I agree; this would contribute a lot. Here's the post I wrote before finding this one to resurrect:
It would be nice to extend DF’s role-playing potential “upstream” a bit more, into the embark map. How do the dwarves know so much about the geography of the entire world? Maybe they should only have knowledge about areas within a certain radius of their own settlements (plus a smaller radius around friendly civs, via diplomats and travelers).
If there was an end-game option to allow a mature fortress to be “annexed” by the home civ at a certain point (barony?), leaving behind a functioning AI-controlled settlement instead of a ruin, then this would give the player a reason to build a larger number of smaller settlements in sequence in the same world, in a variety of locales, in order to expand their civ’s overall scope, rather than scouring a fresh world for the three or four similar, ideal sites that interest them with god-like omniscience and staying there for eternity.
To achieve his long-term goal (finding that perfect site with magma, sand, flux, iron, and tower caps), the player would adopt a strategy (build a series of outposts at the edges of the civ and stabilize them as quickly as possible) that aligns with the interests of the civ (territorial expansion and broader access to resources), and also exposes him to the broad variety of biomes and play experiences DF has to offer. Then, when that great location finally appears, the player settles in and finally follows through on the King arc. He becomes invested in that specific world and faces a real cost in starting over in a new one.
Granted, you could simulate this today by self-limiting your site choices and pretending that ruins continued to function. But it would be a much richer experience if this grew your civ's knowledge, power, and reach.
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Topic: Unexplored starting sites (Read 1644 times)