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Author Topic: Simple Mod: Nature+ Version 1.2  (Read 6896 times)

Lurksquatch

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Simple Mod: Nature+ Version 1.2
« on: March 29, 2020, 04:53:38 pm »

As the title suggests, this is just a simple mod I've been putting together off and on for the past two-ish years. It's probably not the most original or mind blowing, but I've had a lot of fun with it, and I wanted to share it. Before that, though, I do want to make note of a few things: I'm not the most experienced modder, and there are quite a few errors that pop up in the error log with this mod. None of them seem to actually effect anything, but I'm also not sure what to do about them. The mod works fine as is, but if anyone wants to look into it, you're welcome to. Secondly, I don't use any other mods but this one, so I have no idea how compatible this is going to be with anything else. If I had to guess, I would say it's probably not compatible with anything else, but I honestly have no idea. Again, I'm new at this, and any advice or pointers would be appreciated. Lastly, I have not extensively tested everything in the mod. It runs fine, and I haven't encountered any crashes, but I'm also not sure if everything works as intended, so I would greatly appreciate any feedback and/or opinions on the mod  :) .

In a nutshell, this mod just adds a variety of new animals and creatures to the game. As the name implies, Nature+ is mostly centered around adding real-world animals not already found in Dwarf Fortress into the game, as well as animals that are based on/related to real-world animals. There are also a few other changes to make things a bit more realistic, but these are relatively few. In general, I tried to keep things realistic, but I was also interested in making the game more "fun"; as such, I fudged quite a few things to achieve certain effects, or just because I thought it was funny. So while the mod is meant to emulate nature, don't be surprised to see some unusual things in it  ;D .

To install, simply replace the raw folder in your version of DF with the raw folder found in the Nature+ Raw download, which you can download here.

Features:

Improved Giant Bugs/Arthropods: I've always been a bit disappointed with the giant insects, spiders, crabs, etc in Vanilla Dwarf Fortress. It just didn't seem right that a giant beetle would only live for a year and could be punched out by a child lol. So, I made it so that giant bugs live for one to five years instead of just one year. This is mostly for the sake of realism, because larger animals usually have fewer predators and benefit more from longer life spans. I also made chitin tougher, simply by averaging it's material values against shell (which is itself just a modified form of chitin), resulting in a much more durable tissue. Now, regular sized bugs are still effortlessly squashed by a dwarf, but giant ones can easily resist punching, biting, etc, and require actual weapons to deal with. This also applies to Giant Cave Spiders, as well as other chitin based critters such as crabs.

Usable Scale/Chitin/Feathers: In the real world, people have been using scales and feathers in clothing for thousands of years, and I for one think they'd probably use chitin if there was a feasible way to harvest it. As such, I modded scales, chitin and feathers to be treated like leather for the purposes of making cloths, armor, etc. Anything you can make out of normal leather, you can now make out of animal scales, chitin and feathers, and you can trade for these things to. Scale armor seems to be slightly better than regular leather, and chitin armor is probably the best animal based armor you can get, though still seems inferior to metal armor. I haven't actually tested it yet, but I assume feather armor would be pretty useless; still it gives you something to do with all those feathers beside atom smashing them lol. While you can theoretically get chitin from any creature that produces it, most normal bugs can't be butchered so you'll have to harvest it from giant bugs; most other arthropods such as crabs can be harvested in both their giant and normal variants, as long as the base form is butcherable. You even get chitin from things like squid, who have realistic chitinous beaks.

New Creatures: Of course, the star attraction of this mod are the various new creatures I added in. I'll briefly describe them below. Note that while Animal Man variants of most of these animals do exist, I'm not going to talk about them because I haven't really tested them much. They're in there, and they work, I just haven't really seen them up close yet.

Spoiler: Birds New (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Insects (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Tropical New (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Ocean New (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Tundra Taiga New (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Subterranean (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Dinosaurs (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Horse Variants (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Fish People (click to show/hide)

I think that about wraps it up. I plan on adding more things to this mod and tweaking it here and there, so I'll probably update this post if people seem interested. As I said before, it's not terribly unique, but I enjoy it, and hopefully y'all do to.
« Last Edit: November 17, 2020, 09:19:14 am by Lurksquatch »
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Enemy post

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Re: Simple Mod: Nature+
« Reply #1 on: March 29, 2020, 05:10:44 pm »

This looks fun, I always like new wildlife packs. I'm surprised the giant cave lobster wasn't already in vanilla.
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Lurksquatch

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Re: Simple Mod: Nature+
« Reply #2 on: March 29, 2020, 05:16:02 pm »

Right? That's kinda the goal of the mod: add in things that I thought should already be in game lol.

Thanks for the interest. If you have any feedback, I'd love to hear it. I hope you enjoy.
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Sver

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Re: Simple Mod: Nature+
« Reply #3 on: March 29, 2020, 05:33:38 pm »

This is lovely. Glad to see another giant bug appreciator in particular  :)
It seems you've went for much more reserved strength values for chitin than me... probably for the best.

