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Altars Extended

Currently in the game alters are very limited.
I added new graphics for alters and added ornamented version of vanilla ones.

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Please see my other mods:
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3157869674

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Enhances religious and cultural aspects of Dwarf Fortress by introducing new altar types and crafting reactions. Those furniture server as alters and some of tools for divination providing both aesthetic and functional value to the fortress.

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Altars.

• Ornamented Altar: Upgraded variation of existing altar
  
• Obelisk: A towering pillar, either plain or inscribed. (Can be additional used as to write content on it)
  
• Kel Altar: Forged in the shape of a blacksmith's anvil, this altar symbolizes the divine craft of creation.
  
• Nekol Altar: Fearful skulls and bones combined into this altar serves as a bridge between the mortal and spiritual realms.
  
• Zas Altar: A mesmerizing altar that refracts light through crystal pillars, amplifying the power of rituals.
  
• Scrying Mirror: A reflective surface used for divination, believed to show fragments of realities.
  
• Ilusker Sigil: An altar featuring the all-seeing eye, allowing those with the true faith to perceive hidden truths. It requires surgery to be made. Not always successful. Also can be used for divination.
  
• Zustash Sigil: The ancient seal. A circular altar inscribed with an intricate blue sigil, pulsating with arcane energy. It requires profound mathematical knowledge to even attempt to make it and even then is rarely successful. Also can be used for divination.
  
• Anriz-azin Sigil: A circular metal plate etched with intricate astronomical symbols. Commonly know as the skywatcher's altar. It requires a profound knowledge of the stars and the sky to be made. Very hard to make. Also can be used for divination.
  
• Bunsoth and Ottem pentagrams: Altars with a pentagrams, used for communication with ancient entities. (2 variants) They requires profound mathematical knowledge to even attempt to be made. Also can be used for divination.
  
• Etur Altar: A raw, massive stone altar that fuses natural formation with power of craftsmanship.
  
• Totemic Altar: A wooden pillar shaped into animals. It is used to honor the spirits of the forest and the ancestors. (from v1.17)
  
• Mechanical Altar: A cog shaped altar made from mechanisms. It is used to honor the ancestors and the industry. (from v1.21)
  
• Columned Gate Altar: A gate like altar made from stone. It is used to honor the travelers, transition and change. (from v1.21)
  
• Arch Gate Altar: A portal like altar made from stone. It is used to invite the travelers and the divine (from v1.21)

Crafting Reactions
Each altar can be crafted using various materials, including wood, stone, metal, and gems. The crafting reactions have been designed to reflect the ritualistic nature of the altars, allowing for a wide range of customization and utility in the fortress.
The sigils are hard to made what is reflected with probability of success in the reactions. They do not provide knowledge skill gain.

Entities

• All altars are permitted to be made by MOUNTAIN entity.
  
• Some of them can be also made by other entity. (from v1.11)

The base prices or reagents may change - I'm opened for suggestions.

• The altars have been designed to offer both aesthetic and functional benefits.
  
• Some altars can be also used for divination - that is used for showing it mystical properties. That said, despite game having TOOL_USE:DIVINATION it seams to be not yet implemented in the game
  
• Sigils based alters require some specific knowledge to be made. This is reflected in the reactions. The harder to make the less probable to be successful.
  
• I decided to use names from dwarven language. For example the Etur Alter sound more dwarven than Stone or Boulder Altar.
  
• Ornamented alters require cloth to be made and usually are 2x more expensive then normal.

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Further expansion plans (depending on my time and motivation / how current version is received).

• Totems - as pilar like wooden constructions - added in 1.17
  
• Cog altar - added in 1.21
  
• Portal / gate like altars - added in 1.21
  
• Fire and water (liquid) altars
  
• Fungus / Mushroom altars and tree like ones
  
• Statues and stone heads
  
• More divination tools (crystal balls, runes, etc.)

Please see also altars in:

• Wax Extended - Bone Altar

• No known issues except the game modding engine limitations.
  
• Unfortunate the game does not support using a skull as a reagent so the Nekol Altar is made from bones.
  
• I couldn't figure out how to make the crystal glass - so it is not supported for ornamented altar.
  
• Game allow to have only single graphic as a tile of item. So colorful variants of some altars are a lot of work and not yet implemented. (eg obelisk)
  
• The mod does not change how written content is generated in the game and what it is used for. So during generation all tools containing writing are made from parchment instead of correct materials (like stone for obelisk).
  That said if you would like to exclude obelisks with inscriptions form generation go to DF folder data/installed mods/niemst_altars/objects/item_niemst_altars.txt and for [ITEM_TOOL:ITEM_TOOL_ALTAR_OBELISK_W] add a line [INCOMPLETE_ITEM].
  I prefer to imagine that it is stone obelisk with inscriptions just partly covered with parchment

If you encounter any other issues, please let me know.

The mod should be compatible with other mods. It uses SELECT and does not remove existing objects. It may not work with mods that alter by CUT and re-add the MOUNTAIN entity. If you encounter any issues, please let me know.

Please feel encouraged to use this resource as a dependency in your mod. If you need just a subset of features and others are misaligned with your vision, please contact me - it is likely there will be no problem on my side to create a resource-only mod (or mods) with the content you require.

The in game graphics are based on the original game graphics. The new graphics are created by me. If you are an artist and would like to help with the mod by providing 32x32px sprites for altars, please contact me. Same if you would like provide the preview image.

• 1.00 - Work Start
  
• 1.10 - Initial release
  
• 1.11 - Added altars and reaction to other entities
  
• 1.12 - Using totems instead of bones for Nekol (skull altar) and more inscription ways
  
• 1.13 - adjusting reactions and items to vanilla entities permitted jobs
  
• 1.14 - fixing graphics for upgraded altars and including obelisks in world generation
  
• 1.15 - fixing transfrmation of pure obelisk into inscripted obelisk
  
• 1.16 - more fixes
  
• 1.17 - anriz-azin sigil upgraded and totemic altars
  
• 1.21 - Cog/Mechanical altar added, gates altars added

If you used this mod and had some interesting story or screenshot to share please write a comment.

LICENSE: Creative Commons - CC BY 4.0 License