Prospecting is a broken system being replaced by mods. Let’s fix it.

[Bruno Willis]

10 hours ago, Echo Weaver said:

I think I'm about as close to the average player as you're going to get on a forum dedicated to the game. If your target audience is people who don't care enough about a game to hang out on its forum, you're in the wrong place.

I'd like to second this - I'm relatively new to this game, and didn't have much trouble when I started. I found it harder than I expected, and instead of accepting the challenge and figuring it out for myself I did a cursory check online, listening to 1 guide while I played. The equivalent of asking a friend who'd played, then half listening to their answer. That's a player problem not a game problem - I wanted the reward before I'd done the work. I've not used any prospecting mods, and once I'd managed to use the pro-pick successfully, it made plenty of sense. Because it was difficult, once I hit ore it was hugely satisfying. I think its important when playing VS to go into things with an attitude of "this might work, let's find out" rather than:

11 hours ago, Rexvladimir said:

The reading needs to guarantee ore in that chunk

Nothing in life is certain. 

I think this game just doesn't suit a jump on, win win win, quit and forget sort of gameplay. While it would be nice if VS were even more popular, I think the game supports a slower, more thoughtful style.

[Echo Weaver]

6 hours ago, Bruno Willis said:

I'd like to second this - I'm relatively new to this game, and didn't have much trouble when I started. I found it harder than I expected, and instead of accepting the challenge and figuring it out for myself I did a cursory check online, listening to 1 guide while I played. The equivalent of asking a friend who'd played, then half listening to their answer. That's a player problem not a game problem - I wanted the reward before I'd done the work. I've not used any prospecting mods, and once I'd managed to use the pro-pick successfully, it made plenty of sense. Because it was difficult, once I hit ore it was hugely satisfying.

Yeah! When I found iron, it felt awesome. When it turned out there was also salt, I was over the moon.

I don't think that looking up some info is really a player problem. Some games are about figuring out every mechanic from scratch, but VS and that other block game thrive on a community exchanging info. I think you can overdo it, especially in VS -- I'm just starting the story, and I want as few spoilers as possible. It's a testament to the community that I hang out here all the time and know very little. But tips on how to use the propick? I think learning from the community enhances the game.

7 hours ago, Bruno Willis said:

I think this game just doesn't suit a jump on, win win win, quit and forget sort of gameplay. While it would be nice if VS were even more popular, I think the game supports a slower, more thoughtful style.

Well said.

[Thorfinn]

@Rexvladimir, one of the things I don't think you are understanding (or at least it's not coming through in your posts) is that there are TWO distinct ore generation algorithms -- deep ores and surface ores. I do not believe the propick tells you anything at all about surface ores. Pretty sure it didn't in the past anyway. So if the copper or tin you are taking screen shots of is relatively shallow, it tells you nothing about the propick readings. You can take your first sample on the block right next to a surface copper ore body and it may still come back miniscule or worse if there's nothing in the bedrock.

Should the propick tell you about surface ore? Dunno. Do you have the faintest idea of how misleading that would be? In the right strata, on default settings, you can pretty much strip mine for copper and come out positive. In other words, everywhere you tried would be at least "Decent" which would tell you nothing at all. Which is why I play with surface tin at "Never" and surface copper at "Extremely Rare". Otherwise, the game is way too easy to be awash in metal.

[EDIT]

Incidentally, the number is actually useful. Or at least as useful as it is IRL. Prospecting IRL tells you nothing about where the actual veins are, but rather an estimate of how much metal you should be able to get out of 1000 units of matrix rock. So, yes, a "Decent" of 2.6 is substantially worse than a "Decent" of 3.2. It is definitely worth it finding your local maxima. (Keeping in mind that does not guarantee success.)

But you have to compare apples to apples. So long as you are comparing tin numbers to other tin numbers, you are doing it right. It's just that a, Ultra-high" chromite reading is going to have a far smaller number than a "Decent" copper reading. I'm guessing, anyway. Never seen an "Ultra-high" chromite.

