Prospecting Like a Pro: A Guide to Finding Resources in Vintage Story

#VintageStory #Propick #Halite #FindingIron #OreNodes
How to find halite and iron deposits in Vintage Story, 2023 Update
In this video about prospecting in the game Vintage Story, we'll show you how to find those elusive halite and iron deposits. From understanding chunks and rock strata to using the propick and how to triangulate, you'll learn everything you need to know to prospect like a pro. We'll cover topics such as sedimentary and igneous rock layers, surface topography, and how to use the propick in density and node mode. We'll also show you how to "core sample" and how to triangulate to find those resources you've been searching for. So, get ready to dig deep and strike it rich with this comprehensive guide to prospecting in Vintage Story.
Dan Hurd Prospecting - / @danhurd
Streetwind Methodology Reddit Post - www.reddit.com/r/VintageStory...
Chapters
0:00 - Introduction
0:37 - Ore generation
1:06 - Rock layers
2:06 - Topography
2:24 - The propick debate
2:51 - Density vs Node Search modes
3:36 - Reading the search results
3:51 - Where to dig: The Shino Methodology
6:10 - How to dig a chunk for halite
6:41 - Pay it forward, Like and Subscribe
6:46 - Real world example
7:30 - Conclusion

[@LolzmeplzTTV]

Great video! It was clear and concise. Sometimes it hard to find a nicely edited video explaining things in Vintage Story, so I really appreciate this one!

[@Shino_Gaming]

Thank you for the feedback and for watching.

[@abyschan]

Just found my first ever halite dome! Thank you! It also intersects about four locust nests! I hate it!

[@Shino_Gaming]

Well done!? Seriously, happy you found halite. You'll find that finding halite will come much easier from now on.

[@edwardkenway148]

Imma be making them steel tools real fast now and they be down to their knees praying to God when they hear my footsteps upon the cave floor as i approach them

[@Shino_Gaming]

Drifter: "Wait, do you hear the storm?" Edward: "I am the storm!"

[@danderth]

Goodness, thanks, but I'm going to have to watch this again...and again. I don't like prospecting, so I need to learn it instead of running around.

[@Shino_Gaming]

You can do it! Find a methodology that works for you. I like mine because it makes me feel like the effort is more fruitful.... And stop playing with the bears!!! Enjoying your videos.

[@danderth]

@@Shino_Gaming lol, thanks.

[@adamromanak7605]

With a decent reading I would get some pretty high yields, but even with poor I managed to get 2500+ nuggets of iron, so its not so bad if you're desperate for a certain ore to give it a shot and go looking for something that says poor.

[@Shino_Gaming]

Very valid point. The verbiage on the results, scales with the rarity of the ore. Very Poor copper likely means the chance to find is much lower than a Poor reading. Very Poor on Halite means there is a near perfect chance to find Halite. Thanks Adam. This gives me an idea for a new video.

[@tehNashty]

Interesting!

[@adamromanak7605]

@@Shino_Gaming Sorry for late reply, I didn't get a notification. I felt that the game didn't have enough metals - if it was the case that only decent or high readings were getting results - so it makes sense that we should be able to mine ores out even with a poor or very poor reading. I guess in this way if ever there was a PVP server, areas can be contested over with high readings for certain ores, and areas with poor readings will still allow players to advance through different ages so to speak. It would be interesting if we had different methods of mining though. I know for a fact that during the Roman period they would encase an area with wood from floor to ceiling and let it burn for days, which would cause the rocks to crack and allow them to then mine and cart the ores out. In this way the process would take longer, but allow a greater amount of ore to be harvested, preventing players from depleting a zone so quickly with the old hack and pick method, particularly on online MP servers. I guess this could be further balanced with mega veins of ore like we sea in real life. Entire mountains literally made of iron that can be mined. but the process requires extensive purification using coal dust. "The Haematite reacts with Carbon in the cast iron to give pure iron and carbon monoxide gas which escapes. Limestone is then added as flux, and it creates the slag. Impurities such as S, Si pass into the slag and the slag later can be easily separated to yield pure iron.

[@ptrd4111]

I like this system even though it can be confusing at first. It adds a new level of complexity to mining that makes it into an acquired skill rather than mindlessly digging tunnels everywhere.

[@Shino_Gaming]

Agreed.

[@HazielBlack]

what is cool about vintage story is that once you find a good mine you can spend a very very very long time mining that location alone as it will contain tons of the mineral... I have built a bunch of mines that its just endless amounts of specific minerals and its soo satisfying.

[@Shino_Gaming]

That sounds amazing 👏 I enjoy being immersed in the game world.

