Since v0.6.0, the core module is now at a fairly stable point.
Many previous features will be implemented as part of separate modules instead, these will be released when possible.
Will put up more screenshots/update ModDB image at some point soon.
Medieval Industry: Core
The Core module focuses on simple changes to vanilla gameplay, with the addition of new recipes allowing for new or alternative processes, such as allowing rock blocks to be turned into loose stones, and stones into gravel and then into sand. This module also tweaks gameplay through patches, making changes like extending the burn time of peat.
This module also has the biggest decorative aspect out of all the modules, adding new blocks for fun. The gameplay changes and processes in the Core mostly relate to rock or agriculture directly.
Thanks also goes out to modders on the VS Discord server who helped me figure out minor issues here and there.
Credit also goes to small_fern as creator of Geology Additions (https://news.kalataka.ru/geologyaddons) for allowing use of my own initial modifications to their original textures which I then practically remade from scratch, making heavy use of the original colours as well as colour from real gemstone references, so that Lithocraft can have further integration with GA.
Reintroducing the grindstone block. Other repair changes coming in another 0.7.x patch.
Items:
Grindstone:
Reintroduced, mostly as it functioned in v0.3.4.
Used to repair tools.
Repair amount is based on the grindstone tier.
Recipes not fully implemented yet.
v0.6.2
Overview:
Very minor update to add some more compatibilities, QOL, and convenience/recycling features.
Tweaks:
Recycling:
Can now recycle cobblestone, dry stone and ashlar brick blocks into appropriate stone items.
Stone block + pickaxe in crafting grid.
Binding agents like mortar and clay are not returned.
Can now recycle wooden paths into planks.
Wooden path + saw in crafting grid.
For vanilla paths, will return pine planks.
For MR paths, will return appropriate planks.
Conversion:
Aged stone blocks of several types can now be converted into unaged versions.
Aged stone block + hammer + chisel in crafting grid.
QOL:
Gave vanilla rammed earth blocks a description. Textures are hard to tell apart in the inventory and should help with identifying.
Fixes:
Claycutters are now grouped per cutting form in the handbook.
Compatibility:
MoreRoads wooden paths can be deconstructed too.
Note: The in-game mod name has been changed simply to "Medieval Industry" due to the internal workings of the different modules, to avoid a tooltip ambiguity issue.
- Allow for silage (grass/plant) to be used as animal feed in large troughs, as if they were hay bales
- For silage (grass), this just preserves the hay feeding functionality
- For silage (plant), this enables a variety of crops to be used as if they were hay or fruit mash; it is no more efficient but in some cases provides versatility of choice
Fixes:
- Fixed the grindstone interaction bug that happened when changing selected item while in the middle of an interaction; this also fixes an exploit that allowed repairing of otherwise unrepairable tools
- Grindstone: the list of valid items/tools are now set in the grindstone.json; in principle any item with durability can be added to the list; look at the comment inside the json for more information
- Note: this allows other mods to patch grindstone.json to allow their tools to be repairable
- Adjusted description of silage (grass/plant) blocks
- Added missing gravel->sand recipes for andesite and chalk
Compat:
CAN Jewelry:
- Initial compatibility implementation
- Allow crafting of some gem blocks and some monoliths using appropriate CAN Jewelry gems
- Not all gems supported and some gems are only supported when GA is also active
- Stop grindstones from repairing hammers and wrenches (was allowed by accident)
- Correction made to stone-framed painting trivia
- Other handbook corrections and tweaks
- Handbook:
- Added a mostly-complete chapter on bauxite processing; missing links to items
- The core of the bauxite process is now available
- Items made from metallic aluminium will be added in a later patch and alloyed aluminium metals will be added when the sintering processes are coded and finalised
- Tweaks: patched in-container textures for:
- Sand
- Gravel
- Loose shingles
- Grindstone is now craftable and usable; refer to 0.3.0 patch notes for repair mechanics details
- Durability repaired is partly dependent on the tool itself, so that people playing with high durability modifiers are not penalised in terms of time
- The base repair amount is 0.9% of a tool's maximum durability
- Made changes to repair amount compared to the original plan in 0.3.0, due to the play-tested repair rates
- Now repair rates by tier are stone (t1) 1x, ceramic (t2) 2x, gem (t3) 3x
- Claycutters now have a custom code class; this enables the mod to put text on the item letting a player know if it's ready to do claycutting or not
- Sodash can now be used as a weak general-purpose fertiliser
Crafting:
- The following blocks/items already existed but are now craftable:
- Grindstone (all tiers); bear in mind, the higher tiers have unfinished placeholder recipes
- Sodash
- Saluminate
- Alum slurry
- Alum solution
- Aluox
- Alumina
- New recipe(s) for making vanilla compost
- This was added because when sulfur is difficult to find or compost is being difficult to produce, making biomass felt too difficult
- When applicable and made using copper sulfate, the process takes less time
- Some of these recipes use copper sulfate in small amounts, giving copper/copper sulfate some extra niche use in the game's farming
- Note: how authentic this actually is would depend on a lot of things, but generally speaking, it's assumed for the purpose of the mod that we're trying to add acidity and generally promote breakdown of organic matter
- Some of the alternative recipes are balanced to be MOSTLY in-line with vanilla rot composting but the yield is slightly worse in most cases since the incentive of doing it this way is to prioritise speed over quantity
- New block: Silage
- Made by sealing hay blocks in a barrel
- Alternatively made by mixing some raw food ingredients, like vegetables, with dry grass
- Can be used to make compost, biomass and organic slurry
- Will rot in two stages
- In a later version, these will be usable as feed in troughs
- New item: Stone-framed painting
- 14 initial variants of different sizes: 1x1, 1x2, 2x1, 2x3
- The paintings can be sold by the furniture trader
- The paintings may also be crafted
- New chemical residue:
- Prepared bauxite grit, primarily made by mixing sodash and bauxite sand
- Used to produce saluminate
- (NYI) New chemical compound:
- Thermite, made by mixing aluminium dust/bits or other appropriate reactive metals with appropriate metal shavings/powder etc. and with a salt of some kind; it can then be compressed with the powder press
- New recipe for deconstructing stone walls (dry and ashlar) and some paths
- Drystone walls give back loose stone at a 100% ratio
- Ashlar walls give back ashlar blocks at a 75% ratio
- Vanilla paths give back loose stone at a 100% ratio, as granite; this unintentionally allows for any rock to be converted to granite at the cost of dirt
- Any other paths from More Roads give at least one appropriate material
- All this is applicable to slabs and stairs too
Balance:
Rationale: From playtesting, it became obvious that a lot of the crafting processes added by Lithocraft are complex enough that they require some extra amount of time and mental investment, so they ended up feeling like they weren't worthwhile, especially where the process competed or added on to a vanilla process.
- Adjustments:
- Copper-lime slurry is now craftable in smaller amounts and with very slightly improved input:yield ratio
- Copper sulfate is now craftable in smaller amounts and with better input:yield ratio
- Organic slurry is now craftable in smaller amounts and with better input:yield ratio
- Gem monoliths now have a better input->output ratio; from 3 gems -> 2 monoliths to 3 gems -> 6 monoliths
- This brings the crafting cost more in-line with gem blocks
- Rock monoliths now have a better input->output ratio; from 3 rocks -> 4 monoliths to 3 rocks -> 8 monoliths
- Biomass from peat and sulfur is now craftable in smaller amounts and with better input:yield ratio
- Biomass from compost and nitre (saltpetre) now has a slightly better output, up from 6 to 8
- Biomass burn temperature reduced from 700C to 650C; burn time increased from 24s to 31s.
Fixes:
- Added missing wrench tip in handbook for metal grates
- Added new models/textures for several residual compounds and greek fire
- Allow for different liquid-containing items like bowls and jugs to be used with the mod liquids, where appropriate
- More back-end changes to patching
- Correction made to creative tabs for stylus/pencil
- Updated flavour text on stylus/pencil
- Made a lot of recipes involving liquids less picky about how much liquid is in the barrel (if the result is an item)
Compat:
- Expanded Matter:
- Compatibility recipes for creating thermite
- More Roads:
- Compatibility for deconstructing paths
Known issues:
- Grindstone has no animations
- Residual compounds are missing variant-specific container-related textures
- Items marked as (NYI) are present in the mod but are not usable or relevant, yet!
Core:
- Handbook: updated the Gameplay Tweaks chapter
- Handbook: small update to the Liquids chapter
- Renamed: Cupric solution -> Copper sulfate solution
- Tweaks: patched in-container textures for:
- Clay(s)
Crafting:
- New item: Stone tablet, made with hammer & chisel and stones in crafting grid
- A stoney alternative to books!
