Matrix Games Forums

This is something that's bugged in me a few playthroughs, but it seems like if you're not playing a very specific type of world then prospecting and mining techs become useless very quickly. A few ideas could be:

-Apply prospecting rolls and mining techs to the demetalization structure. Might be overpowered, but it means they're always useful in a general sense, barring any opportunity cost in a specific game.

-Allow prospecting rolls to "generate" new deposits and increase the level of existing deposits. Basically, instead of having a fixed number of deposits generated at game start, prospecting always has a chance to discover additional deposits. The difficulty increase with each deposit recently discovered, and the level of the deposit would be between 1-3.

-Allow prospecting to preserve and reset deposits, so that on each round prospecting has a chance to increase the amount of resources left in any currently mined deposit. If a deposit runs dry, allow a prospecting check to reset the entire deposit but at the cost of several levels.

-Generate level 0 infinite deposits in certain land types. Narratively, they're not infinite but they're large enough that civilizations of a few million people won't be able to feasibly extract the entire amount in a single game's time. These would be costly to extract from, clusters of such deposits could serve as strategic locations to fight over. They could also serve as indicators of richer veins nearby.

Doubt on infinitely discovering new deposits, looks like a step back.

However, deposits should be much larger and less random: right now, you have to grab more land without any clue to hope there is a deposit under it. Deposits should be discoverable at long distances and much bigger (but perhaps slower to mine out?). Currently deposits are a boost in early-mid game if you're lucky to have some, then it's metal filtration everywhere.

While I agree than there should be some changes to prospecting and deposits, I think than "infinite" deposits doesn't fit the game, however:

Water deposits are too big right now, they should be between 20-50k, because they usually are over 200k and the game simply ends before you end up using that much water. Also, water production from "sea" should be heavily limited, as right now having a zone with a "sea" hex means than you don't have to worry about water for the rest of the game.

There should be lots of metal, rare metals and rads deposits which can only be discovered after 20-40-60% of prospecting and mining optimization, obviously they should be quite hard, at 1-4 levels, since right now you either find multiple very easy to find at early game or you barely find any in your game, making you relay on ruins and metal soil filtration plants, with the latter being the only option at end game.

Oil deposits should be rarer but bigger, being on the range of 30-100k, as oil IRL usually comes with really big deposits, but ranging from easy to very hard to mine due multiple reasons (in game should be the same way too). I know than in theory in game you get x amount of oil deposits depending on the age of the planet and how long life has existed on it, but currently you either have lots of small deposits (by end game standards) or a few/none.