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[Tylermon]

The worldgen system already tries to abstract away things like continental drift by using a fractal heightmap generator.  This generator will spit out things that look like lift plates and trenches.  There is no way that continental drift would ever become signifigant, real life or DF, in any way for a civilization.  Even 10,000 years would not be enough to notice it's effects, other than a few meters in-game, which is far below even one embark square in size.

Earthquakes could be nice, but before that was even an interesting phenomena in-game we would need some kind of structural integrity checker.  As it stands now, you can balance an entire fortress on a block of soap, or hanging floor tile.  IT doesn't even need to be "balanced", and can be on the very edge of that fort.  An Earthquake should, ideally, bring this crumbling down but, then again, "IDEALLY" it should not be possible in the first place.  So it's a cool idea... maybe for another game.

Meteorites can already be modelled by setting up a small soil or sedimentary inclusion mineral, and calling it "Meteoric Iron" or "Meteorite".  A few mods spring to mind.  As far as them falling to the ground and causing devistation, I bring up the time-scales (few signifigant meteor strikes have occured in the past 200 years on Earth.  Tunguska and.... can you name another? I didn't think so.  Tunguska didn't even hit the ground).  So while a planet-wrecking collision is certainly possible, the chances of it happening during the time of a civilization is pretty slim.  Even beyond that, any realistic modelling of a signifigant meteor strike in Worldgen would have it be the DEATH of Civilization, and after a very short time bring about the Age of Emptiness or some similar age in which all civilizations are dead.  Civs can't survive if the sun is blacked out and crops do not grow.

But Natural Gas pockets? Melting Liquids?  Volcanic Eruptions in both Worldgen and Fortress mode?  I wholeheartedly support these.  Especially the Volcanoes in Worldgen.  Insta-ruins of any Dwarf Fortresses on that same tile.  The Biome would change to Basalt Rock Desert, immediately.  Realistic and !!FUN!!

The earth is constantly bombarded by smaller meteorites and space debree on a daily basis however, our atmosphere protects us from a vast majority of them.

Also, bringing up arguments of realism cant really be applied to a game based on dwarves digging fortresses to the depths of hell-fending off goblins...angering elves and unleashing demons. How much of that can you actually say that you see happeneing on earth--EVER.

I'm only trying to base ideas on semi-realistic events that could addd to the fun and choas that is dwarf fortress.

[kaenneth]

Oil would be interesting; when did humans start drilling for it?

[Tylermon]

Oil would be interesting; when did humans start drilling for it?

"According to George E. Totten, the earliest known oil wells were drilled in China in 347 CE. They had depths of up to about 800 feet (240 m) and were drilled using bits attached to bamboo poles.[1] The oil was burned to evaporate brine and produce salt. By the 10th century, extensive bamboo pipelines connected oil wells with salt springs. The ancient records of China and Japan are said to contain many allusions to the use of natural gas for lighting and heating. Petroleum was known as burning water in Japan in the 7th century.[2]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_well

I would assume our dwarves technology exceeds that of bamboo rods, wouldn't you?

[Jeoshua]

Also, bringing up arguments of realism cant really be applied to a game based on dwarves digging fortresses to the depths of hell-fending off goblins...angering elves and unleashing demons. How much of that can you actually say that you see happeneing on earth--EVER.

But arguments of realism can be brought up about a game which correctly models the molar weight of gold, the tensile strength of steel, and which contains mineralogy information that rivals most textbooks.

Besides, I was only pointing out how if these things were put in realistically, you would never see them occur... so why bother.

But don't be too defensive, I like a few of the ideas, which I already pointed out.  Just not those two, and for good reason.

[Sus]

Continental Drift: As years go by, continents slowly drift...What once was a tropical island may eventually become a frozen tundra. Similarly, what once was a glacial cap may become nothing but a big puddle...in turn raising ocean waters across the entire world.

Global warming: Dwarves are not very Eco friendly, eventually that Ozone layer is going to fail with all those furnaces.

Erm... Continental drift takes tens of thousands of years to produce noticable changes. Doesn't really fit into the game's time frame.

On the issue of global warming, you fail ecology forever. Ozone layer has no connection whatsoever to carbon emissions, which are the leading modern-day cause of global warming. The ozone gap is a separate issue altogether.
And as others have pointed out, a pre-industrial civilization has no means of producing greenhouse gases in quantities that would have any significance.

Natural Gases: these could be explosive/toxic and serve multiple purposes. There could be things such as helium, ethanol, ect. Stumbling into a chasm releasing toxic gases into a fort could add some new and fun challenges to overcome. I'm sure there are more things to do with gasses and other interesting examples but that's one idea. Similar in function as Miasma/steam however it can be collected by skilled dwarves?

Melting point: We have flammable materials why not make some materials have a melting point where they become liquid at certain temperatures. *Warning: Dwarves may melt at high temperatures, haha*

There sort of already is a mechanism for natural gases, although the current implementation only occurs in evil biomes. As for combustible gases like coal gas in the mines... would you really want that?
> Urist McMiner cancels Dig: hit a gas pocket.
> Urist McPeon was caught in a blast of exploding gas! x100
> Your fortress has crumbled to its end.

Also, the temperature is already working (well, sort of; fire and heat damage is still kind of broken).

Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis, however, might have potential for implementation. Of course, there's the issue of such events affecting the game world on a larger than current embark scale...

[Tylermon]

There sort of already is a mechanism for natural gases, although the current implementation only occurs in evil biomes. As for combustible gases like coal gas in the mines... would you really want that?
> Urist McMiner cancels Dig: hit a gas pocket.
> Urist McPeon was caught in a blast of exploding gas! x100
> Your fortress has crumbled to its end.

Also, the temperature is already working (well, sort of; fire and heat damage is still kind of broken).

Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis, however, might have potential for implementation. Of course, there's the issue of such events affecting the game world on a larger than current embark scale...

As for gases: Yes I would want that! Gas pockets on world gen would have a tag so one would know what they are getting into. Also the new challenge of sealing off rooms leaking gas, and using gases for dwarven tech is greatly appealing to me. Also I doubt a gas explosion would destroy the entire fortress, that may be an over exaggeration.

Temperature: Im guessing your referring to the melting points and such, and as far as I know, this is not implemented. I have never found any liquids beside water/magma.