- Can be written on with any writing implement, i.e. ink, pencil, stylus
- Can be put onto shelves and display cases like books
- Two visual varieties based on the type of stone
- New item: Claycutter, made by shaping through smithing and then must be soldered before they're ready to use
- Clay cutters can be used to *quickly* craft certain raw clay items
- Note: Initially I wanted a more involved crafting process but the extra complexity would not be worth the development time
- Clay cutters can be made of different materials with improving number of uses for higher quality materials
- (NYI) Corundum and diamond cutters can only be made with sintering
- Following clay "shape" cutters available to begin with:
- Shingles, bowls
- (NYI) New chemical residues:
- Sodash
- Aluox
- Saluminate
- Alumina
- Notes:
- Some of these names are not real substance names (sodash, aluox, saluminate)
- Some compromises are made in terms of real-world accuracy of representation for these items
- (NYI) New liquid: Mineral oil, made by distillation from mineral wax
- Only serves two uses; crafting of grindstone and crafting of powder press
- Note: The crafting process may be changed in the future
- (NYI) New block: Grindstone, can be used to repair certain tools a limited number of times; the process takes time and does not instantly repair an item
- Has 3 tiers: stone, ceramic, gem
- Grindstone itself has no durability and has unlimited uses, but this may change in future!
- Amount of times a tool can be fully repaired depends on tier
- Stone (t1) can fully repair durability 2x
- Ceramic (t2) can fully repair durability 4x and repairs 3 times as fast
- Gem (t3) can fully repair durability 5x and repairs 10 times as fast
- (NYI) New block: Powder press, used for one of several steps in advanced metal-making processes
- (NYI) New block: Sintering oven, used for one of several steps in advanced metal-making processes
Balance:
- Buffed kerogen/mineral wax processing:
- Processing requires significantly less time (and thus less fuel) to process
- Now only require 1175C to process, down from 1340C, making it possible to process without coke
Fixes:
- GA rubellite tourmaline-related LC stuff is now actually craftable
- GA rubellite tourmaline-related LC stuff now has correct text
- Some more back-end changes made to patching
- Pencil/stylus was missing from creative menu
- Adjusted spacings in changelog to make it more readable on dense patches
Compat:
- Geology Additions:
- Stone tablets can be crafted with several GA rock types
- Claycutter corundum variants are crafted using GA ruby/sapphire (recipe NYI)
- General:
- Support for general claycutting, meaning that if a mod enables red/yellow clay, they should be usable
Fixes: - Fixed compatibility issue that made Expanded Matter ores impossible to smelt if they were in crushed form - Some back-end changes made to several patching behaviours
Core: - Handbook: new chapter for suggesting room functions/layouts, this will likely be an on-going WIP and may also cover some suggested vanilla rooms since there is no specific vanilla guidance for this in-game yet, may be helpful if you're an objective-driven person - Handbook: new category for the mod, for now includes all the chapters but eventually will also include items if possible - Handbook: added triva for synthetic fibre pulp - Tweaks: patched in-container textures for: - Peat bricks - Charcoal (I think) - Lignite - Black coal - Anthracite - Cinnabar - Lapis lazuli - Alum - Sulfur - Sylvite - Borax - All loose stones - Tweaks: changed peat brick burning time up from 25s to 122s; - Note: one person alone digging up an entire peatland simply wouldn't be able to go through all that fuel in a short amount of time and peat typically should burn considerably longer than wood - Mod icon updated - Added a specialthanks.md file
Crafting: - New item: Pencils/Styli, made on the crafting grid using a saw and a chisel together with two planks of any timber and an appropriate writing medium like a chunk or soft metal bit - Pencils/Styli can be used to write in books or on signs - New block: Metal grates, made on the crafting grid using metal plates; 2 metal plates yield 6 grates (so 400 metal units to 6 grates) - Metal grates have different variants that can be cycled through with the crafting grid - Metal grates can be recycled for about 97.5% of their metal value; they cannot be smelted directly and must first be recovered as metal bits - Note: may add casting moulds in a later version - Can be rotated with a wrench - New block: full stone roofing block like that of clay shingles; this is primarily meant to fill in a niche for slate rooves; unlikely to add slabs or stair variants since these shapes can technically just be chiseled - New block: decorative monolith pillars, made on the crafting grid using 3 of a raw material in a vertical pattern with a hammer and chisel - Has three shape variations, these can be cycled with crafting OR with a wrench - New block: decorative gem blocks, made on the crafting grid using a hammer and chisel with resin, stone ashlar bricks and appropriate gems/chunks, yielding 4 gem blocks
Fixes: - Fixed: flintstone "ore" blocks can now be processed with a pickaxe in crafting as other ungraded ores can with Lithocraft - Fixed: made available a previously-bugged recipe for strong salt water, using sea water and halite - Fixed: Greek fire now stacks properly, sorry if you got all the way into crafting it and had an issue with this! - Also improved wording in the trivia - Fixed: Greek fire now has better GUI/icon but still needs improvements overall and is still a placeholder shape - Fixed: some minor things caused pointless debug logging (like recipes that would never be valid) - Fixed: sounds were missing for ultra polished rocks
KNOWN ISSUES: - Metal grates block fluids in certain situations - Some monolith texture UVs line up a bit funny - Still no high polish textures for GA but all high polish textures are due to be refactored at some point
Crafting: - Kerogen -> Mineral wax no longer requires a container to "smelt", fixing an issue that meant that mineral wax could not be retrieved at all
Core: - Ashlar stone fence issue with missing sounds fixed
Balance: - Buffed the ratios/output of mineral wax processes that aren't based on shale, as they felt too harsh. Shale remains the best option but the other options should feel more welcoming in case shale is difficult to find - Heating time required reduced across the board, making the process less fuel-intensive - Kerogen now converts into mineral wax at a 1 to 1 ratio - Graphite now converts into kerogen at a 2 to 1 ratio instead of 4 to 1 - Graphite powder (EM) and coal powder (EM) now convert into kerogen at a 2 to 1 ratio - Candles made with mineral wax now require 4 min. wax for 2 candles, down from requiring 6 min. wax for 2 candles; with the kerogen changes, this should be a decent buff to candle production from mineral wax
Crafting: - Cobbleskulls now have a recipe, requires 6 bones and 1 cobblestone; hopefully this should also be compatible with any mod that adds its own cobblestone/cobbleskull variants - In addition, any existing cobbleskull block can be placed with a pickaxe in the crafting grid to yield the original cobblestone
Core: - A big background change to some elements; previously chemical solutions were separate item codes and they have now been unified as a unique itemcode: chemicalportion - Note: This change was made to make sure that adding Lithocraft-specific liquids in the future is easier to handle and because it has long-term implications, so is best done sooner rather than later. Old stuff will have remaps available but unfortunately these will likely serve no use - Chemical residue (ammonia): new name/now a liquid - Chemical residue (organic slurry): new name/now a liquid - Synpulp no longer has erroneous "fruit" nutrition - A link to mod flowchart added to the Lithocraft 02 in-game handbook section; the link may rarely be updated, only if/when required. The current online hosting solution isn't the best for the purpose and this will likely change when something better can be used - Mineral wax now has a new shape/texture - Several items, like kerogen, now list crafting processes in the handbook or have extra trivia
Balance: - Final results of some recipes/processes and their yields made to be a bit more generous - Making flax fibres artificially through the synpulp process now has a much better total cost of 1 cellulose, 0.2 litres of ammonia, 0.2 litres of cupric solution, for every 6 fibres produced;
Crafting: - Pulverized Alum can now be sieved together with Sulfur to produce Potash at a rate of 1 to 1, producing 3 Potash - New recipe: full blocks of most ungraded ore (like coal, sulfur, sylvite, etc., not metals) can be placed with a pickaxe in crafting grid for a slightly better yield - New block: Ashlar stone fence: these are made using ashlar blocks (bricks) in the same way you would make a dry-stone wall (fence) and have a generous rate of production - New item: Chemical residue (biomass): uses a similar recipe to what organic slurry used to have in v0.0.1; this is an intermediate residue meant to make the new organic slurry liquid but also serves as a low-quality all-round fertiliser - Biomass also has an alternate recipe making use of peat and sulfur; in a future version, there will hopefully be a different farming use for peat - New item: Greek fire, no special purpose for now, but serves a complex crafting alternative for a uniquely high temperature long-burn fuel - New liquid: Strong salt water: made in several different ways but the most efficient way is by mining full blocks of halite and dissolving them with water in a barrel - Cupric solution is now usable as a mordant as intended - Organic slurry now made by mixing biomass with water in a barrel - Changed ammonia production process to make use of the distiller at a ratio of 50% yield; in a future version, an alternate process with better yield might be added
Remapping: - Old ammonia and organic slurry should remap to new liquid forms on existing saves, but converted amounts and forms will likely be useless, so it may be better to discard any of these leftovers
Compat: - Geology Additions: Recipes for turning rocks into loose stones and for making gravel/sand from other full blocks
KNOWN ISSUES: - Greek fire icon/hand is too small/difficult to see - Can't access Lithocraft liquid entries information from crafting processes that use them - Can't use anything other than buckets with Lithocraft liquids - Geology Additions-based high polish rock blocks are missing textures - At the time of this release, flowchart is accessible, but incomplete
I haven't really had time for doing mod development and been dealing with some stuff anyway. But now that 1.20 is out I will be looking at continuing development when I can. However, I'll probably start by updating and making sure my other smaller mods are compatible/still relevant first.
