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Therefore it is fun that one of the elven civs (in one of the posted worldgen dumps) worshipped a god that contained Beard in his name...
The only way I can imagine the fort-mode-speed system working better is if fort-mode-control (possibly involving the mouse) is also implemented, allowing to issue a move order over a distance and look as the character walks. In combat, the faster the action's over, the faster you can get back to it.
The thing is, it's hardly "real" time, as you still can't act (and thus can't look around, any other way would be impossible with the way the interface works), and you would still get the message dump after it's all done. The only solution I can see is artificially slowing down the sim, and allowing "streaming messages" while unconscious or otherwise missing a turn. You can't build a comprehensive system on exceptions alone, the system has to work as a whole - thus, the streaming messages would, in fact, be less informative, as you would have to look through the log to see what happened exactly, for example when many enemies attack you.
In general, I think the easiest change to conform to the request would be a "slow-mo" init option to slow down the sim so that you can see how the situation develops, as well as a small realtime message system that does not pause the game in the said slow-mo mode.
Or what is the basis of your suggestion?
Combat and other messages pausing the sim will make "out time" that much longer, especially if you don't quite care for the details that you can find out by viewing the message log later (even after your demise). Limiting the sim to fort mode speed will ANNIHILATE Adv. mode FPS, because even with the sim as fast as it is, moving around town with a low speed lags the controls very much.
edit: hm, reread your post. You want low-speed characters to, what, have a minimum turn time of one DF step? I see no point in this... :confused:
[ January 28, 2008: Message edited by: Sean Mirrsen ]
I think in the future (of DF) all the levers and systems will be better off working this way.
A gearbox would have an ability to switch itself on and off (clutch), or provide power directly, or in reverse. They might be two different gearboxes, if that concept is difficult. Any item that moves will require a mechanical power supply to function - and will function without a lever, as long as the power is supplied. The direction of the said power (CW or CCW, specifically listed on the mechanical components) will determine how the item operates - raising or lowering a drawbridge, opening/closing floodgates, doors, hatches, bars, etc. A lever will be linked to a reversing gearbox that will shift the gear into the reverse of the active, thus toggling the operation of the item.
Applied to windmills, the less reliable supply, the system will be simpler - as the 'mills can be set to specifically produce CW or CCW power, and produce it constantly regardless of wind direction. Waterwheels, as noted, produce power dependant on the orientation of the flow, and orientation of the connecting axle. While more cumbersome in some situations, the waterwheels will thus allow such dynamic self-controlling floodgates.
Way to make a long winded post to explain a complex principle used to fulfill a simple need. 
I seek no easy route. 
On the subject of extract tags... why can skeletons be paralyzed? Also, ironmen and bronze colossi? I understand that skeletons, as such, are just a template that bases off normal creatures, but I though that the poison/paralysis issue was more thought through, since all the others (pain, stunning, bleeding, exhaustion) are accounted for. Ironmen and colossi I fixed in the said martial arts mod.
And, while I'm at it. Another tag suggestion, this time catering to the more bizarre modding possibilties.
[ATTACK:MAIN:BYTOKEN:LLA:shoot:shoots:0:1:HEAT][ATTACKFLAG_WITH_NOYOU][ATTACKFLAG_RANGED:CROSSBOW:dart:1:4:PIERCE][ATTACKFLAG_NOTARGET]
With_noyou means a message like "the something attacks with its something" instead of "the something attacks you with its something" that is used in conjunction with the following. Can be split into normal "with" and additional "noyou".
Notarget is from my previous suggestion on combat modification.
The ranged flag syntax is [flag:skill :projectile:damage:damage:damagetype].
The use of it is fairly self-explanatory. Apart from mecha and the like, allows to have spitting snakes and insects shooting darts.
During the creation of my martial arts mod, an issue has come up with a weapon - any weapon, even accidentally acquired - automatically switching on default behavior for being "armed" resulting in giants grabbing a sock of yours, and starting to bash you with it, negating most of the point of having improved melee attacks.
Maybe have a special tag for weapons that allows attacking in melee while the weapon is held? I mean things like staves. Both hands will be occupied by the staff, and it will be possible to attack with the staff while still attacking with the legs. As well, any non-weapon item will invoke the same behavior when wielded - any attack not involving a bodypart occupied by a grasp or object will be available.
Also, on a similar topic - why do creatures deadly by design attempt to grab you, as opposed to just whacking away, despite having no "grasp"?
), and then remembered a "feature" from the Elder Scrolls games, how different races called different races differently. Elves of all kinds referred to themselves using their name for the races, like dunmer, altmer, etc. The Khajiit are always khajiit, but there are subraces that are sometimes referred to.The basis of the suggestion - add name substitution tags to entities, much like bodygloss tags. In all speech, the names (or maybe even words) would be replaced with that in the tags. To keep it simple, something like [NAMEREF:drow:dark elf] will do, without taking plural forms or adjectives into account, relying on multiple entries for that.
This is mostly to "spice up" the dialogue. And to alter the weird introduction line "hello, human".
If you need your workshop workers to always work, set up a small pile adjacent to the shop, and turn off all unnecessary labours in the working dwarf's profile.
Copying all room designations to included items is a bad idea, unless there will be a way to auto-remove the designation from all those items at once. The current way works nice enough.
Dwarves are already sorted by their appearance date in the unit list.
Sets of clothes have been discussed. No use to fix just clothes, general "order macros" should be added instead.
A "Complaints department" is a nice enough idea, though I think it also was already brought up.
Workshop descriptions are barely needed. They are easily memorized, and a comprehensive help system is something that the Wiki currently substitutes. Toady has plenty of more important stuff to work on.
Haha, rofl... imagine the "coffin-signpost" with the same message...
"This is the resting place of Urist "Don't pull the lever" Barrelpusher"...
Edit: or is it impossible to assign coffins to pets? Then do the usual, and custom-name the cat after it's dead, so the coffin still points in the right direction.
[ January 27, 2008: Message edited by: Sean Mirrsen ]
While you discovering a dark goblin citadel and finding a "Kind Lovely High-Temple of Flowers" is reasonably fun, the fact that "Kind" and "Lovely" are evil-relative terms, and that "Flowers" refers to a particular man-eating variety, would not be very easily presented to the player, and thus the goblins' dark style is somewhat compromised.
