Editing v0.34:Age

{{quality|Fine|23:16, 16 May 2012 (UTC)}}{{av}}

:''This article deals with the age of a [[creature]]. For world generation "ages", see [[Calendar#Ages|Calendar]].''

'''Age''' represents how long a [[creature]] supposedly has existed (including before year 0).  All creatures have an age, but in fortress mode, only your own [[dwarf|dwarves]] will have their ages observable.  

Age determines the life stages of creatures and their average body sizes over the years. For example, when your [[dwarf|dwarves]] have a [[children|baby]] it will remain a baby from age 0 to 1, then become a [[children|child]]. Once it reaches age 12, it becomes a full-fledged dwarven adult. This is also true for most of the animals in your fortress. Many pets like [[cat]]s, [[cow]]s, [[sheep]] and [[horse]]s will be in their respective child states for 1 year after birth before becoming an adult, but if you manage to capture, tame, and breed [[elephant]]s<sup><small>1</small></sup>, they will be children for 10 years after birth.

The size of a creature is also dependent on age (as well as basic genetics). [[Dragon]]s are an extreme example, requiring a thousand years to reach their full size which is not much smaller than an adult [[giant sperm whale]].

Another aspect that is controlled by age is lifespan. Many creatures, like dwarves and [[human]]s, can eventually die of old age, but others such as [[elf|elves]], [[goblin]]s, and some unintelligent or unnatural creatures, will live until killed.

These attributes are defined in the [[raw file|raws]]: life stage through the use of the <tt>[BABY:#]</tt> and <tt>[CHILD:#]</tt> tags and old age death through the use of <tt>[MAXAGE:#:#]</tt>. <tt>[BABY:#]</tt> defines at what year the given creature grows from a baby into a child and <tt>[CHILD:#]</tt> defines at what year it will grow from a child to an adult. The first number given in <tt>[MAXAGE:#:#]</tt> is the minimum age the creature will live to barring death from some other source, while the second number is the absolute maximum age of the creature; if this tag is not present at all, the creature will not die of old age.

Immigrants may sometimes show up with incorrect ages (future birthdates) {{Bug|3945}} or incorrect life stages (4 month old children) {{Bug|3752}}.  This normally does not cause a problem, and life stages get rechecked every birthday.

Only an intelligent civilized creature vulnerable to death by expiration will seek [[necromancer|necromancy]].

