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Author Topic: Tombstones and Graves  (Read 1960 times)

FluffyToast J

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Tombstones and Graves
« on: April 18, 2009, 03:20:07 am »

Well, I did a couple of searches and didnt turn up anything relevant/recent, so I figured I'd make a suggestion. Basicly, graves.

Say Urist McUseless died, and I, being the benevolent overlord I am, decided to bury him aboveground. At the moment, the only way to do that is to dig a channel, dump the body in the hole, and put a statue next to the grave. And thats a bit of a drag, really.

So I propose a tomb 'building'. You make a tombstone in the craftdwarves'/mason's workshop and build a tomb somewhere. A miner comes along, and 'digs' it out, like an architect and bridges. Then a mason comes along and plunks the tombstone beside it(on the same tile, though). Then, once Urist McUseless has been buried, an engraver comes along and engraves his name, birth date, and death date in the stone. And maybe how he died, as well?

Looking at the grave could work like an engraving, too. You select it to read it. "Here lies Urist McUseless. He died in the summer of 1050. He was killed by a wolf/a cyclops/a dwarf." Or even, "He was killed by Ngazu Terrorvomit, the goblin."

Thoughts? Refinements? Rants?
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Mount

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Re: Tombstones and Graves
« Reply #1 on: April 18, 2009, 09:08:09 am »

While I believe brying a dwarf under that big scary open sky is ... pretty much blasphemy...  I WOULD like to be able to see dates and cause of death on a tomb:  "This is the tomb of Urist McLyemaker.  Went mad and starved to death in his locked room in 102."   

Maybe just a player-modifiable text line?  "This is the tomb of Urist McWoodburner.  'Good Riddance.'"

Warlord255

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Re: Tombstones and Graves
« Reply #2 on: April 18, 2009, 01:32:56 pm »

Aboveground tombs aren't that hard; dig a ramp, dig a space, put the coffin in it, then place a 3x3 square of constructed floor centered on the coffin so you cover up the ramp, and place a statue in the center.

I agree wholeheartedly on the cause-of-death-on-coffins thing. Player text-string things would also be nice.
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Pilsu

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Re: Tombstones and Graves
« Reply #3 on: April 18, 2009, 03:24:48 pm »

Eventually we'll be able to officially play Human Castle mode so more conventional burial methods would indeed be nice
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Maggarg - Eater of chicke

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Re: Tombstones and Graves
« Reply #4 on: April 18, 2009, 05:28:35 pm »

I used to cram old ore veins with coffins.
Then I realised how callous that was.
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bombcar

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Re: Tombstones and Graves
« Reply #5 on: April 18, 2009, 05:30:34 pm »

I used to cram old ore veins with coffins.
Then I realized how callous that was.

And so you do it more, now, right?  ;D
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Maggarg - Eater of chicke

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Re: Tombstones and Graves
« Reply #6 on: April 18, 2009, 05:33:55 pm »

I used to cram old ore veins with coffins.
Then I realized how callous that was.

And so you do it more, now, right?  ;D
Actually I design elaborate catacombs.
Either the necropolis type ones where everything is in streets and plazas of coffins, or the cave type, with rambling passages and caverns.
It's fun.
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Duke 2.0

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Re: Tombstones and Graves
« Reply #7 on: April 18, 2009, 05:59:31 pm »

 For my human fortresses, graves consist of a channel with a room dug out next to it. The casket is placed in the dug tile, the ramp is covered and a statue is placed. Works well, but a proper tombstone would be nice.
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Mount

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Re: Tombstones and Graves
« Reply #8 on: April 19, 2009, 12:36:33 am »

Burial grounds are actually now part of my fortress-startup procedure.  Commoners get a niche in a catacomb:
Code: [Select]
#########
#O#O#O#O#
#........
#O#O#O#O#
#########

Fortress leaders, and dwarves who have done great deeds, get (generally) a nice 5x5 crypt.  Crypt doors are sealed by a lever elsewhere in the fortress, to prevent unauthorized removal of grave goods.

Pets get a spot in a large, open Pet Sematary Cemetary, basically laid out in rows side-by-side-by-side with the occasional paved walkway separating sections.

Nobles... don't get burials: too hard to fish them out of the magma.

