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Author Topic: The Earth Strikes Back Mod (now available in mod releases)  (Read 2922 times)

Dirst

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The Earth Strikes Back Mod (now available in mod releases)
« on: October 14, 2014, 12:18:04 am »

Welcome to my first mod release.  This post is supposed to be a replica of what it will look like when it is released for real in the mods subforum.

Please let me know what you think, what doesn't work the way you think it should, and what doesn't work at all!



The Earth Strikes Back!

A mod for Dwarf Fortress v40.08 and later.



Requirements:
- Dwarf Fortress v40.08 or later
- DFHack 40.08r2 or later

This mod includes new creatures, some new high-value gems to balance the risk posed by the new creatures, new workshops to mitigate the risks, and graphics for both Stonesense and the main interface.


Background:
The world is flush with life, anywhere and everywhere we witness an endless variety of living things.  Not only do we see birds in the sky, beasts on the ground and fish in the sea, but ancient trees burrow into the earth itself for sustenance.  Some, such as the Dwarves and Goblins, are aware that life is as boundless below the surface as above it, filling great caverns with fantastic plants and animals and peoples.  Life, it seems, is everywhere.

From where does all of this life come?  Doubtless the gods forged it originally, striking upon the anvil of the world with unimaginable crafts to create the infinite variety of living things we see today.  To those races that have tamed even the simplest metals, it is obvious that the seas and the soil are too soft a foundation upon which to forge anything of consequence... life must have been forged on solid rock.  But we do not to take this on faith... the Dwarves who mine into solid rock know that this is true.

When the gods forged the first life, their strikes were of such incredible force that even the forgotten embers possessed power beyond mortal comprehension.  These embers, buried deep within the rock, imbue the surrounding stone with the dignity and vigor of a living thing.  Fresh, hot embers are surrounded by Living Stone that can be quite dangerous if awakened by careless mining.  The smaller embers have cooled leaving behind Hidden Gems where they otherwise would not be expected.

Any miner knows that the surest way to prosperity is to strike the earth.  Wise miners know that sometimes the earth strikes back.


Features:
Hidden Gems
Small clusters of high-value gems lie hidden within the layer stones, and there is one Hidden Gem type for each of the 24 types of standard layer stone (the 25th and 26th, obsidian and slade, are special enough already).  They resemble common gems, but all are precious due to their special origins.  For example, Hidden Onyx is found within limestone and is much more valuable than common onyx.

Living Stone
Even smaller clusters of stone still burn with enough animating force to react when struck by a pick.  Sometimes there isn't enough force left to do anything more than scare the miner.  But often an Awakened Stone pulls itself free of the rock and attacks the miner.

Awakened Stones
A bewildering hybrid of flesh and stone, an Awakened Stone appears to be a boulder with a face and four long, clawed arms.  The core of this creature is nerve and muscle and bone, but it is covered in a thick layer of stone and has mud running through its veins.  Had it been left in peace, its iridescent eyes would have eventually solidified into Hidden Gems.  A single Awakened Stone is no match for a prepared militia, but these creatures usually turn up deep in the mines where the only protection comes from the miner's pick.

Tributes
Fortunately, Dwarves have learned how to pacify Living Stone so that the Awakened Stones that emerge are tame.  This is accomplished by building a Tribute workshop from three blocks of that layer stone and sacrificing a gem.  Each miner that sacrifices an appropriate gem at the Tribute will be at peace with any Living Stone he or she awakens.  An appropriate sacrifice is expensive: either a large gem or any cut gem of that layer's Hidden Gem.

Tribute is specific to a miner and a layer stone.  A miner who has made Tribute to Limestone will be at peace with any new Awakened Limestones he or she frees from the rock, but would still be considered an enemy by Awakened Granite.  Another miner from the same fortress would anger an Awakened Limestone unless he or she also made an appropriate sacrifice.


Installation:
This mod requires a little adjustment to match the graphics pack you are using.  The version uploaded at the above link is set up for the Phoebus graphics pack because that is the default in the Starter Pack.

Installation will be easier once the Starter Pack's mod loader matures to be able to handle Stonesense graphics.

1. Unzip the file on top of your Dwarf Fortress folder.  Ensure that you will be prompted before overwriting anything.

2. You will be notified that raw/objects/entity_default.txt already exists.  If you use no other mods, accept this overwrite.

3. You will be notified that stonesense/index.txt already exists.  Again, if you use no other mods, accept this overwrite.

4. If you do use other mods, copy the contents of raw/objects/entity_default.insert and paste them into raw/objects/entity_default.txt between the [PERMITTED_BUILDING:SCREW_PRESS] and [PERMITTED_REACTION:TAN_A_HIDE] lines.  Then open the stonesense/index.txt file to add the text tesb/index.txt on its own line.

