Dwarves still read in libraries given the chance, and they can still learn of life and death by doing so.
I
thiink slade-mining still works? I don't think Toady's really touched that code, so it should be fine.
There's a good deal that's changed over the years, but two things in particular have really stood out among the most recent updates:
- Dwarves have memories now. When a dwarf experiences a sufficiently powerful thought, it will store that thought in its short-term memory, "reliving" or "dwelling upon" it every now and again. Doing so will cause the dwarf to experience that thought (to a slightly lessened degree) over and over again, greatly amplifying its effect. A dwarf can hold up to eight thoughts at a time in its short-term memory, and it generally won't hold two of the same kind of thought at once.
When a dwarf has held a thought in its short-term memory for long enough-- usually one or two years-- the dwarf will experience a change to its personality or values. This change is randomized, and can be beneficial... or not. After experiencing such a change, if the thought is strong enough, the dwarf will move the thought to its
long-term memory. The dwarf will still occasionally "dwell on" that thought for the rest of its days, experiencing a minor thought related to the nature of the personality or value shift.
All this makes dwarves
much more prone to stress-- tantrums and insanity are actually a thing again, though tantrum
spirals are generally much slower-burning things now. Fulfilling the needs of your dwarves has become extremely important... even though a lot of the need-fulfillment related code is still buggy and old and hard to work with.
This thread details many of the current problems with that system, and provides some tips for working around them in your forts.
- The world has become much more interconnected with your fort, and you can now take an active role in its shaping! If you so choose, you may send your military squads on
missions to raid enemy settlements, hunt down precious artifacts, explore interesting sites, and the like. These missions are (of course) subject to a number of unfortunate bugs, but nevertheless worth looking into. You can find more information
on the wiki.- Furthermore, you can now gain control over other sites, allowing you to "expel" workers there or request workers back. You can send your militia to conquer enemy settlements, or-- if you're lucky-- wait for your civilization to create settlements
for you! Your fellow dwarves will occasionally found hillocks nearby, and create an
economical bond with you, allowing you to request or send over workers as with conquered settlements. You now must hold control over at least one other settlement before you can become a barony.
Sorry if this was a bit of a ramble. Welcome back!