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[Mandango]

So I know that some of this is going to be implemented in upcoming releases, but I've had two dreams of things I would love to have in Fortress Mode: mining robots and a giant spider walker.

Mining Robot:
I've seen that there will likely be the addition of carts or wagons pretty soon and I see this as the potential for amazing mining robots.  It doesn't technically have to be something added into the programing, though my current vision would require a bit more coding before it would actually work.  My vision is that you would possibly have something like a weapon trap equipped with either picks or an enormous screw and it would possibly be attached to a wall/statute on top of a cart/wagon.  Obviously there would be more mechanisms involved and there would need to be some kind of power source, possibly a better application for pump operators (them riding on the back of the minerbot, cranking away furiously, the minerbot mining faster as the pump operator increases in skill) or maybe have it pushed by wagon animals.  I am also entertained by the possible idea of having minerbots powered by vermin running on hamster wheels inside of the machine.  Obviously this is all conceptual and I'd love to hear any ideas from anyone else. One of the things I like about the minerbot idea is the ability to mine out large sections easily, but also because of the potential "fun" from a forgotten minerbot mining straight into a magma pipe or the ocean.

Giant Spider Walker:
This is my dream mega construction and I think it might finally come to fruition with the addition of movable fortress parts.  The image in my head is multiple walls/supports attached to some form of movable part that some how (possibly through multiple steps) allows the wall/support to be lifted off the ground, moved forward a square and then set back down.  One possible way of making this work is multiple slaves pump operators cranking away, another being that one z-level below the level with the movable mechanisms would be an area filled with water to be used by screw pump power generators.  So that would be phase one of the spider walker and being able to pull that off would already make me plenty giddy, but then there's phase two; portable barracks.  On the same z-level as the movable mechanisms the spider walker's walls would be almost entirely fortifications and the floor would be a barracks for multiple squadrons of archers.  Now oncoming siege's won't only be crushed by the spider walkers legs but arrows will rain down upon them.  At this phase I'd already be laughing maniacally as I watched the spider walker at work, but then there is phase three; siege engine doom!  The z-level above the fortifications and barracks you line the edge of the spider walker with catapults and/or ballistae and the center of that level is a stone/ammo stockpile.  Applying all this would make me happier than a dwarf in a adamantine bath filled with rum.  Possibly drawbacks to the spider walker would be maybe not being able to change it's direction and take it back to the fortress and the possiblity of it not being able to walk up/down z-levels.  Again, I welcome any other ideas on the subject.

[FallingWhale]

No.

[NW_Kohaku]

*ahem*

What he means is that Dwarf Fortress is not a "Steampunk Dwarf" game.  It's a game where anything past about the 1400s technologically is generally off-limits in vanilla.

Wagons have existed for a while, and are temporarily out of commission.  They are just that, however, wooden wagons.

Now, with moving fortress pieces, it may certainly be possible to have some sort of very odd contraption that could resemble a very large robot, however, this is the sort of thing you should probably mention in the Improved Mechanics thread after you have read through a bit of it.

Since you appear to be very new to this, I should also mention that you should look to the section of the forums above the actual threads, and see the forum's specific rules about looking at the devpages to make sure your ideas aren't already in the works, and that it is reccomended you search for similar ideas, so that you aren't simply repeating a common idea.  (Not that this thread is a bad example of the latter, but many new posters don't read those rules, so it is worth mentioning.) 

EDIT:
Also, DF Fortress Mode Forum would probably be kinder to speculation of what you can potentially do when the moving fortress parts come in.  Unless you are suggesting specific mechanical pieces that actually be implimented (in which case, Improved Mechanisms might be appropriate), then you're just talking about what you hope to do with the individual pieces and components that are on the devpage, and the Fortress Mode Forum is where you will find people more willing to indulge in speculation like that.

[noob]

to be more medieval the mining bot could be an atom smasher with a really long spike attached to the end.

[Dutchling]

No way. The closest thing to robots that I personally would like would be the kind of robot where 1 in game tile = 1 part of a part of the robot (like a wooden pipe section to run stem through) so a robot/machine would be like 20x20x20 and totally not functional but still cool to look at

[Sergius]

Something like this would be cool tho:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Carcanken]

No.

Unfortuantly there is a rule against just saying "no" like that on suggestions. You must supply a reason.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

"Try to make a contribution. If you like a suggestion, say why you like it and try to refine it if possible. If you don't like a suggestion, say why and be civil about it.
• Be respectful. If you don't intend to show respect, do not post. If there is a problem, use the "Report to moderator" button on a post in the thread. Do not handle it on your own.
•New posters will not always follow the guidelines above, but if you aren't making an honest effort to be helpful, do not post. The best option is to ignore redundant threads entirely, especially if somebody helpful has already replied.
 • Joking around is fine up to a point, of course, but don't be abusive or derail somebody's thread entirely.
"

[Capntastic]

There's also a rule about searching for past threads before posting, and all of this has come up before.  Of course, two wrongs don't make a right, as evidenced by this thread's tone.

Toady doesn't want 'robots'.  Even things like simple mechanized mining-bots would be too 'steampunk' for the game.  This is a high fantasy world simulator, not Wild Wild West.  Not that WWW is bad in any way, but this isn't that game.

[sockless]

Well it would be cool if it was somehow possible to mod it in, so Toady makes a framework for it that we can use.
Personally I'd love it if sometime in the future Toady added better modding capabilities into the game, so that we could make things like that, or cannons or airplanes or whatever.