(As an aside, I don't ever see my code-tagged stuff behind a cut, is it always visible to the one who posted it, or am I doing it wrong?)
« Last Edit: April 19, 2009, 12:38:28 am by Mount »
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Foa

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Re: Tombstones and Graves
« Reply #9 on: April 19, 2009, 01:21:35 am »

Eh, I'd just incinerate, them in a small volume of lava, and then fill the tombstone with the lava of the dwarf.
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GlyphGryph

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Re: Tombstones and Graves
« Reply #10 on: April 19, 2009, 08:50:43 pm »

I'd very much like to be able to refill dirt areas with coffins in them to bury my dwarves. And, you know, caged enemies that are still alive.

Having tombs/coffines/gravestones say what happened to the guy would be awesome too, though, but could probably be generalized as "Allow me to write stuff on objects so I can make a fitting epitaph for Urist CheeseAxe, even if it doesn't actually matter to the game and it doesn't realize the connection."
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Bunny

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Re: Tombstones and Graves
« Reply #11 on: May 10, 2009, 05:48:12 am »

I have several levels of quality to my tombs. 

Soldiers that die below champion/legendary status get buried all together in a long hall - the coffins are all in a row, and the walls are smoothed, with the odd weapon and armour stand here and there.  These rooms are continuously updated with more dead dwarves, so theyare kept open.

For normal dwarves (no history of making an artifact, or doing something epic) I have long, 1-tile tunnels with 2-tile rooms branching off of them - each room houses a coffin.  Once a dwarf is buried in there, the room is sealed either by a constructed wall, or by a door if I'm getting sick of dwarves walling themselves in.

For pretty good dwarves, like my low-level nobles, dwarves that created an okay-ish artifact (oh look, a masterwork earring.  Gosh.), they get a 3x3 room, smoothed walls, one or 2 decorations and walled up/locked in upon death.

Champions that die, or dwarves that die doing something epic (my unassuming cheesemaker that takes down 5 goblins before dying when caught outside) get a 3x3 room, with engravings on the back wall, a statue, perhaps a coffer for the ordinary dwarves and an armour or weapon stand for themilitary dwarves, and the room is sealed with a gemstone window.  I sometimes give them an iron sarcophagus.

High-end nobles that die get 5x5 rooms with much more fancy stuff, and of course a crystal window to seal up.  Copper or bronze sarcophagii, too.

If I ever get a king and play long enough for him to die, they will find their tomb a large, complex structure with recesses in the walls to house gold and platinum statues.  The walls are engraved, the floor is tiled with obsidian and marble, the sarcophagus is gold, platinum or silver, maybe a caged or chained beast or 2 is entombed wit the dwarf.  These tombs have secret access tunnels that lead to the original entry point behind one of the statues, which are walled in and made indistinguishable from the surronding smoothed walls.

I would LOVE to be able to either have the tomb specify more about the entombed dwarf, or at least have the option of specifying which engravings are made along the walls.  I get tired of Urist RockHammer, my champion dwarf who took down 20 goblins and a dragon before finally succumbing to a slow death by his wounds, entombed ina room with lots of engravings of circles, flies and clouds, with the odd engraving of a dwarf surrounded by dwarves.  I would love to have that dwarf's life highlights and death carved into the walls.
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Aquillion

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Re: Tombstones and Graves
« Reply #12 on: May 10, 2009, 07:56:19 am »

I used to cram old ore veins with coffins.
Then I realised how callous that was.
I dunno.  I mean, they're dorfs.  It's like burying a viking at sea, you know?
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Jackrabbit

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Re: Tombstones and Graves
« Reply #13 on: May 10, 2009, 07:58:08 am »

While I believe brying a dwarf under that big scary open sky is ... pretty much blasphemy...  I WOULD like to be able to see dates and cause of death on a tomb:  "This is the tomb of Urist McLyemaker.  Went mad and starved to death in his locked room in 102."   

Maybe just a player-modifiable text line?  "This is the tomb of Urist McWoodburner.  'Good Riddance.'"

This.
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alfie275

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Re: Tombstones and Graves
« Reply #14 on: May 11, 2009, 03:36:32 pm »

For nobles I dig their tomb, a 1*1 room, link up a pressure plate to a NOT fluid gate and get the mechanic to attach it to the hatch below them them, when they die they fall into magma and I pull a lever to reset it. I lure in the nobles with a lever pulling job.
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