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[Warlord255]

While the most important thing on the line for animals is to fix the extinction/depletion bug, I'd think a close second would be making animals more dynamic. There are some good examples already - Rhesus Macques and Raccoons with their banditry, Bears with their beer-guzzling, and the eternally infamous Giant Cave Spider with their terror, stealth and valuable webbing.

But beyond those few choice examples, it seems like most of the wildlife is just walking meat. This simply will not do!

So here's a few ideas. Feel free to contribute/discuss.


Specific Examples:
-Digging animals: This might go along with Digging Enemies. Having moles and whatnot tunneling around might be interesting to make them more unique.
-If/when the eggs and feathers bloat goes in, Giant Eagles could build nests - possibly plundering your outdoor wood stockpiles or stray logs, giving off a theft message like raccoons and rhesus macques.
-Sharks should be more predatory and come running when there's blood in the water.
-Likewise, Wolves ought to come lurking after your injured or weak dwarves - or goblins.
-Whales/dolphins (are there dolphins?) should jump out of the water occasionally.
-Happy thought from hearing whale songs; use a variant of the noise code.
-Rats ought to have a thieving behaviour, and stack their treasure in piles.

Any other thoughts are welcome.

[Untelligent]

-If/when the eggs and feathers bloat goes in, Giant Eagles could build nests - possibly plundering your outdoor wood stockpiles or stray logs, giving off a theft message like raccoons and rhesus macques.

This is awesome.

[Carcer]

I like the idea of a pack of wolves cleaning up the battlefield of injured goblins. Seems... poetic.

[Tormy]

Here is one idea:
Predators -> Scavengers: Scavengers are eating the meat/bones of the dead creatures [so basically when a scavenger spots corpses and body parts it will try to consume it].

[Warlord255]

Here is one idea:
Predators -> Scavengers: Scavengers are eating the meat/bones of the dead creatures [so basically when a scavenger spots corpses and body parts it will try to consume it].

Maybe it'd be better if we defined all these as tokens.

[DIGGING] - Nebulous, as we don't know what would be the best way to do it.

[NEST_BUILDER: MATERIAL] Animal constructs nests out of the given material, stealing it from the local environs; their young congregate there, and eggs are placed there. Said nest is destroyed annually, and can be deconstructed by dwarves for the material. Maybe this could be open-ended, so you could have troglodytes making rock nests, or some horrific monster making bone nests...

[BLOODLUST] Is attracted by blood on the ground/in the water.

[SCAVENGER] What Tormy said.

[WATER_JUMP] Swimming creatures will jump out of the water, creating a splash. Could be applied to magma swimmers for some scary results...

[SINGER:(TYPE):#1:#2] The creature will make a noise with a faint radius of #1 and a full radius of #2. Dwarves who hear within the #1 radius will get a small happy thought from "hearing a (type) (animal) song". On-break dwarves or children will, if possible, move to get within the #2 radius and get a greater happy thought from "listening to a (type) (animal) song". This tag could go on some vermin, like birds, and could possibly be used to make some deadly "siren" creatures. The (type)s could be stuff like "cheerful", "lilting", "melancholy", etc.

[NEST_HOARDER] - Goes along with NEST_BUILDER; the creature will steal items and put them in its nest.

[Untelligent]

That singing idea is also great. Judging by the way the game reads most of the other raws, I think the token would actually be [SINGER:(TYPE):(1):(2)], though. Words seperated by underscores denote a single argument; words seperated by colons denote multiple arguments.

[Warlord255]

Fixed.

[Areyar]

Here is one idea:
Predators -> Scavengers: Scavengers are eating the meat/bones of the dead creatures [so basically when a scavenger spots corpses and body parts it will try to consume it].

and those useless chunks too.

[Reasonableman]

I wonder why chunks aren't used for bait on anything yet. Chum, anyone?

[Neonivek]

How many birds lay eggs without being pregnant?

I can only think of Chickens and possibly an Imu or something (I think it is an Imu... Ostritch like birds)

[Untelligent]

Oh, that's right; I don't think I've ever seen a map with more than one giant eagle at a time.

Oh well. Maybe that'll change later.

[Warlord255]

I wonder why chunks aren't used for bait on anything yet. Chum, anyone?

This would be wonderful for carp-hunting/trapping.

It would also be nice to use these as bait for vermin traps, instead of wasting valuable meat.

[Hoborobo234]

Oh, that's right; I don't think I've ever seen a map with more than one giant eagle at a time.

Oh well. Maybe that'll change later.

Maybe this could lead to seasonal migrations that take place, suchj as whales with their breeding-feeding migrations. Giant Eagle Mountian Anyone?

[Warlord255]

Oh, that's right; I don't think I've ever seen a map with more than one giant eagle at a time.

Oh well. Maybe that'll change later.

Maybe this could lead to seasonal migrations that take place, suchj as whales with their breeding-feeding migrations. Giant Eagle Mountian Anyone?

Urist sighed as he marked another day off the calendar hanging on his wall. Autumn was coming, and after it, winter. But the autumn was far deadlier for he, a woodcutter; for it was this season that the eagles descended to harvest for their nests. Wood to build them, plundered from the sweat of his brow, and meat to feed the young before the world turned cold.

Cold, like Sibrek's lost hand, as the other stretched out from between the gleaming talons, calling for its lost brother while wings sped him out into the merciless spring sky.

Urist cancels brood: Drinking.

[MagicJuggler]

In addition to dolphin and whale songs, the ability for particular birds to sing or even talk would be entertaining...e.g. for animals like parrots to be able to have social skills/give wisecracks.
"Yo mamma was an elf"

Additionally, pixies/fairies could use some more uniqueness about them aside from just flying around...pixie-dust as a collectable material maybe?