Fix mining

[hoochy]

It seems currently that if you have a map that has more hills or mountains you are at a massive advantage compared to those that have less. The reason is that you can find valuable resources, for free essentially, in the mountains and hills. This concept of digging away mountains and hills, making tunnels and caves, etc, is fun, do not get me wrong. But there should be a way to get minerals from the ground also.

This isn't a z-level thing, well it kinda is but it is a very cheap z-level thing, it is quite a minor tweak Tyrian could make to the game to make it a lot more enjoyable. Upon map creation each tile on the map is given a resource amount. Much in the same way you can often see "resource veins" in the side of mountains, where there is a decent amount of a resource on the map the ground show some differences. So if there is an abundance of "steel ore" in the ground, it will show you visually. Much like how it would be in real life if you discovered a massive iron ore or bauxite deposit, it often is visually seen from the ground.

To get resources from the ground you would need to build a mining production building. I figure you could have a "fueled" one to start with, later getting to electric, perhaps the "Fueled" one even requires a pawn to be using it like a crafting table. You could also add research, so first generation miners can only "dig so deep", to extract minerals. So instead of there simply being "X steel ore" at location "0,0" on the map there are layers to the amount of resources in a tile, the higher your tech level the better your ability to extract all the ore at a particular location. This also opens up the possibility that there are hidden veins of resources on the map that you will only find out about later once you have that tech.

Another method to get minerals could literally be "mining" a tile, so you send a pawn to a rich deposit that is visible from the ground and tell him to "Mine that" much the same way he mines mountains or hills.

So the stuff that is visually seen on the map, like "oh there is a resource deposit here" could just be the easiest stuff to extract. The harder stuff to extract (which should be more plentiful as it would then scale to the late game requirements of increased resource usage) could either be a lottery, ie you just plant down a building and extract all resources from that area. Or you open up the possibility of a way to mineral search on the map ,perhaps with a new building, much like miners do today. Pawns with high "Mining" skill could perhaps be given the potential to give a bit more info about a tile they are on.

So in conclusion I propose adding "resources" to every tile on the map, that can be accessed by "mining the ground". This adds a a new fun layer to Rimworld that is more realistic, and in turn it makes every map type viable for self sufficient colonies.

1) This mining addition/change would make every map viable, though still vastly different. A new gameplay layer to uncover, resulting in more fun. No more need for hills and mountains on a map to make it playable.
2) All of these things can be tweaked exactly as required for the "Story telling" aspect and for gameplay as it is just numbers, so will not break Tyrian's vision at all. It is simply an inground representation of the "above ground" mining currently in the game, with a bit more fun.
3) It is extremely simple to add this to existing game, I believe it is even possible to mod this in currently with C# hacking. It will not add much, if any overhead to the game, whilst vastly increasing its fun and ability to play any map without relying on "outside" traders to work.

[WolveNZ]

Quarry's would be a good alternative to mines, acting akin to Growing Zones in that you zone an area that gets 'dug' up by the pawns giving both chunks and ores.

Once Dug, something needs to happen to the ground for a tradeoff, preventing building or just crop etc..

[Aarkreinsil]

There have been some good mods with this kind of thing.
You'd get some spots on the map that looked like the steam geysers, and then you could place mines on there.
They'd need lots of power and maintenance work, some even need to be manned constantly, but you'd get a steady supply of metal that way.

I really want to play on an open map again, but with the advent of components, I don't quite see that happening anytime soon. Even buying steel by the thousands is not enough now.

[paShadoWnSmurf1]

I dont quite get why Rimworld doesnt haves the z-levels, even a game with such advanced graphics as a FortressCraft runs them just fine. Extremely sloppily optimized code?

[Plasmatic]

I dont quite get why Rimworld doesnt haves the z-levels, even a game with such advanced graphics as a FortressCraft runs them just fine. Extremely sloppily optimized code?

Advanced Graphics? FortressCraft? Those two things don't belong in the same sentence..

As for not having Z-levels, thats a choice Tynan has made and is sticking to.. If you don't like it, don't play the game.

As for the OP, that is what mods are for.. There are plenty that allow you to setup several quarry type buildings.

[Aarkreinsil]

As for the OP, that is what mods are for.. There are plenty that allow you to setup several quarry type buildings.

If we go by that logic, Tynan might as well stop developing the game and let the rest be done by modders, huh?

It's just that mods, especially mods that are in high demand, can show some things that people are lacking with the vanilla version, or show you ways of implementing them. For example, weaponsmithing and tailoring have been modded in before that was even a thing in vanilla, because people wanted to craft their own items.


This is the suggestions board for a reason, and while it's true that we don't need Z-Levels to "Fix mining", just going around and telling people to mod things in if they don't like vanilla is not really helping anyone.

There really should be an incentive for playing on open, flat maps, and resource extraction spots for mid to late game might be just the thing.

[hoochy]

Well, I am aware that the likelihood of my suggestion being added to the game is somewhere approaching 0%. But I thought it may be good to put it out there to help Tyrian/Rimworld.