Edited September 22, 2025 by Thorfinn

[LadyWYT]

1 hour ago, Thorfinn said:

I do not believe the propick tells you anything at all about surface ores. Pretty sure it didn't in the past anyway.

To my knowledge, the propick still ignores surface ore deposits.

 

1 hour ago, Thorfinn said:

Should the propick tell you about surface ore? Dunno.

Honestly, it really shouldn't. Surface ore deposits are easily found just by looking; players shouldn't need a propick to find them at all. 

 

1 hour ago, Thorfinn said:

But you have to compare apples to apples. So long as you are comparing tin numbers to other tin numbers, you are doing it right. It's just that a, Ultra-high" chromite reading is going to have a far smaller number than a "Decent" copper reading. I'm guessing, anyway. Never seen an "Ultra-high" chromite.

I think this is where how likely the player is to find what they're after at the digsite depends on which ore they're after. I've never seen better than a Decent reading for chromite; that's not to say it can't happen, but I think chromite is fairly rare and in smaller deposits, whereas copper is very common and occurs in larger deposits. So copper ore has a higher spawn weight as a result, essentially. Halite seems to be somewhat similar to chromite, in that I've never seen better than a Decent reading, however, unlike chromite, halite spawns in massive deposits and it's quite easy to get readings of it with the propick. It's not easy to actually find with prospecting though, most likely because it's a common resource that occurs in huge deposits when it does spawn, so it produces many readings as a result but is hard to pinpoint just by propick readings. Magnetite is another offending ore, in that it's fairly easy to get high readings, but not uncommon to dig and find nothing. I'm thinking this is mainly due to requiring andesite as a host rock, so if there isn't enough andesite in the deeper layers to accommodate this ore's spawn, then it won't spawn. Dunno.

[Never Jhonsen]

I'd like to +1 on the two previous posters; The Prospecting Pickaxe doesn't tell you about surface deposits nor Quartz deposits, and I think it should stay that way.

[Teh Pizza Lady]

You are ALL missing the obvious issue here.

VS prospecting is broken but not for the reasons you think.

Why?

Density search. No where in the space of anywhere at any time has anyone ever been able to scratch the surface of a rock and know what lies deep inside? Geologists know what lies below the surface because they dig and drill. Node search should be the default and only option for the prospecting pick. You should have to dig down to where you think the ore might be based on your best guess. And then you have to use the prospecting pick with a max radius of 3 to find your ores just like they did back in the good old days.

Prove me wrong.

.

Edited September 23, 2025 by Teh Pizza Lady
still waiting for y'all to prove me wrong

[Rexvladimir]

1 hour ago, Teh Pizza Lady said:

You are ALL missing the obvious issue here.

VS prospecting is broken but not for the reasons you think.

Why?

Density search. No where in the space of anywhere at any time has anyone ever been able to scratch the surface of a rock and know what lies deep inside? Geologists know what lies below the surface because they dig and drill. Node search should be the default and only option for the prospecting pick. You should have to dig down to where you think the ore might be based on your best guess. And then you have to use the prospecting pick with a max radius of 3 to find your ores just like they did back in the good old days.

Prove me wrong.

This also you? 

"Came here to say this. I use Prospect Together even in single player because it draws borders around the chunks so I don't have to guess where the next chunk is. It saves me a LOT of time prospecting!" - Teh Pizza Lady September 19, 2025 8:52 PM

But prospecting is perfectly fine. Memes above so relevant. 

This is why i will fight this forum tooth and nail. So far outside of Me and Thorfinn everyone else is using mods but wants to argue that the system is great. If it is so great you wouldn't mod it nor would the mod be in the top 30 most downloaded mods of all time. Will continue showing great examples of the broken prospecting system. 

