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[Resmisal]

Hello, Bay12Forums and fellow Dwarf Fortress designers, Resmisal here, long time fan and no time forum goer here! Congratulations to the official release and may there be more steam in your mist engines.
I'm here to present a simple mathematical model for a lunisolar calendar to liven up the experience during full moons as well in preparation of an equally simple eclipse cycle. You see, Armok's the Dwarven calendar counts neatly and exactly 336 (three hundred thirty six) days, and this will take a huge load off any shoulder that wishes to introduce solar and lunar eclipse events. I propose, for the time being*, a 27-day lunation period, which means that the Moon turns full, or new, again every 27 days, neatly moving full moons, or new moons, backwards 1 (one) day every month, which will culminate in a 9-year lunisolar cycle, consisting of 5 years with 12 lunar months ("moons") and 4 years of 13 moons. In total, 9 years are equal to 112 (lunar) months.
336 ÷ 27 = 12.444 = 112 ÷ 9
Maybe a holiday can be introduced in game for the dwarves to observe lunar festivals every new moon, full moon, or both, and even better, to celebrate a jubilee once 9 years is reached*. Jubilees can be seen as some small sort of achievement and will tie in smoothly a potential future holiday system to commemorate historical events, founding dates, and birthdays. Obviously this will have an effect on night- and were-creatures and this is, besides the jubilee system, my motivation for the thread.
*Hopefully once this is realized, a setting can be introduced later for lunation periods like 27.2, 27.5, or 27.9 days, each with different overarching lunisolar cycles.

[Nordlicht]

Why not directly jump to a  procedural calender to fit the amount of celestial object generated in the future? I think with the map rewrite and the Myth&Magic Update a single moon per world may not be the default.

[A_Curious_Cat]

Having something like the Metonic Cycle would be interesting…

That being said, I agree that calendars should be generated procedurally and believe it should be done on a civilization by civilization basis (with the possibility of a civilization “borrowing” a calendar from another civilization, and the possibility for conquering civilizations to impose their calendar on those they conquer).

[Resmisal]

Thank you for your reply, Nordlicht. I'm simply fond of the one moon system - noting that many if not most fantasy worlds have more than a single moon and little thought on the ramifications: tides and natural disasters, culture, and most importantly, how eclipses work. Introducing stars and planets ("wandering stars") would be a logical next step, albeit one with little gameplay.

And thank you for your reply, A Curious Cat. I was waiting for somebody to notice the inspiration taken from Meton's cycle. Procedurally generating calendars are the goal, and up until then, adding one more setting will do. And even though I like your idea of the cultural impact of calendars very much, the exact numbers of the year allows for little speculation. Historically there have been lunar calendars of 8 solar years (the Ancient Greek), 19 (the Metonic), 33 (the Islamic), and probably more. Maybe elves will have months named after trees, and humans a calendar based on historical figures?

Edit: typo.

[Bumber]

DF REGION HAS 4 CORNER
SIMULTANEOUS 4-DAY
TIME CUBE
WITHIN SINGLE ROTATION.

[FantasticDorf]

Astrology is already a ingame philosophical profession, maybe the book-keeper could keep a larger stock of informative scrolls and literature in their office for working out when things are made and when they are supposed to run out in their office? (with the byproduct of letting you see calendar information too, its a bit silly to appoint a chief astrologer unless you're a king or somebody)

[Resmisal]

Thank you for your reply, Bumber.
Obviously time is a cube, duh!

And thank you for your reply, FantasticDorf.
Astrology is a profession with little use to date, and it's odd because in human history the astrologer was the priest-mathematician, a proto-mathematician with a religio-official duty to direct the affairs of nobles and commoners. Would you think disabling the precise calendar until a fort had its personal prognosticator, allotting your dorfs dwarves only a vague perception of the seasons and no clue about day or month, is a good idea? Court magicians, formerly knows as astrologers, may feel the necessity to observe the skies to see when the stars are right.

[Resmisal]

That being said, I agree that calendars should be generated procedurally and believe it should be done on a civilization by civilization basis (with the possibility of a civilization “borrowing” a calendar from another civilization, and the possibility for conquering civilizations to impose their calendar on those they conquer).

No wait, I'm dumb. Of course you can make more calendars. Give them different names or split the year up differently such as numbering months, or stop worshipping the sun follow the moon only.

[Buttery_Mess]

A procedurally generated cosmology therefore complete with a procedurally generated calendar is already on the cards in upcoming arcs. I believe the plan is for Toady to do a map rewrite, enabling all sorts of interesting terrain, and thereafter tackle myths and magic. These will include creation myths and may well tie into celestial mechanics, potentially including other worlds. Naturally, procedurally generated celestial mechanics will lend itself to alternative calender systems, since calender systems are derived from them.