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[Rochndil]

Good afternoon.

As some of the more enduring board members may recall, I worked extensively on a mod I called the MMO (Metals and Minerals Overhaul). This project built upon work done by other modders, most notably Sean Mirrsen and Deon, and all imported (stolen) work is credited in detail. It got as far as a .9 beta release (old thread: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=33340.0)before the DF10 version overturned the raws mushroom-cart, and I had to start again.

I'm already working on an update/replacement compatible with the new system, though of course work is slow due to constraints on my free time. I won't have to completely throw out everything I did before, but there will be pretty extensive changes necessary to adapt the original work to the new system.

I'm not going to detail all the changes again, since it'll be substantially the same this go-around. There are a few elements I'm not going to bother with (like sand), since some of Toady's improvements rendered a few of my changes irrelevant, and there's no reason to complicate things with unnecessary tinkering.

Basically, the MMO does the following:

 - Clean up the metals processing reactions, bringing them a bit closer to real-world functionality (with an exception or two)
 - Add a double-handful (not a wagon-load) of new metals, ores, and gems to the world
 - Add a waste-production system to the ore refining process
 - Alter the display of soil/rock layers, ores, and harvested minerals to a more consistent and useful system
 - Use a custom tileset to perform the above, and extend some of the organizational improvements to other display elements
 - Document ALL changes to original system in detail, and include in download package

Right now I'm tinkering with the tileset. I did a LOT of cleanup on the tiles I used, created a few, and adjusted quite a few more. With some of the changes in recent builds (still waiting for the .20 bugfix!) I think I can squeeze in a few more useful tiles. Most of what I had before is salvageable, I think, so that work's not wasted.

Then, I need to do a couple of things, some of which will require some research;

 - Try to figure out some of the materials engineering behind the new metals defs, codify that into a calculating spreadsheet, and then use that to generate new numbers to approximate the values used in the old MMO
 - Update all the necessary changes to the new system, making sure to take advantage of the latest features and capabilities
 - Think about a custom workshop or two for some of the reactions
 - Investigate compiling the raws changes into a auto-update program (uristmod?)
 - Get the whole mess done and tested, and hopefully finish it this time around

There are a number of new tools available that should make this a lot easier for me than it was before, so hopefully I won't run out of time before I run out of steam.

Rochndil, who always seems to be doing DF-modding at tax-time...

[Rochndil]

Progress is being made, so far I've got the first 10 rows of the tileset basically done (may need to insert a couple of moved tiles into early, unused positions). Last time around I did the tileset as the final project, but this time I'm doing it first, since it'll help me see quickly how later work is going to work in-game. I've already got a line on some of the workshop designs, which will save me a good bit of time. The majority of the reactions are also completed, though it all needs to be TESTED of course. I also (hopefully) have a place to start with the metal/alloy specifications, so I can then crunch the necessary numbers for the metals defs.

Once all that's done I still need to think about distribution. I could take the easy way out and just replace all the relevant raws, but that's a brute-force approach, and not very inter-mod friendly. Does anyone have an opinion about the various mod merger utilities? Is there any one that's more commonly used?

Rochndil, slogging forward, one tile at a time...

[Jeoshua]

Question: Are you planning on making the tiles for the minerals iconic, like Phoebus?

[Rochndil]

Good morning!

Question: Are you planning on making the tiles for the minerals iconic, like Phoebus?

In a word, no. Each type of mineral resource (NOT each specific one!) will have a unique un-mined display tile. All ores, for example, will use the same tile (with some SPECIAL exceptions), but with a different color set. All flux stones will also share one unique tile, but with a different color selection for each. There will also be different tiles used for certain types of MINED resources. All this is for consistency and usability.

For example, when you look at the map, you can quickly tell if your stone is sedimentary, since all sedimentary stones will use the same tile. Fuel resources will be easy to identify, as will flux, ore, soil, sand, etc.

