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[madjoe5]

I am curious as to why the game has so many stones that dont have any unique use. I mean, what's the point of like 35 different types that all are 1 mat. value and can only be used in crafts/less important stuff. Well I does give a lot of space for modding in metals/alloys, but still, what's the point (other than to be "more realistic", which isnt really true because all stone wouldn't be worth 1-3 material value then)?

[SimRobert2001]

by making them now, toady's able to make a system that can actually support 35 types of stone, and he can simply change what they do later.

besides, having so many stones breaks up the monotony and adds variety to the game. Not every fort will have the EXACT makeup as every other fort.  Not to mention that each stone is a different color building material.

[bluea]

1) A fair chunk of the stones can be clues "explore here" or "this area boring". Sometimes you're looking for specific things (to appease the freaking nobles, or suit your own whim), and digging out absolutely everywhere isn't speedy.
2) How else are you going to insist on red supporting walls and columns, blue doors, green floors, black furniture, white statues, and gold-colored roads? 

[piecewise]

Also it means we don't have to make our walls out of valuble stone.

[dragon0421]

They add depth to the game. Without the details, this game would not be Dwarf Fortress.

[Vester]

A lot of the time, ores and gems can only be found in certain stone layers. Meaning that stone can be a pretty good !DIG HERE! indicator.

[G-Flex]

On top of those reasons (plus the fact that different stones can give you clues about the local geological features), there's also the fact that not every possible use for these stones has been implemented yet.

More things would be useful if we had, say, pottery to deal with, or plaster, or mineral dyes, and so forth.

[RandomNumberGenerator]

Pretty much what everyone else said, especially cluing you into geological features. However, I do wish both Microline and Orthoclase just plain didn't exist, because I generally like having things in my forts uniform colors, and they're... not.

[piecewise]

What we need is more rocks

F*CK YEAH BISMUTH

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

   

[Nexii Malthus]

Wow! Bismuth looks absolutely incredible, is that how it really looks? What about raw/smelted?

[Grendus]

Go read http://dwarf.lendemaindeveille.com/index.php/The_Non-Dwarf%27s_Guide_to_Rock . Different rocks mean different things.

Toady has actually done a simplified simulation of real geology. Some metals are only found in certain layers - for example, cassiterite (tin ore) is only found in granite. Shale, rhyolite, and phyllite, among others, are completely worthless, only dig in those if you need them for living space. Fluxes (limestone, marble, dolomite, and chalk), gabbro, and granite are fantastic stones to do exploratory mining on as they contain tons of gems, metal ores, and in some cases are just plain valuable.

The different 'worthless stones' as you call them are actually a plethora of information to the discerning player.

[G-Flex]

Wow! Bismuth looks absolutely incredible, is that how it really looks? What about raw/smelted?

That's what it looks like when allowed to grow in pure crystalline form.

It looks more like this in normal circumstances: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/51/Bi_chips.jpg

Not sure what you mean by "raw" though.

[Nexii Malthus]

Raw as in how fresh. Like if the dwarves just made a tunnel into the layer of <insert material>, how that tunnel would really look like.

[madjoe5]

Yea, so Ive got tons and tons of andesite and alunite and the wiki just says to look for gold, copper, aluminum, etc, but It isnt really helpful because EVERY direction is those two, except a z-lever or 2 with a lot of obsidian (I have been looking for magma). Eventually I will find something, but I cant use clues to find out where to go, because its all the same.

[Rowanas]

Hmm. I modded out loads of stones but kept the pretty colours, which means that microcline and orthoclase are two of the only non-layers that still exist! by making so many magma pipes everywhere I kinda mooted the point, as everything is obsidian