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« on: November 30, 2009, 08:22:05 am »
This is mostly a boon for modders, but there'd be some application even in the stock game, to differentiate caravans a bit more.
As it stands, humans are sort of somewhere between elves and dwarves in caravans. They bring lots of stuff, as dwarves do; similarly, they let you make requests(even when the dwarves don't, because the ruler is there). They use metal, as dwarves do, but not steel. But their plant-based materials are all aboveground, as with the elves.
I think it would be nice to include in the entity defs a preference for certain materials and creatures. For instance, maybe the dwarves would have musk oxen as a common domestic animal, but would not have equines(horses, donkeys, mules). Perhaps only the elves would bring sun berries and some other nice plants and high-value woods(and there should be high-value woods). And with modded races, the dwarves might have their distinctive crop of underground plants, and new underground civs might have theirs. Further tags could determine how willing this civ is to sell their distinctive stuff and at what price, and how eager they are to purchase goods that they don't themselves have. Dwarves could dispense with puny sun-loving aboveground beasts entirely, in favour of giant moles for livestock and beasts of burden, and stranger things for the roles currently filled by cats and dogs(tamed lizards? Heck, tamed rats, even? They could probably be bred up to at least the match of cats - they can be vicious...).
Along with this, though, it'd make sense to make it difficult to actually acquire a stable population of renewable resources for yourself. A race might prefer to export its female livestock but keep their prize studs to their own herds, or vice versa; seeds for race-preferred plants(rather than just race-used, which could be a different tag) might rarely show up in caravans and fetch a very high price when they do. Where possible, civs would just prefer to give it out already dead and processed - you could get redroot dye easily enough, but actually getting an intact hide root would be more difficult, and you'd more likely get meat than livestock.
The degree of this might vary. Humans might not have much problem distributing plants, but could guard their livestock jealously, to the point that it might be easier to trap and kill a caravan(or at least a straggler therein) and cage/tame its burden beasts than to wait for them to willingly bring a breeding pair. Elves, in contrast, might not be quite as fussy at what you do with the animals, but good luck getting them to bring viable seeds... and you'd pay through the nose when they do. Again, better luck settling in a place where those plants are native(and getting other types from the humans).
In contrast, some races might be only too happy to see their particular commodities spread throughout the world, and sell them cheaply - but it might be that nobody really likes them(see also: sewer brew, gutter cruor). The main disadvantage of this would be that it takes up caravan space in the place of things you might rather see that caravan bring.
This would also make it more meaningful to have distinct entities in different biomes, but with the same race - the gregarious settled humans of the plains vs the guarded and wary semi-nomads of the desert, for instance. Not that I've tried having multiple entities with one race as it stands(perhaps I should)... but it would make sense. It'd also make trading a little busier, of course, but I don't think that's a bad thing.
Although I've mostly stated it in terms of organics, it could work for metals, too. Humans might value gold beyond all reason, perhaps doubling its base value, whereas dwarves might think it's pretty enough, but too soft to be of much use. Thus, you're encouraged to make gold items for the humans, but for dwarves? Good, solid steel.
(Edited because "material" in the title was misleading.)
