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[GreatWyrmGold]

So it's golems, just with more steampunk fluff ?

Steampunk typically requires...y'know...steam. Or at least stuff moving by something other than magic.
But essentially, yes. Of course, in fiction, the only major difference between a robot, a golem, and an
artificial (demi)human is where and when they're "allowed" to show up.

I fail to see the interest in this. Why just not make a puppet with movable parts and then make these move with telekinetic magic?

Funnily enough, that's precisely the suggestion.

We already have a bronze colossus who magically moves without even being made of different parts.
Yes, dwarves know about gears and with magic it could be doable. But it seems improbably complex when golems already exist in the world, and are far simpler than that.
I'm all for my dwarves building golems, but let's just go with the original Jewish golem myth and be done with it. aka: craft statue out of some material, add  magical item on it, instant golem.

Have you contemplated the possibility that golem-making secrets might not be known to dwarves, if extant? Or that moving something designed to move might be easier/simpler than bending a solid metal statue?

Df is set in a science⁺ universe. Science + magic, specifically. We shouldn't try to integrate the magic into the science somehow, as I doubt it'll just lead to strange and nonsensical handwaves.
Just make sure that science is scientific and magic A is magic A.

Often, yes, but we should at least be able to figure out what magic does. How does the golem move? We now know a bit more about how the golem should behave in odd circumstances. (Which DF players will inevitably put it in.)

Feet of Clay Golems are dwarfier, emphasis on clay (or rather cogs), inscribing what you wish them to do, and the possibility to go utterly insane from such if fucked up. Also, intelligent.

Just a note, those are standard golems, based on the original jewish myth.

They also exist elsewhere in the Discworld.

[Bertinator]

This doesn't really seem to mesh with the general feel of Dwarf mode much. DF Dwarves are much closer to traditional fantasy Dwarves than magi-steampunk or plain steampunk Dwarves that are seen pretty often in the fantasy genre today. They don't have gunpowder, or steam, or really much magic for that matter. There are plenty of magical non-Dwarven creatures in the world, but other than the occasional necromancer, Dwarves don't use magic. They don't even have the non-magical technology for it to work. Gears, yeah, but nothing too far beyond what would be available in historical medieval Europe. They're powered by waterwheels and windmills. Mundane stuff. About the farthest they get is powered carts, which is abnormally advanced compared to their other technology. None of this makes sense in the context of the setting. Dwarves have barely-above-average technology and basically no magic, and but you're asking them to jump to advanced technology with huge amounts of magic.

Don't take this to mean I think it's a bad idea. I don't. But I'd make a thread in the modding section and start work on your own mod. It would make a lot more sense and it would have much more direct results. It should definitely be doable with the right reactions.

[Naryar]

I just am feeling that creating something as intricate and small as clockwork creatures, even if powered by magic, seem completely out of place in DF.
 

I fail to see the interest in this. Why just not make a puppet with movable parts and then make these move with telekinetic magic?

Funnily enough, that's precisely the suggestion.

eh bad communication

By puppet, I mean something articulated with movable parts but without a complex gear system ala Dwemer automaton. Magic moves the different parts. Undead skeletons are a good example of what I mean by "puppet" here.

We already have a bronze colossus who magically moves without even being made of different parts.
Yes, dwarves know about gears and with magic it could be doable. But it seems improbably complex when golems already exist in the world, and are far simpler than that.
I'm all for my dwarves building golems, but let's just go with the original Jewish golem myth and be done with it. aka: craft statue out of some material, add  magical item on it, instant golem.

Have you contemplated the possibility that golem-making secrets might not be known to dwarves, if extant? Or that moving something designed to move might be easier/simpler than bending a solid metal statue?
[/quote]

Never said golems should be known to dwarves. and yes, an articulated puppet should be easier than bending solid metal. But that's what I was suggesting.

[GreatWyrmGold]

I just am feeling that creating something as intricate and small as clockwork creatures, even if powered by magic, seem completely out of place in DF.

Given the fairly elaborate mechanisms made by dwarves, even without megaprojects needing to come into play, I'm not sure. Heck, just making a drawbridge raise at the pull of a lever is an impressive use of counterbalances. Sure, something as delicate as a clockwork critter is beyond their ability at this time, but so are moving fortress parts (which are planned), and back in 0.31, powering minecarts was impossible as well. The only problems I can see are miniaturization and power source.

I fail to see the interest in this. Why just not make a puppet with movable parts and then make these move with telekinetic magic?

Funnily enough, that's precisely the suggestion.

eh bad communication
By puppet, I mean something articulated with movable parts but without a complex gear system ala Dwemer automaton. Magic moves the different parts. Undead skeletons are a good example of what I mean by "puppet" here.

I dunno, actually. I hadn't realized the implied complexity.
Go ask an engineer, they'll have an answer.

We already have a bronze colossus who magically moves without even being made of different parts.
Yes, dwarves know about gears and with magic it could be doable. But it seems improbably complex when golems already exist in the world, and are far simpler than that.
I'm all for my dwarves building golems, but let's just go with the original Jewish golem myth and be done with it. aka: craft statue out of some material, add  magical item on it, instant golem.

Have you contemplated the possibility that golem-making secrets might not be known to dwarves, if extant? Or that moving something designed to move might be easier/simpler than bending a solid metal statue?

Never said golems should be known to dwarves.
[/quote]
Really?

I'm all for my dwarves building golems,

You DO have communication issues.

[Mesa]

Alright, seeing all this discussion led me to the ultimate conclusion of this suggestion -

The premise is good, but mildly anticlimax relative to Dwarf Fortress's idea. (that's probably not even a proper, much less eligible, sentence = I Engrish god)


If I were to mod this [SPOILER: I am not], it would be one of the more extensive mods out there, if I managed to get it done in the form present in this thread.