Recommendations: More Interesting Mines
A list of mods that change or add new things to discover in the mines and Skull Cavern so that every delve is even more of a unique experience!
Frameworks
Custom Ore Nodes
Author: mistyspring
Item Extensions allows mod content packs to add custom ore nodes and resource clumps to the mines and Skull Cavern that drop vanilla or mod-added items when broken.
New Clumps & Gems
Lumisteria Clumps and Nodes
Author: Lumisteria
Lumisteria Clumps and Nodes adds new clumps and nodes that drop vanilla minerals, gems, and ores.
The Geology Mod
Author: IgneousInsanity and Solarize
The Geology Mod adds new nodes with 14 new minerals as well as new machines purchasable from Clint for processing them.
Extra Nodes in Mines and Cavern
Author: BeardedRascal
Extra Nodes in Mines and Cavern adds several unlockable nodes that drop vanilla materials.
Lavliette's Wonderous Clumps
Author: Lavliette
Lavliette's Wonderous Clumps adds 10 new clumps that drop monster materials.
Monsters
Snow Crab
Author: emurphy42
Snow Crab adds snow crabs to the ice levels of the mines.
Boss Creatures
Author: aedenthorn and greg6/mouahrara
Boss Creatures (greg6 unofficial update)/[https://github.com/mouahrara/aedenthorn#BossCreatures (mouahrara unofficial update) adds difficult new giant monsters with special custom attacks to monster-infested floors of the mines and Skull Caverns.
Stronger and More Random Monsters
Author: mikemonroe
Stronger and More Random Monsters changes monsters stats so that they randomly draw from a stat range instead of being fixed, so that monsters may be harder or easier each day.
SFG's Crab Monster Recolors (Content Patcher)
Author: mikemonroe
SFG's Crab Monster Recolors changes the rock crab monsters to be slightly, somewhat, or very different in colour to their equivalent rock camouflage so that they're easier to spot.
Cuter Mines
Author: sqbr
Cuter Mines retextures the monsters and maps to be cuter.
Retextures
Note: There are other nice gem & mineral retextures available, but this list only includes those that retexture the nodes found in the mines.
Vanilla Tweaks - Caves Edition
Author: mrtaiyou
Vanilla Tweaks - Caves Edition changes the ore and gem nodes (amongst many, many other things) to have a bright vanilla-friendly style.
Flowing Mine Rocks
Author: aedenthorn
Flowing Mine Rocks changes horizontally or vertically connected mine nodes into a single vein of ore and gems that shrinks as it is mined.
Animated Mining Pack
Author: Gervig91
Animated Mining Pack adds a sparkle or shine animation to the vanilla ore and gem nodes and ice crystals.
Other
Colored Crystalariums
Author: sophiesalacia
Colored Crystalariums changes the front window panel of the crystalarium so it matches the colour of the gem it's currently processing. Includes compatibility for Medieval Craftables.
Sediment Sorter
Author: MrTea / brightonmorris1
Sediment Sorter adds a new craftable machine that converts rocks, clay, or earth crystals into coal, ores, and lesser minerals. (Note: Requires JA and PFM.)
Mining-2-Seed Processor
Author: HaulinOats / socialcoder
Mining-2-Seed Processor adds a new craftable machine that processes minerals, ore, and monster loot into farmable seeds. (Note: Requires JA and PFM.)
Strange Machines Revisited
Author: mrtaiyou and Solarize
Strange Machines Revisited adds 9 new machines that can be obtained in various ways including letters, quests, and events. It also adds 8 new nodes to the mines and Skull Caverns and 19 new items related to the new machines.
Custom Dungeon Floors Updated
Author: aedenthorn and ADumbBagel
Custom Dungeon Floors allows the player to customise many different things about the mines and Skull Caverns, including how many monsters, gem nodes, and ores spawn, how often treasure appears, and how many ladders can be found.
Treasure Chests Expanded
Author: aedenthorn and mouahrara
Treasure Chests Expanded (unofficial update) allows for an expanded range of items to be found in treasure chests as well as adding coins and a larger number of items to chests.
Additional Mine Maps
Author: aedenthorn and mouahrara
Additional Mine Maps (unofficial update) is a framework that allows adding extra maps to the list of maps used by the mines and skull cave, assigning a map to a specific floor, or replacing the game's list entirely with custom maps.
Chest Room for Additional Mine Maps
Author: aedenthorn
Chest Room for Additional Mine Maps adds a floor to the mines and skull cave with tiles that trigger an exploding wall, slime and burn traps, and a chest spawn. Requires Additional Mine Maps.