Mineral variety

[Palaxin]

I think it would be nice if you could mine from iron, copper and gold ores instead of some generic metal ore. You would still gather metal from each ore, but they could differ in size and gather rate.

This actually enlarges the amount of strategic decisions to be made. Will I just savely, but slowly collect that big chunk of iron next to my CC? Is it worth to extend my territory towards that juicy gold ore between the enemy and me? Will I be able to defend my workers against possible attacks?

An option is to use this principle also for stone, e.g. marble (slow gather rate), some "normal" kind of stone and sandstone (fast gather rate). However, the differentiation for stones does make less sense than for metals IMO.

GOLD

Actually gold isn't found as an ore. Pure gold can be collected easily, but is very rare.

• very high gather rate (2.0 multiplier)
• very low amount (1000 metal per ore, 200 metal per small ore)

COPPER

Pure copper is very rare but smelting of ores can be done at 1085°C/1984°F which is relatively low for metals and doesn't require advanced techniques. Copper ores still aren't as abundant as iron ores.

• medium gather rate (unchanged, 1.0 multiplier)
• medium amount (4000 metal per ore, 800 metal per small ore)

IRON

Pure iron can't be found in nature and smelting requires some advanced knowledge/technology because of the high melting point of 1538°C/2800°F. However, iron ore is quite abundant.

• low gather rate (0.667 multiplier)
• high amount (8000 metal per ore, 1600 metal per small ore)