Hey I’m having some issues using the constructed charcoal kiln (the one using 40 rocks).
I recently built one near my shelter hoping to make some charcoal but can’t figure out how to use it.
When I examine the kiln it tells me I should fill it with wood or bones before using it but I can’t figure out how. Since I can’t walk over it (like for example a fireplace) I can’t drop stuff in it. I tried throwing wood at it but it just bounces off and activating the wood on the kiln doesn’t seem to work either. I’m obviously missing something here but since I’m pretty new to the game I can’t quite figure out what. Does anybody here know how to put stuff into the kiln to make charcoal?
All search results I could find on this forum were talking about a metal kiln wich is apparently an item and not a construction.
Use directional multidrop. D then a direction, instead of d.
You can drop in a direction (default ‘D’) or use the advanced inventory menu under (default ‘/’).
I am also having issues with this kiln. I put wood in and light it and then say yes to the prompt to fire the kiln. It says 350 mins left ect. but then nothing happens, fire goes out and left with empty kiln? No charcoal in sight.
Please don’t tell me you ACTUALLY set the kiln on fire… You just have to fill it and then (e)xamine it to start the process (and ofc a tool that allows to make fire should be usable/nearby/in your inventory)
Haha, it looked like it needed a hand to get started!
Handy tip… If you light it THEN activate it, end result is a nice toasty fire but no charcoal 
Lesson learnt 
I did that. Loaded the kiln, applied my lighter at it, examined it and saw the option to ‘fire the kiln’, grabbed a fire extinguisher. Works fine now though!
[quote=“micko, post:6, topic:9604”]Haha, it looked like it needed a hand to get started!
Handy tip… If you light it THEN activate it, end result is a nice toasty fire but no charcoal
Lesson learnt :)[/quote]
Yeah, I did that once, too. Exactly once - never did it again! Heh.
Is there any real benefit to using the constructed Kiln?
The portable one provides 15 charcoal per two-by-four used.
And the constructed one only gives 2 charcoal.
Have I done something wrong or is this the general output this thing provides.
Huge batch sizes.
It is way less fuel efficient, but the fuel is very cheap - just chop a tree into logs and stuff it in and you’ll get tons of charcoal, I think hundreds per batch.
Hmmmm…
so its the lazy man’s auto kiln then?
I’ll stick with my porta kilns. My batch of seven are churning out plenty of charcoal and I’ve got plenty of lumber in reserve for construction.
[quote=“Sundaysmile, post:9, topic:9604”]Is there any real benefit to using the constructed Kiln?
The portable one provides 15 charcoal per two-by-four used.
And the constructed one only gives 2 charcoal.
Have I done something wrong or is this the general output this thing provides.[/quote]
Going off memory, here, but a 2x4 is volume 6. If it provides 15 charcoal, then that’s 2.5 per volume.
The constructed kiln holds up to 500 volume and, when full, gives (IIRC) 238 charcoal, or just about 2 per volume. For the convenience of easier construction and WAY bigger batch sizes, that seems pretty nice.
More importantly, for a while, there were problems with the little item one ever finishing* if you dropped it and changed z-levels… I assume that’s all fixed now? Haven’t bothered with it in a LONG time…
*It did provide light, though, so it was a SUPER cheap way to get an extra-heavy atomic nightlight!
[quote=“deoxy, post:12, topic:9604”][quote=“Sundaysmile, post:9, topic:9604”]Is there any real benefit to using the constructed Kiln?
The portable one provides 15 charcoal per two-by-four used.
And the constructed one only gives 2 charcoal.
Have I done something wrong or is this the general output this thing provides.[/quote]
Going off memory, here, but a 2x4 is volume 6. If it provides 15 charcoal, then that’s 2.5 per volume.
The constructed kiln holds up to 500 volume and, when full, gives (IIRC) 238 charcoal, or just about 2 per volume. For the convenience of easier construction and WAY bigger batch sizes, that seems pretty nice.
More importantly, for a while, there were problems with the little item one ever finishing* if you dropped it and changed z-levels… I assume that’s all fixed now? Haven’t bothered with it in a LONG time…
*It did provide light, though, so it was a SUPER cheap way to get an extra-heavy atomic nightlight![/quote]
Yeah I just noticed during one of my kiln fires that the requirement was 3 Two-by-Fours per operation and not one.
I’m not sure about the whole Z-levels thing though, though if that’s the case then underground food storage would still be one of the better options for storage. (if it’s still not fixed)
I tend to fill my kilns every morning and every night. So when I wake up I have fresh charcoal and while I go about my business crafting etc, I have them working through the day too. With the output I get, I don’t even need to fill my kilns every morning and Night. I end up with surplus charcoal anyhow.
[quote=“Sundaysmile, post:13, topic:9604”][quote=“deoxy, post:12, topic:9604”][quote=“Sundaysmile, post:9, topic:9604”]Is there any real benefit to using the constructed Kiln?
The portable one provides 15 charcoal per two-by-four used.
And the constructed one only gives 2 charcoal.[/quote]
Going off memory, here, but a 2x4 is volume 6. If it provides 15 charcoal, then that’s 2.5 per volume.
