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Total Members Voted: 137

[Putnam]

not possible for a workshop to "create" an animal through a reaction?

and for numerous times before -.- i do -lurk- abunch on the forums but never seen it mentioned

MY BUTTON!

[trees]

MY BUTTON!

We really need a stickied thread with a list of things that can't be done with modding (yet) or something similar.

[narhiril]

I've been looking back through the training buildings and I realized that the morgue is not particularly useful.  It competes with the crematorium for resources, and after a few years, vermin become all but nonexistent in most fortresses.  Without vermin, there was no way to train diagnosis without using actual dwarves (lol), so I've gone back and added a "perform mock autopsy" reaction to this building which will train the skill for free.  The existing vermin autopsy reaction has been changed so that it will advance the skill significantly faster than the new mock autopsy reaction.

The process of exactly how this is done involves creating a large number of "dummy" products out of a special material that vaporizes at room temperature - similar to the alchemical disasters, but without any ill effects.  As a result, don't be too alarmed if you see a white puff of smoke coming out of some of your training workshops in the next version.  A dwarf caught in a "burst of the pungent scent of progress" is in no danger.  These reactions will still produce a slab of accreditation, as usual.

Modifying this old reaction with a new byproduct has also given me a reliable means for finishing another concept.  It is now possible for me to create "prayer" reactions that advance a skill by a variable amount (using percentage-chance products of this new material).  Conceivably, a dwarf could pray to Armok for a weapon skill with which to slaughter his enemies, and possibly receive a substantial bonus in a weapon skill (or possibly have all of the skin peel off of his face - Armok is a fickle god).  The only thing I haven't tested is the impact that creation and subsequent removal of a large (more than 20) number of rapidly-evaporating products has on performance.  Hopefully it's not anything worse than a minor hiccup.

Spoiler: Current (confirmed) changelog for v0.14e (click to show/hide)

-Added the Greater Demon of Famine. 
-Strengthened the claws and/or horns of a few spoiler-related creatures. 
-Revised the syndromes on a spoiler-related creature. 
-Empyrean carbuncles will no longer pose a friendly fire risk to other common war animals (jaguars, black bears, grizzly bears, dogs, and sabre-toothed tigers).
-Removed a duplicate description token from certain castes of carbuncles.
-Nephilim will no longer fly - instead, they will move at enhanced speeds as a sort of "limited flight capability." 
-As a result, nephilim caravans will now trade their goods with the dwarves.  Lore has been modified to accomodate this change. 
-Fixed a bug causing adamantine javelins at the advanced casters to require more bars than intended. 
-White gold can now be used for advanced mechanisms. 
-Added "perform mock autopsy" reaction to the morgue (trains diagnostics). 
-Vermin autopsy will now advance diagnotics significantly more than before.

This is a current (running) changelog of all currently COMPLETED features - it does not include a number of things that I want it to include as of yet.  I will update this with new features as they are completed.

[SalmonGod]

Will v0.14e include updated Ironhand graphics?

[Pan]

I saw something about lagging for Nephilim caravans on the front page just now. What's with that?

[narhiril]

I saw something about lagging for Nephilim caravans on the front page just now. What's with that?

Its an issue I noticed in a recent test fortress that seems to accompany the nephilim pack animals, causing the game to hiccup when they try to fly after their leaders - temporary, but irritating.  It's fixed for 0.14e.  I'm debating whether or not to split the upcoming release into 0.14e and 0.15a, so the poll will probably be changed sometime this week.  The latter (unfinished) part of this update includes a rather exciting new building that could conceivably take a few weeks to fully hammer out, test, and tweak.  It plays with some concepts I haven't yet tested thoroughly, including some new materials, ammunition, and a really bizarre idea for a piece of armor that may or may not end up working out.

"Tank" war pets will be included in 0.14e, but I have not yet decided on which animal or fictional creature to use as a base yet.  The armadillo was the first thing that came to mind, but I don't know how other people will feel about dwarf-sized armadillos accompanying their legions into battle.  Whatever I do end up deciding on, I'll make sure to make it immune to empyrean carbuncle friendly fire.

