The various Resources are one of the Game Mechanics in Frostpunk.
Types of resources
- Coal
- Wood
- Steel
- Steam Cores
- Raw Food
- Food Rations
- Prosthetics
- Bodies
- Structural Profiles (Scenario: The Last Autumn)
- Steam Exchangers (Scenario: The Last Autumn)
- Steel Composites (Scenario: The Last Autumn)
Sources
Coal, Wood, Steel, and in The Refugees, Steam Cores, can be gathered from piles on the ground at the start of the game. These piles can be harvested directly by assigning people to them, but building a Gathering Post nearby is more efficient and keeps people warmer, however if you want to harvest a pile quickly, you can do both. These piles are gone for good once empty, however the Coal Thumper can be used to create an infinite supply of coal piles.
Once these piles are gone, you will need to research and build buildings to harvest further resources. The frozen trees around you city can be harvested for Wood using a Sawmill, but once all the trees around it are gone, it will have to be moved. Additionally, coal deposits can be mined for coal with a Coal Mine, iron deposits can be mined for steel with a Steelworks, and the cracks in the wall can be mined for Wood using a Wall Drill.
Numbers and Math
The following data is calculated based on the values we see in game.
Difficulty Multipliers
The amount of resources you gain is affected by the Economy difficulty slider, as shown below.
| Easy | Medium | Hard | Extreme | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multiplier | 115% | 100% | 85% | 75% |
There are exceptions:
Steam Saw Mill produces at 108% on Easy.
Hunter's Hanger produces at 80% on Extreme. Hothouses, Industrial Hothouses, Coal Thumpers and Steam Coal Thumpers work at 117.5%, 100%, ~87%, 80%.
Gathering Steam cores and the Advanced Wall Drill are not effected by difficulty.
Resource Rates by Source
Numbers are resources per person per standard workday, excluding any increases from tech, efficiency increases, or Extended Shift (Law). These also reflect the Medium setting.
| Coal | Wood | Steel | Raw Food | Steam Cores | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coal Pile | 12.00 | ||||
| Wood Crates | 4.00 | ||||
| Steel Wreckage | 2.67 | ||||
| Destroyed Steam Core Transport | 0.17 | ||||
| Gathering Post* | 24.00 | 7.00 | 5.00 | 0.20 | |
| Coal Thumper** | 18.66 | ||||
| Steam Coal Thumper** | 22.40 | ||||
| Sawmill | 8.00 | ||||
| Steam Sawmill | 12.00 | ||||
| Steelworks | 4.00 | ||||
| Steam Steelworks | 7.00 | ||||
| Advanced Steelworks | 13.00 | ||||
| Coal Mine | 24.00 | ||||
| Steam Coal Mine | 60.00 | ||||
| Advanced Coal Mine | 90.00 | ||||
| Wall Drill | 16.00 | ||||
| Steam Wall Drill | 20.00 | ||||
| Advanced Wall Drill | 24.00 | ||||
| Charcoal Kiln*** | 42.00 | -14.00 | |||
| Hunters' Hut | 1.00 | ||||
| Hunters' Hangar | 2.00 | ||||
| Hothouse | 3.00 | ||||
| Industrial Hothouse | 6.00 | ||||
| On The Edge | |||||
| Army Warehouse | 4.00 | 0.1 | |||
| The Last Autumn | |||||
| Coal Pile | 8.00 | ||||
| Wood Pile | 2.67 | ||||
| Steel Pile | 1.00 | ||||
| Steam Cores | 0.17 | ||||
| Gathering Post | 14.00 | 6.00 | 3.00 | 0.20 | |
| Charcoal Kiln*** | 42.00 | -14.00 | |||
| Basic Docks**** | 15 | 8 | 4.50 | ||
| Upgraded Docks**** | 21 | 14 | 6.00 | ||
| Advanced Docks**** | 24 | 17.25 | 7.50 | ||
| Reloading Station | 22.00 | 14.00 | 5.00 | ||
| Steam Reloading Station | 32.00 | 22.00 | 8.00 | ||
| Advanced Reloading Station | 40.00 | 28.00 | 12.00 | ||
| Fishing Harbour | 4.50 | ||||
| Advanced Fishing Harbour | 8.00 | ||||
* Gathering Posts roughly double the gathering rate compared to piles. There are a few details however:
- No matter the amount of piles, the total amount of resources gathered/hour will be the same. (The more piles there are the better, as the post will last longer)
- The amount gathered PER resource can vary. Each person will only gather 1 resource. In a standard workday, they will gather 24 Coal or 7 Wood or 5 Steel or .2 Steam Cores.
** Assumes coal is being gathered by a gathering post, and includes the workers in the gathering post in the calculation (i.e. this rate will always be lower than a gathering post gathering an open coal pile).
*** Charcoal Kilns will always consume the same amount of Wood per hour, but efficiency increases will improve the amount of coal they produce. Working more hours will consume more Wood.
**** Assumes the piles are being gathered by a reloading stations, and includes the workers in the reloading stations in the calculation