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« on: April 07, 2010, 05:14:37 am »
It still seems silly that migrants aren't tied into all the civilization code Toady wrote. To me, the proper 'Dwarf Fortress' way to handle migrants is to tie it all into the world and word of mouth. Like everything else in the game, it should be simulated to an impressive degree.
1. Caravans (or the occasional expating dwarf) carry news of your fortress with them. This news can be positive (riches, prosperity, military victories, safety), negative (poverty, famine, fortress is a deathtrap), or somewhere in between.
2. Upon reaching any city at all, the news carrier, based on their social stats, their reputations, your pre-existing reputation (if any), and other stats, will impress upon the area a reputation for your fortress. This may be the first time anyone has ever even heard of your settlement, which makes it possible for people to decide to expat to you in the first place.
3. News will automatically travel to nearby settlements as regular people (not just caravans) move from town to town, with possibility of exaggeration and less impact as degrees of separation increase. Non-dwarven cities will carry the news just as well as dwarven cities. If any dwarves happen to be living in a non-dwarven city, they are more likely to migrate.
4. Unskilled migrants will be attracted to any new settlement because they are looking for an opportunity which is not afforded to them by a mature stronghold (where they're merely unneeded laborers). They're less likely to want to move to a well-off city, where their situation is unlikely to change.
5. Skilled migrants will be attracted to better-off strongholds, where their skills might fetch them a higher wage. They won't want to move to a fledgling camp, since the economy isn't likely to be ready for them.
6. Migrants travel in parties/waves for mutual protection. They also come with supplies for the trip, who's worth is determined by the economic status of their place of origin as well as their skills. When/if they arrive at your fortress, their remaining supplies become part of the stronghold stocks if the stronghold is in its socialist economic state (or the economy is turned off) minus any masterpieces they may have. If in a fortress with an economy, the survivors divvy up their items between one another.
7. Distance, intervening terrain, and intervening wildlife between player fortress and immigrant's point of origin plays a large factor in how soon migrants arrive or if they arrive at all. Farther settlements are less likely to stimulate migration due to the dangers posed by such a journey, though great enough reputation will do wonders. Distance and difficult terrain postpone arrival, causing a delay in migrants arriving at your doorstep. All three factors increase the chances of fatality, disease, or disability.
8. There is always a chance of a wandering group encountering your settlement completely by accident.
In action: Your fortress starts in Spring of 1050. By Winter of 1051, a Dwarven caravan arrives and trades goods with you. Summer of 1051, that Caravan arrives at Istam, a Dwarven stronghold, and nine people, mostly peasants hoping for a better life, as well as an artisan and a gem crafter hoping to make names for themselves, start the long, dangerous journey for your new home. They leave with nine backpacks, food, drink, a few weapons, perhaps a pack animal if they are well off.
In Spring of 1052, five migrants make it to your gates: The four peasants and the artist. Along the way, two of the peasants have gained novice skill in hunting. One has gained novice skill in herbalism. The artist has become a dabbling cook. One of the peasants has a dead left arm, though he is alive. The artist has contracted an illness, though your doctor will hopefully be able to nurse him through it.
The other three peasants and the gem crafter perished along the way, a story these immigrants will tell to the dwarves already in your stronghold. In fact, the artist will craft plenty of artwork depicting his journey, just like artists do for anything that happens IN your stronghold.
Doing it like this seems to fit the Dwarf Fortress schema far better than anything else. Your doctors get practice with pre-injured migrants. People playing on a desolate world (or one with few civilizations) get few migrants. People playing on a tiny island get NO migrants. People playing in a deadly, evil-filled world get few migrants, but the ones who survive are going to be armed and strong, as Darwin's law dictates they must be to survive such a trip.
I built up epic quantities of everything, and it actually demoralises me because there's so much of everything, it no longer seems special in any way. Before, I'd get all excited and think, ooh what will I make from my limited platinum supply? Now its like, whats the point, I can make anything.
