I am prepping all the parts... or delegate to more capable people to prep for me
HTML/CSS wiki explaining everything
C++ dfhack plugins
MP3s/Plugins for Soundsense
Pixelart/Sprites for the graphics
Python GUI for the settings
DF Raws for the actual content
Tons of fancy interaction fun, for previously unseen features
Then I will combine everything. Maximum ETA: 2 weeks from now. I promise an Alpha in 2 weeks from now. I have ported all the easy stuff, buildings, 80% of the reactions, the plants, trees, inorganics, bodies, language files, but havent started on entities, creatures and interactions yet. These require more testing and will be done later. Not on the netbook. Plan is to realease an alpha, give people 1 week to play it. In the meantime I flesh out the new GUI (alpha wont include it) and the manual, add better descriptions, lore, that kind of stuff... in the meantime get the reports about balances, longer testforts and so on, and fix up a beta, again 1 week test-release, and then I want to make the full release, with finished manual and GUI. Total time till MDF2 would be 1 month then. Sounds good ?
Currently adding more content to the manual, and inventing the new magic system. Beastmaster and Druids for elven magic, Demonbound, (Necromancer/Puppeteer?) for Drow, Magmamancer for Dwarf, and Magikus and Witchhunter for human magic. Demonbound and Witchhunters fight btw, you shouldnt have both in the same room.
Beastmasters buff pets, make spiritbears, and are good melee fighters. You can only have one.
Druids are good farmers, buff treants, and sow treant seeds for friendly guard forests. Support unit.
Demonbound are epic-melee fighters. Very hard to obtian, might tantrum/berserk often. Has demonhounds with him.
Necromancers/Puppeteers would be an evil support mage, uses scarecrows/corpses. Unsure about that one.
Magikus is a healer, regen/speed aura, can resurrect dead dwarves.
Witchhunter nerfes undeads around him, melee fighter. Blesses dwarves so they cant turn undead after death.
Magmamancer are epic ranged units, but heavily fickle. Might cause friendly fire, might explode. Turn drakes into fire-drakes as familiars. Can learn better spells, 3 lvls.
All the mages are subject to change, but this is the general idea I have in my mind right now.
About the dfhack stuff: I also want to do custom announcements and pausegame-zoom camera on workshop for very special stuff. For example the mage transfomation, or when the philosophers stone is made, or the guardian of armok. Game pauses, camera shows workshop, textbox shows up and says: "The Guardian of Armok has awoken" or something. Similar to "Praise the miners." I just talked about it with expwnent about it. Can be done.
@Shingy: IF I manage to implement it? I tested it already, it works.
Thanks to expwnent, not me. I simply had the idea, and he the experience in C++ for it.