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[Ghostpaw]

On the wiki site I can only find the meanings for the tokens in the matgloss_plant file.  I can not however find the meanings of the tokens of the above matgloss files.  I am wondering if anyone can point me to where these tokens are explained.  Here is a list of tokens I do not understand "fully".  In case anyone is wondering, I am a very careful, diligent person who will only half ass things in rare circumstances.  I have not found anyone who can match my attention to detail.  Maybe one day I'll get around to drawing pictures of my artifacts.

1) matgloss_metal file;

[MATGLOSS_METAL:(something goes here)]
- specifically what goes after the MATGLOSS and what replaces the (something goes here).

[SOLID_DENSITY:(number)]
[BLOCK_PERC:(number)]
[DAMAGE_PERC:(number)]
[SPEC_HEAT:(number)]
[BRITTLE]
[DEEP]

2) matgloss_stone_gem file; (This one took a while to go through fully.)

- O how interesting.  Toady One sure has done his homework.  I'm especially impressed with the grossular entry.
- Interesting.  I wonder why Toady One has given Demantoid and Red Beryl such a low value.
- Nice catch where Toady One notices that Diamond may be the only gem that could ignite at such low temperatures.
- I find it questionable of what goes into the semi-precious, precious, and rare category.  Though to give him credit it is questionable in the real world market I'll have to do "extensive" further research before I can make a suggestion on the changes.  The hours I've committed already is not enough.  We are talking weeks, maybe months, here.

[MATGLOSS_STONE:(something)]
- Especially concerned with what goes after the MATGLOSS and what replaces the (something)

[GEM:(assuming to be name. assuming to be singular):(assuming to be name. assuming to be plural)]
- Some appear to have the word STP after what I assume to be what the singular form of what is to be created should be called.  Not sure what that is.  Also I do not know what the 'GEM' does to the material in question.

[ENVIRONMENT:(seems to be some sort of stone layer):CLUSTER_SMALL:(number)]
- I am especially concerned with what CLUSTER_SMALL and the number after it does.

[BASIC_COLOR:(number1):(number2)]
- I am concerned with how it is different from [COLOR:(number):(number):(number)] and why it only has two number categories.  Also I am concerned with how all of them have '7' for number1 and '0' for number2. Exclude the '.

[GLASS]
- I'm assuming it is the tag that allows the material to be made into glass but it's unusual in that I have only found it in [MATGLOSS_STONE:CRYSTAL_ROCK] that I figured I should mention it in case there are any other special properties to it.

[MELTING_POINT:NONE], [BOILING_POINT:(number)], & [IGNITE_POINT:(number)]
- Mostly the difference between the two, what unique effects each produces, and what the 'NONE' on the [MELTING_POINT:(something)] does.  I'm assuming there must be a default value for the [MELTING_POINT:(something)] token to make, what I assume to be, the affects of 'NONE' necessary and would like to know what that is.

[SOLID_DENSITY:(number)]
- Was mentioned before in the matgloss_metal file  but decided to mention it again because not many materials in the matgloss_stone_gem file have this token.

[SPEC_HEAT:(number)]
- Again, it was mentioned in the matgloss_metal file but mentioned it again for the same reasons as the former token.

[ENVIRONMENT_SPEC:(something.  Appears to not be a type of stone layer but something different): CLUSTER_SMALL:(number)]
- Specifically I want to know how the 'SPEC' makes this token different from the [ENVIRONMENT:(seems to be some sort of stone layer):CLUSTER_SMALL:(number)] token.

3) matgloss_stone_layer file;

[MATGLOSS_STONE:(something)]
- Same reasons as what was mentioned in the matgloss_stone_gem file.

[SOLID_DENSITY:(number)]
- mentioned before but I'll just mention it again.  I just feel uncomfortable not mentioning it.
[AQUIFER]
[LAVA]
[SHARP]
[SEDIMENTARY]
[SEDIMENTARY_OCEAN_SHALLOW]
[SEDIMENTARY_OCEAN_DEEP]
[IGNEOUS_INTRUSIVE]
[IGNEOUS_EXTRUSIVE]
[METAMORPHIC]

[REACTION_CLASS:(something)]
- Namely what replaces the (something) and what unique effects this token gives the material.

