Quote from: TrashMan on February 11, 2015, 05:26:37 AM
Can someone explain to me what's so elaborate about smelting iron ore?
How is that different from cutting stone?
I'll do this as simply as I can.
Steel is Iron with some small amount of carbon in a semi-crystalline matrix. This is usually achieved by burning coal, wood, or charcoal (charcoal is essentially pressure-cooked wood) in furnace made of a material designed to refract heat more than absorb it (effectively keeping the heat in), while the metal is kept in a crucible which is made of a material with a significantly higher melting point that what you are attempting to melt (Kianite clay, for example; run-of-the-mill stone isn't going to cut it). As the iron ore melts, the carbon released into the air from the burning material is mixed with it and forms chemical bonds. Dross (the impurities) are scooped away (almost certainly lighter than the molten iron, so usually on the top), and the molten metal is poured, usually into an ingot mould (ingots are highly pure metal bars/rounds) and allowed to cool until solid. From there they are either dumped into water, or allowed to cool naturally. Slag is the counter to dross - the mixtures of Iron and things which are heavier than it usually stay behind when the pour is made, as they solidify before the pour is made. These can be recast later.
From the ingots, one can resmelt the ingots (which are mostly pure, meaning less 'clean up' time than before), and cast them into various moulds and allowed to cool. As well, Ingots can be smithed, which takes far longer, requiring much more skill, but producing stronger results. I won't go into all the specifics of smithing, but this is the basic principle.
Stonecutting is taking a chisel to a rock. and hitting it with enough force to chip a little away, but not crack the entire stone.
I hope that helps.
Also, just as an aside - did you know that Titanium is actually much weaker than most steels? It is considered to be so 'strong' because it weighs so little compared to steel - and is much stronger than other light-weight metals such as aluminum and magnesium. I especially want Tynan to read this bit, in case he plans on implementing titanium into the game; one of my pet peeves is when people make titanium out to be some super-strong material, when in actuality it is not. Luckily, the actual casting of titanium is a rather difficult process, requiring extremely high temperatures (1600+C) and a low-oxygen environment. Perfect for some late game research.