At least 1.20 changed a number of modding-related things wihch should make some things easier that I was in the middle of modding. (Particularly with the new inheritance thing)
No problem, it's fine since I was able to fix it myself. However, I did notice something else - the pulverizing stones to sand recipe conflicts with certain recipes from Expanded Matter. i.e. I can't make crushed granite cause it just makes sand instead. Is there a way you could add a config (like if you used ConfigLib) to disable those recipes? I use the Stone Quarry mod for converting stones to gravel/sand anyway.
Edit: Ignore this, I was mistaken about which mod it was. Again. lol.
Thanks for mentioning this and providing a log. I was aware of this issue and it's already fixed in the next release, unfortunately I can't split off changes very easily right now so I'm sorry for the inconvenience until then. gndrneutralnoun
Game crashes when trying to right click on a vanilla variants barrel with strong salt water in it. Crash log is here .
Edit: Sorry - I misreported this. I tried using a vanilla (oak) barrel and it crashed as well so I investigated the cause and it seems like it was because a texture path in Lithocraft was wrong. I just manually fixed the mod myself and tested it and that fixed the issue.
Nov 6th Edit: I haven't been well for a few days and not been able to spend much time on the mod but aiming to pick back up soon.
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All the basic groundwork of new metals/tools for v0.4 is ready, as are many other changes. I will be updating the roadmap shortly to reflect things a bit more accurately.
An overview of what's missing to actually be able to release the version:
Tools still need correct stats
Metals still need textures
Alloys are not craftable yet
Need to fix some bad visual bugs
Missing textures for other new things
Text strings still missing for many new items, some currently just [PH]
Missing some chemical recipes
Missing minimal handbook explanations for several things
Adding metals has been a lot of work and has taken the most time out of any content I've done so far. I'm not even adding armour, and may simply never add any since it would be so much work. 😂
In the process of working on the next version, I am making some significant changes both in terms of mod direction and otherwise, so to make this clear, the next version will actually be v0.4.
The most notable change is that the mod will have Lavoisier and ChemistryLib as hard dependencies; this is something I have given a lot of thought and was not a light decision. Making use of these lets me make use of Lavoisier's in-depth crafting mechanic, and additions that the Lavoisier mod has planned for the future will be very in-line with other things I already wanted to do.
My mod will continue to add its own particular chemicals and whatnot when relevant, but I would like to keep chemical compatibilities a little more open with any other mods that would use/add similar chemicals, if they decide to make use of ChemLib too.
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Rocky, metallic and crystalline things are still at the heart of the mod, but I don't feel "Lithocraft" is sufficient at representing everything the mod does and changes, so I will also be renaming the mod with v0.4; I have so many ideas and the scope of the mod has become more catch-all than originally planned; I also have plans to add my own flavour of alchemy, which "Lithocraft" would also not reflect.
I also like the theme of technology that might be achievable even with primitive resources and tools, if the knowledge had existed, partly why I like to include trivia in the handbook. It's a theme I've been applying to the mod for some time and that I'd like to continue exploring.
If you have suggestions or thoughts on the renaming, I would appreciate hearing them, either here or on the Discord thread for the mod. I have not yet decided on the new name, this is what's on the table at the moment:
Medieval Alchemy (suggested by someone)
NerArth's Additions & Tweaks (also suggested)
Lithocraft: Alchemicon
Lithocraft: Gealkhemia
However, the modid will remain "lithocraft" regardless, so the rename is purely "re-branding" and nothing would break.
v0.3.4 will focus on adding elemental metal and alloy metal options for the recently added bauxite processing. This may take some time because there are so many items to add/set up.
Will release v0.3.1 later today once I add some more textures to the mod.
Edit: The version is released. I probably won't update the mod info page today so for now refer to the changelog for the newest features and changes.
Edit 2: v0.3.2 released as a minor hotfix.
There are also some known issues with the new grindstone block;
Changing hotbar item while repairing an item can make the sound continue to play and the original item continue to be repaired (This is fixed in v0.3.3 for 99% of cases but an extreme edge case scenario remains that I don't have the time to focus on)
Sometimes repaired items will not be synced by the server and when making use of a repaired item, it's as if no repair ever took place (can't replicate this bug yet)
Will try to wrap up a v0.3.1 for release at some point, hopefully around the weekend, to enable more of the 0.3.x content that's already been finished.
I'm finally starting to get to grips with C# stuff more properly, so at the very least I hope to finish the grindstone next and then focus a bit more on the simple stuff again before I go back to starting to work on the other more complex things.
I have been working on the mod but have taken a break from it for a few days recently. The C# stuff is only progressing slowly as there is still a lot to wrap my head around (conceptually), so in the meantime I have been focusing on other small and needed changes, or other fun stuff I have wanted to make.
Released v0.3 as a feature-incomplete version; the working additions are clay-cutting and stone tablets, some buffs in terms of kerogen/mineral wax balance and also fixes to certain issues.
An unlisted fix in 0.3 is that now certain items that were modified like EM crushed coals can be used as fuel again, it was never my intention to disable this in previous versions.
Taking my time with things and I still want to release some stuff that's ready or that won't take much effort to finish, so going to shuffle things around with my patch scopes/roadmap a little bit so some of the stuff can be available sooner. I really want to start using my cutters in my own gameplay. 😂
I appreciate you saying that, I can see what you mean. NightstalkerAvi
Right now I am not being very sharp at learning the C# stuff I need, so I'm taking my time mostly focusing on models at the moment for v0.3 and possibly some other future stuff, as it takes a while to do too (and plan in some cases). 🙂
That's alright! I may have said it here before but I will always admire people that spend time working on mods given that communites can be really toxic to said modders sometimes. It's unpaid work and takes time, so don't stress about it and focus on not getting burnt out as well as taking time to relax!
v0.3 is coming along but I am simply not having enough time to work on it proper so the C# code side hasn't progressed a lot. So far, I have made the models for the new shingles clay cutter, the sintering oven, the stone tablets and the grindstone; some stuff is placeholder or incomplete, but WIP screenshots for all of these are up on the roadmap (and animation preview can be seen attached with grindstone card)! 😁
Yeah, just to give some context, I prefer to make Lithocraft be standalone as much as possible because it's a mod that I make with the mindset of a "core mod" that I always want to play with myself, because I don't like the idea when you have a dependency that the dependency might break and then the whole mod breaks too. So, I like to add integrations and compatibilities but prefer to not have any hard dependencies for this reason.
And thanks for mentioning the ashes mod, I had seen it a while back but hadn't tried it yet! I'd probably look at integrating ashes from it too then.
As for Expanded Foods, I do play with the mod on usually and yeah, there isn't really a sensible use for vegetable-source oils in any of the things I'm planning right now. There is a lot of complexity to oils and fats (in fairness much of it goes beyond me) and so, generally speaking, you can't just use any oil for any job that requires a specific type of oil. The properties pertaining to lubrication, temperature-based phase changes, flash points, compression and so on are all somewhat particular to specific oil formulations, which is likely much of the reason so many different oils are used in real life! That said, if there was a sensible/applicable use for a cooking oil in something I'd planned, I would look into it.
While in a pinch you could probably use the "wrong" oil or fat for something requiring a specific one, there's usually going to be a reason why you'd want to avoid the "wrong" one; for example vegetable oils are not so good at inhibiting metal corrosion and may not have appropriate viscosity in some applications. As another example, tallow (animal fat generally) can be used as a draggy lubricant, and while it works fairly well for this purpose, it does eventually just harden up and become pretty bad at its job.
And yes, thank you for bringing it up all the same; comments like these are useful to me because of the thought processes that follow.
I really like that idea! I agree that it's not as simple as a hammer and chisel but it could be something done later in progression then just a copper hammer and chisel with good scaling! Of course there should be a variety of options that don't rely on other mods but intergration with other ones is always nice! Speaking of, I know I use 'ValleyOfAshes' which has plant ash, and wood ash, with one other I think I am missing! Still, with some vanilla items and maybe a bit of EM added in it could be a very nice spin on the idea of making bricks!
