I quite like what I have read so far albeit I would have to find a new race to play then, I am so... well... adapted to the options dwarfs have, and all the ways to kill off invaders, all those nice sardistic ways... Specially love their mages. And I grew to like warlocks alot aswell (mages and undeads, extremly cool to play with after you got into them), but really if it gets ported to the new version with potentially new races it could work out indeed very very well. Elves would be kinda interesting to see... those treehugging little annoying bushlovers. Maybe giving other races a turn which were in older versions? Maybe adding something new like said Hivemind related races... or something not being from the world in dwarf fortress.
Like some race from another dimension entering them. Could go then in 2 directions with that race... either the classical eldritch beings race which involves some absurdly horrific humanoids just turning other species insane by their presence, sheer force and extreme otherworldly appearence (creators of those forgotten beasts), but very few in numbers and very... well... otherworldly ways to produce wares (e.g instead of using rare exotic gems for encrusting tools they use them to break them down, consume them and gain power somehow through them, addiction to warpstone... or if possible something like a hydra of one of those beasts, just with tentacles/limbs/arms. For each cut of limb 2 should replace them, only way to kill them is beheading them??) or the more gnomish way of just being technologically superior, but instead living in peace with nature they are kind of just there to take the ressources for themself and spread like a virus while having a propper size in combat (Pulse Gun armed outsiders in exoskeletons/powerarmor with tripod like organic mechs with pulse cannons vs dwarfs with autocrossbows and almost indestructable adamantine golems). Then again, similar to gnomes they do not get migrants besides the 2 first waves, and no trading and getting new migrants besides the usage of some sort of portal which they use to "trade" ressources for workpower... Theres alot of things you could do with completly new races.
Or take the elves, make them the ultimate hippy treehuggers and let them get some sort of tree workshop which extracts mithril and other metals directly from the ground, maybe even processed whenever one of their "Treesingers" stands to them and works there and basicly "summons" the stuff, kinda like dwarfs currently do with their Armok Shrines. Goblins could get a workshop with a reaction similar to Kobolds, but instead they send out Snatchers and come back with children, a new tool (dont blame me on calling kids tools) and those tools could be used for forced labor in certain workshops like a mass production for cheap weapons or to conjure 1 super powerfull demon from HFS to rule them. Kinda like building their dark spires you find quite often. Though that might be a bit too similar to orcs and their forced labor workers they get.
Humans are fine as they are, maybe adding some more depth, maybe adding the mage system from dwarfs to them if dwarfs get it ripped off, cause that magic system of the dwarfs is very very amazing.
Hivemind races like those ants could maybe not care at all for losses, but if their leader/overmind gets killed they all suffer and most of them will turn insane to a certain degree. So protect the overmind/queen/whatever. Or turn them in a collective race similar to Borg (but without a queen) and let them gain strength by getting bigger in numbers. If your people get cut down then... well your effective strength like fast learning, prediction of enemy movements (dodging in fights etc) gets lowered aswell. To
counterbalance that they might be very frail or dont get good armor or just again, growing in numbers could be a bit harder then for other races.
And somewhere there was mentioned that the new version has some sort of "Angel" or "Guardian" beings. Not sure what to do with those though. Might be fun to see the opposite of HFS/Seductive Succubus aswell.
Also... limb replacements... nothing high tech like you would expect from gnomes. But a dwarven cheesemaker who has lost his leg to a giant earthworm somehow while trying to get a pourring maggot could get a wooden replacement. Like a crutch, but more efficient on the long term. Or hooks which help a few things and deal as second weapon in case you keep one armed people in your army or something? Is that possible in the new version? Would be fun if so.
Well yeah anyways, would love to see a new version and enjoy playing that, albeit I keep the current version and the possible fix aswell cause once in a while that superior feeling when having an army of adamantine golems with adamantine plated legendary skilled dwarfs with wolfram crossbows with adamantine bolts or adamantine swords while most of them being mages is just... well... godly. While those poor little goblins cant do much if they dont bring mounts like war raptors or such.