I implemented a similar feature in one of my games and it really added depth to it I thought. I think I may mod this feature in just for my own amusement. I played Alpha 13 (base) for 8 hours and while Rimworld has always been a good game since I started playing (alpha 12), for me at least it doesn't compare to how it is with certain mods. It is almost like two completely different games, and if Alpha 12 with mods was out there and called "Blimworld" I wouldn't bother playing Rimworld anymore I do not think. But this is just my opinion and I know everyone has a different one. The base game is just so limited in scope, I've never played a game where the mods themselves blew the actual game content away so easily and made the base game nearly unplayable.

I guess we have to thank the fact it is a unity/c# based game because most of those mods wouldn't exist with a typical native binary game unless the source was released.

[hoochy]

As for the OP, that is what mods are for.. There are plenty that allow you to setup several quarry type buildings.

If we go by that logic, Tynan might as well stop developing the game and let the rest be done by modders, huh?

It's just that mods, especially mods that are in high demand, can show some things that people are lacking with the vanilla version, or show you ways of implementing them. For example, weaponsmithing and tailoring have been modded in before that was even a thing in vanilla, because people wanted to craft their own items.


This is the suggestions board for a reason, and while it's true that we don't need Z-Levels to "Fix mining", just going around and telling people to mod things in if they don't like vanilla is not really helping anyone.

There really should be an incentive for playing on open, flat maps, and resource extraction spots for mid to late game might be just the thing.

I've played the mod with ore extractor, is there a mod with a closer idea of mining as in my post? The ore extractor can be placed anywhere, and you can select the resource you want mined. Every X ticks it gives you X resources. Whilst this makes the game playable on non mountain maps, it is a bit of a cheat too. The idea of certain resources being in certain tiles in a non renewable but potentially large way, and it having to be "found" like treasure, adds enjoyment to the game, and I haven't seen a mod like that. If you know one I would appreciate the link! Thanks.

[erdrik]

All "hills" and "mountains" are basically just impassable minable buildings.
I think an easier implementation is to just add passable minable buildings in open areas to the world gen.
Adding patches of stoney terrain where they would be placed would even be a good balance as that would be a trade off between extra minable ores and farmable land.

[DarknessEyes]

I dont quite get why Rimworld doesnt haves the z-levels, even a game with such advanced graphics as a FortressCraft runs them just fine. Extremely sloppily optimized code?

The game loos good without z levels.
However i agree that we should be able to place some mining tunnels on the ground.
Colonists could enter them, remain "inside" for X time and then leave with some ores/stone.
The ore and stone chances could be based on map settings.

[Mathenaut]

The problem isn't mining, the problem is how the game is balanced in A13.

Because Gold and Components are additional bottlenecks ONTOP of traders being ridiculously rare, one of the simplest and easiest scenarios to play (small map plains) is now near suicidal.

Even with mountains, you're still at the mercy of RNG to give you something to work with.

[erdrik]

... traders being ridiculously rare...

Are talking about space traders?
Because ground based traders are not even remotely rare for me. They are quite frequent.
What is the faction situation for you?

[RedSchuhart]

It seems currently that if you have a map that has more hills or mountains you are at a massive advantage compared to those that have less.

I'll double that, these must be a way to get resources from underground. Either this or flat maps will be tough to play due to limited amount of resources and constant need for components. Though in late game when you have a legendary artist you can buy components easily they still come in very limited amounts and when you dig out every bit of steel you pretty much will get PWND by tribals and bugs suicide-spamming your colony, destroying your turrets and leaving you without components to even maintain your generators.

Though I think Z-levels will make game much, MUCH better. And I still hope Tynan will add them, though it's unlikely. IMHO modern PCs can handle the load of additional 2-5 levels at least.

[Mathenaut]

Are talking about space traders?
Because ground based traders are not even remotely rare for me. They are quite frequent.
What is the faction situation for you?

One tribe, one outlander, two pirates. When ground traders do come, they're pithy little things that don't offer anything useful (a few components maybe) and have no silver to buy much. It is absolutely nothing to offset the resource cache that hills and mountains bring.

[Aarkreinsil]

I've played the mod with ore extractor, is there a mod with a closer idea of mining as in my post? The ore extractor can be placed anywhere, and you can select the resource you want mined. Every X ticks it gives you X resources. Whilst this makes the game playable on non mountain maps, it is a bit of a cheat too. The idea of certain resources being in certain tiles in a non renewable but potentially large way, and it having to be "found" like treasure, adds enjoyment to the game, and I haven't seen a mod like that. If you know one I would appreciate the link! Thanks.

I originally used the M-Co Deep Driller, but the mod author stopped developing the mod. I LOVED it for having those geyser-like spots on the map that you could place your drill on, and you also had to consistently produce and replace drill bits for the machine. You could also add some components to the drill that would allow you do "dig deeper" and get things like gold. You could also make more advanced drill bits that required a higher crafting level but lasted longer, that kind of thing.

Now this mod here hasn't been updated for A13, but it looks similar, it even uses the same drill bit sprites that the deep driller had, and also incorporates the specific spots on the map that you can place mines on.

https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=8902.0

I haven't tried it out myself yet, though.