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[Lemunde]

There's been some discussion about studded weapons since the big update earlier this year. Specifically I'm wondering if, for example, a silver mace studded with lead would do more damage than a normal silver mace due to the added weight?

[piecewise]

My desire to play this version only increases with every post and devlog.

On an unrelated note

Is the eventual, long term plan to make it so most things are represented in tag form in the raws and that very little is expressly hard coded?

also

Is it possible that we'll ever get the ability to spawn the randomly gen'd fun stuff, forgotten beasts and titans in arena mode? I don't know how difficult it would be to make that work, since I don't know how the generation process for that functions or if it's possible to have it gen the creatures on the fly like that. It would be a really neat thing to have though, just to play with in the arena.

[Misterstone]

Hello everyone... sorry if this question has been asked, I did go back several pages and try to find an answer to my question, but it seems like a pretty obvious one so I won't be surprised if someone has already asked it.  Anyway, my question is this:  Will sneaking adv. mode characters who ambush targets that are oblivious to their presence get aimed shots?  In other words, if I sneak up on an enemy goblin, it does not see me, can I get a free aimed shot with a high bonus (maybe not quite the same as if he were helpless), in essence a "back stab"?

The cool thing about DF is that while in other games they hard-code it so stabbing weapons are best for back stabbing, in this game the damage system already models this!

*edited to add highlights since apparently this is a new question(?)*

[thvaz]

Hello everyone... sorry if this question has been asked, I did go back several pages and try to find an answer to my question, but it seems like a pretty obvious one so I won't be surprised if someone has already asked it.  Anyway, my question is this:  Will sneaking adv. mode characters who ambush targets that are oblivious to their presence get aimed shots?  In other words, if I sneak up on an enemy goblin, it does not see me, can I get a free aimed shot with a high bonus (maybe not quite the same as if he were helpless), in essence a "back stab"?

The cool thing about DF is that while in other games they hard-code it so stabbing weapons are best for back stabbing, but in this game the damage system already models this!

The other games are like D&D, DF is like GURPS in this regard.
But this is a good question, I'm not sure anyone knows it apart from Toady.

If you want to make questions to Toady, mark them with the lime green color so he can see it in the multitude of posts and derailings.

[Footkerchief]

There's been some discussion about studded weapons since the big update earlier this year. Specifically I'm wondering if, for example, a silver mace studded with lead would do more damage than a normal silver mace due to the added weight?

Have you confirmed that there's an actual weight difference?  As far as I know, there isn't.  Decorations like studs are immaterial, or more precisely, they're nothing but a material.

Is the eventual, long term plan to make it so most things are represented in tag form in the raws and that very little is expressly hard coded?

That's the ideal, but there is no overarching plan to un-hardcode everything.  In general, "data" lends itself to raw files and tags, while "logic" doesn't -- eventually you need a scripting language.  Toady has indicated it's possible that things might go in that direction, but again, no concrete plans that I know of.  Here are some quotes that discuss the motivation for leaving specific aspects hardcoded:

Like many things, I'm starting off hard-coded [with hair/beard styles] because I don't know what I need and it would be a waste to raw it before I know.  The annoyances here are mainly how much I might end up allowing descriptions to be placed before or after other words and wherever in sentences -- I might not do much of it now, but the more that's mutable, the less I'm eager to raw it until I'm really happy with what I've got.

The fortress ratings are still hard coded, and the land holder levels tie to those like they used to (for example, trade, production and fortress (pop+job variety) ratings have to hit 3 to get the first land holder level.  That kind of thing can be brought out over time.  My main focus here was just to salvage as much of the existing system as possible without having to extend the overhaul, while getting the positions themselves all out into the raws.

Yeah, the current workshops have stayed where they have always been, in the exe.  For the most part, they don't interact with the reactions at all.  The main stumbling block here is the interface for the jobs, which often occurs in two steps, etc., which is something that's not supported by the custom workshops setup.

Is it possible that we'll ever get the ability to spawn the randomly gen'd fun stuff, forgotten beasts and titans in arena mode? I don't know how difficult it would be to make that work, since I don't know how the generation process for that functions or if it's possible to have it gen the creatures on the fly like that. It would be a really neat thing to have though, just to play with in the arena.

I'm pretty sure there's no technical reason it can't be done -- it would just be kinda crappy since the creature list would have fifty types of anonymous forgotten beast, and so on.

[Lemunde]

There's been some discussion about studded weapons since the big update earlier this year. Specifically I'm wondering if, for example, a silver mace studded with lead would do more damage than a normal silver mace due to the added weight?

Have you confirmed that there's an actual weight difference?  As far as I know, there isn't.  Decorations like studs are immaterial, or more precisely, they're nothing but a material.

I'm not sure if there's a way to confirm it or not but based on some of the discussions I've heard it's a common belief that there may be a difference in weight. It may be too small of a unit to be represented in game which would also suggest the damage difference would be very slight. Honestly I haven't done much testing in this area. I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.

[Neonivek]

Thanks Toady for answering our questions.

Thanks Threetoe for answering one of my questions 

[Mel_Vixen]

Like Australia? Would be nice actually. 

[Neonivek]

Like Australia? Would be nice actually. 

Hmm maybe I should restore my question...

Which was about Bandits eventually becoming Civs onto themselves.

[Orkel]

Can you add some randomness to armor penetration? Now that you're cleaning up the stuff, it would be nice to slightly randomize the current "material X always beats material Y" system. How hard would that be to add in? Maybe add a certain percentage of randomness to material strength in the hit calculation?

[Mephansteras]

In the dev log story you got attacked by goblins who were part of their civ and not just bandits. Were you at war with them? If you'd been a goblin of that civ, would you have encountered them? I'm just curious how it handles actual civ patrols with regards to your adventurer and your reputation.

[thvaz]

Can you add some randomness to armor penetration? Now that you're cleaning up the stuff, it would be nice to slightly randomize the current "material X always beats material Y" system. How hard would that be to add in? Maybe add a certain percentage of randomness to material strength in the hit calculation?

Toady wanted to add material damage when he was working on them, just had no time. The system will be alright when he comes to it.

[Cruxador]

Fixed item values will probably disappear entirely this month or soon after.

Best news in a while.

[PermanentInk]

Another option would be to just refluff adventurer-mode item-naming as something that society does and not you -- "Bards now sing legends of your sword, calling it 'glosseramdung!'"  Maybe only a message that you get when completing a quest or something like that.  It could even be a reward.

I guess having your enemies do it would also work in that way.  Then you'd have your nickname from the enemies, the name for your weapon, and the name for your distinctive armor, and your ferocious goblin-hunting dog.

Oh, I love this.  Better yet, a weapon could be known by different names to different entities; imagine long heraldic introductions with the rattling-off of numerous fancy titles for the weapon, its wielder, etc.  Awesome!

[monk12]

Fixed item values will probably disappear entirely this month or soon after.

Best news in a while.

hee hee! Next update might get me into adventure mode, but the update after is gonna pull me right back out!