5. If you do not use the Phoebus graphics pack, you need to perform two search-and-replaces in the raw/objects/inorganic_stone_tesb.txt file.  First, replace all instances of (Phoebus)[ with (Phoebus) and then choose one of the following:
5a. Replace all instances of (CLA) with (CLA)[
5b. Replace all instances of (Ironhand) with (Ironhand)[
5c. Replace all instances of (Mayday) with (Mayday)[
5d. Replace all instances of (Spacefox) with (Spacefox)[
5e. Replace all instances of (Vanilla) with (Vanilla)[

6. If you do not want to use the creature graphics (e.g., want to use ASCII only), delete the file raw/graphics/graphics_tesb_awakenedstone.txt (you can also delete the tesb subfolder if desired).


Future Development Plans:
1. Change something.
2. Increment the version number.
3. Go to 1.


Reference:
Hidden Gems
All Hidden Gems are precious (material value 40) and can be used normally for gemcutting and encrusting once mined.  However, when they are still in the ground their unmined tiles are indistinguishable from the layer stone around them, although a notification such as "You have struck hidden amethyst!" will be generated.  There are twenty-four types of Hidden Gem, one for each of the main layer stones in the game (the 25th and 26th, obsidian and slade, are special enough on their own).

    Hidden amber opal is found in sandstone.
    Hidden amethyst is found in gabbro.
    Hidden aquamarine is found in schist.
    Hidden beryl is a golden-yellow-colored gem found in marble.
    Hidden black opal is found in dolomite.
    Hidden bone opal is a beige-colored gem found in siltstone.
    Hidden cherry opal is a chestnut-colored gem found in rock salt.
    Hidden emerald is found in granite.
    Hidden fire opal is a scarlet-colored gem found in mudstone.
    Hidden garnet is a blue-colored gem found in gneiss.
    Hidden milk opal is a cream-colored gem found in claystone.
    Hidden onyx is a blank and white gem found in limestone.  Like normal onyx, it is colored "black" for game purposes.
    Hidden pinfire opal is a flax-colored gem found in conglomerate.
    Hidden pyrite is a silver-colored gem found in dacite.
    Hidden pyrope is a dark-red-colored gem found in slate.  Like normal black pyrope, it is colored "black" for game purposes.
    Hidden quartz is a cream-colored gem found in andesite.
    Hidden shell opal is an ivory-colored gem found in shale.
    Hidden spinel is a purple-colored gem found in diorite.
    Hidden sunstone is a red gem with yellow flecks found in basalt.  Like normal sunstone, it is colored "pumpkin" for game purposes.
    Hidden tourmaline is an indigo-colored gem found in quartzite.
    Hidden turquoise is found in rhyolite.
    Hidden wax opal is a flax-colored gem found in chert.
    Hidden white opal is found in chalk.
    Hidden zircon is a red-colored gem found in phyllite.

Note that material preferences for Hidden Gems are unrelated to the normal gems with similar names.  That is, a Dwarf with a preference for amethyst will not be impressed by hidden amethyst, and vice versa.  This is due to the same system that makes "gold" and "native gold" unrelated preferences in the vanilla game.

Spoiler: Technical details (click to show/hide)

Living Stone
Living Stone appears in single tiles within its layer and also as single tiles within clusters of Hidden Gems.  Visually, it is indistinguishable from normal layer stones (and Hidden Gems) until the tile is mined, although you will receive a notification such as "You have struck living andesite!"

When a tile of Living Stone is mined, the resulting boulder animates with motions that create a cloud of dust.  If the ember is still hot enough, an Awakened Stone emerges from the rock.  Whether that Awakened Stone is friendly or hostile depends on whether the miner performed a sacrifice at an appropriate Tribute.  If the ember is relatively cool, the stone collapses into loose rubble and disappears for game purposes.

Spoiler: Technical details (click to show/hide)

Awakened Stones
When Living Stone is disturbed by mining, it attempts to tear itself free of the surrounding rock to move about on its own.  You will receive an announcement like "Urist McMiner has awakened a creature of Living Limestone" if the miner previously made a sacrifice at an appropriate Tribute, and the Awakened Stone will be tame.  Otherwise you will receive an announcement like "Urist McMiner has incurred the wrath of an Awakened Limestone", and the Awakened Stone will be hostile.  If an Awakened Stone is hostile, it will remain hostile even if it later meets a Dwarf who made an appropriate Tribute.

An Awakened Stone appears to be a boulder with a face and four long, clawed arms.  Its surface is made of rock and its blood is mud, but while still animated it has organic fleshy innards with familiar bones and organs.  Upon death, an Awakened Stone reverts quickly to a normal boulder.
     
Awakened Stone
â
Urist likes awakened stones for their chiseled features.

In combat, an Awakened Stone is much more likely to bite than it is to use its claws.  Tame specimens can be trained for hunting or war, but they cannot breed.  Awakened Stones have a high running speed (60kph) but accelerate slowly, and they are not slowed down as much as other creatures by climbing or crawling (19kph).  They are also low-level building destroyers (able to destroy archery targets, slabs, statues, windows, wooden doors, and wooden hatches), making it that much harder to slow them down.

The creature tile for an Awakened Stone is â (although this will only be visible if the creature graphics are disabled).  The tile color is brown, dark gray, gray, light gray, or white depending on the stone type.

