Bay 12 Games Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  
Pages: 1 ... 52 53 [54] 55 56 ... 298

Author Topic: Future of the Fortress  (Read 1152743 times)

Cruxador

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Future of the Fortress
« Reply #795 on: June 05, 2011, 06:55:15 pm »

Given the advent of very time-dependent creatures,have you considered reworking the time compression in Fortress mode? If not, how do you envision creatures like this working given the time scale?

I mean obviously vampires make absolutely no sense in Fortress mode where it's "always day", and even werewolves may have a maximum of 30 seconds or so of screen time given the current time compression.

I don't think it is always day, it is abstracted. Dwarves doesn't sleep one second each dozen seconds, nor they eat every day. Though it would be nice if there was a reworking, hopefully with a Fast Forwarding option. But I think this would need a great rewrite.


Right, it is abstracted, which I guess is what I'm talking about. If it continues to be abstracted then vampires will function identically to werewolves, in that they stick around for a few 'days' or some such nonsense.

I'm not even sure if there is a better system than what we have, but I've been wanting a "more accurate" version of the day cycle for awhile in fort mode, and I think now is a good chance to take a stab at it.
I seem to recall that the main issue was that people would never get trade opportunities. With more varied types of commerce going in, this coulde become a non-issue.
Logged

EvilTwin

  • Bay Watcher
  • likes skeletons for their afros
    • View Profile
Re: Future of the Fortress
« Reply #796 on: June 05, 2011, 08:00:11 pm »

For trade it would probably work, but there'd still be other long-term stuff going on in the fortress. An example would be children: Even with the compressed time we have they take 12 years to grow up. If your fort runs at 20 FPS, that's about 67 hours realtime (please correct me if I miscalculated) you have to wait for a child to become useful. I rather not think about a timeframe where a day takes 5 minutes or something :o
This same problem would surface with squad training, farming, sieges and so on.

Please don't get me wrong on this, I'd really like a slower timecycle in fortress mode, but I can't really see how it would work. When Toady does the army arc and tackles the question of what becomes of your fort when you are not present, we could perhaps get a fast forward option, but until then we will have to deal with compressed time.
Logged

Lac

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Future of the Fortress
« Reply #797 on: June 05, 2011, 08:22:31 pm »

I wonder if it will be possible for DF vampires to have Arithmomania (as one of the random weakness options, not for all of them)... I mean, that's one of the oldest classic vampire traits, yet no one portrays them as having it anymore (except Sesame Street).
I hadn't heard of arithmomania as a symptom of vampirism before (and putting sand on a vampire's grave, etc).  Nice little joke by Bram Stoker then to make his Vampire a 'Count'.  And, as you imply, it makes Sesame Street's choice of using a vampire Count to obsessively count, doubly appropriate - didn't think I had more to learn from Sesame Street! :)
Logged

Greiger

  • Bay Watcher
  • Reptilian Illuminati member. Keep it secret.
    • View Profile
Re: Future of the Fortress
« Reply #798 on: June 05, 2011, 08:31:44 pm »

Theres also that old thing that a vampire can't enter a home uninvited.

Wanna vampire proof your house?  Get rid of that mat in front of your door that says "Welcome".
Logged
Disclaimer: Not responsible for dwarven deaths from the use or misuse of this post.
Quote
I don't need friends!! I've got knives!!!

Neonivek

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Future of the Fortress
« Reply #799 on: June 05, 2011, 08:51:02 pm »

Theres also that old thing that a vampire can't enter a home uninvited.

Wanna vampire proof your house?  Get rid of that mat in front of your door that says "Welcome".

That sounds a lot like a recent Vampire Mythology.

