Massive post with feedback coming up. I loaded the game, embarked and build a ton of building, and had a look at everything. The biggest parts are working, but there are many, many small issues. Mostly cosmetical or user friendlyness, but a few are big, like the missing Metallurgist/Ore Processor workshops.
One thing I noticed: The current download doesnt include the manual file I send you, with the building icons.
http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=8437Most of your building dont have the skill help reaction I usually put on top. Since I did that, I never get any questions in the forum about: What skill does workshop X use? It was a really simple addition to help new players.
Ctrl+h hotkey in buildmenu conflicts with dfhack hotkeys. You should probably try to avoid all Ctrl+Somethings. There are plenty of CUSTOM_A, SHIFT_A and ALT_A left.
Hotkeys for Artificer and Magma Artificer and Clockwork shop are all already taken. (Actually, after looking at everything, there is too much chaos with unsorted buildings to start with proper hotkeys. You add, remove and move so much stuff, it wouldnt make sense to do this now)
You could add a "MISC" category under the screw press/soap maker (the last vanilla workshops) and before the mod workshops, like pottery, thatchery... and move the unraveling machine into this, its in Administration atm. ^^ I think you have to move it to building_custom.txt for this.
I dont know why, but the Magma Artificer shows in the menu, even before you discovered magma. (?) Its odd, the raws are correct. Maybe its because its a workshop that needs magma, and DF is not smart enough to notice. Magma Furnaces work fine.
You have the torchbearer statue and the candelabra as rendermax decorations, but both require special parts (candles and torches) to be build. But the Gnomes dont have access to them. I guess you could change this, maybe add electrical lightbulbs or gaslamps for Gnomes, or simply disable these two dwarven lights, or add the chandler workshop.
I saw that you can make weapon hilts as gnomes. Are they used for anything? In dwarf mode they are just for the heavy twohanded weapons. You could probably remove this tool from the entity file.
You have shoes and socks. Shoes in MDF are, literally, the vanilla socks. People wear shoes inside of boots and all that. You can easily delete the socks and get rid of clutter that way, except if you really like that sandals+socks vibe
(I guess gnomes will currently also wear shoes inside of sandals.)
Brewery makes bloodwine. I would deem that a bit un-gnome-like. After all they are friends of animals, and dont want to butcher, bleed them out and drink the blood.
I would advise to split the workshops a lot more into categories. The Arc Smelter and Thunder Forge clearly fall under Furnaces, not Workshops, and all these NOR/AND/OR operators could go to furnaces as well, in the catergory =======OPERATORS========. POWER GENERATION could be another one, for dynamos, coils and steam/clockwork key.
Druidic device under nature, the machinery into the fitting place, the high end stuff like the cosmic gear into its own, I usually put such high-end things into furnaces as well. I noticed that you already have several category titles, but its simply not sorted yet. I guess a small oversight, because you have to much fun adding new stuff.
The slaughterhouse has two times "SKILL BUTCHER" skill help reaction on top. One of them can go...
The farmed tree saplings only give wood with the sawmill. To get the special items, like the glass weapons from glass thorns, or the awesome leather from nethercap, the dwarves build a Herbalists Lab. Your gnomes dont have that, so they cant use these. I guess you can add this to the "nature" part, some sort of tree-related workshop that allows gnomes access to these natural materials. Just look in reaction_masterwork2.txt for HERBALIST LAB, the reactions I mean start at [REACTION:RESIN_MAKING].
I would say that some of the decorations, like pentagrams, totems, monster statues... they are all not gnome-like. You could easily remove them, this way they are more unique to other races. Warlocks for example
Magnets. They are made in the smelter. I can understand that magnetic metal is made there, but arent magnet precisely made tools, to be made in the forge or better: Toolmaker?
