Preamble
Over the years, I’ve analyzed and discussed mining as deeply as I could’ve, cosidering it was a great timewaster for me. The most in-depth post I made was likely the full rework document, a piece which contained bits like the public access gateway and mob ore drops (this one only made it to bosses, though). Of course, by now some parts of that doc are outdated.
The main issue with that kind of post was that it was too comprehensive. The only way to ever get it done reasonably would be to separate it into a ton of different, smaller changes.
Now, with that in mind, I shall simply list the top 5 worst things in lavaland. Literally, the hit list for anyone (including myself) who wants to make it better. I’m curious about what other people think, do they have aspects that frustrate them more than what I’ve listed, and would they want something done about it? I’m also curious about whether a PR changing any of this would actually get accepted, so if you’re in the coder mafia, I’d love to hear your take as well.
So, the list begins:
1. Squint
Squint? Squint. Ever walked through an empty area, opened up the text box to reply to something, and watched as three goliaths suddenly attacked you? Ever walked through a storm only to instantly get round removed? These two - goliaths and abyss - are incredibly frustrating because they encourage glaring at your screen like you’re Medusa hearing footsteps in her lair. You will get punished for not looking hard enough, and the punishment is probably death. Now, staring with intensity into your screen is not only annoying, but it’s also genuinely unhealthy. I’ve seen people complain about these two on their own, but it also goes a step further as a personal fuck you to the colorblind (of which I am a part, but luckily not for the colors used here). It is not only disrespectful but seemingly designed to be frustrating on purpose.
The fix: Make goliaths brighter. Replace abyss /w lava.
2. Mined too deep
Gibtonite seems fine on paper, right? Just be careful while you mine, and everything will be fine. Problems become far more apparent when one analyzes the effects of its actual existence versus what it actually accomplishes. A big part of this is also tied to how mining scanners work - namely pulsing.
Pros of gibtonite: You can mine a bit faster roundstart, you can make explosives.
Cons of gibtonite: Sonic jackhammer and diamond drill are unusable. Running through unscanned areas from a boss can randomly kill you. Fighting most bosses in general can randomly kill you (max strength gibtonite activated offscreen), lag can randomly kill you while mining, mining with a friend can randomly kill you.
Overall, despite seeming well designed on paper, all gibtonite seems to contribute beyond getting you explosive access is killing miners in unfair ways.
The fix: Change the mechanics outright. Maybe gibtonite just drops normally and using a scanner on it is what sets it off. Maybe it drops shards you combine into a big bomb like I originally came up with. Maybe something completely different, or just remove it and call it a mining nerf, lol.
3. Get down
Using two cores is actually extremely inconsistent, because it’s a disease codewise. What does this mean really? I’ve experienced the following from core overdose:
• Getting infected, seeing only early stage warnings, and getting removed within 30 seconds.
• Getting infected, seeing warnings for over 2 minutes, and having enough time to calmly walk to station and ask for a brain transplant.
• Getting cured instantly from one plant.
• Eating to the fat cap and still not getting cured, being forced to seek alternative treatment.
In other words, it feels almost random…and maybe it is? I don’t know what the actual mechanics here are, but logic tells me that it’s the disease code, namely the stats, that aren’t always the same.
The fix: Take your pick, make the disease stats always the same if they aren’t, or turn it into an actual debuff, maybe one that needs a more direct fix than vitrium froth (from the mining vendor maybe).
4. You get nothing
Breather entry. Mining still has items worthless for miners in the loot pool, coupled with horrible boss drops. Let’s analyze some stuff.
• Cursed heart is so annoying that everyone universally ignores it.
• Meat hook is only good for antags and security, the latter of which avoids it because it is technically lethal, so literally just an antag item.
• The heck suit is the only bubblegum drop, and worse than drake armor for lack of being a real spacesuit and having the random jumpscare mechanic.
• The voice of god has zero actual mining use, relegating it for gimmick ideas or powergame only.
• Jackhammer gloves are actively detrimental due to gibtonite.
The fix: First, remove cursed heart. From there, it’s a matter of minor changes. Letting you pick between two items when you open chests would honestly fix most of this. As for the heck suit, letting a chaplain purify it for jumpscare removal and maybe spaceworthiness would add some rp while letting you get a real reward. Colossus definitely needs to actually drop something else though. Time to port some item, eh?
5. Unintentional bait?
Two words: Kinetic Crusher. It’s allegedly there to be a hard mode item, and the achievements support this, but the concept of running mining on hard mode was destroyed when trophies were added to regular boss drops. Now that we have those, crusher has become more about being a lategame powerhouse after you’ve dealt with a few bosses. Sure, saw outclasses it, but there’s more than one miner. This leaves the crusher with a bizarre identity - best to be ignored until at least mid-round, and then it’s suddenly competitive?
The fix: Honestly, buff the crusher. Meleeing mobs and bosses is hard and requires you to learn a lot of patterns, and beestation has shifted away from a combat focus over the years. Hard mode be damned, but our miners should be given the option to enjoy such things as a one-handed crusher that fits on a belt slot, or some real trophy effects that make it worth getting early (as it stands, only legion skull has a tangible effect from regular mobs, and I’ve also heard that the bubblegum trophy is dysfunctional). I’d like to bring up effects like stacking up destabilizing force up several times or being able to charge or parry as potential crusher moves to make it compete with the sheer damage of the saw.
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