Sentimentality is a widely shared trait, even without the human aspect as many species of animal mourn their dead and enjoy the company of others of their kind or the opportunity to meet strangers. Most anyway. And it seems our dwarves have shut themselves off to the idea that specific people in their lives to make themselves feel fufilled and happy are unreachable or otherwise unattainable for ways the players can really fix and micro for them.
So i have a small handful of comments and suggestions on how fill in this issue.
Likenesses and desiresWhen left to their own devices or when ordered to express their desires in the 'D' details screen of a statue or embellishment (I can't think of any appropriate non-corny wording at the minute), it will currently express their need as the core design feature, as to ask what is currently on the dwarf's mind.
- If the dwarf feels very lonely, they will simply carve some new freinds or family members out of stone and other materials, and with a tactful placement of statue gardens and galleries of dwarven faces either in personal family assigned collections with engraved slabs, artifacts on display and sarcophagi
More needs such as desire to pray will also yield statues of dieties dedicated to their faith or more abstract statues like a dwarf pondering the unknowable, viewing these statues adds a low level of stimulation. The dwarven value to craftmanship adds a little on top of how well made it is while others might feel a little bit bored but comforted either way.
- You can of course just build a public terracotta-army like of dwarven faces if you wish, but immortalised personalised family collections feels much more involved to dwarves suffering lots of stress. Often i can't find enough reasons to give personalised statue gardens as-is.
Compromising and adapting upon your needsDwarves also enjoy the company of pets, maybe perhaps not in the same expressable way that humans do at the minute, as to when a pet really does become a family member to that dwarf when they're in dire need, that bond greatly improves but they feel the loss much more severely.
When a dwarf is feeling haggard from long amount of exposure stress, they're more likely to take more extreme measures such as adopting a pet or adopting a orphan amongst the fortress, regardless of affiliation but influenced by preferences. And for the time being allowing this behaviour is mostly harmless and beneficial to the dwarf itself in their recovery to normal amounts of stress now that the need is being filled.
- This isn't nessecarily a critique of people in real life, but a interesting parallel how people improvise their own coping mechanisms which can possibly be broken but for the time being help keep us together and what can be done to make their lives better.
Claiming a inanimate object for themselves can also be a coping feature, as anything that they already express displeasure about removing after forming a bond with it will have its status elevated to be close to that dwarf's heart.
Just a few ideas, thanks for taking the time to read through.
Author
Topic: Crafting likenesses and substitions for family & friends. (Read 1075 times)