viability of no-stone start

[NameLips]

I got a great looking start -- lots of big coal, copper, and iron deposits right next to each other.

But no stone deposits. As far as I can tell looking over my entire starting map, there is not a single stone deposit on it.

There ARE the normal rock outcroppings, so I can probably build my furnaces and refineries.

But it doesn't look like I'll be able to make walls or concrete. Or straight rails. At least, not in any significant quantities.

How viable is this, long-term? Is this start worth pursuing?

[NameLips]

I've done some exploring, and it's not just the start area. I can't explore too far because of biters.
But there seems to be no stone anywhere, on the entire map.

Here's the map exchange string:

>>>AAANAAkAAgADBQYAAAAEAAAAY29hbAMFAwoAAABjb3BwZXItb3Jl
AwQDCQAAAGNydWRlLW9pbAMDAwoAAABlbmVteS1iYXNlAwMDCAAAAGl
yb24tb3JlAwQDBQAAAHN0b25lAwMDcmRtGYCEHgCAhB4AAwBjEe8U<<<

[horrorizer]

got the same problem, viewtopic.php?f=3&t=28384&start=10#p180179
finally found stone deposit like 13 chunks in the north with large alien swarms around.
needed power armor and flame thrower for finally be able to get it

[saturn7]

It's viable, as there are quite a lot of large stones around. In my game, The nearest stone field was right under a biter base with 10 spawners and large worms, which i killed a bit after I got to blue science (using upgraded gun turrets)

However it's annoying, as like you said you can't really build walls/paths. However, for everything else the rocks give you more than enough stone.

[DUMBHA]

I found that raising the frequency for rock on the map creation screen solved my rock spawning problem. you could try that and see if it helps.

[DaveMcW]

>>>AAANAAkAAgADBQYAAAAEAAAAY29hbAMFAwoAAABjb3BwZXItb3Jl
AwQDCQAAAGNydWRlLW9pbAMDAwoAAABlbmVteS1iYXNlAwMDCAAAAGl
yb24tb3JlAwQDBQAAAHN0b25lAwMDcmRtGYCEHgCAhB4AAwBjEe8U<<<

stone.jpg (411.02 KiB) Viewed 3884 times

[BlakeMW]

No stone starts are extremely viable. Just mine the stone rocks (*sigh*, what a great name), there will typically be way more stone rocks than you need for the essentials.

A single stone rock will let you make 5 Stone Furnaces (or Boilers), or 2 Steel/Electric Furnaces. Other than oil refineries and rocket silo that's all you need stone for. Walls, rail and paving are not "need".

Since I don't use walls or paving and only use rail late game for me the presence or absence of stone deposits is a complete non-issue.