Kobold Camp: Difference between revisions

From 2d4chan
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(→‎Installing Kobold Camp: makes more sense)
No edit summary
Line 42: Line 42:
* Kobolds can eat bones, meaning food lasts longer. This is a good thing, but it also depletes bones which can otherwise be used for armor and trade goods.
* Kobolds can eat bones, meaning food lasts longer. This is a good thing, but it also depletes bones which can otherwise be used for armor and trade goods.
* Kobolds are very weak creatures, meaning most any kind of combat encounter, even with mild, natural animals, is a life-or-death experience every time until they get some decent skills.
* Kobolds are very weak creatures, meaning most any kind of combat encounter, even with mild, natural animals, is a life-or-death experience every time until they get some decent skills.
* Elves will fuck your shit up 7 diffrent ways and attack on a fairly frequent basis. They're normally very easy to defeat, but kobolds aren't particularly tough, so their weakness is more than compensated for.
* Elves will fuck your shit up 7 different ways and attack on a fairly frequent basis. They're normally very easy to defeat, but kobolds aren't particularly tough, so their weakness is more than compensated for.
* The kobolds of Kobold Camp feature different ethics, meaning different interpersonal behaviors than vanilla kobolds.
* The kobolds of Kobold Camp feature different ethics, meaning different interpersonal behaviors than vanilla kobolds.
* Names are untranslatable, as kobolds still use the [UTTERANCES] tag, the illiterate bastards.
* Names are untranslatable, as kobolds still use the [UTTERANCES] tag, the illiterate bastards.

Revision as of 12:35, 24 May 2012

Kobold Camp is an ultra-primitive variation/mod of Dwarf Fortress, characterized by a combination of mods and personal restrictions. Due to the inherent issues with playing kobolds, the intentional disuse of specialized jobs such as metalsmithing, and guidelines regarding types of structures and mining, Kobold Camp is intended to be a challenge for advanced Dwarf Fortress players looking for something new.

Synopsis

As put succinctly by one Anon:

Kobold Camp has three main points:

  1. These kobolds are the world's primitive society. I find the game is a lot more fun if you let yourself really get into the primitive aesthetic and build mostly lean-tos, hill-homes, huts and shacks, fishing tents, and so on. Imagine what you think these little guys would really live like, and work with it.
  2. The focus of Kobold Camp, first and foremost, is that it's not the same as Dwarf Fortress. It's meant to be a departure. Live like a savage (or simply downtrodden and oppressed) nation to see what it's like being basically the lowest of the low on the ladder of fantasy fodder. Of course...
  3. The real point of the game, like most games, is to have fun. If you'd prefer it if the kobolds could work stone, then by all means, add it in. If you want them to be able to smelt their own weapons, go for it. If you want to build a giant wooden tower fort, you can test the limits of kobold engineering. You're the one playing it, and your changes won't affect anyone else, so knock yourself out.

There's no reason to hold yourself to how a game "should" be played if you don't enjoy it that way.

Installing Kobold Camp

Kobold Camp can be modded into an existing Dwarf Fortress installation by downloading a *.rar from MegaUpload and using its contents to replace the raw/objects folder's contents. If you do not already have a copy of 40d or want to preserve your current version, simply unzip the full contents to another directory and play from there.

MegaUpload is dead thanks to the FBI. Need new link for the DwarfFortress patch.

Changes

The improved kobold tileset for Kobold Camp.
  • Kobolds have been heavily modified into a playable race, and are almost completely functional (see Known Issues). They have been given the required professions to get a camp going, though certain professions may have been intentionally left out (see Challenges). Kobolds have multiple children per litter, and grow into adults faster.
  • Various items have been fixed that make them usable by kobolds. Shovels and choppers replace picks and axes, respectively.
  • Kobold Camp uses a modified version of the May Green tileset, as seen in the thumbnail.
  • Elves no longer ambush. Kobold camp is difficult enough without their rather bugged ambushing behavior, which apparently caused them to spontaneously appear in the dead center of your camp. They'll still attack, but at least you'll get to see them coming.

Challenges

Kobold architecture at its finest.

Kobolds are simple creatures, eking out primitive but happy lives without the need for massive sprawling stone feats of engineering. Players attempting Kobold Camp should follow these guidelines to keep in the "spirit" of the game and challenge:

  • Kobolds do not mine. Picks have been replaced with shovels, and players should never dig into rock layers. They should never dig more than one z-level down. If you choose to live in a cave instead of above-ground mud or wood huts, make it look as organic and natural as possible, and do not alter or expand it once complete. Kobolds likewise do not make tunnels or specialized underground room structures.
  • Kobolds do not smith or smelt. Almost of their necessary equipment is made out of wood, and some new items have been created to make kobolds playable (e.g. shovel and choppy to replace pick and axe, as picks and axes are too large for kobolds to equip and wield).
  • Kobold engineering and architecture is primitive. They mostly dwell in above-ground wooden huts only one floor tall, with the occasional two-story longhouse or other larger endeavor. Rarely will a kobold build a structure taller than two z-levels, such as a small guard tower or other highly-specialized structure. Low-tech is key.

Mechanical changes and other general information of note include:

  • Kobolds can eat bones, meaning food lasts longer. This is a good thing, but it also depletes bones which can otherwise be used for armor and trade goods.
  • Kobolds are very weak creatures, meaning most any kind of combat encounter, even with mild, natural animals, is a life-or-death experience every time until they get some decent skills.
  • Elves will fuck your shit up 7 different ways and attack on a fairly frequent basis. They're normally very easy to defeat, but kobolds aren't particularly tough, so their weakness is more than compensated for.
  • The kobolds of Kobold Camp feature different ethics, meaning different interpersonal behaviors than vanilla kobolds.
  • Names are untranslatable, as kobolds still use the [UTTERANCES] tag, the illiterate bastards.

Survival in Kobold Camp depends primarily on making good use of the natural landscape and living off the land. The primary source of food is through plant gathering, hunting whatever isn't too dangerous, and trading. The best option for creating a camp is the "Use Kobolds" option on the pre-emark screen (Play Immediately, Plan Carefully, Use Kobolds), as it pre-selects the necessary jobs and equipment that suit the mod.

Known Issues

  • A bug in 40d causes the items taken away by kobold caravans to be considered "stolen" when they leave the map. However, this benefits the difficulty of the game, since the lack of exported wealth will greatly reduce the number of immigrants you receive, forcing you to rely on birth rates to keep your population stable.
  • To change the windowed resolution to something else (e.g. 1024x768), open data\init\init.txt in Notepad, locate [GRAPHICS:YES], and modify the values like so:

[GRAPHICS:YES]
[GRAPHICS_WINDOWEDX:1024]
[GRAPHICS_WINDOWEDY:768]
[GRAPHICS_FONT:mayday.bmp]
[GRAPHICS_FULLSCREENX:1280]
[GRAPHICS_FULLSCREENY:1024]
[GRAPHICS_FULLFONT:mayday.bmp]
[GRAPHICS_BLACK_SPACE:YES]

and below that:

[GRID:64:48]
[FULLGRID:80:25]

Links

Download for Kobold Camp - MegaUpload
Download for Kobold Camp - sup/tg/ mirror
AnonIB for Kobold Camp