Limestone very rare - need help

[MikefromJake]

I´m desperately searching (mining) for limestone in order to make mortar.
Got an upgraded mine (with pulley) that produces at alomst a 100% dirt which i then shift with a colander.
Got plenty of Zombie bones but only 4 limestones so far.

Is there any file that sets the probabilities of the mining results?
I remember watching a video of cromulent archer where he describes the probabilities of what results you get from mining and Z-bones where the most rare thing to get.

Is foraging related to mining so that you get better results with a higher foraging skill?
I´m using Hydrocraft, btw.

[Hatesu]

Mining is mostly a waste of time. It's hard to get the ores you want because of the large number of ores available. I have a 5x8 storage shed with crates stacked to the ceiling on two sides of the shed and still couldn't get the proper ores. Unfortunately mining seems to be the only way to get limestone. With Iron and Steel though you are much better off raiding houses and recycling stuff. You can also check trailers upper cabinets as a fair amount of concrete powder seems to spawn in them. It's really the only place I've seen concrete for some reason. You could also try the quarry. You may have better luck getting stone out of there but I haven't tried myself. What little limestone I needed I got from mining so far.

[MikefromJake]

Just had another look at http://undeniable.info/ to check on the recipe for the waterpump - looks like i missed the 1st recipe using 2 buckets with concrete

Thanks for the hint with the concrete!
The good thing is: now i can construct the well.
The bad thing: i wasted limestone that i´ll need later on for crafting leather (goal: blacksmith apron, fire protection for using the smelter).

I remember that i once edited a file to get more limestone but i can´t remember which one and where i found it.

[Hatesu]

I don't know much about it but you could probably alter drop rates for limestone in one of the mod files. Mining is a pain either way. I'm still trying to upgrade my junkyard to level 3 so I can get rid of all the large trash boxes I accumulated

The blacksmith apron is a real pain but once you have it the firesuit is pretty easy.

There are quite a few material bottlenecks in Hydrocraft. You need like 80 steel ingots for some of the machines but need another 80 for the two machines required to build that. It helps a bit to know what to look for as well. Do yourself a favor and save any calculators you happen to find. I broke them down for exp and later realised I needed like four of them. I ended up having to hit schools in neighboring towns to find them.

[MikefromJake]

Originally posted by Hatesu:

The blacksmith apron is a real pain but once you have it the firesuit is pretty easy.

There are quite a few material bottlenecks in Hydrocraft. You need like 80 steel ingots for some of the machines but need another 80 for the two machines required to build that. It helps a bit to know what to look for as well. Do yourself a favor and save any calculators you happen to find. I broke them down for exp and later realised I needed like four of them. I ended up having to hit schools in neighboring towns to find them.

Experienced those bottlenecks, too, in my last game which is now lost due to a broken harddrive.
In this game i already had a water pump and wanted to go on building a solar power plant.
Did a lot of foraging and mining to get bees (for wax) and limestone but the results were frustrating.
That´s why i started to edit a gamefile in order to increase the chances of finding limestone and bees.
Unfortunately i can´t remember nor find that file now :(