[TC] Confused about mining/asteroids

Damendar · Post by **Damendar** » Sat, 20. Feb 10, 14:13

Hi everyone,

I'm a bit confused as to what to do with the asteroids.

Do I purchase ore/silicon fabs and have them towed near large yield roids then place the facility?

Do I shoot them with a mining laser?

Do I have the choice of doing either?

I've never delved into this aspect of the game before and there doesn't seem to be any sort of mining faq beyond telling me where some of the really nice rocks are.

Thanks in advance!

Fanchen · Post by **Fanchen** » Sat, 20. Feb 10, 14:36

If you buy a silicon or ore fab you have to place it "on" an asteroid, preferably one with a high yield. Technically, the asteroid will be replaced with the mine.

Your mining laser is for crushing smaller asteroids. You have to do that several times until the pieces will be small enough to fit into your cargo bay.

Fanchen

Damendar · Post by **Damendar** » Sat, 20. Feb 10, 14:44

Thanks for the quick reply!

So, the marked asteroids on my map are essentially places I could choose to construct complexes, got it.

Are the 'smaller' rocks you are talking about to break up with the laser the ones that are so small they don't even get an icon on the sector map? Still not quite sure about that kind.

Thanks again!

Damendar · Post by **Damendar** » Sat, 20. Feb 10, 14:45

P.S. -

Is using the mining laser even worthwhile compared to just constructiing a station in terms of mineral yield?

I do know about stations and product chains, etc., just curious about which will get me more of the raw mineral goods quicker; factories vs. mining laser.

RyuKazuha · Post by **RyuKazuha** » Sat, 20. Feb 10, 14:47

Damendar wrote: Are the 'smaller' rocks you are talking about to break up with the laser the ones that are so small they don't even get an icon on the sector map?

Exactly. If you're not sure about whether it's a rock or a real 'roid, shoot it with a moskito. Rocks will break 'roids will yawn.

Bobucles · Post by **Bobucles** » Sat, 20. Feb 10, 14:58

I do know about stations and product chains, etc., just curious about which will get me more of the raw mineral goods quicker; factories vs. mining laser.

The Mobile Drilling System is used to destroy "huge" sized asteroids. These are all the asteroids that appear on your map. The MDS is cumbersome and brutally slow to fire, but you only need one shot from it.

High yield missiles like the Hornet missile (200K damage) can also demolish huge asteroids. I don't think any other laser type can break huge asteroids.

Normal lasers can crush smaller rocks to be picked up. The Impulse Ray Emitter and Particle Accelerator Cannon are more than good enough for the job.

Generally, a high yield asteroid will give more raw material for less hassle, but mobile mining will give more raw profit. Stations require energy cells to work, while space ships do not.

Merephet · Post by **Merephet** » Sat, 20. Feb 10, 16:49

You can shoot with laser but take some time and after the asteroid break you have more work to do before collecting the mineral.
Mine is nice but consume energy, plus in OoS (Out of Sector) the rocks is unlimited.

.

I just start a new game and i going make a massive mine operation to fuel my massive crystal complex.

I don't know if some can confirm this:
The mine process is base on speed in OoS. I try to mine with Mobile Mine Baseship (Terran TL) and took almost 4 sec to fill the cargo with 1 mineral, and with Mistral took me the same time but fill 2.

RyuKazuha · Post by **RyuKazuha** » Sat, 20. Feb 10, 17:06

With the mobile mining base it's way faster to do it IS and just crash right into the debris-field of a former asteroid. Everything small enough gets collected, everything to big gets crushed to fit in.

AgamemnonArgon · Post by **AgamemnonArgon** » Sat, 20. Feb 10, 17:11

It can be useful to equip a "Cartography" M5 (or other ship type).
I figured if the NPC's in the game do it, why not have one's own ship(s).
With a scanner, they can be ordered to scan asteroids, and debris.
I like to buy the information form the NPC's but also use my own ships, and have at least one or more on a carrier, it drops them off, and then collects them at a later date when their work is done.

Damendar · Post by **Damendar** » Sat, 20. Feb 10, 22:55

Thanks for the info folks, I completely understand now.

As for the fellow who suggested a 'Cartography' M5 or something, might I suggest the "Universe Explorers" mod, it's awesome and can be found right here at:

http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=248033

I've got 5 Kestrel's mapping stuff out for me automatically. As your explorers accomplish things they level up which lets them do more things (starts with pure sector mapping, then they start building you a sat-net, then they will eventually scan all asteroids, etc.) It's good stuff.

Thanks again for the help with roids folks!

(Geez, that sounds bad, heh!)

Novia Star · Post by **Novia Star** » Sun, 21. Feb 10, 02:05

I love Minning with TLs YAY!