In spirit, this is a continuation of the
Reuse dwarves from abandoned fortresses suggestion thread. However, I wish to discuss the modding and practicality of the idea with v0.34 and current tools and techniques.
I don't suppose there's been any more official talk of having the option to retire a fort in a legacy manner?
But, at least in terms of modding, it is now - technically - feasible. Sort of. (See
this post in the DFusion thread and
this thread for details.) Still, it requires technical knowledge and hacking the game. It's not at all a straightforward process and there's a chance to mess up.
I recently asked
here in the new DFHack thread about further possibilities. I had hoped to hack the location of items and creatures to instantly move everything to a new embark at a different part of the world map. Sadly, according to Quietust,
it cannot be done.
Anyway, here's part of Rumrusher's response (moved here to stay on topic):
I wonder to know what's your problem?.. oh wait you want migrants from a retired fort, they should move over to the new site easily in the upcoming migrant waves. Though the units are stuck in a pool of natural citizens of the civ and might take a couple sessions.
Interesting, but it's not what I'm talking about. I want to choose a selection of dwarves from my old fort to migrate to a new location to start a new one - as founders, not migrants. But more than that, I also wanted to bring along a selection of domestic and exotic animals and maybe some caged critters. In addition, I really want to select piles of supplies and stuff from my old fort to bring along - maybe even an artifact or two.
More importantly, there is a reason to bring along creatures from my old fort instead of buying new animals on embark or from caravans. A good one:
DF actually has some degree of genetics simulation. (See
v0.31 Talk:Butcher.) There can be a surprising degree of variation in terms of a species' HEIGHT, BROADNESS and LENGTH. (Not to mention variation in hair, eye, and tissue colors. See
TLCM_GENETIC_MODEL and other
creature tokens.) And these traits can be inherited by offspring. In some cases an unusually large "breed" of dogs in DF can be butchered for more meat than an unusually small "breed" of donkeys. A lot of it seems a roll of the dice. But one can intentionally breed big specimins that produce more meat (or visa versa). And larger specimins are also a bit more powerful in combat.
But all that work in breeding super-cows or super-warbears would be largely wasted if one cannot bring them along for a new embark.
...though if you want people from another site to visit you could jump into adventure mode and walk them to the next site.
I thought about that. A lot! If push comes to shove, I might. But that method seems very tedious and fraught with peril. Boring, even. Embarking to a destination halfway across the world map could take a
long time. And I would imagine I'd run into some nasty stuff along the way and most of the party would perish along with most of the goods.
That's just it: How would I haul a bunch of stuff across the world in adventure mode? Does 0.34 adventure mode allow the use of pack animals now? Fortress mode does not allow dwarves to use animals as pack animals - unlike caravans.
Can I have them carrying bins filled with stuff at the moment I retire the fort and turn them into adventurer companions? Maybe have them use wheelbarrows or minecarts? There would be no tracks for the minecart...
Well, I suppose I could do a "hopscotch" method. That is, I could move all I wanted to the edge of the map in fort mode, switch to adventure and move beyond the edge, then switch back to fort mode and move stuff again... rinse and repeat. But that's quite tedious. Even more so if one has to dig tunnels underground for a safe route, complete with minecart tracks.
Ah... I have an idea on a faster method (if it works):
One can use DFHack commands to change the location of items and creatures instantly. So one could have stacks of items and creatures a lined up for "rapid short-range teleporting". Then do a legacy-style fort retirement and switch to Adventurer Mode. Next, have a script to teleport everything to the edge of the map in the direction you want to go (N/S/E/W). And then keep repeating the teleport until you get where you want to go.