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[Mordoc]

It seems like no matter where I try to embark (have always done embarks with flux+deep/shallow metals+clay+soil) I don't see any Irons (Hematite, Magnetite, or Lemonite) or any other other type of weapons-grade(or armor, anvils, etc) materials(copper) on the map.

I have used two different versions of DF, as well as a DF with a different tileset, genning maps with Perfect World, and using both gen options available within DF.

I have used dfreveal (from DFhack) to look through all the Z levels on most of my maps.

I have a total of 30 fortress, with about 10 of them actually having built forts on them.

I don't have any mods that might affect this (just Dwarf Therapist, that other tileset, and dfreveal).

The only one I think that had any sort of metal on it (think it was copper) was like my 3rd Fortress, when I didn't know how to set up metalsmithing and such, and then abandoned.

Anyone know if this is normal?
Can I fix it?
Can I get around it?
Am I missing something?

[Quietust]

When you generate a world, set Mineral Occurrence to "Everywhere" and you'll be able to find metal ores everywhere.

[Mordoc]

Did that, (do that on most of my maps. Either that or frequent) but all I get is a horde of gems (almost always low quality gems).

[Slythe]

If you set Mineral Occurrence to "frequent" or "everywhere", then look for an embark site that lists "shallow metals" and "deep metals", you're almost guaranteed some type of usable metal ores.  You may not find iron ore specifically, but I've not had any problems finding some after a few tries at most.  Also, the DFhack tool dfprospector will provide a much quicker way of seeing if there are any metal ores present, in the form of a list.  As a last resort, I think you can mod the game files to make other more common stone types act as metal ores, but I've never done it myself and don't know how.

[Nameless Archon]

As a last resort, I think you can mod the game files to make other more common stone types act as metal ores, but I've never done it myself and don't know how.

It's actually REALLY easy to do this. I do it for Cobaltite (normally an ore of non-existent cobalt) to make sure I always have iron at every site. All you need to do is open up the inorganic_stone_mineral.txt file in the RAW folder (Dwarf Fortress 0.31.25\raw\objects). Inside will be a collection of stones, each one named clearly and all of them followed by lots and lots of values in square brackets (called "tags").

Add this tag to the stone you want to become an iron ore:
[METAL_ORE:IRON:XX]

Where XX is a value between 01 and 100. This represents the chance of success (getting an iron bar) vs. failure (and getting nothing). Setting this to 100 for something like Cobaltite means that Cobaltite is no different than Limonite or Hematite, and every smelting will produce an iron bar. Just paste it in below the stone name you want to change (but above the start of the next stone type) and the stone will become an ore of iron. As a balance consideration, if you change a stone that appears in layers (like, say, Marble), or is very commonly found in large clusters (like, say, microcline), you may wish to consider setting the success rate low, lest you drown in iron bars.

Now, generate a new world, and the change you have made will be a part of the new world you create, and Cobaltite (or your choice of stone) will be an iron ore. Once you get the hang of how tags work, it's a short trip from there to doing things like making all soils valid as both sand and clay, or removing aquifers or making all animals non-exotic (and thus trainable). Saving kobolds from starvation extinction with [NO_EAT] or allowing sun berries to appear in this version by removing the broken [GOOD] tag, and so forth.

As a more concrete example, here's the entry for Cobaltite in my RAWS, with the added tag bolded:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[INORGANIC:COBALTITE]
[USE_MATERIAL_TEMPLATE:STONE_TEMPLATE]
[STATE_NAME_ADJ:ALL_SOLID:cobaltite][DISPLAY_COLOR:1:7:1][TILE:158]
[ENVIRONMENT:IGNEOUS_ALL:VEIN:100]
[ENVIRONMENT:METAMORPHIC:VEIN:100]
[SOLID_DENSITY:6295]
[METAL_ORE:IRON:100]
[IS_STONE]

[Kay12]

I've done a no-metal embark and it wasn't that bad (I tend to hoard metals anyway and use them with great care). Goblinite and trading yield satifactionary amounts.

[Chocolatemilkgod]

You have to go to areas with loads of sedimentary stone and such. A really great place is in the mountains. There are TONS of metal ore in the mountains. Granted, I don't know if you'll get iron or not though.

[RAKninja]

You have to go to areas with loads of sedimentary stone and such. A really great place is in the mountains. There are TONS of metal ore in the mountains. Granted, I don't know if you'll get iron or not though.

did my first mountain embark with goblns yesterday.  LOADS of tetrahedrite and galena.  havent dug around enough yet to find much else.

still, fits the pattern of all my genned worlds, poor in iron, rich in copper/silver.

[Nameless Archon]

still, fits the pattern of all my genned worlds, poor in iron, rich in copper/silver.

This is precisely what drove me to mod cobaltite. Gold? Check. Silver? Check! Copper? More than I'll ever use. Tin? Yeah, some. If I wanted "Dwarves in the Bronze Age", I'd be set.

Iron? Not regularly, and what's there is usually not much. I miss the .18 iron levels. I was fine with having a smaller amount of gold/silver and a larger amount of iron, and having to trade for rarer metals to make items for mandates. I'm not as fine with the overwhelming deluge of copper/silver/gold everywhere, and the iron all but absent in my worlds. But add "Cobalt" iron, and I'm off and running - there's always iron on my maps now.