The constructed kiln holds up to 500 volume and, when full, gives (IIRC) 238 charcoal, or just about 2 per volume. For the convenience of easier construction and WAY bigger batch sizes, that seems pretty nice.
More importantly, for a while, there were problems with the little item one ever finishing* if you dropped it and changed z-levels… I assume that’s all fixed now? Haven’t bothered with it in a LONG time…
*It did provide light, though, so it was a SUPER cheap way to get an extra-heavy atomic nightlight![/quote]
Yeah I just noticed during one of my kiln fires that the requirement was 3 Two-by-Fours per operation and not one.
I’m not sure about the whole Z-levels thing though, though if that’s the case then underground food storage would still be one of the better options for storage. (if it’s still not fixed)
I tend to fill my kilns every morning and every night. So when I wake up I have fresh charcoal and while I go about my business crafting etc, I have them working through the day too. With the output I get, I don’t even need to fill my kilns every morning and Night. I end up with surplus charcoal anyhow.[/quote]
I did the math wrong in my head, and I remembered a bit wrong (it’s 160, not 238), but if it’s 3 for 15 in the little, that’s a bit better, but not incredibly.
Depends on your construction skill. It uses construction because that’s the closest related skill and because charcoal making isn’t a simple task.
The formula is: volume of charcoal = volume of input * (10% + construction * 2%)
Charcoal has 2 charges per unit of volume.
So, if my math is right, a fully loaded kiln should produce 100 + (20 * construction) units of charcoal.
Back when, in 0.C, gunpowder was craftable, I used to not even bother getting a portable charchoal kiln, I would build as soon as possible the metal charcoal kiln and start producing tens of hundreds. Now I don’t even have a charcoal kiln. If I see some charcoal, I usually grab it, but after 2 years into the cataclysm I have stocked nearly 60 and used only 10-15, to produce black gunpowder. I would craft a lot more, but saltpeter is found in tiny quantities and is not craftable.
Back in the early ages when gunpowder or blackpowder was needed to feed the military, they’d get saltpetre from urine… They’d employ press gangs of individuals to go door to door and collect it by the bottle and apparently it was big business. These gangs had the authority to pretty much walk into any residence they wanted and collect buckets of the stuff…
Other sources to get it stemmed from caves where bats dwell, Guano mixed with minerals found naturally within the cave itself could be mined or collected, though it was obviously a dangerous process…
Now you could implement this through collecting “Sewage Samples” from sewers and toxic waste dumps and processing it with Lye and Straw to let it stew for 36 hours. Doing so would drastically reduce your health stat unless you had proper Environmental Protection.
And the end result is a few grams of Potassium Nitrate (Saltpetre)
The next big issue would be Sulphur… Since it’s primarily mined from volcanic rock. But we see lava strips already in the game. This could equal a decent Risk-vs-Reward system for those who wish to get their hands dirty and get the stuff. Of course, mining Sulphur is dangerous and you don’t want that crud in your lungs, so again decent Environmental Protection is needed lest you become afflicted with horrible respiratory problems. (Or even death…)
Alternatively you could add Sulphur as a drop from butchering some of the Nether Inhabitants.
Or, more easily, we could just find large quantities of saltpeter and sulfur in gardening supplies, both in houses with cultivated gardens and, more consistently, in gardening shops. And by large quantities I don’t mean a couple of canvas sacks, but entire plastic/metal jerrycans filled to the top. They are commonly used both domestically and industrially, and NO ONE would scavenge a gardening supply store when the shit hits the fan, while it is reasonable to find little food in grocery stores.
Also (sadly), Kevin G repeteadly and clearly said NO on bodily functions
[quote=“Agoelia, post:18, topic:9604”]Or, more easily, we could just find large quantities of saltpeter and sulfur in gardening supplies, both in houses with cultivated gardens and, more consistently, in gardening shops. And by large quantities I don’t mean a couple of canvas sacks, but entire plastic/metal jerrycans filled to the top. They are commonly used both domestically and industrially, and NO ONE would scavenge a gardening supply store when the shit hits the fan, while it is reasonable to find little food in grocery stores.
Also (sadly), Kevin G repeteadly and clearly said NO on bodily functions[/quote]
I never stated that bodily functions would be necessary to implement. You can already get Sewage via the tunnels and toxic waste dumps. That should suffice.
But yeah, you made a great point, Garden Supply stores would and should be an excellent source of materials should you need it.
Industrial Warehouses or even Factories could be the next big Multi-tile building for the future. And may hold a cache of chemicals, construction materials or even vehicle parts depending on what the factory was geared to produce.
Hell… You could put in a Twinkie Factory for one particular person.
No apocalypse is survivable without Twinkies. Also, I just realised (and I am really surprised) that there isn’t a ‘‘twinkie’’ item in the game, nor a joke about the Welcome to Zombieland movie.
Also, yeah. Factories. That’s gonna be something interesting. Lot of chemical hazard, maybe some radioactivity, ONE HELL OF A SCAVENGING OPPORTUNITY, some police robots as guards and maybe some rooms with lots of shocker and technicians zombies. Maybe some unique tools only found there. I am already excited about some gun/ammo production facilities.