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[Central Speaker Dan]

Hello all.

After a recent crash in my Dwarf Fortress that involved my Dwarfs' metamorphosis into Cave crocodiles I decided to try and do the impossible:
Create a race of super-strong, super-fast, FLYING and SWIMMING insectoids.

Unfortunately I have never modded anything on Dwarf fortress and all of the guides I can find on here are pretty vague when it comes to creating an entirely new playable civilization.
I have also read several people say that it is not possible to create a flying or swimming race because the dwarfs still consider it to be dangerous terrain. Could this not be overcome by removing/altering what the dwarfs consider dangerous terrain?

Please let me know as soon as possible if this can be done and if it can please, please hang around long ebnough for me to get to grips with my first ever DF mod.
Thank you very much,
Dan.

[IT 000]

Yes, flying and swimming creatures still regard their land as 'dangerous'. However, giving them the tags still grants them several advantages, swimming creatures never drown, and flying creatures never fall.

First, you must create a creature that suits your needs, do you know how to do this? Or do you already have one?

[Central Speaker Dan]

I do not know how to create a creature.

The DFWiki is pretty vague and only mentions specific alterations.
I have spent most of the evening poking around the raw files.

I was also wondering whether the dangerous terrain instructions can be modified so as to prevent, alter or completely remove what is considered to be dangerous terrain.
However I have been unable to find these commands in the raw files.

[Andyfuji]

http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Creature_token
This should be everything you need to create a new creature.  It may be easier to copypasta bits of other creatures together, and whilst doing so, you might pick up on how creatures are put together.

[Central Speaker Dan]

I am more struggling with how to string the tokens together.
Where the tokens are and where they are Referring to I think I can stumble through.

Thanks for the link anyway.
Dan

EDIT:
This is all I have so far:

[CREATUR:SHRAAL]
   [DESCRIPTION:A powerful race of devistatingly clever, extreemely addaptable insectoids.]
   [NAME:shraal:shreel:shreen]
   [CASTE_NAME:

The hesitation of caste name is because I am tempted to make a distinct Male-Female difference as well as an intellectual, menial and warrior caste system.

[Andyfuji]

The tokens don't have to be put in any specific order, unless it relies on something. (Tissues need to be added after the body.)  If you take a look at the Dwarf's raws in "creature_standard.txt" there are some notes placed in there that explain how some of the tags work.

As for the caste name, just copy your creatures name for now.  It's only there to name something that happens to be neither male, nor female, nor any other caste you decide to add.  As far as I've experienced, it's just a safeguard in case the game glitches and gives you a caste-less creature.

[Central Speaker Dan]

As I understand it if the four castes that I propose have distinct physical differences then I must create the tags within each caste and whatever is placed before them goes into them all.
Is this correct?

[IT 000]

As I understand it if the four castes that I propose have distinct physical differences then I must create the tags within each caste and whatever is placed before them goes into them all.

Yes.

I was also wondering whether the dangerous terrain instructions can be modified so as to prevent, alter or completely remove what is considered to be dangerous terrain.

No

Also, check out the creature_standard file, you should find the dwarf entry right up there. It goes into a few more details.

Overall, creatures aren't very hard to mod once you get the hang of it. I recommend doing what Andyfuji said and then just adding the [AMPHIBIOUS] tag and [SPEED:450] tag to make them breath underwater and to be twice as fast as dwarves (you could make them faster by decreasing the number)

Entities on the other aren't hard to do, but they are hard to teach, creating your own creature is easy, but there are several tags which need to be removed if the creature is going to function entity wise. I recommend starting out with a more 'human' creature, copying the human raws and tinkering with them instead of using an obtuse creature type.

[Central Speaker Dan]

So long as the creature has a roughly humanoid shape the only real difference is that I use mostly the chitin detail body plan instead of the humanoid one.
this gives a slightly different set of creature materials such as chitin instead of skin and membrane instead of feather wings. For the rest it shouldn't be any more complex should it?

Plus I don't understand the way to create and allocate tissue types. That is where my primary confusion is coming from.
I have never worked with a system quite like this one before.
Dan.

[Andyfuji]

Tissue types are found in "b_detail_plan.txt", "body_default.txt" contains body parts you can use.

[IT 000]

Simply adding the [FLIER] tag to the creature will allow them to fly though.

[thatkid]

If you want them to rely on wings to fly, you need to add the wings body part as well as the [FLIER] tag though. Even with wings, you need to flier tag to fly.

[Andyfuji]

You do not require wings to fly, however.

[Central Speaker Dan]

You guys are all very helpful so i will blame this on me.

Here is a list of what I understand and don't understand so that I don't ask stupid questions and you guys don't have to keep explaining the same things over and over again.

I know where most of the stuff is in the raw files and will ask if I can't find it myself.

I have already added the following tags so as to allow for what I want:
[INTELLIGENT][TRANCES][BENIGN][CANOPENDOORS][FLIER][AMPHIBIOUS][CAN_LEARN][CAN_SPEAK][CANNOT_UNDEAD]
What is the 'can swim without having to learn' tag?

I am creating my creature directly into the creatures standard file above the dwarfs on a clean copy of DF MayGreen that is specifically for this project.

I know where the detail body plan is but I do not understand how to use it.
I have read the hints mixed with the Dwarf's info and the modding page of the MegaWiki but don't jet get it.

Hope this list helps,
Dan.

P.S.
I am going to go to bed now and will not be able to continue until the morning (UK).

[GreatWyrmGold]

I was also wondering whether the dangerous terrain instructions can be modified so as to prevent, alter or completely remove what is considered to be dangerous terrain.
However I have been unable to find these commands in the raw files.

That is because Dangerous Terrain behavior is hardcoded.

Fear not! Swimming critters can actually escape ponds when they fall in, and flyers not only can't go splat, they fly when it leads to a shorter path than walking. They still need a walking path, though.