Steel duplication via Structures/Slag

[Boboid]

It seems like it's pretty easy to duplicate steel by constructing structures that produce slag when they're destroyed and then smelting that slag down using a colonist that has particularly high Smelting Efficiency. (burning works though may cause accidental fires)

For the record Smelting Efficency is derived from Crafting Skill, then modified by Sight and Manipulation (40% - 90% importance respectively)

Solar Panels seem to be particular offenders in this regard, when destroyed they drop 40 steel (Half the construction cost) and a whopping 8 slag chunks. With a smelting efficency of 110% ( 14 skill no sight/manipulation modifiers ) each slag chunk melts down to 9 steel, the end result is 112 steel or +32 for every solar panel destroyed.

At 19 crafting ( The highest obtainable due to the way crafting xp is delivered in chunks - fixed in the next update ) with two Bionic Eyes and Arms - 193% smelting efficiency - you produce 16(!) slag per chunk or 168 total per destroyed panel.

(Cost:370)Geothermal generators yield 16 slag +185 steel - 329 steel at 9/slag (441 @ max efficiency) Profit = -41/+71 OR 88.9%/119.1%

(Cost:90)Nutrient Paste Dispensers yield 6 slag + 45 steel - 99 @ 9/slag (144) Profit = +9/+54 OR 110%/160%

(Cost:25)Steel beds yield 1 slag + 12 steel - 21 (28) Profit = -4/+3 OR 84%/112%

(Cost:60)Steel Royal beds yield 2 slag + 30 steel - 48 (62) Profit = -12/+2 OR 80%/103%

(cost:80)Solar Panels yield 8 slag + 40 steel - 112 (168) Profit = +32/+88 OR 140%/210%


Those're the only objects I found that had the potential to yield more than you put in, solar panels being the most obvious offender. Feel free to chime in with anything I might have missed.

[Goo Poni]

A neat little loophole. I did idly wonder if that would be the case because some structures dropped slag. No doubt after being pointed out, it'll get fixed but personally, it's such a roundabout way of getting extra metal that I'd never notice the increase unless I was counting every generic unit of quantity.

[Boboid]

A neat little loophole. I did idly wonder if that would be the case because some structures dropped slag. No doubt after being pointed out, it'll get fixed but personally, it's such a roundabout way of getting extra metal that I'd never notice the increase unless I was counting every generic unit of quantity.

It's certainly a bit more obfuscated than the good old Wooden Shiv + Smelter = 1-1 wood/Steel ratio.

Certainly makes me less worried about the destruction of my solar panels

[Pathing]

This look... promising 
Destroy panel instead of growing those trees... alright 

[Coenmcj]

Mantis'd 0001463

Funny how stuff like this slips by.

[Boboid]

Mantis'd 0001463

Funny how stuff like this slips by.

Easy thing to have happen, lots of variables any one of which can do this kind of thing and there's no way to insure against it preemptively. At some point someone has to do the math.

I suppose you could write something up that would automatically check for this kind of thing but it'd be a bit of a pain and I don't think it'd transpose easily into anything else so, it'd be pretty much on a mechanic-by-mechanic basis.

[milon]

Such a tool would be great to create/use for balancing just prior to the final-ish release, but not necessary at this point IMHO.

[Argon]

You can also destroy wooden beds with frags, dropping 1-2 slag chunks.  Free metal.

-Argon

[Boboid]

You can also destroy wooden beds with frags, dropping 1-2 slag chunks.  Free metal.

-Argon

I didn't think to check for structures that didn't contain Steel, nice catch - That's actually a slightly better (1-1.28) wood-steel ratio than Shivs->Smeltery at max efficency

[Goo Poni]

I think that's been around pretty much since things could be made of stuff. Most buildable things leave slag behind regardless of their construction. To be honest, I never really thought of where the slag comes from because usually a slagged base means half my base just burnt out in a fire.

[Coenmcj]

Hmm, so I suppose that would work with stone constructions aswell... stone > slag > steel

[Argon]

Hmm, so I suppose that would work with stone constructions aswell... stone > slag > steel

Correct.  However stone structures have more HP and take longer to construct. Its simply a question of how long you would like to micromanage for.

-Argon

[Tynan]

Thank you for pointing this out; I've fixed it and made it impossible for future builds.

[Boboid]

Hmm, so I suppose that would work with stone constructions aswell... stone > slag > steel

You can, although you'll run out of (Practical) stone fairly quickly even in a mountain

Thank you for pointing this out; I've fixed it and made it impossible for future builds.

Shiny.

[Coenmcj]

It's rimworld! Everything's Shiny