0002377: Corpse pieces that are non-processable for ethical reasons don't disappear

Notes
(0008678) smjjames (reporter) 2010-06-19 10:35	Could you submit a save? That would be the best way to find out whats going on.

(0008679) gruftschreck (reporter) 2010-06-19 10:35	with rot I mean vanish from existance, they transform to skeletons fast enaugh, though they will never rot completely.

(0008685) Footkerchief (manager) 2010-06-19 11:27	If you check Toady's note at 0000022:0003429, it's only the "non-processable corpse pieces" that are supposed to disappear. Goblin skeletons etc. are theoretically processable, but the dwarves' ethics prevent it, which means that some corpse pieces that are practically non-processable are failing to disappear. At least, I think that's what's going on. Are they goblin/kobold skeletons or what?

(0010744) zwei (reporter) 2010-07-20 14:25	For me, it ale numerous kobbold corpses as well as ettin/giant megabeasts. I would guess goblins would have been same if they survived worldgen. Issue here seems to be rotting: Skeletons stay intact and will not decompose to processable bones and skulls as they did originally. This means that they will not disappear but instead stay forever as "partial skeleton". If body part like head or one-bone limb that rots to single bone/skull was hacked off it is usable just fine. Nonsentients and nonpets work with this because while skeleton also stays intact forever it can also be butchered to bones and skull. On negative side here, it has increaced workload of butchers many times because they are busy breaking up skeletons to their components. It seems that unrotable links added to enable skeletal undead prevent mundane corpses from decomposition too.

(0010751) Footkerchief (manager) 2010-07-20 15:26	zwei, 0001180 may shed some light on the problem you're describing.

(0010788) zwei (reporter) 2010-07-21 12:41	That is about the fact that dwarves do not butcher sapients (which is okay and working and intended i guess). Problem here is that skeletons do not automatically decay to bones & skulls (which would be processable and able to decay to nothingness).

(0012256) Syndic (reporter) 2010-08-30 04:00	Just a note, I think that skeletons DO automatically decay to bones & skulls... but it just takes WAY too long. About 11 years into my fort, a goblin hand or something that was chopped off decayed into a stack of 2 <goblin name> bone. So I assume it's just an issue with tendons or cartilage or whatever keeps skeletons together rotting WAY too slowly.

(0012258) Chthon (reporter) 2010-08-30 06:25	I concur, I had werewolves in my fortress. On average it took about 4 years for one to decompose. By that I mean, in the 4 1/2 years of my fortress I had one arm decompose and that was it. All of the rest of the skeletons including the main body of the first are still intact.

(0012266) kwieland (reporter) 2010-08-30 12:11	Foot, I don't think ethics is the question here. I think the real bug here is that skeletons (all, in my experience) do not decompose into individual components, even after many game years (10+ enough?).

(0015397) Kumquat (reporter) 2011-02-22 09:20	This is probably in a way related to 3350, too, as I assume it is cartilage and sinew that are keeping the skeletons together; and cartilage never rots. However there is a game design issue as well, since if cartilage would rot then it would make butchering skeletons into bones quite pointless, as by the time the corpse rotted into a skeleton there would be nothing left but bones, since there does not appear to be a way to specify rot rate to a material. I suppose someone could test this out by adding [ROTS] to cartilage in material_template_default.txt.

Issue History
Date Modified	Username	Field	Change
2010-06-19 10:33	gruftschreck	New Issue
2010-06-19 10:33	gruftschreck	Tag Attached: Probable Quick Fix
2010-06-19 10:34	gruftschreck	Tag Attached: Intentional?
2010-06-19 10:35	smjjames	Note Added: 0008678
2010-06-19 10:35	gruftschreck	Note Added: 0008679
2010-06-19 10:49	Footkerchief	Tag Detached: Intentional?
2010-06-19 10:49	Footkerchief	Tag Detached: Probable Quick Fix
2010-06-19 10:53	Footkerchief	Note Added: 0008681
2010-06-19 10:53	Footkerchief	Status	new => resolved
2010-06-19 10:53	Footkerchief	Resolution	open => no change required
2010-06-19 10:53	Footkerchief	Assigned To	=> Footkerchief
2010-06-19 11:20	Footkerchief	Note Deleted: 0008681
2010-06-19 11:22	Footkerchief	Assigned To	Footkerchief =>
2010-06-19 11:22	Footkerchief	Status	resolved => new
2010-06-19 11:25	Footkerchief	Summary	corpses don't rod => Corpse pieces that are non-processable for ethical reasons don't disappear
2010-06-19 11:27	Footkerchief	Note Added: 0008685
2010-06-19 11:27	Footkerchief	Tag Attached: Intentional?
2010-06-19 11:27	Footkerchief	Relationship added	related to 0000022
2010-07-12 12:03	Footkerchief	Tag Renamed	Intentional? => Intentional/Expected?
2010-07-20 14:25	zwei	Note Added: 0010744
2010-07-20 14:25	zwei	Issue Monitored: zwei
2010-07-20 15:24	Footkerchief	Relationship added	related to 0001180
2010-07-20 15:26	Footkerchief	Note Added: 0010751
2010-07-21 12:41	zwei	Note Added: 0010788
2010-08-30 04:00	Syndic	Note Added: 0012256
2010-08-30 06:25	Chthon	Note Added: 0012258
2010-08-30 12:11	kwieland	Note Added: 0012266
2011-02-06 15:12	Dwarfu	Resolution	no change required => open
2011-02-16 14:41	jwest23	Issue Monitored: jwest23
2011-02-21 21:42	Dwarfu	Relationship added	related to 0003515
2011-02-22 09:20	Kumquat	Note Added: 0015397
2011-02-22 09:46	Footkerchief	Relationship added	related to 0003350