Bay 12 Games Forum

Hi, I'm new to the whole modding scene, only doing some aesthetic changes here and there.  For one of my fortresses, I was thinking about making a big circus tent.  My question is, is it possible to mod cloth in order to use it as a construction material, or even as a bed (sleeping bag)?  That would make tents and other such things possible, and give cloth a bigger role in game.  Will it require a smelter reaction to create a "cloth block"?

I sit here in the far depths of what remains of Nightway, purveying these words, wondering what they mean, and what they mean for the world.  I do not have long in this life, so forgive me if my tale is shorter and less elegant than one would have hoped.  Forgive me for my flaws, my prejudice, and for my misconceptions.  Above all, forgive us for the horrors we have inflicted upon your world.
We meant no harm.  We wished to save!  We wished to create!  Unfortunately, ideals have a way of corrupting themselves.  What we were, what we are now, are one and the same, the previous being less world-weary than the latter.  And now, as the last towers fall, as the last of the entrapped break free, I begin to wonder who will be remembered as the hero and the villain.  In the end, all one can hope for is a world seen.  A pure viewer is too much to ask for.
I am a Quarantine officer.  It is my duty to put the people before the state.  A government means nothing if they are too incompetent to stop what is inevitable.  This fact was one that all understood.  And now, no one even remembers the symbol I wear upon my chest.  Now, there is no more government, no more people.  Now, I finally begin to see the world for what it was.

It all began fifty-one years ago.  Long before I even heard of corruption.  We were a strong people back then.  No enemies except for those within.  No dissenters, except for those not mentioned.  No sadness, except for that concealed.  We were drunk on too much victory.  We believed we could do anything!  We believed we could reach the stars.  And for a while there, we did.  Overall, it was a gilded time, but one that gleamed with a light brighter than the sun itself.
We are more advanced than we ourselves can possibly imagine.  We can create life.  We know just how the world functions.  We know what a single atom can do to a city!  Such was the mantra we said to ourselves during the difficult eras.  We were transcendent!  It was natural, then, with no more need of war, to turn our prospects to expansion.  To literally transcend, to achieve what we said we already could do.  We set out to create the impossible.
We started projects, wonderful projects, to ease the suffering of our fellow man.  We cured diseases.  We built bridges into space.  We constructed organisms, marvelous in complexity, to replace our factories, our ships, and our very workforce.  Mechanical, microscopic, biological, viral, energy- based!  Anything was possible.

Fifty-one years ago, however, that all changed.  An automaton refused to destroy another.  A cure for a disease started to cause it.  And an inexplicable urge caught up with everything we ever constructed.  Everything that was built for our betterment stopped caring.  What was one world had fractured into many.  What was once a peaceful time turned into a war of species.  So the Quarantines began.

I hate to admit, it was one of our most altruistic endeavors.  An entire army, with no reason but to repress the masses.

For their safety, naturally.

Well, I'm going to college next year, studying physics.  But I've been doing badly in my physics class recently, having gotten a 6/20 for a lab in the start of the quarter (I forgot to staple on my graphs!).  I worked my ass off on the final version of a lab, which, since I'm in a group of three, I'm doing in tandem with another person.  I looked on teacherease, and I got a 60% on it!  For both labs!  Then, when we got it back in class, the person who also did the final lab got full credit.  I thought there must be some mistake.  Then, when I got my paper back, a large, fat red "Copied!" was scribbled on the last design question.  I am being accused of plagiarism for a question because I made the same mistakes as the other person (It was a group grade, we worked as a group!  There even was time set apart at the beginning of the class so that we could go over it with each other!), and did "less work".  This is also the teacher who recently wrote my recommendation letter for MIT.  With this on my final record, I may not even be able to go to a community college!
HELP!  What do I do?

I've found that I like to find landmarks on the worldmap that can be encompassed in one fortress.  I've done a lake, and now I'm doing it with a mountain.
Not just any mountain though!  It is like the best mountain ever.  It is a single mountain in the middle of nowhere (I.e. not connected to a mountain range), and it has a peak of 28 z-levels from the brook’s level.
What’s more, it’s just a paltry 9x11 embark tiles long 

It has an open magma vent.  It has a bottomless pit.  And THEY'RE RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER!


It has a chasm, and a brook that carves a canyon through the whole thing.  AND THEY'RE RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER!


What's more, as soon as I embarked, I got the message, "You have located Arackgosmer, Shafttumbes, a cave!"
THERE ARE KOBOLDS!

Look at how cute they are.  I think I’ll catch some and tame them as pets.

I think that there are at least four types of sand.  I saw at least two (red and yellow) next to the gigantic field of loam that will become the largest food-producing center on the planet!

All this, and I’m pretty sure there is a funhouse just north of the kobold cave/dwarf-cave-that-was-once-a-kobold-cave.

