Please forgive my double posting, slow mode prevents me from editing.
List with reasons attached, adapted from Twilight’s original list.
Heh big list
- Low melting point metals for Hydrothermal Vents
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- actually possible but doesnt allow anything stronger than gold.
- Forges built around vents and somehow forcing water out to increase temperature
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- Temperature caps out low.
- Scaly foot Gastropoda analog domestication for ‘metallic’ scales
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- Can’t be bred into larger shapes, and leaves you with at best two to three small, low quality pieces of metal you can make.
- Electric Eel domestication as generators
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- Voltage, amps, whatever metric uses for this, all off the measurements are utterly inconsequential when compared to the quantities needed to run an arc forge or welder.
- Bioengineering in general
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- Doesn’t adequately replace many technologies including but not limited to: firearms, steamships, computers, rockets, aircraft, engines, industrial factories, and construction with metal.
- Mechanical Computers/intermediate instruments until metalworking
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- does not allow for any real computing power or economies of scale and doesn’t explain how one would get metal.
- simple compasses /similar generators
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- does not explain how one would acquire metal.
- Current utilization w/ waterwheel to generate electricity
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- same issue as with electric eels
- Chemicals that burn in contact with water, typically isolated in caves
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- most do not burn at sufficient temperature and those that do require metals
- Anything that can burn in water/Greek fire
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- as above
- Thermite, phosphorous, etc
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- as above
- Amphibious people
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- not a true underwater civ
- Amphibious Slaves
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- either its trading with a land civ but not nicely or magically training monkeys to smelt.
- Crustacean society
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- either solves nothing or is amphibious.
- Crustaceans utilizing mostly seamless (only seams adapted to release extra heat/allow limb movement) going by mid ocean ridges to avoid predators and eventually smelting
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- no sufficient temperatures exist to smelt with
- Octopi in shallows to Squid in depths symbiosis, idea specifically also had them on a Europa like planet and thinking about space by firing extremophile microbes through geysers, making rockets via ceramic plating and limpet teeth analogs.
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- old theory contingent on having not only both terrestrial and ice mooner geography but also smelting aluminium ore underwater somehow. not realistic.
- Water wires carry electricity when separated from other water
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- useless.
- Pressure forges force out water
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- requires oxygen, fuel, and ignition from unknown sources. pressure may not be sufficient i dont know for certain.
- Biomaterials: woody something, bones, etc.
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- Useless for going to space, computers, and random chance if a planet has anything even somewhat useful.
- Material unique to a planet
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- explain, also same issues as above.
- Fire breathing Sea dragon with a forge in lungs
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- utter fantasy, no reason one of these would evolve, and having a forge in one’s lungs tends to result in death,
- Amphibious beast of burden Carries sophont a to surface in water filled stomach/pouch
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- possible, but how does one forge from inside a frogs mouth? also societies don’t domesticate massive animals so the creature would have to be unbred, wild, tamed (read: less trained) and societies don’t tend to tame large animals without preexisting wealth,
- Bubble Forge
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- insufficient oxygen, how are bubbles made anyways, what fuel, why would a stone age civ waste time on this?
- Floating surface forges/fire
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- no idea, seems a bit crazy for a stone age civ to figure out and fuel is an issue but never seen anything damming.
- Sulfate dissolving to ‘forge’
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- i dont know this one.
- Fire in water Vapor?
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- impossible
- Black Smokers can and do melt metal and have organisms adapted to them
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- not really, like, lead maybe? dissolved aluminum maybe? nothing useful.
- Thallium Reactors
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- how in hell? also what for? poisoning everyone?
- O2 from swim bladders/lungs
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- fuel where? sufficient oxygen = nope
- Underwater launching rockets
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- made from what metal?
- Alternate Tech Trees
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- unexplained rambling. specify what you want and then we’ll shoot that down.
- Plants/Cellulose can be harder and lighter than steel, can be done irl, problem is isolating pure, mesoscopic cellulose
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- how to isolate cellulose? also doesnt make computers, steam engines, or rockets very well.
- Cold Forging/Shaping
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- shaping what metal? native gold or copper is possible but useless.
- Organism that soaks up water (to allow for space to forge)
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- life isn’t minecraft, when you remove water more rushes in.
- Fluorine vs. Oxygen Burning
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- doesnt work underwater to my knowledge but this is one im least sure of.
- CO2 bubble filter on bubble forge
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- useless.
- Uplifting
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- litterally waiting for divine intervention isnt a viable solution.
- Symbiosis w/ surface species
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- 100% possible but unlikely.
- Cave amphibians/Cave lakes forging
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- Basically amphibians with extra steps/you’d run out of oxygen.
- Forging using Cave air pockets
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- above + how do you forge? telekinisis?
- Stone Age w/ advancement but no tech (ex. Native Americans/Incans, etc.)
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- totally possible but useless you can’t get past society stage.
- Bacteria bonding accidentally to dropped stone tools near vent, same bacteria creates Iron covered tools, similar to Scaly Foot Gastropoda irl
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- super cool idea, wildly unlikely, would make incredibly low quality iron, and wouldnt be scalable.
- land suits
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- production unexplained, economies of scale needed, and land suits would most likely be mechanically impossible without metal.