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[Cthulhu_Pakabol]

Something of a conversion mod- this turns the Dwarf Fortress you know and love into a wild west simulator!

The age of great beasts is ended. Though magic is not gone from this world, it is certainly less prevalent- while night creatures stalk the dark and titans roam the land, long past is the time where heroes in gleaming armor fought dragons and giants. That world is dead, and a new one beckons- but for the settlers that venture out to colonize it, a strange and uncanny land awaits. A land of false gods, animal-headed men, and savage cannibal tribes. Here, in this foreign frontier, you must carve out a settlement worthy of your nation's pride- but lasting success is, like all things in this place, a dubious proposition.

DOWNLOAD

http://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=11855 (Alpha 0.5.1)- No additions, just updated the mod as necessary to be usable with the new 43.01 changes! Enjoy!

MAJOR CHANGES

Gone are dwarves, elves, and goblins. Instead, there are four "races" of humans occupying this world:

Settlers, the technologically competent and imperialistic men and women that are highly similar to vanilla humans, armed almost entirely with firearms and decked out in the latest in frontier fashion. These folk seek to spread their message of "advancement and freedom" all over the world- though they may have to dispense more than a few bullets doing so. They are also the fort-mode playable race.

Natives, the "noble savages"- they defend nature with a fierce intensity, have an uncanny ability to get along with animals, and coat their primitive arrows and blowdarts with venom. At close range, they engage with crude melee weapons like clubs and spears, and wear nothing but loincloths, thongs and headdresses. Known to eat their enemies, as well as (foolishly) impose "tree quotas" on their neighbors.

Cultists, former settlers and natives deprived of their sanity by exposure to forces beyond their reckoning. They live in pits dug around great slade spires which house their false and cruel gods, use outdated and brutal weaponry (along with some firearms), and are uniformly clad in cold, unfeeling masks and ragged, rough robes- individuality, after all, being the death of mindless obedience. They attack anyone who opposes their theocratic ideals, and are known to kidnap and indoctrinate children.

Revenants, walking, talking human skeletons that inhabit mountains and grave-mounds. They have a monarchistic society, and are shrouded in mystery.

Firearms:

This mod uses a very, very simplified system of firearm making, derived from the firearm system of "The Fall" by Deon. Gunmaking is accomplished simply by making a gunsmithery, and then crafting guns and ammo there like you would in any other weapons shop- no special ingredients needed. Guns fall under the categories of:

Pistol: Pistols and Revolvers.
Rifle: Bolt and Lever action rifles.
Shotgun: Single and Lever action shotguns.

Long guns (rifles and shotties) use the crossbowman skill (which has been renamed to marksman.) Pistols/revolvers use the bowman skill (renamed to gunslinger.) In addition, both bows and blowguns are now governed by the blowgunner skill (renamed to ranger) to facilitate the poison-coated projectiles of the native civ.

Clothing:

Many of the vanilla clothes have been removed and replaced by more diverse, setting-appropriate clothing items. This is purely cosmetic. Actual armor also no longer exists.

There have also been some other miscellaneous changes, like more varied threats/phrases to be used in speech and altered artery locations in the main 3 races. (Expect a lot more bloodspray during gunfights.) This mod also uses the Duerer tileset, though this can easily be changed to whatever you like.

This is about all that's been changed for now. However, hopefully more will be added on/changed as feedback comes in.

Credits to:
Deon for his firearms code from "The Fall" as well as his entity naming system.
Kiwiphoenix for his help with firearm features and other suggestions.

[Forwe]

Cheers, the mod sounds awesome, although I have a question; is this mod made compatible for adventure mode, or it only works "right" when playing fort mode?
EDIT: nvm, just found your thread on Adventure Board, sorry
2EDIT: I don't know whether it's possible or not, but would it be possible to make rifles and shotguns require multigrasp? I think it would be a bit more suitable

[Cthulhu_Pakabol]

Cheers, the mod sounds awesome, although I have a question; is this mod made compatible for adventure mode, or it only works "right" when playing fort mode?
EDIT: nvm, just found your thread on Adventure Board, sorry
2EDIT: I don't know whether it's possible or not, but would it be possible to make rifles and shotguns require multigrasp? I think it would be a bit more suitable

Hey, thanks! Glad you're enjoying it.

And that's odd, I thought ranged weapons were multigrasp by default, though I must've been mistaken. I'll get on changing that up right away!

Oh, and to anyone that tries this out, I'd love feedback/bug reports/suggestions of any kind. This is my first mod and I want to do it right. Hope you have fun!

[Cthulhu_Pakabol]

Updated to alpha 0.2!