Given that the older monster alegory was more about being a good house guest.
Logged

Untelligent

  • Bay Watcher
  • I eat flesh!
    • View Profile
Re: Future of the Fortress
« Reply #800 on: June 05, 2011, 09:30:31 pm »

Can already-immortal races (whether elfs/gobs or modded ones) become vampires? How would the reputation system handle that?
Logged
The World Without Knifebear — A much safer world indeed.
regardless, the slime shooter will be completed, come hell or high water, which are both entirely plausible setbacks at this point.

freeformschooler

  • Bay Watcher
  • Hi!
    • View Profile
Re: Future of the Fortress
« Reply #801 on: June 05, 2011, 09:32:31 pm »

Pfff. The last part is the best part. Zombies beginning to suspect their creator? OH NO
Logged

Arihim

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Future of the Fortress
« Reply #802 on: June 05, 2011, 09:50:23 pm »

Pfff. The last part is the best part. Zombies beginning to suspect their creator? OH NO

This gave me a good laugh as well lol. THe necromancer must of ran off thinking ' Ye gawds, they're onto me!'
Logged

Glowcat

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Future of the Fortress
« Reply #803 on: June 05, 2011, 09:59:41 pm »

Pfff. The last part is the best part. Zombies beginning to suspect their creator? OH NO

I share your amusement. Perhaps they became jealous as they're the only ones rotting away.
Logged
Totally a weretrain. Very much trains!
I'm going to steamroll this house.

Niveras

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Future of the Fortress
« Reply #804 on: June 05, 2011, 10:00:06 pm »

Not sure if this is the right thread but wow, I'm really liking the possibilities of backstory all the night creature curses are bringing along. There didn't seem to be any embellishment in Toady's description, yet it still sounds like a minor tale out of some epic.

Though I wonder if the Dragon's kill count would increase if they start feeding on humans like the vampires, even if only sporadically throughout its life. There's no need to track each sheep it carries away (not that they even need to eat right now), while vampires have a leg up in that they need sustenance frequently, and every kill gets tracked.

By the way, can the vampires only sustain themselves on intelligent beings, or can they feed on vermin and animals if there's no sapient stock available?
Logged

monk12

  • Bay Watcher
  • Sorry, I AM a coyote
    • View Profile
Re: Future of the Fortress
« Reply #805 on: June 05, 2011, 10:41:06 pm »

I just read a (cheap) book where this was the premise. Finally, a quest to free the people from oppression!

Caldfir

  • Bay Watcher
    • View Profile
Re: Future of the Fortress
« Reply #806 on: June 05, 2011, 10:48:55 pm »

Quote from: Neonivek
So Toady with gods giving curses, does this mean that more active or at least flavorful gods are not so far away?
I don't have a timeline for additional god activities.  Things seem to get thrown in on occasion though.

Now that gods are active in worldgen (and with ever more activity working its way in), are there any plans on the horizon for reworking the system wherein gods are specifically and intrinsically tied to a specific civilization? 

It does seem a bit strange if you start thinking about when civilizations will (presumably at some point in the future) have beginnings and/or endings.  If a civilization crumbles, do its gods die?  Are the gods of every civ the same but with different names?  Can one civ "import" worship of a god from a nearby one?
Logged
where is up?

monk12

  • Bay Watcher
  • Sorry, I AM a coyote
    • View Profile
Re: Future of the Fortress
« Reply #807 on: June 05, 2011, 10:56:07 pm »

Well, if you take Greek Mythology as an example, the gods are segregate from the cities they patronize. So even if Athens burns, Athena is fine- she's probably just pissed her favorite city burned down.

Cthulhu

  • Bay Watcher
  • A squid
    • View Profile
Re: Future of the Fortress
« Reply #808 on: June 05, 2011, 10:58:15 pm »

But if there's no one left who believes in a god, what can they do?  Maybe they die if no one believes in them anymore.

If an acknowledged vampire is ruling a civ and oppressing people, as the one in the devlog did, will adventurers receive missions to kill him?  Will anyone else take over if an adventurer kills him or will that have to wait for in-game succession?
Logged
Shoes...

monk12

  • Bay Watcher
  • Sorry, I AM a coyote
    • View Profile
Re: Future of the Fortress
« Reply #809 on: June 05, 2011, 10:59:45 pm »

This of course begs the question, are gods empowered by spheres, or are spheres empowered by the gods?
Pages: 1 ... 52 53 [54] 55 56 ... 298