Limit Theory will offer mining gameplay, and (presumably) manufacturing gameplay... but how do we get from mined ores to manufactured products? Answer: refining!
This thread is to knock around ideas for how a refining sub-game might be implemented in Limit Theory in a way that's fun for production-oriented gamers and consistent with the rest of the gameplay of Limit Theory.
ORIGIN OF THESE REFINING IDEAS
In 2005 I started working on a design doc for a MMORPG. The key idea motivating this design was to build a game that carefully, and deliberately, provided gameplay content and rewards for what I see as the four most basic playstyles in roughly equal proportion.
One of the areas of play I worked out in that document was refining -- the intermediate step between the mining of ores and the production of objects. And I mention this here/now because it occurs to me that while the Mining Gameplay Ideas Refined thread has gotten a fair amount of interest, we haven't really talked much yet about that refining step to any functional level of detail. Josh has mentioned refining as possible gameplay. And the Procedural Alloys (or Smeltery Simulator 2014) thread by Der_Foe is a step in that direction, as are ThisIsJustMe's slightly more specific suggestions about a refining sub-game and McDuff's Commodity Classes. But I'm thinking maybe there's more we might consider for refining itself.
So what I thought I might do is unleash part of my design doc dealing with refining processes. I have mentioned it before, but now seems like a good time to lay out some of the specifics.
Please note that nothing here is intended to say, "Josh must implement this immediately in Limit Theory exactly as described" -- I'm just throwing out some ideas to see what people think. It's almost certainly going to seem like way too much for some folks (named Gazz ). But my hope is that someone will see in these details the germ of an idea for getting from mining to production in a way that could be a good fit for LT.
Note: some of the stuff in my design doc, in particular the RPG elements, has been removed from what follows. I'm not giving everything away.
I should also note that the game I designed was a bit more hard science than LT. Consequently it references actual, real-world minerals, ores, and elements, as well as real-world physical, chemical, and electromagnetic processes used in refining. But although these were right for the kind of game I designed, they might be too real-world-ish for LT. As always, proposed gameplay features should be a good fit for the invented world regardless of whether they are "realistic" or not. I mention this because my intention in publishing this stuff is not to promote specific real-world processes in LT, but to (I hope!) inspire a more enjoyable way of implementing refining.
OK, enough preamble. To the details of refining!
THE DETAILS OF REFINING
Refining is the general area of gameplay by which mineral ores are reduced to their chemical components for use in manufacturing processes.
Characters can create refining "schemas" (similar to what Josh has called "blueprints") by selecting material alteration processes from a list of applicable processes, and by defining the order in which those processes will be applied to the ore mixture to be refined. Because processes have both primary effects and side effects, and because different ores will react differently to various processes, some combinations of processes will work better than others for a given ore mixture. Figuring out the optimal schema for refining a given ore is thus meant to be an enjoyable mini-game. Once completed, refining schemas can be saved as factional assets which can themselves be sold to other characters or factions.
The initial step of the refining process is the selection of a refining schema for a given ore type input. Characters will then be able to set sliders for the following run-time optimizations:
- yield (amount of minerals produced)
- purity (% impurity of final minerals)
- speed (time required for one processing cycle)
THE TWO MAIN TYPES OF REFINING PROCESS
Ores can be classified into two groups based on the processes needed to refine them: sulfide ores in which the metal has bonded to sulfur, and oxide ores in which the metal has bonded to oxygen.
There are five stages to produce a highly purified metal from an oxide ore:
- Initial separation of oxide ore-bodies
- Breaking apart ores to increase the surface area exposed to subsequent stages (crushing)
- Dissolving the valuable metal content of ores (extractive metallurgy)
- Recovering metals from solution (electrowinning)
- Purifying the metal (electrorefining)
- Initial separation of sulfide ore-bodies
- Breaking apart ores to increase the surface area exposed to subsequent stages (crushing and grinding)
- Separation and flotation of valuable components of ores (concentration)
- Further separation of components through high temperatures (roasting and smelting)
- Dissolving the valuable metal content of ores (extractive metallurgy)
- Recovering metals from solution (electrowinning)
- Purifying the metal (electrorefining)
EXAMPLES OF COPPER REFINING PROCESSES
To get an idea of what I mean by the process specified in a schema, let's consider copper refining. Copper refining provides examples of both types of process, oxide and sulfide, since copper can be found in mine sites in both sulfide and oxide forms.