[@HazielBlack]

yeah, if I would say one of the things that made me love this game is how rewarding getting everything is, everything takes work and thus makes it valuable I wish for some features in the future like customize weapons and name them, or even custom tools that can be repaired. hahaha. @@Shino_Gaming

[@justashh5064]

Great tutorial! Prospecting has been pretty confusing but your video definitely helped me understand how to use it

[@Shino_Gaming]

I'm glad. Thank you for watching.

[@DejFidOFF1]

Great vid, nice edit ! Appriciate this guide, even I am experienced man with using prospecting pick ! :)

[@Shino_Gaming]

Thank you for your comments and for watching.

[@TheLivirus]

I don't like bringing ladders, so I tend to dig 45 degrees downward. Not as efficient, but I like it.

[@Shino_Gaming]

Find what works and own it. That's not a bad quality to have as a person.

[@boofe7206]

I usually end up digging 45 degrees downward in a spiral within whatever chunk I'm looking for ore in. Radius search along the way and I've almost never come back out dry. We won't talk about how many pickaxes I use, however I find smithing easier than getting shittons of sticks

[@qptech]

Super helpful!

[@Shino_Gaming]

Thanks Quentin.

[@TheLivirus]

Great! A few words on oddities like olivine, bauxite, and marble could've helped the uninitiated.

[@Shino_Gaming]

Sounds like a great idea for a video, I'll start working on it.

[@skinisdelicious3365]

Im learning the hard way that this game is very hard

[@Shino_Gaming]

For me I loved the challenge of easy play throughs

[@Agent.Orange.]

Thank you very much for the video... ive jumped from unga bunga to copper, but now starts the real trial... finding the rest.

[@Shino_Gaming]

It always feels like a major accomplishment once you make that jump. Let me know how things turn out.

[@Agent.Orange.]

@@Shino_Gaming I like the prospect pick alot and been using it with the prospectorinfo mod. Its been a little hard for me to find stuff still since i have to just pick and dig my way to see what i find in the chunk while not using the node search. I guess just to add a little challenge hahah. But almost out of the bronze era.

[@Shino_Gaming]

@@Agent.Orange. good on ya.

[@tehNashty]

​@@Agent.Orange.Find the rock type that hold the ore you want. That narrows it down a ton.

[@YoutubeAccountName]

The link to Dan Hurd Prospecting doesn't seem to work in the description. Here it is for those who want it: www.youtube.com/@Danhurd

[@Shino_Gaming]

Thank you. I updated the description as well.

[@wurfelumdiewelt5301]

Is that a mod that enables you to see the chunks with their ore probabilities on the map? I'd like to have that for my game too

[@Shino_Gaming]

Yes it is Prospector Info Mod

[@Hughmong_Us]

​@@Shino_Gaming What about the chunk borders being shown in-world? Is that in the vanilla game? What's the hotkey for it if so?

[@Shino_Gaming]

@@Hughmong_Us it is part of the vanilla game. It is a client side command that you type into the chat window. /debug wireframe chunk

[@Hughmong_Us]

@@Shino_Gaming Thank you

[@fcatulo]

Absolutely killer video. Will definitely try your method next time I play. I do have a question: how does one tell the borders of a chunk with the new prospecting changes in 1.19 and prospector info still not caught up?

[@Shino_Gaming]

Thanks for the love and keep me posted how you do next time you go prospecting. The command line .debug wireframe chunk should still work in 1.19 versions to show you the chunk borders and there is a fork of Prospector Info that has been out for a while and works with 1.19.3 called ProspectTogether by Wooza. It can be used on a single player world and has the same functionality of the original.

[@fcatulo]

@@Shino_Gaming oh killer! I’m definitely downloading the fork. I’ll probably be able to play this weekend and I’ll let you know how it goes, spring of my second year just started in my current play through and I’m hurting for salt lmao The modded series is great, btw, I’m having a blast watching it

[@donaldslayer]

Honestly the only way I can even remotely locate halite is by typing /gamemode creative, grabbing a block and placing it around, typing /gamemode survival and mining it. Works every time.

[@Shino_Gaming]

Nothing wrong with that, in the beginning I worked up a bit of lore where I had a boat dock with barrels of halite and I said that a merchant ship was trading flax for halite. Keep practicing though, once you find it the first time, it will become easier the next time.

[@donaldslayer]

@@Shino_Gaming hahaha I was raging before bed. I haven’t actually done it yet, I went in creative and placed the blocks but I think I’m going to go back in and delete them instead of mining them. It’s just frustrating at times. I’ll give it another legit shot today. I don’t really need it that badly yet anyway so I’m sure my future travels will lead to it naturally, but dang does it seem borderline impossible to find 🤣

[@Shino_Gaming]

@@donaldslayer Rage away my friend. You'll get it, I remember the day I was mining and I got a hit for Sylvite, I completely forgot that spawned in Halite and I was looking it up in the handbook to see what it was used for. "Cool something for my garden" then I saw "only in halite"....."Wait; what?"

