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[NRDL]

This is my first topic in Suggestions, so forgive me if this sort of thing has already been suggested or is physically impossible to add into the game. 

This is just a vague idea I had.  If the Toady One every decides to add the other main races ( humans, elves, goblins ) to fortress mode, it would be cool if each race had a rather unique society and gameplay.  Here they are:

Humans

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The gameplay ( such as building, crafting forging and fighting ) will essentially be the same, but the biggest difference would be this.  You know how when you make a Dwarven fortress, you control every single sane dwarf?  That wouldn't be the case here.  You will not automatically control every human in a city.  For example, you have a founder.  This single person will be the only one you will always have total control over.  How do you control the other humans?  By using conversational skills, you can befriend and persuade other humans to obey you as their leader.  However, this also means you will have enemies.  A.I. controlled personages ( their personality will decide if they're power hungry or not ) will attempt to convert other humans to their cause.  Potentially, you could have a city in full civil war.  In dwarven fortresses, the threats are often external ( sieges, megabeasts, etc. ).  In a human city, the threats come from within

Goblins

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I have read in the devlog that Toady One will allow your dwarven armies to roam the world map, challenging other settlements and empires.  Goblins army campaigns will be pretty much the same, only making war on other settlements will be absolutely integral to your survival.  In goblin mode, lets say that your goblins cannot farm or mine or something like that.  The point is, they cannot grow or make an important resource themselves.  To gain this resource, they must raid other settlements.  Essentially, the ambushes and sieges and baby snatching will be the same, only you control them. 

Elves

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I've had the most difficulty trying to imagine what it would be like to lead a band of elves.  Currently, my idea is this.  Instead of living in a fixed location, the elves you control would be nomads, traveling from forest retreat to forest retreat.  You know how, in a dwarf fortress, the elves visit and could get mad at you for chopping too many trees?  In this mode, you would control them, and if you discover a particular settlement or civilization has chopped one too many trees, you get a casus belli to declare war on them.

So yeah, these are just general ideas.  Even if it is possible to put in these ideas ( and assuming Toady will entertain the thought of adding them ) it's going to take a lot of code and a LOT of work.  It's just something I thought of, and I hope that it's a good suggestion.  I'd love to hear any suggestions and criticism so that this idea may be improved.   

[Batgirl1]

Hmm, there might be something here, but I'm not sure about the suggested implementation.  For one thing, having a race that *cannot* produce its own resources seems awfully limiting.  Maybe they can't do it as easily, but it should still be an option.

I like the idea of nomadic traveling, but that might drain memory something terrible.  I don't know exactly how DF handles all the facts and figures of the world when you embark, but given that a large embark zone causing lagging, having the whole world as your campsite might be too much.  Maybe there's a way to do it, though?

I also don't think we should mess too much with how different races are controlled/ordered since that would get too confusing.  However, a different society setup that tweaks what they *do* with your orders...that does sound cool...

[GreatWyrmGold]

First, let's consider the racial images in DF.

Dwarves: Hard-working alcoholic ferroholic latin-for-diamond-a-holic short warrior-folk.

Humans: Greedy tall people who are somewhat claustrophobic.

Elves: Slender people who love trees and somehow make stuff out of wood without harming them, and don't give a crap about eating people.

Goblins: Evil people who serve demons and raid others.

Kobolds: Very small kleptomaniac carnivores who aren't bright enough to make their own weapons.

So, I suggest the following:
Humans are more strong-willed, bringing the least of their complaints to their leaders, which can help avoid tantrums. Conversely, they get unhappy thoughts from being underground.
Elves can somehow draw wood from trees without harming them and shape them into stuff. They also butcher sentients. They prefer sleeping under the stars and get sad thoughts from seeing most kinds of buildings.
Goblins are full of backstabbing and hate. They have trouble farming, so they hunt and raid for food. They prefer not to craft stuff but can if they need to. Goblins can also summon lesser demons, maybe greater ones too with a blood sacrifice.
Kobolds can send out thieves. They don't mind sleeping on bare stone or soil as long as they're inside.

[Batgirl1]

Elves can somehow draw wood from trees without harming them and shape them into stuff.

Personally, I just figured that they only harvest trees that already died of natural causes. 

[Yoink]

I'd say, rather than having goblins unable to harvest or craft their own stuff, (which would be silly) instead give them a need to fight, so that you have to lead your gobboes to war to prevent them tantruming from boredom and killing each other.

[NRDL]

I'd say, rather than having goblins unable to harvest or craft their own stuff, (which would be silly) instead give them a need to fight, so that you have to lead your gobboes to war to prevent them tantruming from boredom and killing each other.

That sounds cool.  Goblin tantruming would be ten times as bloody as Dwarven tantrums.  But I still stand by the "goblins can't make everything".  They need to raid and pillage other settlements because they cannot make some stuff themselves.  In sieges and ambushes, the goblins don't have top of the line armor and weapons right?  They can create very basic tools, armor and weapons, but if they want the better stuff, they're going to have to take them off a dwarven corpse. 

