Will caste requirements for different jobs/positions be introduced to civilizations at some point? This could have a lot of potential for modding, specifically. For instance, an insectoid civilization which has worker miners and soldier soldiers, or an amazonian kingdom which only allows females into the military and positions of power. I know this wouldn't be top priority, but is it on the easier side of things, or is it relegated to the "far future," if at all planned?
PatrikLundell:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=169696.msg8532449#msg8532449DPh Kraken:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=169696.msg8532635#msg8532635Digganob (op):
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=169696.msg8532969#msg8532969Yeah, it would be great if ant people worked correctly or were done at all in any way ha ha. This had always been sitting out at the entity rewrite, when we could start respecting more types of civilizations. Now that arcs are gone, it's more about the general vibe of how the magic stuff unfolds. It'll take a while for us to see how it's going to be.
A few days ago I began to imagine what would happen if Dwarf Fortress included the concept of evolution (ancient bones prove that the dwarf descended from the orangutan and things like that). It doesn't seem crazy given that DF aspires to be a very complete world simulator. But I see it as logical that you have not considered it because it is not something that is usually dealt with in the fantasy genre (books, movies...).
Have you ever thought about the possibility of treating evolution? If so, what reasons led you to rule it out?
Are there other similar things that you have considered and definitively ruled out for compelling reasons, such as technical, complexity or time limitations?
Oh sure, we've thought about it because we like critters. There are several obstacles of course. We'd need a better genetic model and a better creature definition that can float some more, and of course in pre-world-gen and beyond it'd need to model selection and mutation and that's a whole giant can of worms. But there are little bits of it sitting around, like our terrible half-baked genetics stuff and the virtually unused breed concept that can handle appearance changes etc. It would be cool to get into different types of cats and dogs and then expand that outward for instance.
I was watching the interview with BlindIRL, and Tarn was talking about “weaponizing the Dew”.
Does that mean that there’s going to be a product placement partnership with PepsiCo?
ha ha we'd have to say no, but also have not been approached. but once we have proper non water/magma fluids, I'm sure the Dew mod would be the least of our worries.
1. Given the recent tooling changes around how you build DF (eg version control, multiple branches) what do you think has changed in the way you think about development thanks to this new tooling? What has it enabled in your mind that you previously thought might be too difficult to tackle?
2. Follow up on the tooling, what other interesting tools or patterns have you considered or looked into? what about unit tests? fuzz testing? c++20 concepts?
Putnam:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=169696.msg8535067#msg8535067I'll defer to Putnam's modern programming experience on #2 ha ha.
Generally, I think it's great to be able to work on a feature for a bit and then just leave it on ice and know the merge is probably gonna be not too bad. And it allowed us to do 50.12 while adventure mode was already in progress which was great. If there's just never a huge dead period again, and it looks like that's the case, that's pretty cool. And it's more natural to just mess with some idea on a branch.
1. When map export function from Legends Mode will be aviable?
2. Will there be updates regarding the NPCs and their social component? For example, I noticed such a thing that characters can serve in the same unit for many years, and still remain strangers to each other. Or, after a battle, the wounded are simply abandoned, and first of all everyone goes to get drunk in a bar. In general, the behavior of the characters in some places is not entirely logical, and I would like to know if you are planning any updates in this regard.
1. I'm not sure, but it wants to come back! In terms of missing old features, adventure mode is the higher priority. But the missing bits of legends mode are not forgotten.
2. Lackluster and/or inventively negligent childcare is a frequent complaint. We're all for getting to this stuff. It has tended to get better over time.
Historically, you've played roguelike games, where your score was tallied at the end of the game.
Would a numeric representation of score fit in adventure mode?
Inarius:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=169696.msg8534399#msg8534399Putnam:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=169696.msg8535067#msg8535067The original conception of Dwarf Fortress had an adv mode high score of course, but it's expanded out beyond that now. We've thought periodically about things like some sort of arena-type submode with contained map generation that could be good for us for testing algorithms but also provide a space for a quick dungeon dive. Scores could fit there, but even in that case the heavily procedural element gives the scores dubious meaning. It's possible though.