Some miscellaneous changes made in this update. Rifles and shotguns are now two-handed, rifle bullets and shotgun pullets have had their size reduced to fix weight problems, Settler civ changed to [SITE_CONTROLLABLE] instead of [CIV_CONTROLLABLE] (CIV_CONTROLLABLE is outdated, I think). "Normalized" the underground- essentially got rid of the more fantastical creatures down there (I.E, cave dragons, cave ogres, etc.) Also, natives had their ethics changed to be a bit more morally grey.

[Forwe]

I'll try and post some feedback from adventuring today or tommorow, as soon as time allows basically ^^ The half an hour I spent before was great fun

[Cthulhu_Pakabol]

Just realized that I probably messed up big time- I don't think I added the necessary reactions for fort mode gunmaking to the settler civ. I'll fix that when I get home, maybe make some other changes and additions, and post the new version. My bad!

[Cthulhu_Pakabol]

Right, alpha 0.3 out! Added the necessary reactions to the settler civ, along with some other stuff detailed in the OP. Hope you guys enjoy!

[Splint]

Huh.

I actually kinda like the sound of this mod, so I think I'll give'er a go.

Minor suggestions, bayonets for single-shotguns and bolt-action rifles, and arming the cultists with black powder guns - after all, they're supposed to be packing outdated weapons, right?   

Additionally, stands to reason that the settlers would bring at least some basic protection, similar to the conquistadores are depicted in pop culture. So possibly body and head armor for everyone, but nothing else armor-wise? I'll reserve that judgement for after I give the mod a whirl though.

Who knows, maybe the guns won't feel like renamed crossbows...

EDIT: Wow, it's even pre-packaged! Kudos on that one. 

EDIT II: Right out the gate, settlers seem painfully underequipped for early combat. Like.... Waaaaaaay underprepared. While I understand wanting the main focus for them to be ranged combat, having virtually no melee weapons besides a basic wood-cutting axe and mining pick is kind of odd, especially since none of the ranged weapons have viable alternative attacks in their current state.

Recommendations
Arm the settlers appropriately for early combat - make their on-ranged weapons primarily "tools" law-enforcement implements that have been pressed into service or to deal with early threats sledgehammers, woodcutting axes, nightsticks/crowbars (crowbar analogues have been in use since at least the 1400s,) and giving them access to the same cutlass the cultists use (cavalry and many officers still used swords well into the 1800s) with bolt-action rifles having bayonets by default.

This covers all the basic weapon skills, and doesn't require bringing 8 metric fucktons of ammo just so you have something to defend yourself with, since your piddling first-year soldiers need more than 5 in archery and crossbow to be able to even really defend themselves, never mind do appreciable harm to attacking animals and cultists, as well as having the option of melee combat with more than ineffectual fancy clubs (I dunno about anyone else, but I tend to have very little faith in ranged fighters in this game.)

I'd also advise making handguns use the bow skill, since it'd be strange that being a good shot with a pistol makes you a good shot with a rifle.

Speaking of which, the focus on ranged combat means settlers would logically gain significant bonuses to learning all ranged combat skills, and probably minor deficits to melee related skills sans wrestling (since that skill governs pistols in melee for the mod) and fighting.

Gonna have to postpone even playing a proper fort to test how well those guns work without bayonets, and gen a new world since I'll need to make some entity changes.

[Cthulhu_Pakabol]

Hey, I really appreciate the feedback! I'm gonna take all that into account- melee options for settlers should be forthcoming soon. Will also be sure to fiddle with the pistol skills to make them more distinct from long guns.

I think I might restrict bayonets to the rifles, as thematically I don't think bayonets on a shotgun make much sense (and shotguns are already pretty damn powerful.) Might boost the damage of the shotgun butt smash attack though, to bring it in line a bit with the rifles. I think cutlasses/sabres and nightsticks should be good starting weapons for the settlers, and thematically appropriate.

[Splint]

Yeah, tested a few on on one duels between settlers packing bolt guns and cultists armed with cleavers, and the long guns' buttstroke attacks are painfully ineffective; they barely even do anything to a guy with a leather jacket. If I were more knowledgeable, I'd be able to help with making them actually have the proper forcefulness a dude jacked up on adrenaline cracking another dude with a rifle stock.

As far as bayonets, I'd say the single-shotgun and bolt-action would probably be the ones to take them. To my knowledge, lever-action weapons never had mounts for bayonets.

And careful with the nightsticks; I'd suggest a "training" one for actual law enforcement that carpenters can produce, and a separate version for fighting animals and intruders. Last mod with those that I played was Fallout: Equestria, and the riot sticks the stable dwellers used were almost worthless.

Cutlasses: Hey, your own little set-up says some cultists were settlers once, where better to get a cutlass than from their former selves?

