I just want to know where you found mining lasers? are they listed under weapons/hardpoints?
The Mining discussion thread.
Jenner
I wish I was English like my hero Tj.
I picked up some class 2 mining lasers at Styx last night, plus the refinery. Seems to be decent selection of ships & equipment there. And yes - they are listed under weapons.
Thanks so much.
Almost identical to my experience, and it would appear you're doing everything right.
All I can say is, the mechanic is too raw/unpolished at the moment. IMHO: The guaranteed attack thing, and the horrific ROI/efficiency/tedium will need to be addressed before launch if Mining is to be anything more than a laughable gimmick.
I still have to verify this, but mining an asteroid cluster that is "metal rich" (this is shown on the system view) will be more beneficial than mining random rocks that circle planets.
The problem I am having is FINDING those asteroid clusters. They are on the system view, but apparently not "discovered" yet.. so I have to find them myself.. Talk about a needle in a haystack ?? Christ !
Is there a system scanner to find (but not necessarily id) all system bodies of interest ?
By the way, I agree.. picking up the rock is absolutely TEDIOUS.. That is the only part of mining I would change.
The problem I am having is FINDING those asteroid clusters. They are on the system view, but apparently not "discovered" yet.. so I have to find them myself.. Talk about a needle in a haystack ?? Christ !
Is there a system scanner to find (but not necessarily id) all system bodies of interest ?
By the way, I agree.. picking up the rock is absolutely TEDIOUS.. That is the only part of mining I would change.
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Jenner
I wish I was English like my hero Tj.
My biggest issue with mining is the same as with all non-trading professions: it doesn't scale well.
All of the professions are supposed to be equally viable, but as has been said mining in the current iteration is a very slow method of generating wealth. Also there doesn't appear to be any good equipment (yet) to improve yields or make it more attractive as a career choice.
Same with piracy, with exploration, and with even bounty hunting to a lesser degree. They are all interesting diversions but it seems like if you want to maximize your credits/hour you really need to go up the trader career ladder.
All of the professions are supposed to be equally viable, but as has been said mining in the current iteration is a very slow method of generating wealth. Also there doesn't appear to be any good equipment (yet) to improve yields or make it more attractive as a career choice.
Same with piracy, with exploration, and with even bounty hunting to a lesser degree. They are all interesting diversions but it seems like if you want to maximize your credits/hour you really need to go up the trader career ladder.
I am *hoping* that this is just a reflection of us not being experienced yet. However, just like finding a good trade route, I imagine finding a good cluster to mine just takes some time and effort. Once you find a good cluster, with good material (and this should NOT be easy) I think it will be no less lucrative than other options.
Especially if they speed up mineral collection (auto tractor beam) ?
But I completely DISAGREE that you should be able to rapidly scan rocks, and find gold in every system out there.. I think finding a worthwhile mine site should be difficult, but once found, should be worthwhile.
And people should NOT assume they can sell their cargo at the closest station.. For good prices, you should have to travel to where the demand is high.
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Ascent - The Space Game has a neat mining system. You match the asteroid trajectory in newtonian mode, free-aim your mining beam at it, and heat it up til the impact spot turns a certain shade of blue. Beam it too long and it blows up and you get nothing. Too little and you get much less yield.
That yield matters most when you've spotted a rare asteroid, so there's a feeling of serious pressure to get it right. And you know what the relative resource contents are from the name which is automatically shown when you get close enough. You can also spot them visually from far away by glints of color, so hunting them in a field is fun.
That yield matters most when you've spotted a rare asteroid, so there's a feeling of serious pressure to get it right. And you know what the relative resource contents are from the name which is automatically shown when you get close enough. You can also spot them visually from far away by glints of color, so hunting them in a field is fun.
I like the mining mechanic, will not want to incorporate scanners, it will kill part of the game that is mining. As of now, it is a very slow process and not a way to generate wealth.
I really think the missions that say "bring X amount of Z metal or mineral" should have extended hours to complete, like many stolen cargo do now (saw a couple that go for 66 hours) so if you know a place to mine the resource it will make the mission all the more profitable, and it won't be that difficult since many missions just ask for 1-4t of the mineral in question.
I really think the missions that say "bring X amount of Z metal or mineral" should have extended hours to complete, like many stolen cargo do now (saw a couple that go for 66 hours) so if you know a place to mine the resource it will make the mission all the more profitable, and it won't be that difficult since many missions just ask for 1-4t of the mineral in question.
