Sneak preview: http://brage.info/~svein/console.png
It's not useful for much yet, but it does give you quick access to the gamelog/errorlog, at least. More later.
I'm still extremely apprehensive about a Scheme console being integrated into the game (in case other info hasn't been mentioned, Baughn has been talking about wanting to implement a Scheme-based scripting console directly into the game).
There are arguments regarding the choice of scripting language itself, but that's not really my concern (there are other people, better educated than me in that matter, who could argue the point instead).
My concern is about allowing arbitrary scripting within the game itself. I'm aware that many games have this, including many I've played, but usually solely for debugging, cheating, testing, etc., never as something to be used as a gameplay mechanic.
Baughn has told me that much of the purpose of this scripting (aside from debug purposes) is to allow, say, better fortress automation, or otherwise for use as a gameplay tool.
But here's the thing. DF is already seen as somewhat impenetrable and elitist. There is a damn good chance that immediately after a feature like this is introduced, people would begin using it to compensate for shortcoming's in the game's interface. This might seem like a good thing on the surface, but I can nearly guarantee people new to the game (and some old) feeling a bit put-off by the seeming fact that they would have to learn an obscure scripting language in order to play the game to its fullest. We already have this situation with utilities like Dwarf Therapist to some degree, but those are 1) something you just download and run, requiring no particular skill on part of the user, and 2) not available by default, and as such do not necessarily reflect on the game itself as much.
If something like this were to be implemented, some assumptions would need to be met, and I'm not confident that they would be. Most importantly, the scripting system available in-game
should not be able to do anything particularly gameplay-relevant that cannot be handled intuitively through the game's user interface. This might seem like a strange thing to say, but if this is not true, then you get the situation I mentioned above; the game
does not need to come off as any more impenetrable than it does already, and players (especially newer ones) asking "Wait, so I need to learn how to program in order to tell my dwarves how to <
insert some fairly intuitive task here, like changing crop planting patterns automatically every year, or changing military orders under certain conditions>?" would not be very good for the game's reputation. And you have to admit, they'd be completely justified.
This is the kind of thing that sounds like an amazing idea at first, and having a console for debug purposes is
not a bad idea by any means, but the potential use of the scripting for gameplay/fortress-control purposes has some implications that need to be considered very, very carefully beforehand.