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[RailroadRider]

It has come to my attention that some people desire to the DF world, so I decided to lose a morning creating a system of measurement for DF. (Using metric prefixes for simplicity)

According to the LOTR wiki, (We use the same dwarfs) dwarfs are 1.5 meters high, so the little cubes of stuff the world is made of are roughly that size. 1.5 meters = one dorf.

I have determined that the weight of gold is the best possible method for measuring weight. One gold bar has a volume of 600 square cm (300 cubic centidorfs) and, assuming it has the same density of real gold, it weighs 11.592kg. One cubic milidorf of gold weighs roughly 3 grams (2.8, to be exact) so 3 grams = 1 kogan.

IRL, the original definition of a kilogram was "The weight of a litre of water". We can do the reverse. One kilokogan of water = one asax.

A temperature scale has already been created (Degrees urist) and I don't think we need a new measurement of time.

[Untelligent]

The beard-second is a unit of length based on the approximate distance a beard will grow in one second, defined by some as about 5 nanometers.

Along these lines, one beard-year is about 16 centimeters, or about half a foot. A beard-decade is a little over 5 feet (1.6 meters), slightly larger than the height of a dwarf and the amount of personal space a dwarf needs for full freedom of movement.

Therefore, I submit the beard-decade as the standard unit of length, area, and space for a single tile in Dwarf Fortress. As some beards tend to grow faster than others, this explains the rather nebulous nature of a tile's size.

[RailroadRider]

Well, the beard-timespan is a bit of a mouthfull.

[Baffler]

Oh, I love stuff like this. But there is an easier way, at least with mass. The molar mass of gold is listed in the RAWs as 196967. The actual molar mass of (pure) gold is 196.96655, so I'll just...

196967 [UNIT] / 196.96655 [grams] = 1000.00

So Toady just used milligrams for those numbers. But the ingame weight units are a bit different IIRC. By this metric, 600 cm³ of gold should be 19.3 g/cm³_* 600.0 cm³ = 11600 grams (11.6 kg). The ingame weight units list a gold bar as 115 kogans. So if 115 kogans = 11600 g then 1 kogan = 101. grams. Near enough to 100. that I suspect Toady and I simply used slightly different estimates of the density of gold, or that he found one with more significant figures, or whatever. As such, we can say that 1 kogan is simply equal to 1 hectogram, if I did my math right. And there's a good chance I didn't, I've been away from it for awhile.

As for distances, I'm just a simple chemistry major. I don't really have the knowledge to weigh in there.

Edit: 1 kg = 1000g, not 100. Fixed.

[RailroadRider]

Easier way? Still more exact.

On second thought, Unintelligent, beard length is a good idea, very dwarfy, but perhaps we could use it as a measure of time instead of length. So beard time could work like this; 2.5 NDBL (Nanodorf-beard-time) = 1 second.

[Loam]

Personally I treat each tile as 1x1x2 meters (width-depth-height). It's a little nebulous anyway, seeing as an infinite number of giant sperm whales can fit onto a single tile.

[Manveru Taurënér]

Might be worth noting for those unaware that Toady has defined each tile as 2x2x3 meters back when he added minecarts.

As part of the flying minecart physics, did you decide on a tile size?

Assuming gravity works like real world gravity and you can invent a time unit (obviously not linked to the dwarf mode calendar, which moves too fast for this), then a choice has been made.  It wouldn't make any fewer dragons fit in the tile though.  I think for the purposes of the minecarts it turned out to be 2m x 2m x 3m with 10 clicks / second, but it isn't that important or far-ranging in effect.

[NAV]

A tile is exactly 1 urist long, 1 urist wide, and 1 urist tall.

[Henny]

According to the LOTR wiki, (We use the same dwarfs) dwarfs are 1.5 meters high, so the little cubes of stuff the world is made of are roughly that size. 1.5 meters = one dorf.

...Wait. Humans are exactly 25% larger than dwarves, so if they were dwarf-shaped they'd be like 1.8-.9 meters tall on average. Of course, they're human shaped and thus less broad, so the height of the average could very well be in excess of 2 meters. And this is with medieval nutrition standards.

Damn, humans in this universe are badass.

EDIT: They're actually 33% larger. I'm not good at math.

[Sergarr]

According to the LOTR wiki, (We use the same dwarfs) dwarfs are 1.5 meters high, so the little cubes of stuff the world is made of are roughly that size. 1.5 meters = one dorf.

...Wait. Humans are exactly 25% larger than dwarves, so if they were dwarf-shaped they'd be like 1.8-.9 meters tall on average. Of course, they're human shaped and thus less broad, so the height of the average could very well be in excess of 2 meters. And this is with medieval nutrition standards.

Damn, humans in this universe are badass.

I kinda think that with those HUGEASS storages they have, full of food, they would eat plenty of food everyday.

[Arowhun]

A tile is exactly 1 urist long, 1 urist wide, and 1 urist tall.

1000 tiles is 1 kilourist

[k33n]

According to the LOTR wiki, (We use the same dwarfs)

Ha, not even slightly.

[Manveru Taurënér]

According to the LOTR wiki, (We use the same dwarfs)

Ha, not even slightly.

Well, the game was originally going to be LotR themed complete with hobbits and balrogs etc but was later changed into its own setting. Can't say I've seen any comparisons of physiology between the two but it wouldn't surprise me if Toady based a lot of parameters on LotR descriptions and those still being the same still. Only noteable difference I know of is the much shorter lifespan of DF dwarves compared to LotR ones (and bearded females only being an option in the raws rather than the norm) :>

[k33n]

According to the LOTR wiki, (We use the same dwarfs)

Ha, not even slightly.

Well, the game was originally going to be LotR themed complete with hobbits and balrogs etc but was later changed into its own setting. Can't say I've seen any comparisons of physiology between the two but it wouldn't surprise me if Toady based a lot of parameters on LotR descriptions and those still being the same still. Only noteable difference I know of is the much shorter lifespan of DF dwarves compared to LotR ones (and bearded females only being an option in the raws rather than the norm) :>

And the psychology, and their culture, their behavior etc. They basically share the same name.

[Manveru Taurënér]

Psychology, culture, behavior and similar are the kind of things that obviously has been refined and thus changed over time from the original. Physical attributes don't really get changed around the same way. And I really don't agree DF dwarves are THAT different from LotR ones either if you look at how they are actually portrayed rather than how the playerbase portrays them ;P