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[Arkenstone]

Hey, I just remembered that salt was very valuable before the about 1800's (and the discovery of the salt flats of western America).  It still is today, why else would they mine it?  I wonder if we should increase the value of rock salt in the raws, but then we'd have a lot of rock salt crafts...  Does anyone know whether or not the [BRITTLE] tag works for rocks? 

Even today, there are merchants who take solid slabs of salt on camels through the desert to trade.

[Puzzlemaker]

Hmm...

The value tag should be broken up into different sections.

Like, Pretty, Tasty, Useful, etc.

[Christes]

Or how about ... actually being able to use salt on food?

[JoshuaFH]

Wouldn't realistic salt deposits be... you know... frickin' huge or something? I think they would.

[Footkerchief]

Wouldn't realistic salt deposits be... you know... frickin' huge or something? I think they would.

Yeah.

[blah28722]

Salt flats are so frikkin' cool.

The turtle shell cracks remind me of skin and freak me out though.

[neek]

While salt deposits might be too much, I think we're forgetting one major source of Fun that doesn't happen in Dwarf Fortress: Sinkholes.

This game needs them. Have limestone? Have Fun as the sinkhole gives and sucks in half your fortress in debris, dust, and Fun.

[Arkenstone]

That might just happen naturally(not hard-coded) once Cave-ins are re-established, and you try to build on top of a hollow spot (either a cave or your fortress).

Why do you think that there aren't any skyscrapers dwarf-ing the Eiffel Tower?  It's because they can't build a sturdy foundation with all the catacombs underneath.

[praguepride]

Does that make the French the dwarfiest nation on the planet!? 

[Arkenstone]

Wouldn't realistic salt deposits be... you know... frickin' huge or something? I think they would.

Yeah.

You could always mod it to be a layer stone.

Why do you think that there aren't any skyscrapers dwarf-ing the Eiffel Tower?  It's because they can't build a sturdy foundation with all the catacombs underneath.

Does that make the French the dwarfiest nation on the planet!? 

Did they build the entire Eiffel Tower upside-down an a single support connected to an anonymous lever next to a major public thoroughfare?

I don't think so...

[LegoLord]

Did they build the entire Eiffel Tower upside-down an a single support connected to an anonymous lever next to a major public thoroughfare?

I don't think so...

To be fair, no real world race has done that.  So dwarfiness here is relative.

I thought salt was already in the game, wasn't it?  Rock Salt?  There was an entire succession game that went on quite some time centered around that.  It might even be in the hall of legends thread.

[darkrider2]

This was probably said but salt was valuable because it could be used to preserve food longer... that being said it could have a very special place in dwarf fortress.

Oil is generally very very deep underground, I don't think dwarves could reach it, IIRC correctly nowadays they drill down to it and then create pressure so it flows to the surface. And didn't they use whale oil to light lamps back then?

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, I probably am.

[uncledrax]

This was probably said but salt was valuable because it could be used to preserve food longer... that being said it could have a very special place in dwarf fortress.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, I probably am.

Modded +1 for correctness.

Heck, Roman Soldiers used to be paid in salt, and many wars were fought over salt thoughout the ages until it became very commonplace. ( Mark Kurlsansk's "Salt" is a pretty good book on the topic). Salt control/prices was apparently even an issue for Gandhi in the 1930s (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_March)

In short, salt was found/made in a few ways:
Evaporating sea water (what the Italians did), Mining it (rock salt, common in the mountains of Europe), Brine Springs, and of course just picking it up from a Salt Flat.

That said, some of the older salt mines have some crazy stuff carved from salt in them ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wieliczka_Salt_Mine)

[Arkenstone]

That said, some of the older salt mines have some crazy stuff carved from salt in them ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wieliczka_Salt_Mine)

Looks to me like a perfectly 'normal' fortress.

Oil is generally very very deep underground, I don't think dwarves could reach it, IIRC correctly nowadays they drill down to it and then create pressure so it flows to the surface. And didn't they use whale oil to light lamps back then?

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, I probably am.

Well, you're partially right.  Oil today is often found very deep underground; but if the dwarves can dig all the way to magma, oil would be a piece of cake (although tapping one would cause MUCH FUN, as oil pockets tend to be pressurized and natural gas is a by-product of drilling).  However, there used to be pockets much closer to the surface, but they were used us decades ago.  In fact, it is almost certain that whoever dug the first oil well knew exactly what he was looking for.  Oil has been know of for all of recorded history; because it tends to bubble up to the surface and form swamps and tarpits, and was once more commonly known as pitch.

[Andeerz]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Cathedral_of_Zipaquir%C3%A1

Czech this place out!!!  ...another dwarfy sort of construction carved from halite...