Bay 12 Games Forum

Quote from: GreatWyrmGold on January 11, 2013, 11:32:27 pm

We'll never get to the profitable stage if we don't go through an unprofitable stage first, though. Besides, each dollar spent provides a much larger impact to the economy, so there would probably be short-term benefits as well.

1) We understand the concept of investing for the future.  That is not our issue.  Our issue is that it's a bad investment.

Oh? There's a few important resources that are easy to get on other worlds, including one that we've completely run out of here.

2) While it's true that space exploration leads to economic impacts we could more benefits from targets closer to earth.

Perhaps. Depends on how well the colonies turn out and what "targets" you're talking about.

Think about the Scottish colony at Panama.  It wasn't an inherently bad idea.  But they jumped the gun and tried to make a colony with woefully inadequate tools.  The result was that they expended a lot of effort and got none of the benefits that a more viable colony would have given them.  Mars will happen if we continue to develop our ability to explore space.  But sending a bunch of underequiped colonists to die won't help.  It will just set us back.

Agreed...but we DO have the tools. Really, the only obstacles will be volunteers and radiation at this point.

As for minerals, well asteroids are easier than Mars. And robotic mine don't sound that hard. Remember, robotic doesn't mean entirely automated, once the asteroid is parked in orbit, you can remote-control the minebot. And since bots don't need stuff like air, food or vacations down on earth, they're much cheaper and effective.

However...what happens when it all breaks down?

As for land, I can't imagine a time when settling the Sahara would be harder than settling Mars. Having an athmosphere and protection from cosmic ray is pretty awesome. Or settling Siberia. We still got plenty of space on Earth when you think about it. And population is set to peak at 10 billions, so we're actually fine.

1. Mars is still bigger, and right on top of some great deposits of various minerals where you won't have to worry about the environment or neighbors or anything.
2. The Earth can't really support the 7 billions it has now, even assuming you're right...

Also, having humans just make everything more complicated. You might send them up once in a while, to fix somthing, but why on earth would you want a fully functional space station?

Simplicity. Also, to alleviate concern on Earth about robots functioning without human guidance. Assuming we're going farther than the Moon to look for asteroids (which are pretty uncommon around here), there's probably going to be a delay measurable in hours...

If we are going for asteroid mining the material we would want the most is water.  This is very simple indeed to mine, you just melt it down and filter it.

Unless we're setting up colonies, not a lot of need for water. Clean water? Sure, but a lot more than mining can provide, and mostly to areas which aren't suited for regular deliveries of asteroid water. Fuel use? I suppose that's useful, but I think that various metals would be considered more valuable.

We haven't considered the mass nerd migration factor. Whether that is worth it's last savory denizens is an interesting question.

Not just nerds. People who are bored of their dull lives; people reminiscing of colonial days; adventurous people; entrepreneurs; etc.

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That's frankly a stupid idea, made stupider by the fact that there's already a skill for just that goes all the way from Dabbling to Legendary+n

Because that is Bite-Fu not the basics on how to even bite someone.

That shouldn't even be a skill. It's kinda innate. If it was a skill, I'd be blinking from all the XP from it.

Knowledge of how to bite is inherently different from, say, scientific, literary, or magical knowledge, however. There's just not as much to learn.

Here's an inherent quality: A few clicks by just about anyone can make a pixel tileset. You need to understand vector graphics to make vetor tilesets.

Apprenticeship for dwarf training?  The more this is developed the more I like it...

Agreed.

I wanted to stay away from the technology analogy GreatWyrmGold because what Elves do is odd to us as a society and arn't using technology.
I was trying to explain how something that to us can seem like magic, could just be an ordinary everyday thing to Elves.

The techhnology analogy is perfectly apt.
"Oh, my, what is this strange device which speaks, listens, and replies?" "It's called a walkie-talkie."
"Wow, how can you make such excellent wooden goods? It's like the tree was grown to form a sword." "It was."

Adding homosexuality would not add anything to the gameplay, while marriage is only a part of the succession simulation as of now.

Actually, marriage is pretty much only used for reproduction. Once romance is added, though...this could fit.

But my Non Sequitor senses aside, homosexuality - though it may be something that should be added to the game (for many reasons) - should simply be left out until it's less taboo.

Hell, TALKING of putting it into a GAME with basically-genderless, marriageless mystical midgets is taboo! Maybe in five, ten years when we all look back and say "well wasn't that all silly," it should be talked about again, but right now I don't think a lot of people are ready. And I don't think Dwarf Fortress should be pushing those boundries. Just because Toady might not be afraid to make a game with controversial subject matter, it doesn't mean that DF needs to be that game. Not every body has to be a hero. Putting such material in Dwarf Fortress could hurt it, if only because of the amount of people who don't want it in.

Well, a few things.
1. Toady's already pushing the limits.
2. Homosexuality is probably accepted by a majority of straight people as of now, as long as it doesn't directly involve them.
3. Including homosexuality isn't a political statement in any way.
4. Games already include homosexuality.
5. DF's not ready for it yet. When it is, the world will be even more ready.

Mutate to infect humans with spores, which cause them to grow sheets of a paperlike substance. As well as spreading more spores.

Plants and lava don't mix. Well, unless you want ash.

Don't send Laskus to kill 100 orcs on his own. At the least, send Tiberius with him. Good bonding experience.