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Author Topic: The problem with new metals rarity.  (Read 7546 times)

ninja137

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The problem with new metals rarity.
« on: March 31, 2011, 05:43:26 pm »

I have been attempting to find a fort that actually has a respectable variety and amount of metals for nearly a week of constant worldgen and abandonment due to almost complete lack of metals. I embark, use DF prospector, and promptly find out that my choices for metals are several thousand useless zinc, 31 gold ore, adamantine, and nothing else whatsoever. This keeps happening, over and over and over. I shall go mad if I have to make another fortress solely with two metals. There is no way that even with metals scarcity set to max amount of metals available that we should be getting an average of no iron at all, maybe 2-3 metals if you get lucky, and adamantine as the most reliable source for any form of weapons. How can we fix this problem?
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Minnakht

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Re: The problem with new metals rarity.
« Reply #1 on: March 31, 2011, 05:56:47 pm »

Read the embark information. Look for:

Shallow Metals
Deep Metals

it's imperative those are plural

Also, multiple biomes in a single embark square.

I've managed to find myself a scenic mountain valley with hematite, fire clay, trees and red sand, as well as flux somewhere, so... hope I'll still get galena.
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ninja137

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Re: The problem with new metals rarity.
« Reply #2 on: March 31, 2011, 06:00:58 pm »

I go for embarks on mountains, and I make sure it says Shallow Metals and Deep Metals for every embark. I still only get an average of no iron ever, galena sometimes, no coal in any form, and mostly useless metal.
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Lemunde

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Re: The problem with new metals rarity.
« Reply #3 on: March 31, 2011, 06:48:22 pm »

Oddly enough, my current fortress has lots of iron and flux. Hematite to be exact. And I got gold deeper down below.
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ninja137

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Re: The problem with new metals rarity.
« Reply #4 on: March 31, 2011, 06:59:48 pm »

How.....I dont even....do I just have bad luck with embarks?
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Seriyu

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Re: The problem with new metals rarity.
« Reply #5 on: March 31, 2011, 07:25:57 pm »

The alternate solution is work your way around it :p

Masterwork bone armor will still get torn up by metal weapons, but if the goblins only have copper and silver it usually works pretty well.

I defended a fortress with only silver and an artifact bone spear under those conditions.

If they have decent metal armor and weapon, it's time to look into traps or perhaps overly complex magma devices.

Lemunde

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Re: The problem with new metals rarity.
« Reply #6 on: March 31, 2011, 07:30:11 pm »

Oh, and by the way... I just struck native aluminum.
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Untelligent

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Re: The problem with new metals rarity.
« Reply #7 on: March 31, 2011, 08:03:45 pm »

There's a world parameter that affects how scarce metals are. Use that.
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TheNewerMartianEmperor

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Re: The problem with new metals rarity.
« Reply #8 on: April 01, 2011, 03:19:41 am »

There is no way that even with metals scarcity set to max amount of metals available....

Maybe it's just an unfortunate choice of words but... are you turning the numbers for metal in worldgen /up/?
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neil_v

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Re: The problem with new metals rarity.
« Reply #9 on: April 01, 2011, 06:01:53 am »

I have been attempting to find a fort that actually has a respectable variety and amount of metals for nearly a week of constant worldgen and abandonment due to almost complete lack of metals. I embark, use DF prospector, and promptly find out that my choices for metals are several thousand useless zinc, 31 gold ore, adamantine, and nothing else whatsoever. This keeps happening, over and over and over. I shall go mad if I have to make another fortress solely with two metals. There is no way that even with metals scarcity set to max amount of metals available that we should be getting an average of no iron at all, maybe 2-3 metals if you get lucky, and adamantine as the most reliable source for any form of weapons. How can we fix this problem?

I am having the same problem you are having, 10+ world-gens and embarks (didn't use DF prospector :P). I would always embark on Flux (always flux),Shallow and/or Deep metals. Most embarks have NO flux what so ever. The metal that its constantly available is Galena which is lead with a 50% chance of silver), and adamantine. The only other metal I have come across is platinum.
My last embark was on a flux/deep met/shallow met/ and I found hematite. No flux, and Galena. I decided to take the challenge of buying all the steel and steel products I need and working with iron for everything (soon adamantine, but I have 2 legendary creatures wandering around in the caverns waiting for me to make a mistake, proceeding carefully).

My wife, on the other hand, is sitting right next to me on her own computer playing DF, and her worldgens and embarks yield copious amounts of flux and iron. Armok likes her best.   
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EveryZig

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Re: The problem with new metals rarity.
« Reply #10 on: April 01, 2011, 07:12:58 am »

There is a secret to embarks with flux: only one type of flux is labled 'flux' on embark (marble). You can, however, find other sites with flux bu using the site finder. For finding iron, it is best found in sites with multiple shallows and flux stone, (multiple deeps is nice to have too), usually far away from mountains. So you search shallows/flux/deeps, then chose a spot far away from a mountain that is selected by site finder but does not have the 'flux' label. That is how I found magnetite/hematite/limonite/flux in a map for the first time in a long while.
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goukaryuujin

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Re: The problem with new metals rarity.
« Reply #11 on: April 01, 2011, 07:46:43 am »

My wife, on the other hand, is sitting right next to me on her own computer playing DF, and her worldgens and embarks yield copious amounts of flux and iron. Armok likes her best.

Sig'd  :P
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My wife, on the other hand, is sitting right next to me on her own computer playing DF, and her worldgens and embarks yield copious amounts of flux and iron. Armok likes her best.
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NW_Kohaku

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Re: The problem with new metals rarity.
« Reply #12 on: April 01, 2011, 11:48:38 am »

I actually don't like playing with easy steel, and instead look for cassiterite, since I want to play with the glazes in the new pottery, and want copper if I can get it, which means I'm generally looking for granite.

Looking for cassiterite, I've found shallow metalS and occasional overlaps with deep metalS... and I always get iron and flux and absurdly large amounts of alluvial gold... but never cassiterite.

It's just that Armok is a sadistic bastard who enjoys tormenting the players of his game.  You're actually the one he "loves" most.
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