Extraction Process for Copper from Copper Sulfides
requires sulfur-bound copper: chalcocite (Cu2S), chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) or covellite (CuS)
- mining - extract copper ore
- crushing - reduce ore to pebble size
- grinding - reduce crushed ore to consistency of talcum powder
- concentrating - copper rises in flotation machine as a froth of sulfur-bound copper (with some iron)
- roasting - copper concentrate is heated to drive off sulfur dioxide (note: this step is no longer common as SO2 is toxic to humans)
- smelting - multiple runs through oxygenated furnaces leaves 97-99% pure copper ("blister") plus molten iron oxide and gaseous sulfur dioxide (converted to sulfuric acid for use in electrorefining)
- electrorefining - solid copper in weak sulfuric acid forms copper sulfate, CuSO4, which is transferred from the positive anode to the negative cathode leaving 99.99% pure copper ("cathode copper"), recoverable sulfuric acid (with increasing metallic ion impurities), and "anode sludge" which can contain noble metals. [NOTE: The anode sludges from copper-refining cells currently provide one fourth of U.S. silver production and about one eighth of U.S. gold production.]
requires copper oxide: azurite (2CuCO3・Cu(OH)3), brochantite (CuSO4), chrysocolla (CuSiO3・2H2O) or cuprite (Cu2O)
- mining - extract copper ore
- crushing - reduce ore to pebble size
- spreading - crushed ore is piled onto thick high density polyethylene liner
- leaching, bacterial - copper sulfide ores present in oxidized ore are oxidized by the application of copper-specific oxidizing bacteria
- leaching, sulfuric acid - weak acid solution sprayed on the oxidized copper ore to dissolve the acid-soluble copper in the ore
- extracting, organic solvent - copper-bearing solution ("pregnant liquor") is collected and pumped to an extraction plant where a copper-specific organic solvent extracts the copper from the solution
- stripping - acidic electrolyte strips copper from the organic solvent, which is returned to the extraction stage
- electrowinning - highly purified copper in solution is plated out to cathodes as pure as or purer than smelted and electrorefined copper
Copper refining, as refining goes, is relatively simple. Some materials need a bit more effort to condense them into pure forms, though.
As an example of a more complex ore refining process, consider the process used to obtain highly purified beryllium from bertrandite ore:
Extraction Process for Beryllium from Bertrandite
requires bertrandite: Be4Si2O7(OH)2
- mining - bertrandite ore obtained from open-pit mine
- milling - ore is wet milled to increase surface area
- leaching, sulfuric acid - silicate is removed from ore, leaving oxidized and hydrated beryllium
- extracting, kerosene-phospate - acid leachate mixed with di(2-diethylhexyl) phosphate in kerosene at elevated temperature
- carbonating - slurry is treated with aqueous ammonium carbonate to form an aqueous ammonium beryllium carbonate complex - NH4BeCO3・nH2O
- heating - produces beryllium carbonate as a precipitate - BeCO3 + NH4 + H2O
- heating - continued heating liberates carbon dioxide and beryllium hydroxide - CO2 + Be(OH)2
- filtering - beryllium hydroxide recovered
- Schenzfeier-Pomelee purification process:
- 9a. fluoridation - beryllium hydroxide reacted with ammonium fluoride to form ammonium fluoroberyllate - (NH4)2BeF4
9b. heating - ammonia cooked off, leaving amorphous beryllium fluoride - BeF2 + NH4
9c. reducing, magnesium - reduced by magnesium metal at 900 - 1,300 EC to yield beryllium metal and a beryllium fluoride-magnesium fluoride slag
9d. leaching, water - slag is removed by leaching with water, leaving 97% pure beryllium metal
- 9a. fluoridation - beryllium hydroxide reacted with ammonium fluoride to form ammonium fluoroberyllate - (NH4)2BeF4
- electrorefining - solid beryllium is electrolyzed to produce a higher purity material
CONCLUSION
So the idea here is that characters would have a good-sized list of physical, chemical, and electromagnetic processes to choose from. They'd either mine or purchase a large amount of ore, then run experiments on small samples of the ore to figure out a refining schema for that ore that seems to offer good efficiency for either yield, purity, or refining speed. Experienced refiners would have an excellent selection of high-efficiency schemas to start with, which they could tailor to new ore types when encountered.
Once an input ore is selected and a schema has been assigned, the refining character would determine whether to optimize that run for yield, purity, or speed. Then they'd hit the "GO!" button to start that process refining whatever quantity of the selected ore is available as an input, and transferring the intermediate and final outputs as appropriate. (An obvious simplification here is to assume that intermediary materials like water and sulfuric acid are infinitely available and ignore reusing them.)
The final desired output from the refining process could then be sold, transported to a warehouse for future use, or moved directly to a factory where the manufacturing sub-game would begin. I'll let someone else have a go at that.
Meanwhile, comments about the notions suggested here are welcome. Again, though, please bear in mind that I am not suggesting that Josh should adopt the ideas above as-is -- all this stuff is just meant to encourage discussion about how refining might be implemented in Limit Theory in a fun way.