This is the concept for a simple terrain mod that I have been musing with lately, to give the game a wonderful and terrifying new flavor without so much adding anything or changing the mechanics, as by just rearranging everything into hellish parody instead.
I am not yet sure exactly what to edit or where to begin, however, and I fear it will take a bit more tweaking than I am familiar with. Thus, I thought I would post here in hope that modders and veterans alike might come along and share their insights into game modding, as well any complimentary ideas of their own.
Here is what I would like to achieve:
(*) A barren, stony surface world running with rivers, lakes, and seas of magma. All stone on the surface layer would be magma-safe, and ought to appear exactly as it does in the depths (in erratic, disorderly veins).
- Fire rain to scour the earth.
- Plagues of the demons normally relegated to Hell, to roam freely overland alongside magma-beasts and undead terrors. (this part seems easy enough- I just edit/add certain qualities to creatures in their respective objects raws, and change their biomes)
- A few fire-proof trees.
(*) Uneventful mid-layers of more uniform stone, much like that found in the upper sections of mountains in vanilla Dwarf Fortress.
- If possible to control, caverns at this level would be small, and mostly filled with water.
(*) Lower layers where stone transitions into soil.
- Spacious caverns filled with mud and water.
- Classic underground wildlife with enhanced functionality (such as the vermin hunting, etc. for a world potentially without cats).
(*) Impenetrable, icy depths- frozen subterranean seas in slade caverns.
Misc:
*Magma aquifers
And that's that.
- Ibid