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[ZombieRacoon]

Perhaps it could be a .ini setting, but can the unit list be made to not show 'units' that are on the map when we realistically should have no clue as to their existence?

I find it removes a level of surprise and fun to start a map and know that there's X amount of Fire Imps, or whatever

I never used to have a problem with this when it was just wildnerness creatures (although secretly I'd like to have to send a Dwarf Scout out to discover the animals), but now that we don't get ambushing frogmen leaping out of rivers and wells and we can see the cavern creatures etc coming from a mile off, it's just a bit...dissapointing.

Of course, the quick-fix scenario is to not look at the bottom of the unit list screen, but sometimes it's unavoidable.

This is a marmite suggestion, some will like, some will hate so a setting in .ini would be ideal.

Aside from the loss of the element of surprise from the game, the new version is all my dreams and more (or it will be once sieges "work" again, if indeed it is *intentded* that there should always be an assault from a siege)

If it's possible to mod 'units' so that they don't appear in the unit list, then I am all ears.  Does anyone know off the top of their head if human wagons (which I believe are classed as creatures) show up in the unit list?

[BurnedToast]

I might be totally off here, but I think that it's not really possible to do this.

Right now, 'you' have LoS to everything your dwarves have ever seen. If Toady added some sort of limited vision thing where you couldn't see something unless a dwarf had LoS, then it would have to check the LoS for every dwarf in every frame.

You know how laggy adventure mode is? Imagine that times however many dwarves you have. If I'm not mistaken, a big cause of the adventure mode slowdown is LoS calculating.

[ZombieRacoon]

Yeah, that would no doubt be unacceptably laggy.  Still, I'd settle for a plain old option whereby only Dwarves, their animals, pets and visitors showed up on the unit list.  A simple tag in a creature's definitition in the raw, like UNIT_LIST: YES/NO.

Sure, you could still hunt around looking for the animals and creatures that are on your map, what with there being no 'fog of war', but you'd not instantly be aware of every threat currently on the map.

If you want to be aware of ever threat currently on the map, or don't want to have to scroll around looking to see if you have deer to hunt, then flip the option in the .ini.

Personally I want to send my brave hunter out into the wilds to see what he comes back with, if he comes back at all.

[valcon]

maybe just an expandable/minimizeable +/- sign for "other creatures" so that people wouldn't have to see it, but if they needed or wanted to, could.

[ November 22, 2007: Message edited by: valcon ]

[MyBeardIsOnFire]

We already don't see thieves and child snatchers until they're spotted by dwarves. The same could be done for everything on the map. Of course, anything out of LoS has to disappear, and that doesn't happen right now, but I think the amount of 'am I out of LoS?' checks can be reduced by only checking every several hundred frames for every currently visible creature.

[Bouchart]

I agree that this suggestion would probably create large amounts of lag without too much benefit.

More pressing, I believe, is that over time the Unit List can get cluttered with hundreds of dead deer and goats and the like.

[MindSnap]

Just have an option to turn off deceased units and wild animals, no bother with LOS.

[ZombieRacoon]

quote:Originally posted by MindSnap:
<STRONG>Just have an option to turn off deceased units and wild animals, no bother with LOS.</STRONG>

Although my initial post sounds like I was talking about line of sight, this is pretty much what I meant in a nutshell.  Thanks.

No lag issues with that.

[Ninjacrat]

[ November 23, 2007: Message edited by: Ninjacrat ]

[slMagnvox]

Bring back ambushes!  I really agree with original post, tedious stuff like ore and gems are hidden, but the exciting things like the family of troglodytes living on the rim of the chasm or the cave swarming with kobolds are revealed before your miners even Pickup Equipment.  Patience, I guess.  There is lots of other new gameplay in DF 3d, but I am getting frustrated staring at my farm floor and trying to pin down the perfect workshop/stockpile layout.  I'd love a swarm of frogmen outta nowhere, ideally on top of this one lazy craftsdwarf been shirking work every time I gave him something important to do.

Sure, in 0.23 while you knew there was a chasm, magma, etc.. you still had to discover them each time.  That discovery is rather lacking in 0.27.

[isitanos]

quote:Originally posted by slMagnvox:
<STRONG>Bring back ambushes!  I really agree with original post, tedious stuff like ore and gems are hidden, but the exciting things like the family of troglodytes living on the rim of the chasm or the cave swarming with kobolds are revealed before your miners even Pickup Equipment.  Patience, I guess.  There is lots of other new gameplay in DF 3d, but I am getting frustrated staring at my farm floor and trying to pin down the perfect workshop/stockpile layout.  I'd love a swarm of frogmen outta nowhere, ideally on top of this one lazy craftsdwarf been shirking work every time I gave him something important to do.

Sure, in 0.23 while you knew there was a chasm, magma, etc.. you still had to discover them each time.  That discovery is rather lacking in 0.27.</STRONG>

I agree 100%. We don't need a full "fog of war" effect, just don't show creatures in places your dwarves have not explored yet.

[Fedor]

I can easily see how calculating LOS would be prohibitively expensive.  But it would not be so time-consuming to flag an entity as "interacting" or "non-interacting".  If an entity interacts with any dwarf in any way, let it become visible in the unit list.  Until then, let it be invisible.