Space resource extraction

This is a prototype of a space resource extraction game inspired by mining mechanics in Star Citizen. The player controls a small mining ship, explores asteroid fields, scans rocks, carefully fractures them with a laser, extracts valuable ores, and sells the cargo at a station to gradually upgrade the ship and improve mining efficiency.

The core gameplay loop is built around finding suitable asteroids. First, the player scans the field with a pulse, analyzes the composition of the rock, and chooses a target. After that, they switch to mining mode and begin fracturing the asteroid with the laser. The main task is to keep the asteroid’s charge inside the safe green zone. If the laser power is too high or the player overheats the rock for too long, the charge enters the red zone, overcharge starts building up, and the asteroid may explode.

Even after the laser is released, the process does not stop immediately. The charge continues to rise due to inertia, and the asteroid keeps overheating for a short time, so the player must reduce power in advance and account for the coasting effect. This makes mining more tense and requires more than simply holding a button. The player has to constantly monitor the target’s state.

After a successful fracture, the asteroid breaks into yellow fragments. These pieces cannot be collected immediately and must be fractured again. Only after additional processing do purple fragments appear, which are suitable for extraction. The player uses the extractor to pull valuable materials into the ship’s cargo hold.

Cargo can only be sold near a station. The player must return within the station’s radius, sell the mined ore, and spend the earned credits on ship upgrades. Upgrades allow the player to mine more efficiently, control the laser more precisely, increase cargo capacity, and reduce the risks of working with unstable asteroids.

An additional threat comes from the ship’s signature. The more actively the player uses the laser, scanner, and mining equipment, the more visible the ship becomes. A high signature may attract pirates. In that case, the player can try to fight them off with the mining laser or leave the dangerous area.

The game includes several active modules that help control the mining process. Stabilizer helps stabilize the asteroid’s charge, Surge provides a short burst of power, Filter improves the quality of extracted materials, and Dampener reduces the risk of overheating. The player also has access to the ICE-Breaker consumable, which can be used in a critical situation to rapidly cool down or stabilize the process.

The prototype supports procedural generation of new asteroid fields, a contract system, an upgrade shop, cargo selling at the station, localization into 12 languages, procedural audio using the Web Audio API, and progress saving through localStorage.

The controls are built around quick switching between scanning, mining, and extraction. WASD controls ship movement, the mouse is used for aiming, LMB activates the laser in mining mode, RMB activates the extractor, Tab triggers a scanning pulse, M switches between scanning and mining modes, and the mouse wheel adjusts laser power. F sells cargo near the station, B opens the shop, C opens contracts, keys 1-4 activate modules, Q uses the ICE-Breaker, N generates a new asteroid field, and Esc closes open panels.

The goal of the prototype is to create a compact but rich gameplay loop: find a valuable asteroid, scan it properly, fracture it safely, extract the ore, return to the station, sell the cargo, and upgrade the ship while gradually moving into more difficult and profitable mining zones.