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[IndigoFenix]

One of the concepts from the original Slaves to Armok is the idea that Armok destroys and rebuilds the world whenever it grows too peaceful or boring.  On a meta level, this is meant to represent the player hitting the 'Create New World' button.

But what if, instead of creating a world completely from scratch, the player could trigger apocalypses of varying degrees of severity?  What if we could generate a new world, but there would be some things surviving from the last?

From a programming standpoint, this would work by saving a 'remnants' file, then creating a new world using the same seed as the original (so all continents and features would be in the same place).  However, before placing the initial civilizations, the remnants would be placed into the new world.  The world would then generate from there as normal.

Remnants could include artifacts, ruined sites, a handful of scattered survivors (perhaps those underground at the time of the apocalypse would have a better chance of survival), and some megabeasts, forgotten beasts, or titans.  Most of history would be erased, with all survivors recorded as being born 'in a time before time'.  A few legends (such as those associated with or depicted on the surviving artifacts, or engraved on the walls of surviving ruins) might be retained.

[falcc]

This could be really great if knowledge from the surviving civilizations is maintained with them. So when Firebringer Destroyer of Worlds the two thousand year old dragon from a time before time is destroying the newly created countryside the surviving members of an old Dwarf civ that encountered it before should know all their dragon fighting lore before any of the new civs and be at an advantage. Maybe survivors would spread old song styles or fighting styles, or the knowledge of how to defeat certain monsters. Then every ensuing apocalypse would throw more diverse elements into the new worlds.

It'd be nice if you could trigger it in play somehow, so as to guarantee a particularly beloved character definitely survives into the new world gen. Of course if other creatures could do it it might need an on-off switch at some level so you don't start playing a new squire just as the Lord of the Underworld triggers the apocalypse and then you don't make it.

[LuckyKobold]

Awesome Idea.

[AceSV]

Sounds interesting for Adventure Mode but not sure if it would matter to Fortress Mode. 

If there were more potential civilizations, it would be interesting to see some peoples go extinct and new peoples being born.  For example, the old world was full of Elves and Goblins, but now the age of the Antmen is upon us.  Or civilizations could undergo great personality changes.  For example, Elves were once peaceful forest dwelling folk, but when the dragon swarms burned down their forests, their spirits were broken and they became cruel destructive savages. 

If the world is destroyed, it might change the nature of the planet significantly too.  The world could become a desert planet, ice planet, ocean planet (WindWaker), jungle planet or Evil planet. 

[Dyret]

Sounds interesting for Adventure Mode but not sure if it would matter to Fortress Mode. 

Assembling infrastructure and collecting materials for an end of the world spell seems like it would be a perfect endgame goals in Fortress Mode.

[Sefarian]

This is an awesome idea. I'd love to see something like this in the game. +1

[Tawa]

I don't see it happening any time soon, but this would be a really cool game mechanic someday.

I wonder what it would feel like, to have your finger over that button, knowing that hitting it will usher in a new age of history and take hundreds of thousands of tiny, simulated lives...

It is terrifying.

[Sefarian]

I don't see it happening any time soon, but this would be a really cool game mechanic someday.

I wonder what it would feel like, to have your finger over that button, knowing that hitting it will usher in a new age of history and take hundreds of thousands of tiny, simulated lives...

It is terrifying.

But would you say it...

...

...

was inevitable?

[Sutremaine]

When I saw the topic title my first thought was of the player somehow unbalancing spheres or whatever until the embark itself rose up against you. Kind of like the zombie apocalypses you get when the undead units in a reanimating biome start killing the wildlife, and finally you end up with a landscape strewn with the worldly goods of every goblin and trader to visit your godforsaken land.

[TheHossofMoss]

Love this idea! Glad you though of it.

So you know how that certain screen pops up when a diplomat talks to you? What if you have a prophet/prophetess/etc. come up to your fort, and talks with your leader that way as well? They could prophesy good things or bad things, or warn you of a coming doom. Let's assume they are divinely protected, and cannot be harmed, and at this point, cannot lie to you.

I think this would be a great way to implement the evil weather. They could cast evil weather upon your fort. Hopefully not husk-making, or extremely-harmful weather, but it's within the bounds I guess. Just enough to really ruin your dwarfs' day. Freak them out. Make them go piss-and-moan at the nobles. Maybe a loyalty cascade occurs... who knows.
Also, I think the prophets could send sickness and syndromes to your dwarfs as well. Just random fun stuff like that. It would definitely quell the boredom, I think.

Anyway, my rant is over.

[IndigoFenix]

Well, I was thinking more of a meta-level thing, not something that happens in-game.
Like on the main menu, in addition to 'Create New World', we could have 'Reforge Saved World', or something like that.  Hitting the button would bring up a list of all of your existing worlds, you would select one, and the game would then create a new world with remnants of that one left in it.
It would be basically like starting a new game, but with the possibility of encountering bits and pieces of nostalgia from your earlier games.