More Sluicing & Panning

[sdbaynham 57]

I was thinking that a big problem with sluicing and panning is that they kind of serve two masters right now. The first being that they're used to collect enough small ores to leave the stone age, the second being that they're used for course-grained prospecting in search of late game deep ores like nickel, gold, silver. The first demands that ores be very rare, which makes using sluicing and panning for the second completely obnoxious.

So I suggest that sluicing and panning can drop "ore flakes" which can't be used for anything (maybe they disappear when you put them in your inventory, like knapping squares) at a far higher rate than they drop small ores, so you can get a feel for the available ores in a much more reasonable amount of time. Right now, it can take like half a stack of sand or gravel to know for sure what ores are in the area, and you have to wait there while it processes. It's not something you can travel the world doing in different spots to find garnierite or whatever.

[bsb23 303]

That's what the prospecting pick is for.

[EternalUndeath 1,208]

That's what the prospecting pick is for.

This.

And not only that, but then how would you proceed out of the stone age? Rely on surface ore rocks?

That don't respawn?

[sdbaynham 57]

The prospecting pick is for finding ore 35 and 60 blocks beneath the surface? It's changed since I last looked... Only tin, zinc, bismuth, and copper can appear above y=130, so your propick can only locate late game minerals below y=142, and even then it's unlikely.

And this would not produce flakes INSTEAD of small ores. It'd produce them in addition. It'd allow you to do prospecting at a reasonable rate instead of having to babysit half a stack of gravel, but sluicing and panning for small ores to get out of the stone age would work the same way.

[bsb23 303]

Unlike the sluice you can move a prospecting pick, its a later game version of the same function its more specific mobile and will give an answer within the first couple tries.

[sdbaynham 57]

Unlike the sluice you can move a prospecting pick, its a later game version of the same function its more specific mobile and will give an answer within the first couple tries.

But unlike a propick, a sluice at y=143 will actually find late-game minerals in the area. It's a later game version of the same function, I guess you could say.

[bsb23 303]

I'm sorry sir but you are wrong in this case, yes you may see that those are available in the area but its in the area, a huge, area that could take a year to dig up its used only to give early game hints at the areas composition. If you want to find late-game materials you can't use the sluice to do guess work the area is far too broad. Besides do you really expect for there to be this much metal in the soil everywhere if you ask me what we get from the sluice is already pretty small.

[sdbaynham 57]

A 200x200x50 area can be prospected with 81 shafts. That's a lot (but would take like an afternoon, not a year), but your'e probably not going to dig 81 shafts, since veins aren't 1x1 - if you use a good distribution you'll find it long before halfway. You're also ignoring the fact that for finding nickel, the big issue here is that sluicing works and propicking doesn't unless you're very very lucky.

[bsb23 303]

If you can dig eighty one shafts in an afternoon something is very wrong with the game and it needs to be fixed I can hardly dig a single shaft in an afternoon, you will have to share your secret. And you are missing the point that finding a small amount of nickel in that size of an area is impossible without the propick making your area more specific. You need the propick to find these metals

[sdbaynham 57]

Yes, of course- you use the sluices to find the right area and then you use the propick to find the ore.

[Jasnatdic 85]

The propick is for prospecting, you dig a hole you test the enviornment for ore. Your talking about getting rid of the method for finding starter ores so you can use it as a lazy way to find late game ores.

The sluice is for sifting out ores and gems from the non valueable elements in sand and gravel, the only reason it polls for ores in range is because of the simple logic that you won't find ore in a stream that isn't in the area.

[sdbaynham 57]

The propick is for prospecting, you dig a hole you test the enviornment for ore. Your talking about getting rid of the method for finding starter ores so you can use it as a lazy way to find late game ores.

The sluice is for sifting out ores and gems from the non valueable elements in sand and gravel, the only reason it polls for ores in range is because of the simple logic that you won't find ore in a stream that isn't in the area.

Nobody's talking about getting rid of sluicing for starter ores! I'm saying that IN ADDITION, the sluices should more rapidly tell you what's nearby. This would help stone age folks too. If copper and hematite flakes start popping out, you know to move on earlier.

And if not wanting to hang around while a bunch of sluices chew through gravel, doing nothing, makes me lazy, then I'll cop to that- I'm lazy, in the sense that I'd rather be doing something.

As for "propick is god's only method of finding ore", I'm not sure what to say- I don't know who'd think searching the infinite undergruond in 25x25x25 cubes is a good idea, and my impression was that bioxx released the precise dimensions of the sluice & pan search because he wanted us to use them for prospecting.

[Just_Another_Guy_:) 1,066]

Bioxx, as i see it, has thinked about the sluice and panning as an early, far too general way of prospecting, which can tell you what's around if you keep up with it constantly, but you can't use it for locating the ore itself because of it enormous area of search. The prospector pick is far more specific because of the comparatively tiny area it scans, and then it's best for actually access the ore you're looking for.

