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[Aramco]

So, I was modding and I have a question. For the [FREQUENCY:X] tag, if I want it to be very common, should I set it high, or low?

[Eric Blank]

High. It's a percentage, so setting it to 100 will have them remain on the map at all times, not migrating off.

[3]

FREQUENCY doesn't have anything to do with whether creatures migrate or not; it influences how often they appear on the map. Note that it's reported to not work very well when it comes to minerals.

[Aramco]

Right, that's what I figured, just wanted to make sure. But, if it is a percentage, what would happen if I set it above 100?

[Deon]

I don't know, no vanilla creatures have it higher than 100. I guess each time it spawns a creature, it rolls a d100 dice (unless the "population number" is already exhausted during this year) and if it's in the "frequency" range then the creature is spawned, otherwise it checks the next possible creature for this biome from a list.

It may work totally different, but I suppose it's close to reality, because some creatures are much more common than other while they both have 100 frequency... It might be because they are earlier in the array of possible creatures, however I may be totally wrong.

If you want a real answer, ask Toady . I just try to evade using many freq. 100 creatures.

[Girlinhat]

So, it's per year though?  I thought that population was total, and when you lost one critter they never returned?  Like, if there's 1 cave dragon, then if that one dies it never returns.

[Deon]

Population numbers are related to a total possible number of creatures per year on site, also they affect the worldgen populations.

[Girlinhat]

So, just to be sure, I can kill that rare cave dragon, and another one will appear later?

[Deon]

Theoretically... However:

   [UNDERGROUND_DEPTH:3:3]
   [POPULATION_NUMBER:2:5][DIFFICULTY:10]
   [CLUSTER_NUMBER:1:1]
   [FREQUENCY:5]

Good luck rolling a spawning dice to get it again . Difficulty 10, only 3rd cavern layer and just 5 freq.

[Girlinhat]

Yes, but, I've been religiously dedicated to keeping a cave dragon safe, for no apparent reason.  I always attempt to capture them or let them escape, but if I can be a bit sloppier, and can probably do it easier...

[Sphalerite]

I am fairly certain that the POPULATION number is a fixed, one-time per-biome creation, not a per-year limit.

[3]

Yeah, that sounds right to me. You'll run out of cave dragons eventually when the supply of them in the area runs dry.

[Deon]

Then wiki was lying all the time, because in all versions it said that.
http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Creature_tokens

[3]

If the wiki was correct in that regard, there wouldn't be any significant functional difference between FREQUENCY and POPULATION_NUMBER.

[Deon]

There would. Frequency is checked on spawn to determine a creature type a type in addition to the population number, also it affects adventure mode encounters. I am pretty sure that creatures in fortress mode are endless. Only Toady can answer this .