I might have overlooked something, but the Metallurgist is missing. (Yes, the dwarven one required research, so it would be best to just copy the workshop, make METALLURGIST_GNOME, add [PERMITTED_BUILDING:METALLURGIST_GNOME] to all the reactions in reaction_masterwork.txt for the dwarven metallurgist. The workshop is super essential, since ALL ALLOYS, I repeat, ALL ALLOYS in the game are made there. For example you have "make spring-steel precision tool" and "make spring-steel flintlock" in your Toolmaker, but no way to make spring-steel, which requires steel and nickel and is made in the, you guessed it, metallurgist. It also makes normal alloys like electrum, bronze, sterling silver, rose gold and all that. You really need it. (Also brass, for your brass pistons and so forth)
Also missing: Ore Processor (wow, you probably get lots of slag), and Crucible. For smelting cobalt and titanium and such. I think its done in your Arc Smelter, but its empty (?) Is it one of the automated machines?
Make Mechanical Wooden Arm in the carpenter, is that intentional?
The slaughterhouse gives you megabeast souls. I guess you dont use them for anything yet. Dwarves have the Megabeast Kennels for that, just wanted to give you the heads up that these souls are tools, and dont wither away like normal ones. They are so rare and valuable that you should probably could do something nice with them, like power your mechanical dragon engine with it, or similar features. Or add an automatic reaction to get rid of them, otherwise you are stuck with them.
The tailor you have makes dwarvish clothing and armor. You should probably copy the reaction, add MAKE_SET_XXX_GNOME and add the fitting items from your entity file. I did the same for Warlocks, its not much work.
The tailor also has the original unravel cloth reactions. You can safely remove them, since you have the much better unraveling machine. Otherwise you just have a few of the reactions twice.
Not sure, but are you using paper, papyrus, vellum and cloth pages for anything? Like writing, books, libraries, scribe... because if the answer is no, you can easily remove these reactions. They are in screw press (paper from wood), the thatchery (papyrus from plants), the tanner (vellum from leather) and the tailor (cloth pages from cloth).
I dont know if you have any skill-training yet (or if you even want to), but a gnomish scribe seems fitting. I myself could envision gnomes having a library similar to the dwarvish ones. If you want to copy or alter the system, you would already have the basics with journals, ink, glue and papers. (all these reactions are already enabled in the gnome civ as I noticed)
You could remove the medicine reaction from the apothecary, as gnomes dont have the diseases, OR you can add the diseases to the gnome creature. Although they are not well made yet, sorry for that. I need to improve that system, before people start going even more insane because of plagues.
Easter Egg Time: You should really, really remove/alter the [REACTION:PREPARE_RELICT_11] you use. Make a [REACTION:PREPARE_RELICT_11_GNOME] and give it something normal. Dwarves have the temple to deal with this, but gnomes will die. Your fortress will crumble if gnomes uncover relict11.
You might want to add something like this:
[REACTION:KILL_SOGGOTHS]
[NAME:Sacrifice a dwarf to banish shoggoths]
[BUILDING:ARMOK_TEMPLE:CUSTOM_G]
[PRODUCT:100:1:BOULDER:NONE:INORGANIC:SACRIFICE]
[PRODUCT:100:1:BOULDER:NONE:INORGANIC:KILL_SOGGOTH]
[PRODUCT:0:1:BOULDER:NONE:INORGANIC:ANNOUNCEMENT_ARMOKDEATH]
[SKILL:EXTRACT_STRAND]
The important part is the kill_soggoth. If gnomes dig the non-euclidian rock, the shoggoths might kill your fort, but surely the FPS, since they multiply without end in combat. Again, the dwarves have the temple to clean that mess up, but other races are rather helpless atm.
Again, not entirely sure: Do you have a way to make blackpowder pouches? I saw it as a requirement for rocket boots for example, but the dwarves make it in the chemist. Your gnomes do not have a chemist, or a gnomish version of it.
I noticed how many of the automated workshops are completely empty. No reactions what so ever. Since I know that you do a lot with power and dfhack, I know how they are supposed to work, but most players will just scratch their heads and think its a bug. I cant stress this enough: It would be a very good idea to add a few placeholder reactions. Just something like that:
[REACTION:HINT_MISTGENERATOR_1]
[BUILDING:MIST_GENERATOR:CUSTOM_NONE]
[NAME:To use this workshops, do X or Y]
//if the hint is too long, make as many as you need. See my embassy.
EDIT: PS: Gunsmith is missing as well.
I saw you have the flintlock reaction, but no workshop to use it to create actual muskets or pistols from it. Except you have a gnomish version that I missed.