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Author Topic: Arctic Addition Mod! [40.19] - Updated and Expanded!  (Read 12356 times)

Malecus

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Arctic Addition Mod! [40.19] - Updated and Expanded!
« on: November 16, 2014, 01:05:32 am »
Like the challenge of starting a fortress in the coldest biomes?  Then like me, you've probably cultivated a unique hatred for the seemingly endless waves of reindeer and muskoxen that enter your sovereign dwarven territory.  There's just not enough variety in these harsh wilds to keep a dwarven settlement entertained.  And if you luck out and find a good glacier or tundra to start on, there's no special creatures to encounter as a reward!

I've fixed this.

In the following posts (because everything together quickly overtakes the 40,000 character limit), you'll find a host of cold-themed creatures and plants to help add arctic diversity, challenge, and fun to your next world.  Just copy what you want into some new files (named appropriately), throw it in the raws, generate a new map, and have fun!

As with all my mods, everything here is considered free to use and modify in other mods as anyone else so wishes without permission.

Update Log
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« Last Edit: November 30, 2014, 01:18:12 pm by Malecus »
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Malecus

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Re: Arctic Addition Mod! [40.16]
« Reply #1 on: November 16, 2014, 01:12:28 am »
Vermin - Aurora Fairy.  A vermin creature (as all fairies are) that generates light and makes a nice pet for those who like that sort of thing.
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Vermin - Snowflake Fairy.  Another type of verminous fae.  This one has snowflake-patterned wings.  But they're too small to really see in an ASCII image, let alone code, so you'll just have to take my word for it.
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Vermin - Lemming.  I briefly considered creating a kobold-like lemming so that the fortress could get attacked by suicidal little things with the ability to blow themselves up somehow, but went with the actual creature instead.  I reserve the right to add my kobemmings (Lemolds?) at a later date.
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Vermin - Hotheaded Borer.  Added 14/11/30.  A small rodent with a heat-producing 'horn' that it uses to melt snow and ward off potential predators.  It's like a living space heater!
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« Last Edit: November 30, 2014, 12:41:51 pm by Malecus »
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Malecus

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Re: Arctic Addition Mod! [40.16]
« Reply #2 on: November 16, 2014, 01:25:37 am »
Monster - Blizzard Harpy.  Like the conventional harpy, but more owl-ish and comes equipped with a portable snowstorm for fun times.
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Creature - Jolly Snowman.  It's a creature made of snow, so don't expect it to pack much of a punch.  This one has a few problems in that the color for its nose and eyes aren't being used (not sure why), and it isn't leaving a silk hat behind after death (maybe because it's not recognizing the SPIDER_PHANTOM or ITEM_HELM_CAP tokens).
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Semi-megabeast - Krampus.  The evil counterpart to Saint Nicholas.  Except that it's not just one guy, it's a type of monster.  Don't know what it is?  Here's an example.
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Animal - Mastodon.  An elephant for the arctic, so you can get traditionally gored without breaking a sweat.
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Animal - Woolly Boar.  The mammoth was too big for you?  Here, take a smaller example that tastes like pork, provides ivory, and can be sheared for wool.
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Animal - Woolly Rhinoceros.  The boar was too small for you?  Fine, here's a medium-sized example from pre-history that should split the difference between easy-mode and dwarf pancakes.
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« Last Edit: November 30, 2014, 01:11:08 pm by Malecus »
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Malecus

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Re: Arctic Addition Mod! [40.16]
« Reply #3 on: November 16, 2014, 01:28:12 am »
Species - Jotunn.  Ice giants, if you will.  Their frost breath can immobilize (unless they're in a non-freezing biome, in which case they basically mass spit at everything; think of it as an impromptu wet toga contest).  With the entity part added in, you can have a winter-based trading partner (unless you decide to start a fight, in which case watch out because their size and might makes them pack a punch).
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Malecus

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Re: Arctic Addition Mod! [40.16]
« Reply #4 on: November 16, 2014, 01:36:00 am »
Plant - Snowbulb.  A round plant that fits pleasingly in the palm of most hands.  Naughty children -- or tantruming dwarves -- seem to derive great satisfaction from throwing them at others.
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Plant - Icicle.  A creeping vine that bears a long conical fruit.  Known for growing in and encapsulating the essence of the cold itself.
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Grass - Hoarfrost.  Something for the herbivores to eat in an otherwise barren environment.
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Grass - Lichen.  It's not in any way connected to undead spellcasters.  It's that stuff that grows on rocks.
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panstach

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Re: Arctic Addition Mod! [40.16]
« Reply #5 on: November 16, 2014, 01:57:54 pm »
That's great. I'm soo starting a community fortress with this next week
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DarthBoogalo

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Re: Arctic Addition Mod! [40.16]
« Reply #6 on: November 16, 2014, 05:12:42 pm »
Looks good!
Now, I'm struck with the desire to make a Don't Starve mod/add the idea to my backlog of ideas to eventually work on.
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Illogical_Blox

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Re: Arctic Addition Mod! [40.16]
« Reply #7 on: November 17, 2014, 12:52:36 pm »
Personally, I would add a DFFD link with all the files for quick, easy access.

