kunchboy Posted July 16, 2025 Report Posted July 16, 2025 Talking about the little stone chunks, not the full blocks. Right now the fastest way for me is to travel to a desert and just collect all the boulders and loose stones, but it takes a long time (still faster than mining for me, somehow), and I end up getting so little cobblestone and path blocks out of it. Am I doing this wrong? Is mining the way to go here even though it's initially slower with stone collection than picking up from the ground? I really want to build and am enjoying the game a lot so far but collecting materials for so little blocks is going to burn me out, I can tell. Trying to take it slow but it's beginning to bore me a lot, and I don't want that! I've just made my first iron pickaxe, so I'm solidly in the bronze age and the very beginnings of iron age. Haven't set up any windmill automation yet though because I keep getting distracted lol.
Solution Never Jhonsen Posted July 16, 2025 Solution Report Posted July 16, 2025 All of my stone (tiny bits that might be knappable) collecting comes from the excess waste in rock (stone rock block) collecting; Quarrying out all of the rock tends to give out a lot of stones, which I use to make my cobblestone and path blocks. I haven't paid close attention, so what I'm about to say next is a top-of-my-head estimate; I think I get about 6 stacks of stones for every 64 rock I quarry out. I quarry 4 rows at 16 blocks each, so one layer gives me 64 rocks and about. .. maybe its 5 stacks of stone. I fill two mining bags full of stones after 4 layers, so that adds up to about 5 stacks per 64 rock. But, never-the-less, my point with this long paragraph is that I'm usually getting my stones from other activities. Anyways, heavy quarrying might be classified by some as Iron+, so for the bronze/iron that you're in, my recommendation for you is to find a cave entrance and mine about. Like you said, it is initially slower than running about, but running about can only get so much; that stone doesn't regenerate. If you fancy, there are bombs that can help gather stones in a more entertaining way, although I'm not sure on their speeds. That early cobble is harsh though I've been there many a times. Spending days in the pre-copper era trying to build a nice house that isn't just dirt variants. 2
kunchboy Posted July 16, 2025 Author Report Posted July 16, 2025 2 hours ago, Never Jhonsen said: All of my stone (tiny bits that might be knappable) collecting comes from the excess waste in rock (stone rock block) collecting; Quarrying out all of the rock tends to give out a lot of stones, which I use to make my cobblestone and path blocks. I haven't paid close attention, so what I'm about to say next is a top-of-my-head estimate; I think I get about 6 stacks of stones for every 64 rock I quarry out. I quarry 4 rows at 16 blocks each, so one layer gives me 64 rocks and about. .. maybe its 5 stacks of stone. I fill two mining bags full of stones after 4 layers, so that adds up to about 5 stacks per 64 rock. But, never-the-less, my point with this long paragraph is that I'm usually getting my stones from other activities. Anyways, heavy quarrying might be classified by some as Iron+, so for the bronze/iron that you're in, my recommendation for you is to find a cave entrance and mine about. Like you said, it is initially slower than running about, but running about can only get so much; that stone doesn't regenerate. If you fancy, there are bombs that can help gather stones in a more entertaining way, although I'm not sure on their speeds. That early cobble is harsh though I've been there many a times. Spending days in the pre-copper era trying to build a nice house that isn't just dirt variants. Looks like I'll have to go mining. Honestly not sure how I've made it to the beginning of the iron age considering I haven't even got a designated forge When you say quarrying, do you mean just mining out stone in any desired pattern? Like strip mining or tunnelling?
LadyWYT Posted July 16, 2025 Report Posted July 16, 2025 25 minutes ago, kunchboy said: When you say quarrying, do you mean just mining out stone in any desired pattern? Like strip mining or tunnelling? You can kind of quarry in tunnels, but keep in mind that you have to break all blocks touching the stone block in question in order to get the full stone block. If you dig out a strip of stone(2 tall, 1 wide), you can make a checkerboard pattern for the most efficient quarry pattern(I think). I say that because to get rid of the necessary blocks in the ceiling/floor, you only have to dig one block out to get to three of the supporting blocks at a time. Also, welcome to the forums! In regards to just collecting loose stones, what I generally do is just hoard whatever I dig up on my mining and quarry trips. That generally provides plenty of building materials. If I need a specific color though...that usually means a dedicated mining trip to an area with that stone type. If there's a desert of that type with lots of boulders, that's even better, but that may or may not be an option. If mining for the stone, then I'll usually quarry some blocks too, just to have some available should I ever want them. 2
Thorfinn Posted July 16, 2025 Report Posted July 16, 2025 In multiplayer, it's quickest to say, "Hey, guys, if you have any stone you don't want, can I have it?" In singleplayer, maybe stone blasting bombs? A couple rusty gears for a stack of, I think, 6? Used them once. Thought, this is nice, I guess. Easiest way to use them is to dig a few tiles into the surface you want to get rid of, and put the bomb in the back of the hole, because the explosion is spherical. Cuts tunnels fairly quickly. Other than that, yeah, go mining. 1 1
Professor Dragon Posted July 20, 2025 Report Posted July 20, 2025 On 7/16/2025 at 7:40 PM, kunchboy said: Right now the fastest way for me is to travel to a desert and just collect all the boulders and loose stones . . . I really want to build and am enjoying the game a lot so far but collecting materials for so little blocks is going to burn me out, I can tell. . . So first of all, yes. If you don't want to burn through pickaxes, then finding any large "gravel" area and picking up loose stones - particularly the boulders - is a reasonable method. You'll exhaust an area of course, but some of those biomes are pretty big. I just happen to be in that process myself now, when I saw your post. Didn't take long (relatively) to get several stacks of paths. You can also collect stone from ruins by punching it with your fist even (slow), or tools. No need to convert stones to blocks. Once you get trading up and running - and a pre-req is probably farming - then rusty gears gets you picks, and then mining is an option. However, picks aren't cheap, so I'd consider the stone to a be a by-product on your way to a main objective - whether that be ore gathering or making a cellar. Last, and this is the tip that saved me when I was in a similar spot, two words: rammed earth. It has six variants in one block, from plain to a passable castle wall texture in a light gray like stone. But it is made from soil, so you can just dig it up anywhere and throw up a house. It is also easy to take down and switch out. Then over time, you swap it out for the materials you prefer. You avoid the burn out from the material gathering. And you'll probably discover things about building and materials, as you're ramping up resources. Professor_Dragon. 2
Thorfinn Posted July 20, 2025 Report Posted July 20, 2025 47 minutes ago, Professor Dragon said: Last, and this is the tip that saved me when I was in a similar spot, two words: rammed earth. It has six variants in one block, from plain to a passable castle wall texture in a light gray like stone. Wattle and daub is another good one. I've started using a lot more. I like the looks and the massive variety. 3
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