Note: This isn't so much an "I really really want this" idea, just a random thought I had that I think could be cool. Plus it fits in with the "get chunks of stuff until your tools are good enough to mine full blocks" theme that's present in the early game.

The basic idea for this is twofold:

1. Purely for flavor, all ores (including those that give items instead of the block itself) when mined would also now drop 0-2 rocks, since you're breaking away a bit of stone to get at the ore inside.

2. The main idea, instead of just mining up the whole ore block for the ores that need to be smelted, if you're using a pick at the required tier or lower, you'll get 3-5 ore chunks. If you're using a pick one tier up, you'll have, say, a 50/50 chance of getting the chunks or a piece of raw ore. And using 2 tiers higher and above just gets you the raw ore immediately.

Then, allow the bloomery to accept either 8 ore chunks or 1 piece of raw ore in order to smelt up a bloom. Other than just, in my opinion, adding a nice layer of immersion to mining and smelting, this also smooths out the transition from "no iron" to "2x iron", since your first few iron will average out to a 1:1 ratio, then once you make an iron pick you're at about 3:2, and then you get to flat-out ore doubling once you get diamond.

To clarify, raw ore would be a new item (purely for flavor), you don't ever get the actual full ore block anymore unless you're using silktouch.

I set up something pretty much exactly like that in a pack once. I used the ore chunks from Ex Nihilo and as you increased your tool tech, you got more ore chunks. Then you had to melt down the ore chunks, etc. It's a progression that I really like.

This groups well with #79 because it deals with the same code.

This feature:

• requires tintable, possibly layered art
• is generated from a new entry in the ore compat json
• is generated from explicit json file, like the slag
• has new dropt rules that scale ore drops with tool tech
• is allowed in the rock bags
• can be thrown

Compat:

• has TiCon melting recipe compat