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Author Topic: Mosquitoes, Gnats  (Read 1809 times)

DarkCloud

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Mosquitoes, Gnats
« on: December 10, 2008, 04:12:26 pm »

Note: I think the most important improvements are related to interface, (And why is mouse interactivity so small? I've wondered this for a while) but that being said;
----
Stage I.)

Now that blood details are being implemented, as well as more specific and small wounds as well as scarring, would it be appropriate for mosquitoes and gnats to be introduced into the game?

Infestations of the creatures could grow in shallow, stagnant water, and they could menace dwarves, bringing negative thoughts and creating small pricks and damages toward dwarves as they suck their blood.

Particularly large swarms could overwhelm dwarves with bites.

Stage II)
Not just bites, but infections could be passed between dwarves. After the venom arc is finished, and disease is begun, a diseased dwarf or creature whose blood is drank by one mosquito can then pass that disease onto another dwarf after the mosquito drinks the blood of the subsequent dwarf.

---
However, I wonder how the mosquitoes would not clutter the game- since they are by their nature, very small and numerous could they only be represented in "swarm" factor? Perhaps that would be best- to have wandering mosquito swarms hunted by dwarf "exterminators" who have to kill them with poisonous sulphur gas, magma, etc.
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Warlord255

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Re: Mosquitoes, Gnats
« Reply #1 on: December 10, 2008, 04:14:47 pm »

I am making a dwarf lung man.

Made entirely of dwarf lungs.
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Pilsu

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Re: Mosquitoes, Gnats
« Reply #2 on: December 10, 2008, 05:10:28 pm »

You can pass out naked in a ditch in the Lapland summer night and not die of blood loss. You're overestimating the danger

They'd be practically invulnerable too. The game would magically spawn their eggs in your wells and there'd be nothing you can do about your dwarves getting sucked dry
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DarkCloud

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Re: Mosquitoes, Gnats
« Reply #3 on: December 10, 2008, 05:13:39 pm »

- You can always drain the wells or stagnant water to discourage reproduction of mosquitoes. and I believe mosquitoes need some degree of sunlight to spawn, so they would be more likely to form in stagnant water that has access to sunlight- thus no mosquito nests in deep caverns.

- Perhaps the dwarves could invent mosquito traps, or use plants that eat flies to deal with mosquito swarms?

- Good point about not being bitten to death, but I was more discussing swarms bleeding a person and causing scarring or discomfit. Toady now allows for very specific "wounds" like a scratch, etc.

- That being said, a swarm of DWARF FORTRESS mosquitoes could very well be more deadly than a real-life mosquito swarm.

- And the main benefit of the mosquitoes is in passing disease through carrying blood-borne diseases.
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Silverionmox

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Re: Mosquitoes, Gnats
« Reply #4 on: December 10, 2008, 07:37:29 pm »

Elvish mosquito catchers could travel between settlements to offer their services, like the the pied piper of Hamelin.
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LegoLord

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Re: Mosquitoes, Gnats
« Reply #5 on: December 10, 2008, 07:40:48 pm »

Elvish mosquito catchers could travel between settlements to offer their services, like the the pied piper of Hamelin.
So that Elves would actually do some good?  YES!!!
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DarkCloud

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Re: Mosquitoes, Gnats
« Reply #6 on: December 10, 2008, 07:42:08 pm »

Elvish mosquito catchers could travel between settlements to offer their services, like the the pied piper of Hamelin.

That's Cute.  :D
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Footkerchief

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Re: Mosquitoes, Gnats
« Reply #7 on: December 10, 2008, 08:00:03 pm »

The game already generates flies from murky pools.  Looking at the fly raws:

Code: [Select]
[CREATURE:FLY]
[NAME:fly:flies:fly]
[TILE:250][COLOR:0:0:1]
[VERMIN_MICRO][VERMIN_ROTTER][VERMIN_GROUNDER][FREQUENCY:100][VERMIN_HATEABLE]
[FLIER][VERMIN_NOTRAP]
[SMALL_REMAINS][NATURAL][NOBONES]
[SPEED:2900]
[NOT_BUTCHERABLE]
[PREFSTRING:ability to annoy]
[DIURNAL]
[NO_SLEEP]
[BIOME:NOT_FREEZING]
[BIOME:ANY_POOL]
[STANDARD_FLESH]
[POPULATION_NUMBER:2500:5000]
[CLUSTER_NUMBER:100:200]
[MUNDANE]

It looks like it would be easy to mod in mosquitoes that also spawn from pools.

Bizarrely, however, the "has been annoyed by flies" thought appears to be hardcoded.  Maybe the game spawns special hardcoded flies for rotting meat or something.
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LegoLord

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Re: Mosquitoes, Gnats
« Reply #8 on: December 10, 2008, 08:06:35 pm »

Elvish mosquito catchers could travel between settlements to offer their services, like the the pied piper of Hamelin.

That's Cute.  :D
We got an escaped lunatic!  Pin him down!  Get out the tranquilizer guns!

I wouldn't say cute, but the elves doing helpful jobs for a change instead of forcing me to dump magma on them would be great.
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"Oh look there is a dragon my clothes might burn let me take them off and only wear steel plate."
And this is how tinned food was invented.
Alternately: The Brick Testament. It's a really fun look at what the bible would look like if interpreted literally. With Legos.
Just so I remember

Luke_Prowler

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Re: Mosquitoes, Gnats
« Reply #9 on: December 11, 2008, 08:17:25 am »

Elvish mosquito catchers could travel between settlements to offer their services, like the the pied piper of Hamelin.

That's Cute.  :D
We got an escaped lunatic!  Pin him down!  Get out the tranquilizer guns!

I wouldn't say cute, but the elves doing helpful jobs for a change instead of forcing me to dump magma on them would be great.

Don't kill them with magma. Then you can't use their bones for bolts
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Tormy

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Re: Mosquitoes, Gnats
« Reply #10 on: December 11, 2008, 08:29:22 am »

Elvish mosquito catchers could travel between settlements to offer their services, like the the pied piper of Hamelin.

Elvish mosquito catchers...oh boy.. ;D
This sounds hillarious, but I like it.  :P
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Toady One

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Re: Mosquitoes, Gnats
« Reply #11 on: December 14, 2008, 10:42:37 pm »

Bizarrely, however, the "has been annoyed by flies" thought appears to be hardcoded.  Maybe the game spawns special hardcoded flies for rotting meat or something.

Any vermin with "micro" "flier" that isn't "good" will trigger the "annoyed by flies" thought.  The thought should probably be sent the vermin race, but you don't need the FLY token or anything like that to trigger it at least.

Anything with VERMIN_ROTTER will be generated around rotting objects.
« Last Edit: December 14, 2008, 10:52:00 pm by Toady One »
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Footkerchief

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Re: Mosquitoes, Gnats
« Reply #12 on: December 15, 2008, 02:24:16 pm »

Cool, thanks for clearing that up.
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Pilsu

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Re: Mosquitoes, Gnats
« Reply #13 on: December 15, 2008, 03:13:08 pm »

Anything that isn't "good" will trigger the "annoyed by flies" thought

I imagine pixies would be far more annoying than simple flies
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Gauteamus

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Re: Mosquitoes, Gnats
« Reply #14 on: December 15, 2008, 04:21:50 pm »

Elvish mosquito catchers could travel between settlements to offer their services, like the the pied piper of Hamelin.

I thought it was the goblins who had the CHILD_SNATCHER tag, not the elves?
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