A couple of improvements?
Whoever placed the hotspots manually (and they have to be manually, because they're in the exact same spots in each playthrough) could at very least ensure that the damn things are placed inside the playable area of the map and don't overlap with other zones (there's a pair of zones in Kadara that are a huge pain because they overlap), because otherwise you end up with the mining gauge interface giving inconsistent readings.
Another improvement I'd appreciate is an overlay on the ground surface while the mining interface is active that delineates the extents of the mineable area, so I'm not spontaneously driving outside it and then having to deal with SAM telling me the area can be mined five seconds later when I drive back in.
There could even be an upgrade for the Mako that paints highlights on the ground surface while the mining interface is active showing where concentrations are, as you detect them, so that you can be far more efficient about choosing where to mine.
Another idea, more of a bugfix than anything: allow strategic mining, and what I mean by that is if you detect a concentration of one mineral and a concentration of another close by, and put yourself halfway between and mine there, since you're excluding a pretty sizable chunk of the map to be mined, you should get the full benefit of both concentrations, instead of whatever the concentrations are directly under the Nomad. Especially since if you detect a concentration focused mostly outside the area that gets mined, drop down a probe on another concentration close by and then drive back, it no longer shows up, if you were rewarded even just a bit for a sliver of it from the previous probe.
Yet another idea (because I keep thinking of these after I hit Submit): Since mining is presumably still going on with the probe still active long after you've gotten the minerals, why not tie the mining rewards to the AVP system and have periodic rewards of those amounts awarded so that you don't absolutely have to do the mining more than a few times for each mineral type.
@pyrion wrote:
A couple of improvements?
Whoever placed the hotspots manually (and they have to be manually, because they're in the exact same spots in each playthrough) could at very least ensure that the damn things are placed inside the playable area of the map and don't overlap with other zones (there's a pair of zones in Kadara that are a huge pain because they overlap), because otherwise you end up with the mining gauge interface giving inconsistent readings.
Another improvement I'd appreciate is an overlay on the ground surface while the mining interface is active that delineates the extents of the mineable area, so I'm not spontaneously driving outside it and then having to deal with SAM telling me the area can be mined five seconds later when I drive back in.
There could even be an upgrade for the Mako that paints highlights on the ground surface while the mining interface is active showing where concentrations are, as you detect them, so that you can be far more efficient about choosing where to mine.
Another idea, more of a bugfix than anything: allow strategic mining, and what I mean by that is if you detect a concentration of one mineral and a concentration of another close by, and put yourself halfway between and mine there, since you're excluding a pretty sizable chunk of the map to be mined, you should get the full benefit of both concentrations, instead of whatever the concentrations are directly under the Nomad. Especially since if you detect a concentration focused mostly outside the area that gets mined, drop down a probe on another concentration close by and then drive back, it no longer shows up, if you were rewarded even just a bit for a sliver of it from the previous probe.
Yet another idea (because I keep thinking of these after I hit Submit): Since mining is presumably still going on with the probe still active long after you've gotten the minerals, why not tie the mining rewards to the AVP system and have periodic rewards of those amounts awarded so that you don't absolutely have to do the mining more than a few times for each mineral type.
Those were some great suggestions and insights. Thank you.
I'd even take some of these suggestions in the form of needing to research and upgrade the nomad, its mining scanner, and or the drones deployed.
When is the next patch? Lol
I agree with your main point.
My preliminary suggestion upon their own mechanics would be: we would trace these hotspots with a bit of exploration, finding the best area, and then your outpost would take care of mining it. You would get your share depending on how precise your charting was. The fact that you must do everything, feels like you're an all-job-husband and no one can do their job alone.
On my side, I rarely got out of my way to mine stuff.
