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[Greiger]

I've posted in another thread some experiments I've been doing with fortress civ egg layers, and since this thread is convieniently here I'll repost what I found in testing so far. (testing is ongoing)

What I seem to have determined:
- Intelligent, civ races will use box nests.  Unlike what Toady One theorized would happen.

- The boxes almost immediately get claimed by a female.

- If the female has not laid an egg (recently?  At all?) she will immediately lay an egg in the box on arrival.

- If any stockpile is set to take eggs from the race the egg will be hauled there by the mother. Otherwise the egg will stay in the nest.

- the mother will spend all of her free time sitting on the nest afterward.  She will still go eat, drink, sleep, and work.  But will return to the nest instead of meeting zones when they have "No Job"

- If the egg is removed from the nest at any time, the mother will still own the nest for a time after, and still go to it until a short time passes (so far it appears to be about a season) after which the nest will become unclaimed again allowing a new mother to move in.

- The mother DOES NOT have to be married.  In-fact all of the nesters so far are unmarried.

What I haven't determined yet:
- Will the eggs hatch?  It has been a season and a half so far for the eggs that have stayed in the box, none hatched.  Rumor is that for chickens it takes only a season. But it may be possible that the date on the race's [Child:] tag may determine how long it takes for an egg to hatch.  It could also be that the mother is required to be married for the eggs to actually hatch.

- Are the race's eggs edible to the parent race? Due to other variables I am unable to test this.  My test race is [CARNIVORE] which seems to prevent the race from eating any eggs regardless, judging from the peahen eggs in the stockpile that so far haven't been eaten.

Maybes:

- Caste Relationship?
The egg may be related to the mother's caste.  The race being used in the tests have 10 castes. 5 castes with male and female of each.  And each egg so far is of the same caste type as it's mother. Gender is unfortunately indeterminate at this point.  However coincidence is still possible.

[G-Flex]

Someone on IRC had a player race that laid eggs, and he said they never managed to hatch. Perhaps this is related to how much time they spend on the nest, though?

Also, he said they would gladly cook and eat their own eggs, but this might be related to civ ethics.

[Scaraban]

Watching
<.< >.>

[Jurph]

You've got to be careful with eggs...

Posting to generate ovology bookmark

[D_E]

Is it possible to create a reaction that makes an egg?  And if so, could you hatch it, either where you made it or elsewhere?

EDIT  I've read that it's possible to make ane "egg" so far, but it's not a creature egg.  Looks like there's still some ways to go for my plans.

Yes:
This reaction makes eggs.  The game seems to recognize them as belonging to the specified species.

Code: [Select]

[REACTION:MAKE_EGG_ROCK]
[NAME:make egg]
[BUILDING:SOAP_MAKER:CUSTOM_T]
[SKILL:COOK]
[REAGENT:A:1:TOOL:ITEM_TOOL_NEST_BOX:NONE:NONE]
[PRESERVE_REAGENT]
[DOES_NOT_DETERMINE_PRODUCT_AMOUNT]
[PRODUCT:100:1:EGG:CREATURE:BIRD_CHICKEN:CREATURE_MAT:BIRD_CHICKEN:EGGSHELL][PRODUCT_TO_CONTAINER:A]
[PRODUCT:100:1:EGG:CREATURE:BIRD_CHICKEN:CREATURE_MAT:BIRD_CHICKEN:EGGSHELL][PRODUCT_TO_CONTAINER:A]
[PRODUCT:100:1:EGG:CREATURE:DWARF:CREATURE_MAT:BIRD_CHICKEN:EGGSHELL][PRODUCT_TO_CONTAINER:A]
[PRODUCT:100:1:EGG:CREATURE:BIRD_CHICKEN:CREATURE_MAT:BIRD_CHICKEN:EGGSHELL][PRODUCT_TO_CONTAINER:A]
Note that it produces a dwarf egg!  The bad news, however, is that the game doesn't notice that the egg box already contains eggs when it is constructed.  So these probably won't hatch.  A test is ongoing.

[Sphalerite]

It could also be that the mother is required to be married for the eggs to actually hatch.

This would actually make sense from a biological point of view.  Chickens and many other egg-layers can still lay unfertilized, sterile eggs even if they haven't mated.  A sentient egg-layer might find themselves having to lay sterile eggs periodically, even though they're not married or having children yet.  I have no idea if that's what's actually going on in the DF code, someone needs to embark with an egg-laying race and let some of them get married.

