inconsistant fuel

[theTrav]

Why do smelters only run on coal wheras everything else can run on any wood fuel base? (eg, branches)

[Jackard]

i think its to get them hotter or something dont really know

[Pacho]

Correctly processed coal burns cleanly enough to turn iron into steel, but its not like it matter much in this game. I guess it was done to give it a hint of realism though.

[Krantarin]

It may be for balance too, making metals more costly and valuable. I like that it's harder to make metal because it means my goods are more valuable and my settlement is richer.

[Laremere]

Edit: Found better article than the first one: http://www.the-orb.net/encyclop/culture ... steel.html
Charcoal is indeed required for the process of making cast iron, like Europe metal would have as it's first product from the smelter. Theoretically steel could be made strait from the cast iron, but how it is set-up ingame makes much more sense from a game-play standpoint.



Original post: Found this interesting article about making wrought iron, cast iron, and steel: (stop reading once it gets into talking about how it can work in a game, their implementation is completely irrelevant for this game.) http://www.modernparapsychology.com/Gam ... Smelt.html

It doesn't really explain an answer for you, but I found it interesting to read. I find "it needs the heat" a perfectly fine answer for game mechanic purposes. If you don't read much about game design, there are many sacrifices you have to make on the sense of how things actually work for how things can work ingame.