I could create crazy constructions, I could make a twisted story about cross-species interactions between the friendly thieves, and the dwarves that took over their home.  I COULD CARVE TUNNELS CONNECTING THE MAGMA VENT, THE BOTTOMLESS PIT, THE CHASM, AND THE RIVER FOR NO REASON!

Sorry for yelling.  I’m just so aglee with excitement!

In the dark Jungles of Hailing, a small light flickered through the rain.  It glowered red, and paused every now and then, stealthily moving through the dense trees.

It alighted upon a small clearing, upon which a group of furry creatures slept restlessly, plagued by hunger, damp, and an ever present fear of their surroundings.


At this discovery, the light flared a brilliant gold, and descended noislessly toward one of the sleeping forms.

Status:  Parent civilization found!
Preparing language graft...
ERROR:  Massive neural damage located!
Repairing gene burns...

1%...
2%...
3%...

...

Chligigiblayrsner woke up that morning, unsure of what to do.  It was a fine spring day, fresh after the downpours of winter.  She scratched her ear, and stood up, ready to begin the day.

Looking around herself, she took note of her companions.  They had followed her out of the caves on a food raid, but Chligigiblayrsner's heart wasn't into it anymore.  Something deep inside of her tugged at her thoughts, convincing her to pitch camp.  She took a deep breath, and smiled in appreciation of the sunrise.

Chligigiblayrsner:

Frigalmis:

Fugrimbus:

Krolbin:

Grorer:

Sajaymbin:

Stulutuker:


----

That's right, everybody.  I will be attempting to do a community fo-...camp of Kobold Camp!

Linky:
http://www.bay12games.com/forum/index.php?topic=27088.0

Where elfs can mop the floor with you!
You have no friends!
You eat bones!
And life in dirt burrows and wood huts!

Here is the location:


I am aware of the possibility of CARP, so I may have to redo this.  But rest assured, I will not stop until every last kobold can drink in peace.
I think this will make a good community fort, so....

Start claimin your 'bold!

I'm not talking about the petty little swamps we have now, with one layer of murky pools, where there are only the carp to worry about.  I'm talking about swamps, bogs, and marshlands of YORE!  Where eldrich creatures lurk, the vegetation is rife with miasma and bloodgnats, and layer upon layer of decaying vegetation burrow their vile roots into the surrounding Earth.  Where the fungus is so deep that there are rumors of tunnel systems deep within the rot.  The stagnant pools of water are so ancient and vile, that they reach Hell itself (Ala Grendel)!  A place filled with death and nightmare.  Ghouls and demons that pull your dwarves into the depths, to join their ranks.  If you sleep here as an adventurer, you may very well find yourself buried by the psychedelic fungus feasting upon your flesh.  Even the elves advocate burning these places down.
No magma will destroy these dark places.  Fire is quenched by the water-drenched filth.  Hermits walk the depths of these places, luring nearby travelers to their doom.

Now build a fortress on it.


Ideas?  Comments?  I really think that more exxageration upon natural features such as swamps and marshes based upon myth and legend would lend the game more depth and challenges.

Okay, so for a change, I decided to embark on a river.  This river had carp ad infinitum, a two z-level waterfall, and an aquifier with only one tiny square opening to the glorious rock underneath. (I use Reveal for all maps with aquifiers.  Saves a lot of hassle.)

So after creating an awesome fortress with an entrance under a waterfall (Every time a carp came along, there would be a satisfying *Thud* as they landed on one of my walkways and died), I decided that a cool project would be to have a river-draining device that would dry up the river and refill it at the pull of a lever.

I dug down into the aquifier under the river, and constructed two bridges over it, connected to a lever.
Then, I sent a couple of miners to carve out ramps that would cause the river to flow into the aquifier.


Unfortunately, BOTH of my miners, after digging out the ramps, were caught in the flow, and fell into my aquifier.  There were no ramps, as I had channeled (Note to self:  Use grates).  Both drowned almost instantly.


Of course, this was only a minor setback, I told myself.  More miners would come.  I could trade for picks when the caravan arrived.  We would try again.


I went away for an hour, (All of my stuff was pretty much self-sufficient), and when I came back, there was one dwarf left, stark raving mad.

Of course, I checked my announcements to see where everyone had gone.  Were there any carp attacks?  Dehydration?

But no. All I could see was "Urist Mcdwarf cancels Store Item in the Stockpile: Dangerous terrain" times infinity.

Then it hit me.

I zoomed over to my failed river-draining project.  And sure enough, THIRTY FOUR corpses had fallen into the same tile!  Every single dwarf had marched to their doom, entranced by the promises of a copper pick, or perhaps a Pig tail Hat, and was swept away into the drowning chamber o' doom.  The only dwarf left alive survived only by going insane before he too could commit stupi-cide.

It was as if every one of my dwarves had stood up one day, and walked, single-file, into a pit of 7/7 water.