Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Pure_W]

Shouldn't that be REACTION not MATGLOSS_STONE?

[Skynet 2.0]

Yeah, I just mis-copied the code.

[Othob Rithol]

Those that know me well would expect a rant about off topic chatter.

I always try to steer UD away from any moddable suggestion. If we start talking about minerals to add to the game, the list will be 1700 pages in a week. I also don't want this thread to degrade into a generalized discussion about "clean" coal.

[SirHoneyBadger]

Whew, 4+ hours to read this thread 
It was worth it though, really interesting!

A couple of ideas I had for underground features, and the like:
First of all, on the subject of underground creatures, specifically antmen, how about giant termites/termitemen? They could live in vast towercap forests, and make war on antmen. Their soldiers would be naturally blind, fearless, and much more dangerous than the average antman. They wouldn't even be as (roundly) intelligent as antmen are, but they could be the consummate soldier/army race, utterly devoted to military endeavour, and intelligent enough to make use of found weapons/armour.

As far as a "race that's similar to, but the opposite of dwarfs" goes, that lives deep underground, how about a dwarf-like species (in appearance) that's really a form of sentient fungus? They'd start out the same size as dwarfs, but never stop growing, and they wouldn't die from natural causes, so the oldest members of the species would be powerful giants. The very oldest giants might even go dormant, and be used as living architecture by the younger non-dwarfs. These non-dwarfs would never go to the surface because sunlight would be deadly for them, and instead of getting drunk off of alchohol, maybe they could naturally (non-toxically) drink alchohol as a food/energy source, but instead of getting drunk, they'd recreatively consume powerful underground psychadelic 'shrooms to get high? And they might craft items like dwarfs currently do, but also grow items too, like elves, but from fungi. Unlike elves, they'd still eat meat, wage war, cut down trees, and do exploitive "dwarfish" things, but they'd be a lot more in tune with their-albeit weird-environment than dwarfs tend to be.

Immobile, but sentient, crystals would be fun too. You might eventually mine them, but they give you a fight! Maybe with some kind of energy weapons. Aside from not being able to move on their own, they might have vast intellects and powerful mental abilities, and you might befriend them, and educate them. Some dwarfs might even take to worshipping them. Being constantly exposed to them for long enough might increase the chance for other beings-dwarfs included-to go insane, or put the rare dwarf into a fey mood.

I'd really like to see enormous, blind catfish monsters--really vicious, carp-like critters that weren't the result of a bug, but actually existed as "killer fish" in the game, properly.

Aboleths might be good, too, D&D-based though they are. They're pretty distinctive and original, and make great villains to worry about. Maybe combine the "aboleth" idea with the above killer-catfish, to make something truly squamous?

On the subject of fossils: How about a (non-undead) fossil that's so enormous that a smallish fortress, or atleast several chambers, could be built inside of it? The beast (the father of dragons? an archaic whale? etc. ) it came from would be "from the dawn time", and not exist in the current game, but you'd be able to make out features like ribs, skull, spine etc. and maybe mine the teeth.

Also it would be great if there were small pockets of metals that we use today (aside from aluminum), like tungsten, etc. that could occasionally be found on the deepest layers.

Cave-pearls might make a nice gem-type that only appeared in the depths.

Localized magnetic and/or gravitic effects could also very well be encountered underground. Even some peculiar underground weather effects might happen. Suppose a certain cave occasionally "rained" sulfuric acid, or "snowed" tiny calcium crystals?

[Guy Montag]

Not really anything to do with underground, per se.

But how about lakes?

Not the giant river-fed lakes that show up between mountain ranges, but some in between the "tiny, nasty swamp pond" and "Lake Michigan".

A lake on the surface with the size and shape of an underground pool. With the relevant carp and gators for a surface body of water. It would make sense for the awfully water-devoid "swamps" in the DF world to have medium-sized bodies of water.

