Close range prospecting is not fun

[ParanormalPimp]

I actually don't mind the far range prospecting as it encourages exploration and it auto marks your map with your findings, but once it gets to the close range (Node Search) its a whole different story. I'm sorry but its simply not fun wasting a pickaxe or two digging trenches chasing an ore vein just to replenish your tools and then some. Not to mention the food you're wasting while doing it too. I've been playing on a server that has most settings on default and it becomes very tedious and I think the reason for it is the shape and size of these ore veins. Im literally getting a headache searching for tin as I chase a medium reading back and forth, up and down and finding it is barely rewarding because now I do have some extra after remaking my tools but not by much. I wish they would make the ore veins much larger and change the shape of it to make it easier to hit/find. There's a few things in the game that make the early game very punishing to simply play such as making leather and maintaining food supply because your character can literally eat an entire deer and a months worth of turnips in a single day and still be hungry by default. They need to take it down a notch to not push people away, and I'm not saying making it casual, but make it make sense and bearable. Im really dreading getting back into the game after my last prospecting and it makes me want to play something else. Figured I'd share my thoughts and honest opinion because I really like the game but I feel like it can be better. Not everyone wants to mess around with game settings because some of us like to play on servers and these servers use default settings.

[Broccoli Clock]

There are two times I use the node search;

- if I found a surface deposit and in turn mined out everything I saw, I'll strip mine in the cardinal directions (6 blocks or so), then use the node search at the end of those tunnels, just in case I have missed a vein that is close to me.

- I have followed a cave"tributary" (no idea what cave 'offshoots' are officially called) and it reaches a dead end. I'll use the node search there just in case (I'm sure we've all seen the meme about someone giving up before hitting the diamonds).

edit: using this method I think I've used up 2 prospecting pickaxes (one copper, one copper bronze) over an in game period of about a year and a half.

For everything else I rely on the ranged search.

 

4 hours ago, ParanormalPimp said:

Not everyone wants to mess around with game settings because some of us like to play on servers and these servers use default settings.

I don't play online but it feels a bit harsh to criticise the game, which has considerably flexibility, when you are choosing to play on a server that someone set up with their preferred settings and not yours. I understand the frustration, but that's not the game's fault.

Edited March 10, 2025 by ricp

[Cattastrafy]

The pro pick is def interesting and kinda hard to figure out certain aspects, but it kinda sounds like you just don't know a proper strategy to using the node search.

I can't find streetwind's reddit post where he taught me and others how to triangulate, but it works 95% of the time amazingly.

[Vratislav]

Well, I use node search three distinct ways:

a) To find bronze components or iron (and chromite or ilmenite in late game), the very well known method of vertical shafts with rope ladders and checking close range every 10-12 blocks in source rock strata. 

b) When I do caving in an shallow caves and look for things like coal, borax or sulfur at the same time, I just check the node in distinct locations like cave turns, bottoms or tops, every 20-30 blocks. It will not find every vein, but it will find some finally and it is not very time consuming. 

c) to find silver or gold subveins in quartz veins, especially to check if there is no one piece remaining.

Of course, I did things like looking for salt using propick node search, that was a bit not succesfull