Meaningful ore deposits in SE2 - Core game mechanic
Implement improved ore deposits in Space Engineers 2 to encourage exploration and dynamic gameplay rather than the "set for life" mega-deposits from SE1.
In Space Engineers 1, finding a single large ore deposit often provides enough resources for an entire playthrough. This creates several issues:
- Trivializes resource management - Once players locate one mega-deposit, resource gathering becomes a solved problem requiring no further thought. Mining vehicles then remain unused and abandoned having served their one time purpose.
- Reduces exploration incentive - After the initial discovery phase, there's little reason to venture beyond your established area
- Eliminates logistics gameplay - Players simply "stock up and go" from one location.
- Undermines territorial gameplay - In both multiplayer and singleplayer, controlling resource-rich areas is not meaningful when single deposits provide infinite resources. Also they are abundant.
Proposed Solution
Redesign ore generation with a depth-based distribution system:
Surface & Shallow Deposits (0-100m depth)
Small, scattered nodes - Trace amounts suitable for early game
Easy to detect - Designed for discovery without technology:
- Size: 200-2,000 units per deposit
- Frequency: High, especially in geologically logical locations players would expect such as:
- Caves
- Cliff faces & canyon walls
- Rocky outcroppings & boulder fields
- Crater rims
- Visual cues: Rock discoloration, shiny fx
The "Bootstrap Guarantee": Within 1km of any spawn point, players will find enough visible deposits (300-800 units total across multiple ore types) to build initial infrastructure without frustration.
Quick depletion - Exhausted within 0.5-3 manual mining sessions
Mid-Depth Deposits (100-500m depth)
- Size: 5,000-25,000 units per deposit (10-50x larger than surface deposits)
- Frequency: Medium
Moderate detection difficulty - Requires vehicle-mounted ore detectors. These deposits are completely invisible without detection blocks, creating a clear value proposition for technological advancement.
The quality jump: A single mid-depth vein contains more ore than 10-20 surface deposits combined, making the investment in a mining vehicle.
Deep Core Deposits (500m+ depth)
- Size: 50,000-200,000 units per deposit
- Frequency: Low (rare but substantial)
High detection difficulty - Requires deep-scanning and digging.
Justifies permanent infrastructure - Rich enough to warrant building mining bases, extraction systems (elevators), conveyor networks, and vehicles dedicated to mining (including rovers! Show some love to mining rovers). And may extend time spent in playthroughs in a fun way.
Benefits:
- Continuous exploration - Players must regularly scout for new resource locations
- No more pointless infrastructure - Encourages building dedicated vehicles for underground exploration.
- Territory control - In multiplayer, controlling resource sites may actually become strategically important
Synergy with SE2 Features
- Dynamic world - Creates reasons to build in multiple locations and explore different biomes/depths especially with SE2's wider biome variety and novel cave exploration.
- Multiplayer economy - Facilitates trade and territorial conflicts over resource-rich regions
Implementation Considerations:
- Scanning blocks may prevent frustrating needle-in-haystack searches
- Visual cues for surface deposits (rock discoloration, ore outcroppings, shiny fx)
- Ensure players can always find something nearby and in a place they would expect, even if not optimal
- Make deep deposits genuinely rewarding to justify the investment
- These rules may be bent for more unique ores like uranium or platinum (if they are in SE2) or depending on the planet, to make each environment feel that much more unique.
- Eg: "How do we make the ice planet special?"
Conclusion:
Smaller, strategically distributed ore deposits transform resource gathering from a one-time checkbox into an ongoing gameplay pillar. This change would encourage exploration, reward engineering creativity, and create meaningful territorial dynamics - all core pillars of the ideal Space Engineers experience I would want to have and I hope others realise they might want to have aswell.
The goal is to make resource management meaningful throughout the entire playthrough compared to SE1. This was a major flaw in SE1 that I hope gets expanded on substantially in SE2.
I like this feedback
Also, potential deep underground settlements extracting large ore veins could play into random encounters and such.
Also, potential deep underground settlements extracting large ore veins could play into random encounters and such.
I don't think it's a good idea. It doesn't correspond to reality...
Raw material deposits should have a meaningful geological history, a meaningful origin and development.
I don't think it's a good idea. It doesn't correspond to reality...
Raw material deposits should have a meaningful geological history, a meaningful origin and development.
I suppose "set for life" depends on how you play...
Keen is trying to make it easier to build/rebuild instead of harder and having smaller nodes where they can be easily found would be contrary to that, so odds are this wont fly as part of vanilla, but having this as a checkbox somewhere in server-settings for people that want a more realistic/hard-core mode wouldn't be out of the question.
I suppose "set for life" depends on how you play...
Keen is trying to make it easier to build/rebuild instead of harder and having smaller nodes where they can be easily found would be contrary to that, so odds are this wont fly as part of vanilla, but having this as a checkbox somewhere in server-settings for people that want a more realistic/hard-core mode wouldn't be out of the question.
I don’t think SE1 really had “set for life” mega-deposits — I actually wish it did.
