lava tubes

zfoxfire · May 11th 2016

Starting a new thread here to expand on this idea.

So I was chatting with Red51 on the water update and got an idea for lava tubes. I figured that since the "hell" world is basically like a giant air pocket between the mantle and the crust of Earth. This makes it seem more reasonable that "hell" is actually so deep below the surface because the Earth crust is only about 10 miles at its thickest! So I envisioned lava tubes coming up from hell. These tubes can be like cave structures going up with only a few branches reaching the surface. This should be the only reason why lava would be seen on the surface (unlike Minecraft where lava pools are random with no connection to the underworld.

These lava tubes should begin from below the lava level in hell so the lava would be pushed up the tubes and to the surface. From within hell, the tube should look like some kind of nasty hellish twisty trunk connecting the ceiling to the floor of hell to make it look scary. The inside of the lava tube could be lined with some kind of lava stone which can be mined. The lava stone would be a layer between stone and gravel and the actual lava itself. I also added a water pocket to lead to a spring on the surface. Any areas where flowing water and lava mix will create obsidean ofcourse.

Another idea with these lava trunks is that if you happen to be mining deep underground and you mine into lava then you know that you can potentially mine straight down and find a trunk where you could scale down from the outside. Currently when I enter hell, i either fly to the bottom or set up connecting ladders to reach the bottom (which looks as cheesy as floating blocks in Minecraft).

I created an illustration to better explain the idea to Red51 plus to +1 on his art skill!

Here's my illustration. I forgot to include the lava ocean currently in hell. Please excuse the inaccuracies

https://drive.google.com/file/…EdXU4bmlVbkdoM0EwbjQ/view

zfoxfire · May 11th 2016

Ok, here's a better illustration ;-p

http://seanhillart.deviantart.com/art/Fiery-chasm-355638407

zfoxfire · May 11th 2016

Perhaps Basalt would be a good stone type to be found in or around lava tubes or in inactive lava tubes since this rock type is what lines lava tunnels in real life. It's a result of rapid heating and cooling of lava

Moderndaybardx · May 11th 2016

This sounds really cool.....or hot..........I would love to see this in the game, add in some geode formations around the tubes as well as the crystal caverns and maybe the gems could only be found inside the tubes?

zfoxfire · May 11th 2016

Oh nice! I forgot about the giant geode idea i posted before. I'll have to update my "illustration". I'd also like a realistic way of finding gems. Diamonds are formed in the mantle so they'd have to be in or close to the hell chasm or near a volcano or lining a lava tube (making it very dangerous thus more valuable to mine). The more common ones are found closer to the surface and some can even be found in rivers (presumably from deep springs).

Turquoise, for example, can be found as a result of water interacting with copper. so perhaps water near a copper vein would increase the likelyhood of finding turquoise.
http://nature.berkeley.edu/classes/eps2/wisc/Lect3.html

red51 · May 12th 2016

I definitely like this idea (lava tubes as well as basalt around the tubes as well as gems that can be found inside the tubes)

Moderndaybardx · May 12th 2016

Quote from red51

I definitely like this idea (lava tubes as well as basalt around the tubes as well as gems that can be found inside the tubes)

This is why Red is the coolest Dev ever. Really looking forward to seeing this in game.

zfoxfire · May 12th 2016

Indeed Red is a cool developer. I cant imagine the size of the notebook of player ideas that he has by now.

zfoxfire · May 12th 2016

Quote from Moderndaybardx

This sounds really cool.....or hot..........I would love to see this in the game, add in some geode formations around the tubes as well as the crystal caverns and maybe the gems could only be found inside the tubes?

I'm linking your Steam post here since it has a lot of good ideas for minerals. Just incase Red missed it.

http://steamcommunity.com/app/…ns/12/357284131789204808/

Moderndaybardx · May 12th 2016

Thanks was actually off on Beryl as ruby and sapphire come from corundum, but if red researches the gemstones a little he will see the basic premises of how they are formed.

ConJon · May 17th 2016

So the idea is that lava tubes will be visible whilst in hell like in that dA image? That would be interesting and a fancy sight to see.

zfoxfire · May 17th 2016

Yes exactly. the "pillars" seen in the deviant art image could be like lava tubes that transport lava from pressurized pockets further below hell and push them up to the surface. it would look creepy to see this twisty structure rising up in hell but would also move lava up through a tube.

ConJon · May 17th 2016

Ah, I see. That would be a really eerie sight to see. Maybe some of them could be empty, perhaps eroded at some point and all of the lava gone or hardened, allowing the player to build tunnels in them. Could carry a risk; do I dig it out and find out if its empty and risk flooding the place with lava, or do I leave it be and go back the way I came?

zfoxfire · May 17th 2016

Well, another idea is that lava tubes, some which would be dry, would be a place to find rare crystals such as diamonds which are formed in the mantle of the earth

zfoxfire · May 17th 2016

actually if you come across a lava tube and you are not sure if it's pressurized or not perhaps even tell by feeling the heat behind it or by blowing it up from a distance. I imagine that you do not want to be too close to a lava tube trying to open it up with a pickaxe. So it would be safer to drop a stick of TNT from above

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