T3 Drill, and now what?

[Ghostdriver]

Do I understand the game correctly that it ends after T3?

What else can I do besides continually expanding my system?

What else can I do with all this money once I've bought all the vehicles, etc.?

Is there any point, or does the game essentially end there?

[prtmh]

At that point you can farm or fish or better yet dream up your own challenge and see if you can build it. Building large complicated systems just to watch it work. Imagination
I don't know if you have it but the DLC adds some new mechanics and challenges as well.

[Ghostdriver]

So T3 is the end, right?

I can just expand my facility. But I can't buy anything else with all the winnings?

It's a great game and it was fun, but I think it's a shame it's not continuing.

I was hoping T3 would add new resources and unlock something new...

But thanks for your answer and the suggestions. :)

[Klandor]

@Ghostdriver, Hydroneer is a Sandbox game. There is no specific goal intended when playing. Each person sets their own goals. It's SO easy to earn HydroCoins, that trying to earn the most is not a realistic target. In fact, back when it was a 32-bit game, there were people that overran the maximum number of HC that the system could display. Now-a-days, it's been updated to being 64-bit, but making earning HC a goal is still a little silly.

That being said, as @prtmh said, there is Farming and earning Farm Guild Tokens (♥♥♥), Fishing, fulfilling Scroll Quests for either Items or Soups (requires Farming), and The King's Quest (which requires Farming AND T3 Mining).

The final option requires both the Original game and the DLC. Volcalidus Island is completely independent from the original game. One needs to board the ship to Volcalidus Island with NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. For the ship to depart to take you there, there must be nothing in your hands, on your head, or sitting on the deck of the ship besides yourself. It's a fresh start from ZERO. Upon arrival, you're given a Truck, a Starter Claim, and the basic supplies, similar to what you find at Ember Cradle (EC) in the original game. You are also given a quest to get you started on Funds, and there are other quests that can be picked up and take time to complete, but require no more investment than time to do things.

Beyond that, any goals are whatever you want them to be...

[Ghostdriver]

It's just a shame that it ends at T3.

I also think the game should be harder. It goes way too fast for you to earn a lot of money. As soon as you get the first drill, it goes way too fast.

Then comes core stone, which slows things down a bit.

It would have been good if the developers had included more of these brakes to make the game go on longer.

But maybe something else will be added later.

I'll check out the DLC soon. Thanks.

[prtmh]

And if you get really bored you can do things like this. :)
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3365441405

[starlight78sso]

The game goes as fast or slow as you want, it's all up to you on how fast you want it to go by how much you do.

[Ghostdriver]

That's nonsense. The game's mechanics dictate how quickly you can progress. Of course, I can just turn on the game and do nothing. That's probably what you meant, but that wasn't the point. The game's mechanics are simply too open-ended. Money no longer plays a role after you've started up the first drill. I was able to buy all the equipment after the first drill had been running for an hour. It's the same with tokens. You only have to complete two token quests. After that, you'll have enough money to buy every T3 piece of equipment and every large vehicle. It's far too easy and goes far too quickly.

[Klandor]

Money should never have been an object, which has been said in NUMEROUS Discussions. This game effectively PRINTS money. Some people look to see how fancy a gadget they can produce with the Logic Systems from Hobson's (just follow the Neon Green lights). Others look to see what the most efficient layout then can develop either in Mining or Farming.

I have over 748 hour in Hydroneer, spread across multiple Saves. Some of the saves were abandoned after an update made them unusable. Others because I want to go another route. ...And one or two others because I decided I wanted to test or evaluate something.

[Ghostdriver]

Well, people are different. Some are motivated to continually optimize the system for their own sake. Others need a bit more motivation through a story, quests, or further updates that can be unlocked.

I still don't understand why I even need a T3 drill in the game. The T3 drill doesn't give me access to any new resources. It can't do anything the T2 drill can't already do.

It's just a bit more productive.

Or am I wrong? Then just correct me. Maybe I haven't found something yet.

For me, it was just a bit disappointing. I prepared the large mine. I completely cleared New Hope with the construction machine. I spent many hours preparing all of this while my T2 drills drilled corestone and clothium so I could finally upgrade to T3.

And when I finally got T3, it didn't bring me anything new. That was a bit frustrating.

But as I wrote at the beginning, everyone is different. ;-)

[Dwarf80]

Then we need a list of end game creative ideas, other than give everything away to charity and start over. Its as good as bitcoin......virtually its all fantasy.