I'll throw up an image of the tileset once I'm done with it. As of last night, I'm working on row 16 (of 16), and then I need to go back and move a few things around to account for changes necessitated by updates in the latest builds of '10. Note that the tileset PRESUMES the use of a graphical replacer for the dwarves, etc, as well as accent removal in the language files, AND custom raw assignments (or you'll have walls full of lizards and equally odd stuff).

Rochndil, who will have everything together eventually...

[Jeoshua]

Well if this pack is what you claim, I will definitely pour over it's raws and rip it's minerally goodness out.  If your tiles are good enough I'll use em, but I've become VERY used to Phoebus's icons.  At the same time, I'd like them to go away and be replaced by stuff that looks like stuff, instead of icons.  You know?

Yeah I have a huge personal megamod.  I'd release it but nobody would like it as much as I do.  I encourage anyone reading this and wishing they had my mod pack to just merge the mods together themselves.  That way you get what you want, not what someone else thinks is cool.

[Rochndil]

As promised, here is the (current, partially tested) tileset. Note that this will NOT work very well if you just plug it into an existing game, though I did move some stuff back to the vanilla positions to make future modding easier. This has also been carefully updated to the '10 spec, which involved a good deal of tile-swapping.

http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=3943

There are still things that don't work quite the way I'd like, and there are some areas where I made choices that fall in line with my own play style over universal compatibility, but overall I'm pleased so far with how it's looking. Now I just need to create a couple of workshops, double-check my reactions, and edit every metal and mineral def in the entire game. @whee!

Rochndil, never short of things to do...

[Dohon]

I just stumbled upon this thread and want to express my gratitude. I was eagerly following your first "MMO" and I will be watching this one like a Dwarf stares at dropped socks.

EDIT: Also, have you checked out the Ironworks mod by Mephansteras? It has some custom workshops and overhauled Iron refining. Just in case you want some ideas.

[Deon]

Yep, Ironworks is great. I use it (partially modified) in Genesis and I cannot go back .

[Rochndil]

Good afternoon!

Yes, I am already well on my way to stealing some of the best parts of the Ironworks mod. While working on the tax books (an annual misery) I ran a test game up until year 8 or so, just to get a feel for the latest version(s). I must say that I really don't enjoy working with an unmodded game as much as I do with all the tweaks and additions that modding brings.

It was interesting to see what's been changed, and what remains the same. OMG have stone-fall traps been nerfed! And it took the entire dwarven caravan guard, and a full squad of crossbow-wielding militia to take down that stupid demon - and the goblins KEEP COMING! Sheesh.

So far, I've got the tileset pretty much where I want it. The workshop designs are about 40% done, and so are the reactions. Mineral defs need major work, but I have at least a good idea how to go about what I need to do, and a lot of pre-existing reference material to work from. As I mentioned somewhere else, I've been reading a few pages from an old Schuster mineral guide every night before bed, to help fill in some holes when I get to work on the minerals lists.

Now I just need to get back on the productive side of things!

Rochndil, who probably won't get anything useful done tonight, but probably tomorrow...

[Rochndil]

Got some work done yesterday, hope to do more today.

Blast furnace and puddling furnace workshop designs are done (untested). Still need to do the crucible furnace, coal works, and lapidary workshop. I may need to add a job or two to the lapidary works to make it worth building, but with all the minerals I'm thinking about throwing in, that shouldn't be a huge stretch.

I got my language files cleaned out completely, now naming should work properly again. Support documentation is up-to-date, and I finally got around to making my tileset workpage a proper Corel Draw document, instead of hand-writing it each time I changed a bunch of stuff.

I'm fairly confident the tileset is done, though of course something may yet come up in testing.

Once I get done with the workshops, I'll have to dig into the metals conversion from the 40d specs to .31, including computing appropriate values for toughness, hardness, etc. Then I need to finish up all the reactions, create the necessary mineral defs, and get everything ready to test.

Once I get that far, I'm going to see if I can get the whole works to install with DFMM, since the changes to frequently-changed files will be extensive, and will otherwise totally wreck inter-mod compatibility.

Rochndil, never short on things to do...

[Dohon]

Thanks for the effort, Rochndil. That "sneak peak" is looking tasty.