Also @Thorfinn The copper was located at 35 y. More than low enough for a reading. Clearly didn't show the "chance" of copper in the picture. 

Edited September 23, 2025 by Rexvladimir

[Teh Pizza Lady]

27 minutes ago, Rexvladimir said:

This also you? 

"Came here to say this. I use Prospect Together even in single player because it draws borders around the chunks so I don't have to guess where the next chunk is. It saves me a LOT of time prospecting!" - Teh Pizza Lady September 19, 2025 8:52 PM

But prospecting is perfectly fine. Memes above so relevant. 

This is why i will fight this forum tooth and nail. So far outside of Me and Thorfinn everyone else is using mods but wants to argue that the system is great. If it is so great you wouldn't mod it nor would the mod be in the top 30 most downloaded mods of all time. Will continue showing great examples of the broken prospecting system. 

Also @Thorfinn The copper was located at 35 y. More than low enough for a reading. Clearly didn't show the "chance" of copper in the picture. 

What you said didn't prove me wrong. In fact you  just showed an example of why Density search is broken and should be removed. You shouldn't have known to look for copper there. 

[Bruno Willis]

33 minutes ago, Rexvladimir said:

So far outside of Me and Thorfinn everyone else is using mods but wants to argue that the system is great. If it is so great you wouldn't mod it nor would the mod be in the top 30 most downloaded mods of all time. Will continue showing great examples of the broken prospecting system.

I don't use prospecting mods, and think it's great. No complaints about vanilla prospecting. And most people who use mods seem to use them not to fix prospecting, but to add some quality of life features on the side. By the way, every time you find ore, that's a success, not proof that prospecting doesn't work. The pro pick is a tool to help you find ores, not a "gold now" button. 

[Echo Weaver]

I don't use mods to change prospecting. I just recommended a popular one that addressed your concerns.

[LadyWYT]

4 minutes ago, Bruno Willis said:

I don't use prospecting mods, and think it's great. No complaints about vanilla prospecting. And most people who use mods seem to use them not to fix prospecting, but to add some quality of life features on the side. By the way, every time you find ore, that's a success, not proof that prospecting doesn't work. The pro pick is a tool to help you find ores, not a "gold now" button. 

This is me too. I use the vanilla system as well, and haven't had issues. As I said before, the only time I use a mod that alters prospecting is when playing multiplayer, as it's handy to have the shared prospecting data that ProspectTogether offers. I will also note that is all that mod does--allow players to share their prospecting data with each other. It doesn't change how the system itself works.

[Teh Pizza Lady]

2 hours ago, Rexvladimir said:

Memes above so relevant.

nice getting your alt account/friend to post on your behalf. Most of the memes are used wrong.

and bait used to be believable....

[Entaris]

...does this guy not know what ProspectTogether does?

It just shares data from someone else's prospect and marks the chunk that data was pulled from.

Yknow, like a geo analysis paper. 

 

What people are "fixing" with their mods isn't what you're whinging about being "wrong with" the mechanic. 

 

Just cave dive if you don't like the mechanic. 

 

RE: @Teh Pizza Lady I get where you're coming from, but the mineral occurrence and geology modelling just isn't granular enough to warrant true prospecting methodologies, and without Density Mode you'd be burning through your propicks even faster trying to find lenses one block at a time. 

[Echo Weaver]

6 hours ago, Entaris said:

the mineral occurrence and geology modelling just isn't granular enough to warrant true prospecting methodologies, and without Density Mode you'd be burning through your propicks even faster trying to find lenses one block at a time. 

Yeah. The propick is an abstraction that condenses a bunch of analysis that wouldn't work in a world shrunk to a smaller scale and then divided into blocks. I also don't particularly want the geology degree and/or years of training it would take to do it right. I'm totally comfortable whacking a couple of blocks with my tool to say -- "Point a couple of geologists here to take samples, evaluate the terrain, and math it all up. Come back to me when you have a probability."

