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[tfaal]

I'm curious why people assume inter-species breeding would be possible. This rarely works out very well in nature, usually resulting in sterile mutants. Unless people are suggesting that dwarves and elves and goblins are actually all different races of the same species? (seems unlikely, considering half of them are immortal)

Unless of course we're assuming a Wizard Did It, and in the DF world inter-species romance brings about perfectly viable half-and-half offspring. And thus Tigermen were born...

I think there has to be some aspect of magic involved, since that genie was taken out of the bottle when immortality (as you mention) was brought into play. That said, I still like the "sterile mutant" method of cross breeding. The only other options seem to be a world without halfbreeds or a world of poorly defined racial lines and mixed raced individuals being the norm. The former lacks panache, and the latter (though an interesting twist on the standard model) seems a bit close to reality for a fantasy world.

[tps12]

The only other options seem to be a world without halfbreeds or a world of poorly defined racial lines and mixed raced individuals being the norm.

There's also nature vs. nurture to consider. It's known that something as simple as diet has a huge effect on human height, for example, so lifestyle choices as extreme as burrowing underground or living among the trees could plausibly account for the physical differences between races.

[NW_Kohaku]

It's possible to do more crossbreeds than most people think.  Horses and zebra can cross-breed, for example.

Just look at dogs to see how much difference can occur in a single species - compare a chihuahua to a great dane or both those to a weiner dog or bloodhound.

But yes, magic is the only way to explain most of the serious threat creatures in this game, unless there's some scientific explanation for magma men I'm missing.

But I'm not really too terribly concerned with actual inter-species romance so much as having the ability for forts to function properly with members of different species.  Right now, if an elf or tigerman becomes part of your fortress somehow, then there isn't very much you can do with them, as they won't show up in many of the menus, they won't talk with dwarves, and you can pretty much be stuck with them being just haulers at best, or even just operate with the same functionality as simply being a tame animal.

(And having interspecies romance that cannot produce viable offspring would be worth having, anyway.  If a dwarf, say, fell in love with a mermaid for some reason other than her potential profit margin, but they could never reproduce, it might make for an unusual and interesting story.  Romances that can never really work due to the differences of species are pretty much the whole reason why mermaids became common and popular mythological creatures.)

[Aklyon]

I love that plan of mini-releases with bug fixes in between. Love it love it love it.

[Mel_Vixen]

I'm curious why people assume inter-species breeding would be possible. This rarely works out very well in nature, usually resulting in sterile mutants. Unless people are suggesting that dwarves and elves and goblins are actually all different races of the same species? (seems unlikely, considering half of them are immortal)

Unless of course we're assuming a Wizard Did It, and in the DF world inter-species romance brings about perfectly viable half-and-half offspring. And thus Tigermen were born...

Well interspecies romance is actually a big trope in crappy fantasy world and toady said himself he wants a crappy fantasy world simulator Hehe and for animal-people well it wasnt wizard ... it was the forrest spirit (read three toes "root").

Anyway in terms of species purity i dont see many problems. 99% percent of the memeber sof a species wouldnt even consider another species as viable mate , in nature the chance is higher thought if the number of the possible mates of your own species is quite low (atm that can be seen in polarbears thatstart to mate with grizzles). The chances to generate healthy offspring get quite lower the more genetic distance you have - crossbreeds between spiders for example demand special diets and have a lower growth rate.

Given that the number of crossbreeds is quite low in a population you can be sure that bulk population will clean itself just by outbreeding the genetical material. For a living population of crossbreeds that makes an impact on your entire species you would need a considerable number of them compared to the rest of the population and you would have to have them all in more or less one place where the genetical material can refresh itself without needing a influx of new material from the outside.

But back to topic:
Toady will the town map rewrite (shortterm release 1) just include renewed shops or will it be more in the direction of "district/alley" based placement of stuff. Like having a clothier-alley, a dyer-street or a jew-lane (these are real-life examples not some kind of political statement) where all people with the same job (or whatever) are concentrated? It makes only sense for bigger towns thought.

[freeformschooler]

I don't know if this question will ever be answered or not. It's a little bit silly.

Will we ever have body parts on otherwise inanimate objects? Winged armor that lets you fly, gloves flowing with magma as blood, and so on.

[Mel_Vixen]

Actually the question is quite good. I could imagine that statues could actually have bodyparts with proporions etc.

[NW_Kohaku]

While not "bodyparts" per se, I've seen this suggested before, as well: Objects that have components with different attributes.  It would also make for objects made of multiple materials, like more accurately modeling obsidian swords or the potential to make war hammers that are "lead hammers with a bluemetal shell" that would grant bluemetal the advantage of the mass of lead with the rigidity of the bluemetal.  I think I even saw something like that earlier in this thread...  (searching for it...)

[Armok]

I don't know if this question will ever be answered or not. It's a little bit silly.

Will we ever have body parts on otherwise inanimate objects? Winged armor that lets you fly, gloves flowing with magma as blood, and so on.

[The Merchant Of Menace]

I wish for my Elona wings now :s

[freeformschooler]

I don't know if this question will ever be answered or not. It's a little bit silly.

Will we ever have body parts on otherwise inanimate objects? Winged armor that lets you fly, gloves flowing with magma as blood, and so on.

yeah sorry I screwed up the hex and then left for a while, geeez

I wish for my Elona wings now :s

Primary inspiration.

[Mel_Vixen]

Uh hex? you know there is a colour selector in the post-edit windowish thingy. right next to the font-size. Just mark your text and hit "change color" where you can select limegreen for example.

[freeformschooler]

Uh hex? you know there is a colour selector in the post-edit windowish thingy. right next to the font-size. Just mark your text and hit "change color" where you can select limegreen for example.

Oh dang, you're right.
I never saw the lime green option. I see green > choose green > it's too dark > I'll type it out myself.
My problem solving skills are fabulous as you can see.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

THE MORE YOU KNOW

Also, more ideas for body part materials:

Gemstones flow with any variety of precious fluids, but you can't extract these fluids without destroying the gem in question.
A sword with a blade made of fire (ala Balors from Genesis) and a hilt made of something decidedly fireproof.
And so on.
Of course these things are all very silly and improbably but the possibilities would be endless!

[NW_Kohaku]

How do gemstones filled with "bodily fluids" form, anyway?  (And do I even want to know what bodily fluid would be inside of gemstones that would be worth destroying a gemstone to get?)

[freeformschooler]

Perhaps in the same way we could have creatures with edible syrup blood (I remember a mod with that somewhere), we could have microcline filled with +Microcline Syrup+. Viola, no one has to hate Microcline anymore!

Honestly I'm not sure what all is possible with tissues and bodily fluids. I'll have to look it up on the wiki.