Hey there, I looked through some of the code. And I want to say, thanks for making this MOD!
My goal in this post is to offer some feedback on tuning the base recipes (non krastorio and aai). I think the aim of my post is to show possible methods to make the recipe efficiency advantage more aligned with the Foundry's innate +50% productivity bonus, especially when you factor in the simplicity of a single build stage.
Here's a breakdown of my thoughts for each recipe.
Engine Unit
In my mind, if I were making Engine Units the vanilla way, I'd be using Foundries to cast the intermediate parts—Steel Plates, Iron Gear Wheels, and Pipes—and then feed them into a final assembler. I think my maths for the total molten metal this chain consumes to make the parts for one Engine Unit is:
* 30 (for 1 Steel Plate) + 20 (for 2 Gears) + 8 (for 2 Pipes) = **58 Molten Iron**.
The mod recipe replaces this entire setup. In my mind, for it to be balanced, its advantage should come only from the Foundry's +50% bonus.
* The Math:
* Vanilla Benchmark Cost: 58 Molten Iron.
* Target Mod Base Cost: 58 / 1.5 = **38.7 Molten Iron**.
* Current Mod Base Cost: 25 Molten Iron.
* Recommendation: The current recipe is pretty very cheap, especially if you factor in the reduced stages. Personally, I would change its ingredient cost from 25 to 39 Molten Iron to make it a more fair and logical trade-off.
Firearm Magazine
For the Firearm Magazine, my thinking is that a vanilla setup would have a Foundry casting the 4 Iron Plates needed.
* The Math:
* Vanilla Benchmark Cost: 4 plates * 10 Molten Iron/plate = **40 Molten Iron**.
* Target Mod Base Cost: 40 / 1.5 = **26.7 Molten Iron**.
* Current Mod Base Cost: 24 Molten Iron.
* Recommendation: The current cost of 24 is super close to the target of 26.7. Honestly, I think this one is pretty much perfectly balanced already. I wouldn't change it.
Piercing Rounds Magazine
For Piercing Rounds, the vanilla recipe needs a Firearm Mag, a Copper Plate, and some Steel. If I were making these with Foundries, the total input would be the cost of those parts.
* The Math:
* Vanilla Benchmark Cost: (40 Iron for the Mag) + (10 Copper for the Plate) + (15 Iron for the Steel) = **55 Molten Iron, 10 Molten Copper**.
* Target Mod Base Cost: 55 / 1.5 = **~37 Molten Iron** and 10 / 1.5 = **~7 Molten Copper**.
* Current Mod Base Cost: 33 Molten Iron, 6 Molten Copper.
* Recommendation: Again, this one is really close to the ideal target. I'd say this is also in a great spot and probably doesn't need changes.
Rail
When it comes to Rails, the vanilla recipe needs Steel and Iron plates. If I'm casting those in a Foundry, the total molten metal I'd need is:
* The Math:
* Vanilla Benchmark Cost: 30 (for 1 Steel Plate) + 5 (for 0.5 Iron Plate) = **35 Molten Iron** (plus stone).
* Target Mod Base Cost: 35 / 1.5 = **23.3 Molten Iron**.
* Current Mod Base Cost: 18 Molten Iron.
* Recommendation: Personally, I think this is a bit too cheap. I'd probably bump the ingredient cost up from 18 to 23 Molten Iron.
Heat Pipe
The Heat Pipe is a big one. The vanilla recipe needs Steel, a ton of Copper Plates, and Pipes. If I were to set up Foundry lines for all of that, the total consumption would be huge.
* The Math:
* Vanilla Benchmark Cost: 70 Molten Iron and 200 Molten Copper.
* Target Mod Base Cost: 70 / 1.5 = **~47 Molten Iron** and 200 / 1.5 = **~133 Molten Copper**.
* Current Mod Base Cost: 180 Molten Iron, 120 Molten Copper.
* Recommendation: This one seems to be balanced a bit differently. The current cost is way too expensive on Iron but a little cheap on Copper. To bring it in line, I'd suggest changing the cost to 47 Molten Iron and 133 Molten Copper.
Thanks again for the mod!
Just a quick note: I didn't include the Space Platform Foundation because its vanilla recipe needs Processing Units, and there isn't really a way to compare that to a molten metal cost using this method.
