Hello, developer. First, I'd like to thank you for making this mod.

Earlier, even before the "Space Age" DLS, I'd already played several similar mine-digging scenarios. I really enjoyed mine-digging, especially leveling up my character's rock-digging skill (among other things), and also, during a break from mining, building a factory for further game progression.

I was very saddened that when the Factorio developers released this update, most of the work they'd done earlier simply became inoperable. And now that the game has been updated, I'd love to play the good old mine, but I can't because everything has been lost. So, I was very happy when I discovered this mod in the mod browser.

But now, let's get to the point. Yesterday, I finally got around to playing this wonderful mod. Moreover, since I have a very modest Twitch channel, I decided to invite my friends along for a cave adventure...

This is the summary of our first encounter (I'd like to point out that I added other mods to add variety to the game, and the video is quite long. I've attached it in case you'd like to see what this adventure looked like).
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https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2800287056
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I'd like to say that the mod was set to default values ​​(except for the starting area, which I set to 10), and when my friends and I started digging, there were several moments when breaking a stone would spawn a large (sometimes enormous) number of worms. Furthermore, they could appear completely randomly. They could appear far away from you, they could appear practically right next to you, and even... they could appear right on your factory premises, which could have obvious consequences. On the one hand, it was fun in its own way, and even kept me on edge, wondering what could happen. Sometimes, there were moments when these events would happen one after another.

It was captivating, fun, and dynamic in its own way... however, if you consider this game as a simple, leisurely playthrough, I can say that this mod setting is unbalanced. But I'd also like to add one more point. When the biter evolution reached 25%, only mid-level enemies began to emerge from the rocks. This created an abrupt transition between enemy evolution stages, making mine digging much more dangerous.

I think this is where I'll state my main point. The balance in this mod needs some work.

Now, I'd like to add some thoughts and ideas I've been thinking about.

In the discussions, I saw that the idea for this mod is based on the "Diggy Danger Ores" scenario. I played that scenario, and I'd like to point out that it had a shop! You could collect coins throughout the world to exchange them for useful items. As far as I remember, in that particular scenario, most of the shop transactions were useless. Most importantly, access to the transactions was unlocked after reaching a certain level, making obtaining truly useful items unbearably slow. Nevertheless, the presence of this shop at least somewhat brightened up the gameplay and gave the player a goal. I would be very happy if the mod added at least some kind of shop. I'll even say more. In one of the scenarios I played, there was a shop at the start, and additional shops were encountered throughout the mine, which added extra excitement to dig deeper and find a shop with better trade terms.

I almost forgot to mention that when I was playing this mod with friends, various events occurred while digging. It was very frustrating to see the game not annotate the nickname of the player who initiated the event. I'd like to see the nickname of the player who triggered the event added in updates.

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I've actually been writing this message for a while now, and I'm thinking it'll probably be really tedious to read, so it's probably best to take a break.

I'd like to point out that this message was written using Google Translate because I don't speak English, and I hope I haven't bored you with my chatter.

Thank you again for making this mod, and I plan to play it again.

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Perhaps later I'll write something else or share my new experiences with this mod. Good luck with the mod and have a positive outlook :)

Thank you for taking the time to write such detailed feedback. I really appreciate it.

I've been working very hard on The Cave recently. So far I've completed the major work on Fulgora, Vulcanus, and Gleba. At the moment, Aquilo is the last planet I'm still working on before I can consider the current Space Age integration complete.

I also wanted to let you know that I really liked your suggestions. I've added them to my development list for future updates.

In particular, I liked your idea about multiplayer notifications showing the name of the player who triggered an event. Being able to see who discovered a tunnel, cavern, treasure room, or other event is a great idea for multiplayer games, and it's something I would like to add.

I also really like the idea of adding a market/economy system with coins and rewards to give players more long-term goals while exploring.

Thank you again for the feedback. Comments like yours are extremely helpful and give me good ideas for improving the mod. I'll do my best to implement these features in future updates.

Yesterday, I was thinking about some ideas that could be implemented. I jotted down a list and thought I'd share it. Perhaps something will be useful and you'll be inspired to implement something from the list.

Besides what I mentioned above, I thought about:

• Increasing the hitbox of rocks and trees. I noticed that all objects have a 1x1 selection size, which makes digging uncomfortable. When you aim at an intended object, sometimes you don't notice that you're digging into an ore vein behind other objects (like a biter's body). It's not very pleasant.

• Customizability of ore generation. Currently, ore covers a fairly large area when it appears. There are certain players who find it psychologically difficult to start building a factory on ore deposits (if only because once the factory is built, it will have to be moved from place to place). It would be great to be able to customize the shape of the mine. This adds to the game's versatility and allows players to choose the option that best suits their playstyle.

• Add the "Ore Danger" mode to the mod settings. By setting this mode, the player will no longer be able to build anything on ore (except for miners).

• Darkness is your enemy. The idea is that it's always night in the mine. Why not encourage players to install light bulbs? If the player spends a long time in the dark, why not deal damage for it? I borrowed this mechanic from an old mine scenario. Unfortunately, this scenario is only playable on version 1.110.

• Option to disable research to improve digging tools. Various mods exist in the game that allow players to improve digging stats. One of these is an RPG mod, of which there are many. I propose this idea to maintain the option to choose your own option and avoid potential imbalances.

• Money from destroying biters and mining stone. This was the case in the mine scenario I played, and it was almost the same in the "Diggy Danger Ores" scenario.

• Money isn't the main thing. Here, I wanted to suggest making market transactions possible for more than just money. Other transactions could be made for other items, such as conveyors, manipulators, and/or any other items available in the game. This way, you could encourage the player to earn not only money but also build industries that might be useful in the future.