<sup><small>1</small></sup> <small>Tame elephants are currently bugged, and will nearly inevitably die of starvation because they can't eat enough grass in time.{{Bug|4113}}</small>
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-{{quality|Masterwork|02:07, 28 June 2013 (UTC)}}{{av}}
+{{quality|Fine|23:16, 16 May 2012 (UTC)}}{{av}}
-:''This article is about [[creature]] age. For world generation "ages", see [[Calendar#Ages]].''
+:''This article deals with the age of a [[creature]]. For world generation "ages", see [[Calendar#Ages|Calendar]].''
-'''Age''' is a [[creature]] attribute describing how long the creature has been alive, including creatures born before the beginning of time in terms of [[world generation]] (year zero). Age determines the life stage of creatures and, until it is fully grown, is the most important element of the creature's body [[size]]. All creatures have an age associated with them, but in fortress mode only your own [[dwarf|dwarves]] will have observable ages in the [[thoughts and preferences]] screen. The age of a creature is probably a floating value (to account for growth throughout the year), but is displayed in the game as an integer that is ticked up every time it reaches a birthday.
+'''Age''' represents how long a [[creature]] supposedly has existed (including before year 0).  All creatures have an age, but in fortress mode, only your own [[dwarf|dwarves]] will have their ages observable.
-== Effects ==
+Age determines the life stages of creatures and their average body sizes over the years. For example, when your [[dwarf|dwarves]] have a [[children|baby]] it will remain a baby from age 0 to 1, then become a [[children|child]]. Once it reaches age 12, it becomes a full-fledged dwarven adult. This is also true for most of the animals in your fortress. Many pets like [[cat]]s, [[cow]]s, [[sheep]] and [[horse]]s will be in their respective child states for 1 year after birth before becoming an adult, but if you manage to capture, tame, and breed [[elephant]]s<sup><small>1</small></sup>, they will be children for 10 years after birth.
-The age of a creature has an important effect on its overall [[size]] and maturity. The starkest example of this in the game is the case of the [[dragon]], which is born 6,000 cm<sup>3</sup> in size (and technically an adult) then takes a thousand years to reach its full size of 25,000,000 cm<sup>3</sup>. However, the vast majority of the non-sapient creatures your dwarves encounter take one year to mature to adulthood and two years to reach full size; [[elephant]]s and [[giraffe]]s are notable exceptions, as their young take ten years to mature (though they reach full size in only 5 years). Upon reaching adulthood, creatures can [[breeding|reproduce]], be [[trained]], [[milk]]ed, [[shearable|sheared]], revert to [[tame|wild]] status, and various other effects.
-The life cycle of [[dwarves]] is slightly more complicated: juveniles ages zero to one are considered babes, and must be carried about by their mothers; between the ages of one to twelve are they are considered [[children]], and can perform some limited tasks; and once they reach 12 years of age, they are considered adults. The process is the same for other [[creature#civilized|civilized]] races, the original [[animal people]], and the humanoid [[semi-megabeast]]s.
+The size of a creature is also dependent on age (as well as basic genetics). [[Dragon]]s are an extreme example, requiring a thousand years to reach their full size which is not much smaller than an adult [[giant sperm whale]].
-Another aspect that is controlled by age is lifespan. Most organic creatures will eventually die of old age (including fortuitous fortress dwarves), usually within a range of 1-100 years. [[Savage|Giant]] versions of animals inherit their normally-sized brethrens' lifespans, while [[animal people]] usually have somewhat longer lifespans than their representative creatures. A few species, such as [[elf|elves]], [[goblin]]s, and some unintelligent and unnatural creatures, will live until killed. [[Megabeast]]s, the [[undead]], [[night creature]]s, and the procedurally generated [[forgotten beast]]s and [[titan]]s are similarly immortal. Immigrants may sometimes show up with incorrect ages (future birthdates) {{Bug|3945}} or incorrect life stages (4 month old children) {{Bug|3752}}.  This normally does not cause a problem, and life stages get rechecked every birthday. Note that only an intelligent civilized creature vulnerable to death by expiration will seek [[necromancer|necromancy]], which means goblins and elves never become practitioners of the dark arts.
