Print

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

[Leissi]

Err, I really don't think unicorn poo is going to be any more special than rat poo.

Neither do I... It isn't like they eat rainbows and crystal

We also don't have the technology to extract hormones from unicorns in the medeival ages.

just because they don't eat crystal and rainbows doesn't mean they wouldn't poop some.
I mean spiders eat protein-rich food in optimal conditions to produce webs, and cows eat grass to produce milk.

[AbacusWizard]

Err, I really don't think unicorn poo is going to be any more special than rat poo.

Neither do I... It isn't like they eat rainbows and crystal

We also don't have the technology to extract hormones from unicorns in the medeival ages.

just because they don't eat crystal and rainbows doesn't mean they wouldn't poop some.
I mean spiders eat protein-rich food in optimal conditions to produce webs, and cows eat grass to produce milk.

Are you suggesting that unicorns eat raw silica and photons, then digest them into crystal and rainbows?

I once made some white chocolate fudge to take to a party, and added to it raspberry extract, a splash of Chambord, and, in retrospect, way too much food coloring. The resulting pink goo was quickly dubbed "Unicorn Poop." It was almost sickly sweet and left mostly untouched until, near the end of the party, someone discovered that it was DELICIOUS on snickerdoodles.



Regarding dwarven culture and analagous human cultures: I know that the usual tendency is to portray dwarves as stereotypical Norse (they mainly originated in Norse mythology, at least as we know them) or stereotypical Scots (thanks to... Warhammer, maybe?), but for a long while I have thought of them more as medieval Jewish, largely due to my second reading of Lord of the Rings. They're somewhat secretive, keep to themselves, have their own customs, speak their own language which isn't taught to outsiders, dress in different clothing, tend to have beards, are seen as good with money and somewhat miserly, and are skilled craftsmen. Er, craftsdwarves.

Pratchett's descriptions of the Low Dwarves in Discworld has certainly reinforced this interpretation.

[Protactinium]

----

Edit: Nah, never mind. Doesn't really add anything productive to the discussion.

[Impaler[WrG]]

Pratchett's descriptions of the Low Dwarves in Discworld has certainly reinforced this interpretation.

Yes I got that same impression when reading "Guards!", I also notice the Gnomes are often very Jewish in a variety of fantasy lore.  This only seems to happen if the gnomes are larger hobbit sized creatures, if their small they are inevitably the 'David the Gnome' type which are more associated with nature and mischief.  It also seems to be more likely if Dwarves and Gnomes exist in the same settings, the Gnomes become Jewish to distinguish them from the dwarves which are inevitably more Scottish and gruff like some kind of literary stereotype repulsive force comes into play.  Sometimes if Dwarves aren't present Gnomes will take on many classic dwarven attributes.

[cooz]

I have question...
Is it in plans that after tree is chopped it "produces" more than one wood log, or to build more than one bed from that log.
I'm not asking is it possible to mod it into, cause it probably is... but can I count on that it will be added somewhere in future version of vanilla DF?

It's size related question, isn't it?

[Thief^]

I vaguely recall a ... Scandinavian maybe? ... method of preparing shark by wrapping it, burying it, and letting it "ferment" for a while before digging it up, cleaning, butchering, and eating it.

Icelandic. Don't try it.

[AbacusWizard]

Anyone know where the "Dwarves = Scots" idea comes from? The earliest example I can think of is Warhammer; before that everything seems to be using "Dwarves = Norse."

[Footkerchief]

I have question...
Is it in plans that after tree is chopped it "produces" more than one wood log, or to build more than one bed from that log.
I'm not asking is it possible to mod it into, cause it probably is... but can I count on that it will be added somewhere in future version of vanilla DF?

It's size related question, isn't it?

There's something roughly parallel planned for bars and blocks:

# Bloat6, BAR COUNTING, (Future): Keep track of bars and blocks more closely. It can count the number of bars and they could be thrown individual by the adventurer. This also allows the refinement of the amount of metal used by jobs.

I couldn't find any specific plans for doing the same with wood, but I'd be all for it, personally.

And yeah, it's very size-related.  The upcoming version tracks item and creature size a lot more carefully, and it's probable that trees/plants will get the same treatment.  It also supports jobs that use only part of a cloth item.  The ability to cut a log into boards is related to ability to cut one piece of cloth into many bandages, but it has some special complications -- since wood isn't very flexible, the size and number of boards will depend heavily on the shape of the log.  These complications are clearer for bonecarving, since bones have all kinds of irregular shapes and hollow spaces.