Spoiler: Technical details (click to show/hide)

Tributes
A Tribute is a 3x3 workshop constructed from three blocks of a layer stone.  The Masonry labor is required to construct a Tribute and the Mining labor is required to perform sacrifices at one.  These sacrifices are very expensive, so it is recommended that a Manager be used to assign a specific miner to the workshop to ensure that the intended Dwarf performs the sacrifice.

Each Tribute allows two reactions, either of which has the same effect upon the Dwarf performing the reaction.  The first reaction (shortcut lowercase-L) consumes a large gem, and the second one (shortcut lowercase-H) consumes a normal cut gem of the Hidden Gem associated with that stone.  For example, the Tribute to Marble allows "Sacrifice large gem (l)" and "Sacrifice hidden beryl (h)".
     
Tribute
 O O   XXX
  ∩    XXX
 O O   XXX

The Dwarf performing the sacrifice will be permanently affected by a syndrome (e.g., "marble favor") that has two effects.  The first effect is that any Awakened Stones that the Dwarf releases will be tame rather than hostile.  The second effect is that the Dwarf suffers half-damage from anything made of that stone, including falling onto a floor of that material.  Repeated sacrifices do not further reduce the damage.

Spoiler: Technical details (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: File list (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Change log (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Known bugs (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: October 17, 2014, 02:55:20 pm by Dirst »
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Just got back, updating:
(0.42 & 0.43) The Earth Strikes Back! v2.15 - Pay attention...  It's a mine!  It's-a not yours!
(0.42 & 0.43) Appearance Tweaks v1.03 - Tease those hippies about their pointy ears.
(0.42 & 0.43) Accessibility Utility v1.04 - Console tools to navigate the map

Dirst

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Re: The Earth Strikes Back Mod (alpha release for feedback)
« Reply #1 on: October 14, 2014, 12:20:42 am »

Reserved
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(0.42 & 0.43) The Earth Strikes Back! v2.15 - Pay attention...  It's a mine!  It's-a not yours!
(0.42 & 0.43) Appearance Tweaks v1.03 - Tease those hippies about their pointy ears.
(0.42 & 0.43) Accessibility Utility v1.04 - Console tools to navigate the map

Vattic

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Re: The Earth Strikes Back Mod (alpha release for feedback)
« Reply #2 on: October 14, 2014, 10:56:43 am »

If you give them FANCIFUL they should appear in engravings and similar for all civs, but their materials then can't be preferred by your dwarves.
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Dirst

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Re: The Earth Strikes Back Mod (alpha release for feedback)
« Reply #3 on: October 14, 2014, 11:03:08 am »

If you give them FANCIFUL they should appear in engravings and similar for all civs, but their materials then can't be preferred by your dwarves.
Thanks, that's a good idea, at least they won't be completely unknown to the world when your fort starts.  Dwarves already can't prefer Awakened Stone materials because they just drop a boulder (of the appropriate stone type) as their corpse item.
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(0.42 & 0.43) The Earth Strikes Back! v2.15 - Pay attention...  It's a mine!  It's-a not yours!
(0.42 & 0.43) Appearance Tweaks v1.03 - Tease those hippies about their pointy ears.
(0.42 & 0.43) Accessibility Utility v1.04 - Console tools to navigate the map

Meph

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Re: The Earth Strikes Back Mod (alpha release for feedback)
« Reply #4 on: October 14, 2014, 12:03:41 pm »

That is a very nice write-up. :)

So one miner spawns one awakened stone... so the best tactic is to get as many miners around the stone before you mine it, so that they can attack that one, single monster that spawns, right? There wont be a problem with 6 miners inhaling that stuff, or will there? :P
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Dirst

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Re: The Earth Strikes Back Mod (alpha release for feedback)
« Reply #5 on: October 14, 2014, 01:26:06 pm »

That is a very nice write-up. :)
Thank you.
So one miner spawns one awakened stone... so the best tactic is to get as many miners around the stone before you mine it, so that they can attack that one, single monster that spawns, right? There wont be a problem with 6 miners inhaling that stuff, or will there? :P
Spoilered in case the reader wants to find out the hard way.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: October 14, 2014, 01:30:53 pm by Dirst »
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(0.42 & 0.43) The Earth Strikes Back! v2.15 - Pay attention...  It's a mine!  It's-a not yours!
(0.42 & 0.43) Appearance Tweaks v1.03 - Tease those hippies about their pointy ears.
(0.42 & 0.43) Accessibility Utility v1.04 - Console tools to navigate the map

Dirst

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Re: The Earth Strikes Back Mod (now available in mod releases)
« Reply #6 on: October 17, 2014, 02:56:17 pm »

Thanks for all of the feedback.  The mod is now released for real in Mod Releases subforum.
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Just got back, updating:
(0.42 & 0.43) The Earth Strikes Back! v2.15 - Pay attention...  It's a mine!  It's-a not yours!
(0.42 & 0.43) Appearance Tweaks v1.03 - Tease those hippies about their pointy ears.
(0.42 & 0.43) Accessibility Utility v1.04 - Console tools to navigate the map