[G-Flex]

Correction: Someone needs to embark with a race where the females and males lay eggs.

[Greiger]

I have a married couple in my fortress,  I'll see if I can get the wife to claim a nest too.

The only problem I'm getting is that the goblins are due to show up any time, and I so far have no defenses to speak of.

[G-Flex]

Just wall yourself in, then. If you have farms, it should really be no problem, right?

[Greiger]

Carnivore race.  Farms don't help.   This is a normal play modded race I do that just happened to become test subjects when something I totally didn't expect to work worked.  But yea, walling myself in should give me enough time to conclude the current tests. I do have a decent meat supply, and a small horse breeding program.  Not enough to be self sufficient, but enough for a year or two of solitude.


In other news the married female in the fortress just laid an egg for SCIENCE!

I also seem to have confirmed the caste relationship. 4 more eggs, each one with caste matching their mother.  My bet is that they will all be female too.

[darkflagrance]

I have a married couple in my fortress,  I'll see if I can get the wife to claim a nest too.

The only problem I'm getting is that the goblins are due to show up any time, and I so far have no defenses to speak of.

I modded dwarves to lay eggs, and I had a married dwarf who came in an immigration wave claim a nest. But it's been ~two seasons since she came, and no eggs have hatched. Two females of my starting seven have been sitting on egg boxes for a year with no result.

I'm going to mod child to take one year and then retest. Male geese don't have the egg laying tags, so it's hard to see why they'd be necessary for sentient races.

[Bohandas]

What if you set a creature's eggshells to be made of gold, but have edible yolk/white?  Would you end up with eggs that could either be cooked or melted down?

Here's some raws that you can use for testing. I haven't actually tested them myself yet, but that's why I'm posting them; So that someone with a longer attention span can test their effects.

Spoiler: FABERGE_CHICKEN (click to show/hide)

