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[Max White]

So this would be similar to how we can re-create a world map using world seed parameters? This actually sounds pretty cool. I just hope the randomness is used with moderation and that it can be controlled via init settings.

I from what I read, it seems that the scale is defined in the init settings, so yes, you will be able to run a world with no random generated things, or everything genned, or anything in between.

[NW_Kohaku]

Why are we debating this?

I don't know about you, but I kind of like debating things for the sheer joy of debating things.  Plus, debate inherently involves thought.  The more you think about something, the more likely you are to be able to make that one little spark in your thinking that sends you off to re-examine what you previously always just assumed was right, and its from these sparks that all great discoveries are made.

[Max White]

Well yea, that holds true when your debating how or what to implement, but Toady has already given as the perfect solution that can be adjutsed to user preferances, rather then force anything on anybody. We havn't realy struck anything new yet...

EDIT: Also...

With the continued addition of good/evil/savage/calm flora and fauna, is there any chance of eventually having good/evil/savage/calm minerals/soils? I know it would involve changing worldgen to determine surroundings before minerals, so how feasible is this?

It's quite feasible and we've considered it but haven't taken the plunge.  Random minerals should be fun.  Even the current stock minerals can be a bit confusing, and random minerals might add to that further, so further exposition of what minerals can be used for and so on might be necessary there.

So, biome specific minerals? Sweet...

[zwei]

What about just generating random in-universe names for several minerals/gems? Based on pantheons, locations, civs, historical figures...

This approach also makes it easy to get into new world - if you can read at details that "Flesh of Orduk" is also knonw as hematite, you can easily adjust to it rather than figuring out completelly new mineral with random temperatures, mass, hardness, etc...

[arzzult]

Maybe the random mineral thing could be a separate utility that you can chose to use before world gen and pick and chose what you want to keep out of what it generates. Like this little beauty Sphalerite made.
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=76451.0

edit:is noob,didn't know how to make a link work

[ZioAnthros]

I like the real world geology, but think the game would definitely benefit from a small handful of rare, genned materials, specifically with magic or magic-like properties.
There needs to be a place for metals that stay hot or cold forever, absorb all moisture that comes into contact with it or whatever else.
How else are truly deific weapons, unique to our own personal worlds, be commissioned?
Plus, there's already similar stuff, and there could be a list of "common" rare metals, like mithril or red steel (all considered).

[NW_Kohaku]

I could agree to some sort of "semi-deep metal" or stone or gem or whatever that was procedural and purposefully magical.  Just as long as it doesn't have quite the absurd unobtanium properties of the bluemetal.

Actually, if it was tradable or something, it would be better.  It would be nice to have some "Uristium" or whatever floating around instead of weapons always being steel or cotton candy.

[ZioAnthros]

I figure, if i'm going to learn a bunch of new properties and names and smelting requirements for some new, absurd metal, it had better have some bad-ass or at least interesting or bizarre qualities! Otherwise, I don't think I'd be bothered to use/add in weird mineral generation.

Also, weird crystal/gems with (magical) properties (even just radiation and the like) would be pretty cool.

[NW_Kohaku]

Clearly, it needs to be a metal that ignites on contact with room temperature air, and must be handled with Nether Cap Gauntlets.

[Thundercraft]

I like the real world geology, but think the game would definitely benefit from a small handful of rare, genned materials, specifically with magic or magic-like properties.
There needs to be a place for metals that stay hot or cold forever, absorb all moisture that comes into contact with it or whatever else.

Introducing a metal that aborbs all moisture for several tiles around would be interesting. And it has the potential to be useful. But introducing a stone or metal that can magically erase all contaminants in a 1 tile radius - like some Mr. Clean genie - would be awesome! That alone, adding such a useful cleaning stone in an update, would be worth donations. It could have the potential to significantly improve FPS and delay FPS death in old forts.

But I'd rather not limit such a useful cleaning stone to be randomly generated alone. If it were up to me, I would always have large deposits of the stuff inside Candy Land. This would make the inside of Candy Land much more interesting and give further incentive to risk taking on the Clowns. Then again, since Candy Land was opened, even after closing it again the perpetual march of Clowns would drag down FPS anyway. Hmm... Maybe have small deposits to be found just outside Candy Land?

[NW_Kohaku]

Current contaminant behavior is a bug.  We don't need Toady to spend time coding a magic rock programmed in to create a work-around to a bug, we just need him to spend that time fixing the bug.

[Bohandas]

I'm personally not a big fan of randomised minerals, since I like how you can learn about geology from DF (I've learned more about geology from DF than I have in high school).
I guess if you had it as an init option, then those who want it (like you) can have it, and those who don't want it don't have it.

I agree with this for the most part but would be willing to support randomization for special supernatural minerals deep in the underworld. They're not based on real geology anyway, and right now we only have the two so they could stand some fleshing out...

[Kogut]

Randomised adamantine? Why not?
Or: adamantine + randomised stone(s) around it.

[Sergius]

I just thought I'd put that out there:

I'm indifferent to real world/randomized minerals, but keep in mind that types and names of minerals are quite pointless for the most part as the only thing we care about a mineral is (in order of importance, IMO):

1) is it an ore that you can use to forge stuff (and assorted weapon/armor rating)?
2) does it melt/burn?
3) what color is it
4) the value of furniture made with it (this is more important if 1 is true)
5) the name

If I missed something let me know. Anyway, the proportion of materials that fulfill #1 is tiny compared to the total amount of mineral types, so it's often easy to make a list of metal-bearing rock, and generally the rest of the minerals are just filler, or for role playing reasons. Sure, some dwarves like felsite more, but who can micromanage the tastes of 200 dwarves?

In fact, I tried (and failed) to make a mod that could turn any generic rock into "generic dwarfrock" for building more or less uniform things (and a magma-safe version that used magma-safe minerals) just because I didn't want to manage tons of types and colors of rock

I wouldn't mind to have "fantasy ores" randomized tho. A lot of settings allow the use of special metals, found in various locales, not just "super tough ore to seal off huge demon army".

[NW_Kohaku]

I just thought I'd put that out there:

I'm indifferent to real world/randomized minerals, but keep in mind that types and names of minerals are quite pointless for the most part as the only thing we care about a mineral is (in order of importance, IMO):

1) is it an ore that you can use to forge stuff (and assorted weapon/armor rating)?
2) does it melt/burn?
3) what color is it
4) the value of furniture made with it (this is more important if 1 is true)
5) the name

If I missed something let me know. Anyway, the proportion of materials that fulfill #1 is tiny compared to the total amount of mineral types, so it's often easy to make a list of metal-bearing rock, and generally the rest of the minerals are just filler, or for role playing reasons. Sure, some dwarves like felsite more, but who can micromanage the tastes of 200 dwarves?

In fact, I tried (and failed) to make a mod that could turn any generic rock into "generic dwarfrock" for building more or less uniform things (and a magma-safe version that used magma-safe minerals) just because I didn't want to manage tons of types and colors of rock

I wouldn't mind to have "fantasy ores" randomized tho. A lot of settings allow the use of special metals, found in various locales, not just "super tough ore to seal off huge demon army".

... And this is the other side of the coin that sockless, myself, and others have expressed. 

This is seeing things entirely through in-game terms, and how much stone type impacts actual gameplay, rather than an enjoyment of the meta-game of better understanding the world around you through play.  Not that asking a game to be the best game it can be is a disagreeable statement, of course.

I would also like to see some means of really differentiating one stone from another in more meaningful terms, and Toady previously stated that he had originally hoped to put in some sort of chemical reasons why one stone would be different from another, but it hasn't surfaced yet.