[Cthulhu_Pakabol]

Alpha 0.4 is here! Now with a bunch of new melee options, detailed in the OP. Things should be a bit more manageable on startup now!

[Meph]

Its probably more of a rhetorical question, but why are there cultists in the wild west? Couldnt you do actual native tribes (cheeroke, etc) and bandits, going with the theme?

[Splint]

Its probably more of a rhetorical question, but why are there cultists in the wild west? Couldnt you do actual native tribes (cheeroke, etc) and bandits, going with the theme?

My guess is to accommodate the existence of demons and the like ruling an evil civ.

I wouldn't mind an outlaws and hostile natives optional thing though.

[AceSV]

Cherokee were an eastern tribe.  They were banished to Oklahoma as part of the Trail of Tears.  Navajo, Apache and Comanche were western, but there were hundreds of peoples out there.  I like the idea of cultists though, it makes things a little more fantasy and pulpy. 

I'm waiting for a little more stability before trying, but I saw the discussion on melee weapons and I wanted to input two cents.  I know that guns are the symbols of the Wild West, but I find them a little boring, so I would love to see a Wild West theme with a few more melee weapons in it. 

Knives would have been very common, mainly as a tool but also for self defense.  Bowie Knives were common in the military.  I remember one story about a Confederate squadron that had the idea to ambush a Union squadron and scare them by going into close combat with their southern bowie knives.  Unfortunately for them, the Union squadron they ambushed was a bunch of Irish immigrants, who were more than happy to engage in hand-to-hand combat, using their gunstocks as shillelaghs.  In the end, it was the Irish that scared away the Confederates.  Brass knuckles were also used in the Civil War.  I call them knuckledusters in my mod since they were not always made of brass, and obviously wouldn't be in a game like DF.  Some soldiers melted down their bullets into lead knuckles.  An 1800s weapon called the Apache Revolver combined a revolver, knife and knuckle duster. 

In militaries, the saber and lance were used by cavalry units well into World War One, so it's conceivable that a group of settlers would be able to construct them.  I know that the saber was a symbol of American cavalry units in that era, but I don't know off hand how popular or effective the lance was.  In the same vein, if there were expecting to fight against mounted combatants, it would make sense for the settlers to produce something akin to a pike.  Pike and gun formations dominated renaissance warfare, but I don't know how long the pike lasted historically. 

War hammers were out of use by the Civil War, since it's an anti-armor weapon, but obviously hammers still exist today, and it takes little imagination to reach for a hammer if you're in unexpected melee combat, so I wouldn't be opposed to some kind of combat hammer being present in a Wild West simulator.  Likewise, a combat club, cane or shillelagh would make sense.  Quarterstaff was taught by the boyscouts in the 1900s, but I think that was something of a revival, not a continuous lineage from the renaissance to the modern era.  A whip made of rope or leather would also seem appropriate to cowboy theme. 

As for armor, I've heard that some Civil War soldiers bought metal vests to protect themselves, but they were not provided as standard issue.  They were unpopular since they were very heavy to carry on long marches, and since only some soldiers could spend money on them, they were considered cowardly.  In the Napoleonic wars, France and some of its allies deployed Cuirassiers, cavalry units armed with metal breastplates.  In the Crimean War (1850s) Russian war jackets were thick enough to deflect English saber blows.  In general, armor was considered ineffective against guns, but capable of saving lives against bayonets and sabers. 

I wouldn't be opposed to a Wild West setting using equipment like a brigandine, gambeson, cuirass, buff coat or cuir bouilli if it feels like there really needs to be armor in the game.  I can imagine a cavalry officer's jacket or cowboy trenchcoat reinforced with hardened leather or plates.  Wild West era steel should be more effective than 1400s steel and cuir bouilli is supposedly stronger than the plain leather that DF has, so you should be able to get more protection out of less armor.  I've heard it's more like plastic in consistency.  There are existing mods for gambeson and cuir bouilli you could look at.  Some kind of a long jacket with boots and gloves would cover the whole body with no need for medieval sounding greaves or breastplates.  Unfortunately, they didn't use helmets in those days, which will decrease life expectancy in melee combat. 

[Splint]

I'm waiting for a little more stability before trying, but I saw the discussion on melee weapons and I wanted to input two cents.  I know that guns are the symbols of the Wild West, but I find them a little boring, so I would love to see a Wild West theme with a few more melee weapons in it. 

Personally, I tend to find ranged combat both boring and in the case of firearms, too similar to the (in my experience as a primary arm for the militia,) unreliable crossbow - small wounds, too long to train people to use (which is the grand paradox of having firearms in a mod,) and often feeling underpowered. The only mods I've played that did do firearms well are Underhive and Fallout: Equestria: They punched through most basic armor readily, sometimes severed limbs from human-sized targets, and reliably knocked people down with a center mass hit; not because of pain, but because they just got thumped with a hunk of high velocity lead or steel.

