Have you read, understood, and followed all of the rules listed in large text at the top of the suggestions forum?(Yes/No): YES So, in light of the recent discussions regarding encumbrance and how that could advance a more fully realized world, I thought it might be worth discussing how progression of lumber making might work within that context. I considered adding this in the log chopping thread, but I think that is more concerned about how lumber works in the early game, and the notion of getting lumber before saws. I guess what I'm wondering is, if people are wiling to trade lumber convenience, for a an actual tech tree in wood processing? Right now you get a copper saw, it's kind of the same result progression-wise as a blue steel saw. They both make lumber just as fast. The blue has more durability, but even a copper saw lasts a long time. Hand Saw Tiers & Lumber I think much of this has to do with the use of the grid to get lumber. It's instant. If lumber creation were moved to block-breaking instead of the grid, it could be gradated over the tech tree. This could be done by requiring a cut log (as opposed to natural logs, which trees are composed of, and which it is my understanding are a different block from cut logs) to be placed horizontally. Then the player used a saw on it in a block-breaking fashion. So here a copper saw can be made to take longer. By having some fair amount of time difference between logs, the game could incentivize higher tier metal saws somewhat. But, can it be made that higher tier metals yield more lumber per log? It would be an even more significant incentive if copper saw yielded, say, 2 lumber per log, bronze 4, iron 6, steel+ 8. The time difference is more logical though. If variable yield on block breaking is not possible, perhaps higher tier tools will break multiple logs at once, like felling a tree, but governed by tier. So copper breaks just one, bronze 2 logs, iron 3, etc. But the logs have to all be touching in a line, end to end. Sawmills Then, there is the notion of a sawmill. Maybe it's not necessary, if we have tiered lumber yield from handsaws. But, if TFC is ever to have power and mechanisms and that fun stuff in the game, I think it'll need to have things like Sawmills. Either "knock and drop" style if looking to stay 14th century, or circular if willing to stretch things a bit (or both, with circular going faster?) One benefit of a sawmill could be in quantity. They could be the top of current tfc 1 production - meaning they convert 1 log to 8 lumber, while handsaws maybe max out at 4 or 6. Or they could be above and beyond current production levels, producing more than 8 lumber from one log - presumably varying by tier of blade. Perhaps sawmill blades start at steel though, and move up. No low-tech mill blades. The other benefit could be time. It could be done the easy hopper way - the player tosses logs into the mill (or hopper above the mill), which automatically cuts them over time, outputs them into a chest. And bonus if a minecart can be made to dump the logs directly into the hopper. Or a bit more fidelity to rl could re required, with the player lining them up in log-fashion in front of a blade, and having the saw blade move to cut them. If logs are extra-heavy, it could be made to incentivize sawing of the logs on site, rather than transporting them back home. Though that may be a bit hard to balance with tiered progression. In the current game, if a plank block weighs 1 stone, then the log would have to weigh 3 stone to make it at all advantageous to saw on site. If 4 plank blocks per log can be gotten via sawmill, logs would have to weigh even more to incentivize sawing on site. The early game use of logs would have to be kept in mind of course. If logs weighed 3 stone each, that would be 48 stone per stack. 4 stacks would leave 64 stone for other items. But really a starting player should be able to get by with 1 stack of logs anyway. There's also the possibility of an unintended effect of stone and bricks becoming easier to get than plank blocks, which may not be desirable. Plank blocks are used a ton in many buildings, so I'm sure many people wouldn't love this. But, I think it plays into the notion of a better realized world, so I thought it was worth discussing.