FOSS gamedev and creative worlds

There are not many tips about the actual gameplay on the wiki or forum,
so how about efficent mining ?

E.g., digging stairs straight ahead to the depth where the minerals
start to appear, and there digging corridors separated by 2 blocks
will get 8 blocks explored for every 2 digs, like so:
...
...NXNNXN...
...X_XX_X...
...X_XX_X...
...NXNNXN...
...X_XX_X...
...X_XX_X...
...NXNNXN...
...
(_=block dug out, X=visible block, N=block not seen)

What pattern of digging do you use ?

Vertical 2 node shaft to go down (only 2 nodes dug for each node dropped) (great if you have changed ladders to be faster or have an elevator mod). Stand in the middle to avoid unexpected falls while digging.


I then just look for caves (as they are almost endless in mgv7 - no need to ever strip/branch mine)

I just dig a two block wide diagonal shaft grabbing any ores I see along the way and exploring any caves I break into (I sometimes find huge cave systems with a lot of items), I only stop that shaft when it opens into the ceiling of a lava pit then I start a new one.

i dig all ores i find, including the surroundingblocks.
usually the next ore deposit is right behind the next block.
if there is nothing, i dig into a random direction until i find something.