Got bogged down with errands and didn't get to work on DF as much as I would have liked to. I got most of the stuff converted over to 34.04, so I expect to release it soon enough.

Other things I should be doing :

I'll be looking into a suggestion by Kerlc involving books, but it won't make it in this update.

I intend to update a few graphics namely;
A new pillar graphic
Exposed creatures
Perhaps some misc animal creatures.

Changed cigars to require 5 leaves to create one : I changed this because my latest fort has gone 2 years without any drinks and without alcohol deprivation because 5 tobacco from traders made 125 cigars. Now only one tobacco can make one cigar. I'll be experimenting with a more aggressive syndrome from exposure to cigar smoke later, but it won't make it into the next version.

Made several cleaning shop reactions AUTOMATIC : For convenience. Suggested by Abregado.

I've also removed a few tags from the infected disease. NO_PHYS_ATT_RUST:NOTHOUGHT, NO_THOUGHT_CENTER_FOR_MOVEMENT, NO_CONNECTIONS_FOR_MOVEMENT NOT_LIVING and OPPOSED_TO_LIFE. In 34.01 I had a few migrant zombies appear, even though they usually just flipped out, killed a few migrants then suffocated. I haven't seen any in the recent version, but I suspect they might be the 'friendly' migrants that linger at the edge of the map and you can't assign labors to. Hopefully removing these tags will allow them to assimilate into your fort a little.

I've also made some other changes to zombies. They now bite more, however I've removed their ability to latch onto targets. So you have a better chance of surviving an attack and spreading the disease.

Personally, I'm a tad disappointed at how rare infection is. Perhaps it's because I don't engage them in melee, or perhaps it's because they bit less, regardless once I release this next version, I will try giving Scavengers and Evasive half-infected the ability to infect you.

I'll do a quick update to Ravenmist and change the location, but I won't need to put it into suspended animation this time.

Changed the zombie interaction a bit. Now they should only rot/swell/blister on the skin, so they don't suffocate, they also should also start coughing blood about 100 steps before they finally turn. Giving you some warning system.

I'm fine with zombies migrating in, but the problem is they come as full zombies, the entire wounds screen filled with yellow text is a bit of a tip off. Furthermore, all they do is kill the migrants and their animals. Only the berzerkers are the problem though, I met a rather benign one that was content with running away.

As an aside. I was playing vanilla DF today when a bunch of Gray Langurs descended on my fort. I'm trying to set up my entire fort in the Caverns, so I was in the process of moving my stuff down. Consequently my only military dwarf was 50 z's under.

Immediately the ten or so Gray Languers charged my food supply as my military dwarf raced up the cave's ramps. The only person guarding my food was one of my miners, SharpDagger . His throat was dry and his will was made of iron and he despite being interrupted by the pack repeatedly, would wander off a few tiles then come back and try to drink again. Scaring away the monkeys in the process. If it wasn't for him I'd have to hunt that cave crocodile that's been lurking about in the caverns.

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Speaking of forts and such. Ravenmist is updating to 1.1.2 and 34.02, hopefully that will get a few more people to join. I'll be transferring the lists over so people won't need to sign up again. After I let Ravenmist fly I'll start the community fort. Once that is over I'll do a Second Corrosion Community Adventure with a conclusion for the first.

Got the syndrome delay to work (thanks to Jay)

Instantly, No Aging is added. Standard infected take a fourth of a year to give small effects. And when a year passes they should go all out zombie. Also the person should keep it secret (of course this secret gets a little harder when the miasma starts pouring out of them. Needs a quick test.

Zombies can now turn other people into zombies. However it's instantaneous, but I'm sure you can delay it somehow.

I'm going to try to change the way zombies rot. Currently they secrete pus which causes necrosis only to them. However this system had a serious drawback, when it rained the pus would cover everything and lag the computer. So if I can get zombies to rot without pus it would be very welcomed.

Spent a lot of time today removing creatures. Mostly giant herbivores*, insects**, redundant creatures (so many parrots***) and a few creatures that didn't fit into Corrosion (lovebirds!?), a few creatures were renamed like grasshopper to locust, and some creatures I had in the past Corrosion, but Toady put into this version.

* In my opinion, giant carnivores provide an extra bit of challenge. Seeing a Giant Lion on the horizon will always make me think twice before sending my trainees against it. Giant Herbivores on the other hand, add nothing but clutter and provide more meat then their non-giant counterparts for little to no additional risk. Also makes your people easier to please (Just how can they taste the difference between crab and giant crab?)

