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[Vattic]

The cut-off point is 1400 is it not? I only ask because there are some pre-1400s gunpowder weapons and didn't Toady say anything pre 1400 will potentially get added?

Firelances, grenades, bombards, cannons and perhaps even other firearms were all used pre 1400.

I must admit though that except in some mods I'd like to see firearms seem somewhat inappropriate to me but I cant imagine good ship battles without cannons and we know Toady will do his best to have ship battles in games.

[Luke_Prowler]

When did cannons become steampunk? while i am against hand cannons, real cannon should be a valid option

[Rowanas]

1400 where? The chinese had them waaaaaaay earlier, but if this is based in a pseudo european timeline then there were only a few gunpowder weapons, and they were as likely to kill you as your target.

I think ship to ship battle could be done quite effectively with bows and arrows, especialy if fire as a weapon is made easier to accomplish. In adventurer mode, fire is g-(insert letter here). Of course, in Dwarf fortress you want to be more careful with fire, and also have lots of buckets of water on standby, so the bonuses would be weighed with the negatives.

[GruffyBears]

If Toady nerfed ballistas, I would just un-nerf them, and delete the cannon entires from the raws.

That's the beauty of having a game based around text files. You could include cannons and a system for gunpowder but delete them if you personally disagree with them.

I'm not sure myself about cannons, but I definitely think gunpowder should be added, as it has a lot of potential.

[Rowanas]

Urist Mcdorf: Keep the booze away from the magma!
Urist Mcdwarf: Screw the booze, keep the gunpowder away from the magma!

[Wolfius]

I think guns can be added(eventually) via mod for those that really want them, but something like explosive charges is more appropriate, can be used in very dwarfy ways, and might not be so easy to mod in(you could also ignore it if you want to, without mods, as invaders prolly won't be attacking you with such things).

Urist Mcdorf: Keep the booze away from the magma!
Urist Mcdwarf: Screw the booze, keep the gunpowder away from the magma!

Pfft! No, save the booze - gun powder only explodes if it's confined, otherwise it just burns.

...and if it is confined(say, in kegs), the blast and resulting cave-in might just stop the magma flood that fool Urist McCheeseMakerMiner#47 caused! Or atleast drop it into the Noble Quarters and buy the masons more time!

[Rowanas]

Barrels of gunpowder by the front entrance would be awesome. If gunpowder is introduced, we would need controllable fire as well, so that those crossbowdwarves can make them asplode from far away.

999 barrels of boom on the wall, 999 barrels of boom. You shoot one down, and smear goblin around, 998 barrels of boom on the wall...

[DJ]

I like to think that DF battles look like scenes from Paul Verhoeven's Flesh+Blood, so I wouldn't mind seeing some primitive gunpowder weapons in DF. Especially petards.

Anyway, if you haven't seen that movie (it's a damn shame if you didn't), this is what I'm talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQuqx1Wm9f0

[PencilinHand]

I have said before that general small arms would probably ruin the feel of DF.  However, I could easily see something like a petard being used in a siege, or a very crude cannon like device(insert useless junk = big one shot shotgun with chance of "failure" proportional to number of uses and amount of stuff used), and maybe some kind of semi-ineffectual grenades(small clay pot with a fuse, stuns the enemy and causes light damage with a chance of them taking a limb on a critical).

[sproingie]

If anyone should have explosives, it should be the goblins.  Make 'em a bit of a challenge.  Cannon might be a bit beyond over their tiny heads, but sappers sound like just the ticket.  Dwarves want some of that boom-powder?  Trade with the goblins for it.

[Raz]

I would prefer it we just got blackpowder, and could utilize it by clever means to make cannons and other stuff.
By default, a heap of powder would just light up and create small, harmless explosion.

When pressurized in some way, the ignition would create energy akin to the displacement water does and does damage to its surrounding tiles in a certain radius.

When lit in an enclosed case such as a barrel, pressure builds and it eventually explodes with much greater force and damage than before. The fuller the barrel is, the greater the force.
When channeled through resistant materials such as pipe sections or even corridors, it can launch objects with great force.

[kalida99]

Perhaps along with cannons it could be used in other common ways, mining deconstruction, etc. But if cannons were implemented, the ballista would have to be made realistic, being less deadly (it shouldn't kill 20 people and keep flying) and more accurate range, no more flying until it hits something In-organic.

Then cannons would take over once your fort had the means to produce them. Longer range, higher chance of killing large amounts of people, kicking up dust that knocks out peple near the explosion. But with drawbacks, chance for cannon to detonate killing the operator(s), and being vary inaccurate with an un-skilled operator.

then with other uses other than cannons, such as Blasting, large quick clearing explosions that clear out a large square spanning multiple Z's and having a chane to cave in. Traps, like simple land mines. Fishing, just toss in explosive and collect dead fish. maybe even diamond production (although that may be TOO far) by useing very large dangerous explosions with a chance to procuces a rough diamond from a piece of carbon.

[Wolfius]

maybe even diamond production (although that may be TOO far) by useing very large dangerous explosions with a chance to procuces a rough diamond from a piece of carbon.

Does Not Work Like That.

Not unless you believe in cartoon physics. 

[Rowanas]

Which I do, goddammit!

The only use I would put them to is mines. Those pressure plate mechanisms hit everything EXCEPT the thing that stepped on the pressure plate!

[kalida99]

maybe even diamond production (although that may be TOO far) by useing very large dangerous explosions with a chance to procuces a rough diamond from a piece of carbon.

Does Not Work Like That.

Not unless you believe in cartoon physics. 

well there are pixies and unicorns...