Playing DF, a few ideas have occurred to me of how some of the less-used skills and workshops could be made useful, or at least offer opportunities for death and destruction. These aren't really serious suggestions to be included in the game, but just some musings I had.
Asbestos. Asbestos cloth has been around for thousands of years, so it shouldn't actually be an issue of period or unavailable technology. A new type of stone, "Raw Adbestos", can be added and found in nuggets associated with veins of Serpentine. "Extract Rock Fibers" can be added as a labor to Craftsdwarf shops, using the Strand Extraction labor. This would yield asbestos fibers, which a Weaver could then make into asbestos cloth.
Asbestos cloth should be completely fireproof and magma-safe. It shouldn't permit the dwarf wearing it to swim in magma, but a full set of asbestos clothing should at least offer some protection from forest fires and similar mundane sources of heat. And when you give your nobles their annual magma bath, any asbestos items they are wearing should survive and be reclaimable.
Of course, performing the Strand Extraction labor on asbestos should cause gradual lung damage.
Mercury. We've got Cinnabar in the game already. How about adding a labor to produce mercury? Mercury is produced by distillation rather than smelting, so add a "Distill Mercury from ore" option at the Still workshop. I'm not sure if the resulting mercury should be treated as a glob or a liquid.
What can we do with mercury? We can make felt! Add an option at the Tannery to use mercury. When a raw skin from a creature with hair is processed using mercury, one unit of Felt cloth will be produced in addition to the leather.
Mercury is also used for mining marginal ores. Perhaps with the new gloss system rock adjacent to gold nuggets could be contaminated with traces of gold. A skilled miner could then use mercury to extract gold dust from the rock.
Of course, mercury has its hazards. You could model mercury poisoning with gradual brain damage, but I think it would be more fun to give dwarves exposed to mercury a slight but cumulative chance of spontaneously going mad. Then again, my dwarves have been happily drinking booze from lead barrels and eating off cinnabar and realgar tables for years, so maybe dwarves are simply immune to heavy metal toxicity.
Ammonia. Ammonia was historically produced by fermentation from urine and dung, substances which don't seem to exist in the DF universe. Perhaps a labor could be added to the alchemist shop, "Produce ammonia from animals (requires animals, glass vial)", where the mere existence of nearby tame animals is enough. Similar to the way milking would work, if milking worked.
What use is ammonia? It can be made into fertilizer. Perhaps the cleaning labor would work faster or more effectively with it. Mainly it's useful as feedstock for our next product.
Nitric Acid. Produced from Ammonia at an alchemist's shop. The actual process of making nitric acid is complex and difficult and involves intermediate steps we aren't interested in, so we'll just abstract it to a single labor.
Nitric acid could be used by engravers to etch patterns into iron and steel items. If flows of liquids other than water and magma is ever put it, you could make that acid moat or bridge over an acid vat deathtrap. Maybe an option could be added to stonefall traps to drop a vial of acid instead of a rock.
Sulfuric Acid. Produced from brimstone at an alchemist's shop. Similar to nitric acid, but not useable for decorative etching. Still usable for deathtraps, and perhaps for some other chemical processes.
Glycerine. Refined from soap at an alchemist shop. Requires glass vial.
Glycerine isn't terribly useful by itself. There could be an option to apply it to shafts and gearboxes to make them use less power, or to levers and trigger plates to improve response time. Mostly it's useful for our next process.
Nitroglycerin. Produced at an alchemist's shop. Requires nitric acid, sulfuric acid, and glycerine. Produces sulfuric acid and nitroglycerin. The sulfuric acid is required, but not consumed in the process - it's a catalyst for the nitrification process.
When performed by a dwarf with less than Legendary skill, there should be a chance of the workshop spontaneously exploding. Properly simulating the results will require actual explosion physics to be added to the game - the shop shouldn't be merely destroyed, but scattered around the landscape, with additional damage to nearby structures.
We can assume dwarves will be careful enough when picking up, carrying, and putting down vials of nitroglycerin not to blow themselves up, unless they're stunned, attacked, or caught in a cave-in. Likewise if a vial sitting in a stockpile is exposed to fire, a cave-in, nearby explosion, or stepped on by a cat it should also go off.
Nitroglycerin could be useful for mining, if physics were added to the game such that an explosion would convert nearby natural stone to rubble. It would also be a Fun method of dealing with sieges. Loaded into a trap, used as ammo in a catapult, or merely left lying out in the open in the path of enemies. Although I think I know what the most popular use would be:
Noble ImpossibleDemands admired own fine Nitroglycerin Vial.
Noble ImpossibleDemands has been killed in an explosion!
Some people might make suggestions about mixing the Nitroglycerin with sawdust or diatomic earth to make dynamite. Bah! Workplace safety is undwarven. Real dwarves are used to labors that might messily kill them at any moment.
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Topic: Fun with chemistry! (Read 4718 times)