Quote
they do build lots of towns, hamlets and castles out in the middle of the ocean, some of which have populations of over 2,000 individuals

Gotta warn you about this, though. Visiting or spawning in these towns in Adventure Mode will cause a nuclear explosion and (usually) a crash also. There may or may not be "traveler" pathing problems related to that too, such as when an army/caravan/visitor tries to move there or from there in the "overworld".
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DF Combat Reworked
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Lurksquatch

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Re: Simple Mod: Nature+
« Reply #4 on: March 31, 2020, 09:12:12 am »

Gotta warn you about this, though. Visiting or spawning in these towns in Adventure Mode will cause a nuclear explosion and (usually) a crash also. There may or may not be "traveler" pathing problems related to that too, such as when an army/caravan/visitor tries to move there or from there in the "overworld".

Really? When I spawned an adventurer in one of these settlements, all that happened was I fell into the ocean (for about a minute lol), then I swam around looking for towns until I gave up. My pet War Giant Mantis Shrimp vanished from existence,  but otherwise nothing bad happened. Now, I haven't tried traveling to an oceanic settlement, because you can't fast travel while you're swimming, and when I spawned in a land-based town it wouldn't let me leave because there were to many obstacles in the way. I'm not sure what that means, I don't play Adventure Mode often lol.

I will experiment more and see what I can figure out about these towns. I know that fish people can send sieges to attack you, but I don't which town they specifically came from. The civ I provoked had both oceanic and land-based towns, so they might have just come from a regular town. They are amphibious, though, so I would think they should be able to swim to land. I haven't seen them send a trade caravan yet. Maybe they need a specific amphibious pack animal to help them trade? I think I'll add one in and see if that helps.

I'm glad you appreciate the improved bugs! I had a few more ideas, and some more general animal ideas:

Orb Weaver Spiders: Pretty standard vermin spiders, they generate webs for silk. Giant ones are maybe cow sized?

Colony Spider: In real life, there are a handful of spider species that live in large colonies with massive nests, hunting and raising young communally. Most of them don't have common names, so I'm just aggregating them into a single animal lol. They will be micro vermin (like mosquito) that produce webs and spawn in groups of 250-500. Giant ones will probably be an absolute nightmare lol. But maybe you can farm them like bees?

Golden Orb Weaver: I saw a picture once of a Golden Orb Weaver spider eating a bird that had flown into a web. I'm like 98% sure it was photoshoped, but I don't care lol. They'll be large non-vermin spiders (probably a bit smaller than the Goliath Birdeater) that spits webs. Giant ones will be...problematic.

Snow Leopards: Leopards, but in freezing biomes.

Dolphins: Because why not?

Sabertooth Tiger: Larger than a tiger, with really big eye teeth. Giant ones will maybe be rhino sized?

Other prehistoric animals: I think I have enough dinos, but other extinct animals could be fun lol.

I appreciate the feedback and interest, and I'm looking forward to more of both!
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Re: Simple Mod: Nature+
« Reply #5 on: March 31, 2020, 09:21:11 am »

I’ve always liked orb weavers.
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Sver

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Re: Simple Mod: Nature+
« Reply #6 on: March 31, 2020, 10:10:05 am »

Colony spider zerg-rush sounds delightful  :P

It gave me an idea actually. How about locusts? Giant ones can have some insane grasstrample value and attempt to raid food stockpiles.
« Last Edit: March 31, 2020, 10:11:43 am by Sver »
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DF Combat Reworked
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Lurksquatch

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Re: Simple Mod: Nature+
« Reply #7 on: March 31, 2020, 10:40:32 am »

Colony spider zerg-rush sounds delightful  :P

It gave me an idea actually. How about locusts? Giant ones can have some insane grasstrample value and attempt to raid food stockpiles.



It wouldn't be hard to do either; locusts are just hangry grasshoppers (true story), so I could just copy grasshoppers and tweak them to fit. Thanks for the suggestion!
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Lurksquatch

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Re: Simple Mod: Nature+
« Reply #8 on: April 02, 2020, 11:24:34 pm »

Just a quick update:

The Fish people can indeed trade with you, but I think it's only from settlements that are actually on the land. They use the default human dialog on the trade and diplomat screens, so I'll be looking into giving them appropriately fishy things to say instead. They also don't stop you from stealing all of their stuff, despite bringing armed guards, so I'll look into that, as well.

In terms of what they actually bring, it seems like a bit of a mixed bag. Unsurprisingly, they focus heavily on fish on sea creatures, offering meat, leather products and the animals themselves. They seem a bit like elves in that regard, though they had some...interesting choices available. Like sea serpents. They also had a bunch of metal goods and things you might see in a human or dwarf caravan, so overall they seem like profitable trade partners.

I'm going to give them an amphibious pack/war animal, just to see how that changes things. I'm thinking I'll give them Dragon Turtles, but I'm open to suggestions. I'm also still working on everything I mentioned before, and maybe a few other surprises  ;D.