1. In addition to healing potions will there be any other types of potions?
2. Years ago, ThreeToe's storys hinted as magical corruption being a possibility in the myth and magic arc, will that be coming in the new small updates format?
3. Will the player adventurer in the coming updates possibly gain paths to having more magical abilities like the necromancers and undead lieutenants have?
4. In some generated worlds will it be possible for the player to invoke a deity's powers by talking to them if they are in their favor enough? Possibility with the risk of incurring their wrath and getting cursed?
5. Will new divine curses be on the table for the coming updates?
6. When will the new forum be set up? I am of the understanding this may be one of the last future of the fortress question responses this site has.
Silverwing235:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=169696.msg8534775#msg8534775FantasticDorf:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=169696.msg8534805#msg85348051. Not at first, but we are approaching the oh yes indeed era.
2. Yeah, it's in the mythgen prototype as well. Side effects and downsides are part of the plan.
3. Yep, also part of the plan.
4. This sort of things should be in soon for the demigod type mode, and then be possible in the other modes as well with more or less effort.
5. Not sure! Gonna have a direct line to a deity in some cases and if it turns out like most roguelikes, they will be very upsettable.
6. We're still going to be hosting the forum ourselves, and the posts should all be imported and everything identicalish. Just going for https and to stave off the issue that risked the forum back in Feb/March.
When it comes to the healing methods you're implementing with the adventure mode release, how varied are they? Like, is it just a difference in ingredients, or are they going to distinguish between ingested/topical potions, and will healing sometimes have negative consequences?
Also, when you referred to 'killing the Big Wait dead,' does that mean updates are gonna be bringing features that would've otherwise been separated into arcs into the game independently of those arcs, or are the arcs still going to be a thing, but we'll see features of those arcs rolled out bit-by-bit?
Finally, will there be an option to auto-generate an adventure mode character?
At first, we'll probably be guided by existing implementation, which makes ingested (and spell-like interaction) more likely to start. Of course the game gets more interesting when you can just place whatever substance on yourself, and we already have the system for that (as with forgotten beast syndrome blood that rots bare feet), so that's an avenue that's not too hard to take.
I think it's inevitable that we'll still focus on things for periods of time, but we're trying not to make those periods "26 months" ha ha. But I also think we'll see a greater mixture of types of features. With version control, I think we'll also see some features baking for longer and then suddenly appearing, regardless of what sort of features have been trickling in at the same time.
No auto generate option yet though I was thinking about that this morning ha ha, since it really is quite a lot of work to make characters and we already have something similar in fort mode. But it won't be there initially. Would be cool to just be like "spin me up a 4 character party" and it gives you a varied group to approve.
1. I've been doing some research on the dwarf fortress wiki in preparation for the release and came across a list of power goals. It was very interesting to read, I understand that list is quite old and no longer up to date, but do these power goals still reflect your long-term vision of the game ?
2. More specifically, one of these goals mention the posibility for the live adventurer to have a wife, children and play our heir after death or retirement. It would leed to some amazing stories ! Is this feature still planed ?
FantasticDorf:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=169696.msg8535260#msg85352601. Ha ha yeah I'd argue they were always very weird, maybe a little weirder than the game was going to attain, ha ha. But it's still not a terrible list mostly.
2. Yeah! Having relationships and families is definitely still a goal. Can't wait for your spouse to be like "it was inevitable." Or some pure half-authored half-proc cringe. It'll be great.
Will chopped off limbs have different sprites instead of classic ''flesh and bone'' sprites? Additionally, will we see visible injuries in characters' sprites without looking at the portraits? Seeing missing arms or legs would be cool! And minimal injuries wouldn't be shown at all or shown as a single red dot on the sprite.
Also, When I was looking at creatures on wiki, I saw that Nightwings don't have tails even though dwarves like them for their long tails. I think the error is occured because one and only nightwing drawing has no tail (And apparently they have ''tail'' part in combat menu). Is it gonna be fixed?