Instant Edit: 'Expanded Foods' Also has seed oil which is pressed from any seeds and Flax Oil which is pressed from flax grain, the later being used in recipes as an alternate to fat a lot of the time. I do not expect this to be added in compatability wise to be entirely honest, but I did want to bring it up. (Something, something, cooking oil isn't typically used for Masonry... duh)
Hmm... Possibly some kind of stone & ash brick; this could be something like VS gravel or EM rock dusts mixed together with a choice of an appropriate ash-like substance or other finer dusts and some clay. It might not exactly be as simple as just using a hammer and chisel but in terms of scaled production it may be an adequate alternative to the way you could make ashlar bricks. Edit: Actually I could probably also integrate that oils mod in a recipe like this, as I see it has wood ash which would be an applicable choice. NightstalkerAvi
Thank you for showing me the mod, your link didn't work but I was able to find it by the name. The mod looks like something for which I could add some integration, I'll need to have a closer look at it later to see exactly what would "fit" but at a glance I could make their oil lamps also be craftable from my mineral wax or the oil when I add it. Skull_Pankakes
Makes sense! And yeah, It's mostly that needing full rock blocks can be a massive pain for making the ashlar bricks, if you feel like making a crafting recipe using the hammer and chisel then go for it! I guess the big thing is that, as you said, the loose stones would have to be really big unless something was used to bind the stones together... either way! It would be nice to have that QoL recipe if you think it fits the vision of the mod!
Edit: Maybe the recipe could use rock dust from EM or gravel as way of showing using lots of smaller stones being combined to get a small amount of bricks? Could be interesting if the ratios and recipe makes sense, at least in a basic sense.
My feel for the idea using mineral wax for ashlar is that it's not quite there in terms of believability, to me. The mineral wax would melt or at least begin a glass transition during even moderately warm seasons, effectively meaning it wouldn't be able to hold any structural strength at anything warmer than "average room temperature".
Is the QOL issue for you the fact that in order to normally craft ashlar bricks, you would need to use full rock blocks? I had a quick look inside the mod you linked and yeah that recipe's ratios certainly seem generous.
I wouldn't have an issue adding a hammer & chisel recipe for making ashlar bricks that didn't involve full rock blocks but I'd have to think about the ratios. My main issue aside from that is that to make up ashlar bricks the size they are, you'd need to be finding pretty big loose stones!
And yes, it certainly is, don't I know it. 😂 Anyway, I'll sort of keep this in my head and see if I can think about something that might seem believable enough.
Heyya, I had an Idea that Is going to keep me awake if I don't suggest it before bed. How do you feel about a crafting grid recipe using mineral wax in the center and loose stones surounding it, like the cobble recipe with clay, in order to get Ashlar bricks in some ratio; say 4 in each tile so 32 total and one mineral wax for ~16 bricks? Or any ratio that feels right to you. I think coding wise this would be a smidge annoying to code in but just uses the crafting grid so it wouldn't be terrible or take any specialized coding/modeling.
The main reason I bring this idea up is because one of the classes added in Mr1k3's 'MoreClasses' mod lets you use a hammer and chisel to create said Ashlar bricks. It's more so intended for MP and I find the ratio to be a biiiiit much, so, it would be fun and interesting to see an updated as well as class-less spin on the idea with a more reasonable ratio then what is used (You could also add in support for Geology Additions />,~~,>/ ). Another ratio I could see working and not being as unreasonable is a + shaped recipe with the loose stones on the edges and the mineral wax in the center! Anyway, sorry for the rambling idea, just thought it was on track with other stone recipes added by the mod and could be implimented in way that doesn't disregard what is added by your work! (I also know I would have the lost twice the time it took to write this thinking about it while trying to sleep; ADHD is a menace lemme tell you.)
...ANYWHO! Take it easy and stay safe, we all love your work! - Avi
Bitumen as in black pitchy stuff, hadn't appeared in my mind yet, so I'll have to think about that one, but for roofing it's an idea I like. Semi-related, flashing for rooves is something I'd like to look into as well at some point. I'm not sure I want to add asphalt/tarmac-y types of paving because that's kind of the domain of More Roads & Paths.
Stone roofing, this has been on my mind a while but it's sort of at the back for now because of the required amount of texture-work for it to look good. It's actually quicker for me to make models than it is textures so anything that needs a lot of texture-work will usually be at the back.
In 0.3 I'm adding mineral oil derived from mineral wax. The mineral oil will be usable in non-food applications, I'll have to look into how food-safe greases are made because I'm not familiar with the specifics. Can you link the oil mod you're talking about?
I have a few more items to add to the sugestion list Bitumen - used as an alterntive for morter/resin, paved path blocks, roof shingles(might be a strech) Stone shingles/roof tiles - we have slate but i also found ones made of Sandstone, Quartzite, Basalt, Granite, Marble, Gneiss, Phyllite, and Limestone. Grease - to be used in place of fat in cog and other recipes. food grade grease for sealing crocks. compat/intergration with oil mod?
I've released 0.2.1 which hopefully fully fixes the issue with the missing snow texture on ashlar stone walls, let me know if there are any issues Skull_Pankakes
Edit to add: Unless people find any critically serious issues that aren't already a known issue, 0.2 is unlikely to receive any further minor patches, as I will be focusing on 0.3 development, which will likely take a while!
Edit: Removed the 0.2.1 release because of a mod-breaking bug I introduced by accident, will be fixed in a 0.2.2 upload! 🤪
Of course! I'm glad that you liked the ideas, even though the multi-block one isn't currently feasible! All around it's just awesome seeing how the mod has progressed so far and I wanted to give you some compliments and encouragement on that front!
Hi NightstalkerAvi, thank you for sharing your thoughts.
1) I do have plans to look into multi-block stuff but I think that will be a ways off for me, as I've only just started looking at C# modding at the end of last week. Basically, yes, I am planning multi-block and special processing-related stuff, I'd like to explore these if I can manage to actually do something with code. I do like your idea for an automated polishing machine, and it is an interesting concept, yeah.
2) This sort of stuff is very much on my mind! I am very partial to that sort of thing too, so thank you for the suggestion, I will add a proper card for it. I do plan to do stuff with new light source blocks/objects in general, and some of my ideas aren't fully formed yet (like tinted flames) but the focus of such things will be in v0.4. The work of 0.3 will help me learn to do stuff with C#, which I feel is important for me to get into early on.
Heyya NerArth! Been a bit since I added a comment but it's been awesome seeing all the work that you have been putting in so far! I have a few (two) suggestions/ideas that might be interesting to add if everything works out for it in the future.
1) I know that you have been working on the stone vat which can hold 500u of liquid, I think it would be interesting to see a multi-block building related to fluids; something like a liquid storage pool, evaporation pond (I think you mentioned wanting something like this before), or large boiling structure to quickly process things. Adding to this a structure like this could be used for some aspect of stone processing, like a polishing process that uses the multi-block, water, and mechanical power to polish stones without needing to use a hammer and chisel? It would take a LOT of work most likely so it probably isn't feasible but is an interesting concept I wanted to throw out there.
2) Stone torch holders made using a combo of polished stone, ashlar blocks, and maybe some mineral wax? It would help ease off the metal demand for making gothic looking castles, or more likely, lighting up a path or the outside of your base.
v0.2 is complete. Please feel free to report issues or comment on the Discord topic for the mod or on the comments right here; Discord will make it easier to understand problems if you share screenshots/logs there.
Edit: Roadmap has been updated further for v0.3 and v0.4 planning begun.
No problem at all. Skull_Pankakes I really dislike the idea that this issue was there for quite a while. I hadn't noticed it myself because in my solo world I did find shale and thought I had tested the process. 😅
Yeah, I think casting the wax as bars or something would be kind of cool but part of the reason nothing right now requires a crucible to process was to avoid the back-end implications of that. Maybe an idea to revisit in the future though.
Also while unintended, i think the idea of smelting either kerogen/shale to make miniral wax then use ingot casts to get wax bars was very cool. though it might be a bit more anoying to do compared to the intended way
I have spotted why this is happening now, I made a stupid mistake when copying things around to make the process in the first place. Will release a patch to fix this very soon. Skull_Pankakes
Edit: v0.1.2 is out now and fixes this serious bug; just process the kerogen in an open fire pit without a crucible now! Very sorry you had to deal with this bug and I hope you did not lose a lot of resource from it.
If you want to give yourself the mineral wax you were supposed to have received, either enter creative mode and go into the Lithocraft tab, or use this command:
/give lithocraft:chemicalresidue-mineralwax number
I'm sorry you had this problem. I had to test this myself, the fact that you were able to smelt it in that way with a cooking pot->crucible is an unexpected and unintended behaviour.
You can process graphite (or the appropriate EM powders) or shale stones, without a crucible in an open fire.
I understand why the term smelting may have caused confusion but sadly I cannot change this on the display without affecting anything else using that text. So I will correct the handbook note for kerogen to be much more specific in the next version, thank you for bringing up this issue.Skull_Pankakes
Edit: If you meant that you're having an issue with smelting kerogen into mineral wax in a crucible, then that is a bug and I will look into it, and if I find it's an issue I'll release a patch for it. (If you want to send me logs that could help too)
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To be very clear on how you *are* supposed to get kerogen, without shale, in 0.1.1, here are two videos I recorded just now:
how does one get Miniral wax withouth shale. I've got my kerogen smelted in a crusable then poured into ingot molds but now i cant pick em up their cold but still soft.
