Steel Production

[El_Skwidd]

I noticed something.

I was going to make some iron, so with my ADD (not really) I started browsing through the options for steel. I noticed that you can only make steel with gas and coal, while you can make iron with gas, coal, and charcoal.

Is there a reason that you can't make steel with charcoal? If there isn't, then my suggestion is to add an option to make steel with charcoal.

EDIT: Note to self: don't post suggestions first thing in the morning

[Sho]

I'm pretty sure it's intentional, and that the point is to make steel harder to make than iron.

[BlueNine]

I noticed that you can only make steel with gas and coal, while you can make iron with gas, steel, and charcoal.

You can make iron with steel? (Sorry I was compelled to point it out)

I'm not sure really, seeings as charcoal and coal are the same thing (according to dictionary.com anyway
Coal n.
1.
a. A natural dark brown to black graphitelike material used as a fuel, formed from fossilized plants and consisting of amorphous carbon with various organic and some inorganic compounds.
b. A piece of this substance.
2. A glowing or charred piece of solid fuel.
3. Charcoal.)

[Sho]

They're not the same thing. That definition refers to the way pieces of charcoal in a wood fire are called "coals." Coal is dug from the ground, and charcoal is made from wood.

[BlueNine]

They're not the same thing. That definition refers to the way pieces of charcoal in a wood fire are called "coals." Coal is dug from the ground, and charcoal is made from wood.

Ah right, do they not have the same properties when burned though?

[Sho]

I doubt it, since they do have very different properties (different impurities, very different porosity); however, I think this is in any case most likely a case of game balance taking precedence over a minor point of realism. Coal and charcoal have been this way in Cantr for a long time, and there are better things to fight over.

[TatteredShoeLace]

From what I have picked up in other conversations, coal burns much hotter than charcoal, and with the aid of bellows one can make steel. It takes more heat to create steel, so this makes sense. Coke was intended to aid in making steel with larger blast furnaces, but this has never come to be.

[El_Skwidd]

That's what I thought.

Oh well, time to plan around that, then. Thanks guys