** Seeing a 2 meter long mosquito doesn't fit into the realistic setting.

*** Gibbons had the same problem, having three-fourths of your fort like ten different kinds of parrots that aren't found in your biome always bugged me a bit.

Errorlog is finally clean! Now the real !!SCIENCE!! starts! Where's my lab coat?

I've moved over all the raw files, however my errorlog is a mess right now. Toady has expanded on tissue layers and has changed a few names, so I need to go back to all my creatures and add on a few letters. This is going to be very time consuming.

Also getting some problems with the language, Toady has appeared to have removed multiple scandalous words. A minor inconvienience easily solved by the backspace key.

Furthermore, some creatures are having moving troubles and are giving me tissue related errors, I'll have to do some digging as I cannot recall the problem.

Still unsure on how to mod were-creatures, vampire raws, or mists, but it was a quick glance and I was more worried on getting all the raws moved over today. Tomorrow I'll start ironing out the raws, and hopefully begin tackling were-creatures and vampires by this Friday.

Very, very excited that 34.01 is out, the to-do list to the right is very rough. I haven't had a chance to look over all the changes.

* Mists will not be lethal as being outdoors is extremely important. I might add several environment mists depending on how they act in the game. Sandstorms, snowstorms, and such. But these are a lesser priority. Evil places will get radiation clouds that will probably have effects such as nausea, sleepiness, dizziness and other non-lethal, but annoying enough effects to close down the fort while it blows over.

* Making zombies turn people into zombies is the ultimate priority. I will make the zombies weaker overall to compensate for this effect. This of course means more survivors and more people turning to zombies :D
Standard/skulking zombies will get 25% ish with very visible tells.
Mutated will get 50% with less visible tells.
Lesser Zombies such as Scavengers will not get any ability to change others into zombies. But I will consider it.
These numbers are very arbitrary and will probably be changed later depending on how common it is, I want it to be a surprise without being a guarantee.

* I will be postponing my Blog Fortress until I have updated to 34.01, this way we can all enjoy this wonderful update!

If you have any suggestions please post on the Corrosion Forum!

Because of the long lapse of time that has passed, and the arrival of several bugs, I'm going to be releasing a mini-update to address these. Also to add a few things that I've thought of now that I've resumed playing the game.

* Reduce grow time of Tobacco.
   -Right now I'm having trouble growing tobacco, even if I plant it just as autumn begins. I'm not even sure if it will grow before winter, so I need to reduce the time it takes.
* Increase chance of finding tires, plastic, and concrete.
   -I'm rather content with plastic being difficult to gather. however, tires should be an alternative form of armor, but I just cleared about 80 plants and barely came up with one tire. It's much easier just to forge armor, or even create wooden armor. Concrete also needs a boost.
* Have a chance of finding metal chunks by gathering plants.
   -Making metal slightly easier to get, especially iron, is always a plus.
* Test Two-Handed weapons effectiveness vs One hand and One shield weapons. 
   -I heard that shield+1H will win most of the time, but I'd like to do some testing before I multiply stats ten fold.

First Entry

Welcome to the Corrosion Mod Blog!

I have decided to create a blog for two reasons:

1. A computer error occurred on my last computer and I lost most of my development notes that weren't already lodged in my cranium. Fortunately I had uploaded the latest version a few weeks prior and had made no updates since. I will now be storing my to-do list, and misc notes on this blog, in case something like this happens again, I would rather not lose everything.

2. This allows you to comment and critique my to-do list.

3. I can show off my forts and all the Fun that develops while we wait :D

Some plans for .26

Zombies that turn humans into zombies! With all the inevitable accusation that comes with that! Standard zombies will probably receive a nerf to make them deal less damage, so a properly armored survivor stands a good chance. Of course more powerful zombies will remain the same.

I'm also very excited about the Mist that Toady is developing. Radiation clouds leftover from the haunted bombs would really make the evil areas more lively, or deadly, maybe undeadly? Probably all three!

I'll probably rationalize that Necromancers is an offensive term applied to the creators of the failed vaccine. However no one knows why they are still testing. Are they attempting to spread the disease? Correct their experiment? Or perhaps they are trying to find a cure.

Anyways, thanks for visiting! I'll be starting a new fort soon and providing ample narration. I'm also attempting to work out how Corrosion can be not only Fun, but lasting in the Community Stories, as it seems to fall apart easily.