Also you cant put kerogen in crusables normaly, you have to place a cooking pot or saucepan first to get the 4 slots for the kerogen to go in, then replace it with a crusable to smelt it.
Thanks for the feedback and the advice/suggestion! I think things like bauxite processing will be for the scope of v0.3 and I've been loosely planning that in my head today. small_fern
As a note, I would really like to add some of these processes for the "highly industrial" metals like aluminium, stainless steel and titanium, and I'll likely make the complexity reduced compared to real life.
My main concern when dealing with complexity for Lithocraft is that in VS we already have a lot of non-trivial things to do, so for a solo player (like me) I imagine getting into very complicated processes can be off-putting or difficult to wrap your head around if there isn't a simple crafting process/setup. The processes I've already added in Lithocraft are near the edge of what I tolerate myself with the current crafting systems I can employ. 😅
If I could create custom crafting processes or contraptions in C#, I think this would allow for reducing complexity while also providing better balance, but I am not able to put in the time for C# coding, since I'd need to learn basics about it. I could try to integrate the Chemistry mod instead but I fear it would become a dependency.
I can't think of anything you're not doing that I would want to see added, maybe Aluminum extraction? Maybe using the slurry system you've put together to make bauxite refineable into aluminum? ( It's a really complex process IRL and I looked into adding it into the game awhile back... VS should have most of the substances required in the base game, or at least similar enough substances, to pull it off.) i'll let you know if anything else comes to mind!
Regarding the texture situation, Photoshop has an option called "Match Color" which might be useful, it saved me hours creating the new textures for a lot of the rocks in GeoAddons. Speaking of the name, it's Geology Additons but I just generally say/type GeoAddons because it's less of a hassle :P
Keep doing what you're doing though, I'm really excited to see where this mod ends up going! NerArth
small_fern Thanks for looking; is there anything in particular you'd like to see regarding compatibilities with your mod? Also, should I be writing it as Geology Addons? The modpage says Additions but the modid is Addons, confuses me! 😅
I have a few ideas for more integration but it'll probably take me a while to get to them. My main issue right now is with custom rock-based blocks Lithocraft adds/will add, and which need custom textures for several different variants.
This is why the high polish rocks don't have texture compatibility yet, but I also don't have a workflow or process to help me make many variations easily right now; would appreciate any ideas or advice if you can think of anything.
That's something I've thought about for other things. Currently I don't know how hard it is to do without special code but it's something I'd like to look into. NightstalkerAvi
Edit: For 0.1 I had actually already added a placeholder process for using the pickaxe to break full ore blocks but due to implementation issues, it will only work with ungraded ore; this is things like coal and sulfur, not metals.
General comment:
Progress on v0.1 is nearly finished, I just need to tidy up some loose ends with code typos and bugs and add some UI text where it's missing.
0.1 will include some compatibility for Geology Additions but blocks added by Lithocraft will not have appropriate textures for GA rocks, this will be added later.
I'm not sure if it's possible to have the pulverizers give multiple outputs but what do you think about having a crafting or crushing recipe to break entire Ore blocks down in exchange for a higher chance of getting crystalized ore? Because as it stands if you either break all the blocks surrounding an ore block, either by mistake or on purpose, you just end up having to place the ore back down to break it directly. I think it could create a potentally interesting situation where you are more interested in taking entire blocks of low richness ore because you could get more from them than if you were to just mine it.
Would probably be annoying to code in the extra drops if it can't be done with precent values but there is an idea for you to poke with a stick!
Yeah of course! Glad I can help and give some feedback where possible! The main reason I brought up Sulfer is because the area I am settled in has a massive lack of it and even most of the chunks around me in a pretty large range are also lacking so a possible crafting chain for it would be cool!
Yes, pyrite is an iron-sulfur mineral and that's something I've thought about myself. I had noticed pyrite as a mineral in the mod, as well as a few other things of interest. Although chemistry is a weak point for me, I think you can hypothetically extract the sulfur by chemically breaking pyrite down with the use of water or oxidising action, probably crushing it first since it's brittle, to essentially make a sulfuric acid solution, from which you could then further process by drying or precipitation (unsure) until you got some kind of elemental sulfur (and likely iron oxide). So potentially it could become a dual extraction process where you get both elements.
I would like to apply similar logic to other things, such as gemstones in particular, which are often some form of metal oxide, often aluminium, but sometimes containing other trace elements that affect the colour, such as chromium (which incidentally is important in stainless steel production). If the game had tailing ponds and such like we could probably also have processes to extract trace metals through leeching, though I'm likely dreaming too far here.
While the intent right now is that most "alternative" recipes are supposed to be for when you're in a late bronze/early iron age, I did think the synthetic fibre cost was a bit unkind to begin with. I did not find synpulp appealing on my own survival world despite being in a state of flax shortage there. The changes in the next version will address this cost a little bit because ammonia will be a liquid and fine ratio control should be easier with liquids.
Your feedback is fine and I appreciate it, thank you.
Edit: NightstalkerAvi I've seen what you said about the cellulose/salt ratio. Cellulose production in real-life can be done in a few ways and the salts involved are not table salt, which is what halite is (sodium chloride); there is a lot of compromise in the way it's made in the mod and I'm not looking to do a full chemistry represation because then I really ought to be integrating the mod with the Chemistry lib mod, something I wouldn't have time for right now.
To address the concern; I found the salt cost to be a bit disproportionate when playing around with it myself and the ratio is going to be changing; because of the new unified liquid I'll be adding, the process may end up using barrelling instead with a new liquid, possibly with some alternatives.
I should add that for my design intent, things like barrelling, distilling, crushing and so on are important for the mod because they encourage base growth and creation of specific-purpose rooms, as opposed to grid recipes which only need to involve a single storage unit and manual crafting. That said, I am not super keen on long recipe periods (yes, compost...) so it's unlikely anything from the mod will ever take too long even with barelling.
I think it would be interesting to be able to acquire sulfur through some method of finding trace amounts in other materials, and concentrating it. For compatibility with Geology Additions you could make a chain where you acquire sulfur through Pyrite, which a very small glance at the internet makes it seems like it can be used to acquire sulfur. Other than that I like the ability to make Flax without farming for it, however it does seem a little too expensive in overall cost compared to just waiting for better weather (assuming you don’t live in a super cold/hot area). The only thing I could think of is maybe making the ratios a little more generous but it is from residuals so I’m not sure how it would work out balance wise. Wish I could give better feedback, sorry ‘>,~~,>’
Edit: I'm working on my first batch of Flax using this mod's crafting chain. I think the salt requirement for the intial cellulose is a bit steep, I'm using the culinary expansion mod so I can dry salt water into salt eventually. Even with this it still took a large amount, I would say maybe balance it with a higher wood cost and slightly reduced salt cost? I am not very versed in real life chemistry by any means so I'm not sure how accurate the salt cost for this process actually is but this is my intial feedback currently. Still working through it so I will keep you updated!
If you have any thoughts on balance/recipe throughputs for anything added by the mod, especially compared to vanilla mechanics and systems, I would appreciate hearing about it. NightstalkerAvi
It's good to know that people are interested in mod compatibilities and I have been taking a look at Geology Additions; while I do already have a lot of on-going changes I need to finalise for v0.1.0 before I can seriously consider proper integrations, the upcoming version will at least already have some quick and basic compatibilities and will likely come out at some point this coming week.
Edit: About compatibilities, would also be good to know what specific sorts of compatibilities people would expect to see.
This looks pretty interesting! I'm gonna grab it and try it out! Thanks for taking the time to make it! I would also love to see some compatibility with Geology Addons, however I am well aware that time is limited and it might not fit your vision of the mod!
Thanks for the feedback. I was not aware of that mod and I'll have a proper look at it on the weekend and then see what kind of integrations/compatibility I might be able to do. LordWungus
brown coal in your clay oven 😨. that's mecrury poisoning going to happen 😭.
but nah this mod is cool .
I haven't really had time for doing mod development and been dealing with some stuff anyway. But now that 1.20 is out I will be looking at continuing development when I can. However, I'll probably start by updating and making sure my other smaller mods are compatible/still relevant first.
At least 1.20 changed a number of modding-related things wihch should make some things easier that I was in the middle of modding. (Particularly with the new inheritance thing)
No problem, it's fine since I was able to fix it myself. However, I did notice something else - the pulverizing stones to sand recipe conflicts with certain recipes from Expanded Matter. i.e. I can't make crushed granite cause it just makes sand instead. Is there a way you could add a config (like if you used ConfigLib) to disable those recipes? I use the Stone Quarry mod for converting stones to gravel/sand anyway.
Edit: Ignore this, I was mistaken about which mod it was. Again. lol.