[Impaler[WrG]]

Could you post the stone entry for that?  I don't usually use mineral mods but this one sounds good.

SkyNet's version is almost identical to mine, his bump of the density is something I hadn't though of though.

Another idea that I think hasn't been suggested,  THICKER SOIL LAYERS, I find that the soil layer being 1 layer think across the whole map (barring a few places on hill slopes) is odd.  You can nave multiple soil layers but that's even weirder, why cant you have sandy loam one 'layer' but varying in thickness across the map.  Any why not 'sub-soil layers to reflect the layers containing progressively lower organic mater and larger stones that separate soil from bedrock. 

[Mephansteras]

That's a good point. I went to Yosemite recently, and the ranger on the geology walk was telling us that there was about 1000 feet of soil at the deepest point before you hit rock. That's a huge amount of soil. And it would make sense to find areas that have a lot more soil of the same type in many layers going down, especially in valleys.

[Tack]

yeah, and once lighting comes in, bring in pockets of natural gas!

[Neoskel]

yeah, and once lighting comes in, bring in pockets of natural gas!

Hey, that would make a use for goblins in cages, use them to detect when you breach natural gas pockets. If the goblin suffocates, laugh and keep mining (beard=air filter).

[Warlord255]

Lightning would be interesting if it came with a "lightning strike" if someone or something was hit by lightning; for example, an iron or steel item could become "galvanized" and increase in value, or a dwarf could...well, get struck by lightning. Instant death isn't necessary, but a fair dose of exterior burning (once the new body system goes in) would be in order.

[Neoskel]

Lightning would be interesting if it came with a "lightning strike" if someone or something was hit by lightning; for example, an iron or steel item could become "galvanized" and increase in value, or a dwarf could...well, get struck by lightning. Instant death isn't necessary, but a fair dose of exterior burning (once the new body system goes in) would be in order.

You kinda need zinc (or other applicable metal) present to galvanize iron/steel. It just means to coat the iron/steel with a more reactive metal so that that metal will corrode first.

[Random832]

Galvanization should also be possible in DF. It's not electroplating, it's dipping a steel object in a bath of molten zinc. (Not much point until corrosion's in, though)

[Othob Rithol]

Natural gas pockets were on topic (and already on the list)

Lightning Strikes are both a game mechanic, and clearly not underground.

Galvanization is a game mechanic, and therefore off-topic.

[SirHoneyBadger]

One thing that might be fun would be if you discovered natural cave features that the computer would then give you a metaphorical description of, when you click them on, like "You've discovered a grouping of stalactites that resemble a choir" or "this cave formation resembles a sleeping dragon". Obviously, someone who hasn't been up for the past 18 hours-unlike myself-should write the descriptions, but I think it might add some interest to spelunking in the deeps.

Also, sound underground is usually weirdly distorted, and this might be reflected in the game, somehow.

Thirdly, temperature in a moderately deep cavern complex is usually very well regulated, compared to the surface (barring near-surface magma, ofcourse). This might keep water from freezing in the wintertime, and possibly cause various "levels" of your fortress to be more comfortable for your dwarfs than others.

Fourth--certain caves might have special properties that others don't share. These could be extreme effects, like a cave with "magical" radiation, or one with a healing spring, or one where living things never age, but it might also include minor effects, like a cavern where cheese that's stored there doubles it's value after a year's time, because of the unique properties of it's temperature, and the mold that grows only there, or a small cave that duplicates the weather conditions on the surface.

These might be quite rare, and it may take some detective work, or blind chance to find one, but having such a cave in your fortress would only add to it's uniqueness.

[G-Flex]

Thirdly, temperature in a moderately deep cavern complex is usually very well regulated, compared to the surface (barring near-surface magma, ofcourse). This might keep water from freezing in the wintertime, and possibly cause various "levels" of your fortress to be more comfortable for your dwarfs than others.

Doesn't this already happen to some degree? I know water underground doesn't freeze as easily as water above-ground.