Please do not simplify/remove the Iron-Steel progression – Keep the complexity!
I am writing this because I truly love this game. To me, Captain of Industry is one of the most beautiful and rewarding games of the last decade. As a fan of your work, I specifically support you as an independent Indie Studio because you have had the courage to build a deep, complex, and uncompromising industrial simulation.I am very concerned about plans to "streamline" or simplify the early game by merging Iron and Steel.The distinct progression from Iron to Steel—with its different smelting processes, logistical challenges, and the sense of achievement when finally reaching the "Steel Age"—is a core pillar of the game’s identity.Please don't sacrifice this depth for the sake of lower bounce rates. Many of us love CoI exactly because it doesn't hold our hands and because it treats us like engineers. For a dedicated community, the "grit" and the complex industrial logic are not bugs to be fixed, but the soul of the game.Keep the early game challenging. We love your work specifically because you are an Indie Studio that dares to be different!
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07 May
VincasHighlighted comment
And yet move to steel production is so relatively early and mandatory. Iron is very irrelevant so fast in the scheme of things. No other material is abandoned so early and got no real uses. Recipes and production means evolve, but concrete block remains concrete block, same with diesel, copper, construction parts.
I would much rather get crude means to produce steel from day 1, than needing irrelevant iron for ship repairs when I am no longer making it for anything else. -
07 May
Josua G. T.And yet, I have a use for iron later on. Mechanic Parts I need up to the end of the game, which is ... iron. Why delete all those assets? You cannot produce steel, when you did not master iron production first.
Or do we skip already to electronics only? And leave the whole tec-tree behind? Yes, it would be more streamlined. But I am not searching for ohne more stremlined asset in the world. This is, why i like to spend money for it.
At least: I like the scavenging irontrash as well. This makes the game more atmospherical. I worte a storyline (for myself) already, why and where these people are there on those islands. -
08 May
VincasFrom my limited 600h time, I gather only logically viable use for iron once you making steel is CP1, but recipe needs more wood and concrete.
The way iron ore and scrap is processed, you get 1:1 iron and 2:1 steel.
Mechanical parts always better with steel when unlocked assembler 3, even when making half of the steel instead of iron from same input. Iron is worse and needs more volume moved.
CP1 would need move volume of all 3 components, but can make sense because of the 1:1 production from scrap. I just don't bother managing another niche product later on.
We start the game with a full ship that only needs some repairs to work again. If this would be some stranded shipwreck scenario game - sure lets start with iron and even stone tooling. But it is not that scenario game here.
If devs make more uses for the iron in the game later on, that make sense over steel, definitely keep it around, I like complexity. But as it is today, I sign up to leave it behind before the game starts. -
08 May
FevixYou can make all mechanical parts with Steel, and you get 2 mech parts per steel vs 0.8 mech part per iron, a more than 2x improvement.
In my save, after transitioning to steel mechanical parts, my Iron usage dropped to nothing. 100% of my iron ore and iron scrap is being converted into steel, with Iron only being kept available for when my ship needs repairs. Which, now that I've explored the whole map, is never. I could completely dismantle my Iron production and I wouldn't be hindered in the slightest. -
09 May
JosuaTruly, I only have 532.7 hours invested (actually)... not as much as you, but I bought all DLCs because this game is a masterpiece.
Back to logic: Currently, players can't use basic crop rotation because it's 'too advanced', yet you want them to manage oxygen converters and water-cooling for Steel on day one? As someone with a background in pedagogy and game design, I see you ripping the rungs off a perfect didactic ladder.
Removing Iron and the sorting requirements (Mixed Cargo) isn't 'streamlining': It’s turning a vibrant industrial forest into a grey, easy-to-maintain parking lot.
By the way: I’m on the side of the masterpiece, even if the master dismantles it. Adorno suggested that a work possesses its own autonomy. A master is only a master as long as he pays homage to his masterpiece. Once a masterpiece has emerged from a master, it is a god unto itself. Don't sacrifice the 'grit' and the soul of your creation for code maintainability.
Keep the evolution real ♥ -
27 May
JayceI'm inclinded to agree. I like that there's evolution in the tech, and if anything I think I would prefer expanded use cases for Iron in the early game and even beyond. (I think currently it's only conistently required for retaining walls?) For example: perhaps we could have tier 1 iron/wooden bridges earlier on, with a reduced speed and/or load capcacity, compared to later tier 2 steel and concrete bridges? Just a thought from the top of my head.