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[Starver]

Does Dwarf Fortress even have a prehistory lengthy enough to facilitate the existence of oil?

Well, I sparked off a Pocket Region worldgen (largely default settings, just removed the periodic weathering of extreme cliffs, for fnu!) which ended up doing something like losing its sole megasentient representative at year 32.

All my expeditionary dwarfs had something like "...has the look of someone of around <typical age of starting dwarf, all greater than 32> and is one of the first of [his|her] kind".  (Didn't check Legends or similar, but it seems that there's no elves or humans around to trade with... At least just yet, but I'm close to what I thought were elven and human settlements on the map.)

I suppose, technically, that could mean that there were no representatives of Nano Sapiens (as well as Homo Sapiens and whatever you want to label the elven line...) around until very recently, but oil-progenitor creatures are more like vermin than named/nameable creatures, anyway, and they might have been around long enough before the higher life-forms, right?

[Chthonic]

There's petrified wood to be found in layers deep underground.  So, yes.

The geology is a bit patchy as is, I would not take it as concrete evidence.

o_O

Now you're just being contrary.

[Mel_Vixen]

I suppose, technically, that could mean that there were no   representatives of Nano Sapiens (as well as Homo Sapiens and whatever   you want to label the elven line...)

According to the "shadow run" Pen and paper game its "Homo Nobilis". It would fit since we treat Elves like nobles.

Ok back to history: The year 0 could mark something like "neolithic revolution". Lets call it "Neo tribal" (or something like that) thus suddenly all the little dwarven familys and clans etc. get a divine flash (ancient texts speak of a "init_history()" ) and begin to form civilations and countrys.


As far as oil goes iirc it was used by the Babylonians as asphalt for the streets that lead to theyr temples etc. They had also used this stuff so much that Hammurabi (6th King, 1st dynasty) created a chapter for it in his lawcodes - around 1875 BC.

I would like to see Fossils too. With the existing animals and Plants and some of the engraving code mixed with the Gem-placing code you could create fossils of younger age. If you add a [extinct] Tag to animals in the raws you could also add much older creatures as fossils. 

[Starver]

According to the "shadow run" Pen and paper game its "Homo Nobilis". It would fit since we treat Elves like nobles.

But do we think they're Homos?[1]

I think I've tended towards Arbor Sapiens, or similarly themed.


I see what you did there, though... "Nab him, jab him, tab him, grab him! Stop that elven now!"...


[1] #include <fnar,fnar>

[Agamemnon]

The first I'd do if there was oil:

I'd try to drill for it in an ocean. (Obsidian caveins anyone?)
Then spill it all over the map.
Then light it on fire. =D

On a related note:
Fossils would also be cool... mine some in a terrifying biome and the miners are in for a skeletal surprise of the jurassic kind. 

[thijser]

Well I think oil will come into existance once toady has programmed more types of fluid. There are a few passble ways he could do this he could make fluids like stones so that everyone can create their own or he could just decide to make a way more selected amout.

[Agamemnon]

Ow... liquids mixing or even just flowing over each other... that will be FPS fun. So on second thought - we will probably not see that happen anytime soon.

It could be a contaminant though...

[Starver]

Ow... liquids mixing or even just flowing over each other... that will be FPS fun. So on second thought - we will probably not see that happen anytime soon.

It could be a contaminant though...

Hmmm...

Shale => Appropriate [Magma]Furnace-like workshop => oil/petroleum/etc?
Tars and pitches, also[1], maybe created, maybe natural seeps.

Brine.  Dumped into specifically designated ponds (would also work with sea-water, of course), on warm enough biome with enough consecutive rainless days produces haulable piles of salt.[2]  Consider also natural evaporite zones (and/or evaporite sedimentation layers being a worldgen creation... salt-mines that would react to water intrusion in an interesting manner roughly analogous to lignites/etc to fire...  FPS being the first victim of such an 'improvement', however.)

A number of other connate fluids of various usefulnesses or otherwise.

Overpressured gaseous pockets of non-hydrocarbon gasses (very rare, would need to have been flash-formed in some way)

Treacle mines (of either the [sickly] sweet or unpleasant type, your choice).

Your various fantasy stuff.  In keeping with DF's world of course, but I'm minded to mention "Fat deposits with BCGs" equivalents.  Also Jam Butty mines (well, perhaps stone layers weeping preserved fruit product, much as per the former type of Treacle mine, though if it's between two layers of semi-fossilised grain, it can't be much worse than Pratchettian dwarf-bread!  Or cylindrically folded to make close approximations to fossilised Swiss Roll...  Whoops, is that my imagination running away with me...)


[1] Maybe needs to be applied to wooden constructions to make them waterproof.  But if they ever burn, makes them even more !!FNU!! when exposed to heat.

[2] For trade, at least.  Not sure if dwarves like seasoning in their prepared meals, but (along with some fantasy-equivalents to pepper, mustard, various herbs) could be integrated as a minor component (might need to revamp food quantities) to 'zhoozh-up' in value/satisfaction any particular meal.  With the downside that certain dwarves might not like certain types of salty/spicy food and refuse to eat anything so treated.  And others (perhaps after acquiring a taste for something spicy) complain of blandness when there's nothing of that kind available.  Could be done similarly to encrusting with gems.  Don't know whether to suggest it affects speed of rottenness (or effective rottenness, I suppose, if it covers up 'on the turn' food, and might even allow early-stage rottenness in foodstuffs to be overlooked if also available in cooking).

[NW_Kohaku]

There's petrified wood to be found in layers deep underground.  So, yes.

The geology is a bit patchy as is, I would not take it as concrete evidence.

There's limestone, which can be very thick layers, which is created from the shells of prehistoric sealife.  See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limestone

In fact, sedimentary layers in general prove long-term geological activity, since they can only be formed by long-term geological activity.

Or, more to the point, there's coal - which is formed by almost exactly the same processes that oil is.

And thijser is likely right - the most likely reason that Toady hasn't made oil is that he doesn't want to handle coding in more liquids, since he is having trouble with the properties of liquids that "mix" - oil would obviously float on water, but it might be trouble to rerpesent and code, but then you have blood or alcohol (or lye or ammonia or urine) fluid types that mix with water causing even more problems.

Salt water doesn't even work terribly well right now, after all, as water is "desalinated" by touching only constructed walls.

[Shurhaian]

There's petrified wood to be found in layers deep underground.  So, yes.

The geology is a bit patchy as is, I would not take it as concrete evidence.

There's limestone, which can be very thick layers, which is created from the shells of prehistoric sealife.  See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limestone

In fact, sedimentary layers in general prove long-term geological activity, since they can only be formed by long-term geological activity.

As well, there are metamorphic layers of rock which is descended from sedimentary rock(shale -> slate, limestone -> marble, to name two off the top of my head), so there are even longer-term geological processes at work before the rise of civilization in DF worlds.

[Shade-o]

I've added oil shale as a valuable stone that can be processed, as well as underground fires that should cause coal and shale veins to occasionally burst into flame. I'm worried about caravans bursting into flame from carrying it, though...

Then again, I made a nuclear reactor so that I could smelt aluminium and titanium. Initial tests caused a mapwide holocaust.

[NW_Kohaku]

I've added oil shale as a valuable stone that can be processed, as well as underground fires that should cause coal and shale veins to occasionally burst into flame. I'm worried about caravans bursting into flame from carrying it, though...

Then again, I made a nuclear reactor so that I could smelt aluminium and titanium. Initial tests caused a mapwide holocaust.

That's why you should restrict your nuclear power experiments to miko-controled Nuclear-powered Hell Ravens that eat dead sun gods.  It's the only sensible thing to do.