Edited September 23, 2025 by Echo Weaver

[Zane Mordien]

@OwenODST thanks for the laughs.

 

I don't recommend any mods. I also don't recall that many threads about prospecting being broken myself but maybe I've missed them all. 

 

Once you get the hang of it, its fine. Add me to the dog sitting there while the room is on fire meme.

[Teh Pizza Lady]

6 hours ago, Entaris said:

RE: @Teh Pizza Lady I get where you're coming from, but the mineral occurrence and geology modelling just isn't granular enough to warrant true prospecting methodologies, and without Density Mode you'd be burning through your propicks even faster trying to find lenses one block at a time. 

someone gets the joke.

Current system is fine. The improvements OP wants to make would just make it trivial. The most popular mod for this is BetterProspecting which attempts to balance this by making your propick take a massive durability hit for "cheating", but that's just it... these mods make it feel cheaty. They aren't improvements.

Prove me wrong.

[Thorfinn]

1 hour ago, Teh Pizza Lady said:

The most popular mod for this is BetterProspecting which attempts to balance this by making your propick take a massive durability hit for "cheating"

Oh, is that how it balances things out? That's pretty cool. "You can have your easy mode, but it's going to cost you." Seems it would be hard to charge enough. If it said, "There is definitely a chromite vein straight below this spot," that is pretty seriously OP.

9 hours ago, Teh Pizza Lady said:

nice getting your alt account/friend to post on your behalf.

Well, he did start out saying he was playing the game with his wife and friend...

7 hours ago, Entaris said:

Just cave dive if you don't like the mechanic. 

This. And it's not because of the mechanic, but rather that by June, I usually know where everything I need is. I've encountered it cave-diving or just running around looking at exposed rock.

I think if I were to propose a change, it would not be a better way to find these ultra-high grade ore veins the game uses, but rather implement low-grade ore. Homestake it. You can either spend the time searching for veins or you can process tons of low-grade matrix. Either way gets you filthy rich. One approach is suitable for a prospector with a burro, the other a grind with machinery and lots of processing. I'd probably favor the burro most games, but would enjoy the construction of a massive ore processing plant, too. One solves the issue with brains, the other brawn.

[EDIT]

Extending a bit, in case anyone is inclined to develop something like this, I'\d use the crucible as a portable matrix assay. That way you don't need to be a geologist or even look in the handbook to figure out which layer is the mineral bearing rock. Just put the propick in your grid with, say, 8 rocks to make a powder you could assay, put it in your crucible, and fire it up. If it reads the 3.2‰, you know your machinery is going to have to process 1000 blocks to get about 3 ore. Or to make something that isn't a dead loss, every 1000 stones results in about 3.2 (x difficulty modifier) nuggets.

Edited September 23, 2025 by Thorfinn

[LadyWYT]

7 hours ago, Entaris said:

...does this guy not know what ProspectTogether does?

It just shares data from someone else's prospect and marks the chunk that data was pulled from.

Yknow, like a geo analysis paper. 

Prior to 1.19, it was different, in that ProspectTogether would actually log prospecting results to the player map, which was a utility that didn't yet exist in the base game. The player would have to log their prospecting data manually if not using a mod. After 1.19 though, the logging utility was added to the base game, and essentially used the same system that ProspectTogether did, but in the form of a heatmap of colored dots instead of a grid heatmap. The green dots indicate good places to dig, yellow are okay spots, orange isn't great, and red of course is bad. So density search is still a hot/cold game, in that the player is looking for green/yellow dots to dig, and from there the hot/cold game continues via node search to pinpoint the exact locations of existing ore. The only real functionality that ProspectTogether offers over the base game is the ability to share prospecting data between players--only useful in cooperative multiplayer.

