Should pottery be dried before it can be fired?

[LadyWYT]

Realistically, it should, since this is how pottery actually works. If it's not dried first, it will most likely cause problems during the firing. From a gameplay standpoint, it seems a reasonable thing to add, since it leans into realism without being too intrusive. It would also be a decent way to extend the early game just a little bit, rather than have the player jump right into the copper tier on the very first day. However, it probably wouldn't be so restricting that the player ends up having to spend multiple days stuck in the stone age either. On the other hand, that might be more realism than what most players would enjoy.

I'd think maybe a full day at most for the raw pottery to dry thoroughly, with the drying process becoming wet again if the raw pottery is left out in the rain. Attempting to fire the raw pottery before it's dry will likely result in it shattering during the firing process, which results in pottery shards. As to what to do with shards of fired pottery? That I'm not sure. Perhaps they could be recycled into decorative mosaic blocks.

[Straille]

primitive technology on youtube shows that adding ground broken pieces to bricks strengthens them

i would also be down for raw clay items actually dissolving in rain, but maybe that's a bit much 

Edited November 26, 2025 by Straille

[LadyWYT]

50 minutes ago, Straille said:

primitive technology on youtube shows that adding ground broken pieces to bricks strengthens them

That would be a good use for them, for sure.

 

50 minutes ago, Straille said:

i would also be down for raw clay items actually dissolving in rain, but maybe that's a bit much 

I did consider that, but yeah, came to the same general conclusion.  

[Teh Pizza Lady]

Yes and it should require a heat source, ideally a campfire to dry it.

However that might be restrictive to some so letting a campfire speed up the process is fine with me.

Edited November 27, 2025 by Teh Pizza Lady
forgot a thought

[Vexxvididu]

1 hour ago, Teh Pizza Lady said:

Yes and it should require a heat source, ideally a campfire to dry it.

I'm pretty sure that real clay will usually dry over the course of a day or so just sitting in a box.  Maybe a heat source will speed this up though.

I have mixed feelings on the idea, since this IS realistic, but would be a bit painful for trying to get those first few things like a cocking pot and a few bowls early game.

[LadyWYT]

1 hour ago, Teh Pizza Lady said:

Yes and it should require a heat source, ideally a campfire to dry it.

The main issue I see to using a campfire for faster drying, is that it logically dries out one side faster than the other, unless you're rotating the pottery items periodically. The pottery I've made IRL didn't have anything fancy to dry it; it just sat there for a couple of days before getting fired. 

 

21 minutes ago, Vexxvididu said:

I have mixed feelings on the idea, since this IS realistic, but would be a bit painful for trying to get those first few things like a cocking pot and a few bowls early game.

Possibly, but I think at most it slows down the process by about a day. While the pottery is drying, the player could be working on charcoal(which will fire the pottery faster), scouting for more resources, building a makeshift base, hunting for food, etc. It becomes more of an issue later in the game, potentially, when one needs to fire a lot of pottery at once. However, pottery is also a task well-suited for periods of down time(like night, temporal storms, winter, etc), so the player can easily plan ahead and make pottery well in advance, then throw it all in a beehive kiln for a proper firing.

[MKMoose]

One question that immediately comes to my mind is whether it's possible to fire wet pottery, and if so then what happens if you do (I know you addressed it, but it might have a big impact on the new or forgetful player). Dry and wet pottery would inevitably end up very similar in appearance, so they might be easy to confuse, which could be annoying for different reasons regardless of whether wet pottery can be fired. Ideally, they would have to be clearly described in the tooltip, in block info and in the handbook all at once. It's also important to make sure that it's explained sufficiently well that drying is 4x slower in containers, assuming we intend to include this part of the mechanic.

I'd also somewhat agree with the counterpoint that it could delay early-game advancement quite a bit, which might be especially undesirable considering that pottery is the first significant progression milestone in the game and as of now it's entirely plausible even for a beginner to start small-scale firing on day 1 if they find clay nearby. It could also drive a new player to obsessively check on the drying process and to get discouraged when they have to wait so long only to have to wait again for firing. It may also be annoying to have to wait more than twice as long as now if the player needs an item quickly, say, a tool mold that they'd just realized they need for progression.

