Smelting vs Mining?

[ddblue0]

Smelting takes longer and produces less steel than mining, but it's good for when you start running out of steel veins (or if you just need to get rid of some scrap).

This is how I discovered it. Out of necessity when I mined almost all the steel off of my large map.

[Britnoth]

You are completely neglecting the hauling aspect of it. A smelter has to fetch 10 steel worth of slag chunk, before he can even start smelting it. A miner can pick up 75 steel on their way back.

Mining is far more efficient than smelting.

My level 20 miner mined 3 tiles of steel, while my lvl 20 crafter smelted 2 chunks that were beside him. 105 steel vs 20 steel. This is very easily tested and verified in dev mode.

Well, you produced a totally one sided unfair test, and then were pleased with the result you always wanted from the beginning.

Try an equally one sided test:

Lvl 1 miner with a peg leg. Any 1 crafter with peg leg (neither affect speed). Then add in the time for peglegs to walk there and back say.... 100 tiles away. In the snow. And then him or someone else to haul it.

I suspect the smelting would then win quite easily.

[Mehni]

Well, you produced a totally one sided unfair test, and then were pleased with the result you always wanted from the beginning.

Try an equally one sided test:

Lvl 1 miner with a peg leg. Any 1 crafter with peg leg (neither affect speed). Then add in the time for peglegs to walk there and back say.... 100 tiles away. In the snow. And then him or someone else to haul it.

I suspect the smelting would then win quite easily.

My test set-up had the steel chunks right besides the pawn. He didn't have to walk, I even set the bill to drop on floor to ensure that. The miner stood right besides the raw resources, making the test conditions as equal and fair as possible. I'm the only one that actually went and tested it in dev mode to provide raw numbers, because I was curious.

You are free to test your suspicions in dev mode, but the question asked was "base time to smelt vs the base time to mine" not "is a peg legged miner faster than a smelter in snow".

[Dingus]

Rich veins of metals like Gold actually existed across the Earth's surface before mankind mined them all. Nowadays many mines dig deep into the earth (deep drilling make more sense now?) and pull up large hauls of crap, which are then washed with water and sifted through. Then oodles of tiny specks of gold are melted and combined into larger hunks or bars.

So it isn't that weird for there to be gold veins there for digging at on a Rimworld. Steel is a product of an industrial process but oh well.

Read the information tab.

[Shurp]

You are free to test your suspicions in dev mode, but the question asked was "base time to smelt vs the base time to mine" not "is a peg legged miner faster than a smelter in snow".

I did later ask, "how bad would a miner have to be before smelting is faster than mining".  From your test it looks like the productivity is about 5:1 at mining skill 20.  AFAIK crafting skill does not affect smelting speed, so that suggests breakeven at 4 and a person with mining skill 3 should stay home and smelt.

[Britnoth]

My test set-up had the steel chunks right besides the pawn. He didn't have to walk, I even set the bill to drop on floor to ensure that. The miner stood right besides the raw resources, making the test conditions as equal and fair as possible. I'm the only one that actually went and tested it in dev mode to provide raw numbers, because I was curious.

My point was, the test you ran was utterly meaningless as it was as biased towards one outcome as you could possibly make it.

Level 20 miner? How often do you actually get one of those? Even 10 is pretty high for my games.

Miner starts right next to the resource being mined. NO time taken to walk there. Slag can be hauled back to the smelter, compacted steel cannot.

Run the test again with a 5 skill miner walking to the steel 50+ tiles away from base, through snow, wearing a parka (cold) versus a happy guy (sans parka) in a nice warm room smelting slag... I would bet they are at least even, if not heavily in favour of the smelter.

[Shurp]

Run the test again with a 5 skill miner walking to the steel 50+ tiles away from base, through snow, wearing a parka (cold) versus a happy guy (sans parka) in a nice warm room smelting slag... I would bet they are at least even, if not heavily in favour of the smelter.

A proper test compares apples to apples.  So your smelter should have a parka and have to walk 50 squares out in the snow to the slag stockpile.  Of course we already know walking around slows down production so this really doesn't add anything.

But using mining 5 does add something, because crafting skill *seems* to make no difference to smelting speed.

[Britnoth]

A proper test compares apples to apples.  So your smelter should have a parka and have to walk 50 squares out in the snow to the slag stockpile. 

Slag can be hauled back to the smelter, compacted steel cannot.

Who builds their smelter 50 tiles from where they haul the slag? 

[Mehni]

Cargo pods. Definitely the main source of slag on my map.

Anyway Britnoth, if you don't approve of my test, you are free to create your own.

Since steel can be hauled 75 pieces at a time and slag chunks have to be hauled individually, I'm certain mining will remain the winner.

[SpaceDorf]

Why compare at all ?

I am glad that skill makes no difference in the amount you smelt.
I have my animals collect the slag across the map and smelt it at home, it trains my crafters and gives me a bit of Steel.  Win-Win.

When my stockpiles of Steel drops, I send out Miners to quickly to mine out a steel vein.
The same haulers then bring the goods home.

Like previously said, Apples and Oranges .. since you can also smelt weapons from raids which give you all kind of ressources including components and process Mechanoids for better or worse we all end up doing both anyway ^^


Forgive me, if I write Iron somewhere by accident, in DF you mine iron and produce steel
Also I still can't bring myself to start on a map without marble or limestone