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[short_dwarf]

Just today I finally got my internet to work but im grounded and can't play.  
I have to say that I just found out that coal found in mountains are called Anthracite coal. Either that or I am just reading wrong. The Bituminous coal is suppose to grow in the land under swamps or ancient forests.

This just brought me a question...

Will trees and rivers and plants and animals run around on top of the mountain? If so will a waterfall occur right in the middle of a fortress so that the fortress is built around it? I hope so.

[Katawa]

As far a too deep goes I'm thinking thanks to z-coords that too deep could be just that, way way straight down. Know knows what mysteries lie within the mountains deeps! And all that jazz.

[Toady One]

Yeah, unfortunately you can't watch the movie if you can't play, but there were mountain goats.  I haven't gotten rivers flowing down into mountains, except for the one that starts inside (and is now ultimately sourced in a very mysterious magical way).

As far as I understand it, yeah, bituminous coal is formed like that, but some of it is very very old, and after things drift around, the coal could be virtually anywhere, I guess.  Wikipedia says that some of this coal is 350 million years old or so.

[ May 17, 2007: Message edited by: Toady One ]

[Mitchy]

Toady I love you. Or your game, anyway. Or at least I loved it three months ago when I was playing it. I know you want to avoid breaking compat in the future, but I for one would rather you release more frequently. Even if it breaks saves, I don't care since creating a new fort is a lot of the fun. I'm not intending to sound critical, I love your ambition and the direction of the game looks great. I'd just rather be playing it than reading about it.

I know it is just one guys opinion but I'd rather more frequent releases over future-proofing my save games.

[Combatjuan]

Toady - A question and a comment.
Question: Do natural ramp squares (such as outside) represent "sudden" breaks in elevation such that they can't be built on, or are there gradual slopes everywhere and the ramps simply represent the boundary and therefore are buildable?  I assume they must allow for the building of at least roads and channels and simple things, what about say, a mason's shop?

Comment: Just my two cents, but I like the current look without the lines.  I know that the basic ASCII feel has 16 colors, but perhaps elevation could be represented by using HSV transforms on the colors and altering the saturation value (for colors) / brightness (for grays)?  I, for one, look greatly forward to a true tile version, but would really love (at some point long in the future) be able to play DF using an ASCII display module via SSH from a high speed Linux server.  Therefore if we could find some even slightly imperfect way to preserve the ASCII purity, I'd be for it.  But Toady knows best.

Finally, keep up the good work, I'm antsy but perfectly happy to wait as long as you want.    Short release cycles are nice for incremental updates and patches, but this update goes well beyond that.  Take your time, enjoy your new found freedom, and congratulations.

[Toady One]

This last update was also not just for save compat, but it will save me significant time in the future.  Even though what I'm doing with metals isn't even the final system, it will be easier to build from this than having yet another intermediate system that I gut some months down the line.  Normally I like to release once or twice (or more) a month, but this has been an exceptional case.  The game is still completely unplayable, and it's going to take a while.

Ramps are supposed to, mostly, indicate a smooth slope of indeterminate length.  I'm not sure if you can build on them at this moment, but you should be able to place workshop edges on them, but not workshop centers -- the building would split over Z levels, and that's not something I'm prepared to handle right now.  When I try out lines and change the ramp symbols into floor symbols, it would be very confusing not to be able to build on them, though it would be clear that you can't build something that crosses a line (since that means it's actually hanging in the air or embedded in a wall).

If the ramp symbols are kept (which I'm going to do as an option), then in the future, a color system might be one way to further show elevation (though it would not be unambiguous, since there are light/dark grays within one z level).

[Mechanoid]

The Dwarves are ecstatic that there are 70 new minerals.
The Humans are pleased that there are many more then 70 new ways to get trade goods.

The Elves...
Not so much.  

[Toady One]

I added little pockets of petrified wood.  I can see them having a serious ethics panel on those trade goods in their Home Trees.

[ May 17, 2007: Message edited by: Toady One ]

[Asehujiko]

Will the petrified wood work the same as normal wood?

70 new minerals   :eek:

[Toady One]

Nah, petrified wood is quartz or something, so I have it work like regular stone.

[Gaulgath]

Wow. 70 new minerals... z-axis... armies... it's been said a million times but I'll say it again: this new version will be awesome.  

[Pnx]

So down to the important question.

Are there any new metals or gems?

[Toady One]

I've added lead from galena, and I'm going to do some alloys.  I added new gems a while back -- I think there are 130 gems now (though several of those are varieties of opal).  Metals are also in the raws now, as well as the smelter ingredients.

[Peristarkawan]

quote:Originally posted by Toady One:
<STRONG>I think there are 130 gems now (though several of those are varieties of opal).</STRONG>

Yikes! If that's the case, I hope strange moods and noble demands will be a bit less specific.

[Toady One]

I just fixed the jeweler -- apparently the first gem (not gems for others) was still being specific.  There are also the ridiculous mandates to deal with.