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[Eric Blank]

I can't seem to find any topics directly relating to this, so here I go:

I've always wanted to make some of my fortress designs into possible fortresses for my dwarven civilization, so;
It'd be exceptionally awesome if we were able to create constructions to be placed in sites (like cities), sites they can appear in, and new sites. This would allow us to create custom sites with custom constructions for our custom entities, thus setting the record for user customization in any game I've ever heard of, not to mention making it exponentially more exciting.

I noticed in the data/init directory the layout of the Object Testing Arena as a plain text file, using only letters, this would be a very simple way to allow players to design the constructions, including adding buildings (the workshop/door kind) by way of some tag system/code like (walls)[BUILDING:DOOR:WOODEN](walls) for tags or (walls)*string for door and material type*(walls)
You could then at the bottom define the construction you just made with some tags for it's purpose (inn, temple, keep, house) and materials for it to be constructed of. It would be nice if each part (walls/floors/fortifications) could be defined separately and even go into detail as to exactly what material to use) Also, you would need to define (or would you?) how many squares in a given site it must take up.

Then, one could define the site to place these constructions in by defining how it's set up, like what constructions are possible in it, which ones are mandatory, and how big it is. Although I understand it's always 3 tiles on the site finder, could it be possible to change that?

Thoughts? I for one think it'd be damn cool, especially when trying to create new civilizations. Dunno what degree of migraine it might give Toady though.

[Acanthus117]

This is a great idea, but we would need an easier way to do it. I can't imagine trying to do this in the raws. Maybe a simple GUI would be useful for that...

[Eric Blank]

Agreed
Gui would be awesome for the raws too though. I think there was a mod that did something like that.

[Knight Otu]

It's certainly something I'd like to see in some future version, and it isn't quite impossible to do in the raws. Other roguelikes use such a technique to pre-define "vaults", with semi-random , though most of them don't have to contend with building materials. I guess a typical hovel in a human city could be defined as something like this:

Code: [Select]

[SITE_STRUCTURE:HOVEL]
  [NAME:hovel:hovels]
  [TYPE:RESIDENCE]
  [SIZE:5:5]
  [ROW:1:W:W:W:W:W]
  [ROW:2:w:C:+:b:w]
  [ROW:3:w:T:C:+:w]
  [ROW:4:w:C:+:B:w]
  [ROW:5:W:W:W:W:W]
  [REPLACE:RANDOM:SINGLE:w:D]
  [REPLACE:ALL:w:W]
  [SYMBOL:W:WALL]
  [SYMBOL:D:DOOR]
...
  [BUILD_MAT:CIV_MAT:ANY:WOOD]
  [IS_ROOFED]
That would become harder for larger structures, though there's already an utility for custom workshops, so I imagine that if such raws were to come, an utility for them wouldn't be far off.

And a sites raw for human cities could look like this:

Code: [Select]

[SITE:CITY]
  [NAME:city]
  [SITE_TILE:'+':1]
  ...
  [STRUCTURE:HOVEL]
    [REPLACED_BY:APARTMENT]
  [STRUCTURE:MEAD_HALL]
  [STRUCTURE:KEEP]
  [STRUCTURE:SHOP:ANY]
  [STRUCTURE:TEMPLE:ANY]
  [DEPTH:0]

[Acanthus117]

-snip-

I like the way he thinks of it. I also like the tags... what about furniture placement? The hovels in Adventure Mode usually have the same layout... I would like to be able to define if the places where furniture is put.

[Knight Otu]

-snip-

I like the way he thinks of it. I also like the tags... what about furniture placement? The hovels in Adventure Mode usually have the same layout... I would like to be able to define if the places where furniture is put.

I believe I used that layout, C for chairs, T for the table, and B and b for bucket and bed, not sure off-hand which should be which. Thinking of it, there'd need to be a definition for the floor as well, and possibly a few other things I didn't think of there.

[Acanthus117]

Hmm... Maybe we should also be able to say how many people can live in a hovel before it gets bigger in worldgen, or how rich someone should be to get a certain house, etc.

[Andeerz]

This is a great idea, but we would need an easier way to do it. I can't imagine trying to do this in the raws. Maybe a simple GUI would be useful for that...

