Why is it All Granite?

[KukriKing135]

I'm currently searching for Limestone, Chalk or Borax. My house is built on Granite. I go south 9000 blocks and the only thing I find along the way is Granite. 

Is this intended? Is this a common experience? Just feeling a bit lost and like my time is being wasted.

[Cerehelm]

What's your map seed? It might be that granite extends far south, but perhaps west or east after a certain distance it will change to sedimentary rocks? Rock types extend for a certain distance, but not across the entire map.I once played on a map that was similar - but I went 3000 blocks west and found sedimentary rocks with borax in them.

[Krougal]

Unfortunately it is the common experience. Whether or not it is intended, I can't answer that.

I feel like it is better in 1.21, but I haven't generated enough maps to really conclude anything.

Maybe it was just luck.

It may be realistic to have large areas of the same type of rock, and the people who really like exploring the map aren't bothered by it, others (myself included) hate it.

 

Oh, also the rock on the surface likely doesn't go all the way down to the mantle. Granted that is little consolation early game.

 

Edited August 10, 2025 by Krougal

[Thorfinn]

3 hours ago, Krougal said:

Oh, also the rock on the surface likely doesn't go all the way down to the mantle. Granted that is little consolation early game.

Truth. However with granite as a top layer, I believe you can only get igneous stone below it. You need a sedimentary stone or basalt to have an underlying sedimentary layer.

And, yes, @KukriKing135. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news on your very first post, but it is possible to have more than that be granite in all directions. I would expect to still be in granite if I traveled only 9k. Since this is your first game, you might want to start a new world until you get a sedimentary layer (or basalt). Either that or go into creative and fly around until you find the shortest path out of granite.

[LadyWYT]

5 hours ago, KukriKing135 said:

I'm currently searching for Limestone, Chalk or Borax. My house is built on Granite. I go south 9000 blocks and the only thing I find along the way is Granite. 

Is this intended? Is this a common experience? Just feeling a bit lost and like my time is being wasted.

Welcome to the forums! As others have mentioned, you might try looking in a different direction, or take a crack at a different map--one that spawns you in something other than granite. Granite layers can cover quite a lot of territory depending on the map, and while those maps can fun in their own way, it may not be the challenge you're looking for at the moment.

I will note though, that you really only need borax for steelmaking. If you're just after a material to begin leatherworking, you can purchase lime sometimes from commodites/survival goods traders. You can also get lime from grinding up seashells(two lime per shell), as well as sometimes find chalk/limestone rocks as loot in cracked vessels and ruins.

[Krougal]

Chances are still good that you will get some other rock as far as the eye can see in a new world anyway. Like peridotite. Or chert or claystone.

I am not sure if the size is tied to the world size at all or not, but lately I've gotten better results and I use a very small worldsize.

I am tripping over borax bits on the surface, and I don't think I have ever even seen 1 before. This is also the first time I haven't had to travel 9km in every direction before I found bauxite. There's also limestone.

Really it's a paradise so far, finding everything I need, but it is a fairly fresh start (RC3) and I am just starting to mine iron.

 

 

[LadyWYT]

1 hour ago, Krougal said:

I am not sure if the size is tied to the world size at all or not, but lately I've gotten better results and I use a very small worldsize.

I am tripping over borax bits on the surface, and I don't think I have ever even seen 1 before. This is also the first time I haven't had to travel 9km in every direction before I found bauxite. There's also limestone.

It varies depending on world seed. Rock layers tend to cover a fair bit of territory, but it's also relatively common to have bauxite covering just one mountain, or patches of sandstone here and there...you get the idea.

It's also very variable on resources too. Borax does spawn in sediment rock, but it's also very possible to get large swaths of sediment rock with very little borax to be found. The general rule I've observed for world generation is that most maps will have a handful of resources that are quite plentiful, but be lacking one or two critical things. It's fairly rare that you get everything you need within a thousand blocks of spawn, although it is possible.

[Krougal]

33 minutes ago, LadyWYT said:

It varies depending on world seed. Rock layers tend to cover a fair bit of territory, but it's also relatively common to have bauxite covering just one mountain, or patches of sandstone here and there...you get the idea.

It's also very variable on resources too. Borax does spawn in sediment rock, but it's also very possible to get large swaths of sediment rock with very little borax to be found. The general rule I've observed for world generation is that most maps will have a handful of resources that are quite plentiful, but be lacking one or two critical things. It's fairly rare that you get everything you need within a thousand blocks of spawn, although it is possible.

Yeah, and I've got a large surface area of sandstone. I've got black coal with fire clay, not too deep down also, which is always a very nice find. I haven't looked for Olivine yet, but I have never once had trouble finding that, you just look for Peri and it will be there somewhere.

I got lucky with a good deposit of surface tin too, since I am still trying to force myself to use the propick and I did not change the mineral rarity settings.

Actually, I think that is what the problem usually is, is there is frequently too much surface igneous rock, and then you get shit for resources. I used to use these 2 mods in the past, https://mods.vintagestory.at/lessigneousrocksplease and https://mods.vintagestory.at/rockstratavariety

lessigneousrocksplease was not packaged correctly and you have to fix it yourself or it won't work, someone left instructions in the comments, after that I got crazy gens with lots of basalt and obsidian; which seems exciting at first, obsidian is a real leg up, but then you go to start your farm and realize all you've got is shallow low fert dirt for miles around.

[Maelstrom]

To my understanding, granite is the default rock strata that is overridden by the other rock strata.  Given how granite can sometimes generate so much incredibly larger areas than the other rock strata, this makes sense to me.  I haven't had a 9,000 block stretch of granite, but with RNG hate it is quite possible.

