Player Features and Ideas Discussion

CCP said Ring Mining, so let's do it all! Including normal mining ...

Around every star, and some planets, there will be a ring, like a flattened doughnut. Like this image below,

Basic Ring Zone - http://eve-files.com/dl/253903

In the image, we have a star in the center, it could as easily be a planet or a moon. The zone is separated into 12 sections. With relatively simple math, we can easily determine if a ship is in a minable zone. All coordinates in Eve space are of the Cartesian variety, so this is not complicated.

First a ship warps to a star planet or moon and runs the onboard scanner looking for anomalies. The scanner will return one or more coordinates inside the mineable zone, but only one possible anomaly per section.

When in the zone, a ship can run a mining scanner and get a window like the one in this image.

Mining Scanner Window - http://eve-files.com/dl/253904

What this shows is the distribution and density of asteroids/resources in the zone. The red blip in the picture is the ship, the white is the range of the mining lasers and the colored sections are the different kinds of things, from Ore to Ice, to Gas to Moon mins to whatever one wants.

When zoomed all the way out, an entire section could be examined, that could be multiple AU. Players may zoom in on the map and "pan" the camera right, left and up and down and rotate as they wish. A player can right click any where in the window and set a book mark or warp there.

When a ship is in the mining zone, instead of targeting any particular asteroid, they simply load the crystals they want in the mining lasers (Yes, T1 lasers will use crystals too, perhaps made from Isogen) and then target the star, the planet or the moon. They run the mining scanner and get the distribution window. The pilot then flies the ship towards the resources they want to gather. But that's not all there is to it.

What the player sees, instead of the current mining laser at some targeted rock, the mining lasers zap rocks and blow them up, and suck the dust/ore/debris into the ship. This can be a constant light show, though perhaps not too fast and flashy so as to be kind to those with epilepsy.

It does not matter that one client sees a ship zapping a rock to the left side of a ship and another players sees the same ship zapping a rock to its right. The graphics too can be done procedurally. The ships may keep moving and never be out of range of any one particular rock. It's the dentistry of whatever it is they are mining that matters. This will merge well with some of the 'tessellation' we've recently seen. Does CCP really want to keep track of all those rocks bouncing off ships? I don't think so.

Above each mining laser is a small window showing a wave form, like the one below. Double click the small window will make it many times larger for the player to get a detailed view.

Laser Configuration Window - http://eve-files.com/dl/253905

This wave form represents the optimal configuration of the mining laser. The object for the player is to match the mining laser's wave form to the resource they are mining. To do this, they simply look at the grid and type in the two values for frequency and amplitude. Then click ok/enter. The wave forms will change over time and the pilot will need to adjust his mining lasers once every minute or two to maintain maximum yield. Unbalanced lasers will return less than maximum yield. These wave forms can be generated procedurally. It would be less easy to bot, though not impossible to shim, which is frankly something CCP will never overcome. (but perfectly matched 24/7 playing players ... bot). It gives some interest to mining and isn't 100% afk yawn city.

So what about these sections? Each section will have a set amount of resources that will be reset at some scheduled time, doesn't have to be down time, but that's probably the most likely candidate. Distribution, as represented in the mining scanner window shown in the second image, can also be done procedurally. Apply a new random seed every given period and that is that.

There are a few more details I have in mind but will leave it here for now and address them as they come, if this topic gets a conversation going.

I would like to add a few thoughts from convos..

Since a lot of mining is mainly based on "parking" style..

Why not create a motivational factor. In doing so reuse the alloys.

Make roids REALLY BIG. So they demand a lot of manhours to pop. Something like Hulk and 72+ manhours.

At the core of roids there would be an alloy of the "opposite" type. So in a VELD Roid there would be a plush alloy core of a size fitting the original size of the roid.

This would bring in explorational mining. Since two types would develop. The industrial miner and the prospecting miner.

This would also be a good chance to look at ships that might not be used for its original purpose. Like the Navitas and similar types.

This direction might be good for the features discussed like ring mining and the likes..

Shameless bump

I envision adjusting the mining laser once per minute, and doing so wouldn't take much effort, count some lines on the little graph, type in two numbers and click ok. Also piloting the ship along the dense veins.

One thing to note, even if a player did not adjust their lasers, and did not pilot through the best areas, a player would still pull in ore, just not as much as someone who paid more attention. Effort is rewarded versus how many slaves, I mean alts, one has.