[mod request] Clay and Bricks

[AllisonIsLivid]

There area a handful of mods I know of that add Clay as a resource or even a mine able wall type, and that allow you to make adobe and/or bricks, but it seems that they all also add a lot of other things. In every case, I'm bumping into them adding redundant things, that don't play well with other mods I use. Fertile fields is a little clunky about clay, and steps on Vegetable Garden's toes a bit. Atlas' Materials adds a whole bunch of materials, like glass, and plastics, but things like Rimefeller also add plastic. Medieval Times adds a whole extra era's worth of content.

I'm in the process of patching some of my industry and material mod favorites together, but I'm wondering if anyone might do me a favor and create a mod that just adds Clay and Bricks.

[Owlchemist]

What would you propose the difference are between stone block walls and brick walls? Or would it be mostly a matter of graphical variety?

[AllisonIsLivid]

The difference is in manufacturing! Where chunks need to be mined out, and then cut into blocks, brick and adobe are readily available anywhere you can find a pinch of sand and some muddy soil. I would view brick and adobe as inexpensive, maybe wooden tier materials for construction, ideal for places where wood is scarce, but gravel, sand, or mud are abundant. They'd be quicker to produce than proper stone, but weaker in general. Basically, they'd be a quantity option compared to stone's quality option. You can put together a lot of bricks in the time it takes to cut an equivalent amount of stone.

I know Atlas' materials mod adds a few resources to make a complex web of material production chains. But I think, the minimum would be a source of clay for Brick, and mud for Adobe, and a kiln of some sort to bake them in. Proper bricks are made with clay and coal ash, and adobe is usually baked mud, or baked mud mixed with straw or hay grass to give it more resilience. Thinking about it, the bloomery from your simple steel chain could make a nice kiln. Not exactly the same thing, but similar looking ancient tech.

I don't really know how to build a mod from the ground up, though I've been learning what I can where I can. My current effort is to strip the brick production from Atlas' materials, and it's coming along very well. But I couldn't in good conscience share something like that with the community.

[AllisonIsLivid]

Well, at the very least, I've finished what I set out to do. I've created a version of Atlas Materials which is stripped of all content but the Mud, Sand, Clay, Brick, and Adobe resources (slightly tweaked for better balance and realistic color,) and the kilns needed to work the materials. I suppose I'll try and contact Atlas to see how he feels about me sharing it or uploading it, for anyone who's interested. 

[tsmt1001]

Well, at the very least, I've finished what I set out to do. I've created a version of Atlas Materials which is stripped of all content but the Mud, Sand, Clay, Brick, and Adobe resources (slightly tweaked for better balance and realistic color,) and the kilns needed to work the materials. I suppose I'll try and contact Atlas to see how he feels about me sharing it or uploading it, for anyone who's interested.

Would bricks be a renewable resource? You eventually run out of chunks and rock you can mine to get them.

[AllisonIsLivid]

Well, the way I have it set up, they are. Clay is a mined resource that spawns on map generation, like compacted steel and such. But even if you mine all of it out, you can dig in muddy or marshy soil to produce small quantities of it forever. Mud is produced this way as well, but more quickly, and in larger quantities. Sand can also be produced in large quantities by pulverizing stone chunks, or else be dug up quickly from from gravel, or the sandy soil types. Most of this is Atlas materials' function. The dig spots, and new resources. All I did was tweak it to remove a few steps and intermediate materials, like coal and ash.

So short answer; yes, but they require either two types of opposed terrain to be on the map (mud AND sand, which is a semi-rare combination) or else just the mud and a climate you can grow hay in.