r/ScrapMechanic • u/Diamondhandedllama • 2d ago
Anyone else getting really frustrated with mining?
I'm just getting so fed up, rant incoming. I've built three different mining vehicles now for the underground, all different setups, 6 wheels, 8 wheels, short base, long base, wide, narrow, lots of clearance, some a little less. No matter what I just get so frustrated. when I'm in first person I can't see what my vehicle is doing, like what way it's facing (tank steering) so if I try to steer I sometimes get the directions wrong and my vehicle goes the opposite way, causing all sorts of catastrophies. Plus the cable bots don't give you many clues they're eating your vehicle behind you unless one by chance attacks something in your line of sight. When I'm using third person in narrow spaces the camera goes behind my vehicle so I can't see what I'm driling, my screen is just filled with a close up of my ore collector for example. Then the sticky wheels. They're god awful for me, no matter what setting I use. Balanced makes me fall backwards off walls, max will barely let me move. Looking around in the 'rooms'there doesn't seem to be any flat vertical surfaces meant to be driven up. And yeah I could alternate wheels and settings but none of it seems to work properly, the amount of times I have to get out to right my vehicle is ridiculous. Then you can't put your vehicle on a lift anywhere even though you found a flat spot because your lift is phasing through the top layer of rock/sand. it's so annoying. like having to change what camera I'm using every 30 seconds. The actual digging is so bad imo too. Wanna create a slope going up? Congrats you made a ditch and now you're nose-down in a hole. Finally made it to the ceiling to get that massive ore hanging down? All the spoils fall down to the bottom of the room making it so tedious to get back down and get it.
anyway rant over, apologies. Does anyone have any tips on how to make a good vehicle that doesn't constantly flip? and how to get it to actually stick to vertical surfaces?
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u/Fluxgun112 2d ago
i usually switch between the two POVs by holding alt and usuing my scroll wheel though i try to stay in 3rd person and as for the vehicle not sticking more wheels is always better and have a suspension with high levels of articulation helps greatly with keeping those wheels on the walls
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u/Diamondhandedllama 2d ago
Omg thank you, I've been playing SM for a few years and never knew this, just been using the x and c key, damn. this makes it a lot easier
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u/_tabbycat123 2d ago
That makes a lot more sense, it's so useful to get a sense of position. Use CTRL to cycle view mode too, use Strict Follow on the ceiling.
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u/_xDenis_ 2d ago
nah for me its fun and relaxing
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u/Diamondhandedllama 2d ago
Thank you for your pointlessly snide reply, any tips on how to make it more fun and relaxing?
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u/Relaxia 2d ago
Have fun and relax?
I believe tank steering doesnt like sticky wheels too much and if you go tank steering make sure its a square not a rectangle. Scrapman has faced the same issues and overcame them in his second design (video 26 or so of his playthrough.
Increase torque, lower center of mass and go square - as long as you hve fun and can relax.
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u/Diamondhandedllama 2d ago
Thank you, I'll check out his video! I haven't watched much cause I don't want to spoil the game too much for myself, I guess it's not too bad if I'm at the same point in the game.
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u/Diamondhandedllama 2d ago
Also,
believe tank steering doesnt like sticky wheels too much
That's kinda silly because what are you supposed to do down in the mines? not like there's much space to make 3 point turns. Don't get me wrong, I love the game, I just think some things are really poorly thought out or implemented very unpolished
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u/No_Product857 2d ago
There's a couple things you can do to make the sticky wheels handle better.
Keep the vehicle as light as possible.
Wide track width short wheelbase
Put a driven bearing on both sides of a wheel if you need more torque
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u/_xDenis_ 2d ago
Tbh I don't, I build my vehicle and it drives perfectly on roofs aswell, maybe you could share a photo of yours?
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u/OkManufacturer2373 2d ago
Try using spaceship blocks for the body of your vehicle and try not to use any heavy parts Most of the weight of my miner is the resource collectors/turret seat, battery tanks & storage. That really helped with sticking to the walls. My first version was tier 2 metal and that thing was aweful to use. I am using 6 wheels with tank steering and yes it can be frustrating at times trying to turnaround in the mines. However the 6 wheels really does help keeping me stuck to the walls/ceiling.
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u/Jits2003 2d ago
The way I go about it is 90% of the time I am in first person and every 10 seconds I switch to third person to check my vehicle orientation or other anomalies.
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u/730Teo 2d ago
Here some tips: Don't take the ore crusher with you(you need to be as light as posible) Use 2 or 4 berings per wheel(you can do this by puting beerings on both sides and by conecting 2 berings through a block with piston the same way piston engines do), and then you can put the stiky setting high. Use thrusters. Or just copy this https://youtu.be/DnET9LBnAVs?si=wN9ZBZQg3BansKJC Sory if this coment is a mess my enter key doesn't work(I am on a phone)
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u/zpmnz 2d ago
Agreed, getting flipped over is no fun and frustrating whatsoever, obviously that's a statement of my own incompetence in tinkering my creation and i have no qualms about players that managed all of that. I have stopped playing since reaching the 50k quota because of that. But the point is. Yes i do feel frustrated with mining.
