Dwarf Fortress

Dwarf Fortress

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Arcane Metals
   
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Feb 3, 2023 @ 7:34am
Feb 4, 2023 @ 8:13am
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Arcane Metals

Description
The metals of dwarf fortress are, with few exceptions, based in reality. This mod adds in a few new, more mystical metals for you to work with. Each is designed to behave in a distinct way, making them all worth seeking out for a variety of different reasons.

The new metals added:

Cold Iron: This soft form of iron is found in veins, occasionally in soil layers, as well as much more rarely in sedimentary and alluvial rock. It's somewhat inferior to iron in most applications, but it is so soft that it can be worked with little heat. Rather than melting it at a furnace, you must beat it into bars at a metalsmith. You can also make the ore directly into a sword without fuel, though it is less efficient. It is said to ward off evil. It's magical power is that demons are extremely vulnerable to weapons made from cold iron, taking 10 times as much damage as normal.

Mithril: Found in crystalline form in igneous rock, mithril is a greenish metal. Its crystals can be cut, and are quite valuable, but their best use is to melt them into metallic wafers. The wafers are small so you need a lot of them to make any items, far more than you would need bars, but it is worth the effort as mithril is only very slightly weaker than steel at about half the weight. It's easy enough to forge that even humans make use of it, but it is extremely rare and expensive so purchasing it from merchants is not easy.

Orichalcum: Rather than a pure metal, orichalcum is an exotic alloy, and the process of creating it is quite involved. First, you must get two copper bars, one zinc bar, and one silver bar. Then, you must mix them at a forge with an extremely rare cerulite gem as a catalyst, creating orichalcum slag. Then, you can smelt the slag into ingots. In exchange for this investment, orichalcum is more valuable than gold and has similar physical properties to brass, aside from its weight which is less than even some wood. It cannot be used to forge weapons or armor, but its weight make its industrial applications limitless. On top of all this, it is possible to make orichalcum into clothing that is valuable and protective. Cerulite gems are only found extremely rarely, as one lone tile in any rock, but their value means that they are occasionally found in the strange geodes that lay in the caverns.

Grey Adamant: Another strange alloy, this metal is made by combining a wafer of the legendary adamantine with one ingot of iron and fifteen boulders. Grey adamant is only half as sharp as adamantine and only slightly more valuable, but it is exceptionally heavy. Blunt weapons made of it are extremely deadly, more so than almost any other weapon.

Known Issues:
The new armors and weapons will not show up graphically on those using them, making them appear naked. They do show up in portraits, however. I'm working on graphics, but it will take a very long while to finish.
The number of unique demon types varies depending on world size. The first 28 demon types are affected by cold iron, but less sends out errors and more means some demons are immune to its effects.

Also check out my other mods!
Living Gods: Allows semimegabeasts to take over human civs by pretending to be gods.
Bit of Diversity: Gives a bunch of sapient creatures the ability to join civilizations.
Bit more Diversity: Builds on BoD by giving some of those creatures civilizations of their own.
Strange Secrets: Adds a number of unusual new secrets for people to discover in place of necromancy.
17 Comments
Phantosmia Jan 25 @ 8:08am 
Arcane ....?
SkytheAlicorn Jun 9, 2024 @ 11:51pm 
I can't find the reaction to make orichalcum slag
Joecool Nov 18, 2023 @ 8:12pm 
@Mc_Dyno might not have sprites... :( its a dealbreaker for me cuz none of my stuff is appearing
Mc_Dyno Jun 23, 2023 @ 4:42pm 
I don't see my dwarf holding his cold iron pickaxe, glitch?
Benstorm Jun 6, 2023 @ 1:33pm 
i think my cold iron is a bit glitch i can not beat it in to bars because the option dose not pop up anymore.
SkytheAlicorn Mar 3, 2023 @ 10:35am 
cold iron, or in other words....


CLOWN DOWN.
Count  [author] Feb 14, 2023 @ 9:13am 
@Lowoon Harm
No, cold iron might melt if it's too close to a fire. Orichalcum also isn't magma safe, but mithril is. Cold iron's ease of forging and moderate value make it pretty good for crafts, though.
Lowoon Harm Feb 14, 2023 @ 8:48am 
quick question: is cold iron (or anny of these metals) magma-safe? (i'm guessing not?) got a lot of cold iron, and i'm wondering if i can build my corkscrews for the lava pumpstack out of it.
Thrice Feb 9, 2023 @ 12:14pm 
Aaaah. Ok tyvm!
Count  [author] Feb 9, 2023 @ 12:12pm 
@Shayle Thorne
Yeah, the new metals aren't based on ores so they don't show up in the ore finder. They are generally found anywhere, however. Ironically, you can search for orichalcum because the slag is considered an ore even though it doesn't exist naturally.