The Mining Laser on the Speccy Elite was second only to the Military Laser as a combat weapon. Played like a souped up Pulse Laser.
There will be more scanning when there is more equipment -
The existing mission will help it scale, especially if they do extend the mission times. I think it will work well with exploration. As you explore further you scan systems, investigate and then build up a map with various resource locations. Then as the mission pop up you know where to do to complete those mission efficiently.
The existing mission will help it scale, especially if they do extend the mission times. I think it will work well with exploration. As you explore further you scan systems, investigate and then build up a map with various resource locations. Then as the mission pop up you know where to do to complete those mission efficiently.
I just tried it out and I do love the principle; You use your laser, scoop up the fragments and also decide how to best process them. This is a nice mechanic to make mining not consist of only lasering away, which would get very boring.
However, I agree that the scooping gets annoying, because you have to do it way too often. My suggestion: More lasering, less scooping! I read in the DDA, that we are supposed to be able to scan asteroids for minerals and the yield of a fragment will depend on where exactly on the asteroid we point our laser. That sounds like it is going to be fun to do! With that in mind, just make us laser 2 or 3 times as long as we do now and give us fragments with 2 or 3 times as much yield. This will serve two purposes:
1: Make scooping less frequent and therefore less annoying. It will also feel like more of a success scooping up a fragment with, say, 30% silver that took quite a while to extract than 5% pieces. It'll be more like scooping after pirating: 'I've done good work, time to collect the rewards!'
2: Make fragments more valuable. If a fragment with 5% silver gets stolen or destroyed that sucks, but does not really matter. A fragment with 30% silver? You will not be calm until you collected it.
What do you think?
However, I agree that the scooping gets annoying, because you have to do it way too often. My suggestion: More lasering, less scooping! I read in the DDA, that we are supposed to be able to scan asteroids for minerals and the yield of a fragment will depend on where exactly on the asteroid we point our laser. That sounds like it is going to be fun to do! With that in mind, just make us laser 2 or 3 times as long as we do now and give us fragments with 2 or 3 times as much yield. This will serve two purposes:
1: Make scooping less frequent and therefore less annoying. It will also feel like more of a success scooping up a fragment with, say, 30% silver that took quite a while to extract than 5% pieces. It'll be more like scooping after pirating: 'I've done good work, time to collect the rewards!'
2: Make fragments more valuable. If a fragment with 5% silver gets stolen or destroyed that sucks, but does not really matter. A fragment with 30% silver? You will not be calm until you collected it.
What do you think?
I was thinking of 2 things regarding mining that would make it a bit nicer imo.
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First is to divide up random areas on each asteroid that holds random amount ore (random amount of divides as well on each asteroid). This way you have to "probe" the asteroids a bit instead of just aiming on the first best place and hold the trigger until you have all ores that are in the rock. Nicer to have to search probe a bit, and the good feeling of seeing it break off and go "yes! i knew there were more ore on here". It would still hold 1 type of ore like now. Something like this:
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And secondly, it would be nice if more valuable ore took a little longer to mine. And that cheaper ore comes off easier/faster. So longer time to mine more vaulable ores mean longer time spent in space out of security. Risk vs reward and all that.
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What do you think guys?
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First is to divide up random areas on each asteroid that holds random amount ore (random amount of divides as well on each asteroid). This way you have to "probe" the asteroids a bit instead of just aiming on the first best place and hold the trigger until you have all ores that are in the rock. Nicer to have to search probe a bit, and the good feeling of seeing it break off and go "yes! i knew there were more ore on here". It would still hold 1 type of ore like now. Something like this:
.
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And secondly, it would be nice if more valuable ore took a little longer to mine. And that cheaper ore comes off easier/faster. So longer time to mine more vaulable ores mean longer time spent in space out of security. Risk vs reward and all that.
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What do you think guys?
It is a brand new part of the game. The design doc includes lots of parts that we haven't got yet. Once those parts are in place I think it will work really well with exploration and the mission requiring metals/minerals.
It's beta and what you see now is more than likely a test of the mechanics , it will all be fixed imho.
My suggestion is why not allow multiple refineries? If I want to sacrifice 2 internal slots to them then it is at the expense of something else. It makes the ship outfitting more flexible and means if you really want to get kitted out for mining then you can do it. You would just end up with the combined total of hoppers.