For players who like to gnaw on space rocks in sci-fi sandboxes, usually the more granular details get the better (pun sort of intended). If you’re the kind of person who appreciates a more in-depth space mining experience, then you’ll perhaps be interested in what Stars Reach is trying to do with the gathering profession.
To start off with, players will have to keep the sturdiness of the ground they’re digging around in in mind – they can’t simply tunnel into sand and expect it to hold its shape. Likewise, trapped gasses or gaseous reactions are also a possibility while mining, so digital miners will have to be careful in how they tunnel into the earth of the planet they’re on. Right now testers can tunnel without too much fear, but the devs will soon need to tighten the durability thumbscrews.
Minerals in Stars Reach will also have other real-world reactions, such as sand being hit with intense heat to create glass or limestone being heated into marble. Some of this is done with the use of a chronophaser tool that will let players superheat, erode, or harden materials as they see fit without waiting for the passage of time to do the work.
As for mining itself, that generally has stages that involve searching for minerals by scanning (aka assaying), firing a beam at their wanted material, and then properly disposing of the particulates that fill a hopper. The devs do point out that not all materials carry the same stats; some iron can end up being lighter, which makes an impact on the items that are crafted with that ore. There’s naturally also gems to find, and the final game plans to have ore and gem refining as its own metallurgy track.
Of course, since Stars Reach is a universe of persistence, this has had the “Swiss cheese effect” occur in testing, where players ransack a planet’s surface, punching holes in the ground and leaving piles of gravel everywhere. Luckily that’s being taken into account thanks to tech that will eventually see holes erode and flora grow over terrain deformations, though players can also help that process along.
As involved as mining in the sandbox MMO is right now, the devs are still pondering questions such as whether large-scale mining ops should happen (the mindset appears to be “no” for now), whether mining should just leave unwanted material behind, and if players should be able to trade assays. It’s a generally thoughtful and in-depth read as Playable Worlds considers how to craft its mining profession.
