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[PatrikLundell]

@Fleeting Frames:
- The ability to change the tile set between the graphical and character one (which is available in the current version, and won't go away) doesn't say anything about transferability between the Classic and Premium version. However, it's been mentioned in the past that save games should be compatible between the two versions (naturally requiring them to be of the same version), allowing for both community games and community member fault finding regardless of which version different participants use.
- Bamboo is currently a kind of grass. There's no reason to assume that will change in the near term, even though the graphical representation of it makes it prominent.
- The presented adventure mode image just showed that some of the graphical efforts carry over to adventure mode: The effort put into displaying a caravan pack animal also works on adventure mode pack animals, so it's not a sign dedicated adventure mode efforts have started.

[Starver]

I also meant to query if FF was assuming the 'classic' tileset view including the circled Depot was the very same saved game as the the demos for the Steam-tiled Depot. The background of each makes it fairly clear that the non-Steam wouldn't be surrounded by grass (almost totally certain not surface grass). Though I too would appreciate an actual 'reclassic'ed exact copy view of a Steam-type scene (for me, for the lulz; for others it might help sell the benefits)... but it can wait awhile and there's probably a whole lot of functionality-stuff that need to be coded and demoed, way ahead in the queue.

Spoiler: I *also* also meant to mention, w.r.t. overlayering (click to show/hide)

...that the sack at the SE corner of the NE trade-table clearly demonstrates that... however so overlaid... some vertical translation on the screen commensurate to the forced perspective of the table-top (so 5-7px?) would be prudent for all items supposedly entabled, and might even help with occasional dwarf/etc who decides to outright table-stomp straight across this passable-but-occupied set of tiles.

Ditto (slightly less pixels?) for bridges, if given that slightly raised effect as shown in the WIP images elsewhere. Even with non-smooth teleport-a-tile transitions, I could see it making much more visual sense for isolated figures moving onto and off such 'ground decor', and bonus points if you have other creatures on the laterally-adjacent ground to make it extra obvious that the 'eye-level' is so adjusted.

Maybe also the "dragon that walks across the tile with dragon(s) laying on the floor", and at least a high-end threshold of other similar non-obstacles. Speedbump-effect, as it were, even if without the slowing aspect.

But, in the words of the old song, "It all makes work, for the working man to do!". The tweaks necessary to inherit such aesthetic displacements during graphical layering might be non-trivial (until lacking it becomes painfully unrealistic, and we're not at that stage just yet). And remembering them in pure graphic-edited mockups might be even more secondary.

[Fleeting Frames]

Ah, drat, that's a good insight Starver. Well, never mind then. Doubly with PL's point that Toady could have done necessary edits manually too.

Yeah, maybe bamboo and adv mode is bit too hopeful.

[Teddy]

[...]
Patrick has also drawn up some new barrels, with their contents, so that you can get some information about your food stocks at a glance.



Here we have some dwarven wine and rum, as well as meat, fish, plump helmets and seed bags.


- Tarn

A little suggestion: How about putting taps on liquid-containing barrels? I think it would give them a nice bit of extra visual clarity. Large pots could have a pouring lip instead.

[kitfoxgames]

Steam Community Update 20 May 2021: "Bridges for Traps and Defense"

https://steamcommunity.com/games/975370/announcements/detail/3025834967790391684

Full text:

Hello!

This time we'll revisit bridges, which Patrick has done another pass on.



Here I've set up a double wooden drawbridge.  You can see now where the mechanisms are, and thus can tell from the image itself which way the bridge will raise.  (The fisherdwarf has been busy catching salmon, steelhead trout, and mussels, but I didn't make a food stockpile, so they are littering at the riverside.)

This is the bridge in action:



This might keep some invaders out of your fort, but you'll often want to build further defenses deep underground in case things go terribly wrong.

