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[rylen]

I'm coming back to the game for the latest edition. I'd like to make sure a site has a decent amount of iron before sinking some time into it. Last version, I could use DFHack's Prospect tool to find out how much of various metals where there. But DFHack hasn't finished being updated yet. (Thanks for doing that, guys. I appreciate your hard work.) Are there other, stone specific tools? Other techniques?

I understand I can generate using the last version and play with this one, but I'd prefer to play in a world where dwarves have been using the new features for the past 1000 years.

Thanks.

[Dunamisdeos]

There is bleeding edge version of the start package that has DFhack included. Should be in the thread.

This one, I think -> http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=126076.3165

[Niddhoger]

Apart from DFHack (which is in alpha, and crashing instead of saving my games :S), you can always use the "well, its buy a river/lake and has shallow metals" heuristic.  IIRC, all three iron ores can be found in sedimentary layers, and these are also the only layers to find coal/lignite.  All but one of the flux stones count as sediment as well.  You also get jet, for super-light stone pots.  These will almost always have aquifers though, so beware.

I'd also like to take this time to say "iron is NOT needed to enjoy DF." You can import metals (makes trading worth something), use traps (not just cage spam, but get creative like rock filled minecarts being looped), make use of ballista (they have an effective range of 100+ tiles), or just settle on bronze.  Legendary warriors in masterwork bronze are peerless anyway, as dwarves are generally the only ones that use steel and you are likley the only one with skilled warriors. 

[khearn]

Lastest dfhack alpha is at https://github.com/DFHack/dfhack/releases/tag/0.42.04-alpha2

It's working fine for me. I've had a couple of crashes while saving the game, but the saves seemed to be fine (and I was going to quit anyways).

But like Niddhoger says, you don't need iron ore. I actually prefer starts that don't have it, so I have to trade for it and appreciate what I get more.

[rylen]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Apart from DFHack (which is in alpha, and crashing instead of saving my games :S), you can always use the "well, its buy a river/lake and has shallow metals" heuristic.  IIRC, all three iron ores can be found in sedimentary layers, and these are also the only layers to find coal/lignite.  All but one of the flux stones count as sediment as well.  You also get jet, for super-light stone pots.  These will almost always have aquifers though, so beware.

I took tried sites with shallow metals and low mineral generation #s twice. First time I didn't strike iron after a while. Second time, I inspected visible layers, didn't see any, and then played something else. I did not know about the "by a lake/river" half of the equation.

I'd also like to take this time to say "iron is NOT needed to enjoy DF." You can import metals (makes trading worth something), use traps (not just cage spam, but get creative like rock filled minecarts being looped), make use of ballista (they have an effective range of 100+ tiles), or just settle on bronze.  Legendary warriors in masterwork bronze are peerless anyway, as dwarves are generally the only ones that use steel and you are likley the only one with skilled warriors.

Indisputably true. But this is my first time back after a while and getting steel up and running feels good.

[khearn]

That's a perfectly reasonable way to get back into it.

[Dunamisdeos]

I'm playing a site that doesn't even have tin. My guys are outfitted in copper mail and such, and butchered the goblins last siege.

They do trade for iron to make weapons, though.

[khearn]

I'm playing a glacier site they said it had no metals in the site finder, but it's got a few layers of chalk with small clusters of cassiterite. So if I import copper, I can make bronze in limited quantities. That, plus the iron/steel I can import is proving to be sufficient.

Surviving the Yetis that wandered in the first few seasons was kinda iffy. At one point I had 6 of my 7 dwarves up against one yeti. The Yeti was unconscious due to pain from a punch to the gut. The dwarves were all punching it in the head, but accomplishing nothing. They kept it up until they were passing out from over-exertion. I thought my fort was going to fall because they were too dumb to stop punching it in the head. But fortunately, I managed to get the remaining dwarf to go near a copper axe and drafted him, so he picked up the axe and joined the fight. A copper axe apparently won't decapitate a Yeti, at least not in unskilled hands, but it did open enough arteries to get the Yeti to bleed out.