As always, suggestions and feedback are appreciated. I've still only done a bit of testing, so any commentary on what does/does not work is especially useful.
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Lurksquatch

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Re: Simple Mod: Nature+
« Reply #9 on: April 16, 2020, 09:50:47 pm »

Version 1.1 Update:

Spoiler: More Bugs! (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Other Creatures (click to show/hide)


I have to admit, the more I work on this mod, the less "simple" it feels lol. Look out for quality of life improvements, more advanced technology and alchemy in the future! As always, I appreciate any feedback!
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Lurksquatch

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Re: Simple Mod: Nature+ Version 1.1
« Reply #10 on: November 16, 2020, 11:18:09 pm »

Version 1.2 Update:

Added gunpowder and firearms. Gunpowder is made in the new Alchemist Shop from Coal, Niter (Saltpeter), Sulfur (Brimstone) and Water. Gunpowder is used to make bullets in the Metalsmith's Shop. Firearms are made in the Gunsmith's Shop, and require Firing Mechanisms. These are also made in the Gunsmith's Shop, and require regular mechanisms and a fire safe metal.

Firearms include Pistols, Rifles, Bayonets and Blunderbusses.

Added Mercury. Mercury is made in the Alchemist's Shop by roasting cinnabar. It currently has no practical uses, but is extremely valuable, and can be traded away for a tidy profit. 

Added several other metals and materials. Chromium, Meteoric Iron and Titanium are all weapons-grade metals, though Chromium can only be used to make ammo. Added Floatstone, which is a lightweight and highly valuable stone, and Luminous Stone, an extremely valuable stone that makes for excellent trade goods.

Reduced the number of redundant wood, stone and gem types. Simplified the in-game geology slightly to make it a bit less tedious to play without sacrificing the exploration/luck aspect of seeing what kinds of material you have to work with.

Added bamboo trees. Bamboo trees grow to great heights very rapidly, and are found in tropical forests. They don't produce branches, but instead grow in large columns that gain height every single year.

Added the Sawmill, Quarry and Blast Furnace. Sawmills automatically process logs into blocks. Likewise, Quarries automatically process most stone boulders into blocks. Both require a mechanism to build, and a sharp tool to operate. The Blast Smith automatically smelts most ores into metal, and is required to smelt some new metals, like Chromium, Meteoric Iron and Titanium. It requires a Crucible, which must be made out of firesafe metal. The Crucible is also a critical component for the Alchemist Shop.

Added the Artisan's Shop. The Artisan's Shop can build most furniture/objects that would normally be built in a Carpenter's or Craftdwarf's Shop out of blocks. This allows you to automate your production a bit more easily, and if you set it up right it can greatly improve productivity. However, it takes a while to set up, and if you rush things, it can actually make things worse. Also note, there are still some things that require a Carpenter or Craftdwarf to make.

Made Giants a civilization unto themselves. They live in tundras, taigas and glaciers, and are generally peaceful unless provoked. I'm considering returning them to normal and making Yeti's be civilized instead.

Added a few new animals: Bison, Toucans, Dolphins, Mammoths, Baboons, etc. Also added the Phoenix: A large, fire-breathing bird that can heal allies, and the Talus: A large humanoid made of various kinds of stone, which acts as a semi-megabeast to replace the Giant.

Finally, fixed Silk Worms. And by "fixed", I mean they now greet each other, dwarves, and basically everything else in existence by spraying massive clouds of web around themselves. Theoretically, this will provide you with infinite amounts of silk to be harvested; in practice, it seems to provide you predominantly with infinite amounts of cancelation messages. Baby steps. We'll get there.

As always, I hoe you enjoy, and if you have any comments or concerns, please feel free to let me know.
« Last Edit: November 16, 2020, 11:39:36 pm by Lurksquatch »
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Lurksquatch

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Re: Simple Mod: Nature+ Version 1.2
« Reply #11 on: November 26, 2020, 10:24:39 am »

Anyone interested in just the creatures of this mod should check out this post by Splint. It includes most of the creatures found in Nature+, as well as a bunch of other creatures and some non-intrusive QoL changes.
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Iä! RIAKTOR!

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Re: Simple Mod: Nature+ Version 1.2
« Reply #12 on: November 29, 2020, 04:16:38 pm »

Add drugs and venoms for alchemist workshop more uses.
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Lurksquatch

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Re: Simple Mod: Nature+ Version 1.2
« Reply #13 on: December 03, 2020, 11:35:24 pm »

I've been thinking about doing something like that. Not sure how I'd do it exactly, but I'll think of something. I'm also considering adding in diseases that are spread by various vermin, animals and intelligent creatures, such as smallpox, malaria, Ebola, the plague, etc.

Thank you for the feedback!
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Splint

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Re: Simple Mod: Nature+ Version 1.2
« Reply #14 on: December 04, 2020, 02:11:25 am »

Diseases are a bit wonky to implement. Masterwork used to have a similar system, but it was removed cause of the jank needed to even have it work.
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