[Krougal]

4 hours ago, Maelstrom said:

To my understanding, granite is the default rock strata that is overridden by the other rock strata.  Given how granite can sometimes generate so much incredibly larger areas than the other rock strata, this makes sense to me.  I haven't had a 9,000 block stretch of granite, but with RNG hate it is quite possible.

Yeah, that is another thing that is wrong. Some kind of sedimentary rock should be the default for the top layer.

[Echo Weaver]

Apparently I got a pretty atypical spawn for my personal game. It was in an area that alternated sandstone and basalt, so I got pretty early access to obsidian. Just over the ridge was a peridotite area, and there are mountains to the south that have exposed layers of a bunch of different varieties including limestone.

I spent a year not finding medium quality soil, but for rock types I've been golden.

Tangentially, I have just started looking at sturdy leather, and the wiki hasn't been very forthcoming. What the heck is chromium sulfate, and how does one make it?

[LadyWYT]

12 minutes ago, Echo Weaver said:

What the heck is chromium sulfate, and how does one make it?

You need to combine saltpeter and powdered sulfur in a cookpot first to get sulfuric acid--do note that this will dirty the cookpot! You then add crushed chromite to the sulfuric acid to get chromium sulfate, which you can then cook large/huge scraped hides in to get sturdy leather.

[Echo Weaver]

9 minutes ago, LadyWYT said:

You need to combine saltpeter and powdered sulfur in a cookpot first to get sulfuric acid--do note that this will dirty the cookpot! You then add crushed chromite to the sulfuric acid to get chromium sulfate, which you can then cook large/huge scraped hides in to get sturdy leather.

Eeek. I still haven't found sulfur, which is putting a damper on my poultices.

It looks like chromite will show up on the probability pro pick -- it's just very rare, correct? And requires a steel pickaxe.

[LadyWYT]

20 minutes ago, Echo Weaver said:

Eeek. I still haven't found sulfur, which is putting a damper on my poultices.

It looks like chromite will show up on the probability pro pick -- it's just very rare, correct? And requires a steel pickaxe.

Correct. Sulfur will show up in prospecting data as well, but it also only spawns in sediment rock. The good news is you can just buy sulfur from traders, so you don't necessarily have to locate a deposit in order to acquire it.

[Echo Weaver]

Just now, LadyWYT said:

Correct. Sulfur will show up in prospecting data as well, but it also only spawns in sediment rock. The good news is you can just buy sulfur from traders, so you don't necessarily have to locate a deposit in order to acquire it.

What trader sells sulfur? And is it enough to keep up a supply of poultices? I generally assume that purchasing a resource I'm going to need a steady supply of (like limestone) is not going to be viable.

[Krougal]

Yeah, I hate the current implementation of traders even more than that other games big-nosed villagers.

I did add a section in my guide on sturdy leather by the way, since it was a little confusing to me at first, but @LadyWYT really covered the basics.

[Echo Weaver]

4 minutes ago, Krougal said:

Yeah, I hate the current implementation of traders even more than that other games big-nosed villagers.

I did add a section in my guide on sturdy leather by the way, since it was a little confusing to me at first, but @LadyWYT really covered the basics.

I actually love the dorky MC villagers, and I have gone to great lengths to make sure any texture pack I use keeps their noses. That game has an entirely different mood, though, and I would not want to see them in VS.

Thanks for making a guide. I will go read it.

[LadyWYT]

20 minutes ago, Echo Weaver said:

What trader sells sulfur?

I think it's the Commodities trader, mainly, but the Survival Goods trader might sell it as well.

20 minutes ago, Echo Weaver said:

And is it enough to keep up a supply of poultices?

It depends on how many poultices one needs. For the average singleplayer game, I would say yes, provided that you aren't getting the snot beat out of you too often. I would say though, that you're probably going to have to choose between making sturdy leather and making poultices with each batch of sulfur you buy. It takes quite a bit of sulfur to create sturdy leather, and the traders don't always have it for sale.

23 minutes ago, Echo Weaver said:

I generally assume that purchasing a resource I'm going to need a steady supply of (like limestone) is not going to be viable.

I would agree that's generally true, but in some games it might be the only good option you have at the time. For things like sulfur, the trader might not offer it for sale each time, but when he does it's usually easy to clean out his stock and stockpile it for when you actually need it, if you can't otherwise locate a deposit.

[Krougal]

My main gripe with the VS traders is by the time I have whatever it is they want to buy, they have reset and usually no longer have what I wanted to buy nor what I have to sell.

It was mentioned that the devs are aware of the traders shortcomings and plan on doing something about it at least.

 

Oh, and bandages and alcohol are a good option instead of poultices. Granted that means post windmill building for flax. I make tons of booze and since the cranberry isn't as nutritious, most of it winds up being aqua regia. You can carry a jug of it and a stack of bandages.

 

How did we get off-topic? I am not taking the blame this time

Edited August 13, 2025 by Krougal

[Echo Weaver]

18 minutes ago, Krougal said:

My main gripe with the VS traders is by the time I have whatever it is they want to buy, they have reset and usually no longer have what I wanted to buy nor what I have to sell.

It was mentioned that the devs are aware of the traders shortcomings and plan on doing something about it at least.

 

Oh, and bandages and alcohol are a good option instead of poultices. Granted that means post windmill building for flax. I make tons of booze and since the cranberry isn't as nutritious, most of it winds up being aqua regia. You can carry a jug of it and a stack of bandages.

 

How did we get off-topic? I am not taking the blame this time

I think the topic skew is my fault . In my defense, the original topic seemed to have run its course.

I can see what you mean about traders' buy offerings. I like the rotating buy/sell options better than MC villagers completely static ones that lock themselves to avoid exploits until the entire villager's trades are locked. I'm sure there's a happy medium someplace.

[Maelstrom]

23 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

I think it's the Commodities trader

Correct