Of course, all of the above also hinges upon the player picking a difficulty that actually supports the full prospecting mechanic; ie, the player needs access to both the map and the node search functions. By default, harder difficulties like Wilderness Survival and Homo Sapiens don't have the map or node search enabled, so it's not possible to log prospecting data or pinpoint the exact location of ore veins--it's pure educated guesswork, for the most part. In multiplayer, node search is turned off by default. In all three of these cases though, it's not necessary to use a mod to "fix" the prospecting mechanic; all the player has to do is turn on the map and enable the propick's node search.

Obviously for multiplayer, one needs to be a server owner in order to change anything, but in singleplayer instances those gamerules can be changed at any time via a couple of console commands and a world reload. In the instance of Wilderness Survival/Homo Sapiens...those are intended to be very tough and unforgiving, which is the experience that the player signed up for by picking one of those difficulties. It can, of course, be altered by changing the game rules if certain bits prove too difficult, but otherwise the answer isn't to make those particular game modes easier.

7 minutes ago, Thorfinn said:

I think if I were to propose a change, it would not be a better way to find these ultra-high grade ore veins the game uses, but rather implement low-grade ore. Homestake it. You can either spend the time searching for veins or you can process tons of low-grade matrix. Either way gets you filthy rich. One approach is suitable for a prospector with a burro, the other a grind with machinery and lots of processing. I'd probably favor the burro most games, but would enjoy the construction of a massive ore processing plant, too. One solves the issue with brains, the other brawn

I like this idea. I've kinda experimented a bit with it in the game too, although it's been a while, via the Geologic Additions mod...I think it was, anyway. In any case, one of the things the mod added was pyrite ore, which was quite easy to find since it was fairly common and spawned near the surface. Bog iron was also a thing, and also easily found since it spawned on the surface in bodies of water. The drawback to both sources though was that they were low quality; pyrite occurred in big deposits, but it took a lot more pyrite ore to get the same amount of iron as one would get from typical ore. Bog iron was more comparable to typical iron ore in terms of output, but there were only a few blocks in a deposit, so it was necessarily to find several many deposits of bog iron to get any kind of useful quantity.

Is it actually easier like that? Yes and no. It was less dangerous to go after ore like pyrite and bog iron, but overall took a lot more work to get the same results as a standard iron mine.

[Teh Pizza Lady]

43 minutes ago, Thorfinn said:

Seems it would be hard to charge enough. If it said, "There is definitely a chromite vein straight below this spot," that is pretty seriously OP.

I looked at the mod description and it consumes more durability the wider your search area. But it doesn't give you much else besides how far away you are. You still have to triangulate your data to find the best spot to dig.

But yes, if it said, "You are standing directly over the most valuable ore in the game", it should make you eat the entire propick for that. Like physically STUFF IT INTO YOUR MOUTH and start chewing. Yum.

[Thorfinn]

@Rexvladimir, I apologize up front for not having zoomed in to see the prospecting data. Based on that reading, you aren't showing anything odd. You wouldn't hold up a royal flush and say it somehow disproves the probabilities in poker, would you? That's all density search tells you. The probability of being dealt a royal flush. It neither guarantees you will get one every x hands, nor does it say you won't get one before x hands.

I get that you want it to be something else. But it isn't, and the people you are discussing this with you are fine with just knowing the probabilities. To us, it's simply not "broken", any more than the chart in Hoyle's is broken. Since you want something drastically different, like it or not, that's the place for a mod, not for ripping the page out of the book and making everyone else play your game.

[Moltrey]

Not having even sniffed the whole prospecting/mining aspect much personally, yet still interested enough to scan the prior three pages of this thread leads me to ask:

After boiling the issue down, aren't we right back at a core concept of how much work should the VS design require of a person in order to successfully obtain a given ore (or anything else for that matter)? It seems pretty clear to me at least that making one aspect more streamlined or even easier would tend to break the status quo of VS progression, at least compared to other progression areas. Sure, there is a healthy dollop of luck involved along with the process (pretty realistic, eh?) and I can see where folks can get really discouraged with the concept in practice (we'll get back 'round to that word).