As you said, it would be far more interesting to find ore that’s harder to locate, but once discovered, makes you want to build a lasting mining operation around it.
Should these deposits be very deep underground? I’m not entirely sure about that.
It would limit extraction methods, making surface mining machines (rovers) or quarry operations less practical.
Besides, I’d rather enjoy the new planetary visuals in SE2 than spend all my time digging deep into crust layers. There’s also a performance consideration — the more we modify voxels, the heavier the performance cost becomes.
I do agree that gameplay and balance is far more important than realism. Although, there may be a system to respect both.
I agree there should be a clear progression path for production at different scales.
We’ve already seen that you can now mine some stone and process it with your jetpack to craft basic materials right away — that’s Tier 1 mining.
Tier 1 and Tier 2 should primarily enable smooth progression, while Tier 3 is where the core production gameplay loop should shine.
To encourage exploration and territorial control, I think uneven resource distribution across planets and space sectors is essential.
Developers already mentioned they’ll do this for rare materials — I’d extend it to all resources.
Basic materials should still be available everywhere to avoid blocking early progression, but their abundance could vary by region. This would make large-scale extraction more viable in certain locations and add a strategic layer to territory control and trade.
Rare elements could remain exclusive to specific environments, but even those should vary in abundance to make exploration rewarding.
A major improvement from SE1 should be a semi-randomized resource generation system.
Each planet, biome, or space sector could define rarity parameters for every element, and the game would then generate deposits randomly within that probability range.
This would make every world unique and keep resource discovery exciting every time.
One concept I’d really like to see is the removal of pure ores.
Instead, every ore should contain a variable mix of elements, similar to how SE1 stone refines into iron, nickel, and silicon.
For example:
This solves a common problem — being unable to find a specific element needed for low-tier production. Especially when we will have even more of different resources in SE2. Even if you only find small traces, you can still progress. Then, as you explore further, you can discover richer veins with higher concentrations of the elements you need.
Specialized Refineries and Efficiency Gameplay
Here’s where things get really interesting — efficiency optimization.
By combining a rich ore deposit with a specialized refinery, you can achieve the highest possible yield for a target element(s), minimizing waste and energy use.
Specialized refineries could:
The same system could be extended to component production with specialized assemblers, allowing players or factions to excel in particular production chains.
This naturally leads to economic specialization and trade — players producing certain materials or components far more efficiently than others.
It would make all materials valuable, not just the rare ones, and create a more dynamic, interconnected economy in both single-player and multiplayer environments.
I don’t think SE1 really had “set for life” mega-deposits — I actually wish it did.
As you said, it would be far more interesting to find ore that’s harder to locate, but once discovered, makes you want to build a lasting mining operation around it.
Should these deposits be very deep underground? I’m not entirely sure about that.
It would limit extraction methods, making surface mining machines (rovers) or quarry operations less practical.
Besides, I’d rather enjoy the new planetary visuals in SE2 than spend all my time digging deep into crust layers. There’s also a performance consideration — the more we modify voxels, the heavier the performance cost becomes.
I do agree that gameplay and balance is far more important than realism. Although, there may be a system to respect both.
I agree there should be a clear progression path for production at different scales.
We’ve already seen that you can now mine some stone and process it with your jetpack to craft basic materials right away — that’s Tier 1 mining.
Tier 1 and Tier 2 should primarily enable smooth progression, while Tier 3 is where the core production gameplay loop should shine.
To encourage exploration and territorial control, I think uneven resource distribution across planets and space sectors is essential.
Developers already mentioned they’ll do this for rare materials — I’d extend it to all resources.
Basic materials should still be available everywhere to avoid blocking early progression, but their abundance could vary by region. This would make large-scale extraction more viable in certain locations and add a strategic layer to territory control and trade.
Rare elements could remain exclusive to specific environments, but even those should vary in abundance to make exploration rewarding.
A major improvement from SE1 should be a semi-randomized resource generation system.
Each planet, biome, or space sector could define rarity parameters for every element, and the game would then generate deposits randomly within that probability range.
This would make every world unique and keep resource discovery exciting every time.
One concept I’d really like to see is the removal of pure ores.
Instead, every ore should contain a variable mix of elements, similar to how SE1 stone refines into iron, nickel, and silicon.
For example:
This solves a common problem — being unable to find a specific element needed for low-tier production. Especially when we will have even more of different resources in SE2. Even if you only find small traces, you can still progress. Then, as you explore further, you can discover richer veins with higher concentrations of the elements you need.
Specialized Refineries and Efficiency Gameplay
Here’s where things get really interesting — efficiency optimization.
By combining a rich ore deposit with a specialized refinery, you can achieve the highest possible yield for a target element(s), minimizing waste and energy use.
Specialized refineries could:
The same system could be extended to component production with specialized assemblers, allowing players or factions to excel in particular production chains.
This naturally leads to economic specialization and trade — players producing certain materials or components far more efficiently than others.
It would make all materials valuable, not just the rare ones, and create a more dynamic, interconnected economy in both single-player and multiplayer environments.
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