Here's a stone bridge over an internal moat:



The water isn't necessary if you dig a deep enough pit, but it's fun to play around with nonetheless.  For this moat, I connected a surface stream to my fort using a channel and then a staircase.  The water flows into the moat from a submerged hallway at the northern side.  Of course, due to water pressure, this is incredibly dangerous, so a submerged hallway on the southern side connects to a staircase which drains the water further down into the natural underground caverns.  Lots of giant mushrooms currently being rained upon down there.  You can avoid this by using floodgates and only admitting as much water as you need.



When the bridge goes up, dwarves in the hallway are safe from arrows, though the way I've set this up, the initial lever puller would be exposed.



Here's a steel bridge, or diving board, above a volcano, along with a pit zone.  The game doesn't care what's below the pit zone particularly - once a prisoner or beast is designated, a dwarf will bring them over and throw them in.  You can use this to create lion pits and stuff like that, or you can use it over volcanoes and other such places, as you like, for captured thieves or invaders.

- Tarn

[Starver]

Won't reiterate my headcanon about the possible depiction of bridges, as given in one or two other threads...

But I'm probably most interested, in that last picture, in the "room-type as zone" implementation. (As long suggested was going to happen...) Not sure if I've missed a previous 'and now it is so...' announcement, somewhere along the way.

Might that be an interesting subject for a Steam Official Announcement of the near future, if it's sufficiently working as well as prepared-for? *subtle, non-binding nudge...*

[Shonai_Dweller]

Rooms as zones has been covered in great detail both here on the devblog and in Steam updates.

March 8th and March 19th devblog covers the new rooms and archery zones.

And this Steam update on bedroom and tomb zones and room zones in general:
https://steamcommunity.com/games/975370/announcements/detail/3084377958517709650

[Starver]

Sorry. I just didn't recall anything here (as a Steam Official Announcement), but maybe I somehow missed it. I'll scan back and see it. And I don't lurk on the Steam fora themselves[1] enough to catch everything at source or keep my eye on that side of the community[2]. Ditto reddit, etc.

I know the principle has been discussed at length under the Bay12 umbrella (in both fanon-terms and WoG stuff in devlog/DFTalk/etc), but if it hasn't already been illustrated properly and is operational then I thought maybe it could be.



[1]

Spoiler: Tech moan (click to show/hide)

It never remembers that I've already agreed to risk viewing inappropriate content, plus that I've previously said not to warn me about that again... And almost every time it also bothers me with that standard courtesy-bar thing about Cookies that I have always said I'm perfectly happy with (but even just now when it didn't, so obviously remembered my view from five minutes ago when I followed a different Steam link, it still asked me again about inappropriate content and again I ticked not to warn me again, so it obviously isn't down to that cookie failing to be remembered). That and the way it seems to want to render various text as an image. Meh...  Not the point of my message, but just to explain why I particularly like the updates when they're copied here where it all just works better. At least once the embedded images/etc are properly sorted out in a post-edit.

[Shonai_Dweller]

Sorry. I just didn't recall anything here (as a Steam Official Announcement), but maybe I somehow missed it. I'll scan back and see it. And I don't lurk on the Steam fora themselves[1] enough to catch everything at source or keep my eye on that side of the community[2]. Ditto reddit, etc.

I know the principle has been discussed at length under the Bay12 umbrella (in both fanon-terms and WoG stuff in devlog/DFTalk/etc), but if it hasn't already been illustrated properly and is operational then I thought maybe it could be.



[1]

Spoiler: Tech moan (click to show/hide)

It never remembers that I've already agreed to risk viewing inappropriate content, plus that I've previously said not to warn me about that again... And almost every time it also bothers me with that standard courtesy-bar thing about Cookies that I have always said I'm perfectly happy with (but even just now when it didn't, so obviously remembered my view from five minutes ago when I followed a different Steam link, it still asked me again about inappropriate content and again I ticked not to warn me again, so it obviously isn't down to that cookie failing to be remembered). That and the way it seems to want to render various text as an image. Meh...  Not the point of my message, but just to explain why I particularly like the updates when they're copied here where it all just works better. At least once the embedded images/etc are properly sorted out in a post-edit.

Bay12 devblog, March 8th, March 19th.
No need to venture into Steam or Reddit territory.