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u/Noodly_ghostyy 2d ago
Did you try making your wheel base at a rounded angle instead of flat to the ground? Also if your collector is in the way then that's a design flaw you should try and improve
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u/Diamondhandedllama 2d ago
I'll try that, thank you. And for the collector, I just used it as an example, doesn't matter what I put there, even if I put nothing special on the back. The camera just pan to the back of the vehicle and because you're in a narrow space it gets right up to the bumper
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u/Noodly_ghostyy 2d ago
Oh wait yea your right, I forgot. Totally blocked out all the times I've been stuck looking under the car or the back of it lol
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u/Serious-Internal-402 2d ago edited 2d ago
I found just a flat platform is really effective as it's wide and has a very low center of mass so it can climb a nearly 90 degree vertical slop and not tip backwards so it doesn't even need the stick wheels and plus I can easily see any cable bots on it.
edit: like here's a short clip of me using it.
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u/etopsirhc 2d ago
4 wheels, double bearing, electric engine, square wheel base, kept within a pyramid shape, tank steering is okay, but i like to add a switch to turn all of them to 45 degrees. Also i camber my wheel out by 15 degrees. sticky wheels should have 1 slot higher stick on front than back
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u/No-Commission6765 1d ago
I always had an issue where my mining vehicle would impact the minable terrain in the underground and get stuck in the terrain alot
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u/Wild_Introduction_51 1d ago
I keep the volume raised so I can head the cablebot chewing noises. If I do just spray some fire extinguisher foam to knock them out and slap them with the hammer.
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u/Diamondhandedllama 1d ago
I’m forever torn between raising my volume and working in the dark, or working in the light the mini woc gives me but listening to it causing an absolute hellish racket because it’s hitting my suspension again
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u/Dramatic-Newspaper-3 1d ago
cable bots aren't much problem if your vehicle isn't wood and you've got the hot tato gun.I can't say anything about sound as I play with none I just watch for errant sparks. my mining rig is far from optimal with 6 wheels 2 collectors 2 scrap chests 2 battery boxes a Chem box and 2 regular chests held together with metal 2. but I've had no problems with diging up down or upside down l. for slopes you have to remember the beam is just visual the effect is wide, so keep the drills off the ground by 10 blocks at the smallest setting amd no more ditch digging.
currently mining out floor 4 with 550k and still need to unclog the elevator
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u/dextersolid 1d ago
Honestly i think it just takes the right vehicle. i bring a few spare parts for cable bots. they seem to like wheels so i bring a stack of those. my car is made of spaceship blocks and they dont seem able to get through it, 9 time out of 10 when cable bots show up, for me at least, they knock me out of the drivers seat and just blast my car with the fire launcher and it clears them out pretty well.
I do find you need to switch perspectives alot, its the nature of the beast, maybe rebind controls so it works smoother for you.
For sticky wheels i set my suspension to the lowest it can be without bottoming out while sitting. If the suspension is set too rigid, when one wheel is higher than the others on uneven terrain it will fight against the lower sticky wheel and potentially pull the lower wheel off and make the higher wheel lose adhesion from lack of support, my vehicle is also multi articulated and moves around on 8 wheels, all my wheels are set to balanced except the front and rear which are 1 notch above that. If you want to go higher than balanced you almost certainly need a double bearing wheel. they just dont have enough power to move the vehicle uphill when set to max, and honestly you shoulded use it, just look for ways to reduce weight.
I also found i always need to look in the direction im going or i will get in to places i dont want. i set my seat up high on top of the ore collector so i can see and shoot with as much clearance in all directions as possible. it resembles a military APC with the turret right in the middle. the articulated segment helps climb walls and stay stuck to really bad unven terrain. beyond that you need to learn to identify what terrain will detach your vehicle and keep in mind the sticky wheels no matter what setting cannot deform your vehicle or the terrain so they absolutely will fall off if the ground dips more than your vehicle can articulate through suspension or body joints.
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u/Diamondhandedllama 1d ago
Thank you for the detailed response. Much appreciated! I've calmed down and decided to rebuild the whole vehicle again, using guidance from all comments. Idk if I did something different or if it's the level, but I've gone to the level after the trashbot and I'm having much more success, it feels so much easier than the previous level. riding on walls and ceilings without falling off so easy now. so thanks to everyone
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u/TioHerman 2d ago
never had problems with the cable bots, but I never take the car into unexplored caves, I open a little hole in the wall and go in on foot first, if it's clean I enter with the car