Okay. Since I don't have
nearly enough things that I should be working on right now, I've come up with a few ideas for a potential mod, and I'd like to know your thoughts.
First of all, I will be changing the fort-mode race to orcs. These are not orcs from any particular mythology or previous theme, they're more of a collaboration of various orc types that I've seen throughout my experience in game playing and movie watching. They will be slightly larger than humans, have reddish skin and bulky frames, matted black hair, and a war-centric culture. They will not have tusks. Axes will be used primarily for woodcutting, so that I can make a new axe that actually sounds like it would be used in woodcutting, instead of having some git with a battle axe in one hand chopping away at a tree. Using an axe in battle is uncommon, but there's nothing wrong with a few individuals rising up and making themselves different from the rest by proving their proficiency in battle with an axe.
Speaking of which, orcs define rank based on skill and military prowess. A masterful craftsman will have a fair deal of respect, but a similarly powerful warrior will have more. Those who do not show any special aptitude will be kicked about like slaves and made to clean the arena floors of blood.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Orcs are simply flavoring, now for more of the other aspects.
First of all, there will be a couple stone layers that can be smelted, although somewhat inefficiently, into metal. Crag rock (until I come up with a better name for it) is a rough, reddish stone that yields small amounts of copper when smelted down. This will be a mainstay of orcs, as they will use copper to make most of their items, weapons and armor, while trees are clear-cut to make charcoal, and perhaps the occasional ash road.
Coal will, of course, be more common to accommodate the increased amount of smelting.
Animals will be tweaked somewhat to make room for more savage and bloodthirsty beasts to test your warriors. Even "good" areas will be full of powerful creatures that will not hesitate to rip you to shreds. Also, fluffy wamblers will be butcherable (unless I decide to take them out entirely).
The idea is to make a hostile world, full of hostile creatures that openly war and bicker with each other. Blood will flow, heads will roll, and smoke will rise.
Anyways, I was wondering if I should hold off on starting this until the next version comes around. Should I pay more attention to the zombie mod, and to the various threads I've started and/or joined in on? And would anybody mind terribly if they had an entire layer of stone that they could turn into metal (albeit requiring more than one or two rocks to make a bar)?