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[tfaal]

Before I start rattling off my various suggestions, I'd like to highlight a few points from the development page I found particularly exciting:

• Entity populations surrounding your fortress in appropriate environments, both above and below ground
• Ability to move dwarves in and out of surroundings
• Relationship with surrounding dwarves
• Ability to trade/demand food in depot or similar place with surrounding dwarves

In my opinion, these are some of the most interesting ideas on the list, because they will give a grand objective to each new fortress; becoming an absolute nucleus of dwarven society. With this goal in mind, here are some of my ideas on how dwarf mode could come to support it.

When you start a new fortress, especially in 40d, you may notice that your migrants tend to be completely useless. Let's Plays in particular have picked up on this, with a common speculation being that the absolute dregs of society have thrown themselves at your fortress, like some sort of cultural waste bin. This idea, fanciful and dorfy as it is, isn't too far from realism.

Let's face facts here; getting in on the ground floor of a new settlement is a potentially profitable but very risky proposition. Throughout history, those who partook of it have been those with nothing to lose; the broke, the convicted, and the batshit insane. When the settlement in question is run by a bunch of bipolar midgets who can't tie who their own shoes, this tendency is bound to be exacerbated. This little bit of dwarfonomics brings me to my first real suggestion; when your fortress wealth is low, you should get useless migrants. It makes sense, and it's Fun with a capital "F".

While the new arrivals at your fortress may be initially unseemly, this trend will cease once your site loses it's "get rich quick" appeal. As your fortress begins exporting goods, you'll start to see farms popping up in the map tiles around it. With these settlements sucking up the influx of peasant farmers and their related professions, those coming to your fortress will now be dwarves of higher status; miners, masons, metalsmiths -- people you might actually want in your fortress.

Those of you who've played around with DF's farming might notice a problem with this model. Namely, there's no need for farming settlements if a 200-dwarf fortress can feed itself from a tiny garden. In order to give these farms a reason to exist, we'll have to make farming harder. This does mean taking up more space, but it also means taking up more dwarves. At the start of the game, having one half of the population working the fields is probably reasonable, and will make your first satellite farm a big relief.

Once your fortress is a major producer, nobility will start trickling in. This is not a bad thing, because if the economics get modeled right, nobles will be a massive money injection. With the arrival of nobility, your fortress enters into it's third era, as a sizable number of highly skilled migrants come down the pike, hoping to make it big in your now sparkling city. But wealth and talent aren't the only things the nobles bring with them. They will also make your fortress a place of great political importance. As the pettier threats to your survival are steadily erased, your view must expand to deal with the unwanted attention your wealth has created.

Sadly, the empire building possibilities of fortress mode have been discussed at length, and I don't believe I have anything of interest to contribute on the subject. So for now, I'll just leave this little ramble as it stands, and let you lot voice your thoughts on it.

EDIT: Egads. I thought I proofread this.

[NW_Kohaku]

OH! That was actually something I meant to add to my own suggestion

In my social class suggestion, I wanted to mention that as your fort becomes more wealthy and stable, more dwarves with starting wealth will start arriving, including dwarves who arrive with actual wagons of their own personal furniture and luxury goods who arrive with at least middling ranks (8 or so) in the jobs they have.

[Hyndis]

This is actually planned. Toady intends that you will be able to conduct diplomacy and even engage in warfare with neighboring civilizations or sites.

[cameron]

one of the things i would like to see in fortress roles is where depending on location your fort could have different ways to survive say if you had a fort in goblin territory during a war you could play as an outpost where most of your supplies would be brought in but you would have to contribute soldiers to defend the area around your fort. The other way could work too where you are in charge of supplying an some outposts or major city with raw materials but in exchange you get gold or military.

all of these suggestions though need a much better economy

[tfaal]

Yeah, the nonexistent economy is definitely going to become a problem as more ambitious features get added. Hopefully entity populations can provide a stepping stone in that regard. It's much easier to make a homogeneous group steadily consume recourses than a collection of individuals.

[SethCreiyd]

This is actually planned. Toady intends that you will be able to conduct diplomacy and even engage in warfare with neighboring civilizations or sites.

I hope we'll be able to engage in warfare in our own sites.  Namely, the option to slaughter the Elves who have come to complain trade.  Not that such bluntness is necessary, but sometimes...

[Hyndis]

Why not just declare war on the elves, outfit armies of dwarves with weapons and armor, and send them marching off to war to conquer the elven cities?

This is a long term, ambitious goal of course. But its one Toady has planned.

[tfaal]

This is actually planned. Toady intends that you will be able to conduct diplomacy and even engage in warfare with neighboring civilizations or sites.

I hope we'll be able to engage in warfare in our own sites.  Namely, the option to slaughter the Elves who have come to complain trade.  Not that such bluntness is necessary, but sometimes...

You can do that right now. Just issue a kill order on the traders and grab some popcorn.
EDIT: In reply to Hyndis; That's a cool idea, but it also raises the question of whether your fort should have the power to declare war. If your the mountainhome, it makes sense, but anything smaller and the rest of your civ should probably side with the elves. Before that happens though, your leader would probably get forcibly replaced to avoid strife and bloodshed.

[SethCreiyd]

You can do that right now. Just issue a kill order on the traders and grab some popcorn.

Really?  Last time I tried that, it didn't work.  Thank you for the wonderful news.   

[FreakyCheeseMan]

I was thinking the "state" of your civilization should influence your fortress more. If your civilization is impoversished, plague-ridden or under the effects of war, that should influence your fortress, at least in terms of the miners you get.

Like, say your civ is currently losing a war; you'll get a *lot* more migrants, in the form of refugeess and deserters- so some military skills, a lot of families, and more "useful" skills than you would otherwise, as people that would normally have no reason to risk starting over would be forced from their homes.

On the other hand, were you winning a war, you might get far fewer migrants, as they'd all be striking off to claim newly conquered lands, or seeking a profitable career in the military- though, you might land in what counted as conquered territory, in which case you'd get a lot of skill less, unattached dwarves looking to strike it rich.

If the civilization were plague-ridden (please, please let that be coming), you'd again get refugees, though I'm less sure what type- probably a mix of likely-diseased city dwarves (jewelers, craftsdwarves, etc) and likely-healthy peasants and farmers.

Similiar changes would happen if your country were rich/poor, in the midde of a revolution (lots of cowed nobility seeking asylum), etc.

[silhouette]

Regarding war, there should be a meeting between the leaders of the civs, them discussing whether or not to declare war on said elves or not.
IT would regard personality traits and the trading between the towns.


And ild like to think that in the future we will have some sort of sim-city like neighbourhood relationship.
You know, where you can interact with the civs next to you, buying power, water, and selling such stuff... etc...
Though that seems to take place with caravans although not extensively enough, only one caravan per civ isnt great...

[cameron]

now im wondering how buying water would work, cause that seems like it would be useful and precedented  but would the dwarfs just build an aqueduct part way to your fort then you finish it or redirect a river at you and hope no one important dies, maybe loads of barrels?

[Deteramot]

now im wondering how buying water would work, cause that seems like it would be useful and precedented  but would the dwarfs just build an aqueduct part way to your fort then you finish it or redirect a river at you and hope no one important dies, maybe loads of barrels?

Urist McWatermanagement: "So, you wanted thirty thousand gallons of water? Okay, sign here."
Urist McMayor: "Very well. How will it be arriving?"
Urist McWatermanagement: "You'll see."

-Ten Months Later-

Urist McWoodcutter: "OH GOD I'M DROWNINGHSKJFDAKE burble"

Your Fortress has Crumbled.