[BASIC_COLOR:(number1):(number2)]
- there's that interesting token again.  And as before it only has 7 for (number1) and 0 for (number2)

4) matgloss_stone_mineral file;

[ENVIRONMENT:(appears to be some sort of stone layer):VEIN:100]
- specifically what goes after 'ENVIRONMENT' and what effects 'VEIN' creates that is different from 'CLUSTER_SMALL' that saw in the matgloss_stone_gem file.

[METAL_ORE:(something.  Appears to be some sort metal):(number)]

[ENVIRONMENT_SPEC:(something.  Appears to not be a type of stone layer but something different): VEIN:(number)]
- Appeared in the matgloss_stone_gem file except instead of 'CLUSTER_SMALL' there is 'VEIN'.  Same reasons and I want to know how 'VEIN' is different from 'CLUSTER_SMALL'.

[AQUIFER]

[MELTING_POINT:(number)] & [BOILING_POINT:(number)]
- The effects they create and how they are different.

[ENVIRONMENT_SPEC:(something.  Appears to not be a type of stone layer but something different): CLUSTER:(number)]
- mostly on how 'CLUSTER' is different from 'VEIN' and 'CLUSTER_SMALL' as previously mentioned.

[ENVIRONMENT:(something.  Appears to be some sort stone layer):CLUSTER:(number)]
- mostly on how 'CLUSTER' is different from 'VEIN' and 'CLUSTER_SMALL' as previously mentioned.

[ENVIRONMENT_SPEC:(something.  Appears to not be a type of stone layer but something different): CLUSTER_ONE:(number)]
- Mostly on how 'CLUSTER_ONE' is different from 'CLUSTER', 'CLUSTER_SMALL', and 'VEIN' as previously mentioned.

5) matgloss_stone_soil file;

[AQUIFER]
[SOIL_OCEAN]
[SOIL]
[SOIL_SAND]

6) matgloss_wood file;

[SAPLING]
[SOLID_DENSITY:(number)]

[Sean Mirrsen]

Ooo. Gee, hey, we're talking some pretty straightforward and self-explanatory stuff here (pertaining to meaning, not numbers). If you play the game and correlate what you see there to what you see in the raws, you should understand more clearly.

First of all, all MATGLOSS entries could have just as well been stuffed into one file. Filename makes no difference as long as it starts with "matgloss_". MATGLOSS_STONE, MATGLOSS_METAL, MATGLOSS_PLANT, MATGLOSS_WOOD are the four different variants. They share numerous tags.

BOILING, MELTING, IGNITE, HEATDAM, COLDDAM and other _POINTs,  FIXED_TEMP and all their derivatives use degrees on the Toady scale. Figuring it out may be as complex as trying to use Total Annihilation's 64k degree rotation system, but I usually assume (wrongly, no doubt, but reasonably true) that the numbers are degrees on the Fahrenheit scale, +10000.

The _POINT temperature effects should be self-explanatory. Materials will melt, burn, or evaporate at specified temperatures. Just in case, I will note that solid natural walls made of the material are not affected by temperature. HEATDAM and COLDDAM indicate temperature at which an object made of the material will take damage and become worn. SPEC_HEAT is probably a measure of how fast a material accumulates temperature, but I couldn't notice any effect of this, and there's no info on the measurement units. FIXED_TEMP means a material will always have a certain temperature, regardless of what surrounds it.

NONE for any temperature means unlimited, or unaffecting. NONE for ignite temperature will make an object impossible to ignite. I didn't test for FIXED_TEMP effects.

SOLID_DENSITY and LIQUID_DENSITY determine how much anything made of the material weighs. The units are again uncertain, but the game provides some values to relate to.

COLOR is well, the color. The first two accept numbers 0 to 7, 0 being black, 7 being white, 6 being yellow, and I don't remember the rest. The first number is the symbol color, the second is the background color of a tile. The third number is a switch, whether or not the symbol color uses lighter or darker colors. Light black becomes dark grey. Dark white become light grey. The second color seems to always use dark colors.

BASIC_COLOR I am unsure of, I'm unsure if it's even used, but it must follow the same scheme, either omitting the brightness switch or the background color.
There's also BUILD_COLOR, it determines the color of a building made of the material. Syntax same as color.

Now for specifics.

