So the latest poll of what I should focus on next has equal voting for 5/6 questions. Guess I'll have to do all of them. I have a few events coming up in my schedule so progress will be slow for the next three days. I'll get started on the reorganizing of values first.

Random notes time :
Metals
 - Useful metals should be more expensive.
 - Decorative metals (ex gold) should be less expensive
 - Alloys should make the player choose between making a lot of low value bars, or making a few higher value bars, but overall, keeping the values similar. Kind of like how pewter is now.
 - Probably should be associated with their use at weaponry. Crucible Steel would be 25% more expensive than iron for example.

Weapons
 - Guns and bullets are super cheap, even with their size. Hopefully either the VALUE tag will work, or increasing the MATERIAL_SIZE will do.

Food
 - I like the idea of having expensive food, not a big fan of how it's handled now. You can rack up 1000+ points by selling all the seeds and taking the plants on embark. Perhaps 10* for seeds, and 15 for the plant.
 - Meat should be more expensive. About 10* for one or 50* for a stack of 5. That's a cheap trade good, but that may make legendary meal problem even more worse.
 - Perhaps I could give some animal 'spoiled meat' or something that's significantly cheaper, but can cause bad symptoms. Probably just a 'sick cow' that doesn't breed or something.

Animals
 - Animals themselves are extremely cheap! A cow should cost a small fortune, might make the player actually think twice before sacrificing that piglet.

Wood / Bone / Stone
  - All these will probably remain the same price, useable ore will probably be 1/4 of what it is as a metal bar.

While I was trying to find another use for zinc. I found out that Zinc (oxide) is commonly used in the manufacturing of rubber. So I decided to make a manufacture rubber reaction.

Well, it turns out rubber is quite complicated to create. You need a resin + coal tar + sulfur + zinc + fuel.

Coal Tar is a result from burning coal. Other uses for Coal Tar include :
Paints / synthetic dye
+ alcohol = soap (used in anti-dandruff and kills head lice probably won't require alcohol as there's a bug where it will use the entire stack of alcohol)
Asphalt Blocks
Fuel

It also requires a 'plasticizer' but I wasn't able to find a definitive answer of what a plasticizer is without having to go ask my chemistry teacher. So I skipped that step.

I was thinking 20 tires was enough to make the procedure worth it. That will equip an entire squad with tire armor.

While we're on the subject, perhaps other items could be made of rubber. Gloves and boots being my primary concern. I think there's a bug with gloves, I'll have to do a quick search on the forums.

Of course the entire process seems very tedious, 'would anyone actually use this?' remains at the forefront of my mind. After all, it's so much easier to just build a forge and get metal armor yourself. I suppose I could make tires just tough leather x2, but still, the effort required is questionable. However, since rubber would be x2 leather, and Coal Tar would be a natural by product of coal smelting. I can see players saying "Well I have all the items, might as well." rather than going out of their way to actually create the thing.

Second issue is materials, you need Coal, Gypsum, and Zinc on the same embark site, and have access to them. This seems like a very specific embark site. Something that I try to avoid is embark specific items as it blocks off a game feature. Furthermore, considering that gypsum, and zinc are both located farther below than most ores doesn't help. By the time you reach them, no doubt you will already have plenty of tire armor just by gathering from the surface.

Coal Tar seems extremely useful though, and I am seriously considering adding it.

Finals are over. There's not enough time for me to update to 31.10 today. I'll get it done tomorrow. Whereupon I will continue to work on random stuff until I get a goal in mind.

There will be quite a few incomplete features in the next release. Feel free to take a look at them. Booster's are in the next release, but there's no way of actually performing them.

Right now I seem to be locked onto metals.

* I want to make rarer metals rarer. Notably gold, in Corrosion, I find that when I hit a gold vein I just make it a non-economic stone and I have my masons play with it for furniture. I've changed that by making them small clusters in stone layers. So in order to increase the amount of your high value items, it's wise to alloy gold with something else.

* I'm still hesitant on 'Titanium' per say, mostly because it conjures up the thought of an impenetrable metal. Yet my stats are very arbitrary. As it stands it's the second lightest metal, but all other stats are 10% stronger than iron. This is kind of kludgy, I'd like to add one of the formal ways of smelting it. But I won't be able to make one before the next release.

* Cupronickel has been vastly improved. It's now well worth making, just slightly less dense than Crucible Steel. It copies all other stats from bronze.

The Release After :

I'd also like to make certain useless jobs less useless. These won't be implemented in the next release, but rather the release after.

Bowyer : I'm leaning towards the removal of metal crossbows. You'd still be able to make xbows out of wood. I believe this is beneficial because it makes the bowyer skill extremely valuable if you use crossbows. Bayonet Crossbows / Heavy Crossbows (need a new name for the heavy crossbow things) will have to be made by combining a large knife and crossbow to produce a metal xbow.