Will v0.14e include updated Ironhand graphics?

If and only if I can get permission for hosting them.  More on this as soon as its available.

[TheLinguist]

The armadillo was the first thing that came to mind, but I don't know how other people will feel about dwarf-sized armadillos accompanying their legions into battle.

Surely there's gotta be some extinct megafauna relative you can use... Ah, here we go, maybe a glyptodon?

[Imp]

The armadillo was the first thing that came to mind, but I don't know how other people will feel about dwarf-sized armadillos accompanying their legions into battle.

Surely there's gotta be some extinct megafauna relative you can use... Ah, here we go, maybe a glyptodon?

I'd be fine with that, myself.  Or a glyptodon, sure sure.  I admit to a certain fondness for the idea of pygmy ankylosaurus though... 

[Pan]

Too much mammals for war animals. Do reptiles and insects get some love?

Though the whole 'prehistoric creatures' thing we have here sticks well with the theme here. Hints that your not the first kinds of creature to walk the earth, and these are the remnants of the older beasts that have come and gone before you. (sentinels, sabre tigers and these armadillos from Ice Age)

[Dohon]

I'm a sucker for a "short-face bear". Wiki says: "A fossil of the South American giant short-faced bear (2 to 0.5 Ma.) species first found in 1935 in Argentina was re-examined in 2011, and found to be the largest bear to ever exist, weighing an estimated 1,600 kg (3,500 lb). The species was likely at least 3.4 m (11 ft) tall, and its humerus was similar in size to an elephant's."

Found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctodus

Still a mammal, but a bear about 3 meters tall and weighing over a ton ... Seems dwarfy to me.

EDIT: Some other fearsome critters over here:

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/anthropology-and-history/news-five-less-well-known-equally-savage-prehistoric-predators

[narhiril]

I'll look into some of these suggestions in more depth tomorrow.  Also, Ironhand has given me the green light, so 0.14e will include Ironhand graphics v0.60.

[Imp]

Not sure if this "detail" is from the graphics set or from the mod (or even from the game itself)...

Was showing my roommate who doesn't play some of the more enjoyable aspects of the game.  He likes blood, and started walking by the screen at random times and calling out "blood" whenever he thought he saw some (quite atmospheric, he's a cleric of Armok or something without even knowing).  Often he was wrong, so I'd k over this thing or that to show him what it was.

Most of my bloody squares were on grass, and was showing him the texture difference compared to other non-bloody red or reddish squares.  Suddenly he pointed to one of the bloody tiles and said it wasn't blood.  I showed him that it was bloody, and he stubbornly insisted it wasn't the pattern of blood, so we both looked closer.

Soon he was tantruming, because the texture of blood on grass looks like a bloodied sand tile "should" - and the texture of blood on sand matches the texture of grass tiles.  He continues to tantrum in the background as I type this, so I'm off to have another meeting with him.

[TheLinguist]

I can confirm that even in vanilla ASCII mode, a pool of blood has the same texture as sand (or magma, or water). I'm not sure if spatters of blood would wind up looking like grass or not when on sand, though - mainly because I haven't paid attention to that particular detail. It wouldn't surprise me if it does.

[SirAaronIII]

Spatters are just red .'s. Pools are like sand, and I think there's a level in between.

[narhiril]

A few ideas for the tank creature...  Looking for some feedback here.

---
Glyptodon - Seen here.

A nice, "prehistoric" version of the armadillo.  [ThatLinguist's suggestion]

---
Pygmy Ankylosaurus - Seen here.

A smaller version of one of my favorite dinosaurs, armored and ready.  [Imp's suggestion]

---
Arctodus - Seen here.

A giant prehistoric bear.  I like this creature a lot, but I'm not sure it really fits the role of a "tank" pet that I wanted here.  Nevertheless, a candidate for possible inclusion anyway.  [Dohon's suggestion]

---
Giant Armadillo - Seen here.

An inflated version of the common armored mammal.  Recognizable, but lacks some of the originality seen in other LFR creatures - and I'm not sure if Toady plans to include these on his own in the future.

---
Megalania - Seen here.

Immense progenitor of the modern monitor lizard.