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[ShinyandKittens]

Currently, there are no more plans for ocean travel other than a single note on the development page. Let’s expand some options:

Boats should be buildable in multiple sizes based off of pre-made templates, and these can be used for trade and travel alike.

You should be able to build docks in fort mode where boats could arrive from.

In adventure mode, you should be able to construct your own boats, which you could travel the seas with, using the Travel screen. If you reach the edge of the map, you should be forced to turn back.

You could be able to encounter friendly and non-friendly creatures along the way, and you can stop in the middle of the ocean if it is necessary to fight said creatures or repair your boat similarly to the Build screen.

Building boats in adventure mode (and fort mode, maybe) should be like making a real boat, and this would require wood and cloth, not to mention time and effort. The construction should generally be like drawing a boat shape (of course dwarf fortress style), and then placing a mast and staircases. There should be at most 2 floors.

When creatures attack your boat, they could come up onto the boat or try to break the lower layers of the boat, letting in water. If a decent amount of the lowest layer is filled with water, maybe 70-90%, your boat should sink and your boat should quickly fall apart and become logs, meaning you would have to swim back, which may be incredibly hard and deadly, considering how well DF people swim and that whatever sank your boat is still there.

If both floors, you could load supplies, like food and fresh water (in barrels), or even trade goods. Food and water should deplete while traveling, if you have companions on the boat, and this should also count yourself.

Trade ships in DF should be like Caravans, but would have more stuff like fish caught on the journey (which would depend on where they travelled), and generally stuff traded from other port cities.

These are all just ideas to consider, and not all of these ideas may make it into the game.

[Shonai_Dweller]

I recommend the 10th anniversary video for more details on Toady's current thinking regarding boats (should be on Youtube somewhere).

They're going to be part of the 'moving fortress parts' expansion, so, actually moving pieces of map.

Boats is currently due after Starting Scenarios and maybe after Economy, but possibly before because a) boats are more fun than economies b) economies need boats (chicken & egg?).

Edit
Also PC Gamer interview part 3:
https://www.pcgamer.com/why-the-creator-of-dwarf-fortress-is-really-excited-about-boats/

Think this is the Dwarfmoot video link:
https://vimeo.com/171824119

[KittyTac]

I recommend the 10th anniversary video for more details on Toady's current thinking regarding boats (should be on Youtube somewhere).

They're going to be part of the 'moving fortress parts' expansion, so, actually moving pieces of map.

Boats is currently due after Starting Scenarios and maybe after Economy, but possibly before because a) boats are more fun than economies b) economies need boats (chicken & egg?).

Edit
Also PC Gamer interview part 3:
https://www.pcgamer.com/why-the-creator-of-dwarf-fortress-is-really-excited-about-boats/

Think this is the Dwarfmoot video link:
https://vimeo.com/171824119

And Economy is coming in 20 years. Patience is a virtue, @Shiny! Currently, we're heading towards the magic release 1.5 years from now. I think it's wise to do the myth release before Laws and Customs or Economy.

[Shonai_Dweller]

In the meantime, spend your time productively by hunting down all of Tarn's videos and interviews. There's a lot more been said than is in the dev notes. Also, make a Future of the Fortress reply database. All that knowledge and info, buried in a thread after a couple of days. It's very sad.

[GoblinCookie]

And Economy is coming in 20 years. Patience is a virtue, @Shiny! Currently, we're heading towards the magic release 1.5 years from now. I think it's wise to do the myth release before Laws and Customs or Economy.

Boats come before economy. 

[KittyTac]

And Economy is coming in 20 years. Patience is a virtue, @Shiny! Currently, we're heading towards the magic release 1.5 years from now. I think it's wise to do the myth release before Laws and Customs or Economy.

Boats come before economy. 

Then make that 17 years.

[Anandar]

Why would the boat turn back at map edge? The world would be spherical theoretically unless it is discworld... which would mean you would appear on the other side of the map...

[Shonai_Dweller]

Why would the boat turn back at map edge? The world would be spherical theoretically unless it is discworld... which would mean you would appear on the other side of the map...

It might also be on the back of a turtle depending on the type of myth generated by the mythgen.

[IndigoFenix]

Why would the boat turn back at map edge? The world would be spherical theoretically unless it is discworld... which would mean you would appear on the other side of the map...

That would be a toroid actually, not a sphere.  Or a cylinder if only with east and west.

As for boats in general, that's still a long way off.  But a one-person raft item that allows easy crossing of water would be welcome.

[ArrowThunder]

Personally, I'd love to see even just the most rudimentary of hints at a boating system.

We already have roads, trade alliances, etc. It'd be great to see the same kind of details go into sea-faring, but all just behind-the-scenes.

-Settlements next to traversable bodies of water may become ports
-Fishing and ferrying are important
-Some fisherpersons/seafarers may be adventurous, and explore/civ. expanders from a port town may choose to explore by sea instead of by land
-Places explored by sea have sea-links, although may have land links later. Similarly, places linked by land may later be linked by sea

IOW, the first step would be to put in the infrastructure behind the oceans. Then comes other things, like navies, naval battles, piracy, sea monsters, etc. These could also seep into adventure and fortress mode slowly. For forts, this would start with building boats that trading parties could land on (and then turn into a caravan). For adventure mode, that could start with something as simple as finding a captain, bartering passage on their ship, and then watching days pass by.

Knowing Toady though, he probably would want to go way more in depth with any of the adventure & fortress mode stuff. That said, I'd love it if he'd at least do the world-gen side of things, because that would open up the ability for us to beg him to put in the basics of it for gameplay. xD

[Shonai_Dweller]

Again, refer to the talks I mentioned above for all of Toady's discussions on the boats arc. Especially interesting is the concept of a big boat as a site in itself for site mode (really don't dig too far. Or at all...)

[Dozebôm Lolumzalìs]

OP: Why did you explicitly mention food and water being consumed on the trip? That already happens in adventure mode - hunger and thirst need to be alleviated with food and drink. So are you saying that the food and water should decrement some other way? That players should need to eat more? Or something else?

[SixOfSpades]

So are you saying that the food and water should decrement some other way?

Token mention of food spoilage, which IMO is ripe (pun intended) for implementation.

[compsognathus]

The big ship (Galleon, Galea, Kolae, Galliot, Trireme) is built in many skilled people in a long time...
In adventure mode must be bought! (need economy) or create a company of carpenters and sell ships.
At most you could build a small raft  for one person.

In the dwarven fortress you could also build steamboats, dwarf technology.

[Starver]

[...] big boat as a site in itself for site mode (really don't dig too far. Or at all...)

But... how else are you going to drain out any water that leaks in..?