+Another aspect that is controlled by age is lifespan. Many creatures, like dwarves and [[human]]s, can eventually die of old age, but others such as [[elf|elves]], [[goblin]]s, and some unintelligent or unnatural creatures, will live until killed.
-== Sample list of age characteristics ==
+These attributes are defined in the [[raw file|raws]]: life stage through the use of the <tt>[BABY:#]</tt> and <tt>[CHILD:#]</tt> tags and old age death through the use of <tt>[MAXAGE:#:#]</tt>. <tt>[BABY:#]</tt> defines at what year the given creature grows from a baby into a child and <tt>[CHILD:#]</tt> defines at what year it will grow from a child to an adult. The first number given in <tt>[MAXAGE:#:#]</tt> is the minimum age the creature will live to barring death from some other source, while the second number is the absolute maximum age of the creature; if this tag is not present at all, the creature will not die of old age.
-{| width=100% class="sortable" style="text-align:center"
-! width="20%" style="text-align:left" | Name
-! width="20%" | Age of Adulthood
-! width="20%" | Age of Full Size
-! width="20%" | Minimum Age of Death
-! width="20%" | Maximum Age of Death
-|-
-| style="text-align:left" | [[Ant]]
-| 0
-| 0
-| 1
-| 1
-|-
-| style="text-align:left" | [[Bat]]
-| 0
-| 0
-| 2
-| 3
-|-
-| style="text-align:left" | [[Antman]]
-| 0
-| 2
-| 5
-| 8
-|-
-| style="text-align:left" | [[Dog]]
-| 1
-| 2
-| 10
-| 20
-|-
-| style="text-align:left" | [[Lion]]
-| 3
-| 2
-| 10
-| 20
-|-
-| style="text-align:left" | [[Unicorn]]
-| 1
-| 2
-| 10
-| 20
-|-
-| style="text-align:left" | [[Elephant seal]]
-| 1
-| 5
-| 15
-| 25
-|-
-| style="text-align:left" | [[Sponge]]
-| 0
-| 0
-| 20
-| 30
-|-
-| style="text-align:left" | [[Carp]]
-| 1
-| 5
-| 20
-| 30
-|-
-| style="text-align:left" | [[Ogre]]
-| 10
-| 20
-| 20
-| 30
-|-
-| style="text-align:left" | [[Elephant]]
-| 10
-| 5
-| 50
-| 70
-|-
-| style="text-align:left" | [[Serpent man]]
-| 12
-| 12
-| 60
-| 80
-|-
-| style="text-align:left" | [[Sperm whale]]
-| 1
-| 10
-| 70
-| 80
-|-
-| style="text-align:left" | [[Human]]
-| 12
-| 12
-| 60
-| 120
-|-
-| style="text-align:left" | [[Sea serpent]]
-| 6
-| 20
-| 150
-| 170
-|-
-| style="text-align:left" | [[Dwarf]]
-| 12
-| 12
-| 150
-| 170
-|-
-| style="text-align:left" | [[Kobold]]
-| 12
-| 12
-| 150
-| 170
-|-
-| style="text-align:left" | [[Elf]]
-| 12
-| 12
-| <span style="display:none">99999</span>&mdash;
-| <span style="display:none">99999</span>Immortal
-|-
-| style="text-align:left" | [[Goblin]]
-| 12
-| 12
-| <span style="display:none">99999</span>&mdash;
-| <span style="display:none">99999</span>Immortal
-|-
-| style="text-align:left" | [[Dragon]]
-| 0
-| 1000
-| <span style="display:none">99999</span>&mdash;
-| <span style="display:none">99999</span>Immortal
-|-
-| style="text-align:left" | [[Minotaur]]
-| 12
-| 12
-| <span style="display:none">99999</span>&mdash;
-| <span style="display:none">99999</span>Immortal
-|}
-== Mechanics ==
+Immigrants may sometimes show up with incorrect ages (future birthdates) {{Bug|3945}} or incorrect life stages (4 month old children) {{Bug|3752}}.  This normally does not cause a problem, and life stages get rechecked every birthday.
-The mechanics of aging are defined by [[creature token]]s within creatures' [[raw file]]s, and can easily be modified by those looking to make changes to their game.
-*{{tt|[CHILD:#]}}: Age at which children become adults. Set to 1 for most creatures, up to 10 for a few ([[giraffe]], [[elephant]]), and is set to 12 for most sapient creatures.
+Only an intelligent civilized creature vulnerable to death by expiration will seek [[necromancer|necromancy]].
-*{{tt|[BABY:#]}}: For sapient creatures, age at which babies become [[children]]. Always set to 1.
-*{{tt|[BODY_SIZE:#:#:#]}}: Controls the body size of the creature, typically two or more are used to constrain its growth pattern. The first number is age in years; the second additional age in days. The third number is its size in cm<sup>3</sup>. The body size points are independent of the age of adulthood for the animal: many animals are adults in one year, but take two years to reach their full size, for instance.
+<sup><small>1</small></sup> <small>Tame elephants are currently bugged, and will nearly inevitably die of starvation because they can't eat enough grass in time.{{Bug|4113}}</small>
-*{{tt|[MAXAGE:#:#]}}: The first number given is the minimum natural lifespan of a creature, while the second is the maximum. The distribution of deaths from natural causes in between the two values is unknown, but likely linear; the moment of death-by-old-age of a creature is stored from birth. If this tag is not present at all, the creature is biologically immortal.