Greetings Everyone,
It's been a while since I last was active here, but after talking to the gang on the IRC board, I decided that now is probably a good time to introduce this board to my mod creation that I had been working on for the last 2 years.
I'll beginning by giving you all a little history behind it:
Orginally it all began when I watched someone do a person named Ramus use to play Dungeon Crawl games on the RPG board with some things altered by change some graphics to make it seem more Touhou like in apperance. This eventually got me into doing graphic mods.
But eventually I wanted to do something like he did so while going through my list of games I came across Dwarf Fortress.
For those that don't know Dwarf Fortress is a unique sanbox game that was made by Tarn Adams (AKA Toady One) which could be labeled as a "fantasy simulator". The game itself allows you to randomly generate a world and let it's history develop. From there you can choose to either read the history of the land, play as a team of dwarves that are embarking to a new location to build a fort, or to play an adventurer to go on whatever adventure you like.
Orginally, when I started work on this mod, it was intended to be a "just for fun" kinda mod. Where I replaced some Dwarf sprites with Suikas and maybe a few animals, but when I launched the game on the RPG board it became a rather big hit so I knew I nailed something good. Here the orginal thread if interested
http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,1532.0.htmlThe players gave me ideas and suggestions on how to make it better and soon before I knew it I decided to roll with it and began working on some more. By then, it was no longer just a graphic mod, but a more serious mod change.
Soon most of the animals were replaced with yukkuri,then changing the body sturcture of ll characters in the game, then the races became more unique, then I made additional items (like sunflowers, ect), Then I added in more races such as Kappas and Inaba. Then finally when night creatures were implimented in the game, I was able to put in some more basic Touhou charaters.
As of this point, the game is still in development, and will likely be this way till we reach the magic arc (which could be years away) and speaking of which even as long and Toady and ZUN continue to update. I will continue dishing out new content.
Now let's get to discussing what this game is about....
What's Dwarf Fortress?Think of it as what would happen if you?re cross together Dungeon Crawler with the Sims. Basiclly your trying to help your dwarves make a living by building a fortress and help them be able to survive against just about anything. Wether it be Elephants, Unicorns, Goblins, you name it. And at the same time, make sure they can survive, get food and water and be comfortable and happy as possible.
In Suika Fortress, we do pretty much the same thing, except it?s with Suikas, and most of our livestock and predators are yukkuri, though there are some animals out there too?
It?s also important to note that every Suika has their own personality and quarks too so be alert with how they behave too.
You will mainly be trying to build a settlement in Fortress mode in which you attempt to survive the wilderness from the wild animals and yukkuris, and dig and search for rescourses. You trade with other nations to get goods and also fight against enemies and thieves. Eventually it can lead to wars which can make things more intense, but then when you dig deep enough... the real
FUN begins!
There's no way of telling what can happen and to be honest Suika Fortress does not have any real goals since it pretty much is a mod over the orginal Dwarf Fortress. But of course the saying still abides to it here as it did in the orginal....
LOSING IS FUN!Adventure mode mainly let's you select a race and take control of them as you embark to find quest kill people ect. Do whatever you want and change the world around you.
And the Legends mode is just history stuff.
But like I said, this is only a mod that uses the orginal Dwarf Fortress game with enough alterations to make it different and have a more Touhou atmosphere.
Currently it's in it's in last stage before the first Caravan arc release. Where I'm working on adding PC-98 yukkuris and also adding in other non human PC-98 charaters in as megabeasts. And also adding in some additional animals like the Dapang, and the Tsuchinoko just to name a few.
Once the first caravan arc comes out, I should have access to working on Necromancery, Vampires, Mummies, and Were Wolf mechanics and hopfully it'll be all in my favor so I can add some more actual Touhou characters into the mix.
Anyways I think I covered my bases about the game. A good heads up about this is that since it's still uses the main DF mechanics it will have a STEEP learning curve. But that's all part of the fun.
I mean I'm mainly using what could be considered an API system made by Toady that invovles tokens, but while limited, it's powerful enough to give a setting in the world that could be fit for Gensokyo (eventually)
What is currently in the mod?Well I guess way to explain this is to divide it into groups.
CreaturesYukkuris: Pretty much I have most of the yukkuris from the PC universe in this game. Only a few have yet to appear in it (Yukari-yukkuris, Byakukkuris and Mikokkuris) reasons for this is because I'm waiting till the loooooooonnng awaited magic system gets implimented (which may take years) so that I can allow these yukkuris to behave how they properly should. (Like having yukari yukkuris gap to new areas)
Animals: Most animals are still in it are left overs which I couldn't find a decent replacement to put a yukkuri in place, which is fine, Gensokyo doesn't need to be all yukkuris does it. Actually I'm curious if some animals should come back...
Animal people: again, creature that were already in game I will be honest though... I made some of them sprites that would only be suitable for a superhero (Batmen, Ironmen ect... I reeally should just make more natural sprites than keep these goofy knockoffs.)
Underground critters: More things I couldn't replace, but seem fitting, some did get some name changes to fit more into the Touhou-verse.
Faries: Come in several different types and have unique abilites depending on where you decide to embark.
Kedamas: Lot like faries, and come in many colors and all have unique features
Other mythical creatures: Hell cats, Hell ravens, myons, other things like that to also give more flavor.
RacesSuikas: The main race you play as in Fortress Mode. They're mainly the tiny replicas of Suika herself. Running around, building a fort, partying, getting drunk, ect. They need thier alchahol to get through the working day obviously.
Humans: Standard mundane humans, with avrage chararistics will likely trade with you if your in good terms with them.