• Stone Breaker Counter. A decorative counter showing how many stones have been broken in the world. Either for statistics, or to link certain events to this counter.

• Alternate world? I previously played another similar version of this mod, the "Black Forest" scenario by Red Meow (the same people who made "Diggy Danger Ores"). In fact, perhaps this idea deserves a separate mod, but the essence is the same: an engineer fighting against rampaging nature. Is it viable?

• I'd rather talk about a bug. I used the "Factorissimo 3" mod in my game.

https://mods.factorio.com/mod/factorissimo-2-notnotmelon

The problem turned out to be that this mod allows you to place warehouses in a separate dimension where light should appear after researching one research item. The crux of the matter is that your mod forces night in all dimensions, rendering the lighting upgrade in warehouses useless. I wanted to bring this to your attention so I could resolve the issue.

I also had the idea to edit a video to introduce you to a scenario I once played. Perhaps this also influenced the idea for how you wanted your mod to look, but it's quite difficult for me.

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Result:

I wanted to share this so that every detail is recorded and not lost over time. I look forward to seeing all these ideas implemented (if only because I'm not the one developing this mod).

... I hope I haven't bored you with my writing and that I've written something useful. I'll be eagerly awaiting updates.

Thank you again for taking the time to share more ideas and feedback.

Regarding the balance discussion, I think it's worth explaining a little about the design philosophy behind The Cave.

The Cave is not intended to be a predictable mining experience where players can safely dig in a straight line and always know what is waiting ahead. The idea is that you're exploring a dangerous underground world. When you break through a wall, you shouldn't always know what's on the other side.

Sometimes you may uncover a small tunnel. Sometimes a hidden cavern. Sometimes a treasure room. Sometimes an abandoned structure. And sometimes you may accidentally disturb a nest full of creatures.

That uncertainty is intentional.

If worms, biters, and other dangers only appeared at safe distances and in predictable numbers, much of the tension and excitement of cave exploration would disappear. Part of the experience is never knowing whether the next rock will reveal something valuable or something dangerous.

That said, I do agree that balance is always something that can be improved, and I continue to monitor player feedback as more people play the mod.

I also wanted to mention that some of the progression systems you suggested are already being added.

A market/economy system is currently being developed. Players will be able to collect coins from exploration, treasure rooms, and other discoveries. These coins can then be spent on useful rewards and advanced equipment.

The goal is to give players more long-term progression and more ways to prepare for the dangers hidden deeper in the cave.

For example, players will be able to purchase powerful equipment through the market, including things such as tanks, Spidertrons, advanced armor, and other valuable items. This means that while the cave can be dangerous, players will also have more tools available to overcome those dangers.

In other words, the solution is not always to make the cave safer — sometimes it's to give players more opportunities to become stronger.

I also appreciate your multiplayer suggestions and your ideas regarding progression, statistics, and exploration rewards. I've added many of these ideas to my development notes and will continue evaluating them as development progresses.

Thank you again for playing The Cave, for streaming it, and for taking the time to write such detailed feedback. Comments from dedicated players like you are incredibly valuable and help shape the future of the mod.

please check new update .
i hope enjoy it :)

I'm short on time right now, so I'll keep it brief. I wanted to review the changelog, and I didn't understand some of the points. They were too abstract. For example:

Added automatic item refund system - How does it work?
Improved blueprint compatibility - What?

I also saw a line about improved balance. I took the time to test the spawn rate of worms. I saw that setting the spawn rate multiplier to 1 spawns between 6 and 10 worms. The default multiplier setting is 1.5. That means a minimum of 9 worms spawn per player. It's also worth noting that we're talking about probabilities: some players will get lucky and the worms will appear at the very last moment, while others will get them in the first 10-20 stones destroyed. Interesting. Also, the worm level generation approach hasn't changed, which immediately raises the difficulty to a whole new level. If you didn't make it, well... try to survive.

Maybe I'm missing something, maybe I'm misunderstanding something... I was a bit hasty in my assessment of what's happening. But for now, this is my opinion. I might write about my thoughts on balance later (if that would be relevant) and give my reasons for doing so. But for now, I need to sleep.

Finally, I want to say thank you for implementing the idea of ​​marking the player who initiates the event. For now, I need to get some rest. I want to know what happens next :)

Thank you for taking the time to test the mod and for the detailed feedback.

You're absolutely right about the changelog. The last few days have been very busy for me and I focused mostly on implementing and testing new features, so some changelog entries ended up being too brief and not descriptive enough.

I will try to improve that going forward and make future changelogs more detailed and easier to understand. That said, I did provide more detailed explanations of many of the changes in the mod portal description itself, including what was changed and why.

I also appreciate the time you spent testing the worm spawn rates and sharing your observations. Feedback like this is extremely valuable because it helps me see things from a player's perspective rather than just from the development side.

One thing that may also have an impact on balance is the new difficulty system. The Cave now includes four difficulty levels: Easy, Medium, Hard, and Nightmare. Players can choose how challenging they want their underground experience to be, and the differences between these settings can significantly change the overall gameplay experience.

And thank you for the kind words about the multiplayer event attribution feature. I'm glad you found it useful.

Get some rest, and whenever you have more thoughts about balance or progression, I'd be very interested to hear them. The Cave is still evolving, and feedback from experienced players helps shape future updates.

Hey, I’ve updated The Cave with a lot of new features, fixes, and improvements.

If you get some time, have a look and give it a try. I hope you like the new changes 🙂