STUCK ON AN ICE AND ROCK PLANET BUT NO OTHER METALS OR MINERALS TO BE FOUND

[Michael]

i have be been playing for some hours and yet to find any other of the higher or rarer metals IN THE PLANET... - I say in other than from items found in space parachute drops ... i have even tried digging nearly straight down to 100 metres of so via the level 2 hand-drill and found nothing... as well going more horizontally out 150 metres from my home base.. and still found nothing but Rock and Snow... Any got any ideas / suggestions/ tips to help this game nubie - pleaase ??

[Rox]

You need to take a hydrogen bottle and fly around at a moderate height looking for shaded patches on the surface, and then run around the surface above them holding the hand drill which has an ore detector function until you see ores showing up on the display.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Are you playing on a modded planet? If so, maybe that modded planet was made without ore deposits.

[Michael]

Spaceman Spiff : i am not using modded planet as far i know... i am new to the game.. only been playing it a few days...

[Michael]

Rox - I have flown around but all i could see is white ice and grey rock as well grassy areas.. The drill has Found nothing but ice... ..= thanks for suggestion/ advice/ tip /help

[Spaceman Spiff]

Skim the surface with your hand drill and you should see ore indicators pop up on your HUD (unless you've inadvertently turned off signals by hitting "H"). Just be careful, when skimming, to avoid smacking into something. That always hurts. A lot.

[Michael]

thanks for the tip - Spiff

[Buzzard]

"Ice and rock planet" Sounds like you're either on Earthlike (in the polar region), or Triton. Both have all the ores except platinum and uranium. In ice/snow areas, most ores will be spotted as darker patches in the snow. With the hand drill in hand (equipped, ready do dig), go over those spots and you should see some ore names show up.

Also, you can get quite a bit of resources out of that stone you've been digging up. You'll get plenty of gravel, but you'll also get iron, nickel and silicon, which are going to be needed in ...pretty much every component you'll ever make. Yes, you'll end up with more gravel than you can really use, but it's also easy to jettison somewhere and let it despawn.


There is one place in the standard Solar System that's a royal pain to start in: Europa. It's a ball of ice with some sort of non-breathable atmosphere, but NO STONE. The starter pod's Survival Kit can only process stone into ingots, but not any ores. Europa only has ice and ore... To get enough stone to get a starter base and basic refinery, one must go out into the asteroids around Europa and hand-carry rocks to get started. (Could theoretically use the 'pod's H2 thruster to go up, but... fuel use and battery life could get expensive)

[Michael]

thanks for the info - Buzzard...

[Rox]

Originally posted by Buzzard:

There is one place in the standard Solar System that's a royal pain to start in: Europa.

But the historical warning was clear : ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS – EXCEPT EUROPA. ATTEMPT NO LANDING THERE. :P

[Spaceman Spiff]

Originally posted by Rox:

Originally posted by Buzzard:

There is one place in the standard Solar System that's a royal pain to start in: Europa.

But the historical warning was clear : ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS – EXCEPT EUROPA. ATTEMPT NO LANDING THERE. :P

Here's where I don't agree. I have played survival starts on Europa several times. I just grab the oxygen and hydrogen bottle, grind down all the parts, and head to space. Before long I'll spot a "mayday" beacon (or something else SPRT-related), fly to it, defang its defenses if necessary, and start from there. It's easy to set up the survival kit on the derelict ship and I'm essentially good-to-go.

[Buzzard]

Basically, you're starting in space, with the materials from a moon-pod, not actually starting/staying on the moon. Meh, it's your game, go get your pirate on.

One of my people did a Europa start, building a base and everything. Once he had enough stone down to build that first refinery, he was all set. Power... wasn't a problem due to Europa having an atmosphere, and more ice than the whole server population could go through. (H2 engines are hungry, but not THAT hungry)

[Spaceman Spiff]

Well, dang, now you've insulted my survival prowess! I'm just gonna have to do it the old-fashioned way just to prove I can. Stand by for my report.

[Michael]

UPDATE ON MY SURVIVING ! : STILL ALIVE... LOL.. I have recently been blessed , it s seems by the Engineering Gods ; as i have today discovered some deposits of magnesium , nickel , silicon and even 1 of Silver as well as nickel... - which is strange as i was not able to detect them till now.. I have yet to make a rover but plan to do this soon but need to work how to create as yet to build a vehicle - Note: not tried Creative Mode Yet.. still trying this Survival mode... - Thank you all who commented/ replied

[Rox]

Originally posted by Michael:

... not tried Creative Mode Yet.. still trying this Survival mode...

That's kinda like learning to drive a car in reverse gear before doing it in forward gears, but whatever floats your boat :D

[Michael]

well .. Creative mode you get everything and build/craft/ create.. Survival is more the story version of the games... i am not against those who prefer to create.. i might try this later after i do well in survival..