Right now i have chosen a VERY menacing embark in order to test glass weapons/armor. And guess what? IT HAS NO SAND. Dammit, it took me a long time to get a 3x3 flat+sinister+volcano+river+metals+soil+flux and such embark! Apart from that i am having a very slow start thanks to xen infectors (who killed half my dwarves and started a tantrum spiral) Well, i will test glass a bit later it seems
Anyway, some info/thoughts i wanted to share (hopefully it will have some purpose):
1.Decieded to try concubines out
1)They have tons of social skills --> they are always getting the mayor/expedition leader position.
2)They can be drafted into the military. I actually take 5 of them in the beginning in order to have some militia.
3)They can be transformed into anything (golems, shadowmancers, etc).
4)They can do basic labor (like mining).
All in all - everything is ok apart from social skills. I think they need to be removed.
2.Automatons.
1)Apparently, they can die of old age.
2)They tend to get wiped out during world gen (at least for me, in 90% of maps there are none automatons present)
3.Glass and Gem items ideas:
!!!Bear in mind that this part was typed before 2d patch!!!
I wasn't able to test glass and gem weapon/armor properly (reason stated above), but i'll try to express my opinion on "what they should be"
1)Split glass in tiers. Green glass weapon - between bone and copper, but sharper. Clear glass - almost copper, but sharper. Crystal glass - 20% worse than iron, but sharper. The big jump between clear glass and crystal glass is because crystal glass requires rock crystal instead of sand.
2)Green glass armor - 20% worse than copper against slashing damage, bone grade against blund damage. Clear glass - copper grade defene against slashing, between bone and copper against blunt. Crystal glass - iron grade for slashing, copper grade for blund.
3)Gem weapons - i've thought about something like "between iron and steel, but with a twist". Maybe make them very sharp or give them special abilities? (like old runic weapons had)
Concerning changes: Green glass => iron -20%, clear glass => iron, crystal glass => steel -20%
I think that you made glass too much OP now
. Glass is very easy to get and it is actually free. I'd like to see glass as makeshift weapons that are only good for slashing (but wont suck horribly compared to rock).
4. New rune system:
Great
Had no chance to test it but i will try it asap. The only concern i am having is about golden rune. Wont removing tags like [NOPAIN] make killing megabeasts and creatures like GCSs very easy? And gold is pretty common for the enchantment it provides. What about making gold remove other immunities (like poison immunity)? To make other runes/poisons more valuable.
5. About the "what metal do you go for" poll:
Actually, steel is indeed easy to go for IF you have an easy embark. Well, easy embarks should be easy. If you choose a place without tons of metals/flux/fuel you are going to have problems with mass producing steel. Thats why i said that steel crates are OP for their cost - 40 steel bars for "free" without all the hassle with slag/flux/pig iron. So i tend to go with the first metal i find (copper/iron) and then upgrade to steel when i have enough resources for that.
Now about some things i've noticed while playing:
1. Double "helms" reference in armor stockpike.
2. You can order armoks ward/mines/turrets when you embark. Didn't try it with armoks ward, but turrets and mines simply get placed near your wagon without a chance for them to be moved.
3. I had 4 different map and i had no option to order a dog while embarking. Had an option for ironclad dog though. Either am i extremelly unlucky (had a map without plump helmets..huh) or you've messed something up
.
4. Drake scales now go to the refuse stockpile and have a bone sprite (phoebus tileset).
5. Standart "easy build" embark profile contains animals of the same sex. I guess thay cant breed this way
.
6. Turned regional weather ON:
1) Evil region: got a constant dwarf blood rain that makes my dwarves go crazy with cleaning themselves.
2) Good region: got a cloud of boiling gold that ripped all my dwarves to pieces.
I guess i can live without regional weather
7. In case anyone is wondering about new "random" creatures, here are some examples:
Gonna test new features now.