I would like to see T2 extractors/collectors/rigs introduced to the game. The purpose of these buildings is not to provide a way to obsolete the output of the T1 extractors, but instead to provide a market for higher tier materials, especially from the Welding Plant, and reduce reliance on BSE (and thus constructors) as the foundation of the resource extraction economy.
Suggested new products
Welding Plant or perhaps Metalist Studio
Mining Equipment
6 TI + HE => 10 MIN
Gas Condenser
4 TI + 2 AL + 1 HE => 10 CON
Fluid Pump
4 STL + 2 CU + 1 HE => 10 PMP
Suggested new buildings
Each of the new buildings would have double the throughput of T1 extractors, but designed to be more expensive to build and maintain.
Extractor Mk2 (Deep Core Miner?)
Area: 40
Workforce: 60 Pioneers, 40 Settlers
6 BSE + 16 MIN + 16 TRU
Assuming it is balanced properly this should be easily avoidable. I like the idea of doing something like Hydroponics, where it is more space efficient to farm but more expensive to setup. In a lot of cases this would make it worthwhile for players with full bases to get a T2 extractor, but also T1 extractors for new players with base area to spare and certain planets like Gas Giants might still be worthwhile. Also it is worth noting that there would be absolutely nothing stopping a new player from buying up the materials for T2 extractors on the open market with their starting cash.
How about some of the more fancy resources can’t be mined with common EXT, and need EXT mk2 etc.?
Edit: I don’t rlly think we need more output on materials. We already produce so much goods. It’s already too easy to oversupply things.
One suggestion I’ve heard for this sort of thing is not to be a multiplier on outputted goods, but an addition instead. So their orders add +5-10% to the planet’s concentration. If used on a planet with 30% concentration it’s only raising the output to 35-40%, 1/6 to 1/3. However if used on a planet with a concentration of say 1%, you’re getting 6-11%, a five to ten fold increase. This creates a much more interesting choice between the two and makes trace resources actually useful.
I like this idea. That being said, in general I don’t think it’s necessary for T2 extractors to produce any more goods at all. Being more expensive than T1 while using less space should be plenty of incentive to tech up for established players, similar to hydroponics. Ideally we could have several types of higher tech extractors, so for example there could be a deep core miner that gets more output from trace deposits as you suggested, but perhaps also a high tech miner that allows players to get more throughput from less space for players who are limited by space on planets like Montem or Deimos. There could even be an automated miner that uses robot workers instead, and a small number of technicians to maintain the facility.