Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Kadath]

I've been working on a total-conversion mod lately, turning dwarf fortress into a scifi game - controling a colony of humans on a strange planet.

Here are some WIP screenshots:

Digging with picks is not very futuristic, so i gave them nanobots instead. Here a human is attacking a cougar with his canister of the stuff. All weapons and equipment are changed; Jumpsuits and phaser rifles, yay. 

A human, or perhaps "terran"; not decided on that. The human race is split up in several castes, each with an unique modification that does something beneficial.

A custom workshop - the Bioforge. In this building, you convert wood (or animal parts, if you got them) to plastic. Plastic is used to build your base. (Ok, you don't technically need plastic to do that, but i like to.) The forge looks a bit ugly because i can't use the ']' symbol in a building; it interprets it as the end of the tag instead.
The plants and ground is unfinished, i'm planning to make blue/red/green alien trees & slimy pink/blue/green etc ground later.

Humans have a few robots to help them out in the hostile environment; they bleed oil and are made of plastic & metal.

Now, i'm about to add animals & plants. However, i need names and ideas. I don't really feel like alienating anybody, so i'm trying to avoid using stuff from other works like Alpha Centauri/Star Control etc because not everybody is familiar with those, and won't understand what a "Mind Worm" is for example.

If you have any comments, suggestions or ideas i would be happy to hear them.

[Julius Clonkus]

Sounds like a nice idea.
But since you cannot make robots (or any creature for that matter) in a workshop yet, you'll either have to resort to making the robots reproduce (male and female castes), but in my opinion, that is a little weird. But if you make the player rely on the home civ to get robots (with trading), migrants will bring guard robots with them, which makes a little more sense, seeing as how an alien planet is often considered dangerous.

Going with non-reproducing robots can eliminate catsplosions as well. Some verminhunting robots might wind up adopting assimilating your people, but they won't grow in numbers.

How about making some mundane creatures (you wouldn't bring onto a space colony) into [FANCIFUL] creatures which [DOES_NOT_EXIST], so the colonists can still like, hate or make images of them while leaving them out?

Edit:
For aboveground trees, you might as well add growing carbon deposits.

[Kadath]

But if you make the player rely on the home civ to get robots (with trading), migrants will bring guard robots with them, which makes a little more sense, seeing as how an alien planet is often considered dangerous.

Exactly what i was thinking  They don't reproduce.

Here is an image of one of the more expensive robots, the android:

Also, now there's alien trees & soil layers + new bioforge art.

"Delicious" food:

I have energy pills=biscuits, soylent = stew, but not roast... ideas?

A little base i'm building in the alien slime:

How about making some mundane creatures (you wouldn't bring onto a space colony) into [FANCIFUL] creatures which [DOES_NOT_EXIST], so the colonists can still like, hate or make images of them while leaving them out?

Will do. Also, i'll add modern symbolism - spaceships and stuff to descriptor_shape_standard.

[darkflagrance]

Maybe make Soylent the roast and make "Rations" the stew?

Thinking rival human factions or aliens? You could also have a civ of robots, directed by rampant AI akin to an ant queen. In theory, you could also create a livestock animal called a "Nanobeast cluster" whose being born and growing is a simulation of assimilating matter from the environment and splitting into various swarms. Nanobeast clusters could then be 'butchered' to leave behind parts that could be processed for plastic, metal or other resources you mod in.

[Julius Clonkus]

Holy crap, how come I didn't think of that? Multiple corporations colonizing a planet, each specializing in a special field. People with toughness enhancements are more likely in a Mining corporation, memory enhancements are popular among a Science corporation, etc.
Giving the respective civs individual equipment would be awesome.

Spoiler: Ideas for creating differences between the factions (click to show/hide)

Mining:
-"Workshop" with reactions which show what kind of resources you can find in what stone (absurd amounts to make the reactions impossible to do)
-protective gear
-tougher people

Science:
-"Workshop" giving information on important lifeforms and other factions
-more productive plants
-smarter people

Military:
-Bigger guns
-better armor
-stronger people
-dependant on trade for advanced resources

Also, I just thought about having Construction kits which are quite pricey, but contain all materials you need for simple buildings and can be unpacked in a workshop (this would be most useful for embark to prevent clutter of the embark inventory screen).

Spoiler: Example: Personal quarters (click to show/hide)

Code: [Select]

level 1     level 2
#####     .....
#ΘÆπ#     .....
#...+     .....
#╥╤<#     ...¢.
#####     .....50 bars of plastic (assuming plastic will be a metal and not a rock)
1 bed
1 plastic box
1 plastic chest
1 plastic throne
1 plastic table
1 plastic hatch cover

[Lancensis]

How about a Nuclear Reactor?

[Julius Clonkus]

How about a Nuclear Reactor?

As far as I know, you currently can't make workshops create or use energy, but I think making a nuclear reactor create energy cells which are then used up in a reaction on the custom workshops (energy cells for advanced technology perhaps?), leaving behind an empty energy cell which can then be filled again.

[Deon]

The forge looks a bit ugly because i can't use the ']' symbol in a building

You can, you just have to specify the tile number in the curses_square_16x16.bmp or whatever file you use. The first tile is 0, the last tile is 255. Note that to specify a tile through the number you shouldn't use quotation marks.

So "1" will show your tile as 1, and 1 will show your tile as the second symbol in your character set (because the first one is 0).

I also have a Starcraft mod, so some critters/items may be useful for you, tell me if you want it.

[Kadath]

The idea of a species with a queen was neat, so i made one based on that: the "females" are large, unmoving brains - the only intelligent part of their society. They constantly split of "males", lots of small wormlike attackers without intelligence. Tried them out in adventure mode, seems to works okay; i don't really want to give them babysnatcher though. Is there any other way to get them always violent?

Edit: Also, i need a name for them! Something evil & alien. Hm.

I have energy cells, the phaser rifles need them to function. They shoot the cell itself though, a bit silly 
Added rations, and thinking about one another human faction. Too many becomes a giant hassle to handle; you have to change them all if you want to tweak humans etc.

[Kadath]

The forge looks a bit ugly because i can't use the ']' symbol in a building

You can, you just have to specify the tile number in the curses_square_16x16.bmp or whatever file you use. The first tile is 0, the last tile is 255. Note that to specify a tile through the number you shouldn't use quotation marks.

I don't wanna count through all those tiles, bleh  Still, very good to know.

I also have a Starcraft mod, so some critters/items may be useful for you, tell me if you want it.

Never played starcraft... Still, making creatures isn't that hard once you learn to avoid the mistakes.

[GregHayes]

Starcraft is well-stocked in common space opera tropes, so a Starcraft mod would probably be a good resource.

By the way, is it really necessary to call it a "phaser" rifle? Phaser is really a term unique to Star Trek (I think it's even trademarked) - if you must have the common human weapon be an energy weapon, what's wrong with just calling it a laser?

[Dr. Melon]

Railguns could replace Crossbows - they fire hardened metal pellets at very high speeds, so you can produce many of these pellets and use them just like bolts, and use the Railguns as crossbows. Very easy to implement, and quite realistic too.

[GregHayes]

Some form of hyperkinetic weapon would probably make more sense than an energy weapon, true.

[Morrigi]

Tiny projectile/contact area, ridiculously high penetration and velocity... I wonder how the game would handle that.

[daemoria]

I'm all for you having mind worms in this mod. I don't exactly remember alpha centauri, but i remember messing stuff up with my massive worm masses.