Core Game Mechanics (How the loop works)
1) Movement + Aim
- WASD / Arrow keys: Move the ship (simple inertia).
- Mouse: Aims the ship/nozzle direction.
2) Range Gate (The Ring)
- Each node has a mining radius (the big circle).
- Mining only happens when the nozzle is within that radius.
3) Mining Action
- Hold LMB: Fires the mining beam and extracts ore over time.
- Output rate is computed from:
- Overclock
- Material hardness
- Efficiency (waste + sweet band + upgrades)
4) Heat System
- Mining adds heat based on:
- Overclock (nonlinear)
- Material heat multiplier
- Cooling reduces heat based on:
- Ambient cooling
- Radiator upgrades
- Cooling curve
5) Overheat and Recovery
- If you hit Max Heat, you can trigger:
- Lockout timer (beam disabled)
- Thermal soak penalty afterward (temporarily reduced efficiency)
- Vent Burst gives emergency control but introduces waste.
6) Stability, Waste, and the Sweet Band
- Higher OC and unstable materials reduce stability → wasted energy rises → efficiency drops.
- Keeping heat in 55–75% range gives a sweet bonus (rewarding disciplined sustained mining).
7) Progression Proof
- Ore increases cargo.
- A small portion auto-sells into credits so the player always sees forward motion.
This is the full “mining laser” POC: it proves a complete gather loop with real tradeoffs (heat discipline + overclock risk + efficiency management), not a hold-click-to-win bar.
HUD Box 1 (Top-Left): HEAT + SAFETY
What it is: Your laser is a heat engine. Mining generates heat. Cooling removes heat. If you push too hard, you overheat and the laser locks out.
What you see
- Current Heat (X / Max): Your current temperature and the maximum you can safely hold.
- Sweet Band (55–75% of max): A target zone on the heat bar. Holding your heat inside this band gives a bonus to efficiency/yield.
- Cooling: How fast heat drains when you are not mining (and partially while mining).
- Heat/sec: How fast heat is being generated while mining at your current overclock/material.
Buttons
- Vent Burst (R): Instantly dumps a chunk of heat. Tradeoff: it increases “wasted energy” briefly (you vent inefficiently).
- Auto-Shutoff: Prevents hard overheat by cutting the beam when you’re at the heat limit. Tradeoff: you stop mining sooner.
Key rule
- If Heat reaches Max, you can trigger an Overheat Lockout (beam disabled for a few seconds) plus a short recovery penalty.
HUD Box 2 (Top-Right): MINING LASER (POWER, RISK, STABILITY)
What it is: This is the control panel for how hard you push the beam, and what that does to performance and reliability.
What you see
- Overclock slider: Primary throttle. Higher = more ore/sec, more heat/sec, more instability.
- Ore/sec: Live output rate (what you’re actually getting right now).
- Risk: A derived danger indicator that rises when you:
- overclock higher
- run hotter (closer to max heat)
- mine unstable materials (crystal etc.)
- Stability: How “clean” the beam is. Lower stability means more power is wasted and output becomes less efficient.
Upgrades
- Radiators: Increases cooling rate (lets you sustain mining longer).
- Lens: Improves efficiency/stability (more output for the same heat).
- Heat Sinks: Increases Max Heat (more buffer before overheat).
- Coupler: Raises maximum overclock (but increases instability at high OC).
- Thermal Soak: Reduces the post-overheat recovery penalty.
- Crit Kit: Increases fracture/crit chance (more “chunk” bonuses).
Key rule
- Overclock is never “free.” Higher OC increases output and pushes you toward heat lockout and/or wasted energy.
HUD Box 3 (Bottom Bar): INVENTORY + PERFORMANCE READOUTS
What it is: This is the scoreboard for the loop—what you’ve earned and why your current output is what it is.
What you see
- Cargo Ore: How much ore you currently have stored.
- Credits: Proof-of-purpose currency. A small portion of ore is auto-sold as a trickle so you always see progression.
- Efficiency: Your effective multiplier after penalties/bonuses.
- Sweet Bonus: The bonus you get for keeping heat in the sweet band (0% unless you’re in 55–75% range).
- Wasted: The percent of output you’re losing due to instability/inefficiency.
Buttons
- Reset: Resets stats and positions to baseline.
- Respawn Node: Spawns a fresh resource node.
Key rule
- Efficiency is the “real” result of your decisions: it’s where risk/stability/heat discipline shows up.
HUD Box 4 (Center Overlay): STATUS / FAILURE STATES (MAKES IT UNAMBIGUOUS)
What it is: A big, unavoidable message when the game is refusing to mine or is forcing you into recovery.
States
- OUT OF RANGE: You’re not inside the node’s mining radius (the big ring). Move into the ring.
- OVERHEAT LOCKOUT: You pushed heat to max and the laser is disabled temporarily. You must cool down.
- AUTO SHUTOFF: You hit the heat ceiling and autosafe cut the beam to prevent lockout.
Key rule
- This overlay exists so “nothing happens” is never confusing. It tells you exactly why.