Boring mining/fishing

[Rhombus]

Paxx:

I am always interested in new possibilities, newer and fresher ideas?.
But simply saying that you should have it be fun does not inspire much thought among the devs :-)

Of course. But I didn\'t post that to inspire you, rather to encourage a discussion about this subject that would eventually inspire you.

Allright, I\'ll carefully summarize what the mining system in my mind is all about. I don\'t know if it\'s realizable, so you\'ll have to see for yourself if this is of any use to you.

The mining area has the shape of a cliff, or a cave wall. When you stand next to the wall and use your pickaxe, you can start digging a tunnel into it. The rest is all about digging tunnels. You can dig in several directions. To get ore you have to find an ore vein first. You can try to find the ore vein by trial and error, or by using sysmological tools or spells. When you reach an ore vein you can try to extract some ore by digging into it. There is also a chance of finding a buried object anywhere you dig which you can try to excavate. It can be either a good thing like a sword or an amulet, or a bad thing like a kran-like monster from the mineral realm that will attack you.

The earth is devided into several layers. The first layer has rather soft rock that requires hardly any skill to dig through, but the layers deeper into the earth can only be reached by more skillfull miners. Also, the deeper you go into the earth, the more precious ore and gems you can find. The buried objects are also more valuable deeper in the earth and the monsters are more dangerous. Your digging speed in the deeper layers is lower too.

Every now and then there is an earthquake that restores the earth to the way it used to be by destroying all dug tunnels. The earthquake announces itself with trembling in time for the miners to make it out quick enough. However, if you are very deep in the earth there is a risk of not making it back in time, so you\'ll have to think about that if you\'re planning to reach the deeper layers.

Why my mining system is so good:
1. It involves risks (earthquakes, excavating a monster)
2. It involves competition (two miners who both found the same ore vein have to race towards it to get there first)
3. It\'s versatile (The higher your skill gets, the more risky, rewarding and exiting it becomes)
4. It involves some real skill (predicting where an ore vein is hidden, finding ways to use tools more efficiently, etc.)

I hope that does inspire the devs.

[EstafanCortez]

I love that idea man....that would be so fun, because you could have minners from one guild dig under another guilds barracks, kingdom...ect and really cause havvoc:evil: MUHAHAHAHA!!!!!

[kinshadow]

Originally posted by Rhombus
The mining area has the shape of a cliff, or a cave wall. When you stand next to the wall and use your pickaxe, you can start digging a tunnel into it. The rest is all about digging tunnels.

Well, your idea has merit, but unless done as a mini-game, I don\'t think you\'re going to be able to \"dig\" as your have it.  I might see it where there are a finite places where a vein might occur and you \"dig\" there (temporarily take way a mesh or series of meshes), but even that may be a long shot.  In general, anything that modifies the terrain probably won\'t be possible.

Originally posted by Rhombus
There is also a chance of finding a buried object anywhere you dig which you can try to excavate. It can be either a good thing like a sword or an amulet, or a bad thing like a kran-like monster from the mineral realm that will attack you.

I like this idea, but then again so did Origin when they made UO.

Originally posted by Rhombus
The earth is devided into several layers. The first layer has rather soft rock that requires hardly any skill to dig through, but the layers deeper into the earth can only be reached by more skillfull miners....

Again, a nice idea, but how does this work if your already underground?  The strata you are currently in, isn\'t necessarily the softest.

Originally posted by Rhombus
Every now and then there is an earthquake that restores the earth to the way it used to be by destroying all dug tunnels.

This is actually somewhat original and realizable.  This could be done with a brief \"meteor storm\" like effect done randomly based off of where you are, your skill, etc.

[Fantasyfiend]

That reminds me of a post I made about player owned dungeons. My thought was that you mind out differant rooms and stuff, but no one seemed to like the idea. Hey...Maybe the mini-game could be like whack-a-mole, or breakout. If its like whack-a-mole, you could hit pieces of rare metals as you see them shine in the lantern light. See a shine, hit it with the pickaxe. breakout might not work. I would give it about a 30 second time frame for the game, maybe limit it to so many times a day, so people who\'ve gotten it down can\'t exploit it.

[Fanomatic2000]

ARGH! Is this some kind of \"Mario party\" clone?
I\'m not sure I like the \"mini-games\" idea. Just imagine some jewels with cute faces, japanese style, and cute music in the background  
Whack a mole? My god! LOL

[Aruneko]

I don\'t want Whack-a-Mole... I\'m no good at it

Though, mini-games aren\'t a bad idea, as long as they are original and aren\'t cutesy. (is that a word?)

[Fanomatic2000]

I\'m not sure...but it sounds good! \"cutesy\"...hehe

[Rhombus]

Great. Someone who takes my idea seriously.

From Kinshadow:

Well, your idea has merit, but unless done as a mini-game, I don\'t think you\'re going to be able to \"dig\" as your have it. I might see it where there are a finite places where a vein might occur and you \"dig\" there (temporarily take way a mesh or series of meshes), but even that may be a long shot. In general, anything that modifies the terrain probably won\'t be possible.

I already feared someone would say this. Like I said I don\'t know whether or not it\'s realizable, so I hope the devs know a way to do it. I think the ability to really dig into the earth will add a lot to the actual fun and versatility of mining. One of the things that makes traditional mining so boring is the fact that you have to stand at one place all the time, or move around in repeating sequences. It would be much more fun if you had to search around to find ore, either in the way I just described, or in another. (suggestions, anyone?)

I like this idea, but then again so did Origin when they made UO.

I haven\'t had the chance to play UO yet, so I didn\'t know they already had something like this. Perhaps it can be applied in a more original way.

Again, a nice idea, but how does this work if your already underground? The strata you are currently in, isn\'t necessarily the softest.

Mining area\'s at higher locations should provide access to the softer mining layers for newer people, while the area\'s at lower levels should provide instant access to the harder layers for the more experienced players. As for realism I don\'t think that\'s something to be concerned about yet. Someone will just have to come up with a realistic theory about the position and alignment of the earth layers.

About the earthquakes:

This is actually somewhat original and realizable. This could be done with a brief \'meteor storm\' like effect done randomly based off of where you are, your skill, etc.

In fact I made this up as a necessary evil to prevent the earth to be entirely hollowed out after a while, but it can be applied without all this \'digging\' stuff too.