I wouldn't worry too much about it already being in the Top 10.
The idea needs to be fleshed out anyway. We all know Toady has a hell of a good imagination, but our ramblings here might spark an idea.
If you can, rename the thread as "underground diversity discussion" or something like that and we can brainstorm here, in one thread.
I'd like to see a second "underworld" beneath the surface at about 10 or so z levels underground. There would be enough room for a medium sized fort before excavating an opening into a sprawling cavern world populated by antmen or orcs or whatever seems appropriate.
And any fort, if it digs deep enough should encounter magma.
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The old 2d Mountain had distinct zones that each had its own 'personality'. The area in between the outside and the cave river had great access to trade, hunting, and wood. It also was (conceptually) in danger from goblin siege forces. Once you got to the cave river you had to deal with lizardmen and giant cave crocodiles, but you had the opportunity to make extensive farms and tower cap fortresses. Further in there was the chasm with its antmen and batmen. Next came the area between the chasm and magma, where the most efficient smithing could be done. Beyond that you had adamantine, HFS, and doom.
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In an ideal (for me) 3d adaptation you'd have a layer of rock directly under the surface, with the possibility of a cave river winding underneath it (just like it is now).
But deeper you'd come to a layer of open caverns (analogous to the chasm) with underground civs, large subterranean lakes (fed by the cave rivers) and connections to other fortresses and goblin caves.
This layer would be the lair of the dreaded cave spider, packs of naked mole dogs, and rampaging hordes trolls, antmen, or troglodytes. The cavern would vary between 0 and 7 z levels in depth, with stalagmite/tites, bottomless chasms, mushroom forests and obsidian columns surrounding magma vents. The fort would need a second "entrance" and defenses down there.
Breaching the floor of the cavern would eventually bring you to the bottom of the crust... with an 'aquifer like' layer of magma. A lucky dwarf could every so often discover a vein of adamantine piercing this layer. Greedily digging out the vein would lead the doomed beneath the magma layer to the HFS.
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Topic: Underground civ (Read 4846 times)