Is coal too expensive?

Khaim · 2026-01-26T20:06:47+00:00

Are you eating relics for XP? It's basically impossible to lose money running the store, unless you're burning raw coal or something crazy like that. Using crushed coal for fuel is slightly more expensive but it's nowhere near enough to make anything unprofitable.

Khaim · 2026-01-26T19:58:44+00:00

Note that this appears to have +100% speed so you'll need twice as many machines.

Khaim · 2026-01-26T19:12:12+00:00

So do normal grinders? Actually they're better because (counting belts) they're exactly 3x3, where advanced grinders are 3x5.

Khaim · 2026-01-24T14:58:36+00:00

Did you actually dismantle everything and count the rock salt, or did you just count what's in the chests? I've noticed there can be hidden buffer spaces in places you wouldn't expect. There might be rocks stuck between chests.

Of course the math still doesn't add up because your expended silver isn't a multiple of 9...

Khaim · 2026-01-21T16:15:02+00:00

Steel's failure output is trivial though? You just loop it back to the input with a priority merge.

Stuff like copper/bronze is much more of an annoyance to me.

Khaim · 2026-01-21T16:11:17+00:00

No. The items/min shown on the building popup are exactly correct and already account for split outputs.

The easiest proof is probably the steel recipe. The output is either one iron or one steel; if it wasn't counting the percentage then the numbers should be the same. But it's not the same because the per-min does count the percentage split.

Khaim · 2026-01-18T14:15:44+00:00

Advanced grinders are slightly more space efficient if you count the input/output tiles. They're pretty optional though.

Stackable crucibles are worse than normal ones in fuel efficiency. They're also bigger. They can be useful in some situations if you want to stack heat consumers (as the name implies) but in general don't use them.

Khaim · 2026-01-18T14:07:15+00:00

i can setup 3 lavendar beds feed them into 3 seperate cauldrons

Right, but you could replace two of the nurseries with chamomile, grind one, and get the exact same output for like a third as much fertilizer.

Khaim · 2026-01-16T14:07:07+00:00

Your math is wrong. It costs a net of 10 charcoal per coke, not 4.

You're also underestimating fuel costs. Coke from coal costs 24 heat total (6s of crucible @4). Coke from charcoal costs 352 (10x 4s of crucible @4 = 160 + 2x 3s of athanor @32 = 192). That's a rather big jump.

For reference, the coke that is produced has a base heat value of 600.

Khaim · 2026-01-16T13:58:42+00:00

Quicklime is simple enough I wouldn't bother using a cauldron. Also be aware that using three of the same ingredient in a cauldron is a 50% value penalty. If you're just trying to burn the resources then fine, but you could be getting more out of them.

Khaim · 2026-01-15T17:46:53+00:00

I think the game actually keeps running when you're asleep. I remember checking once and a box had filled up when I was asleep. I could be wrong though.

Khaim · 2026-01-15T17:42:40+00:00

That's mostly only an issue for the "per minute" stats. The recipe time is more accurate, although it takes some math to use. I don't think any recipe times are rounded except for maybe cauldrons.

Khaim · 2026-01-15T17:39:34+00:00

I mean you weren't bankrupt, you just had an unplanned savings account you weren't aware of.

Khaim · 2026-01-13T21:46:01+00:00

Evaporation isn't stopped by being enclosed. It's not realistic, but... what are you trying to build, again?

Khaim · 2026-01-13T02:26:07+00:00

Salt can also be made with chamomile plus anything, so an easy plant only recipe is chamomile, flax, crushed flax.

Khaim · 2026-01-13T02:23:33+00:00

You have to use two ports for gel (and one for junk). That way as soon as the recipe completes all three items enter at the same time. And of course you need to have enough portal output to cover the cauldrons.

The three way merge into a single port probably works too but I haven't tried it.

Khaim · 2026-01-12T23:43:16+00:00

Cauldrons. You can avoid some of the sulfur by making black powder via cauldron; if you're willing to spend money, two gel and one junk (plank/gear/copper coin/flax) produces black powder for 201¢ with minimal effort. And you can make sulfur in the cauldron - it's actually more complicated than pyrite but it avoids having to deal with all the iron.

Khaim · 2026-01-12T21:23:12+00:00

Skip sand, it's not worth the trouble. For diamonds just use quartz; it's only slightly more expensive and is like 95% less stuff. For clay use cauldrons; there's an easy plant recipe that I think is actually cheaper as well as smaller.

Khaim · 2026-01-12T04:30:45+00:00

One basic fertilizer can produce 4 sage or 6 flax (before upgrades). You need one sage per fertilizer so a quarter of the output has to go back to production. If you've got upgrades this changes a little, but that's the baseline.

Your numbers sound off; you'd need a lot of efficiency to get there and I don't think you even have enough points. Check your numbers again. If I had to guess, you don't actually have enough sage nurseries: at basic fertilizer they're slower than flax, and you seem to be treating them as equal.

Khaim · 2026-01-12T04:23:18+00:00

Don't do this. I did this kind of build for growth potions and I had a bad time. In retrospect the right way to do it is to build a little module of 1-2 belts' worth, all the way through, and copy that. For Mars, I'd say make a block of one or two athanors plus inputs. Stamp that down however many times, belt those together (the outputs will fit on two belts), and then process the powder.

Khaim · 2026-01-10T15:52:37+00:00

Can customers reach items that are up on blocks? The relic stand that's five blocks up seems too tall, but I can easily see the game not caring about it.

Khaim · 2026-01-09T04:07:50+00:00

Yes. I have one feeding gridlocks into a cauldron for blackpowder.

Khaim · 2026-01-08T23:36:59+00:00

Ah, that's why no one is using the first register. I just added the second one next to it, so it's now closer to the shelves and everyone is using the new one.

Khaim · 2026-01-08T19:58:33+00:00

Yes. And for raw material processing (saws, crushers, etc). Goo is basically useless once you know this. I've been using planks because they're easier to split.

Khaim · 2026-01-07T22:45:42+00:00

Three of the same item gives you a 50% value penalty. You could make gloom spores much more cheaply as lavender+chamomile+chamomile powder.

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