[Starver]

Yes, I'd read those. Read. Text. I am aware that a rewrite is happening. It sounds intriguing (and I'm doubtless going to have to get used to it, once in a live and released form, but I'll survive, like I did with vampires, tracks, etc) and it sounds like something to show off to the world at some point...

I know the principle has been discussed at length under the Bay12 umbrella (in both fanon-terms and WoG stuff in devlog/DFTalk/etc), but if it hasn't already been illustrated properly and is operational then I thought maybe it could be.

A conditional, and an obvious requirement, neither of which I'm sure are fulfilled, but otherwise I was suggesting it might be as interesting to others as to me, and I'd certainly appreciate an eyeball on this "bunch of enclosed potential rooms of that kind" stuff that's promised, amongst other aspects.

Maybe there's other things sitting more prominently in the queue to announce. I also don't think it was worth an argument over.

edit: ...and as such I'm going to PMs on this, in answer to the following.

[Shonai_Dweller]

What do you mean by "promised" and "operational"? The updates state clearly that the work is done. He's reporting on work completed. The screenshots are at Steam because Toady doesn't feel like replicating them here.

Now, yes, it may all be broken on release (in true Dwarf Fortress tradition), but the work is done and has been demonstrated at Steam. What more do you want?

[Fleeting Frames]

If the zones are all same shade of green and same border, might be bit difficult to tell apart multiple partially overlapping zones. Wonder if that can be changed (alongside the placeholder icons?) Since zones are now limited to 1 function, could have a different border&colour for pit zone and meeting area.

And, heh, heh, that pitting is pretty unsafe. If the goblin doesn't escape, their magma mist plume is liable to splash on your dwarves.

Interesting that Toady didn't use 1x1 bridges. While Meph did post the WIP images, no garbage compactors? Seems to be just bridges that go over a gap in air.

[kitfoxgames]

Steam Community Update 3 June 2021: "All About the Bees"

https://steamcommunity.com/games/975370/announcements/detail/3026962135264045409

Full text:

Hello again!

Mostly I've been spending these last two weeks moving apartments after 13 years in one place.  So much junk...  and my vacuum caught on fire, ha ha ha.  But there was still a bit of time for work, and now we can show you the very important DF industry, beekeeping!



This industry came about after the community voted on which of some hundreds of animals should be added to the game over a decade ago.  Being a practically minded community, the animal that led to naturally to several new industries was the overwhelming favorite!  Above you can see some artificial hives, ready to accept wild colonies.



Hives can be populated either using a wild colony, or by splitting an existing colony in an artificial hive.  You'll want to balance your splitting and gathering of products, since gathering products destroys the hive in question.



Natural hives can take some time to appear and aren't on every map.  Above, I've used debug commands to place all of the possible wild hives together.  From the top going counterclockwise, there's a bumblebee colony, an ant hill, termite mounds, and then the one we are looking for, the honey bee hive!



Once installed, the bees will begin working (the second hive down on the right side has little bees buzzing around it.)  You can also see an individual wild bee above the right column.  These pop up around artificial and wild colonies, and are mostly okay, but will occasionally sting!



After a time, the bees' work is done and products are ready to collect!  I've also split the first colony to another colony on the left side.  In this way you can keep expanding your industry.



Here you can see the products in the hive building, wax honeycombs and some royal jelly.  Royal jelly can be collected in a jug and used in cooking (though as old hands know, there are some jug storage issues there we're still working on!).  Honeycombs themselves must be brought to a screw press.  The pressing produces a wax cake and also some honey which can be stored in a jug.  Honey can be used in food or made into mead, and wax can be used for crafts.

- Tarn

[clinodev]

This was a special Steam Update for me, heh. My reddit flair for years has been "Wax Worker's Guild Rep Local 67".

[hedgerow]

Not gonna lie, the multidimensional personalities and the moddability of the future releases will give ultimate game development potential to modders and players in the Steam Release and THAT'S why I'm totally behind the new release and the fact Armok doesn't get trig.