But I could say the same about starting in the stone age as a newb, until you read enough on it or watch vids and then do it, you're lost as what to do to be efficient enough to not starve if your luck is poor. I could perhaps see Tyron tweaking prospecting here or there but I don't foresee larger "work reduction" changes. It just doesn't strike me as the right VS vibe taken along with everything else in the game.

Zooming out here a bit for side reference- I also play Matrix Games War in the Pacific: Admirals Edition. It is a very demanding PC wargame that simulates most aspects of the war in great detail. It also is definitely not for most people even if they are interested in the subject. Learning demands a lot of perseverance and persistence and there are many moving parts that require your attention. My father served in the USN during the war and I was in the USN myself, so for me the juice is worth the massive squeeze required.

Getting back to VS, overcoming frustration regarding prospecting due to its nature in the game and the realistic randomness involved requires the old saying - Practice makes perfect, or at least adequate in order to overcome the bad vibes from failure frustration. At the end of the day, a big part of Vintage Story's divisiveness comes from design choices Tyron made when he decided to forge off in another direction from that other block game. Simple as that.

Either embrace the suck or don't. Spending enough time with the game will raise your skill enough to no longer get ansgty about all the whys and what-fors involved.

At least, that's how this noob sees it.  

Edited September 23, 2025 by Moltrey

[Bruno Willis]

7 hours ago, Thorfinn said:

I think if I were to propose a change, it would not be a better way to find these ultra-high grade ore veins the game uses, but rather implement low-grade ore. Homestake it. You can either spend the time searching for veins or you can process tons of low-grade matrix. Either way gets you filthy rich. One approach is suitable for a prospector with a burro, the other a grind with machinery and lots of processing. I'd probably favor the burro most games, but would enjoy the construction of a massive ore processing plant, too. One solves the issue with brains, the other brawn.

I really like this idea. There was a big gold rush around where I come from, and you can bike around the area now and find rusted out pounder machines and sluice pipes everywhere. It makes a really attractive industrial picture, and I really want to be able to crush stones into gravel using my pounder anyway (the problem I see is that you shouldn't then be able to pan it for copper arrowheads etc.) 

Possibly: Use a pounder to break up stones into 'jagged gravel' which can be used in all the same recipes as normal gravel, but jagged gravel of different stone types have different and very limited panning tables which get you ores occasionally, and muddy gravel occasionally, and maybe sand occasionally? (but sand would have the same issue with panning for man-made things, so probably not). The yield would be low enough that you'd want to make an industrial sluice system, which would need mechanics to make it look good - simulating a good water flow and making the sluice longer and longer to increase the yield.

Edited September 23, 2025 by Bruno Willis
Edit for clarity

[Entaris]

7 hours ago, Thorfinn said:

you can process tons of low-grade matrix.

Yes, very this. Oh my god this.

And also byproduct/coincidental mineral occurrence.

They already have the concept of "child deposits" with silver and gold, they just need to expand upon that so my copper holds gold etc

3 hours ago, Moltrey said:

"After boiling the issue down,"

"Zooming out here a bit"

"Either embrace the suck or don't."

Hey this guy sounds like a Squi-

3 hours ago, Moltrey said:

"and I was in the USN myself"

Called it.

 

@Bruno Willis "Rusted out?" She's not rusted out, she's just sleeping...

Edited September 23, 2025 by Entaris

[Professor Dragon]

CASE STUDY: RECOMMEND A COURSE OF ACTION IN THE SEARCH FOR CHROMITE

Here's the example that is facing me, Professor Dragon, right now: "The Hunt for Chromite."

REQUEST: If anyone would like to make suggestions or a course of action, I'll implement them in my world.

AIM: Find Chromite.

