I was going to do the responses today, but it took an hour to read the last 300 posts and set up the file, and it is bed time, so it'll have to wait a bit. Here is the file, he he he:
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[quote author=Dante]
So yeah, it doesn't seem like there's much left on the list now. I wonder what's going to take so long that Toady doesn't think he'll get it out by year's end? All the testing that'll need to be done?
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[quote author=Rockphed]
There are a bit more than 30 items left on the list. If he kept up his current rate through all of them, he would get done sometime in December. If the average time per item goes up to much more than a day and a half, it will take until the new year to complete them all. Personally, I expect the release between Christmas and the New Year, but I am overly optimistic.
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[quote author=smjjames]
Hey Toady, I'm just wondering, since you're going to make soldiers carry booze instead of water, would it be possible to do the same for wounded as well? While I'll admit that its part of the fun when you embark somewhere that has little available water and we will have underground sources of water that can be present in a place like a desert. I'm just wondering whether the water drinking is based off of the same code or something and would be possible to trasfer to healthcare.
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[quote author=The Kobolds]
[quote author=CobaltKobold]
So, do kobolds not have the capacity to learn other languages, period? I'm asking from a world perspective, not the effect-of-[UTTERANCES] perspective.
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[quote author=Kobold6]
The way I interpret this is that the Kobold's language has a culture of change. So a Kobold would forget a language quite quickly until it realises how its language differs from 'normal' languages. Given that Kobolds don't naturally communicate ideas, this makes a very steep inital learning curve, but it shouldn't be impossible for a Kobold to learn a 'normal' language.
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[quote author=TheDJ17]
How would you add to your game something like say this fish?
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[quote author=Draco18s]
Its unlikely I'll actually see the response to this, but can we specify that a workshop needs to be over water, the same way we can over magma (like some of the old 2D buildings)?
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[quote author=Areyar]
Are kobolds like gremlins? (edit: As seen in the movies)
(IIRC there are/were proper gremlin creatures at one point, will these become a position within kobold society or remain a seperate species?)
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[quote author=Neonivek]
No, and gremlins are on the way back! Expect to see them during this release. If I remember correctly that is.
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[quote author=Shurikane]
Are there plans for the military to spar using practice bone/wooden weapons? Will dwarves switch to their main weapon when placed on duty? If no practice weapons are available, would the dwarves resort to wrestling, or practice against a dummy or imaginary foe? Are there plans for specific shield and armor training rather than it being a by-product of wearing and fighting with them? Are military units going to recognize the existence of their own belongings or will they leave clothes lying around without any possibly of them ever getting picked up?
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[quote author=Mephansteras]
Will diplomats that die in fort mode get replacements now?
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[quote author=Footkerchief]
I'm guessing that since there hasn't been any further mention of that placeholder, we won't see it this time around.
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[quote author=smjjames]
What I would want and likely everybody else, is to have the liason at least be replaced somehow because they are far more important than the monarch, at least on a trade basis.
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[quote author=Dame de la Licorne]
Why do Siege Engineers not get artifacts when all of the other reasonable vanilla professions do? Is it an oversight, and if not I'm curious as to the reasoning behind that decision?
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[quote author=Thief^]
Can we get a "percent chance" added to the [trAPAVOID] creature tag?
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[quote author=Dante]
If you mod in a race that grows to only two years old, and want to have young leaders, will you be able to?
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[quote author=smjjames]
I think this kind of got answered in the devlog, but can you create a specific type of arena, say forested arena or one made out of ice or even almost completely aquatic and save that type? I know a forested arena would be mainly aescetic, but if you are testing a critter which has so much layering that they would die of overheating when outside an arctic climate, you'll probably want to make the arena an arctic climate.
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[quote author=Kobold6]
Toady One: Feel free to leave questions unanswered if you haven't thought about the answer.
Do Kobolds have fixed names as implied by world gen, or would they frequently change their nicknames?
Using permanant names would likely mean that Kobolds choose not to establish fixed words and that the dynamic nature of their language is cultural. This helps to define whether a Kobold can learn other languages where words are established permanently.
But since DF isn't always logical, and this isn't a scientific experiment, I can ask:
Can a Kobold learn another language?
Does a Kobold prefer to reuse an old word or try to make a new one.
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[quote author=Sysice]
(re: arena)
Now... can you set non-combat skills? I think the attributes are getting reworked, but will the other skills still make them stronger, faster, and tougher?
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[quote author=Footkerchief]
Yeah, attributes are only trained by usage now. Which is rad. Don't know about setting them for the arena though. Maybe they're hiding at the top of the skill list, or maybe you just can't.
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[quote author=Drakale]
Will the AI be any different in the arena? i.e. will goblins still try to ambush or just zerg rush the opposition?
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[quote author=PencilinHand]
What will the functional difference between a war hammer and a mace be in the new combat system aside from using a different skill?
Also, will the skill progression be changed in any way, for any skill, from the current Dabbling->Novice->etc?
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[quote author=Footkerchief]
Weapons have many more parameters now, so there should be some subtle differences. Hammers probably have a smaller area on their striking surfaces, at least.
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[quote author=PencilinHand]
I was hoping for some elaboration beyond "there are some new differences."