Maybe basing something off of Quickfort would be useful.  This program makes it easy to designate areas to be mined and set up constructions using an excel spreadsheet.  Something like that could be co-opted for the suggestions in this thread, methinks.  I dunno.  :B  Anyway, I love the ideas presented thus far! 

[Knight Otu]

Well, lets go by the existing sites and buildings to see what might be needed as well, for the current behaviors at least.
Hovels and apartments - Residence types, with apartments allowing multiple families, and having multiple stories. We might need to add room information to keep families separate (which might be as easy as in Dwarf Mode, define a room from the bed and the table). The food barrel might need to be defined.

Shops - A shop type, obviously. There's multiple variants, so there needs to be a way to create variant buildings easily. The shop tables need to be defined, and the money chest and cashier table as well. There needs to be some definition what the shop sells, which I'd rather not have hardcoded (Imagine a large unroofed marketplace with multiple marketeers with three shop tables each who sell diverse goods). A tag to tell the game that shops and other buildings are important for legends and need to be named.

Meadhalls - A site government type. Might need a definition for where the position holder prefers to stay.

Keeps - A civ goverment type. In addition to the above, might need to attract soldier types.

Dark Towers - Residence and site/civ government type, I believe, so it needs to be able to put multiple "type" tags onto a structure. A way to randomly create rooms, corridors, multiple stories, etc.

Temples - A religion (and perhaps religion government?) type. Needs a way to specify engravings, and liquids. Also needs the variants, and sphere alignments for the variants. Some way to say that temple variants are mutually exclusive, while shops aren't.

Cave entrances - need a similar random algorithm as dark towers, and need to go as deep as needed to reach the first caverns.

----

Towns - Changing tiles by population. Replace buildings (hovels) with larger buildings (apartments). Number tags for buildings! That'll actually solve the temple and shop issue above. Hovels and apartments are as needed, others get 1.

Mountain halls - they're weird right now, but definitely need a tag to be built in deeper, stone layers. Ideally without breaching into the caverns. Also, a tag tag to prevent embarking on them.

Forest retreats - nothing special to see here.

Dark fortress - As mentioned above, a number tag for buildings. There's three dark towers, and potentially a temple.

Ruins - Ruins should be defined in the other site definition, come to think of it. That is, a tile and color for 0 population, and perhaps a reclaimable if ruined tag.

Cave - need a tag to be placable in worldgen rather than being created by settlement, if it goes that far. Could be cool for other adventure sites. Also would need a way to populate them with creatures (custom biomes? Creature class lists? Undead only?)

[Eric Blank]

too much text for a quote

pretty much covers it.

As for things that aren't part of any site yet that I'd like to see:
1. Workshops and stockpiles in world-generated sites. Best if there are tags for which ones to allow in a site, and ways for placing specific and/or unspecific workshops consistently within a structure, so that specific shops can have workshops in them directly related to what they're selling. Also nice if they were useable by the player in adventure mode, which could be a tag/part of the workshop tag that determines it as a free-use one within that structure.
2. farms; maybe not the building in dwarf mode, but some sort of farm tag (or tile type?) that defines that all floor tiles within the structure/of that type shall have crops planted on them, according to what is available to that individual civ. definitely need one for both indoor and outdoor farms.
3. pastures/stables and civ-available animals, and a way to define their maximum population in an individual site.

hurray for run-on sentences

[PhilbertFlange]

This format would make it nice and easy for us players to share premade buildings with one another. It would also save tons of time when making megaconstructions.

[CaptApollo12]

HAHAHA Goblin fortress of your own design to be raided and reclaimed for the dwarf race.
Anyone heard of the citadel of many arrows? http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Citadel_Felbarr
Take it back! Then head over to Orc/Goblin encampment and slaughter them! Once you dig yourself into their basement.

[Eric Blank]

Ok, I'll remember to make some effort to get this on the ballot whenever voting comes up again. And make a log of all the suggestions in this thread.

[Acanthus117]

There should also be a randomized part of this, In the sense of being able to state general stats (size, material) but it could be totally random, maybe for dungeons or ruins.

Speaking or ruins, how would this system handle them? would a random part of the building be destroyed or would it be better to plan it?

[Mel_Vixen]

There should also be a randomized part of this, In the sense of being able to state general stats (size, material) but it could be totally random, maybe for dungeons or ruins.

That sounds actually pretty nice. I could see a previously "room" or "building" say a throne room or a tower inbedded into a randomised construction like a castle.