Spinner : Going to experiment with reduced shearing times and greater quantities. The problem is that it has to compete with farming and silk gathering. Both which are automated and easy, as opposed to Spinning which is tedious to preform for very little game. So I doubt the reduced shearing times will solve the problem. It'd be better if I could have it produce more than one hair. The longer you wait, the more hair you'll get. I think this is possible. This way, shearing would be something that rewarded you for waiting, something that silk and crops do not allow.

Animal Caretaker : The apex of useless. it'll need a custom reaction in order to every be useful. If someone figures out an idea for this job, let me know, because you deserve a medal made of cookies mounted on a wreath of bacon.

Architects : While not useless, they are rather use-lacking, an extra job or two wouldn't hurt  Perhaps some complex trap component.

Presser : Similar to the Spinner, lots of work, little gain. Needs to be changed. Truth be told I've never pressed anything in the game. We'll see where this one leads.

I don't know what the focus of the next release is going to be on. So I'll just throw some science at the wall. What's the worst that could happen?

Here's some random stuff.

* Diseases : Common Cold and Flu etc. Don't know what I'll do with it or how they will spread.
* Boosters : I've been looking at Deon's Post-Apocalypse (LINK) and I'm fascinated by the drug system he's set up. So I've been working on some of my own, they will be made in the Lab (don't know how yet), but they will be used in a new workshop. The reaction will require the Alchemy skill, and will create a boulder that will give the person the effects. Here's what I got so far.

• Adrenaline Shot : Increases speed, prevents sleep, and makes the user numb.
• Hibernation Shot : Makes the person go into a deep sleep for an entire season. Doesn't need food or drink. Could be used if the fortress is dying of starvation/dehydration and you want to save someone.
• Vitamin : Provides a 25% boost to all physical attributes.

Shots will probably require something along the lines of
glass + fuel -> syringe
syringe + {something} -> medicine
medicine -> syringe + boulder of effect

Vitamin may be a bunch of plants or extracts or something.

Other medicine that I'm thinking of (names are WIP)

Mettle Shot : Increases strength+endurance, lowers speed by 25% and prevents skill gain for a season.
Raving Frenzy Shot : Adds CRAZED tag and a whole bunch of other things to make the user a fearsome wrecking ball. May not be reversible.
Knowledge Retention : Prevents rusting for a year.
Precision Shot :  Increases chance to hit by 50% for a season. After though, they'll sleep for a little while.
Apathetic Shot : Adds a lot of numbness for an entire season. Essentially makes the user feel no pain. Needs a negative.


Random thoughts : Perhaps the Enlightened could get involved somehow, they'd bring some tool called 'syringe needle' that is necessary to put together the syringe. They could also provide you with 'metal vials of x' that would contain the boosts. Warlords would provide you with more aggressive but dangerous boosts such as Raving Frenzy and Mettle.

I kind of like the idea of traders being the sole source for the medicine. You'll get multiple shots per vials.

1.1.9 Release Notes

PRIMARY GOALS

Scavenging : I want to emphasize scavenging and bring back the 'wasteland' feel to the game. Having to tie together two weapons adds a lot more character to the game.

Tier Weapon System : Where stronger weapons are harder to make. Pitchfork -> Makeshift Spear and Chop Axe -> Limb Hacker are great examples of this. Spears were giving me some hardships though, I defined pikes as 'primarily slashing polearms' in my mind while spears covered the 'primarily stabbing polearms'. Brainstorming became difficult when my choices are stabby stick or slightly less stabby stick. This was made even more difficult because the pitchfork is already a good weapon. So in the future, the pitchfork will have to be nerfed significantly if spears are to evolve.

More Useful Allies : I toed on this a little by adding the shouldered plate and the riot helmets, each is a huge step up from what you can make. I still kinda feel like the Enlightened aren't worth the hassle, and the warlords are still lacking something. So more work needs to be done. I further toed into this by making both sides bring more types of metal. Suggestions are appreciated.

Better Body System : Did you know that the ribs only protect 5% of shots? Only in DF huh. I expended on the body system by making it more durable, and more realistic. There's still much to do though. I'll do some experiments with tissue thickness to see if I can get a good balance. I'm rather disappointing that I couldn't make someone cover their head with their limbs. On top of that, I simplified teeth, fingers, and toes. This should have a major affect on FPS (for the better) as there are 52 less items to keep track of, and on ten humans that's 520 less items!

Better Husbandry : I tried to make raising domestic animals easier, animals grow up faster, pigs have more births, bees produce so much more exponentially. I removed Cavy, Reindeer, Peacock, and Guinacock as they did not add anything to the game except redundant redundancy.

xxxxx Zombie Castes xxxxx

Gora

    [prologue]    This Infected’s right forearm has is nothing but a long sharp bone. It stabs it’s victims with it. Whether it’s arm was snapped by someone or whether it did this to himself is yet to be decided.

  The idea behind this one is to give the Infected a better push against leather armor. I'm leaning towards standard Infected as Vulpine already have metal weapons. The 'gore' attack will basically be a horn from vanilla, but perhaps with an edge attack, it won't do to much damage.

Raker
    [prologue]    This Infected has been cut straight down the chest. His ribs are exposed from months of  wear and tear. Of course, it sees this as a form of efficiency and will attempt to cram you into its chest.