Eventually, I would think if weapons ever get broken out to the raws we could start seeing some real variation in weapons.
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[quote]
[quote author=Dakk]
What are the fighter and striker skills used for?
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[quote author=Footkerchief]
They're the general combat skills that Toady mentioned. Or at least "Fighter" is. "Striker" might be the "grasp strike" (a.k.a. punching) skill, judging by its placement.
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[quote author=Kishmond]
What's with "Inorganic Stone Floor"? Will every stone floor or item now say "Inorganic"?
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[quote author=Neonivek]
I think it is just because the Arena's floor isn't actually made up of real materials like Microline, Clay, Granite, or Orthoclaus.
It is sort of a catch all name.
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[quote author=Footkerchief]
Unless I'm missing something, screenshot 16 illustrates a small bug: "Dark Gnome 1 miss Dwarf 1," rather than "misses." This looks like the bug you get in current versions when hacking in Fortress Mode combat reports -- a holdover from Adv. Mode causes the Mayor to be described in the second person, due to the expedition leader being creature 0 or whatever. That would explain why it shows up for the first creature you added.
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[quote author=kiffer.geo]
Will we be able to load up zombie/skelly/undead cursed/afflicted versions of creatures?
Do such afflicted creature keep their skills?
If we give say a kobold or batman a blow gun can we give them poisoned ammo?
If a dwarf tantrums and gains some skill in throwing and teachs it to others will they actually ever use it outside of tantrums... Or will they just be better at tantruming...?
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[quote author=TheDJ17]
I've noticed that there is a date in the upper right-hand corner of one of the sceenshots, will running Arena Mode advance the world you chose?
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[quote author=smjjames]
I think that is more equivalent to a timestamp and the arena uses a timeline that is separate from the actual Fort/Adventure mode world.
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[quote author=finesse]
While we're on the topic of splitting things out into separate stuff, when you merge the new version with the 40d# stuff - would it be possible to split macro's out of the interface file into separate macro files?. Possibly even in a /data/macro folder.
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[quote author=Footkerchief]
Will the next version display proper material colors for all items? In last year's raws preview, mineral raws still had a DISPLAY_COLOR tag, but that seems seriously obsolete. I did find a dev log reference (several weeks before the preview) to "color/symbol stuff for items/buildings made from materials," so I'm not sure what the deal is.
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*** (dev log he's talking about is http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/dev_2008.html#2008-12-05)
[quote author=The13thRonin]
Toady would you consider adding support in the RAWS for the next version for:
A) Allowing more things to be detested by dwarves including some form of a TAG for modders so that I could make dwarves potentially detest other creatures that aren't vermin or detest/dislike certain metals or even objects etc.
B) Allowing modders to somehow address the average amount of dislikes/likes of dwarves for each dwarf in a similar manner to the personality system? 10-50-100 (min, average, max)?
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[quote author=Dante]
So does this mean they'll carry any number of stacks in a quiver, or any number of bolts, or will they need two separate quivers or carry practise bolts in their hand or what?
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[quote author=Remalle]
Will we ever be able to see a dwarf's history from Dwarf Mode? I mean, a way to access Legends without having to abandon the fort would be nice. Also, can there be something so you can see what dwarf is assigned to a building task from the building itself instead of going into the unit/job menus?
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[quote author=Footkerchief]
This would be nice now, but it'll become more urgent once embark/migrant dwarves are drawn from site populations and can have interesting and meaningful histories. There's also the floatier questions of how much omniscience the player should have, etc.
--
That would be indeed be nice, especially on menus that have lots of unused room, like building construction screens that just say "Waiting for Architect."
Those are both good ideas but unlikely to get implemented for the next release, since Toady is probably as close as he'll ever be to a feature freeze.[/quote]
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[quote author=Lancensis]
Toady, with the new material system, can bolts pass straight through flesh/similar and out the other side again? Possibly into another creature behind them?
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[quote author=Quatch]
While you're doing the quartermaster and such, if I may be so bold, could we have a DF mode screenshot or two of the nifty new menus and such?
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[quote author=smjjames]
Since we now have the new Quartermaster semi-noble (barely even qualifies as a noble, unless they are also the bookkeeper), would it be possible to have them be in the military at the same time and still be able to do the job? I think the term is actually a Naval (or sailing rather) rank, but other sections of the military certainly have something similar. I know the mayor and other appointed nobles can be drafted, but I haven't tried making them do work while drafted but off duty.
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[quote author=Lancensis]
Does the Quartermaster decide who gets what, or does he just look after the equipment and toss out any old gear for the recruits?
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[quote author=Mephansteras]
Do dwarves now properly figure out who to use two-handed weapons on their own? Or do we still need to specifically tell them to do so?
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[quote author=Areyar]
Will dorfs (eventually) be able to swap/trade/steal items off one another or from unattended storage? Or are owned/held items still hardcoded as 'taboo' for acquisition-job purposes?
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[quote author=smjjames]
Toady, Is the issue with wrestling that I just mentioned (the wrestled away items staying held) been fixed yet? Just out of curiosity.
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(spoiler)
can't spoiler the spoiler ones in a spoiler, anyway just the ones smjjames just posted unless I move some of the above ones down here
(/spoiler)