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[MMad]

This has probably been suggested before, but I didn't get any obvious hits with a quick search, so here we go.

I'm hopeless at remembering which mineral equal what kind of ore, and which are just pretty stones. In practice this means the game is frustrating to play without the DF wiki open at all times.

Eventually I suppose it would be nice to have a kind of Civopedia-style ingame reference system, so that when you get the "You have struck Mineral X!" message pops up, there's a "What's this?" button that brings to a short and helpful description of the mineral. Not sure if something like this is planned, but the current popularity of the wiki and the fact that many feel the game is nigh impossible to get the hang of without it I guess it'd be a good idea to integrate something like that into the actual game eventually.

Anyway, in the absence of something like the above (and regardless of it), would it be possible to have the "You have struck [stone]!" message tell me more explicitly what I've just found? E.g. "You have struck Garnierite (Nickel Ore)!". I love the fact that the game differentiates between so many different kinds of ores and stones, it makes the whole mining experience much more immersive, but it does obfuscate things.

In the same vein (heh) it might be helpful if the jobs in the smelters explicitly said what kind of metal bar will be produced, i.e. "Smelt Limonite Ore into Iron Bars" instead of just "Smelt Limonite Ore".

[wallish]

Keep in mind that real-world minerals might not stay in the Dwarf Fortress world, as Toady is planning on randomizing a lot of things.

[penguinofhonor]

Until then you can loo[k] at the resulting rock and press enter, and it will show you what it does if it does anything.

Though flux stones will only have "Make Pig Iron Bars" and "Make Steel Bars" so you'll have to remember that.

[Dasqoot]

In the stone tab of the 'z' screen there is a list of all economic stones and ores and what they do, too. You can look through it even if you haven't mined out any of that specific stone.

[i2amroy]

"You have struck Garnierite (Nickel Ore)!".

The problem would be for some minerals that are ore for about 7 different metals.

"Smelt Limonite Ore into Iron Bars" instead of just "Smelt Limonite Ore".

You can edit this by going into the reaction .txt file and changing the name of the reactions in question.

[MMad]

To clarify: I know the information is currently available in the game, I just think it's hidden in non-obvious places and could stand to be more obvious. Mainly for new players who wouldn't know where to look for the info, I guess.

Keep in mind that real-world minerals might not stay in the Dwarf Fortress world, as Toady is planning on randomizing a lot of things.

If so it would be even more helpful if the game told us straight ahead what a certain kind of ore is good for. Since you wouldn't be able to memorize the names the way you can now.
Well, I still can't obviously, but you know what I mean.

The problem would be for some minerals that are ore for about 7 different metals.

I think the "worst" one is Tetrahedrite, which is only a mixed copper/silver ore. Sure, it can be smelted into 7 different metals, but it's still just a copper/silver ore. So while you do have a point that the information given would be limited, it could still be made complete and consistent.

[Eater of Vermin]

Wot Dasqoot said...

...look under [z]/stones   (how can that be "non-obvious" unless you've never bothered looking at that screen before?    And if that's the case, there's a whole slew of info that you're not aware of...)

It not only lets you select which economic stones to make available for other uses (eg. building) but also tells you what it smelts down to and what alloys can be made with it.  From memory you can select any alloy that interests you and be told what other ores are needed to make it.