For bones, it could probably be adequately fudged by setting a STRUCTURAL_CURVATURE, STRUCTURAL_HOLLOWNESS and STRUCTURAL_LENGTH_PERC as a body part property, which would automatically set corresponding properties in any corpse pieces derived from tissues marked as STRUCTURAL.  Of course, then crafts need more detailed specifications about the dimensions etc. of their raw materials.

[Dr. Melon]

Ten items to go... I can feel the buzz of this release getting closer.

[SimRobert2001]

Ten items to go... I can feel the buzz of this release getting closer.

are you kidding? that buzz is building to the point where it feels like an approaching tyranid invasion.

[Cruxador]

Ten items to go... I can feel the buzz of this release getting closer.

are you kidding? that buzz is building to the point where it feels like an approaching tyranid invasion.

Pretty sure that 'nids don't actually buzz. The buzzing of literal bugs comes from their wings, and the tyranids have wings more akin to those of bats or dragons.

[RedKing]

Let's take a step back here for a second and consider that you're debating the internal biochemistry...of a UNICORN. Granted, there's something to be said for injecting realism into fantasy, but it's worth keeping in mind the first rule of fantasy:

1. If it doesn't make sense, it's MAGIC.

Let's not even get into how a unicorn's horn can neutralize poison.



As far as the meat/fish preservation discussion, I think that's fantastic. Rock salt could be processed into a salt powder, which could be a reaction item. Also a nice addition to trade, since many sites won't have rock salt present. And historically, salt was a very important trade good for just that reason. Might be interesting if there was a way to evaporate salt out of saltwater as well, but that would have to be a Toady addition instead of a mod. The whole notion of preserved food and staving off rot could become critically important once the Army Arc is introduced--an army needs field rations that won't go bad on them.

I could see some potential in using lye to prepare food too (someone already mentioned lutefisk). I'm all for finding new uses for mostly useless parts of the game, like lye, soap and milk. Oh, and maybe being able to "brew" unprepared fish to make fish sauce, just for variety.


 

[atomfullerene]

I agree that rock salt is fantastic.

Abacus wizard, I totally agree with you about Tolkein's dwarves being Jew-ish--they definitely have some features taken from norse legends about dwarfs, but the overall vibe is almost middle eastern.  But yeah, I'm not sure when the whole scottish dwarf thing came along.  I'd be interested to find out.

But what do you think DF dwarfs are like?  Honestly, I think by the end of game development they will be very diverse in character, do to the increasing number of variable characteristics (appearance, pantheon, preferences, biome location, even ethics)

[Leafsnail]

The rubber trees could be interesting.  I suppose it's mainly European centric, but we have animals from all over the world...

Non vulcanised rubber wouldn't actually be incredibly useful.  It would leak a lot and wouldn't be too strong, but could still possibly be used for footwear and a few other things.

[KillerClowns]

Let's take a step back here for a second and consider that you're debating the internal biochemistry...of a UNICORN. Granted, there's something to be said for injecting realism into fantasy, but it's worth keeping in mind the first rule of fantasy:

1. If it doesn't make sense, it's MAGIC.

Let's not even get into how a unicorn's horn can neutralize poison...

And Dwarf Fortress is Dwarf Fortress.  It's magic, aye, but what sorta magic?  If you're gonna have a world which can be interacted with on the scale of Dwarf Fortress, the program will need more info than "it's magic."  If you grind the horn up, does it still neutralize poison?  If so, how much ground unicorn horn is needed for the process to operate?  What counts as poison, anyhow?  Is alcohol on that list?  Do other parts of the unicorn's body (like meat, bones...) have similar purifying properties?  If you make a scalpel from unicorn horn, have you just invented a self-sterilizing scalpel? Can Dwarvern Science make use of industrial-sized herds of unicorns, farmed like we farm cows, or do the unicorns have to be roaming free within the sacred forests in order for them to do their magic?  Can unicorns even breed in captivity, or will chained unicorns wither away and die in sadness unless given the love and respect they feel they deserve?  Is it worth playing the part of a peace-loving hippie to start a unicorn breeding program, and simply make sure none of them realize what happens to their brethren taken into the mountain?

Dwarvern Science is not satisfied until it has the answers to every possible scenario, preferably obtained in the most amoral and appalling manner possible.  With magma, ideally.