BACKGROUND: 

• The world is 11 game years old, and I am a little way from world spawn.
• Game was created on v1.16.4 and has been updated to 1.21.1 Stable.
• Steel tools are available, as are most resources.
• Prospecting has been done haphazardly for several thousand blocks around my current main base in all directions. Denser along trade routes.
• ProPick Node setting is 6 blocks.
• Two Chromite readings have been found with Density mode.
  Reading 1 - In a mildly Temporally Unstable zone. Bauxite over Andesite. (Referred to as "Unstable")
  Reading 2 - In the most mountainous region found. Bauxite over Andesite. (Referred to as "Mountain")
• Nine game days were spent travelling to and prospecting at Reading 1 (Unstable) sinking shafts to mantle and triangulating readings. Best reading "Decent" at 1.71%%.
  Broken chunk borders were several chunks away and appeared out of range.
  It had three large caves nearby, but all three collapsed due to ground instability, and poking around in them didn't show anything but mobs. No other ores seen.
  Called a halt here due to Temporal Instability making mining and recovery hard, winter, and "over it."
• Spent three game days travelling to and prospecting Reading 2 (Mountains). I never found another reading for Chromite, even when taking a Density reading right next to the original reading spot, which was "Poor" at 0.76%%
  Called a halt here due to not repeating a single reading. World height also varied sharply from near limit to sea level at times. No broken chunks.

POSSIBLE ACTIONS:

1) Dig at Reading 1 (Unstable) more.
2) Prospect more.
3) Other?

COMMENTS:
I'm willing to keep digging the Reading 1 (Unstable) area if suggested.
I have given up on Reading 2 (Mountains) as a weird anomaly.
I am holding off using an x-ray mod, to see what can be done with good ol' fashioned prospecting.

The Temporal Instability is mild at ground, but severe at lower levels. Recovery is hard, as even though the surface is mildly positive, I effectively need to move out-of-zone to recover, and that takes a while both for the recovery and the travel.

I have put down one main shaft at the main source, and then poked other shafts down around it, but there is only one that goes surface to mantle at the highest Density reading.
ProPick Node readings at 6 - 12 block intervals have so far shown no ore (but some copper and odds and ends), but mostly nothing.
I have tried some horizontal shafts at mantle, and +18 from mantle. Plus some miscellaneous. Nothing. 
Plus burnt the last of my iron ProPick taking readings - now onto a new shiny steel one.

On the upside, Floyd the Artisan Trader runs a really nice line in decorated pots at reasonable prices, so it is worth the trip just for that.

MAPS:

Reading 1 (Unstable) map. Zoomed IN to maximum.

Plots of ProPick readings for everything (not just Chromite). Zoomed OUT maximum.

 

Suggestions are welcome.  Really.
I'd like that Chromite.

Thanks, Professor Dragon.

 

Edited October 17, 2025 by Professor Dragon
Attachments resized to save space. Ask if required.

[LadyWYT]

2 hours ago, Professor Dragon said:

1) Dig at Reading 1 (Unstable) more.
2) Prospect more.
3) Other?

I would try digging at Reading 1 first, since that is the best reading you're found. The area might be unstable, but you should have several minutes real time to work with before your stability drops too low to continue mining. If you have extra temporal gears, you could also bring one or two with you to restore stability, rather than take a break from the expedition.

In any case, you'll want to go deep for chromite, as it spawns down near the mantle. You probably know this bit already, but make sure you are digging with a steel pick as well, since chromite requires steel tools to mine.

If there's nothing at Reading 1, check any other readings of chromite that you've found, unless they are marked miniscule. Poor or Very Poor readings aren't ideal, but that doesn't mean the ore isn't there at all. If you still can't find anything, then it's time to go prospect other territory until you find more readings that seem worth checking. If it's an older world that was updated to 1.21, I would try to search freshly generated chunks if possible, as it seems border chunks on older worlds have issues with prospecting data.

I will note that chromite deposits, while not nearly as large as iron, do tend to be a decent size, so one deposit is likely all you will need to find.