Also, you don't need even to be in the same chunk of the sluices for them to work; i have got around 5 miles away from my base, letting the sluices running, and when i came back they not only had finished a while ago, but also had -surprisely- a total of 14 small sphalerite -which i think it's enaff for a bar-, and an exquisite emerald. I only have 5 sluices, for those who may be asking... i feel kinda lucky about them :3

[EternalUndeath 1,208]

Bioxx, as i see it, has thinked about the sluice and panning as an early, far too general way of prospecting, which can tell you what's around if you keep up with it constantly, but you can't use it for locating the ore itself because of it enormous area of search. The prospector pick is far more specific because of the comparatively tiny area it scans, and then it's best for actually access the ore you're looking for.

Also, you don't need even to be in the same chunk of the sluices for them to work; i have got around 5 miles away from my base, letting the sluices running, and when i came back they not only had finished a while ago, but also had -surprisely- a total of 14 small sphalerite -which i think it's enaff for a bar-, and an exquisite emerald. I only have 5 sluices, for those who may be asking... i feel kinda lucky about them :3

Holy crap dude, nice!

But yeah, sluices are meant to only give you an extremely general idea, as you said. The pro pick is what you're supposed to use to narrow it down

Side note - I dislike the texture for exquisite gems. I think it should be changed :/

[sdbaynham 57]

I'm not asking for sluices to be more specific, though, I'm asking them to do the job of prospecting thoroughly in 5 minutes instead of 20 with 5 sluices.

EDIT: Or I guess let us queue up more blocks so we can actually walk away? Getting 14 ore off of 10 or 15 blocks is beyond lucky, that's winning the lottery lucky. Under normal circumstances you're gonna have to come right back and feed more gravel into it, and when your next work site is 200 blocks away, it's simpler just to hang around until you've dumped enough gravel to be sure of the composition.

[Sasqaucth 45]

Why change something that isn't broken? The mechanic works fine, and is part of TerraFirmacraft for a small time because of how extremely tedious it is. also, the dev's plan on extending your stay in the stone age, so your flake suggestion is unlikely.

[EternalUndeath 1,208]

I'm not asking for sluices to be more specific, though, I'm asking them to do the job of prospecting thoroughly in 5 minutes instead of 20 with 5 sluices.

EDIT: Or I guess let us queue up more blocks so we can actually walk away? Getting 14 ore off of 10 or 15 blocks is beyond lucky, that's winning the lottery lucky.

Yeah, I do think that the 50 'soil' limit is a bit low... but then again, just how much sand do you think can FIT in those things, lol

Do remember that each block you toss in represents shoveling in a full cubic meter of crap

And I sincerely doubt the sluices will be made more accurate

1) Sluices scan a wide area for the sole purpose of finding out what ores it should be putting out, in order to make sense in game. The fact that you can determine local ore content from this is just a side effect, and therefore narrowing the sluice's focus would actually make the sluice a little more pointless.

2) The only reason to narrow the sluice search range would be to make things more convenient for you, which is the complete opposite of the point of this mod.

So to summarize - this is not only counterproductive to the item, but to the mod as a whole, and goes against the principles thereof; it renders another long established item fairly useless; it provides overly easy metal access; you stole fizzy lifting drinks; you bumped into the ceiling, which now has to be washed and sanitized so you get nothing! You lose! Good day sir!

[Sasqaucth 45]

Give back the gobstopper though, and you win. Maybe sluices could have something else done, like maybe more nerf's because of the size of the stuff being put in. (i've shoveled meters of dirt, not fun)

[EternalUndeath 1,208]

(i've shoveled meters of dirt, not fun)

ugh, you're telling me. Shoveled 2.5 imperial tons of sand last month to level out the ground for my pool. Took up about a cubic meter.

...oh gods, the blisters...

[Just_Another_Guy_:) 1,066]

Side note - I dislike the texture for exquisite gems. I think it should be changed :/

: Agreed. Still looks nice compared to the others, but they all are kinda lame ._. i mean, why they all are equal? and for that matter, why they are already cutted when you get them?

... Yeah, i just got a bit out of topic :

[EternalUndeath 1,208]

: Agreed. Still looks nice compared to the others, but they all are kinda lame ._. i mean, why they all are equal? and for that matter, why they are already cutted when you get them?

... Yeah, i just got a bit out of topic :

Eh. I added it to my metathread

[sdbaynham 57]

And I sincerely doubt the sluices will be made more accurate

Why do you keep bringing this up as though someone has suggested it?

[EternalUndeath 1,208]

Why do you keep bringing this up as though someone has suggested it?

...I swear to the gods that that was mentioned somewhere. I specifically recall it.

Someone edited something, because I just checked the entire thread and it's gone. But I KNOW that making the sluice more accurate was posited in this thread somewhere.

[sdbaynham 57]

...I swear to the gods that that was mentioned somewhere. I specifically recall it.

Someone edited something, because I just checked the entire thread and it's gone. But I KNOW that making the sluice more accurate was posited in this thread somewhere.

You may have misread my post in which I stated that I was not recommending making it more accurate.

[EternalUndeath 1,208]

You may have misread my post in which I stated that I was not recommending making it more accurate.

No, someone quoted a new proposed area for it. I'm certain.