Thanks for mentioning this and providing a log. I was aware of this issue and it's already fixed in the next release, unfortunately I can't split off changes very easily right now so I'm sorry for the inconvenience until then. gndrneutralnoun
Game crashes when trying to right click on a vanilla variants barrel with strong salt water in it. Crash log is here .
Edit: Sorry - I misreported this. I tried using a vanilla (oak) barrel and it crashed as well so I investigated the cause and it seems like it was because a texture path in Lithocraft was wrong. I just manually fixed the mod myself and tested it and that fixed the issue.
Nov 6th Edit: I haven't been well for a few days and not been able to spend much time on the mod but aiming to pick back up soon.
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All the basic groundwork of new metals/tools for v0.4 is ready, as are many other changes. I will be updating the roadmap shortly to reflect things a bit more accurately.
An overview of what's missing to actually be able to release the version:
Adding metals has been a lot of work and has taken the most time out of any content I've done so far.
I'm not even adding armour, and may simply never add any since it would be so much work. 😂
In the process of working on the next version, I am making some significant changes both in terms of mod direction and otherwise, so to make this clear, the next version will actually be v0.4.
The most notable change is that the mod will have Lavoisier and ChemistryLib as hard dependencies; this is something I have given a lot of thought and was not a light decision.
Making use of these lets me make use of Lavoisier's in-depth crafting mechanic, and additions that the Lavoisier mod has planned for the future will be very in-line with other things I already wanted to do.
My mod will continue to add its own particular chemicals and whatnot when relevant, but I would like to keep chemical compatibilities a little more open with any other mods that would use/add similar chemicals, if they decide to make use of ChemLib too.
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Rocky, metallic and crystalline things are still at the heart of the mod, but I don't feel "Lithocraft" is sufficient at representing everything the mod does and changes, so I will also be renaming the mod with v0.4; I have so many ideas and the scope of the mod has become more catch-all than originally planned; I also have plans to add my own flavour of alchemy, which "Lithocraft" would also not reflect.
I also like the theme of technology that might be achievable even with primitive resources and tools, if the knowledge had existed, partly why I like to include trivia in the handbook. It's a theme I've been applying to the mod for some time and that I'd like to continue exploring.
If you have suggestions or thoughts on the renaming, I would appreciate hearing them, either here or on the Discord thread for the mod. I have not yet decided on the new name, this is what's on the table at the moment:
However, the modid will remain "lithocraft" regardless, so the rename is purely "re-branding" and nothing would break.
v0.3.4 will focus on adding elemental metal and alloy metal options for the recently added bauxite processing. This may take some time because there are so many items to add/set up.
No, it was probably an oversight when I initially set it all up. I'll change that for v0.3.3, thanks for reporting it. CandyCaprine
Is there a reason the gravel-to-sand conversion excludes andesite and chalk?
Will release v0.3.1 later today once I add some more textures to the mod.
Edit: The version is released. I probably won't update the mod info page today so for now refer to the changelog for the newest features and changes.
Edit 2: v0.3.2 released as a minor hotfix.
There are also some known issues with the new grindstone block;
Will try to wrap up a v0.3.1 for release at some point, hopefully around the weekend, to enable more of the 0.3.x content that's already been finished.
I'm finally starting to get to grips with C# stuff more properly, so at the very least I hope to finish the grindstone next and then focus a bit more on the simple stuff again before I go back to starting to work on the other more complex things.
I have been working on the mod but have taken a break from it for a few days recently. The C# stuff is only progressing slowly as there is still a lot to wrap my head around (conceptually), so in the meantime I have been focusing on other small and needed changes, or other fun stuff I have wanted to make.
Hydromancerx
While I like realistic approaches in VS, I tend to favour fun/convenience over absolute realism, especially true in this case for me.
The option of roleplaying a realistic use of 1 or 2 written sides should be achievable by simply finalising the writing at that point. 🙂
Well you might want to make it one page only so it can stand appart from a book. Plus realsticlly there is only like the front and back.
I see, I didn't even know that mod existed. I can't say whether my addition makes that mod redundant or not.
And no, stone tablets in my mod are not one-page only. Hydromancerx
Is the stone tablet mod now redundant? I liked how they had only one page. Is your one page too?
Released v0.3 as a feature-incomplete version; the working additions are clay-cutting and stone tablets, some buffs in terms of kerogen/mineral wax balance and also fixes to certain issues.
An unlisted fix in 0.3 is that now certain items that were modified like EM crushed coals can be used as fuel again, it was never my intention to disable this in previous versions.
Taking my time with things and I still want to release some stuff that's ready or that won't take much effort to finish, so going to shuffle things around with my patch scopes/roadmap a little bit so some of the stuff can be available sooner. I really want to start using my cutters in my own gameplay. 😂
Release of minor patch, v0.2.3, to fix an issue (mistake on my part) that made Expanded Matter crushed ores impossible to smelt.
I appreciate you saying that, I can see what you mean. NightstalkerAvi
Right now I am not being very sharp at learning the C# stuff I need, so I'm taking my time mostly focusing on models at the moment for v0.3 and possibly some other future stuff, as it takes a while to do too (and plan in some cases). 🙂
That's alright! I may have said it here before but I will always admire people that spend time working on mods given that communites can be really toxic to said modders sometimes. It's unpaid work and takes time, so don't stress about it and focus on not getting burnt out as well as taking time to relax!
v0.3 is coming along but I am simply not having enough time to work on it proper so the C# code side hasn't progressed a lot. So far, I have made the models for the new shingles clay cutter, the sintering oven, the stone tablets and the grindstone; some stuff is placeholder or incomplete, but WIP screenshots for all of these are up on the roadmap (and animation preview can be seen attached with grindstone card)! 😁
NightstalkerAvi
Yeah, just to give some context, I prefer to make Lithocraft be standalone as much as possible because it's a mod that I make with the mindset of a "core mod" that I always want to play with myself, because I don't like the idea when you have a dependency that the dependency might break and then the whole mod breaks too. So, I like to add integrations and compatibilities but prefer to not have any hard dependencies for this reason.
And thanks for mentioning the ashes mod, I had seen it a while back but hadn't tried it yet! I'd probably look at integrating ashes from it too then.
As for Expanded Foods, I do play with the mod on usually and yeah, there isn't really a sensible use for vegetable-source oils in any of the things I'm planning right now. There is a lot of complexity to oils and fats (in fairness much of it goes beyond me) and so, generally speaking, you can't just use any oil for any job that requires a specific type of oil. The properties pertaining to lubrication, temperature-based phase changes, flash points, compression and so on are all somewhat particular to specific oil formulations, which is likely much of the reason so many different oils are used in real life! That said, if there was a sensible/applicable use for a cooking oil in something I'd planned, I would look into it.
While in a pinch you could probably use the "wrong" oil or fat for something requiring a specific one, there's usually going to be a reason why you'd want to avoid the "wrong" one; for example vegetable oils are not so good at inhibiting metal corrosion and may not have appropriate viscosity in some applications. As another example, tallow (animal fat generally) can be used as a draggy lubricant, and while it works fairly well for this purpose, it does eventually just harden up and become pretty bad at its job.
And yes, thank you for bringing it up all the same; comments like these are useful to me because of the thought processes that follow.
I really like that idea! I agree that it's not as simple as a hammer and chisel but it could be something done later in progression then just a copper hammer and chisel with good scaling!
Of course there should be a variety of options that don't rely on other mods but intergration with other ones is always nice! Speaking of, I know I use 'ValleyOfAshes' which has plant ash, and wood ash, with one other I think I am missing!
Still, with some vanilla items and maybe a bit of EM added in it could be a very nice spin on the idea of making bricks!
Instant Edit: 'Expanded Foods' Also has seed oil which is pressed from any seeds and Flax Oil which is pressed from flax grain, the later being used in recipes as an alternate to fat a lot of the time. I do not expect this to be added in compatability wise to be entirely honest, but I did want to bring it up. (Something, something, cooking oil isn't typically used for Masonry... duh)
- Avi
Hmm... Possibly some kind of stone & ash brick; this could be something like VS gravel or EM rock dusts mixed together with a choice of an appropriate ash-like substance or other finer dusts and some clay. It might not exactly be as simple as just using a hammer and chisel but in terms of scaled production it may be an adequate alternative to the way you could make ashlar bricks. Edit: Actually I could probably also integrate that oils mod in a recipe like this, as I see it has wood ash which would be an applicable choice. NightstalkerAvi
Thank you for showing me the mod, your link didn't work but I was able to find it by the name. The mod looks like something for which I could add some integration, I'll need to have a closer look at it later to see exactly what would "fit" but at a glance I could make their oil lamps also be craftable from my mineral wax or the oil when I add it. Skull_Pankakes
Makes sense! And yeah, It's mostly that needing full rock blocks can be a massive pain for making the ashlar bricks, if you feel like making a crafting recipe using the hammer and chisel then go for it!
I guess the big thing is that, as you said, the loose stones would have to be really big unless something was used to bind the stones together... either way! It would be nice to have that QoL recipe if you think it fits the vision of the mod!
