys as long as there is space in either stable or a donkey farm). When you are ready to transport things, asign one worker per donkey. To set up a transport route click on the "+" tab and select what it is you want to transport. The first icon is everything, the second is all food, the third is all materials and the rest should be familiar. Once you've selected what you want transported click on the barn or warehouse or market (or other storage building) you want it to come from, then click on the barn, warehouse or market you want it to go to. The building receiving it must be able to store it (so you can't move things from bans to or from warehouses, but markets can handle everything. You can't send "all" from a market because of this.) Without mods there is no way to limit what is transported so you have to keep track of it. I generally leave the caravan window(s) up when playing to be able to track them.

The market works by transporting your surplus to it via donkey. Once you have you select the item you want to trade in the top row and the item you want to trad for in the bottom. Then select how many of the items you want to trade. As long as you have enough the green OK button will be lit. Click on it when you are ready . Once the deal is done you transport the traded goods to where you want them via donkey. Also because markets have a lot of space you can use them just generally store surplus in a pinch (so if you figure out you really need another barn but don't have time or resources to get one done before the harvest you can clear space in existing ones by shifting, say, your excess flax into the market, even if you don't want to trade it)

[carassius]

Does the donkey have to remain in the farm all the time in order to get pregnant?

[cstoneburner]

Practically speaking, yes. Although I've had donkey's that I've pulled from farms give birh, there is no way for a player to know if they are pregnant and I'm not sure about when the game determines the pregnancy or how long it lasts in game terms.

Oh, it's also worth knowing that while donkey in caravan stables won't be subject to wolf attacks, ones in farms are. Also donkeys do eventually die of old age, even in caravans.

Getting lots of donkeys (In a single game) vie expedition is how you get the Ferdinand Magellan achievement.

[Bored Peon]

Originally posted by cstoneburner:

Getting lots of donkeys (In a single game) vie expedition is how you get the Ferdinand Magellan achievement.

That achivement is for finishing 50 expeditions. It has absolutely nothing to do with donkeys.

If you want to fill a donkey famr up fast just build multiple caravan stables, transfer the 1 donkey from each to the farm, then destroy the extra stables.