Smoother Mining

1.0.4
13 November 2026
13 changes in this update

Added

3 changes
  • Sandbox mode – Journal > Save & Camp: a separate concession where every machine you have unlocked is free to place. Research stays on your concession. Your own game is saved first and stays untouched. No scores or achievements in the sandbox.

  • Downhill Conveyor – the inclined belt run the other way, to bring ore down the hill (unlocked by Inclined Belts).

  • Kopje Star reward – finding the first legendary also gives a free Trommel to sort the rocks out of the soil.

Improved

5 changes
  • Research – the first machine a technology unlocks is now free, so you no longer pay twice (research, then machine).

  • Digging – tools always hold at least 3 scoops, whatever their upgrades.

  • Digging – a bucket, wheelbarrow or cart parked within 3 m fills automatically as you dig.

  • Excavator arm – drops onto a belt or hopper behind it or beside it, within 3 m (was 2.5 m, behind only).

  • Building – belts and machines connect from a little further away, so they line up more easily.

Fixed

5 changes
  • Small heaps of dirt no longer block building: the machine pushes them aside.

  • Heaps no longer hide under concrete slabs.

  • Yellow ground mixed with calcrete or other rock is no longer refused by the sieves: the rock is screened out with the sand.

  • Dropping your tool load [G] while digging a hole no longer fills the hole back in: it lands behind you.

  • The Excavator arm now uses a conveyor placed right next to it.