I have two ideas for this one. First, have it be a 'holding' caste, whose job it is to grapple with the foe and slow down their escape. Or two, have it be a wild animal that ambushes civilians. This assumes that AMBUSH_PREDATOR is working like it used to, but even if it doesn't, I think a wild animal would be a better option.

Hazard

   [prologue]    This person tried to help people who were in infected cities. While this suit was durable enough to deal with scratches and scrapes, it was nowhere near enough to deal with the incoming horde of Infected. Now, starved, trapped, and unable to bite, this zombie sprints at foes in desperation to eat.

This zombie will probably be vulpine. It can't bite, in exchange, gets better protection from weapons and higher speed from hunger. It fits with vulpine because they already have metal weapons, so it remains deadly. Instead of a bite it will have a 'bash' with 'helmet' attack on people just so it looks like he's trying.
 

Insane zombie in straight jacket

This zombie's still in the concept phase. It won't be able to use it's arms, so it will have to serve some sort of support roll. Ranged area attack akin to the howler is a possibility. But I'd like to see something new.

Unnamed Idea

This zombie's still in the concept phase. A zombie that has the maximum grass trampling power. So it will trample every blade of grass and tree sapling it steps on. Doing small to moderate ecological damage.

***** HUMAN CASTES *****

Former Prisoner

A strong prisoner who was convicted and found guilty long ago. When the armies fell to the hordes, prisoners were drafted in droves to fight these things. Most died or turned, but some managed to outlive their wardens just long enough to escape. They learn mining, pump operating, siege operating, faster. However they refuse to learn any medical labors. Believing that a bullet to the head cures all.

 Firefighter

 This strong hardy person was one of the many people that tried to help out in the final days. They are excellent at axes, wood cutting, and can safely navigate fires. However, they are clumsy, and mediocre at ranged weapons.

I realized I didn't have any hard labor  castes that learn things like woodcutting/mining/masonry easier. So I've added these two for that purpose.

Coward
This person has survived by running. They are very fit, and can run extremely fast, however, their will is weak. If they cannot run they will curl up and have a nervous breakdown, becoming easy prey for the hordes.

I was hesitant to add an agile class as they would easily overpower the slow zombies. Regular humans can already get in two or three attacks by the time the zombie snatcher swings his +cotton bag+ So I made an agile class that was completely inept in combat. Just in case someone finds a way around it, they cannot learn military skills at all.

Police Officer
This determined person was one of many people that tried to help out in the final days. They excel in pistols and maces. However, they are usually not able to put up with leadership or 'noble' duties.

 Since I weakened the soldier caste, I thought I needed a caste that was moderate at both to make up for it. The 'noble duties' disadvantage seldom gets in the way, but the extra learning is no reason to push aside a well trained soldier caste for. So they serve as a jack of all trades caste.

Teacher
This teacher is very skilled at both learning, and teaching information.  Now that Statistics 101 is no longer in demand, they teach people how to fight instead. However, they learn all other labors slower.

 A great military class, instead of being better at learning, they have better potential. A pair of teachers can easily train new soldiers into fighting machines in a matter of seasons. They are so effective I had to tone it down because my militia commander trained two named elite riflemen who had never fired a gun before in less then half a year.

##### COMMENTARY ON OTHER CHANGES #####

• Shotguns are now great at de-limbing, but bad at piercing metal armor and hurting organs.
  This is to make shotguns and rifles more of a thought. Shotguns are still the go to weapon for Infected fighting. But rifles are arguably better at fights against humans.
• Gunparts are now made in Metalsmith's Forge. Gunpart Workshop removed.
  Now with the metal furniture back in, I no longer need another workshop to add clutter.
• Guns now require 'Gun Barrels' instead of metal bars, Gun Barrels are made in the Metalsmith's Forge.This change was to make it possible to micromanage what a gun was made out of. While a Platinum Shotgun is impressive, having a crucible steel one is kind of frustrating when you wanted it for a machete.
• Make slings and stone pellets in hunter's camp. Sling uses pistol skill.
  Slings are great for early fortress defense, embark with a boulder of hard rock and a unit of cloth. And bam! You can have a hunter while saving many embark points. Naturally, pellets are less effective against Zeds and barely capable of bruising the skin in melee range, as they don't feel pain from broken bones so switching out is a must. I tried to make it poor against armor, but with the way blunt weapons work it's either deadly against everything or 'is it raining out?'
• Gangs added, a new civ. They siege in the summer, weak, slow, and stupid. Relatively easy to beatI haven't tested these guys yet, they're getting a unique mount called [CLASSIFIED] that will [CLASSIFIED] and allow them to [CLASSIFIED] all while [CLASSIFIED] and [CLASSIFIED]. This is their only edge in combat though, as they have much worse stats than your humans. It will be comparatively safe to kill them.

While testing out the Howler in Arena, I plopped down a milkfish next to the river. The Howler charged at it, the milkfish dodged, attacked the Howler, and the Howler dodged into the river and was promptly killed.

I almost removed the howler from the raws in shame.