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[GeneralValter]

Using engravings and coins as the sole method of finding out history as an adventurer seems to be a rather unsteady choice. It's extremely hard to get all of a fortress's history into the engravings you make, because you can't choose the event that gets put on there. I think it would be cool if there were a method for accurately determining all of the history of a fortress, so I was thinking: libraries!

A library could be made from books, which would be made from a carpenters shop or slates from a mason's shop (you could make this more intricate if you want). At the library, you could designate history to be recorded, which would cause dwarves with a "historian" labor task enabled to record events that happened during that dwarve's lifetime. Dwarves would be unable to record events that happened while they weren't there, or would have to reference to engraved areas in the fortress. The library could record how much of the history you have recorded (like the book-keeping: "you have compiled 65% of your fortress's history" or something). Once you make an adventurer after abandoning the fort, you can go to the library to research all of the events that happened there.

This would also be cool because it would be more fun to hide the information. Fortress makers could make huge Nist-Akath style trials that the adventurer would have to brave before reaching the fort's greatest secrets...

[numerobis]

There is a bloat item about a GIANT-ASS-BOOK that has all the history of your fort, pretty much as you describe.  I, for one, am looking forward to it.

[Sowelu]

Also, bloats involving personal journals that get more or less automatically generated.  Books are going in at some point in the future, oh my yes, you can be sure of that.

[Wolfius]

"Make (insert type here) Paper" job at alchemist. Also, 'make copper(etc?) sheet' at forge.

Add Study/whatever workshop with make books, uses paper or metal sheet.

Add furniture item(carpenter/mason) 'Book Shelf', which can hold one book and be designated a room - maybe make it a dual build, so you need to select a book(or multiple books) and a shelf to build it.

Alternate form; scroll and scroll case - less information, but perhaps more value, with decorative scroll cases. If implemented, metal books might be excluded. Scroll cases are also more protective, so a stone or metal case might make the scroll fire proof, atleast if it's metal.

Probably want more functionality than history recording, tho. Trade items? Give dwarves featured in history happy thoughts? Edumacation(newbie [insert enabled job] might go read a book about a legendary [insert job] while on break, gaining a little skill - or maybe have the scribe write about random things(other job, not 'scribe history'), with a chance he'll write about things he knows; job skill + scribe skill = learning potential, so books by a legendary armour smith might still suck. Also, the higher the reader's relative skill, the less they learn, learning little/nothing as they reach/exceed the book's skill level)?

Also, thought; adding books to workshops as reference material to boost quality and/or speed, as if a dwarf doesn't remember/know, he doesn't have to guess/ask/waste time trying to remember - instead, he can just look it up.

[Draco18s]

quote:Originally posted by Wolfius:
<STRONG>Add furniture item(carpenter/mason) 'Book Shelf', which can hold one book and be designated a room - maybe make it a dual build, so you need to select a book(or multiple books) and a shelf to build it.</STRONG>

I'd think that bookshelves would be like coffers only to hold books instead of coins.

[Lyrax]

quote:Originally posted by Wolfius:
<STRONG>Also, 'make copper(etc?) sheet' at forge.</STRONG>

I like this, and it seems very dwarven.  Real-life examples of this are few, but there are enough copper, gold and silver plates to say that it's a viable writing method.

Especially if you've got a lot of ore just lying around.  Which dwarves often do.

[nunix]

Hell, humans used clay tablets and paper; if they'd had the technology and resources, I'm sure there would've been metal-sheet books, don't see any problems there.

I'm actually hoping that a journal system goes in sooner rather than later. The system could probably be pretty simple: every thought a dwarf has gets written down in the book in some format. It doesn't have to be real flowery; "My husband Cog Cogistan died and I want to kill myself now." for "terrible grief over death of a loved one" or such. We already get the thoughts in the view-dwarf screen, but they rotate out after awhile. This would just be a simple dump file for dwarves to archive those.

[Silverionmox]

It could be nice too to have a dwarf's personal history engraved on his bones or at least his coffin upon burial.

[penguinofhonor]

.

[Drunken]

"Fortress makers could make huge Nist-Akath style trials that the adventurer would have to brave before reaching the fort's greatest secrets..."

In all the fortresses I have made 'greatest secrets' would be 'today we made 300 more rock crafts and prospected another level of the mine. Tomorrow the plan is to make 350 rock crafts, and prospect yet another level. Tensions are high as masons and haulers are very exited about the prospect of yet more rock crafts'

Actually I lie, my current fortress had a legendary ring (the one ring) which was then lost (stolen by a thief). When magic and runes comes in the secret to unlocking the rings power would be perfect for this protected library, as well as details for identifying it.

[Bricktop]

I think a library would be a good addition to the game. At the moment it might be quite scarce on things to actually put in books. I mean, other than births (too few), deaths (too many) and mayor elections (all the same bloke) forts don't have much history. However, the army arc will probably add quite a bit more to this, and most other major development arcs would also probably mean that there is generally more stuff to be added (especially in the far future of the game when wizards are in).

[GeneralValter]

Drunken- Libraries would contain history, not journals. I'm talking about actual events that show up in the legends page, like "so-and-so was elected as mayor" and "such-and-such created the legendary artifact, ironpukes the agony of pain". Libraries would only contain information that would show up on a legends page.

[Bricktop]

Maybe libraries could have the history of the fort (legends screen stuff) and also the stock-records of the fortress. (In soring of the year 1052 the fortress Inkyroughness had the following exports/imports/etc) These books would be generated by the record-keeper.