The recipes for making copper and iron plates by using the oil refineries and converting to molten before making plates costs more in power and resources and produces plates at a slower rate. (.5/s vs a electric/steel furnace at .62/s). For this much extra cost and infrastructure, I would think it should provide more plates per second and more efficient resource usage (especially since iron ore and coal are essentially free except for the cost of electricity)

Any suggestion? I will looking for creative solutions for better experience away from base game(Space exp.).

Hi,

Disclaimer: I prefere efficiency and low pollution over high production rates.

I am at the point I can start using the molten ores and I did some quick benchmarking with molten iron.
I notice that using Molten iron and Oil refineries I need 2 times more space, 2 times more electricity and I get 2 times more pollution. So for me this seems less advanced then just using Electric furnaces.

So at least double the iron plate output of "Iron Smelting (Cooling)" recipe.

I do however like what you did to with the "Foundation Platform Productivity" for example. Perhaps you could do something similar with "Advanced Lava Smelting Productivity"; you start with low productivity, but over time you get rewarded 300% and in the end this really becomes "Advanced Lava Smelting".

Also perhaps you would consider using "Chemical plant" instead of "Oil refinery", they use less space, less power and pollute less.

regards,
Bart.

Hi Bart,

Thank you very much for your detailed observations — I really appreciate the time you took to share them. I’ve been thinking through your points carefully, and your feedback is genuinely helpful.

I understand your preference for efficiency and low pollution, and your benchmarking results with molten iron highlight some important considerations. As you noted, the current setup requires roughly twice the space, power, and produces twice the pollution compared to electric furnaces, which does make it feel less advanced than intended. Based on your suggestion, I’ll look into increasing the iron plate output of the “Iron Smelting (Cooling)” recipe to bring it more in line with expectations.

I also like your idea regarding productivity progression. The “Foundation Platform Productivity” system has worked well, and applying something similar to “Advanced Lava Smelting Productivity” — starting low and gradually reaching a high reward like 300% — could make the feature feel much more meaningful and truly “advanced” in the long run.

Your suggestion to consider using the Chemical Plant instead of the Oil Refinery also makes sense from an efficiency and pollution standpoint, so I’ll evaluate that as well.

Thanks again for your input — it’s greatly appreciated, and I’m already reflecting on how these improvements could be implemented.

Best regards,
Zoltán Szabó