Better Instruments
Dwarf Fortress’s musical instrument procedural generation system is cool. However, it has a few problems. Every time you generate a new world, you have a new set of opaquely named instruments to (not) learn. Every player has a different set of instruments, preventing a shared cultural connection to form between players. Every instrument is uniquely boring, offering no gradient between simple instruments that are easy to mass-produce and cool instruments with a complex tool chain.
Better Instruments replaces Dwarf Fortress’s procedurally generated instruments with a set of bespoke instruments designed to address those issues. This mod adds 21 new instruments (10 available in fortress mode by default) designed to be recognizable, reasonably challenging to create, and thematically appropriate.
Better Instruments replaces the entity_default file. This is necessary because this mod removes the generated instrument tags from all civilizations. This mod is compatible with any mod that adds lines to entity_default (so long as this mod is loaded first), but this mod is not compatible with any other mod that cuts entities from entity_default.
Version 3.0 of this mod will split out the mod into multiple workshop entries:
- This entry, which will contain only the instrument definitions and will not be inherently incompatible with other mods.
- A set of other entries that assign those instruments to civilizations.
This will afford the most flexibility and compatibility.
* Instrument *
* Dwarves *
* Elves *
* Humans *
* Goblins *
* Kobolds *
This mod includes two new plants, Giant Reed and Cave Reed, for the construction of reed instruments.
Giant Reed can only be found in savage wetlands, and it can be cultivated in the summer.
Cave Reed can only be found deep underground (in the third cavern layer). In addition to being used for instrument-making, it can also be ground into a low quality midnight blue dye.
Trainzack – design, implementation
Maddpipper – consultant
Made with the help of the Dwarf Fortress RAW visual studio code extension[marketplace.visualstudio.com].
Thanks to Disco Witch, Cross Lament, and Quietust for their assistance on the Discord and forums.
This mod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. This means that you can use the contents of this work (as-is or modified) in your own work, even if you benefit financially, so long as you give proper attribution and license the work under the same license. You don’t need to ask me first (though I would appreciate a heads up!).
The license terms are explained here[creativecommons.org] and are listed in full here[creativecommons.org].
* Instruments have the wrong weight[www.bay12games.com].
* Descriptions are placeholder for the hurdy-gurdies, bugles, sackbuts, harpsichords, enormous suspended gongs, harps, lyres, dread horns, kazoos, pan flutes, and flutes.
* Some instruments made by other sites (and generated in adventure mode) have incorrect component materials.
* Some instruments do not correctly list their components in the built instrument description.
* Some instruments are made out of absurdly small parts of thread, cloth, etc.
* All assembled instruments are assembled using the Wood Crafting skill, even if that’s not appropriate.
* Some instruments do not show the correct sprites. This is a dwarf fortress bug.
