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[helmacon]

Just bear with me on this one

right now when we choose an embark we get a set size, and that's all we have to play in for the whole game. However with the soon to come updates we will be frequently moving off map to attack goblins, lead caravans, or maybe just visit your hill dwarves. Thinking on all this i had an idea, why limit the map?

The Idea:

 -Short version
You move the map, the rest of the map is abstracted!

-The embark
 From now on the embark should be much more specific, just one tile. Then your map would be a three by three tile space around it, which you can move later.

-Moving the map
 press "M" to open map view, a one tile selector which you move to where you want the map. then you would be displayed a 3 x 3 area around it. this would allow for some overlap, to make walls and structures seamless.

-Why?
 Because this would allow for larger fortresses, or even bigger world-changing megaprogects! You could even find a narrow land bridge between two continents and make a "Game of Thrones" style wall with patrols going out along the wall. Or you could build your own rivers!

How it affects

-hunting
hunters go off screen and the RNG decides what prey they find, how much ammo they use, if their mauled or killed, and even if they run into a goblin ambush! ...or move the map and watch for them yourself.

-Patrols
Pretty much the same as hunting, it finds the time it takes for your patrol to walk its rout, checks for nearby goblins, and decides if there is a run in.

-Caravans
Again, its pretty much the same.

-The fortress
The fortress would slow to a standstill if you left to long, but the computer should probably be able to find things like your average food produced or consumed, work orders that get finished, Caravans arriving  and departing,(though you would need to be present to trade) And goblin attacks, which would probably give you the option to move the map for the battle via a message box

"Some of your dwarves are under attack by [Civ name]! -a move to site -b let them deal with it"

Endnote
needless to say this is still a really rough idea and i haven't filledout to many details or anything for lack of time, but thats what the community is for right? ...or mabey im just lazy.  Either way its out now!

[GreatWyrmGold]

FYI, planned.

[assasin]

Game of Thrones"

off topic,  unless someone is specifically talking about ros or talisa it really pissess me off if someone doesn't use the real name. no idea why?
 AT the end of the day it doesn't really matter though.

FYI, planned.

everything is planned.

-Short version
You move the map, the rest of the map is abstracted!

\

for me it would depend on how abstracted it is. I can think of a bunch of potential explpits based only on abstracting pathing.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Not everything is planned, and some things are more well-known as being planned than others.

[helmacon]

I knew this was somewhat planed, but i didn't think we had any details yet. I was hoping we could discuss that in this thread.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Details...Well, the general idea's not so bad. However, I'd like to ask how the computer would handle the fortress when the map was elsewhere? More specifically, how would it affect the more complex projects? And why should the current map be limited to 3×3 tiles?

[helmacon]

well on the fortress part, it would calculate your average food net, and how long it would take your current orders to be compleated and how many of them would be done when you came back, so the player would have to stay semi centrilized to update fortress orders and such.
 
The current map size would of course be in the init files.

If you wanted to extend a project from somewhere far away further you would grab some dwarves and tell them to move to an area. once there you would set up a camp and trade depot, then going back to your original fortress you set a caravan to go there twice a year with food and supplies.

If it was part of your fort you made then there should be some way to mark nearby tiles as part of the settlement so dwarves know its ok to go off screen to, say, a  stockpile and eat, and then they come back. Or complete a job order off screen and return to the dining hall.

[GreatWyrmGold]

The "Oh, have the game estimate how much crap you'd consume and make and everything will be hunky-dory" thing is crap. I can easily imagine issues where the game would feed dwarves stuck behind flooded chambers or misestimate how many cats you should butcher. To say nothing of the various crazy megaprojects people will make... basically the only way I can see a good and infallible way for multiple sites to run at once is to have each actively run at once.

[Revanchist]

I assume that would also make your FPS dissapear... can it go to -1?

[GreatWyrmGold]

No, but it makes a great thought experiment!

[10ebbor10]

There's was the other idea that would make the game run the different forts in turns. Ie, you run the outpost for 9 months, then send them back, then run the main fort fort.

[GreatWyrmGold]

There's was the other idea that would make the game run the different forts in turns. Ie, you run the outpost for 9 months, then send them back, then run the main fort fort.

Given the changes that players can have on the world, increasingly as time goes on, this would be tough.

[ExecratedDwarf]

I believe its a good idea. I just don't know that it fits into any of the current game modes. Fortress mode should be about just that, a - as in only one - fortress. That said, his ideas make for an awesome starting point for a new mode: Dwarf Civilization. The idea of starting out with a small area of "claimed" territory and then spreading out from there. You'd need to find a way to balance micro- and macro-management, develop an overseer noble to replace the player when he or she is elsewhere, and of course there's the issue of processor strain. I don't want to derail too much, so I'll add that this guy's thoughts have merit.

[Revanchist]

Perhaps just general design "blueprints" that the overseer attempts to follow. Accompanied by an option.
1- notify me of ALL problems in the design. (micro-intensive)
2- notify me of SMALL and above problems. (less intensive)
3- notify me of LARGE problems only. (such as a cavern breach/running out of mountain)
4- do NOT notify me of any problems. (not recommended, unless you really trust your ability.

[GreatWyrmGold]

You'd still run into problems, say with megaprojects involving carefully timed anything or migrants taking the bedroom being saved for the king...or, potentially, a huge array of bugs plaguing the system for versions to come.