I hope this is the correct way to go about mentioning a feature suggestion that has been mentioned in the past.
I would like to (second) suggestions for proper fungi and plants. Moar better fungi in particular.
... Something like [Club fungi : Fungus Name] / [Basidiomycota : ’Fungus name’] / [Fungi: Fungus name] would be present in each ground tile if it were inhabited by the mycelium. This could be assigned a integer number as the number the fungi appears in the raws. Also perhaps the amount of myceilium (1/7?) At the start of every month there would be a check of each Mycelium minus the energy required to upkeep such a Mycelium. If the result is negative then: non producing hyphae (think individual strands) die
If the result is positive then: New hyphae grow.(represented by either tiles or mass of the mycelium.)
A fruiting body sprouts.
Also after a while (variable time?) the spores on the fruiting body are launched Producing a variable amount of spores that make it to a new land tile.
They would have to die if starving to prevent 7/7 mycelium everywhere, but I remember that they can normally withstand a lot of shit happen. (they go into hibernation) ...
As someone who has spent quite some time on and around mushroom farms, proper fungi in-game would really be a joy to me. Massive mycelium networks (some that stretch forests and cities in size), different fungi competing* for resources (so you can have parasital fungi that are a problem to your tower-cap farms!). Fungal infections and other fun. And some fungi are a critical part to many eco-systems. (toadstool zealot elves anyone?). Some fungal fruiting bodies give off an eerie light as the "roots" decompose stuff (c'mon, the game
needs foxfire). Some types are said to start fires in un-turned heaps of hay ("fire fang"). (You know the fortress needs more fire)
*
Did you know trichodermia (green mould) mycellium effectively attacks other fungi in its vicinity chemically? Not a coincidence that that's where penicillin comes from. Wow Fungi are fascinating IRL, and in DF fungi plays a very important part in the life of Dwarves and their fortresses. Traditional uses of mushrooms are mostly medicinal, but also for poisoning, and in the game a good wood and food source. I'd like to think that exposure to tower cap spores is healthy for dwarves and can help them heal or immunize them against certain ailments. Of course, IRL high exposure to most fungal spores is bad for a human's health... perhaps elves can't stand cavern fungi entirely?
Fungi are awesome. However spore/colonization and mycelium simulations would ostensibly kill the game's FPS. And to implement fungi in an elegant, simple yet cool way could be very challenging. That's all I can think of for it being a bad idea.
:-(
So I hope that some day, The Authors can begin to take fungi in DF in a cooler direction. Especially for foodstuffs like plump helmets. The current game implementation comes nowhere near being a good or entertaining approximation to what cultivating mushrooms really is.
*stops self from ranting on commercial mushroom farming*Btw excuse muh spellingz grammarz and mushroom-geekery