[@donaldslayer]

@@Shino_Gaming ha! I’ll have to double check my prospects to see if there’s a hit for that in one of them. I also think I’m on the right track for tracking down some cassiterite, started moving outward from one point that had a very low amount and one of the points has a higher amount. I think I need to keep moving in that direction until it starts to get lower again and then back track and pick another direction? We’ll see how that goes. I’m waiting on a bunch of flax to grow to upgrade my inventory before making my way out there since traveling with enough to survive leaves little space to collect anything.

[@Officialjetsetjourney]

Hey I only play in homo sapiens mode so as a result i don't have a world map so can you make a guide on how to prospect on homo sapiens

[@Shino_Gaming]

You got it

[@bitterjugg]

How do you enable the map overlay thing you're using around around 0:43 to highlight chunks you've used the propick on?

[@Shino_Gaming]

Prospector Info Mod

[@jtaylor3609]

The only thing I care about is marble. White green and pink.

[@tehNashty]

Are there any tricks you have found to make that easier or more productive?

[@Rand0motion]

How do you show the chunk overlay on the minimap like that?

[@Shino_Gaming]

It is from the Prospector Info Mod

[@rahul9704]

Damn.

[@Shino_Gaming]

Is that a good "damn" or a bad "damn"?

[@rahul9704]

@@Shino_Gaming Your explanation is really good! Didn't expect it'd be this much work, though.

[@Shino_Gaming]

@@rahul9704 I see. With practice you will see it gets easier. Just did a 30 minute prospecting session and found a huge iron deposit, bunch of lead and a large halite deposit. You'll get the feel for it. My method isn't meant to find all the ore, just to find the ore needed with minimal tool durability loss.

[@yousfhelal321]

2Q How you show the chunk on the map?, and the timer up left?

[@Shino_Gaming]

The timer is a mod called VSHud, it is available from the VS Mod DB. For seeing the chunck borders you can use a command in your chat box. type .debug wireframe chunk Here is a link to the commands wikipage wiki.vintagestory.at/index.php/List_of_client_commands

[@yousfhelal321]

@@Shino_Gaming thanks bro, I realy like you'r game explanation.

[@wafflewarrior3782]

what's the name of the mod that gives you those chunk markings?

[@Shino_Gaming]

Good question. Not a mod, it is in the vanilla game as a command line from the chat window. In chat type .debug wireframe chunk

[@user-ze1nm8pw4f]

But how do you know where the middle of the chunk is?

[@Shino_Gaming]

Good question. Three ways, if you are using Prospector Info Mod you can look at the mini map and judge relatively the center. You can use use the command .debug wireframe chunk and it will show you the chunk borders. Lastly, you can use math, chunks are 32x32 so dividing your coordinates by 32 would give you a value. If you multiply the whole number by 32 you would get the edge of the chunk. Add 16 to that number and boom you got the center.

[@user-ze1nm8pw4f]

wow thank you, I didnt know maths could be cool, I like that way. @@Shino_Gaming

[@Morgformer]

Pro pick is for people who can't find ores

[@Shino_Gaming]

Or who are looking for something specific.

[@Bazim]

I wanna buil not dig, that is the reason why I stopped playing. So much work to find something and so much time lost. Not fun anymore.

[@Shino_Gaming]

I hate that for you. I took a break for awhile too because of the grind, then I found other games didn't give me the challenge that VS did. If you decide to try it again, consider changing up some world gen settings to find that sweet spot for you and your play style. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@aryanvanderlouw]

Mining ain't much fun in this game, feels like a minigame in itself. 🤷‍♂ You waste so much time doing it you run out of other materials fast.

[@Shino_Gaming]

Not many ways to get around it I'm afraid. Find a prospecting method that works for you and minimize just "mining" and increase your "finding". You'll get it and it will stop feeling like a chore.

[@Maxibo234]

Great video well made

[@Shino_Gaming]

Thank you

[@uncolored2060]

I find prospecting pick the most useless tool, I never craft it

[@Shino_Gaming]

Interesting

[@ecchirebirth]

Ok, but ... I still don't understand how I'm to know whether to dig down, up, or to my sides? Seriously, there seems to be no way of knowing, when using the propick, which direction I'm actually supposed to go. It seems math-y, if I'm honest, and math is not a subject I'm good at.

[@Shino_Gaming]

I agree it's a tough nut to crack, I think off it as a process of elimination. When readings go up it's not behind me, if it goes down then it is behind me. Digging up, down, left or right are just more forward and backwards in my mind so I keep mining towards the highest reading. You'll get there