Will Dreamwalkers ever get their non-DFhack magic back? I remember in the very first versions of Orc Fortress I played, back in the days when Masterwork used lots of boiling-stone interactions, Dreamwalkers could do fun (and really kinda OP) spells. I've never figured out how you did those. I kinda miss the entertainment value of watching an Orc shaman wandering around the battlefield making enemies bleed to death through their skins.
My current DF project is modding orcs to be a more degenerate and barbaric version of the Orc Fort orcs. My working title for it is "Snaga Fortress". Hopefully modding sizes the way I am won't mess with their ability to dress once I get a test game running.
fasquardon
I've been thinking about this on and off since your comment. I thought the Old Magic was indeed pretty great, but with some major exceptions like the "boiling stone reactions" having a low success rate, so training magic users was pretty frustrating even for players who know the ins and outs of how modding works. I guess it would be almost impossible to decipher for someone without that background.
I had fun with the old spells though. Much respect for the modders who really pioneered understanding the possibilities of magic system, but a lot of the spells that were around at first were kinda the same, throwing different kinds of boulders or fire, so i tried to find some things that were a bit different but still effective. Pain magic was probably the best balanced, it would stun or disarm (sometimes) but not kill. Blood and decay magic was a little too reliable and safe but it would kill slowly, so i reasoned it served the purpose of a siege weapon and not really turn the tables in a real melee fight. Frost magic was awesome and unpredictable, IMO worth loosing a few fingers to frostbite now and then
If I, say, sometimes accidentally fight in the mist under a waterfall or in the tide spray and deep freeze the whole battlefield friend and foe alike, eh, losing is fun. When i lose my only miner and pick in a frozen aquifer because the shaman tried to flash freeze a kea, then yes i too am kind of mad. My in house beta tester never lost an uruk to frostbite, but then she is also the sort to add a second layer of clothes with mittens and stuff to the uniforms, so what can i say.
In principle I'm up for adding anything back in here but would like to keep it accessible (and more or less balanced to vanilla, for whatever that's worth).
To be honest the major issue now is still orcs suffering morale spiral from totally routine situations like corpses piling up knee deep everywhere, so the current business is rather tedious fiddling and testing with personality traits and the like, and/or waiting to see how Tarn tweaks the Memory system.