The metal industry feels like this cookie clicker game

[Zarxes]

The metal industry as it is right now feels not fun.
What i like about the new implementations is the ammount of different rocks, and the way mining feels more exiting. Also mining coal is cool.

What i absolutely dislike is the ammount of clicking filling a smelter involves and the tediousness lighting it brings. Is 12 coal really necessary? It just feels unrationally tedious and clicking 12 coal into every smelter is no fun at all. It kinda degrades the industry into a tedious version of cookie clicker.

The ammount of ore and metal needed enormous while the gains from each ore feel a littlebit low. I dont know if that is maybe intentional or i just feel that way because of the 12 coal thing. I get about 0 to a maximum of 2 wrought per 9 cast iron. And 1-3 bars of iron from iron ochre. So that means in average you need about 250 iron orche 120 charcoal for the necessary cast alone to make 10 wrought. Is clicking 120 times to load the smelters fun? To me, it does not feel fun. Also the mechanic of clicking ore into a smelter is not very immersive. Maybe decrease the ammount of coal needed to smelt one load. Or let us "build" the ore from our inventory into the smelter like you do with building all other stuff. Imo 4 coal per load is fine if you decrease the "worldwide" coal gains. This way or another, please eliminate surplus and unfun clicks.

Also firebrands take wayyyy to long and the mechanic also does not feel very fun. For me lighting something is always an inner struggle because it is just time that is wasted, where nothing really happens and that i would have liked to have spend actually playing the game. I see that you want to go for the whole realismus thing and i agree that its kinda cool but in some situations its maybe just better to give up a little realism for more smooth/fun gameplay? Also if you are honest a more realistic situation and maybe something that would resolve the issue would be if you could light firebrands from burning/hot places and if firebrands would be a littlebit more stable so you can place them in your inventory or equip them maybe for a minute.

[Ukhata]

you CAN light firebrands from a fireplace....

[Zarxes]

Well i know you can do it from a fire but a fireplace?

[Audiosmurf]

Well i know you can do it from a fire but a fireplace?

Yeah, as long as the fireplace is full.

[Zarxes]

Well i know you can do it from a fire but a fireplace?

Yeah, as long as the fireplace is full.

While i see why this is the case from a standpoint of game mechanics its still a littlebit awkward. In real life you would not have fill your fireplace until it nearly bursts just to light up a match.

[sabinati]

stuff

i agree, the smelt rates seem a bit low, fuel rate seems a bit high, some tweaking for balance is probably good

you CAN light firebrands from a fireplace....

how does that work, exactly?

[MightySheep]

if you're complaining about 12 coal I assume you dont know that you can hold shift and spam click, it will just cycle through all the coal in your inventory

[Avu]

Has anyone made a torch yet? They seem very expensive. Do they last hours? If they last minutes not worth it.

[mattresses]

you CAN light firebrands from a fireplace....

how does that work, exactly?

Just right-click a branch onto a full, lit fireplace.

[TeckXKnight]

Has anyone made a torch yet? They seem very expensive. Do they last hours? If they last minutes not worth it.

Tar is easy to make in bulk and torches are pretty much the best thing ever. They seem to last indefinitely, you just have to light them in fires again after you put them out.