I've played a couple of games with this mod combined with the Orc Mod (totally separate package) and it's easy to see why this collection of mods has been such a strong influence on other modders' work.
* The new metals are extremely interesting and, combined with the new trading races, give more kinds of fortress sites more ability to defend themselves and create works of beauty.
Overall: Highly recommended!
* Lamshinral/Kelshinral is absolutely wonderful! A much better name than "mithril" for DF purposes. IMO, it and the metals it makes possible are the making of this mod.
* The new weapons and armor work excellently with the Orc mod, because orcs need bigger wargear and this mod provides. However, I confess to finding many of the new weapons and armor for dwarves unnecessary and/or unbalanced. The increased variety makes it more tedious to forge things and many of the ranged weapon I simply don't understand. Some of the new armors are clearly better and/or cheaper than the vanilla versions (splint mail is a particular offender). Some are too valuable (plated boots).
* Infusing metals with gems is a great idea, but it causes some problems. There is a noticeable lag when looking at smelters - possibly due to this - and it is highly unlikely that any dwarf will have a preference for any particular metal.
* Documentation is lacking. The new metals and their associated reactions are unorganized and uncommented, placed in separate files from the vanilla metals and reactions, which makes it tedious to figure out what inputs you need and still lack.
* Take it all in all, this is a great mod. If you want better trading, more interesting metals and minerals in more fortress locations, take this one out for a spin! Despite my critiques, I'm hugely glad Sean offered us this work and am greatly enjoying playing with my own copy.
comment last edited by Fedor on Jun 20, 2009, 05:24:01 pm