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Suggestions for making mining more interesting


Teufelaffe

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Currently mining is pretty monotonous because aside from gravity, mining on any given planet or moon is the same as mining on any other planet or moon.  Mining should have some variation, and danger.  Here are some ideas I had that would make mining more interesting and risky.


• Vast underground caverns with nodes in them somewhere, but also deposits of a worthless mineral that interferes with scanner results.  Players would have to either find the valuable deposits visually, or find and destroy the deposits that are interfering with the scanners.

 

• Large deposits of an indestructible material that players will have to find their way around (or through, depending on the shape) in order to get to valuable nodes.

 

• Volatile gas pockets that do not show on the scanner, but do show on the directional detector.  Mining/digging into these pockets carries the potential for triggering an explosion that can kill the player or destroy nearby valuable minerals.  Give players a bit of time after digging into a pocket before it explodes to allow time to escape or seal it off (which would prevent explosion).  Like the indestructible deposits, players would have to find a way around the the gas pocket to get to the valuable node(s).

 

• Geothermal vents that interfere with the directional detector.  Finding and releasing some of the pressure from these vents can be hazardous, but will reduce or eliminate the detector interference.

 

 

Different planets/moons would be more likely to have some of these than others, giving some much needed variety and a feeling that mining on planet/moon A is actually different than mining on planet/moon B.

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I will say that some of these suggestions are actually really creative and interesting! I think they could absolutely be implemented in the long-term to add some spice to the game. But long-term is the operative phrase here. Adding any of these in right now when mining is essentially the only PvE experience (other than, you know, gravity) will most likely just make people hate it even more.

 

However, I think moving forward it would be cool to see new planets that incorporate some hazards like these to add some extra challenge. Of course, hazards of any kind should also yield more significant rewards, such as rarer ores in larger quantities, valuable artifacts, you know, cool stuff like that. As ever, one of the key aspects to engaging players is balancing risk and reward. If you were to simply add these challenges to the experience without adjusting the rewards, most people will loathe them, myself included.

 

Also, as an addendum, let's agree to never add anything to the game that interferes with the scanner too much. Most of your ideas are pretty cool, but the idea of worthless ore giving false readings to throw people off seems like a nightmare of tedium to me.

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17 minutes ago, Zamiel7 said:

false readings to throw people off seems like a nightmare of tedium to me.

We already get false reading from nodes that are fully mined out...so NQ already implemented that 'feature'.

 

The problem with mining isn't that it's boring - it is sure - but it's that you have to do SO DAMN MUCH of it.

 

Having to jump though additional hoops while mining would not make me suddenly feel 'engaged'.

 

Mining improvements should involve around adding rewards and complexity. For example even stuff like mining in Warframe was 'better':

You know - how you had to get the bar in just the right spot to get extra loot....

 

What does DU have? Wait till sphere big. Click. Wait till sphere big. Click. *die inside a little* Wait till sphere big. Click.

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To increase interest, this should not mean to complicate the process several times, since this is a tedious and not interesting process, if you add dangers to it, then the percentage of players will leave the project altogether, since this game is not about digging but about space

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1 hour ago, Mordgier said:

We already get false reading from nodes that are fully mined out...so NQ already implemented that 'feature'.

That's true. Mercifully, this has only happened to me on a few occasions, so I count myself as lucky.

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Honestly the mining itself is fine and makes sense. The problem lies in how long it takes combined with how MUCH you need to get anything done and compounded by lack of any varity. Its Basicly "find ore, click ore, hold until done repeat ad infinitum". Theres no suprise finds to excite you ime a vien of coal among the iron or some gold mixed in with silver. No gems, no variation in the purity ect.

 

How to change this in a productive way that doesnt break the system i am unsure, But there needs to be at least some varity in it.

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3 hours ago, Anopheles said:

The only moments of mining excitement come from:

 

Surface nodes

Mega nodes

Two different nodes close to each other and

Finding big holes to explore.

 

Exploring holes and tunnel systems are exciting the first couple of times, but since there is nothing in them it will quickly wind off.

The rest quickly becomes a routine chore instead, and after a while finding a new mega node is pretty much the only thing that is remotely exciting. And extracting the ore from a mega node is boring (pun intended) as hell.

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