Now, a year or so later, any Yeti than wanders down the entrance tunnel finds a trio of soldiers with steel weapons and bronze/copper armor waiting for it. Those fights don't last long at all.

[Robsoie]

In case of lack of any ores that can create iron in your map, a good way is to use the humans merchant caravans, even if you do not have anything worth what they carry.
I mean , they come, you call your broker to trade, you mark all the items in iron (good anvils, good) they have and then you press   s   to seize them.

They'll be unhappy but will never do anything against you, and will leave after the "trade" is made, letting you with lots of iron items you can melt in your metalsmith forge to create enough iron bars to make some good weapon and armor.

Human can even bring steel items too, (check the anvils some are often made of steel, 1 melted steel anvil = 1 steel bar)

Supposedly if you do that everytime, the human are supposed to get angry, but on my long lived fort, after doing the seize game for more than 20 years, human civs haven't sent any kind of retaliation ( unfortunately as i hoped to get more sieges along goblins).

[deknegt]

I'm playing a glacier site they said it had no metals in the site finder, but it's got a few layers of chalk with small clusters of cassiterite. So if I import copper, I can make bronze in limited quantities. That, plus the iron/steel I can import is proving to be sufficient.

Surviving the Yetis that wandered in the first few seasons was kinda iffy. At one point I had 6 of my 7 dwarves up against one yeti. The Yeti was unconscious due to pain from a punch to the gut. The dwarves were all punching it in the head, but accomplishing nothing. They kept it up until they were passing out from over-exertion. I thought my fort was going to fall because they were too dumb to stop punching it in the head. But fortunately, I managed to get the remaining dwarf to go near a copper axe and drafted him, so he picked up the axe and joined the fight. A copper axe apparently won't decapitate a Yeti, at least not in unskilled hands, but it did open enough arteries to get the Yeti to bleed out.

Now, a year or so later, any Yeti than wanders down the entrance tunnel finds a trio of soldiers with steel weapons and bronze/copper armor waiting for it. Those fights don't last long at all.

Well, it might not be overly useful, but at least Urist got a phenomenal workout from that. I'm sure their striking skills jumped up quite a bit in their time initiating the Yeti into Dwarf Club.

In case of lack of any ores that can create iron in your map, a good way is to use the humans merchant caravans, even if you do not have anything worth what they carry.
I mean , they come, you call your broker to trade, you mark all the items in iron (good anvils, good) they have and then you press   s   to seize them.

They'll be unhappy but will never do anything against you, and will leave after the "trade" is made, letting you with lots of iron items you can melt in your metalsmith forge to create enough iron bars to make some good weapon and armor.

Human can even bring steel items too, (check the anvils some are often made of steel, 1 melted steel anvil = 1 steel bar)

Supposedly if you do that everytime, the human are supposed to get angry, but on my long lived fort, after doing the seize game for more than 20 years, human civs haven't sent any kind of retaliation ( unfortunately as i hoped to get more sieges along goblins).

Human's are a bit of a weird sort like that. Sometimes if you seize their goods they just accept it without issue, yet if their caravan is decimated by an unfortunate goblin siege, megabeast, or forgotten beast... Then you can be almost certain they'll come to visit your fort with half their army to bring you to their knees.

[Killgoth]

If you are going to use dfhack then any site can have every kind of ore.

[Dozebôm Lolumzalìs]

Cheater.

[greycat]

If your site has elevation changes (so you can see the edges of "cliffs" as you move up/down Z levels), and you don't see any iron ores immediately upon embarking and looking around, then there probably won't be any iron.

Iron tends to appear in the shallow Z levels (sedimentary layers), not deep down.  It's pretty unusual (albeit not impossible) to find it only after digging.

[Detros]

You can also always settle near some goblinite veins and pray to Armok for a siege.

[Bouchart]

If you don't have much metal you can always make crossbows and just shoot everything from a distance.