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[Meph]

Please, someone tell me that I am wrong.

I make a metal creature, very slow with a ranged attack, tissue size of 50, shooting cannonballs, releasing steam when punctured, exploding upon death, called TANK. It has a grazing lvl similar to a panda, needing special grass to feed, which does not exists. I would call it fuel. No tank can survive long (1-2 seasons?)

I make a toy (or several) that are tankparts, and can be assembled into a toy called: TANK

I make a building called garage/machine shop/watever, that takes a dwarv and a tank (toy) and transformes the dwarf into the TANK (creature) he still has skills and can join the military, accept orders and so on. The reaction is called: Enter tank.

My tanks go into battle, fight valiant deeds, but run low on fuel (hungry, then starving) after a while, and have to go back to base. The reaction is called: Leave tank. This transforms the tank back into a dwarf, which can now go and eat/drink as he desires.

So, now please tell me the error in my ways, because otherwise I foresee Warhammer Steamtanks and Warhammer40k Dreadnoughts running around.

[Hugo_The_Dwarf]

It would work, but an easier way would be this, make the tank a dwarven caste. That way you still have control over it (thus allowing it to goto the machine shop on it's own)

[Master Catfish]

I agree with Hugo.

Are you still using the boiling stone trick?  If so, that's one problem I can see.  It's easy to exploit, as you could make a 1X1 meeting area inside the workshop, and suddenly all your dwarves are tanks. 

I'm not sure about changing them back, either.  I read that once something has a werecurse, it doesn't work to give it another.  I'd recommend just giving the curse a timer so that it would eventually run out.  Maybe the tank fuel is empty or just wears out and the dwarf is liable to "abandon" it somewhere.

I guess if you remove any [GRASP] limbs, they won't be able to do any work?  I'd be concerned about what happens when a tank is off duty and decides to go cook a meal.

It would be pretty sweet if you managed to get a fairly accurate replica of a dwarf inside the tank.  That way a really lucky shot might hit the dwarf and cause pain or other serious damage.

[darkflagrance]

You could fix the multiple dwarf problem, if such a problem exists, by increasing the cost of the reaction in terms of toys or other objects, so that the player is expected to economize on toy-dwarf ratio, or just has the option if he wants to micromanage.

Another possibility is changing the flavor of transformation; instead of a tank, have the transformation produce a magitech mecha. This avoids having to completely remove a dwarf's ability to perform labors.

[Hugo_The_Dwarf]

It would be pretty sweet if you managed to get a fairly accurate replica of a dwarf inside the tank.  That way a really lucky shot might hit the dwarf and cause pain or other serious damage.

That is very possible, Combat reports might look a bit odd (internal organs within an internal body (dwarf would be inside the cockpit/drivers seat)) Or so I heard. Not hard to make really. I had this idea for a temporay mech suit for a dwarf/gnome but alas my hands are full with doing "other" needed features within my own mod

[Meph]

Well, I am busy bugfixing , I shouldnt even have done the pet armors... I will stand let this stand, and see if anyone takes up on the idea.

But yeah, it would be bioling stones. Only other option I see is potions, which makes no sense for tanks.

[Naryar]

DWARVES IN TANKS VS ZOMBIES VS DEMONS VS WEREWOLVES

HOLY SHIT THIS IS AWESOME

[Courtesy Arloban]

I like this and a good way to simulate the pilot would be to use a regular dwarf body and add on the tank parts to it and give it an interaction like [RETRACT_INTO_BP:BY_CATEGORY:Your Tank Body Here:close hatch:closes hatch:open hatch:opens hatch] but with the werecurse injuries will still be healed when they leave the tank.

And a different means than the boiling rock would be an ingested syndrome, even though it would sound funny, you'd only have as many tanks as you could make.

[Abregado]

You could have the toy change into an ingested item with high value. You could produce them, then forbid them until invaders come. Not very micromanagable (next hungry dorf turns into a mech/tank..) but that seems pretty DF to me!

Also, can vermin inject syndromes? I heard its possible to create vermin in reactions. Perhaps if you had a [PRONE_TO_RAGE] vermin that attacks a nearby dwarf, transforming him, then dying like a honeybee, you would only ever have one (if not random) dorf getting transformed. Possible?

[Meph]

Both drinks and verminbites are possible, although even harder to control then the mentioned boiling stones. Although it would limit it to one dwarf.

And I was so hoping for equipment that has: ca_add or ce_remove tag... give dwarf flamethrower, add firebreath...

[Abregado]

Meph... you delude yourself with the word "control". One does not simply "control" their dorfs! hehe

Would be interesting to see. Dwarven blacksmith creates this wondrous weapon of destruction, only to find that a nearby child has hopped in and set out to "play".

Also would stop duplication when one of your intended "Tank dorfs" who is carrying a child from producing not only 2 tanks, but 2 full grown dwarves when they turn back.

[Meph]

I think the age would stay. The tank would work even being 1 year old, but upon transformation back into a dwarf, it would be a baby again. Baby Tank Commander for the win.

[Shooer]

There's no way to turn anything back from a transformation other then putting an end to the first transformation.  Aka, if you transform your self and some one tries to transform you nothing will happen.

If you make the tank transformation last a certain amount of time then this should work.

[Abregado]

If you make the tank transformation last a certain amount of time then this should work.

Of course then the tank transformation reagents are single use. This saddens me.

[Courtesy Arloban]

You could give them a permanent syndrome that gives them the interaction to transform into a tank at any time, and you can give them a title name "Tank Commander"