Editing v0.34:Age

{{quality|Masterwork|02:07, 28 June 2013 (UTC)}}{{av}}

:''This article is about [[creature]] age. For world generation "ages", see [[Calendar#Ages]].''

'''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.

== Effects ==
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. 

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.

== Sample list of age characteristics ==
{| 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 ==
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.
*{{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.
*{{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; interestingly, receiving even the most severe of non-lethal [[wound]]s has no effect on a creature's lifespan. If this tag is not present at all, the creature is biologically immortal.