Prospecting realism

[Reynolds]

Here is my idea. Normally, you can only build a mine right on top of the metal deposits. But I think you should be able to build a mine anywhere, but that isn't to say there will be metal. You would simply get rocks dropped on the floor. And mines should all be connected, like if you built two mines next to each other, you could mine the gap in between, as long as it doesn't exceed the maximum amount of tiles in a mine. Also, mines should need supports. You can build 1 x 1 supports, 2 x 1 supports, 3 x 1 supports, and 2 x 2 supports to hold up the roof in caverns. They all take one plank, and they all stop a 5 x 5 area from collapsing. Collapses can occur anywhere in places that aren't supported, even if it hasn't been mines out yet, though it isn't as likely. One collapse causes collapses to be more likely in that area. And mining causes collapses to be 3%-ish in areas not supported, and being under one means death.

And mines should be more like caves, with stalactites and and natural caverns. There should also be pure deposits of metal nuggets (except steel, bronze, and iron of course) anywhere in any type of mine, but in limited quantity, to get that "YEEEHAW I STRUCK GOLD" feel.

And possibly suffocating. Like, you should have to bring a canary in and if it dies, get your but outa there. Distance from the enterance increases likelyhood of death.

Ok I'm done. And I love you Delamore, don't hurt me. I love you...

[Cheswin]

I like what I'm reading, except for the suffocation part. Supports should be harder to make though. That way when one is built and it begins to decay you're going to want to make sure you repair it as soon as possible for fear of collapse.

Edit: After I got to thinking about it, I realized that if you could build mining spots anywhere, they would literally be everywhere. So a way to combat that would be to make mining spots buildable only on claimed land, and maybe make the mining spots harder to build, the x100 wooden blocks it takes to make it originally and maybe x10 rope for the ladder going down.

[Reynolds]

Sure. You should also be able to build mines in mines, to give different levels and such, the deeper you go the easier it collapses. And you should be able to build anything inside a mine if you have the room, I always wanted an underground village hidden behind a boulder in the middle of nowhere.

[Cheswin]

I always wanted an underground village hidden behind a boulder in the middle of nowhere.

Haha you and me both. I wish torch posts were permanent in that you could turn them on and off and the light source would last forever.

[Blxz]

Prospecting REALISM? Mine cannot exist everywhere. There simply isn't the ore everywhere. Everywhere in the ground are trace levels of most natural elements but ores are rocks that have an enriched content for some reason or another-often volcanic in origin. So there are areas where it is actually feasible to mine and worth your effort. if we could build minjes anywhere and have it realistic you would have to empty several regional maps worth of ground to even get enough stuff to possibly make 1 ore ingame. Thats stupid. Mine rarity is a good part of the game. If anything, these hearthlings are living in possibly the most mineral rich area in the world. There are so many mines compared to what there should be that I think as a geologist I am living in the wrong world.

[DatOneGuy]

Prospecting REALISM? Mine cannot exist everywhere. There simply isn't the ore everywhere. Everywhere in the ground are trace levels of most natural elements but ores are rocks that have an enriched content for some reason or another-often volcanic in origin. So there are areas where it is actually feasible to mine and worth your effort. if we could build minjes anywhere and have it realistic you would have to empty several regional maps worth of ground to even get enough stuff to possibly make 1 ore ingame. Thats stupid. Mine rarity is a good part of the game. If anything, these hearthlings are living in possibly the most mineral rich area in the world. There are so many mines compared to what there should be that I think as a geologist I am living in the wrong world.

While I do agree and enjoy the current mine system (although some expansion is nice)

You should read his whole post, he mentions in certain areas you'll just find rock.

[Blxz]

Prospecting REALISM? Mine cannot exist everywhere. There simply isn't the ore everywhere. Everywhere in the ground are trace levels of most natural elements but ores are rocks that have an enriched content for some reason or another-often volcanic in origin. So there are areas where it is actually feasible to mine and worth your effort. if we could build minjes anywhere and have it realistic you would have to empty several regional maps worth of ground to even get enough stuff to possibly make 1 ore ingame. Thats stupid. Mine rarity is a good part of the game. If anything, these hearthlings are living in possibly the most mineral rich area in the world. There are so many mines compared to what there should be that I think as a geologist I am living in the wrong world.

While I do agree and enjoy the current mine system (although some expansion is nice)

You should read his whole post, he mentions in certain areas you'll just find rock.

I did read his post. In truth in every area you should find rock. In fact, unless you are right on top of the ore seam you should find rock. If they wanted to make mining more realistic I would suggest that within mines themselves you use the prospecting skill to find out where the actual ore seam is and can only mine in that general direction.

[Reynolds]

Prospecting REALISM? Mine cannot exist everywhere. There simply isn't the ore everywhere. Everywhere in the ground are trace levels of most natural elements but ores are rocks that have an enriched content for some reason or another-often volcanic in origin. So there are areas where it is actually feasible to mine and worth your effort. if we could build minjes anywhere and have it realistic you would have to empty several regional maps worth of ground to even get enough stuff to possibly make 1 ore ingame. Thats stupid. Mine rarity is a good part of the game. If anything, these hearthlings are living in possibly the most mineral rich area in the world. There are so many mines compared to what there should be that I think as a geologist I am living in the wrong world.

Reading is good.

[niltrias]

I like this.

I posted something similar way back in the day, which is now buried in the archives, so I will just restate it.

Changes from current game method:

1) Mines can be dug anywhere. (obviously, not in the water...)

1) Instead of mine walls dropping ore, they drop boulders.

2) Boulders, when chipped, have a % chance of giving ore equal to what the equvilent survey percent on the corresponding surface square would be.
i.e., if you were standing on that spot on the overland map and used extract, and your survey result was 50% iron, then the boulder would have a 50% chance of giving iron.
If the survey would result in "No metals found" then there would be a 0% chance of metal...chipping would result only in stone.
If the survey were 15% gold and 40% silver, there would be a 15% chance of gold and a 40% chance of silver. Obviously, in the event that the percentages went over 100% you would have to give them proprtional shares of 100%, but that stands to reason.

All of this assumes that the "mine layer" would be an actual layer that corresponds to the overland map, much like caves are now, which I know is not currently the case. Still, I think it would be workable and much more interesting than our present system.

[KillerofLawyers]

I suppose a multi layed map would be kind of cool, however, it would allow people to dig under walls and into adjacent mines. Although I rather like that better than I like a hard barrier that says if you have X str you can suddenly hulk out and kill walls.


It's would also mean that your mine would become less productive as you move further from the source, which also isn't a bad thing either. I like Niltrias's idea. However, it might work better if resources were more scattered, with multiple spots of 100% in a general area.