Parseekkuris: They replace the Elf race in the game. Parseekkuri are pretty much your uppity jealous type creature that will mainly trade with you, but they don't exactly like it when you trade them wooden goods ( they get jealous of it) and may try to make you cap your wood cuttings.
Daiyouseikkuri: Replace the kobolds. Little thiving yukkuris that tend to come loot your good that you leave out in the open. If they swipe enough, they may come back in larger numbers and armed with your stuff
Biokkuris: Replace the gobolins. Yukkuris that are mutated results from "The Factory" the place yukkuris fear. Mainly are a blood thirsty bunch that will try to kill you in a heart beat wether by raids or seiging with a large army.
Kappa: Shy, but technologically smart race. They are hard to gain thier trust and may take a year or two before they'll even start coming. Will sell some nice goods though that can match up to your stuff.
Inaba: The rabbit youkai race led by Tewi. They're mainly out to loot your beer and whatever else they can get their hands on. They're like a hybrid of the Elf and Kobold with some seiging features (assuming they're working correctly.)
OthersTouhou charaters: Back in the beginning I was iffy about adding Touhou charaters into the game, but after seeing the direction the game was going I decided that it was possible since it could allow the people in the game to tell you myths about them and so forth.
So far I have:
Rumia: Youkai of the Darkness, tends to love eating people and blinding them in the darkness.
Mystia: Song bird of the night blindness: Mainly non agressive, but will fight when threatend by someone.
Wriggle Nightbug: Tends to torment people with bugs, has a large range of infections that can be caused depending on what bugs she uses.
Yamane: Spread infection and dieseas and is well capable of doing the same to you.
Medicene Mealoncholy: Deadly poisons and will attack anyone on sight. Getting close to her is EXTREMLY DANGEROUS.
FUN: There are somethings best kept a secret, even Toady suggests this. Thus I can't tell you everything. Something are best discovered.
Plants and stuff Along with the orginal stuff from the orginal Dwarf Fortress game I've also included:
Sunflowers: Mainly grow above ground in ploted farmlands. Can be used for a varity of things from cooking, to making sunflower oil.
Moonberries: Inferior berry to the sun berry and not favored for selling, but may help in terms of survival though...
Cave Cucumbers: Underground crop, used for eating raw and making Cucumber Beer!
Gourds: replace jars (I think) to store liquids in (mainly beer!)
I think that covers that
What are my current plans for the mod ATM?Working on PC-98 yukkuris to replace certain creatures or to simply add in. This will probably take a bit of time. Also going to work on the additional creature I mentioned before hand.
Then when Caravan Arc 1 comes out, I'll consider adding in some charaters like Orin, Yuyuko, Keine, Remillia, Flandre, Seiga, Yoshika and possibly Tojiko among them using the token engine mechanics.
Do I have any request?At the moment yes! I am actually curious if there is anyone here who would be interested in composing some simple Touhou-esque music that could replace the music that is in Dwarf Fortress. I was hoping for something that would fitting for both the title screen and the main game music. And if it followed the same feel that Toady did with his music for DF that would be a bonus.
Course I would also need them converted to ogg files to make use of them in the game's file. I would be looking for a minimum for 2 songs. Though I'm open to include more than 2 if we can find someone who be willing to compse music to add to the game play music that plays just to give varity.
So far the only song that strikes me that fits the title screen would be Broken Moon, or something like what is done on the title screens of every Touhou song (you know, da na na na da na da na na na da na, like in Eastern Night)
As for the game play music I'm open to plenty of songs as long as they carry that simalar fantasy feel.
So where can I play your mod?You can download it from the DFFD site.
http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=1601This game is hard to play and /or understandThat'a why I said the learning curve is STEEP! It's not exactly easy to get into. Course most of the difficulty mechanics are due to how Toady orginally made the game. So yes it's cruel and the interface may be hard to understand. But do not worry. I have two guides that can help you out with Suika Fortress. Since the mod stays very close to DF's routes, these tutorials should still apply.
http://afteractionreporter.com/2009/02/09/the-complete-and-utter-newby-tutorial-for-dwarf-fortress-part-1-wtf/ This one is good for learning some of the game's basics, though it doesn't cover the 2010 edition (which is the current one) Still it'll help out alot.
http://df.magmawiki.com/ This wiki will be your friend big time! It covers everything you need to know about the game and all you that you can possibly learn since it's kept up to date.
Other than that there are youtube tutorials on Dwarf fortress that can work for this too.
You've held a succession game here before. Will you be doing on again?Absolutely yes! In fact my aim will be to hold a succession game after the new release comes out. Assuming the new release's bugs aren't too significant to cause it to be game braking or unplayable. (which there is usually a case of bug fixes that occur during every new release. Course that'll be after I do all the updates with the new systems being implemented and all that.
CreditsCredit of the Suika Fortress mod can go to:
Tarn "Toady One" Adams: For the creation of Dwarf Fortress and the abilty to allow me to have massive mod control over it.
ZUN: For Touhou of course and the fasinating world of Gensokyo.
Mike Mayday: For showing me the world of sprites and how they could be implimented into what was once use to be an ASCII game.
Psieye: For coming up with some ideas and concepts for some game features.
Patchy, Darvi, and tons of other Bay 12 fokes for helping bug test and problem solve token issues.
And of course the MotK crew, for inspiring me to keep pushing this project forward to this very day.
Anyways, I'm want to see if I can get some feed back and suggestions if you all find it interesting cause I've been constantly adding content for the last two years to this little mod of mine and it just continues to grow.
Also I'll probably also start another game in the RPG section once again after I finish updating the caravan arc.