My personal beef here is more the training time without a racial bonus to firearms use, so long as ammo production remains simplified.

Knives would have been very common, mainly as a tool but also for self defense.  Bowie Knives were common in the military.

I support bowie/survival knives, though I'd suggest making them use the sword skill (as it seems knife fighter isn't a "real" combat skill, based on how soldiers continually complained in 34.11 despite being legendary knife fighters.) I'd also probably arm the shit out of pistoleers with them and sabres, go all 40k on some bitches.

In militaries, the saber and lance were used by cavalry units well into World War One, so it's conceivable that a group of settlers would be able to construct them.  I know that the saber was a symbol of American cavalry units in that era, but I don't know off hand how popular or effective the lance was.  In the same vein, if there were expecting to fight against mounted combatants, it would make sense for the settlers to produce something akin to a pike.  Pike and gun formations dominated renaissance warfare, but I don't know how long the pike lasted historically.

Well, the settlers are getting sabres now, and bolt-action rifles without ammo now fill the role of a spear or pike, since they've been given a bayonet for melee. In fact, they use the pike skill in melee according to the raws.

As to historicity, pikes and halberds were retained as absolute last ditch do-or-die weapons into World War II if I'm not mistaken, but they were never issued because the very prospect of having to be given such weapons to fight invaders in the UK caused the home guard's morale to completely tank.

War hammers were out of use by the Civil War, since it's an anti-armor weapon, but obviously hammers still exist today, and it takes little imagination to reach for a hammer if you're in unexpected melee combat, so I wouldn't be opposed to some kind of combat hammer being present in a Wild West simulator.  Likewise, a combat club, cane or shillelagh would make sense.  Quarterstaff was taught by the boyscouts in the 1900s, but I think that was something of a revival, not a continuous lineage from the renaissance to the modern era.  A whip made of rope or leather would also seem appropriate to cowboy theme. 

Sledgehammers easily fill the role for the hammer skill for settlers, being a tool repurposed for combat. Additionally, the mod author added truncheons for settlers to beat the absolute fuck out of people, and presumably use the mace skill.

As for armor, I've heard that some Civil War soldiers bought metal vests to protect themselves, but they were not provided as standard issue.  They were unpopular since they were very heavy to carry on long marches, and since only some soldiers could spend money on them, they were considered cowardly.  In the Napoleonic wars, France and some of its allies deployed Cuirassiers, cavalry units armed with metal breastplates.  In the Crimean War (1850s) Russian war jackets were thick enough to deflect English saber blows.  In general, armor was considered ineffective against guns, but capable of saving lives against bayonets and sabers.

I wouldn't be opposed to a Wild West setting using equipment like a brigandine, gambeson, cuirass, buff coat, or cuir bouilli if it feels like there really needs to be armor in the game.  I can imagine a cavalry officer's jacket or cowboy trenchcoat reinforced with hardened leather or plates.  Wild West era steel should be more effective than 1400s steel and cuir bouilli is supposedly stronger than the plain leather that DF has, so you should be able to get more protection out of less armor.  I've heard it's more like plastic in consistency.  There are existing mods for gambeson and cuir bouilli you could look at.  Some kind of a long jacket with boots and gloves would cover the whole body with no need for medieval sounding greaves or breastplates.

Hence my suggestion for body armor and head protection but not much else. 

Unfortunately, they didn't use helmets in those days, which will decrease life expectancy in melee combat.

Cuirassiers actually did sometimes employ helmets (judging by good ol wikipedia, it probably varied from army to army or even soldier to soldier, based on what he could afford) and given the prevalence of things that like to chew on people's heads in DF, metal caps wouldn't be out of place. At minimum though, a leather helmet would be needed to train a militia - many are the soldiers I've lost to training accidents because a dude got thrown by the hand or arm and had his head get crushed on the floor without at least that much. And that was before pulping being factored in back in 34.11. Haven't had that issue recently because now I make sure my professionals have friggen helmets before they start training.

And note, we aren't using the real world frontier. This is some sort of horrifying nebulous setting for DF's "future." One where dwarves have gone and accidentally'd themselves one time too many, where elves are extinct, and goblins probably all killed eachother in their metaphorical dick-waving contests.

One where analogues to Lee-Enfields and 1911s share the battlefield with meat hooks, harpoons, spears, and repeaters, with necromancers roaming the land, night trolls still nabbing people, insane cultists trying to build a theocratic empire, cannibalistic tree-humping natives trying to impose the ancient elven ways upon people who'd rather they fuck off back to legoland...

And foolishly brave settlers, trying to fight a dangerous and uncaring world, one island or region at a time.