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[Paul]

I notice that we now have sulfur and potassium nitrate in game (dug into them, and then looked them up in the raws).

Toady even has a comment in the raws about being "good to blow things up".

So, does this mean we will have gunpowder soon?  

Think of the possibilities...
Explosive barrels?
Explosive mining?
Explosive traps?
New siege weapon: Steel Cannon?

Although with the scarcity of the materials, you would run out rather quickly.

[BurnedToast]

I hope if nothing else we get crude explosives.  kaboom! goblin parts flying everywhere!

if we get cannons and firearms and such, all the better.

[Alfador]

Perhaps it's something that could be invented in the course of historical events around the time of our fortresses. I note that "Cooking recipes" is one of the categories available on the trading list; perhaps a Legendary Mechanic could invent new siege engines like this??

[Capntastic]

There are about a bazillion threads about this topic and from what I've seen half of everyone wants it while the other half doesn't.

I think Toady's somewhere in the middle, so we'll see what happens.  

Personally, I wouldn't mind it if it's hard to make, but I'd dislike it if it got out of hand (guns, bazookas, rockets, that sort of thing)

[Paul]

I just assumed that by the new materials in the raws in the new version (with a statement about blowing things up) that it was planned. What else could these materials be used for? Why include all of the ingredients for gunpowder if you can't make any kind of explosives out of them?  

I didn't see any other threads about this in the new version after doing a quick search, but maybe I missed them.

[Reynard]

I'm not much enthused about the prospect of black powder weapons (just one more way for ranged weapons to slaughter my dwarves/adventurers) - but explosives for mining I can get behind. The new channels are a great tool for saving dwarven lives - no more magma sacrifices - but this is even nicer in some ways. But being able to set up an explosives and lever combo to take out multiple walls at once (or as a trap) remotely would be huge.

[pushy]

Taken from the same file that Paul took the OP's information from:

quote:used as a main component of porcelain, and in cosmetics
[MATGLOSS_STONE:KAOLINITE]
[NAME:kaolinite][COLOR:4:7:0][TILE:'=']
[ENVIRONMENT:SEDIMENTARY:CLUSTER:100]

Toady has a comment about it being "used in cosmetics". Does this mean we will have makeup soon?  :roll:

[subject name here]

Explosives would kick ass. Imagine firing a cannon into a horde of goblins (or elves, they're the same thing to me) and watching the body parts fly!
Gay Elf cancels hug tree: Missing his entire lower body

The only thing that could be better would be fields of pitch that could be ignited with flaming arrows. (atleast until all your dwarves run to pick up the !!rope reed thongs!! and kill off most of your fort in the resorting flames.)

Edit:

quote:Originally posted by pushy:
<STRONG>Taken from the same file that Paul took the OP's information from:

Toady has a comment about it being "used in cosmetics". Does this mean we will have makeup soon?   :roll:</STRONG>

I wouldn't be surprised if toady added make up.

[ November 02, 2007: Message edited by: Sheogorath ]

[Dae]

Explosive? Can be good. Firearms? I hope not. Dwarves fighting with rifles? Yuk. What would be the point of fighting with an axe then?
And, it could be added for complexity. Chert was added, and it doesn't have any particular interest, except that my floor looks like mud.
*mutters*Guns... coward-made weapons *mutters*

[ November 02, 2007: Message edited by: Dae ]

[Bluefire]

Perhaps you could put your potassium nitrate, charcoal and sulfur(if it exists in the game) in a single tile, flood them with water and let it evaporate? This is more or less how early gunpowder was made. All you need then is to flood it with magma or get fire to touch it. It's a long shot, but it might be worth trying; it would make an awesome hidden fun stuff.

[aeroue]

I don't think guns would kill the game.

So long as they were hard to make and there were limited materials, and so long as they are as inaccurate as our earliest guns.

I mean the first matchlock type guns had ranges of about 30/40 feet, which according to general consensus of a square being about 5 feet means only 6-8 squares of range with any accuracy. They also could barely be used in rain or snow, needed to be lit with a wick which had to be lit before you took your shot then applied and took a long time to reload. So if it is raining, snowing, the enemy is >8 squares away, have not yet reloaded or it is a surprise attack then they won't be much use.

So I am thinking even with them in the game an axe would be a good choice.

[Slartibartfast]

IIRC the earliest rifles were really crappy, much less effective than bows.
Their advantage was that training someone to use a rifle was very easy, and even the weakest, fatest, slowest, dumbest, (etc.-est) person could use one. (assuming he had more than one hands )

[Dae]

But can you just imagine goblins with GUNS ? That would mean the end of goblin era!
And how can you imagine putting out a bullet out of your own body? An arrow, you just pick it out.
Anyway, for explosives, I don't think it is hidden somewhere at that point of the game. Dwarves still don't have torches to set things on fire...
Or maybe they just "ignite" things as in adventure mode.
Geez, I don't know.

[sluissa]

the earliest guns were practically useless as guns. Crossbows worked better. The guns advantage came from the loudness and flash of the powder. It scared the enemies away.

[apache1990]

Simple rockets could be interesting.

As inaccurate as catapults, but makes a puff of fire on impact, along with some kind of 'bang' damage.  

Good part: quicker to reload (since it's just a launch rail), good if all the enemies stand in the same place
Bad part: unskilled dwarves may accidentally ignite themselves in the exhaust (could also happen with low quality rockets), even smaller firing arc than a catapult, may malfunction and hit something random (like fly back at your fortress)

Doesn't sound too bad.  And possible fires in your fortress make them very dangerous when you first use them (better lock the door to the rocket area before firing).  Maybe the dwarf who lights the rocket should go hide behind a wall before it launches.