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[RyuuTheWuffs]

Yes, yet another multiplayer mod suggestion, but this time it's not just "Hai guys! There should be a multiplayer mod!"
What I was thinking is this: All clients load the information from a server, ran just like a separate client. Instead of connecting two players directly, you just make both clients download and refresh new data from the server. It takes the player's info and creates an NPC with the same parameters, giving them the same location, the same inventory, and the same health/statuses as the player, but on the other client. So it's not "multiplayer," but it is a player-controlled NPC which is updated by the server. Basically what the Morrowind multiplayer mod did, only with DF instead.
The enemy NPC's would react the same, the items would react the same, it would just all be player-handled. I know it wouldn't be perfect, and there would most likely be ways to dupe items and things, but I still think that it would work just fine if you could get the info to and from the server, which would simply update parameters. Just a suggestion, and I know that Multiplayer Adventure mode has been suggested so many times it's disgusting. I did use the search function, I did use google, but I haven't seen this idea pop up in any other threads, so I figured that I might as well just suggest it here.
Thanks for reading, and thanks for your time!

[Putnam]

Creating NPCs would be pretty difficult, if not downright impossible.

[RyuuTheWuffs]

Ah, wasn't sure about that. I've got some other things going on and I haven't had the time to look in modding in DF yet, I should have clarified. I'm not sure what limitations there are with the amount of source code we have and the limitations of dfhack, though I hear it's pretty fragile.

[Putnam]

DFHack is pretty much the only way this could even be remotely viable. Even then, it's extremely tenuous.

[RyuuTheWuffs]

One of my biggest fears for this is having it create multiple NPCs and crash the game. Catsplosion of NPCs is a bad, bad thing. Plus you would need to take off the NPC reaction parameters.. Hmm

[Furtuka]

Ah, wasn't sure about that. I've got some other things going on and I haven't had the time to look in modding in DF yet, I should have clarified. I'm not sure what limitations there are with the amount of source code we have and the limitations of dfhack, though I hear it's pretty fragile.

Df modding is primarily more about sticking tokens together within the defined engine. Admittedly I have absolutely no idea how the third party stuff works.

[RyuuTheWuffs]

Ah, wasn't sure about that. I've got some other things going on and I haven't had the time to look in modding in DF yet, I should have clarified. I'm not sure what limitations there are with the amount of source code we have and the limitations of dfhack, though I hear it's pretty fragile.

Df modding is primarily more about sticking tokens together within the defined engine. Admittedly I have absolutely no idea how the third party stuff works.

That... actually sounds pretty cool! I might have to take a look at that after things settle down. But anyways, do you think the logic behind my idea is fairly sound? I mean, if we get closer to beta -> full release, do you think that this system would be a viable multiplayer counterpart?

[Blakmane]

Ah, wasn't sure about that. I've got some other things going on and I haven't had the time to look in modding in DF yet, I should have clarified. I'm not sure what limitations there are with the amount of source code we have and the limitations of dfhack, though I hear it's pretty fragile.

Df modding is primarily more about sticking tokens together within the defined engine. Admittedly I have absolutely no idea how the third party stuff works.

That... actually sounds pretty cool! I might have to take a look at that after things settle down. But anyways, do you think the logic behind my idea is fairly sound? I mean, if we get closer to beta -> full release, do you think that this system would be a viable multiplayer counterpart?

In order to understand dwarf fortress modding, you really need to have a look at current DF modding capabilities. We have absolutely no access to the source code, so anything outside of the modding tools Toady has supplied for us is extremely difficult. Not to say people haven't created some amazing content, but it is not a simple process.

TLDR: Content, not Functionality.

[NRN_R_Sumo1]

It's not exactly a  new concept to use NPC's as PC's 

But frankly its not possible as is for Dwarf Fortress.

It was barely possible in Morrowind and Oblivion which are two of the best examples I can think of for this approach.

[Deon]

So, you told that this time it's with a solution... Do you have some examples where you do this at least with 2 npcs via memory hacking? It's definitely something beyond my coding/memory hacking abilities, but if you have a solution, it would be nice to see it .

[Putnam]

It's a hypothetical solution. All idea.

[sackhead]

instead of creating new npcs both players could have the exact same world and take over an existing npc each. this way you wouldnt have to memory hack in new npcs. that way you would only have to transfer their actions. another idea i had was that you could have both players runing the same copy of df (like in that weird fortress mode kinda multilayer thing) and when your turn was over it used something similar to dfhacks change adventure. and when it was not your adventurer's turn it could disable inputs on the computer your using. It could also make both adventurers each others followers so they can fast travel together.

any thoughts i don't know memory hacking but i have an ok grasp of what is possible