About myth and magic update. We know that some myths create cursed races. In one myth, goblins were cursed dwarves because dwarves destroyed some object and the god cursed 1/3 of them and turned them into goblins. So, this changes will be seen in the game too? For example in that world dwarves call goblins ''cursed one'' or various things and goblins blame them etc.
About procedural dragons. Will they come soon or are you waiting for magic system to be implemented to the game? If I remember correctly, procedural dragons were about ''this one will breathe ice, this one breathe fire'' etc. but with the magic system, will they be intelligent, talk and use magic?
Missing arms and legs in sprites for the layered creatures (dwarves/humans/etc.) are just a matter of data entry at this point. Better chopped off limbs would be cool but we haven't drawn anything. I remember in my combat video looking around for the severed guts, could have had a dedicated sprite ha ha ha. Always more to do!
Huh I wonder how they have a tail in the combat menu if they don't have a tail? Anyway, it's better when things are consistent. Not sure when we'd get to it.
This is the hope! It'll lag behind the technical implementation since it has to start there.
Procedural dragons were about implementing the txt file format, so I imagine this could wait to see how any scripting changes work out. We're hoping to experiment with that at some point.
If you assign some artifact gear from your fort to adventure mode characters in your military and then return to adventure mode, is there any sort of transfer of ownership?
Will anyone show up to look for it from your fort's civilization in play, or are they cool with it as long as you're bringing glory and death with your indestructible leather pants?
What if you sign up under another leader or found a faction in the wilderness, will anybody come to press that claim for your old citizens?
Is there any different kind of response if the artifact was gifted to the fort vs someone's family heirloom?
For that matter, are there any plans for dwarves whose family artifacts have been traded away to other civilizations to start scheming for their illicit recovery?
Eric Blank:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=169696.msg8535304#msg8535304Hmm, I think all fort mode assignments retain the equipment as community property, with the player freely able to unassign, so all the artifact claims would still be on that basis if you start playing again. It'd require a more explicit gift system, or you could appoint the adventurer to a position and then make the artifact a symbol maybe.
I don't recall off the top of my head if anybody pursues artifact claims now but villains? There could be a quest to get it back if it's marked as lost but I don't recall if NPCs take those up, even in world gen. There was some work in that direction but I don't remember how far it went.
The gift/heirloom status does matter generally. Factions only set up quests/etc. for stuff that belongs to them, rather than an individual citizen. If the individual citizen gets villain status, they'll also try to get their artifact back in certain contexts (like the artifact heist), and also in worldgen, but I don't think it made it to adv mode.
This was all part of the delayed villain stuff which is now fair to pursue in the near term of course! Once the beta dust is settled and the full basic adv update is out. Finishing the elements of the villains release means all the artifact pursuit questions being answered in the affirmative, I think. Artifact movement and claims and grabbing was a simple traditional glue to hold a lot of it together. But we got delayed, and now we're arriving back, with all the magic/army/etc. stuff mixed in.
Is the current cordial treatment of intelligent-undead and experiments by the living-aligned and red-blooded as intended, or will they begin to be expelled by societies (with particular ethics) in the continuation of villains work?
Is there a difference in how demi-god characters will play / be treated if their patron is the target of a non-reformed or reformed religion? (i.e. with or without organised temples and priests)
Are there no item retrieval missions if a demi-god character is created at year 1 (due to no relics having been yet created in world-gen history), or might there be new collectables?
Yeah, we have some relevant ethics, so it should come up. Handling the social side of things broadly has always been a part of myth/magic, and it's certainly a little weird now for everybody to be so chill with the living dead especially. Experiments are also pretty terrifying though in a world with various animal people it all kind of goes together (but some humans should be afraid of animal people too at first probably, depending on how the world is.)
Once we get to improving the temple relic quests it'll likely make a difference yeah. At first there won't be one.
There are likely to be some additional primordial options along the lines of the existing titan shrines and vaults, since those are pretty rough.