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yes

88 (66.2%)

no

7 (5.3%)

not really but whatever

15 (11.3%)

I guess so

12 (9%)

I don't know

11 (8.3%)

Total Members Voted: 132

[vadia]

Are we going to get them?

After all if a tree is that big then an elephant should be a couple of tiles big at least.

[GoombaGeek]

I don't like the idea, though. It just seems hard to implement.

I mean, I end up imagining a realistic cross-section or something made out of block drawing tiles or else having a bunch of Es in a shape for an elephant would just get on my nerves. Is there a good way to do it?

[vadia]

I didn't put it in suggestions, just wondering if it's in the planning and noting it's odd.  I'm mixed about the idea myself.

[MrWiggles]

Multitile plants dont have very much in common with multi tile creatures. So I dont see why one leads into the other at all.

But for the question, yea ToadyOne has spoken about multi tile creatures for for a bit. No time of course.

[Black_Legion]

I think we eventually will but it will be less an elephant as a mass of 'E''s and maybe a 2x2 or 3x3 'E' depending on an algorithm take takes the total cubic unit volume of creatures (how their size is represented in the raws) and map it to some size starting at 1x1 and moving however large it needs to be. Imagine taking on a 10x10 tile Forest Titan... That is the stuff of my nightmares and my dreams.

These of course would be width x length with height discounted... possibly. It all really depends on how Toady decides to do it and what makes sense to him. I'm fine either way, even if it doesn't change, as he'll produce something clever regardless.

[misko27]

Multitile plants dont have very much in common with multi tile creatures. So I dont see why one leads into the other at all.

But for the question, yea ToadyOne has spoken about multi tile creatures for for a bit. No time of course.

Well, the only reason its now becoming relevant is, as other shave said, all of a sudden all the creatures are begining to look small. A Sperm whale wrestiling a giant under attack by a Dragon will all be able to occur under a single short tree. Its just jarring, is all.

[MrWiggles]

Creatures aren't starting to look small. Thats not a new issue.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Things have always been one tile. Now some things will be many tiles. Other bigger things are going to look weird if they're smaller.

[Black_Legion]

Creatures aren't starting to look small. Thats not a new issue.

True but it be nice to have a bronze colossus be as big an menacing as you think it should be... Though that would require it crush/dig it's way past my usual 2x2/ 1x1 choke points entrances.

[misko27]

Creatures aren't starting to look small. Thats not a new issue.

True but it be nice to have a bronze colossus be as big an menacing as you think it should be... Though that would require it crush/dig it's way past my usual 2x2/ 1x1 choke points entrances.

But myy point is Now they are shorter then trees. I was absolutely fine with what your describing, but now, trees make everything look small or large in comparison.

[vadia]

in some ways the biggest problem with multi tiered creatures is the thin entrance.  If you don't want to deal with sir colossus, just make a 1 tile entrance.

But it is jarring to think of a dragon under what was a sapling a few months ago.

[MrWiggles]

Things have always been one tile. Now some things will be many tiles. Other bigger things are going to look weird if they're smaller.

Eh... I can see that.

Creatures aren't starting to look small. Thats not a new issue.

True but it be nice to have a bronze colossus be as big an menacing as you think it should be... Though that would require it crush/dig it's way past my usual 2x2/ 1x1 choke points entrances.

Yea it would be nice. I'm not against multi tile creatures. I just dont see any how having multi tile trees means that its none trival to add in multi tile animals.

Creatures aren't starting to look small. Thats not a new issue.

True but it be nice to have a bronze colossus be as big an menacing as you think it should be... Though that would require it crush/dig it's way past my usual 2x2/ 1x1 choke points entrances.

But myy point is Now they are shorter then trees. I was absolutely fine with what your describing, but now, trees make everything look small or large in comparison.

Thats going to remain true no matter because of the nebulous volume of a tile space. 

[Black_Legion]

We could have the, 'crouch/crawl' where they attempt to squeeze throu an opening. They would need to ale a speed hit, possibly taking somewhere between 3-10x longer to move through the same space as a normal 1x1 creature would. Would make defending things with choke points still worthwhile while allowing the nasties inside eventually... Until they hit that 3x3 causeway that we usually have for efficiency reasons in the main areas of the fortress. Then all bets are off.

[vadia]

We could have the, 'crouch/crawl' where they attempt to squeeze throu an opening. They would need to ale a speed hit, possibly taking somewhere between 3-10x longer to move through the same space as a normal 1x1 creature would. Would make defending things with choke points still worthwhile while allowing the nasties inside eventually... Until they hit that 3x3 causeway that we usually have for efficiency reasons in the main areas of the fortress. Then all bets are off.

unless they have height.  Then all bets are back on, no?

[smirk]

It will be a little more jarring now, but nothing we can't quickly get used to. And multi-tile creatures will be far too complex a thing to take care of in this release. Take, for example, the Bronze Colossus: Thing's gotta be at least 5z tall, right? So how is it gonna move? Will it just be a 5z-4x4 column? How is turning gonna work? DF recognizes 8 directions, so how do we save body part spatial relationships when it turns by 45 degrees? Or falls over? If it's got a 2- or 3-tile reach, should we be able to see its legs or arms move? And how do you make all that info easily RAW-compatible for people modding in their own creatures? Not to mention procedurally generated things like Forgotten Beasts.

I'm confident that Toady can do it, but multi-tile trees aren't much of a first step in that direction.