Also, panstach, good luck!
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locustgate

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Re: Arctic Addition Mod! [40.16]
« Reply #8 on: November 17, 2014, 03:53:42 pm »
Glad to see I'm not the only one that was disappointed by the lack of arctic animals.

If the snowflake fairies are so small why not just do a swarm like the sprites? BTWs......I'm SOOO going to need to steal that harpy.
« Last Edit: November 17, 2014, 09:25:18 pm by locustgate »
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Meph

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Re: Arctic Addition Mod! [40.16]
« Reply #9 on: November 19, 2014, 04:50:57 am »
That is pretty awesome :) Well done.
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Malecus

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Re: Arctic Addition Mod! [40.16]
« Reply #10 on: November 20, 2014, 02:23:36 am »
Thanks, everyone!  I found coding the Arctic Addition a great way to knock the rust off my coding skills while I beefed up a sparse biome.

panstach:  Excellent!  I'll keep an eye out for it and see how it goes.  But don't worry if it doesn't start up right away as I've still got a few more things coming down the line before I'll claim this done for now.

Illogical_Blox:  This will eventually be thrown up onto DFFD once I'm done.  Just a few more beasties, solve the riddle of the jolly snowman, and maybe a cryomantic equivalency to the necromancer curse and I'll wrap it up and put it on the shelf!

locustgate: I made the arctic fairies the same size at the regular fairy, which doesn't have a swarm, so that dwarves could capture and tame them as pets (I envision the borealis fairy working like a wee little living flashlight).  Although perhaps I should make a flurry fairy swarm; so small that they look like a drifting patch of snow over the ice.  Also, you cannot steal what is freely given!  Everything here is open to whatever anyone else wants to do with it.
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Ladygolem

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Re: Arctic Addition Mod! [40.16]
« Reply #11 on: November 24, 2014, 05:59:10 pm »
This is absolutely brilliant! Once I settle on a version of DF to do some proper fortressing in, I'll give it a shot! (Not much point atm, with the constant updates.)

Question/suggestion: would it be possible to add animal man versions of the 'generic' beasties? I know they're rather unpopular and useless atm, but I'm working on a mod to fix that.

Much less serious suggestion: What about adding the Ningen? ;)
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Malecus

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Re: Arctic Addition Mod! [40.16]
« Reply #12 on: November 26, 2014, 01:22:43 am »
I had completely forgotten about the giant & anthro versions of creatures!  I'll lookup the appropriate code in the wiki and get started on it right away, although I notice as I Control-tab while writing this that Toady didn't make either for elephants, rhinos, or warthogs, so I take no blame when somebody's militia gets processed into dwarven paste when the mammoth-men attack.

And the Ningen would be an excellent project to work on; thanks for bringing it to my attention!  I'll even let you decide on their form: humanoid, mermaid-style, or with some form of sexual dimorphism (say, women get to have legs, the guys have the tails, or vice versa).
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Ladygolem

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Re: Arctic Addition Mod! [40.16]
« Reply #13 on: November 26, 2014, 10:31:52 am »
Yeah it's strange, none of the common or familiar creatures seem to get animal men variants. Bears, wolves, lions, any domestic animal (though that's understandable)... only more uncommon beasts like cockatiels, thrips or sperm whales (!) seem to have them. The giant varieties are no less exciting though, just imagine how enormous a "giant mastodon" would be. Seems like the sort of situation where you'd need to build extra kitchens just to process all that meat and blubber! And your fort would be fed for years!

As for the ningen, here are some ideas:

- As you said, male legged and female tailed (when there's sexual dimorphism to this degree, it's usually the females that are larger)

-Four castes of the creature: male and female versions of each. You could call them 'lesser' and 'greater' ningen, unless you think of something better-sounding;

-Two separate creatures altogether, as there might be issues with their different lifestyles and breeding; in which case you could have the huge water-bound creatures as "ningen" and come up with a different name for the terrestrial ones, like "snow wanderer" or "passerby".

One thing to consider though: the larger ningen variety cannot be fully aquatic, as arctic oceans do not actually contain any water, which means they'll never spawn. They'd have to be amphibious, like a seal, dragging their bulk across the ice.

Anyway, thanks for the response! You've done brilliant work here. If you add the beast folk versions in, would you like for me to include them in my animal man civ mod? The tundra civs do seem rather sparse at the moment ;)
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Malecus

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Re: Arctic Addition Mod! [40.16]
« Reply #14 on: November 30, 2014, 12:36:59 pm »
As I've never really done anything with modular dimorphism, I think I may have to opt for 'just' a 20 metre long quadruped male and a 30 metre long tailed female.  But hey, if I make their body parts valuable, I could re-start the old mermaid fishing industry!  Either way, it looks like I'll be doing some code analysis of elephant seals and antfolk.

And yes, feel free to take what you like for your own mod; everything I put up here is free game for anyone in any fashion.
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