So I had an idea while reading a suggestion made by someone else. A resource beacon.
So the whole concept is that aside from being incredibly expensive, the beacon will take a specific area (5x5x5?) and reduce the regen timer for that area. And when it does regen, a large percentage (not 100%, but like 75%) of the blocks regenerated around the beacon will be that specific resource. And based on the ore is the regen timer. Of course to offset the overpowered nature of the beacon, create a maximum number of regen iterations before the beacon breaks or just turns into a normal beacon.
Essentially make it so the beacon in a way returns double the ore resource needed to make it. So just using random numbers, say you need at least 50 iron to make the iron mining beacon, after the beacon has expired the owner will have at least mined 100 iron from it. Of course to control this other much more valuable resources would be needed to make it. But it was just a thought. Maybe a way to actually create specific types of mines for a player. Maybe even require titanic drops to make?
I say resource, but obviously this would only work for ores, maybe even coal. Not sure about precious stones (ruby, diamond) since they are much more complex items and are suppose to be that rare.
Edit: maybe make this a high level (or highest level) mining perk. You have become such an amazing miner that you have the innate ability to almost “spawn” resources at the expense of resources.
Personally I prefer the current system as-is. Having played a couple of months now, I feel like resource distribution/regeneration is one of the most-finished aspects of the game as it stands.
Your idea is very old-school MMO, long-term/richer players have a much better advantage. It does go against the sandbox style of boundless where every player has to spend the same amount of time hunting things down.
I like the idea, personally.Although with the current way block regeneration and respawning works… it wouldn’t be feasible without changing the core game files and how new blocks generate into the world. ie; Biomes spawning X blocks randomly, with the attempt to keep the same amount of blocks in game.
As Wichall stated, it does give advantage for some players whom have advanced although if the quality of mining beacon can be made for each resource (ie; copper mining beacon produces copper, iron produces iron, etc) it doesn’t really effect anyone more than anyone else; however! I have come to note that I have nearly a thousand copper I’ll never use and I avoid mining more.
A minor adjustment to how it works could make a wonderful mod. I had an idea like this myself, which I noted down for future use when access to the server files became a thing for 1.0.An Alchemy workbench that requires spark to operate. Turning resources into better resources, ie; 792 coal (99 x 8 stacks) + 1 gleam (color) = resource/gem. Because believe me… I farmed enough coal to make 50 gold by that equation before I even found gold myself.
It would give no greater advantage than say being a miner as a profession. Maybe make it a miner only thing, a high level miner talent, the ability to create mining beacons?
I do agree however with everything you said. I think the regeneration system as-is works great and world regeneration is one of the most finished things the game has. However the talent system and perks for professions is not done yet. So I am going to edit my post and state that this could be a mining talent/perk.
Well I was thinking that you actually would need to cover the beacon in blocks (the beacon being the center) and all those blocks are “regenerated” within the first cycle into the resource block. Or something like that. Maybe make it so you have to place the beacon on the floor and it actually changes the volume under it into the resource. There are ways of implementing it. Ways that don’t require too much massive change to the core game files. Also this would be a unique aspect of the game, a subset of the overall world regeneration. It doesn’t even have to be regeneration, it could just be block spawning. As if the beacon itself is actually placing the block the way a player does.
How exactly that? If you have access to a beacon that could generate more materials than you use one it, you wouldn’t need to dedicate time searching for the material. meaning that the mining proffesion becomes obselete.
And even if you gave it to miners only the proffession suddenly changes form one which require exploration to one thats mostly focuse on camping out the same small plot of land waiting for it to regenerate.
Except that this would only be usable by miners. So it would make the mining profession that much more necessary to even make this. I did add an edit saying this should be a miner only perk/talent. Something that would require high level mining.
Except that the resource you want isn’t the only required item to make it. You would still need to explore to find everything else. Like I have mentioned, maybe even require titan only drops to make it. And the regeneration and iteration makes it so you still have things to do. Maybe add a restriction that a player can only have 1 mining beacon ID active at a time. Maybe add a cooldown timer to how often a player can make one. Say it has a 3 day iteration, takes 14 days to cooldown before the player has the “energy” to remake another. I was just dropping down a rough idea of it. Also if farming is added to the game, isn’t that ultimately what a farmer would be doing? Focusing on a small plot of land waiting for it to regenerate.
I got it. A requirement of power or spark on the mining beacon to actually work as well. So the player has to actively observe it. The same way farming would require water or fertilizing between plant and harvest. Thoughts? Maybe after each iteration the spark requirement or power requirement changes.
I think you’re jumping ahead, and not looking at the developer side of this idea… Abuse… That if the beacon returns twice the value put in, that can be abused for an infinite supply of the desired resource. I could turn whatever stack of gold into two stacks, into four, and into eight… thus, flooding the economy with gold by simply having found (example) 10 gold on a planet. Even if I have to wait… 14 days, by turning 100 gold into 200… that’s still 10x more gold than I’ll find in 14 days.
The idea is there, but with how the game works… and the economy is set up, being able to mass resources… isn’t part of the idea of this game. If 1 person can have these beacons for every resource and farm hundreds of them every week, imagine what a hundred people with those beacons can do… not only to the economy, but ruin the experience of the game. Why explore when you can put resources in your hand.
Then limit it? I see what you are saying, however maybe this is a just reward for dedicating one self to mining. Like I said this would be a high tier, maybe even the highest tier perk for mining. Not something that would be easy to get. Maybe the rarer the resource, the less it will double (meaning the less it will use of that 1 resource) but also cost more of the rare materials. So say iron costs 1 diamond to duplicate say 10 iron. Gold will cost 2 diamonds to duplicate 5 gold, and maybe 3 diamonds to duplicate 1 titanium. It’s a rough idea that does really open itself to massive amounts of restrictions.
The amount of restrictions out weight the benefits. It adds to much to something that may not even be used, especially if the cost of it is super-late game when you’ve got… dozens of gems sitting around doing nothing, for example. No one in their right mind is going to convert diamonds into iron, I can find a hundred iron in twenty minutes.
I believe the rewards for dedicating yourself to mining is already… well, there. I’m sure it’ll expand with new/faster ways to mine, on top of receiving coins and plots upon leveling up. They’re professions and we have no clue what those professions may give us in the days to come. But converting high tiered resources into lower tiered… well, just isn’t logical.
Logically, a “mining beacon” should… induce a chance of it spawning a specific resource within X blocks, with the chance of no profit, or barely breaking bank. And a small chance of actually having a higher value return. A gamble.
As a developer, you do not want to hand people resources/the ability to snowball above other players simply because they have an extra level. Your idea is illogical and unbalanced, there’s too many “if’s, and’s and but’s” to make it work. Being able to for-sure give a player a duplicate/greater value of their desired resource unbalances the economy. It breaks the game.