I wonder if there will be asteroid mining...

[Kryusien]

I figure since this game will take place in space at some point we will be mining asteroids. You know... scan the asteroid for what minerals it contains, point a laser at it to break up the rock, then use a tractor beam (modified with ore sensors) to pull in the ore you're looking for 'til your cargo unit is full. And since you have a gun, you have to protect your mining gear while it does its work.

Only challenge is to make it fun unlike other games where you just sit there and monitor your mining gear while sending drones out to defend your setup...

 

[taiiat]

can't we do it in a way that's more fun?
i want to scan the Asteroids, decide i want that one, fire a Railgun at it, and scoop up the rubble.


is it efficient? no. do i care? hell no.

 

[Kryusien]

A railgun might just destroy the ore you're trying to mine, or render it unusable. And a waste of ammo you could be using on enemies instead. Hence the need for mining lasers (different lasers for different asteroid types). Unless you're mining for rocks, then the railgun would be VERY efficient...

 

[TankHunter678]

I would expect mining on a planets satellites before asteroid mining. Given that with asteroid mining what you would be worried about is pirate ships, not critters.

Or worried about coming across a automated military construction facility building engines on a large asteroid in order to turn it into a doomsday weapon for crashing into the planet to destroy it Planetary Annihilation style.

It would make for a nice event if planets are made expendable.

 

[taiiat]

A railgun might just destroy the ore you're trying to mine, or render it unusable.
Hence the need for mining lasers (different lasers for different asteroid types).

like i said, it's not efficient but i don't care.
pointing a bleep bloop laser at it and watching it eat away at the rock is boring. unless it goes towards the style of Eden Star, where you're realtime deforming as your mining, meaning you'd have to pay attention to how you're mining to avoid cutting off a slab and have it float off into deep space. it also looks cool. though it works best when there's gravity.

just fire a lump of metal at it to 'explodify' the entire thing so i can scoop up the pieces.
if firing a Railgun at a rock would make the material unusable, so would blasting rocks in reality. but we do that for mining all the time. that's actually our primary method of mining....

 

[OhNoDomo!]

For whatever reason, I thought you meant adding in Asteroids as a mini-game inside the game, like in an arcade.

That'd be cool too.. XD

 

[MattHunX]

I figure since this game will take place in space at some point we will be mining asteroids. You know... scan the asteroid for what minerals it contains, point a laser at it to break up the rock, then use a tractor beam (modified with ore sensors) to pull in the ore you're looking for 'til your cargo unit is full. And since you have a gun, you have to protect your mining gear while it does its work.

Only challenge is to make it fun unlike other games where you just sit there and monitor your mining gear while sending drones out to defend your setup...

If we'll be planet and asteroid-hopping mercs, why not have factions which will essentially be the pirate-equivalent of that. Something to defend your mining-op from. Should the player character be directly involved, boots on the ground, or merely mine through a mini-game, similar to Mass Effect 2. Liked the process in Mass Effect 1 better. To actually land on a planet or an object in space. Look up. Around. See the moon(s) of the planet. Or the planet from its moon(s). Or from an asteroid belt. THAT is what gave a true feeling of awe, in the first Mass Effect game, apart from the scene where I had to proceed up the side of the Citadel in low gravity, seeing Sovereign clawing away at it. No other game has ever had such a profound effect on me as the first Mass Effect. I definitely loved to see similar elements, if we're going to have multiple planets. Perhaps make it a bit like No Man's Sky, as well. The best from all games, rolled into one. THAT, I guarantee, would be a game to remember. And one I'd pay for.

I also cannot decide if the harvesting of ore should look like as it does in FireFall, where you can see crystals floating around. Or...like in these new planet exploring games that seem to be coming out in droves, where you shoot a beam at the object to strip its part. If I'm being honest, they could easily get away with it, saying it's all done through some fancy omni-tool and it makes the player more involved, so mining/harvesting the ore could and should involve caution, even when not in immediate danger, but especially with hostiles around. Objects scattered on the ground (ore, loot...etc.) should also remain for longer, so people could collect them after a battle is over, but also during that, if they have time to harvest in the middle of a fight, so they wouldn't disappear.

Also, would it be a bad or a good idea, considering risk and reward and immersion, if said objects could be destroyed if damaged enough by enemies?

 

[Kryusien]

Maybe Asteroid mining should be PvP. This should prevent what I saw in EVE Online long ago... large army of bot controlled mining vessels clearing out all the belts in the starter systems, leaving nothing for new players to complete their first mining missions as well as ensuring they can't make their first few credits from mining after the tutorial (forcing them to mine in areas WAY too dangerous for them). You could have player factions battling for control of various asteroids, especially if those asteroids contain rare resources or provide good place for a base.

 

[DARKB1KE]

Anyone remember Mass Effect scanning?

Maybe Asteroid mining should be PvP. This should prevent what I saw in EVE Online long ago... large army of bot controlled mining vessels clearing out all the belts in the starter systems, leaving nothing for new players to complete their first mining missions as well as ensuring they can't make their first few credits from mining after the tutorial (forcing them to mine in areas WAY too dangerous for them). You could have player factions battling for control of various asteroids, especially if those asteroids contain rare resources or provide good place for a base.

Interesting thought there. So maybe players find the best resources and then try to make claims on them and battle for it?

 

[PCMasterReece]

can't we do it in a way that's more fun?
i want to scan the Asteroids, decide i want that one, fire a Railgun at it, and scoop up the rubble.


is it efficient? no. do i care? hell no.

Yeah ok Darth Vader calm down. Blasting an asteroid into pieces is a bit cruel. They have feelings too you know

 

[MattHunX]

Yeah ok Darth Vader calm down. Blasting an asteroid into pieces is a bit cruel. They have feelings too you know

Allow players to go overboard like that, but then have debris flying everywhere, chunks of the asteroids that could seriously damage the players and their mining mechs and other equipment they may have.

 

[PCMasterReece]

Allow players to go overboard like that, but then have debris flying everywhere, chunks of the asteroids that could seriously damage the players and their mining mechs and other equipment they may have.

Maybe (and this is me going full on "Star Wars" mode) if the players completely mine a planet of all it's resources could we blow it up

 

[TankHunter678]

Maybe (and this is me going full on "Star Wars" mode) if the players completely mine a planet of all it's resources could we blow it up

 

[taiiat]

Allow players to go overboard like that, but then have debris flying everywhere, chunks of the asteroids that could seriously damage the players and their mining mechs and other equipment they may have.

and some Resources (whether it be just generico supreme rocks or valuable rocks) inevitably go flying off into Deep Space.
like i said, it's not efficient. but sometimes i don't feel like being efficient.

 

[MattHunX]

and some Resources (whether it be just generico supreme rocks or valuable rocks) inevitably go flying off into Deep Space.
like i said, it's not efficient. but sometimes i don't feel like being efficient.

Just a quick blast and snatch job. Like you do with sonic detonators on nodes. Except more dangerous.

 

[Kryusien]

and some Resources (whether it be just generico supreme rocks or valuable rocks) inevitably go flying off into Deep Space.
like i said, it's not efficient. but sometimes i don't feel like being efficient.

Not efficient if you're mining for resources, VERY efficient if you're looking to prevent your enemy faction from obtaining said resource (hence the need to be effective when defending your mining operation).