But I think it would be quite fine, ultimately, as long as everything is neatly explained and the drying time is not too long (I think 20-24 hours is fine and doesn't stretch realism too much), since the player tends to have quite a lot to deal with either way, especially at the start of the game. It certainly works in its favor that the process would be realistic and mechanically very simple. It might also make for a subjectively greater payoff once the fired pottery starts coming in.

Edited November 27, 2025 by MKMoose

[Thorfinn]

I'm largely indifferent, so long as it isn't something absurd, like you have to keep a firepit going for a full day or something. That's what, 120 firewood? We already have people complaining about how much work it is to make charcoal.  But air-drying for a day, maybe two, treated like like pelt curing or bowstave drying, sure, whatevs. Not sure it really adds anything, other than make things more difficult for new players.

[Vexxvididu]

7 hours ago, Thorfinn said:

I'm largely indifferent, so long as it isn't something absurd, like you have to keep a firepit going for a full day or something. That's what, 120 firewood? We already have people complaining about how much work it is to make charcoal.  But air-drying for a day, maybe two, treated like like pelt curing or bowstave drying, sure, whatevs. Not sure it really adds anything, other than make things more difficult for new players.

This is kind of how I feel about it.  I kind of like the idea, but am worried adding steps to early game processes might be a bit offputting to brand new players trying to do early game pottery.

[LadyWYT]

9 hours ago, MKMoose said:

One question that immediately comes to my mind is whether it's possible to fire wet pottery, and if so then what happens if you do (I know you addressed it, but it might have a big impact on the new or forgetful player). Dry and wet pottery would inevitably end up very similar in appearance, so they might be easy to confuse, which could be annoying for different reasons regardless of whether wet pottery can be fired. Ideally, they would have to be clearly described in the tooltip, in block info and in the handbook all at once. It's also important to make sure that it's explained sufficiently well that drying is 4x slower in containers, assuming we intend to include this part of the mechanic.

For simplicity's sake, we can assume that containers will affect how fast pottery dries, though that's also fairly realistic as well. If you can't finish the project at that moment IRL, you cover it and lightly spray it with water as needed to keep the clay from drying out.

As for firing wet pottery IRL...that's how things potentially go BOOM in the kiln--that, and air pockets in the clay. From a gameplay standpoint, if wet pottery is fired then it has a chance to break during the firing(the chance correlates to how wet it is) and produce a pile of pottery shards instead of actual useful pottery. In theory, a player could probably stuff their kiln full of slightly moist pottery, fire it, and get most of the pottery as a finished product, but the most ideal route is just...letting the stuff dry thoroughly before firing.

To help players distinguish between wet and dry raw pottery, there could probably be some sort of gradient added similar to the gradient used for cooling metal, in that wet raw pottery will have a much darker shade than dry.

10 hours ago, MKMoose said:

It could also drive a new player to obsessively check on the drying process and to get discouraged when they have to wait so long only to have to wait again for firing. It may also be annoying to have to wait more than twice as long as now if the player needs an item quickly, say, a tool mold that they'd just realized they need for progression.

But I think it would be quite fine, ultimately, as long as everything is neatly explained and the drying time is not too long (I think 20-24 hours is fine and doesn't stretch realism too much), since the player tends to have quite a lot to deal with either way, especially at the start of the game. It certainly works in its favor that the process would be realistic and mechanically very simple. It might also make for a subjectively greater payoff once the fired pottery starts coming in.

Yeah, that concern crossed my mind as well. However, there are still a lot of other things the player can be doing early in the game while waiting for it to fire, and 24 hours maximum for drying time doesn't seem like that big of a delay. The simplicity also makes the mechanic easy to understand and deal with, so it's just a matter of figuring out a little patience and planning ahead, which are crucial skills throughout the game.

 

10 hours ago, Thorfinn said:

We already have people complaining about how much work it is to make charcoal.  But air-drying for a day, maybe two, treated like like pelt curing or bowstave drying, sure, whatevs. Not sure it really adds anything, other than make things more difficult for new players.

2 hours ago, Vexxvididu said:

This is kind of how I feel about it.  I kind of like the idea, but am worried adding steps to early game processes might be a bit offputting to brand new players trying to do early game pottery.

