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[MDFification]

'ello 'ello 'ello.
It's been a long while since I've done a modding project. I won't be able to start a new one for the next two months, since I'll be without time or computers. But I do have one I'm planning, if anyone cares enough to give feedback/suggestions for new features.
The basic premise is that I want to make Dwarf Fortress more... epic? I want to push procedural history as far as the engine can support it. I want existing fantasy elements to become more prominent, while adding new ones. Essentially, I want the game to grab the player by the imagination, without having to add more complicated gameplay mechanics than already exist.

Here's what I've gotten planned so far;

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

1. Performance Upgrades
-Standardize organic materials for better FPS.
-Apply bugfixes when possible to patch via DFhack or the raws.

2. Rebalancing
-Apply nerfs to weapons that need them, like projectiles and whips.
-All animals patched to enable reproduction (including megabeasts).
-All animal people can be trained or kept as pets, and are given [UTTERANCES].
-Animal people/giant animals are made to appear less commonly than the usual variant of a creature.
-Enable diplomats on all civs.
-All civs build roads, walls, tombs, fortresses etc to improve adventure mode flavor.
-Interesting, rare creatures should be made less rare in all biomes. There's so many creatures that many players don't encounter them at all, despite genning scores of worlds over the course of years.

3. More Civs
-Added civs won't be hostile by default, just very to become hostile. This is because I want them to fight with civs who actually border the biomes I'm restricting them to rather than engage you anywhere they can reach you like goblins. Also since I want peace with them to become possible in DF2014+, when NPC wars will start/stop in-game before the player's eyes.
-Amphibious Civ; some kind of civ that's fairly primitive, and colonizes marshes and rivers adjacent the sea. Should also dig tunnels and get deep sites in appropriate biomes. I envision wood-constructed buildings and earthworks, but I'm not sure how to implement those if they can still dig.
-Harpy Civ: Harpies get a civ, which is based out of mountain peaks. They should construct villages out of wood and/or live in mountain caves. They serve a kobold like role, except they can fly and aren't stealthy. Also make mountains more hazardous for adventurers/nearby settlers.
-Nomad Civ: A civ that should be fairly dangerous, and of course not really nomads although they can be nomad-themed. Should occupy otherwise empty deserts and wastelands (maybe also some prairies). Might just be a alternate civ for humans.
-Deep Civ: A civ that trades with you during the winter, and makes solely deep sites. Probably pretty primitive. Gremlins?
-Cave Civ: A civ that has exclusively deep sites, but attacks you in a big way. I'm thinking ant-men for now, although Naked Mole Rat Folk are equally if not more horrifying a prospect.

4. More Creatures/Adventure!
-Vampires now spread syndrome via bite.
-Necromancers aren't the only wizarding faction; some also just straight up blast you with magic.
-Ettin, Giants and Cyclops merged into multiple casts a single race of megabeasts for increased breeding purposes.
-A new megabeast of some sort that has necromancy + turns your soldiers against you if they get contaminated with its blood. Lovecraftian, much?
-More races can get their leader replaced by demons.
-Reworking the cavern ecosystem; more monsters such as slimes, giant snails, etc.

[TheFlame52]

Would you like some help? For the cave civ I'm thinking the Vlagh, a civ of bug people ruled by a powerful, immortal queen with the ability to change the DNA of her eggs. Castes include diggers, workers, thinkers, soldiers, sneakers, and several more bestial types. I've been thinking about this for a while. The actual idea is from The Dreamers series by David Eddings.

[TheFlame52]

Looking back over everything, I have some comments. Firstly, don't standardize all organic materials. I like having forgotten beast leather trousers and dragon bone rings. Just standardize some things, like meat and tallow. Secondly, the tags that make civs get taken over by demons make it so that the positions can't be modified. That makes it sort of hard to add diplomats, doesn't it? Third, the race of semimegas should include minotaurs too, because they always breed out of control anyway. Fourth, not all civs should build all constructions. Some wouldn't be able to lay bricks, some wouldn't expect their leaders to die, some just wouldn't have the inclination. Finally, everything else sounds pretty cool, can I help?

[vjmdhzgr]

[VARIABLE_POSITIONS:ALL] (which is the token to let civs be lead by demons) doesn't actually override positions added to the civ. I know Masterwork does this as do many people making simple modifications to their personal DF file when they give humans diplomats. Masterwork takes it even further than just diplomats though because all civs have a full list of positions and most of them (even playable ones) have [VARIABLE_POSITIONS:ALL].

[MDFification]

More interested in doing this myself than making this a group project, but thanks for offering.
Standardizing materials gives a massive, massive fps boost, which makes it pretty necessary in my books. It's also hard to mod in after you've finished everything else in a mod without using tools like rubble, and vanilla creatures are broken with standardized materials. So maybe I'll do a standardized/non-standardized version using rubble. The main appeal of undstandardized materials is so that you can tell which species the material came from (adds atmosphere, but at the fps cost...) and so that some creatures can have higher value remains (since it's so easy to generate value and it's only used in caravans, not that big of a deal at this point).