~~~UPDATE 2.0~~~

There are several changes with this version, I suggest that you complete your game before upgrading.

If you *really want to upgrade* then I suggest the following process:

i/ Save a new copy of your game
ii/ Deconstruct all TechMining on all of your planets
iii/ Upgrade (keep a copy of the old version of WTA)
iv/ Play the new copy and reconstruct TechMining on your planets
v/ If there are issues, revert to an earlier save and the older version of WTA

~~~CHANGES IN 2.0~~~

i/ The value of the drops has been reduced in the "settings.json" file below:

  # the base credit value of ordinary drops (multiplied by ruins size and colony size)
  "wta_ruinsvalue_basic" : 4000, <<< was 5000
  "wta_ruinsvalue_goods" : 3000, <<< was 4000
  "wta_ruinsvalue_other" : 2000, <<< was 3000
ii/ Blueprints and modspecs can be found *even if the character already knows them*. I realized that just because a character knows a blueprint or modspec, doesn't mean that it cannot be found again when doing a deep-dive into the ruins - the concept of there being only one ever in the entire sector makes no sense. Now you can find duplicates - happy selling!

iii/ Sometimes you just don't have an Alpha AI core to throw onto your techmining structure. Never fear, Beta and Gamma AI cores will work also - though not as well as an Alpha AI core, of course:

* Alpha AI Core - 25% bonus
* Beta AI Core - 15% bonus
* Gamma AI Core - 5% bonus

iv/ The bonuses given by an Alpha/Beta/Gamma AI core can be configured in the "settings.json" file below:

  # the Tech-mining finds bonuses for Alpha, Beta and Gamma cores
  "wta_alphacore_finds_bonus": 0.25f,
  "wta_betacore_finds_bonus": 0.15f,
  "wta_gammacore_finds_bonus": 0.05f,
v/ The finds increase bonuses given by Beta/Gamma AI cores will be displayed correctly in the TechMining structure's tooltip.

~~~Overview~~~

The base tech-mining in Starsector 0.95.1a-RC6 is sad - totally not worth the effort for something that:

1/ takes a full colony industry slot
2/ costs upkeep credits
3/ provides *no* benefit to the colony
4/ has no "dramatically" higher chance of finding things on the first mining
5/ has miniscule returns (you can literally get more from the combats in the tutorial area)
6/ doesn't scale to the size of the colony or ruins
7/ goes down at the same rate *despite* the size of the ruins and the colony mining them

This mod makes several changes (the returns are high, I'm thinking of toning it back):

a/ Techmining now counts as a structure, freeing an industry slot for something that is actually directly valuable to the colonies
b/ The first mining actually provides a very large amount of stuff (10x) plus has a good chance of returning a special item
c/ A progression-system allows "leads" to be followed to find special items in the ruins (runs out eventually)
d/ All returns are dependent upon both the Colony size and the Ruins size (size 6 Colony + Vast Ruins = wahoo!)
e/ Use of an Alpha AI Core and/or investing Story Points provide:
e1/ +25% returns *each*
e2/ +25% progress towards finding a special item in the ruins *each*
f/ Each ruin-size decays at a different rate (adds 0.1% of the colony size towards stripping the ruins down faster)
g/ Each ruin-size has a cutoff-point beyond which there is no more progression towards finding special items (can still happen at random)
h/ Displays in the techmining tooltip the current ruins "decay" and the current progression towards finding the next special item

~~~User-Configurable~~~

You may find that you want to change how this mod works:

* you don't want metals
* you want to change the amounts (because the default is way too much)
* you want to stop the ruins from decaying when you spend story-points on it (or at all)

There is a configuration file so that you can tweak several settings as you choose:

<starsector install folder>/mods/WhisperTechminingAlteration/data/config/settings.json

It looks like this (TWEAK AT YOUR OWN RISK):

{
  ##############################################################
  # Settings for Whisper's Techmining Alteration
  # Tweak at your own risk
  ##############################################################
    
  # the monthly rate at which ruins decay by size of ruins
  "wta_ruins_decayrate_scattered": 0.97,
  "wta_ruins_decayrate_widespread": 0.98,
  "wta_ruins_decayrate_extensive": 0.99,
  "wta_ruins_decayrate_vast": 0.995,
 
  # the cutoff point (%) below which no more special items are found
  "wta_ruins_speciallimit_scattered": 0.9,
  "wta_ruins_speciallimit_widespread": 0.85,
  "wta_ruins_speciallimit_extensive": 0.8,
  "wta_ruins_speciallimit_vast": 0.75,
 
  # whether to drop metals at all (default true)
  "wta_drop_metals": true,
 
  # the base credit value of ordinary drops (multiplied by ruins size and colony size)
  "wta_ruinsvalue_basic" : 4000,
  "wta_ruinsvalue_goods" : 3000,
  "wta_ruinsvalue_other" : 2000,
 
  # the first-find multiplier
  "wta_firstfind_bonus" : 10,
 
  # whether spending special points has the ruins *not* decay (default false, if set to true will always stay at 99.99% decay rate)
  "wta_specialpoints_nodecay": false,
 
  # whether the player wants to ruins to *not* decay (default false, if set to true will always stay at 99.99% decay rate)
  "wta_ruins_nodecay": false,
 
  # whether to write to logfile (default false)
  "wta_logging": false,

  # the Tech-mining finds bonuses for Alpha, Beta and Gamma cores
  "wta_alphacore_finds_bonus": 0.25f,
  "wta_betacore_finds_bonus": 0.15f,
  "wta_gammacore_finds_bonus": 0.05f,
}


Tweak at your own risk. "You broke it - you bought it."

~~~F.A.Q.~~~

Q: Your mod broke my game.
A: Uninstall this mod and revert to a save prior to installing this mod. (Or start another game.)

Q: I tweaked X settings and...
A: TWEAK AT YOUR OWN RISK! NEXT!

Q: What about other overhaul mods?
A: For most other overhaul mods, you don't need this mod. It should work with Nexerelin, however I don't play Nexerelin and so have not tested.

Q: What about the newer version/s of Starsector?
A: I've looked at the releasenotes that Alex published for 0.96a-RC10 - there is no mention of any alterations involving Techmining. It's mostly bugs, ships, and weapons changes. Therefore it *should* work - not yet tested.

Q: Are you going to do much more to this?
A: I'm still testing/playing - occasionally. We will see what happens.