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[Crowley]

I admit, most of my dwarf fortress stories to friends revolve around amazing feats my dwarves have done. Either in adventure mode or fortress, most of my enjoyment revolves around making heroes and tracking thier progress.

So I got to thinking, since hero worship is a big part of the game (for some), why not facilitate that with coffins?

What we have now is just a boring "Here lies whoever". What I'm suggesting is that the epitaph tell something about the dwarf within.

For example "Here lies Udib Nomerith, a dedicated worker. No dwarf in the land could brew a finer beer" for a legenday brewer.

Or "Here lies Bomrek Keskamlister, expert swordsman. Struck down 6 goblins in the seige of 1054, later went crazy and jumped into the chasm."

Or "Here lies Iden Melbiles, second mayor of Bronzekeep. A masterful liar, this dwarf could settle a dispute between a dragon and it's prey."

It'd really personalize the game, and add some flavor I feel.

[PTTG?]

So, is this a kind of game-generated thing? Or the player? If it is written by the player, then it will basically be in if Toady one ever lets us order specific engravings(! oh... that gives me an idea for another thread) I kind of like the idea of a program-made marker, possibly influenced by the 'thoughts' of surviving dwarves! What where you suggesting?

[Tamren]

I guess the rest of the fortress would automatically generate a sort of eulogy and carve that into the casket.

[Lightning4]

Here lies the Baron. May he rot in hell. -Signed, by the Fortress Jewelers.

[irmo]

Cool idea.  There are already many dwarven achievements that can be the subject of engravings: making artifacts, death, killing enemies, fighting battles, etc.  Coffin and tomb engravings should always be chosen from that list if possible, and then should represent the dwarf's skills starting with the highest:

"This is an engraving of a hammer over a shield.  During her life, Unib Melzureth was a Master Armorsmith and produced 215 pieces of armor."
"... an engraving of a sword.  Bomrek Keskamlister was an Expert Swordsdwarf and slew a total of 12 enemies."
"... an engraving of a mug of beer.  Udib Nomerith became a Legendary Brewer in 1062, and brewed 357 barrels of beverages during his career."[1]
"... an engraving of a ruler and compass.  Udib Nomerith was a Dabbling Building Designer, having designed one building."

And positions held:
"... an engraving of a stack of coins.  Udib Nomerith served as Bookkeeper from 1055 to 1058."

And maybe other things associated with that dwarf:

"... an engraving of Unib Melzureth holding her son, Udib Nomerith."
"... an engraving of Bomrek Keskamlister's faithful war dog, 'Steeljaw'."

You get the idea.  A simple coffin in a one-space tomb can hold only two engravings (the coffin itself and the floor under it), which will usually be date/manner of death and highest skill achieved.  A bigger tomb can record more achievements, which is one reason it's such a status symbol.

[1] Ascent to Legendary status is recorded with a date, and takes priority over everything except artifacts.  Other skills are just recorded with highest level achieved and total production, and come after death scenes, battles fought, etc.

[Tamren]

This also brings up the possibility of decorated tombs as a whole instead of just coffins. That way you would instead decorate the door and the tomb itself instead of putting what is essentially graffity onto the casket (although thats sort of thing would still exist).

Its pretty easy to imagine, you could have doors that would display things like:
"The Mechanist Catacombs"
Or "Here lies the Icepike family"
Or maybe "Here lies the eyebrows of the celebrated alchemist Jimbo and what remains of his "elixir of life", CAUTION DO NOT OPEN DOOR UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES"

You get the idea . Alternatly you could have communal catacombs where everyone is buried and large "tombstones" that sit in different sections of the catacoms detailing who lies where and what they did in life.

[irmo]

quote:Originally posted by Tamren:
<STRONG>This also brings up the possibility of decorated tombs as a whole instead of just coffins. That way you would instead decorate the door and the tomb itself instead of putting what is essentially graffity onto the casket (although thats sort of thing would still exist).</STRONG>

Exactly.  The engraving code just needs to notice that the wall/floor is part of an assigned tomb, and choose an appropriate engraving.

[Bricktop]

I think this would be a great idea. Also, adding any artifacts that the Dwarf made is a must for this as well

Example:

"...creator of the artifact numzidumz, An Iron Thong..."