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[Agorp Stronden]

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/Themes/core/images/smflogo.gif

Axe equals pole and wedge...

Your wedge is facing the wrong way!

Doublewhead

[Draco18s]

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/Themes/core/images/smflogo.gif

Axe equals pole and wedge...

Two things:
1) There's an [img] tag for images for a reason
2) Why did you post that image?  It's the simple machines forum logo.

[Roraborialisforealis]

Agorp Stronden is to blame for this thread dieing.

[KharBevNor]

A metal blob on the base of your sword was not common, unless you're using a zwielhander, claymore, bastard sword or something.

Most of my experience is with dark ages swords (viking swords particularly), which tend to have fairly pronounced metal pommels. The term counterweight might be causing some confusion; the weight in the pommel does not completely counter the weight of the blade, rather it moves the point of balance a relatively short distance.

[Urist McCheeseMaker]

Generally, a good sword will have the center of mass somewhere 1/3 to 2/3 up the length of the blade. A heavy or light pommel can change the center of mass, and I'd guess that's why they vary in weight so much. Of course, a stabbing weapon -will- require for it to be closer to the guard so that the sword can twist and turn more easily, while a cutting weapon will want it further up the blade to get more mass behind each swing.

[Max White]

Hey I remember making this. That was ages ago, I'm surprised this has floated that well... Wonder if Toady has checked it out?

[ohgoditburns]

I wouldn't be surprised if something like this is in the works later on. Toady seems to be pretty obsessed with details.

[Roraborialisforealis]

I really wish toady would comment on things on his own forums.... Its sad  that he tries to stay invisible.

[Urist McCheeseMaker]

If a developer actually responds like that, people will start expecting him to do x right away. That's not a comfortable thing to deal with, so not many developers do it.

Also, huge necro there.

[Buttery_Mess]

The game tracks items pretty well, but not quantities at all. I mean, dwarves dig out a cube of solid rock, leaving a small 'stone'; where does all the detritus go? You can whittle an enormous boulder down to three stone cups; where does the rest go? You can melt 25 individual bolts down into more metal than was use to make them, and more than 25 bolts melted down into a stack. All animals have apparently the same amount of skin to be turned into leather.

You can't really have multi material objects until the game sensibly respects quantities. This wouldn't be too difficult to implement; rather than items being created from other discrete items, each workshop stores a certain number of stones, logs, metal bars etc. as total mass of material based on the material raws, and from this 'pool' of item masses, new objects can be built. Making a sword might deduct 2kg of silver, or 1.8 kg of iron or whatever (because it's the same volume) and 300g of leather, but an iron bar might weigh 20kg or something. You can see how this would work.

I'm sure anyone with at least a passing interest in programming will have noticed that Toady has an aversion to floating point calculations, and doing this properly would require division and hence floating point calculations, although you could get around this by having each workshop having a limited space for materials and assigning an arbitrarily high number for masses, and dividing by integer arithmatic, ignoring remainders.

[Draco18s]

I'm sure anyone with at least a passing interest in programming will have noticed that Toady has an aversion to floating point calculations

Floating point arithmetic is sloooooow.  Also inaccurate.*

Hell, even Flash cheats when it comes to the pixel positioning of an object.  It only has enough resolution for 1/20th of a pixel.  So it looks like floating point math, but isn't.

* (1/3) + (1/3) + (1/3) is not equal to 1.

[Roraborialisforealis]

If a developer actually responds like that, people will start expecting him to do x right away. That's not a comfortable thing to deal with, so not many developers do it.

Also, huge necro there.

I vanished from the grid for a few months, this was one of the threads I wanted to get back to. Truly sorry.

[SirHoneyBadger]

I've written some threads about this before--I think there's even a listing on the suggestions voting tracker--so I'm definitely in agreement with much more complex weaponry.

I only really see polearms (spears, halberds, etc.) being made in separate pieces (half/head) though, and even then, only the lower quality ones which I don't see dwarfs being that interested in. Requiring a log of wood would be nice for them, though, and other weapons might require a separate bar of metal, or some other material, for the haft, pommel, wrapping, etc. 

It would also be nice to allow for separate parts of a weapon to be decorated separately. For instance, adding multicolored silk ribbons or a dyed tassle of horse/beast hair to the head of a spear. Or placing a large gem into the pommel of a good sword (a nice use for all those big cut gems out there), or just a heavy metal skull-cracker.

There's a ton of variation that can be done to the blades of even the same basic sword/knife type. Blood grooves, serrations, forked points, engravings, folded blades of different kinds of iron/steel, a heavier "swordbreaker" back, acid treatments and other forms of quenching, lighter and heavier overall blades and custom balancing, just an endless variety.

With other weapons, there's even more options, and you can add such things as spikes, hooks, various different types and shapes of heads (and two entirely different heads on the same weapon, with warhammer, battleaxe, and pick heads), the list goes on and on. Maces are almost infinitely customizeable, and can be formed out of everything from simple hardened clay, to fine steel, to the bronzed skull of an enemy. 

[knutor]

I'm content with basic weapons and complex combat.  I like seeing limbs fly off.  I'd hate to see complex weapons drag the combat down to an uneventful snails pace.

As far as slings go, a sling should take 4 dwarfs to operate, two to hold the ends, one to cock it, and one to saddle-in for the ride.  It'd have to use great beast sinew, instead of ordinary leather.

As far as Advanced Weapons go, I've got one word, Magic.  War Magic.

[Dynastia]

As far as slings go, a sling should take 4 dwarfs to operate, two to hold the ends, one to cock it, and one to saddle-in for the ride.

I think you meant to say "3 dwarfs and an elf"