Edit: Maybe the recipe could use rock dust from EM or gravel as way of showing using lots of smaller stones being combined to get a small amount of bricks? Could be interesting if the ratios and recipe makes sense, at least in a basic sense.
NerArth
Oils! From Seed to Substance - It adds soap too!
NightstalkerAvi
My feel for the idea using mineral wax for ashlar is that it's not quite there in terms of believability, to me. The mineral wax would melt or at least begin a glass transition during even moderately warm seasons, effectively meaning it wouldn't be able to hold any structural strength at anything warmer than "average room temperature".
Is the QOL issue for you the fact that in order to normally craft ashlar bricks, you would need to use full rock blocks? I had a quick look inside the mod you linked and yeah that recipe's ratios certainly seem generous.
I wouldn't have an issue adding a hammer & chisel recipe for making ashlar bricks that didn't involve full rock blocks but I'd have to think about the ratios.
My main issue aside from that is that to make up ashlar bricks the size they are, you'd need to be finding pretty big loose stones!
And yes, it certainly is, don't I know it. 😂
Anyway, I'll sort of keep this in my head and see if I can think about something that might seem believable enough.
Heyya, I had an Idea that Is going to keep me awake if I don't suggest it before bed.
How do you feel about a crafting grid recipe using mineral wax in the center and loose stones surounding it, like the cobble recipe with clay, in order to get Ashlar bricks in some ratio; say 4 in each tile so 32 total and one mineral wax for ~16 bricks?
Or any ratio that feels right to you. I think coding wise this would be a smidge annoying to code in but just uses the crafting grid so it wouldn't be terrible or take any specialized coding/modeling.
The main reason I bring this idea up is because one of the classes added in Mr1k3's 'MoreClasses' mod lets you use a hammer and chisel to create said Ashlar bricks. It's more so intended for MP and I find the ratio to be a biiiiit much, so, it would be fun and interesting to see an updated as well as class-less spin on the idea with a more reasonable ratio then what is used (You could also add in support for Geology Additions />,~~,>/ ). Another ratio I could see working and not being as unreasonable is a + shaped recipe with the loose stones on the edges and the mineral wax in the center!
Anyway, sorry for the rambling idea, just thought it was on track with other stone recipes added by the mod and could be implimented in way that doesn't disregard what is added by your work! (I also know I would have the lost twice the time it took to write this thinking about it while trying to sleep; ADHD is a menace lemme tell you.)
...ANYWHO! Take it easy and stay safe, we all love your work!
- Avi
Thanks for the suggestions. Skull_Pankakes
Bitumen as in black pitchy stuff, hadn't appeared in my mind yet, so I'll have to think about that one, but for roofing it's an idea I like. Semi-related, flashing for rooves is something I'd like to look into as well at some point.
I'm not sure I want to add asphalt/tarmac-y types of paving because that's kind of the domain of More Roads & Paths.
Stone roofing, this has been on my mind a while but it's sort of at the back for now because of the required amount of texture-work for it to look good. It's actually quicker for me to make models than it is textures so anything that needs a lot of texture-work will usually be at the back.
In 0.3 I'm adding mineral oil derived from mineral wax. The mineral oil will be usable in non-food applications, I'll have to look into how food-safe greases are made because I'm not familiar with the specifics. Can you link the oil mod you're talking about?
I have a few more items to add to the sugestion list
Bitumen - used as an alterntive for morter/resin, paved path blocks, roof shingles(might be a strech)
Stone shingles/roof tiles - we have slate but i also found ones made of Sandstone, Quartzite, Basalt, Granite, Marble, Gneiss, Phyllite, and Limestone.
Grease - to be used in place of fat in cog and other recipes. food grade grease for sealing crocks. compat/intergration with oil mod?
I've released 0.2.1 which hopefully fully fixes the issue with the missing snow texture on ashlar stone walls, let me know if there are any issues Skull_Pankakes
Edit to add: Unless people find any critically serious issues that aren't already a known issue, 0.2 is unlikely to receive any further minor patches, as I will be focusing on 0.3 development, which will likely take a while!
Edit: Removed the 0.2.1 release because of a mod-breaking bug I introduced by accident, will be fixed in a 0.2.2 upload! 🤪
Of course! I'm glad that you liked the ideas, even though the multi-block one isn't currently feasible!
All around it's just awesome seeing how the mod has progressed so far and I wanted to give you some compliments and encouragement on that front!
Hi NightstalkerAvi, thank you for sharing your thoughts.
1) I do have plans to look into multi-block stuff but I think that will be a ways off for me, as I've only just started looking at C# modding at the end of last week. Basically, yes, I am planning multi-block and special processing-related stuff, I'd like to explore these if I can manage to actually do something with code. I do like your idea for an automated polishing machine, and it is an interesting concept, yeah.
2) This sort of stuff is very much on my mind! I am very partial to that sort of thing too, so thank you for the suggestion, I will add a proper card for it. I do plan to do stuff with new light source blocks/objects in general, and some of my ideas aren't fully formed yet (like tinted flames) but the focus of such things will be in v0.4. The work of 0.3 will help me learn to do stuff with C#, which I feel is important for me to get into early on.
Heyya NerArth! Been a bit since I added a comment but it's been awesome seeing all the work that you have been putting in so far!
I have a few (two) suggestions/ideas that might be interesting to add if everything works out for it in the future.
1) I know that you have been working on the stone vat which can hold 500u of liquid, I think it would be interesting to see a multi-block building related to fluids; something like a liquid storage pool, evaporation pond (I think you mentioned wanting something like this before), or large boiling structure to quickly process things.
Adding to this a structure like this could be used for some aspect of stone processing, like a polishing process that uses the multi-block, water, and mechanical power to polish stones without needing to use a hammer and chisel? It would take a LOT of work most likely so it probably isn't feasible but is an interesting concept I wanted to throw out there.
2) Stone torch holders made using a combo of polished stone, ashlar blocks, and maybe some mineral wax? It would help ease off the metal demand for making gothic looking castles, or more likely, lighting up a path or the outside of your base.
I absolutely have Geology Additions; that mod indirectly led me here :)
Ryan_Thomas Good to hear! If you haven't already, I strongly recommend checking small_fern's Geology Additions for more geology stuff.
More proper stoney construction stuff is planned for Lithocraft but the next major version will focus on metals, crafting and balance.
I can't make changes to the mod until at least next weekend but I will fix this ASAP then, thank you for reporting the issue! Skull_Pankakes
The top of ashlar stone fences have the red "?" texture when it snows
Thank you for this mod, I'm a geology and construction fanatic.
v0.2 is complete. Please feel free to report issues or comment on the Discord topic for the mod or on the comments right here; Discord will make it easier to understand problems if you share screenshots/logs there.
Edit: Roadmap has been updated further for v0.3 and v0.4 planning begun.
v0.2 is maybe about 90% done. That's including some more changes that I wasn't intending to make on this version, but they were quick to do.
v0.2 is about 60% done. The roadmap has some screenshots showing some of the new stuff. 😁
Thank you for the suggestion, I'll add that to the wishlist so I can have a look at it at some point! Skull_Pankakes
one sugestions i have while playing reclenty is that mineral wax should seal crock pots.
No problem at all. Skull_Pankakes I really dislike the idea that this issue was there for quite a while. I hadn't noticed it myself because in my solo world I did find shale and thought I had tested the process. 😅
Yeah, I think casting the wax as bars or something would be kind of cool but part of the reason nothing right now requires a crucible to process was to avoid the back-end implications of that. Maybe an idea to revisit in the future though.
Thanks for the fix.
Also while unintended, i think the idea of smelting either kerogen/shale to make miniral wax then use ingot casts to get wax bars was very cool. though it might be a bit more anoying to do compared to the intended way
👍
I have spotted why this is happening now, I made a stupid mistake when copying things around to make the process in the first place. Will release a patch to fix this very soon. Skull_Pankakes
Edit: v0.1.2 is out now and fixes this serious bug; just process the kerogen in an open fire pit without a crucible now! Very sorry you had to deal with this bug and I hope you did not lose a lot of resource from it.
If you want to give yourself the mineral wax you were supposed to have received, either enter creative mode and go into the Lithocraft tab, or use this command:
I'm sorry you had this problem. I had to test this myself, the fact that you were able to smelt it in that way with a cooking pot->crucible is an unexpected and unintended behaviour.
You can process graphite (or the appropriate EM powders) or shale stones, without a crucible in an open fire.
I understand why the term smelting may have caused confusion but sadly I cannot change this on the display without affecting anything else using that text. So I will correct the handbook note for kerogen to be much more specific in the next version, thank you for bringing up this issue. Skull_Pankakes
Edit: If you meant that you're having an issue with smelting kerogen into mineral wax in a crucible, then that is a bug and I will look into it, and if I find it's an issue I'll release a patch for it. (If you want to send me logs that could help too)
---
To be very clear on how you *are* supposed to get kerogen, without shale, in 0.1.1, here are two videos I recorded just now:
how does one get Miniral wax withouth shale. I've got my kerogen smelted in a crusable then poured into ingot molds but now i cant pick em up their cold but still soft.
