Day 7 - Onward to Steel!
Today, it's time to make use of some more of that coal I found yesterday. It's time to start producing Steel.
In addition to the coal, this will also require a good supply of Iron Ore. We're already using all the Iron Ore near the base, but fortunately, there are two more Pure Iron nodes just at the base of the cliff where the coal is! The question is... do I bring the iron to the coal? Or the coal to the iron?
There's a lot of flat ground near the iron, so "coal to the iron" it shall be. I could truck it down, but that's ugly. Instead, I laid out a foundation for a Steel Mill near the iron deposits, then built a conveyor ramp connecting the coal mine above to the steel mill below. A short time later, I was cranking out steel ingots and turning them into steel beams and steel pipes. The beams were immediately handy as they allow me to build even faster conveyor belts!
These new belts will come in handy very soon. I'm planning on adding to the coal generation plant - doubling it in capacity. I'll be ablel to do this using the same resource node since the HUB also gifted me with the technology to build a Mark II miner which pulls stuff out of the ground twice as fast as the Mark I's that I've been using. In the future, I plan on upgrading all of the iron and copper miners at the base, and building a second floor on the iron and copper mills to double production there too! But... first things first!
With basic steel production done, I decided to do a bit more exploring. I came across another crash site, and this time I came away with an alternative recipe for, of all things, steel ingots! Sure... just after finishing the steel mill, I find a way to make it more productive! I'll have to go back and reconfigure that whole factory now! But... first things first!
I also discovered a Caterium mining source - something that was on my immediate to-do list. So tomorrow, we start mining caterium and producing quickwire. I'll be using the MAM to research this strange metal some more to see what else I can get it to do for me, but for now, it's rest time after a busy day. Tomorrow will be a caterium plant; then I'll need to go quartz and sulfur hunting.
In addition to the coal, this will also require a good supply of Iron Ore. We're already using all the Iron Ore near the base, but fortunately, there are two more Pure Iron nodes just at the base of the cliff where the coal is! The question is... do I bring the iron to the coal? Or the coal to the iron?
There's a lot of flat ground near the iron, so "coal to the iron" it shall be. I could truck it down, but that's ugly. Instead, I laid out a foundation for a Steel Mill near the iron deposits, then built a conveyor ramp connecting the coal mine above to the steel mill below. A short time later, I was cranking out steel ingots and turning them into steel beams and steel pipes. The beams were immediately handy as they allow me to build even faster conveyor belts!
These new belts will come in handy very soon. I'm planning on adding to the coal generation plant - doubling it in capacity. I'll be ablel to do this using the same resource node since the HUB also gifted me with the technology to build a Mark II miner which pulls stuff out of the ground twice as fast as the Mark I's that I've been using. In the future, I plan on upgrading all of the iron and copper miners at the base, and building a second floor on the iron and copper mills to double production there too! But... first things first!
With basic steel production done, I decided to do a bit more exploring. I came across another crash site, and this time I came away with an alternative recipe for, of all things, steel ingots! Sure... just after finishing the steel mill, I find a way to make it more productive! I'll have to go back and reconfigure that whole factory now! But... first things first!
I also discovered a Caterium mining source - something that was on my immediate to-do list. So tomorrow, we start mining caterium and producing quickwire. I'll be using the MAM to research this strange metal some more to see what else I can get it to do for me, but for now, it's rest time after a busy day. Tomorrow will be a caterium plant; then I'll need to go quartz and sulfur hunting.
View of the Steel Mill
Another View of the Steel Mill
Coal for the Steel Mill
Alternative Recipes
One of the things the MAM provides is the ability to research hard drives obtained from crash sites. When a hard drive is researched in the MAM, after the alloted research time is complete, you are presented with three options for Alternative Recipes for materials that you can use in your factories.
These Alternative Recipes usually involve alternate raw materials and/or different proportions compared to the original recipes. Sometimess different machines are called for as well. Most will involve a productivity gain in exchange for additional power consumption - a factor you will have to weigh when considering which recipes you want to use.
The three choices are determined randomly from a list of all potential recipes appropriate to the Tiers you have unlocked. This is important! It means that if you want the really good alternates for early game materials, your best chance of getting them is to get out and find hard drives as early in the game as possible! This can save lots of factory rearranging later.
Our Iron Mill already uses one Alternative Recipe: we're making screws directly from Iron Ingots instead of having to make Iron Bars first. Shortly after erecting the basic Steel Mill, another Alternative Recipe was obtained - this one will give us a 50% increase in the production rate of Steel Ingots, but will require that the Iron Ore be smelted into Iron Ingots first. (So... 50% more steel, but additional power required. Fortunately, Smelters don't use much power, so in a future episode, the Steel Mill will be refitted to use this new recipe.
These Alternative Recipes usually involve alternate raw materials and/or different proportions compared to the original recipes. Sometimess different machines are called for as well. Most will involve a productivity gain in exchange for additional power consumption - a factor you will have to weigh when considering which recipes you want to use.
The three choices are determined randomly from a list of all potential recipes appropriate to the Tiers you have unlocked. This is important! It means that if you want the really good alternates for early game materials, your best chance of getting them is to get out and find hard drives as early in the game as possible! This can save lots of factory rearranging later.
Our Iron Mill already uses one Alternative Recipe: we're making screws directly from Iron Ingots instead of having to make Iron Bars first. Shortly after erecting the basic Steel Mill, another Alternative Recipe was obtained - this one will give us a 50% increase in the production rate of Steel Ingots, but will require that the Iron Ore be smelted into Iron Ingots first. (So... 50% more steel, but additional power required. Fortunately, Smelters don't use much power, so in a future episode, the Steel Mill will be refitted to use this new recipe.
New Weapon: Rebar Gun
In one of the images on the left, you'll see Jordan holding what looks like an oversized handgun of some sort. That's a Rebar Gun - a ranged weapon that shoots spiked rebar ammunition made from iron bars. It's a single-shot weapon that requires a reload (pressing the "R" key) after each shot. It delivers a powerful punch at short range, but at longer range it's difficult to target an enemy because gravity affects the trajectory of the ammunition.Nevertheless, a couple of good shots is enough to take down a Spitter (the fire-breathing things) without putting yourself in too much danger (and allowing you to hide behind things to avoid damage). Shooting from a Lookout Tower, or even just a tall platform of foundations will let you take out the non-firebreathers without getting in harm's way.
The Rebar Gun is a useful entry point to ranged weapons, but the Rifle is better. Unfortunately, it won't become available until Tier 5/6, so if you want to shoot things from a distance at Tier 3/4, the Rebar Gun is your only option.
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