[IT 000]

I'd say, rather than having goblins unable to harvest or craft their own stuff, (which would be silly) instead give them a need to fight, so that you have to lead your gobboes to war to prevent them tantruming from boredom and killing each other.

That sounds cool.  Goblin tantruming would be ten times as bloody as Dwarven tantrums.  But I still stand by the "goblins can't make everything".  They need to raid and pillage other settlements because they cannot make some stuff themselves.  In sieges and ambushes, the goblins don't have top of the line armor and weapons right?  They can create very basic tools, armor and weapons, but if they want the better stuff, they're going to have to take them off a dwarven corpse. 

What about kidnapping children? If you kidnapped, say a dwarf, said dwarf should be able to forge dwarven weapons.

[NRDL]

I'd say, rather than having goblins unable to harvest or craft their own stuff, (which would be silly) instead give them a need to fight, so that you have to lead your gobboes to war to prevent them tantruming from boredom and killing each other.

That sounds cool.  Goblin tantruming would be ten times as bloody as Dwarven tantrums.  But I still stand by the "goblins can't make everything".  They need to raid and pillage other settlements because they cannot make some stuff themselves.  In sieges and ambushes, the goblins don't have top of the line armor and weapons right?  They can create very basic tools, armor and weapons, but if they want the better stuff, they're going to have to take them off a dwarven corpse. 

What about kidnapping children? If you kidnapped, say a dwarf, said dwarf should be able to forge dwarven weapons.

My thoughts exactly.  If, for example, you managed to kidnap a dwarven baby and raise him or her to adulthood, you could have the dwarf ( who is a goblin citizen ) do all the normal work of the dwarves, allowing the goblins to have items like masterwork adamantine weapons and armor.  This brainwashed individual could easily become the vast valuable member of your goblin settlement. 

[Nil Eyeglazed]

I'd say, rather than having goblins unable to harvest or craft their own stuff, (which would be silly) instead give them a need to fight, so that you have to lead your gobboes to war to prevent them tantruming from boredom and killing each other.

That sounds cool.  Goblin tantruming would be ten times as bloody as Dwarven tantrums.  But I still stand by the "goblins can't make everything".  They need to raid and pillage other settlements because they cannot make some stuff themselves.  In sieges and ambushes, the goblins don't have top of the line armor and weapons right?  They can create very basic tools, armor and weapons, but if they want the better stuff, they're going to have to take them off a dwarven corpse.

One way to handle this is to say that it's not that goblins can't make quality-- it's that they can't recognize quality.  So they don't have masterwork armor, not because they can't make it, but because they can't see the difference between +armor+ and -armor-, so there's no point to them ever levelling up a smith and protecting him.  This is sort of appealing to me because DF goblins don't seem after the goods, but just after the babies.

[NRDL]

I'd say, rather than having goblins unable to harvest or craft their own stuff, (which would be silly) instead give them a need to fight, so that you have to lead your gobboes to war to prevent them tantruming from boredom and killing each other.

That sounds cool.  Goblin tantruming would be ten times as bloody as Dwarven tantrums.  But I still stand by the "goblins can't make everything".  They need to raid and pillage other settlements because they cannot make some stuff themselves.  In sieges and ambushes, the goblins don't have top of the line armor and weapons right?  They can create very basic tools, armor and weapons, but if they want the better stuff, they're going to have to take them off a dwarven corpse.

One way to handle this is to say that it's not that goblins can't make quality-- it's that they can't recognize quality.  So they don't have masterwork armor, not because they can't make it, but because they can't see the difference between +armor+ and -armor-, so there's no point to them ever levelling up a smith and protecting him.  This is sort of appealing to me because DF goblins don't seem after the goods, but just after the babies.

So you may a master goblin smith, but you can't tell if the objects it makes are good or not?  It sounds interesting.  I imagine this when I think about it:

This is an iron spiked mace.  All goblin creations are of dubious quality.

That way, you can only tell if a particular weapon is better than another weapon is by how many more kills the wielder of the weapon has.   

[Bohandas]

The general idea of this topic seems sound.

[ApolloCVermouth]

Elves should be able to heal gruesome injuries supernaturally quickly through their knowledge of herbs and whatnot. It would be cool if, by staying on good terms with the elves, you could trade for medicines that would spare your dwarves from their clumsy medical ignorance.   

[Nil Eyeglazed]

Golden salve fits in that nicely.  Whenever Toady figures out what to do with healing herbs, that's already in-- both the elves, and the trading.

[nanomage]

elves may only eat sapients they kill. They find it unthinkable to just take a sentient corpse and butcher it.
Goblins do not eat at all and i seem to remember Toady writing somewhere that it'll stay this way.

[Bohandas]

elves may only eat sapients they kill. They find it unthinkable to just take a sentient corpse and butcher it.
Goblins do not eat at all and i seem to remember Toady writing somewhere that it'll stay this way.

IIRC, I think there was some kind of qualifier to the part about the goblins to the effect that they would stay that way until he could think of something batter