Also you cant put kerogen in crusables normaly, you have to place a cooking pot or saucepan first to get the 4 slots for the kerogen to go in, then replace it with a crusable to smelt it.
Thanks for the feedback and the advice/suggestion! I think things like bauxite processing will be for the scope of v0.3 and I've been loosely planning that in my head today. small_fern
As a note, I would really like to add some of these processes for the "highly industrial" metals like aluminium, stainless steel and titanium, and I'll likely make the complexity reduced compared to real life.
My main concern when dealing with complexity for Lithocraft is that in VS we already have a lot of non-trivial things to do, so for a solo player (like me) I imagine getting into very complicated processes can be off-putting or difficult to wrap your head around if there isn't a simple crafting process/setup. The processes I've already added in Lithocraft are near the edge of what I tolerate myself with the current crafting systems I can employ. 😅
If I could create custom crafting processes or contraptions in C#, I think this would allow for reducing complexity while also providing better balance, but I am not able to put in the time for C# coding, since I'd need to learn basics about it. I could try to integrate the Chemistry mod instead but I fear it would become a dependency.
I can't think of anything you're not doing that I would want to see added, maybe Aluminum extraction? Maybe using the slurry system you've put together to make bauxite refineable into aluminum? ( It's a really complex process IRL and I looked into adding it into the game awhile back... VS should have most of the substances required in the base game, or at least similar enough substances, to pull it off.) i'll let you know if anything else comes to mind!
Regarding the texture situation, Photoshop has an option called "Match Color" which might be useful, it saved me hours creating the new textures for a lot of the rocks in GeoAddons. Speaking of the name, it's Geology Additons but I just generally say/type GeoAddons because it's less of a hassle :P
Keep doing what you're doing though, I'm really excited to see where this mod ends up going!
NerArth
Made a publicly-visible roadmap for the mod. Added to mod's main description above; no pun intended, nothing is set in stone.
small_fern Thanks for looking; is there anything in particular you'd like to see regarding compatibilities with your mod? Also, should I be writing it as Geology Addons? The modpage says Additions but the modid is Addons, confuses me! 😅
I have a few ideas for more integration but it'll probably take me a while to get to them. My main issue right now is with custom rock-based blocks Lithocraft adds/will add, and which need custom textures for several different variants.
This is why the high polish rocks don't have texture compatibility yet, but I also don't have a workflow or process to help me make many variations easily right now; would appreciate any ideas or advice if you can think of anything.
Looks really cool! Thanks for adding compatibility for Geoaddons!
Changelog for v0.1.1 is available here and in the "files" tab here in the moddb.
Changelog for v0.1.0 is available here and in the "files" tab here in the moddb.
Next steps are to correct any missed bugs, update the flowchart as and when, and then the focus of v0.2.0 will be to start adding some new blocks.
Planned additions for 0.2:
It's been on my mind but I don't know if I want to make a public roadmap or not yet for other ideas/future versions.
Edit: Please note, the changelog for this version missed out the following change:
That's something I've thought about for other things. Currently I don't know how hard it is to do without special code but it's something I'd like to look into. NightstalkerAvi
Edit: For 0.1 I had actually already added a placeholder process for using the pickaxe to break full ore blocks but due to implementation issues, it will only work with ungraded ore; this is things like coal and sulfur, not metals.
General comment:
Progress on v0.1 is nearly finished, I just need to tidy up some loose ends with code typos and bugs and add some UI text where it's missing.
0.1 will include some compatibility for Geology Additions but blocks added by Lithocraft will not have appropriate textures for GA rocks, this will be added later.
I'm not sure if it's possible to have the pulverizers give multiple outputs but what do you think about having a crafting or crushing recipe to break entire Ore blocks down in exchange for a higher chance of getting crystalized ore?
Because as it stands if you either break all the blocks surrounding an ore block, either by mistake or on purpose, you just end up having to place the ore back down to break it directly.
I think it could create a potentally interesting situation where you are more interested in taking entire blocks of low richness ore because you could get more from them than if you were to just mine it.
Would probably be annoying to code in the extra drops if it can't be done with precent values but there is an idea for you to poke with a stick!
Yeah of course! Glad I can help and give some feedback where possible!
The main reason I brought up Sulfer is because the area I am settled in has a massive lack of it and even most of the chunks around me in a pretty large range are also lacking so a possible crafting chain for it would be cool!
NightstalkerAvi
Yes, pyrite is an iron-sulfur mineral and that's something I've thought about myself. I had noticed pyrite as a mineral in the mod, as well as a few other things of interest. Although chemistry is a weak point for me, I think you can hypothetically extract the sulfur by chemically breaking pyrite down with the use of water or oxidising action, probably crushing it first since it's brittle, to essentially make a sulfuric acid solution, from which you could then further process by drying or precipitation (unsure) until you got some kind of elemental sulfur (and likely iron oxide). So potentially it could become a dual extraction process where you get both elements.
I would like to apply similar logic to other things, such as gemstones in particular, which are often some form of metal oxide, often aluminium, but sometimes containing other trace elements that affect the colour, such as chromium (which incidentally is important in stainless steel production). If the game had tailing ponds and such like we could probably also have processes to extract trace metals through leeching, though I'm likely dreaming too far here.
While the intent right now is that most "alternative" recipes are supposed to be for when you're in a late bronze/early iron age, I did think the synthetic fibre cost was a bit unkind to begin with. I did not find synpulp appealing on my own survival world despite being in a state of flax shortage there. The changes in the next version will address this cost a little bit because ammonia will be a liquid and fine ratio control should be easier with liquids.
Your feedback is fine and I appreciate it, thank you.
Edit: NightstalkerAvi I've seen what you said about the cellulose/salt ratio. Cellulose production in real-life can be done in a few ways and the salts involved are not table salt, which is what halite is (sodium chloride); there is a lot of compromise in the way it's made in the mod and I'm not looking to do a full chemistry represation because then I really ought to be integrating the mod with the Chemistry lib mod, something I wouldn't have time for right now.
To address the concern; I found the salt cost to be a bit disproportionate when playing around with it myself and the ratio is going to be changing; because of the new unified liquid I'll be adding, the process may end up using barrelling instead with a new liquid, possibly with some alternatives.
I should add that for my design intent, things like barrelling, distilling, crushing and so on are important for the mod because they encourage base growth and creation of specific-purpose rooms, as opposed to grid recipes which only need to involve a single storage unit and manual crafting. That said, I am not super keen on long recipe periods (yes, compost...) so it's unlikely anything from the mod will ever take too long even with barelling.
I think it would be interesting to be able to acquire sulfur through some method of finding trace amounts in other materials, and concentrating it. For compatibility with Geology Additions you could make a chain where you acquire sulfur through Pyrite, which a very small glance at the internet makes it seems like it can be used to acquire sulfur.
Other than that I like the ability to make Flax without farming for it, however it does seem a little too expensive in overall cost compared to just waiting for better weather (assuming you don’t live in a super cold/hot area). The only thing I could think of is maybe making the ratios a little more generous but it is from residuals so I’m not sure how it would work out balance wise.
Wish I could give better feedback, sorry ‘>,~~,>’
Edit:
I'm working on my first batch of Flax using this mod's crafting chain. I think the salt requirement for the intial cellulose is a bit steep, I'm using the culinary expansion mod so I can dry salt water into salt eventually. Even with this it still took a large amount, I would say maybe balance it with a higher wood cost and slightly reduced salt cost?
I am not very versed in real life chemistry by any means so I'm not sure how accurate the salt cost for this process actually is but this is my intial feedback currently. Still working through it so I will keep you updated!
If you have any thoughts on balance/recipe throughputs for anything added by the mod, especially compared to vanilla mechanics and systems, I would appreciate hearing about it. NightstalkerAvi
It's good to know that people are interested in mod compatibilities and I have been taking a look at Geology Additions; while I do already have a lot of on-going changes I need to finalise for v0.1.0 before I can seriously consider proper integrations, the upcoming version will at least already have some quick and basic compatibilities and will likely come out at some point this coming week.
Edit: About compatibilities, would also be good to know what specific sorts of compatibilities people would expect to see.
This looks pretty interesting! I'm gonna grab it and try it out! Thanks for taking the time to make it!
I would also love to see some compatibility with Geology Addons, however I am well aware that time is limited and it might not fit your vision of the mod!
Been working on next version and so far:
Thanks for the feedback. I was not aware of that mod and I'll have a proper look at it on the weekend and then see what kind of integrations/compatibility I might be able to do. LordWungus
I really like the complexity of the crafting chains in your mod. Do you have any plans to include compatibility with Geology Addons?