You know, that game does have one thing that could be neat if adapted into dwarf fortress: it has a real neat advisor system.
The way it works, if you don't recall (or for those here who never played), is that you have this group of seven people from your clan whose portraits constantly appear at the bottom of the screen; at any time, you can click on them to get their advice on whatever is currently on the screen, as well as what they think you should do next. In addition to being your advisers, though, they're represented as people in your tribe, with their own petty hatreds, agendas, and so forth. And from time to time they can die.
Maybe at some point, Dwarf Fortress' nobles could fulfill a somewhat similar role? There could be a 'table of nobles' that the player could pull up by hitting the right key, where the various nobles would give the player advice. Guild nobles could tell the player how nobles in their guild are doing, trade ones could advise the player on what the fortress needs, while military ones could try and give the player advice about holes in their defenses or something. Various dwarves could also warn the player if they lack a workshop of a particular sort that they ought to have, or if the fortress' supplies of a vital ore or material are running low or nonexistent.
Of course, it can be a lot of work to get advisers like that to give meaningful advice... if the guild nobles just tell the player to have more jobs for their guild every time (the way those worthless Civ II advisers used to just tell you to devote all your civ's output to their respective category), then it doesn't really help the player at all. One of the things that makes the advisers in King of Dragon pass useful is that (at least for the smart ones) their advice is often useful.
I recall that at one point, my oldest and wisest adviser died of old age, and it actually felt like I lost something important. Her replacement wasn't nearly so helpful.
Oh, and there's usually a 'fool' on the council who worships the trickster god and whose advice is always bad. They serve an important purpose, though; you can often to well by doing the exact opposite of what they advise, and they're frequently entertaining. I recall that I had to take mine off my circle for a while because he'd offended someone with his jests, and I missed him the whole time.
Another nice thing is that advisers like that can add a 'human' level to the game, so to speak. They could help ensure that the numbers and symbols that the player is manipulating feel like real dwarves.
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Topic: King of Dragon Pass (Read 996 times)