Beginner Visual Cue: "Why is mining so slow?"

[IronCartographer]

It's hard for experienced players to remember (or admit) if they had trouble with unexplained slowdowns in mining buildings, or indeed, if they skipped the tutorial and didn't make an axe for a while at all. However, Let's Plays and first-time streamers often fall into this trap: Sometimes they don't know to craft an axe (from skipping the campaign) and so suffer the slow mining for a time. Even more commonly, a beginner's axe breaks and they don't notice or realize that it matters for more than resource mining, and suddenly their buildings take a long time to remove--causing a great deal of confused frustration.

Suggestion for the UI: While the progress bar for mining is active, highlight the axe tool slot. If there is an axe, make it green. If there isn't one, make it red and flashing. This will emphasize the true importance of the axe, and call attention to the problem and its solution when players might simply suffer without knowing why.

This can be a purely visual change, and have no impact on active weapon selection, so players would continue to be able to do this if they wanted.

(This would tie in well with my other suggestion recently about the axe as a first-class SMG-like weapon/tool for reviving ghosts, but it can function on its own so I made a separate post. Regardless of implementation, as a purely visual guide, this would be a simple change to help new or returning players understand what is going on.)

[Xeorm]

Would second this as being a good idea. That or removing the axes entirely (But keeping an upgrade at steel tech).

[bobingabout]

Would second this as being a good idea. That or removing the axes entirely (But keeping an upgrade at steel tech).

Or a new tech.

Yeah, Some indication that you NEED an axe would be a good thing... or removing it entirely in favour of mining speed bonus research.

[Engimage]

Would second this as being a good idea. That or removing the axes entirely (But keeping an upgrade at steel tech).

Or a new tech.

Yeah, Some indication that you NEED an axe would be a good thing... or removing it entirely in favour of mining speed bonus research.

+1

[Aeternus]

Would advise removing the craftable axe entirely and just boost mining speed via research (10 red for the first personal mining boost, 50 red 50 green for the second). It's unneccesary micromanagement. The slot can then be used for something else - maybe a second personal production line, so that you can craft 2 or more items simultaneously?

[Engimage]

The slot can then be used for something else - maybe a second personal production line, so that you can craft 2 or more items simultaneously?

Or and Automated Construction Kit (used to automaticly build blueprints instead of robots)

[IronCartographer]

This is rapidly diverging, but interesting. Removing the axe entirely could work, though it would be a shame to drop the melee feature as it's already implemented, and raise questions about whether the player's avatar really is a machine, being able to build tools so easily with its bare hands already.

Would advise removing the craftable axe entirely and just boost mining speed via research (10 red for the first personal mining boost, 50 red 50 green for the second).

Having an explicit tech focused on mining speed (rather than an unlocked side-effect of steel processing) would be a step backwards in the overall theme of progressing automation (Researching manual labor when we already have electric drills? Unless it applied to the electric drills too... ).

Or and Automated Construction Kit (used to automaticly build blueprints instead of robots)

I know the devs have said they don't want to use a consumable (a la Nanobots) for early-game building, which would apply to "Automated Construction Kits" as well.

[ssilk]

I see it so: It's a sign of how much time a youtuber has invested into a game that he wants to present me. It's quite ill, that there are people outside, that want to explain others a game, that they even haven't understood at the very basics. All I should do with such a Let's Play is switching forward.

And I'm quite sure: Even with such a visible sign some players would oversee it.

And the right way (in my opinion) is this: With V0.15 I'm about sure, that there is a trainee campaign about this and similar subjects.
Who is not willing to see/learn cannot be forced to. See above.