Mining Explosives

I had this idea last night while trying to use the Bob-omb looking bombs for demolition/mining.
While the current bombs work rather well as both tools and weapons, they don't really clear alot of space. Even when they do, they don't hold up well to tougher materials such as steal blocks or obsidian.

How about an actual mining explosive in addition to the bombs? It could be balanced out in a few ways to reduce it's unbalancing effects.
1. It's expensive or hard to make, say 1000 pixels per explosive. Or maybe it requires Uranium to construct?
2. It's powerful. Able to blast a wide area of normal blocks or actually rip down steel blocks and obsidian blocks.
3. It's stationary. Unlike the bombs it can't be thrown. The mining explosives must be placed on solid ground like a piece of furniture. Then once activated it flashes for 10 seconds and then explodes. This would help reduce its combat effectiveness and give it a more tool like feel. Now it could be used to kill monsters by trapping them in an arena and planting a bomb on top of it. But then if you trap anything in an arena you could kill it at ease with a gun so it wouldn't be that unbalancing.

The general idea would be that this is a piece of heavy mining equipment. It'd be meant for those who want to clear away a mountain or create a massive strip mine styled pit on a planet.

So thoughts, feedback, complaints? ^_^

 

I love the idea

 

Love the idea too.

 

I'd prefer steps of explosives. Simple ones that destroy small areas with fairly simple ingredients - And then more complex ones later in the game.

But nothing that takes out half a screen - Small explosives. Even with radioactives.

 

Yeah, we rly need more powerful explosives
I want explosives that I can connect via wires and then explode em all at once *-,*

 

For more advanced explosives later in the game, I'd like to see shaped charges of some sort, blowing up a particular pattern rather than just a radius around themselves.

 

I think you're on to something here. Tiered explosives would be a way to balance them out nicely so players wouldn't have access to the best ones early on.

Though I disagree with you on the "half a screen" comment. I really like the idea of a heavy duty explosive meant to clear space. But to each their own. ^_^

Maybe a hybrid would be the way to go. The lowest level of mining explosive only hits are area as wide as the bombs, then as the power scales up, so does the area. So that by the time you can actually use the higher tier mining explosives, it won't be cheap to have access to something that could clear away half a screen of blocks.

 

Now, I like the idea of place-able bombs. As long as I can place them on walls, floor, ceiling, where ever. But these should be shaped charges, rather than just "bigger".

A cone shaped explosion rather than just a circle. When I place a bomb on a wall, it should (for the most part) be focused inwards, through the wall and away from me. Mining explosions are all about precision, and a cone shaped explosion is much easier to be precise with, rather than a massive globe of destruction that take out everything.

 

That does raise an interesting question for me. Do items and blocks have a damage threshold where, rather than being knocked free and collectible, they are instantly destroyed?
Because the first thing that came to mind when you talked about shaped charges was using them to raid a dungeon (apex facility, prison, temple, etc) by blowing a hole through the wall.

Though one question might be: is there a place for either type of explosive in the game? What would be the benefits to a shaped charge and what would be the benefits of a classic all around explosive? Not in a vs. sort of way but in terms of how one would be preferable in specific circumstances.
For instance, If I'm trying to clear out alot of space, a circular blast area might be worth it even if it lacked the intensity of a shaped charge. But if I want to tunnel though alot of heavy duty blocks like obsidian, then shaped would be the way to go as the hole would be somewhat narrow but longer.

 

You already get it, then. Those are the cost/benefits of the two. Laying a stick of dynamite on the ground and blowing it up will do some damage to a wide area, but it's not likely to utterly destroy anything really tough.

But it you want to do alot of damage to the tough stuff, placing a shaped charge will blow right through, if you don't mind losing all the collateral.

We also won't be able to blow into dungeons for all that much longer. It's long been on the dev wish list to have an item that will be deep in the dungeons that won't let you destroy blocks until you break it first. (Bunch of killjoys jk ) Though perhaps if the particular temple in question was badly designed, and had the device against an outer wall, a good shaped charge could blow it up on the far side, even if the wall blocks didn't blow up first. Clever use of game mechanics.

 

Plasma Grenades are awesome for mining

 

I just want to destroy the large villages i come across

 

Shouldn't this be in the suggestions thread?

 

Really, if we are going down the route of craftable explosives I want a simple small charge made out of 1 charcoal and 5 sand and maybe copper for the casing. Give it say a random 3by3 to 5by5 explosive radius. On another token, if you wanted to make it into a simple grenade have the same recipe but add 5 pieces of gravel on top of it. Oh, forgot about the fuse. Add 1 plant fiber to the recipe for a fuse, and to light said fuse requires some of your character's energy so you can't spam them.

So the recipe goes:
1 plant fiber
1-2 charcoal (pending balance)
5 sand
1 copper bar for the casing
5 gravel (optional to add shrapnel, rename from bomb to grenade)

 

Well considering how you confused subforum for "thread", maybe you shouldn't be pointing fingers? But you're right - Then again about 80% of the threads here should be in the suggestions subforums.

 

I'm new to these forums, trying to get used to them. Been a while since I've been on a forum actually, been competitive gaming for too long.

 

Good point, I'll make a thread over there for this one.

 

I actually thought you were thinking about a mod introducing these new explosives (which honestly, really would be a piece of cake), until I read what MiningPenguin said. Go figure.

 

Hehe.

 

Ive already done something like this: http://community.playstarbound.com/index.php?threads/explosives-mod.41721/