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[SirWilliamIII]

Hello,

I've been trying to find sites with sedimentary layers with iron ores, but with no luck. Here follows the list of things I've tried the following to find these layers:
 - Using site finder looking for sites with flux stone, shallow metal(s) and deep metal(s), with no aquifer
 - I've used different values for the MINERAL_SCARCITY value in advanced world generation, but I prefer to have this value as high as possible (meaning metals being scarce)


So far I've generated quite a few worlds, but yet have to find myself a sedimentary layer containing iron ore.
I'm looking forward to hear tips on how to find what I'm looking for.

Thanks in advance,

[Thisfox]

.....I can't see it, sorry.

(Whell thar's yer problem, sonny...) 

Um, I've found some great sedimentary layers in highly aquiferous regions around lakes. And pierced thirteen layers of aquifer.... But all of them were sedimentary layers! Under was beautiful marble.

[SirWilliamIII]

Sorry, this is my first time on this forum and somehow pressing tab and spacebar in quick succession forces the written post to be posted, which is why you got to see only half my post. But I do realise now that I should maybe look for aquifers instead of avoiding them, although I do not like them.

[Thisfox]

No worries, I apologise for being rude and jumping in before you had a chance to correct it.

Aquifers are annoying, but there is a certain wonderful delight in knowing that you just got through one of the damn things. And yeah, they are often full of aquiferous iron. This is the method I've found works best for me in dealing with aquifers. There are plenty more methods as well. Just be prepared for the first couple of pierces to be unreliable until you get the hang of them.

Good luck!

[tussock]

If you search for flux, they're all in sedimentary layers. I look for low drainage on the site finder for that though. High drainage is steep and rocky, lots of metamorphic and igneous, low drainage is flat and (usually) plentiful in sedimentary rock. It also often has an aquifer, though if you grab multiple biomes you can get part of the map clear of them, and still have 10-20 layers of accessible sedimentary. Rivers should be associated too, especially on the flat, but I'm not sure if the world-builder does that.

[Urist Da Vinci]

If you search for flux, they're all in sedimentary layers. I look for low drainage on the site finder for that though. High drainage is steep and rocky, lots of metamorphic and igneous, low drainage is flat and (usually) plentiful in sedimentary rock. It also often has an aquifer, though if you grab multiple biomes you can get part of the map clear of them, and still have 10-20 layers of accessible sedimentary. Rivers should be associated too, especially on the flat, but I'm not sure if the world-builder does that.

Flux can also be marble, deep underground, and not related at all to sedimentary layers.

Drainage, rivers, lakes, aquifers, etc. have no effect on the presence of sedimentary layers in Dwarf Fortress.

If volcanism is less than 90, and it is not an ocean biome, there is actually an 80% chance of getting a sedimentary layer as the first stone layer. Details: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=136999.0

However, that sedimentary layer is 3/11=27% likely to be a flux stone, and 73% likely to be one of the other sedimentary stones. Don't worry though - iron can occur in all sedimentary layer stones. You may be missing suitable sites that have iron in mudstone, and no deep metals.

[SirWilliamIII]

Thanks for the replies.

So it seems that I will have to look for areas with low volcanism? Does this mean that I will have to embark in lands far away from my beloved mountains?

And as Da Vinci already said, the flux I get on the site finder usually indicates a marble layer deep underground.

When I put my mind to work I am guessing that since the sedimentary layer is usually the top layer, (after soil that is), it is most effected by erosion, which is why on some maps there's more of this layer than on others? And none, at all, on other occasions. I'm not sure if this is how the game actually is build to function but this would seem logical. I know how sedimentary layers are formed in the actual world we live in.

I guess I will look for sites with low volcanism, or better, generate a world without volcano's (I think embarking on one is cheap anyways) and see if I have more luck.

Yours,

[Lytha]

I usually get sedimentary layers and iron near the oceans.

[GhostDwemer]

It is a bit of a pain, but there is a way to search for any particular stone or mineral. Make a copy of your save folder. Using an editor that can find and replace in an entire directory of files, such as Notepad++, remove all [AQUIFER] tags from the save raws in Dwarf Fortress/data/save/(save-folder)/raw/objects. Add [AQUIFER] tags to the stone or mineral you are looking for. Start a new game in the altered save file, and search for aquifers.

You can also use "prospect all" from dfhack to check areas before embarking.

[Badger Storm]

I tend to embark fairly close to the mountains (fewer aquifers there) and only once or twice I've had trouble finding any iron.  Then again, I worldgen like mad and use DFHack to peek at what's at the embark site.  I don't think all mountains are volcanic.

[kirmaster]

It is a bit of a pain, but there is a way to search for any particular stone or mineral. Make a copy of your save folder. Using an editor that can find and replace in an entire directory of files, such as Notepad++, remove all [AQUIFER] tags from the save raws in Dwarf Fortress/data/save/(save-folder)/raw/objects. Add [AQUIFER] tags to the stone or mineral you are looking for. Start a new game in the altered save file, and search for aquifers.

You can also use "prospect all" from dfhack to check areas before embarking.

if you're brute-forcing it that way anyways, why not make a new tag? is the embark screen stuck on only the standard searchable tags, or can you just add one (for say, iron ores)?

[GhostDwemer]

I'm not certain but I really don't think the search screen is in any way moddable.

[SirWilliamIII]

I've tried replacing the [AQUIFER] tag, but doing so completely removed it from the game, causing it not to appear on the world map either. Probably something here that's my own silly mistake.

I tend to embark fairly close to the mountains (fewer aquifers there) and only once or twice I've had trouble finding any iron.  Then again, I worldgen like mad and use DFHack to peek at what's at the embark site.  I don't think all mountains are volcanic.

What, if you do at all, do you alter in the worldgen parameters? Finding sedementary layers on a mountain is near impossible for me. And I'd use DFHack with its prospect function too, but I have yet to find a version of the tool that works with the current Dwarf Fortress build.
I have just found a version that works: https://www.reddit.com/r/dwarffortress/comments/2r0koe/df_hack_for_last_df_release/

Since the start of this post I've managed to find some Sedimentary layers, however not in preferable areas. All of them were on sites with zero elevation; that being a site without any natural ramp/cliff. I usually had to dig through about 4-5 layers of soil and then there would be layers and layers of flux and iron. Maybe this can help others trying to find the layers.

I am however still looking for sedimentary layers at mountains, if possible at all.

[Badger Storm]

Well, my worldgen setup is as follows:

5 volcanoes (though this probably isn't going to help you much)
1504 embark points
End year 100
Savagery range 15-100
All meshes ignored
Mineral scarcity 500 (I've been working with a lot of good-aligned embarks recently, so I need all the help I can get in finding a suitable site)
5 titans
No minimum biome square counts
Minimum of 800 savage squares (this will get you more world rejections though)

Perhaps you might want to fiddle with the minimum number of low/medium/high volcanism squares?