[CREATURE:FABERGE_CHICKEN]
   [DESCRIPTION:A small domestic bird capable of flying short distances.  It is prized for its expensive eggs.]
   [NAME:faberge chicken:faberge chickens:faberge chicken]
   [CHILD:1][GENERAL_CHILD_NAME:chick:chicks]
   [CREATURE_TILE:'c'][COLOR:6:0:0]
   [NATURAL]
   [LARGE_ROAMING]
   [COMMON_DOMESTIC]
   [PETVALUE:10]
   [BENIGN][MEANDERER][PET]
   [DIURNAL]
   [HOMEOTHERM:10067]
   [SWIMS_INNATE][SWIM_SPEED:2500]
   [PREFSTRING:clucking]
   [PREFSTRING:scratching]
   [BODY:HUMANOID_ARMLESS:2WINGS:2EYES:2LUNGS:HEART:GUTS:ORGANS:HUMANOID_JOINTS:THROAT:NECK:SPINE:BRAIN:SKULL:4TOES:BEAK:RIBCAGE]
   [BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:STANDARD_MATERIALS]
      [REMOVE_MATERIAL:HAIR]
      [USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:FEATHER:FEATHER_TEMPLATE]
   [BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:STANDARD_TISSUES]
      [REMOVE_TISSUE:HAIR]
      [USE_TISSUE_TEMPLATE:FEATHER:FEATHER_TEMPLATE]
   [BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:VERTEBRATE_TISSUE_LAYERS:SKIN:FAT:MUSCLE:BONE:CARTILAGE]
   [BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:BODY_HAIR_TISSUE_LAYERS:FEATHER]
   [USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:TALON:NAIL_TEMPLATE]
   [USE_TISSUE_TEMPLATE:TALON:TALON_TEMPLATE]
   [TISSUE_LAYER:BY_CATEGORY:TOE:TALON:FRONT]
   [BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:EGG_MATERIALS]
   [SELECT_TISSUE_LAYER:HEART:BY_CATEGORY:HEART]
    [PLUS_TISSUE_LAYER:SKIN:BY_CATEGORY:THROAT]
      [TL_MAJOR_ARTERIES]
   [BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:STANDARD_HEAD_POSITIONS]
   [BODY_DETAIL_PLAN:HUMANOID_RIBCAGE_POSITIONS]
   [USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:SINEW:SINEW_TEMPLATE]
   [TENDONS:LOCAL_CREATURE_MAT:SINEW:200]
   [LIGAMENTS:LOCAL_CREATURE_MAT:SINEW:200]
   [HAS_NERVES]
   [USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:BLOOD:BLOOD_TEMPLATE]
   [BLOOD:LOCAL_CREATURE_MAT:BLOOD:LIQUID]
   [CREATURE_CLASS:GENERAL_POISON]
   [GETS_WOUND_INFECTIONS]
   [GETS_INFECTIONS_FROM_ROT]
   [USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:PUS:PUS_TEMPLATE]
   [PUS:LOCAL_CREATURE_MAT:PUS:LIQUID]
   [BODY_SIZE:0:0:60]
   [BODY_SIZE:1:0:1500]
   [BODY_SIZE:2:0:3000]
   [BODY_APPEARANCE_MODIFIER:LENGTH:90:95:98:100:102:105:110]
   [BODY_APPEARANCE_MODIFIER:HEIGHT:90:95:98:100:102:105:110]
   [BODY_APPEARANCE_MODIFIER:BROADNESS:90:95:98:100:102:105:110]
   [MAXAGE:7:15]
   [ATTACK:BITE:BODYPART:BY_CATEGORY:BEAK]
      [ATTACK_SKILL:BITE]
      [ATTACK_VERB:bite:bites]
      [ATTACK_CONTACT_PERC:100]
      [ATTACK_PENETRATION_PERC:100]
      [ATTACK_FLAG_EDGE]
      [ATTACK_PRIORITY:MAIN]
      [ATTACK_FLAG_CANLATCH]
   [ATTACK:SCRATCH:CHILD_TISSUE_LAYER_GROUP:BY_TYPE:STANCE:BY_CATEGORY:ALL:TALON]
      [ATTACK_SKILL:STANCE_STRIKE]
      [ATTACK_VERB:snatch at:snatches at]
      [ATTACK_CONTACT_PERC:100]
      [ATTACK_PENETRATION_PERC:100]
      [ATTACK_FLAG_EDGE]
      [ATTACK_PRIORITY:SECOND]
      [ATTACK_FLAG_WITH]
   [CASTE:FEMALE]
      [CASTE_NAME:faberge hen:faberge hens:faberge hen]
      [FEMALE]
      [LAYS_EGGS]
         [EGG_MATERIAL:INORGANIC:GOLD:SOLID]
         [EGG_MATERIAL:LOCAL_CREATURE_MAT:EGG_WHITE:LIQUID]
         [EGG_MATERIAL:LOCAL_CREATURE_MAT:EGG_YOLK:LIQUID]
         [EGG_SIZE:62]
         [CLUTCH_SIZE:4:15]
   [CASTE:MALE]
      [CASTE_NAME:rooster:roosters:rooster]
      [MALE]
   [SELECT_CASTE:ALL]
      [SET_TL_GROUP:BY_CATEGORY:ALL:FEATHER]
         [TL_COLOR_MODIFIER:BROWN:1]
            [TLCM_NOUN:feathers:PLURAL]
      [SET_TL_GROUP:BY_CATEGORY:ALL:SKIN]
   [TL_COLOR_MODIFIER:BROWN:1:BURNT_UMBER:1:CINNAMON:1:COPPER:1:DARK_BROWN:1:DARK_PEACH:1:DARK_TAN:1:ECRU:1:PALE_BROWN:1:PALE_CHESTNUT:1:PALE_PINK:1:PEACH:1:PINK:1:RAW_UMBER:1:SEPIA:1:TAN:1:TAUPE_PALE:1:TAUPE_SANDY:1]
            [TLCM_NOUN:skin:SINGULAR]
      [SET_TL_GROUP:BY_CATEGORY:EYE:EYE]
         [TL_COLOR_MODIFIER:BLACK:1]
            [TLCM_NOUN:eyes:PLURAL]

[Bohandas]

It could also be that the mother is required to be married for the eggs to actually hatch.

This would actually make sense from a biological point of view.  Chickens and many other egg-layers can still lay unfertilized, sterile eggs even if they haven't mated.

Exactly correct. I like to think of it as the avian equivalent of getting one's period...

[G-Flex]

It is and it isn't. Obviously, chickens don't menstruate and have nothing analogous to that at all, but they're both at least related to ovulation, which you just don't really notice (per se) in people because we don't lay big honkin' eggs.

Of course, that doesn't stop PETA from saying "EGGS ARE CHICKEN PERIODS!!" in all caps on their children's sites, but hey, who says political propaganda has to be grounded in reality?

[abadidea]

Okay, does anyone know if [LAYS_UNUSUAL_EGGS:<item tokens>] takes the place of [LAYS_EGGS] or is a subtag of it?