Factorio Forums

a new method of mining:

my suggestion is as follows, add a large (silo or larger probably) structure, for the purpose of mining, it would look like a large borehole.

it would be able to (infinitly?) mine, at cost of needing a constant stream of explosives, steel, concrete, and eletric mining drills, to support its ever expanding tunnel network.

i can see two versions of this:

version A: you can build it anywhere, and it somewhat randomly outputs ores, starting at a really low yield and slowly ramping up, while requring alot of power.

Version B: you can only build it on desposits, either new, underground ones, or the old regular ones, and wouldnt use quite as much power, output only the fitting materials (stone and the ore probably), while having a linear yield.

to make it more intresting:
it could perhaps require you to pump water out of it.
and output dirty ores that need to be washed.

overall it is ment to create a more intresting late game solution to mining, while creating more logistics challenges with the constant resource requirements.

I like the idea of needing to support the drill.. more logistics to bring, say, bricks and lubricant to a drill to feed it. And logistics is fun!

How about combining the "random ore" idea with discovery and exploration? Maybe after the drill has gone deep enough it will tell you the density of materials it found (iron, 0.12/sec, stone 0.004, copper 0.33). That gives you a sample of a "hidden" layer of ores. By making several drill holes, you can see a neighboring spot that has higher iron, and you can follow the gradient of ore density and keep making new test holes to search for the center of the hidden iron lode that gives a full say 4.0/sec. This would be fun, though likely just a few times since it'd get tedious if it were something you'd want to to 10 times.

Added to viewtopic.php?f=80&t=29236 Underground Mining / Endless Resources / Hidden Ores...