DeepCore Exile
The surface is death. The factory must grow below.
DeepCore Exile is an underground-start survival/progression mod for Factorio 2.0. Instead of beginning in open Nauvis, you start inside a ruined bunker beneath the surface. Normal surface construction is restricted, so your first factory must be carved out underground.
Core loop
- Start in a locked ruined underground bunker.
- Mine visible cave walls to expand into the surrounding rock.
- Use the handheld cave scanner to locate hidden starter signatures.
- Discover underground ore seams and cave-walled water chambers.
- Bootstrap electricity underground with found water, boilers, steam engines, and pipes.
- Build your factory below the surface while using shaft elevators for controlled access between levels.
Cave scanner progression
The player starts with a basic handheld cave scanner. Press Control + Shift + R underground to scan for the nearest unrevealed starter resource or water signature.
- Handheld cave scanner: prioritises first water, then reports target type and rough direction.
- Tuned cave scanner: reports target type, direction, and approximate distance.
- Mapping cave scanner: reports target details and places a temporary map tag.
The scanner does not spawn or reveal resources for free. It guides exploration while keeping cave-wall digging as the main progression loop.
Hidden starter resources
Starter water and ores are hidden underground instead of being exposed in the bunker. They are generated inside readable direction bands so each save is guided but not identical.
- water: north-ish
- iron: west-ish
- copper: east-ish
- coal: south-west-ish
- stone: south-east-ish
Water is scanner-prioritised so early power is not a blind search.
Underground threats
DeepCore Exile includes optional underground danger systems. Mining outside the starter safety zone can disturb cave enemies, and deeper layers can become more dangerous over time. Threat systems respect no-enemies map settings and include local caps to avoid runaway piles.
Depth progression
Shaft elevators connect the surface and underground layers. Deeper work unlocks stronger shaft infrastructure, ventilation, cave support, and harsher underground conditions.
Configurable systems
Several heavier systems are controlled by runtime-global settings so players and servers can tune the experience:
- surface exposure
- stale-air damage
- cave instability damage
- underground threat spawns
- shaft cargo transfer
Requirements
Requires Forgeworks Core >= 0.2.7 as a separate installed dependency.
Forgeworks Core is not bundled in this package.
Credits and licensing
DeepCore Exile is distributed under GPLv3 because it bundles actively referenced GPLv3 Subsurface-derived ventilation/support graphics.
The cave scanner icon uses a MIT-licensed YARM resource monitor graphic with attribution included in the package.