Metals:
[BRITTLE] means no item can be made of the material. Basically marks it as an ingredient-only metal to make alloys.
[DEEP] probably has more uses, but the most apparent is disallowing the metal's use in everyday life by creatures, including forbidding it for choice at embark.
[BLOCK_PERC] and [DAMAGE_PERC] amplify the damage (for weapons) or block rate (for armor), by the percent assigned.

Stone:
[ENVIRONMENT] and [ENVIRONMENT_SPEC] specify where a certain stone will appear. Both take an identifier, a distribution type, and rate. For ENVIRONMENT, the identifier is a stone layer type, like METAMORPHIC (plus specific cases like ALL_STONE and IGNEOUS_ALL). For ENVIRONMENT_SPEC it's a stone material ID, like GABBRO. Distribution types are CLUSTER, CLUSTER_SMALL, CLUSTER_ONE and VEIN, all pretty straightforward if you've played the game.
[GEM] replaces a NAME tag, plus marks the stone as gem-bearing. The words it takes are singular and plural forms, with STP meaning "standard plural" for when only an "s" at the end is required.
[GLASS] is supposed to only affect gems. It marks the stone as a material out of which crystal glass is made.

[AQUIFER][SOIL][SOIL_SAND][SOIL_OCEAN] mark the specific properties of the stone, whether it's counted as soil, ocean floor soil, collectable sand, or aquifer-bearing. Usually this is applied to layer stone, specified by tags like [METAMORPHIC], [IGNEOUS_EXTRUSIVE], and so forth for any layer type. You can add any layer-marking tag to any stone, and that stone will appear in appropriate places as a layer, while retaining its individual placement rules.

REACTION_CLASS is used for referencing multiple stones as one word, in reactions. If you add REACTION_CLASS:ORE to all metal ores, you will be able to reference the phrase "any metal ore" in reactions as [REAGENT:1:REACTION_CLASS:ORE].

For wood, [SAPLING] seems to mean that the trees start growing as saplings. Specific effect has not been determined, or at least I am not aware of it.

Detailed enough?  

[ June 05, 2008: Message edited by: Sean Mirrsen ]

[Ghostpaw]

Hey that's pretty awesome.  Do you happen to edit the wiki?

[Ghostpaw]

Alright I've had time to read your response in depth but I still have a few questions and clarifications that I would like to have made.  I understand this was a lot to take in and appreciate the time you've put to help me.

First, what is the difference between and object igniting, melting, or boiling.  Second, For HEATDAM and COLDDAM or much damage can an item take before it is destroyed and at what rate will it take damage?  Third, if [BLOCK_PERC] and [DAMAGE_PERC] are only amplification for the respective damage or defensive values, then what is the base damage or defense value?  Fourth, what is the difference between CLUSTER with the 100 value assigned and CLUSTER_SMALL with the same 100 value assigned?  Fifth, is it possible to have CLUSTER_ONE have a value besides 1 being given?  Thanks for helping me out again.

[Sean Mirrsen]

As long as I'm not accused of not being an omniscient divine being, I'm alright with helping.  

Igniting, melting, and boiling. Well, it's rather straightforward, you try it and you'll see the effect ingame immediately. An object with an ignite temperature will be burnable, as in it will actively spout flame and smoke, and will appear with double exclamations - like an !!object!!. It will also take damage in the process, though the exact magnitudes and limits of damage, heat or cold, are unknown. Since there're no hitpoints in the game, we can't see how exactly an object is damaged. A melting object transforms into another state. Rocks and metals become globs of respective molten materials. Flesh seems to just disappear. Ice transforms to water, though that bit is not moddable.   Boiling in DF equals instantaeous evaporation. Once an object hits boiling point, it will violently explode into gases.

Initial values for damage and block rates are in the items that are made of the materials...  this kind of thing is very straightforward, I'm really not sure what to think here.. <_<

CLUSTER and CLUSTER_SMALL are different placement types. Clusters are big 20-something tiles wide blobs, small clusters are mini-blobs at most four tiles wide. The number you can specify is the chance for a given material to occupy a slot of the given placement type in the terrain during worldgen. There is another parameter above that, that determines the overall chance of the material to appear in any given terrain layer, but we don't have access to it yet. So, even if you put ALL_STONE and 100 on a stone, it's not guaranteed to appear on a spot you choose, because the chance of it appearing is independent of that number, it just determines relative probability when it's already chosen to appear.
CLUSTER_ONE is absolutely the same. It mostly has 1 as the value because the gems you see it on are ridiculously rare.