Pretty much. The main benefit I see, aside from "realism"(which isn't always a benefit), is that it just smooths out the early progression loops a little bit more. Regarding new players potentially getting frustrated, I think it depends heavily on the demeanor of the player. Given what happened with the change to fire clay, I'd expect plenty of complaints from veteran players as well. Players that enjoy more realism and don't mind taking their time will probably be fine with it, but players that want to rush through everything/prefer easier routes probably won't enjoy it that much.

[Venusgate]

Instead of a hard lock, i think it should be like a % chance of break on firing that goes down unless you wait; but a pit kiln of four like-items will always yield at least one.

Should also be a setting off by default.

I say this based on flipping between the Art of Growing mod having you dry grass first. Cool once you have a scythe and are used to it. uncool when you are desperate for a torch.

[Loosebearings]

1 hour ago, LadyWYT said:

Pretty much. The main benefit I see, aside from "realism"(which isn't always a benefit), is that it just smooths out the early progression loops a little bit more.

It is a bit jarring how quickly you go from stone to pottery then taking hours to reach copper.

 

1 hour ago, LadyWYT said:

Regarding new players potentially getting frustrated, I think it depends heavily on the demeanor of the player.

If players can't wait for clay to dry this probably isn't the best game for them anyways. I think it's not too big of a hurdle and could help ease new players into the slower gameplay and patience required. Maybe the handbook could even recommend some other activities to do while you wait?

[Tabbot95]

drying and multiple firings would be nice along with ashes and glazes.

[7embre]

I'd say it shouldn't need to dry, as that will simply add a timegate from the gamedesign standpoint. Sure, I know that pottery may crack/explode in a pit kiln in reality if not all of the water vapor is removed from it, but how much of VS's mechanics are tweaked to be a little bit different from reality in order to not only look semi-realistic, but to be fun as well? My thoughts on this are "it shouldn't require drying untill pottery is expanded upon even further, e.g. adding glazing, structures for mass-drying pottery (or less efficient singular block version), maybe a wheel even, as a faster or funnier way to make it". So, for now — it's a "no" from me I guess.

[Venusgate]

Oh, another idea for this I had - basically to prevent locking players from cooked food:

1. Able to whittle wooden bowls without clay or fire.

2. Able to fire a single dried clay cooking pit in a preheated campfire as long as you keep the temp below, say, 400 degrees.

[VaelophisNyx]

I vote no entirely because it's a step too far towards just being a paint-drying simulator. The game already has a lot of time sinks, I don't think this one needs to be that too

[Broccoli Clock]

I do like the idea of needing to dry pottery, although I feel this could have a negative effect on newer players. I think the learning curve compared to "easier and less enjoyable block games" is such that the hunt for clay (we've all seen new players struggle with this) then to fire it (again we've seen people struggle to work this step out) may be a tipping point for some. It's already taken the player a day to find clay, then it's going to take another day to fire it in a kiln, if you add in another day for the pottery to set then I feel you might lose people at that point. 

For experienced players we know the end goal; the justification of the time and effort put in, but new players don't. To extend that time, bearing in mind that 2 or 3 days in game to a new player is a long time due to the slow progress of VS, seems a bit harsh.

That said, I am all for pottery drying. However if you include that, the you really should make peat wet when dug up. That is completely realistic, you need to dry peat. Put a sod of wet peat onto your fire and see how it reacts! At least with peat it's not a gatekeeping process, you can live without peat while it dries, making people wait while pots and storage vessels dry isn't really the same.

 

Edited December 8, 2025 by Broccoli Clock

[Venusgate]

12 hours ago, VaelophisNyx said:

I vote no entirely because it's a step too far towards just being a paint-drying simulator. The game already has a lot of time sinks, I don't think this one needs to be that too

I think you're mixing up "waiting simulator" with "time management simulator."

Though it's true this would reduce the *pathways* of efficient progress, for the benefit of more immersion.

[Vexxvididu]

14 hours ago, VaelophisNyx said:

I vote no entirely because it's a step too far towards just being a paint-drying simulator. The game already has a lot of time sinks, I don't think this one needs to be that too

I kind of agree.  This game already has A LOT of stuff that requires waiting X hours or days for stuff to complete.  Making leather takes days.  Making steel takes +6 days.  Firing Clay already takes hours, etc.  There are already so many mechanics of this nature it's a bit silly sometimes.

The idea itself is fundamentally good, except it's yet another thing to wait for in a game that already has a lot of such things and it would delay early game stuff in particular.