as you start the game, you will already know that you need research points to progress. as the tutorial says, scan blocks and research them to gain points. but as you start to approach the more advanced research projects, you will find out that you have already scanned everything from the surface to the toxic caverns, and you need 100+ more points. as of now (and i will update this guid as i learn more) there are two ways you can get research points.

1). you might have seen a quest pop up saying something about orbital debris crash landing. the game will occasionaly send down drop pods that can be tracked by a smoke trail rising from the distance. as you walk towards it, you should also begin seeing a yellow flash. once you get to the drop pod, you will find a yellow block that says "level 1" on it. break this block and gain research parts. bring them back to your laboratory, open up its UI and hit the "change mode" button. place the research parts into a hopper and let your laboratory research them. you will have to collect these points after each one part is researched before the next one can start. you will get +5 RP for each part.

2). weather you hate, fear, or love him, the hive mind has its advantages for more than its resin. using a chargable explosive (and maybe a nano disassembler but i have yet to test it out) blow its tush up! if successful, it should drop hive brain matter. treat this the same way you would with the research parts by using the lab to research them. you will get +10 RP for each brain matter.

3). i have yet to find out. if you know something i dont, please let me know so i can add it.

when it comes to this game, the "gimme gimme gimmie i want i want" mentality is key for progression. you will promarily need ores but sometimes you will need crystals too. i will give you the levels i have found these at but keep in mind that you are always better off digging deeper than the required level, as the deeper you get, the denser and larger the ore veins get. for example, the highest level i found nickel at had a vein about 700K but all the way down to -750 there was one that whent up to 13M. another thing to keep in mind is to never settle. sure there might be a decent 13K vein close to you, but keep searching. i found a decent tin vein right next to my base but after walking 20 meters i found an insane 10M vein. both are useful, but if you go strait for the larger vein, you will have more time to do other things besuides relocate your opperation. be sure to take not of all the veins you mine though as they wotn last forever and its easier to go strait from one vein to another when you don't have to search for it.

Tier I ores

coal: this can be found at, above and below level 0 and is black. some cliffs even have large coal ore veins inside them. i have also been down below the toxic caverns to about -800 and still found coal down their. this rule applies to all ores but i did hear rumours of ores not being able to spawn past a certain depth. honestly though, im not going down to -1000 just for some coal, ill walk a few meters in any direction and dig down to find it.

copper: this can be found just below the surface, most commonly for me is anywhere from -15 to -30. any further just isnt worth going for when you start the game off. strangly enough, the ore has a dark copper/bronze color with some green in it. probabkly just oxides.

tin: same rules as copper, around -50 there can be some pretty decent sized veins though. unless thats just luck.

iron: the highest ive seen these veins spawn is around -70, but the best veis start ( the ones that are in the millions) spawn around -100. i had a 13M at -123. this ore is a mix of black and, well, butter. picture buttered coal ore. this ore is black with a copper bar bronze color.

lithium: the wiki says it spawns at -160 but i have a 1M vein right next to my iron vein at -123. my advice, where theres iron, lithium is not far behind. in my case, it happened to be right next to the iron, but sometimes digging deeper is the best option. this ore is black and white.

tier II ores

get out of the kiddy pool and be a man! this is where REAL automation begins. after a bit of research, you will have access to two smelters. the basic smelter, and the smelter you start out with. i may be wrong to do so, but i never use the basic smelter. 1, you get have the output, and 2, no upgrades. all you need to make the real smelter is gold, titanium and nickel. lets take a step out of the cold caverns because it sucks. tier 2 ores spawn quiet a bit below the cold caverns so start looking there.

titanium: titanium spawns at aound -370, but i go to -400 just to get the best. not sure why, but this ore is blue.

gold: this guy has a tendancy to spawn above titanium, but not very far, maybe 5 to 10 meters. if you find titanium or gold, the other is not far away. these act a lot like iron and lithium do, except they seem to get along better. this ore is black and banana yellow. but fortunatly it lacks radioactive potassium iscotopes. immagine your factory producing banana plates, banana bars and banana pcb's.

nickel: i donk know why but this green guy is my favorite. he spawns around 20 to 30 meters deeper than titanium or gold making him a the biggest pain in the tush to get. this ore is a mix of black and green.

tier III ores

note that your drill will not be able to mine these ores, you must put a steal, crystal, organic or plasma cutting head in your mines or it will just say "drill stuck".

also note that in the cold cavern and toxic cavern, your grappling hook is stuck to a 5 second cool down after each shot. make them count or you will die. a lot. like me :(

crystal deposite: you will actually find this guy in the cold caverns. the best way to find it is to dig strait down, and look for a cavern in the cold caverns. use the scanner to ping AIR. 1, this keeps you from digging strait into a cavern that is tall enough to kill you and 2, its easier to find these ores by walking the caverns rather than digging blindly for them.

biomass: oh boy. this is when you step out of the big kid pool to put on your man pants. biomass can be found in the toxic caverns. unlike the cold caverns, these caverns ave a tendancy to be much taller and more open. i dug strait down into a cavern and fell at least 100 meters killing me instantly. i repeated this humuliationg process 5 times before i was able to build a nerd pole all the way down. the ore is green and has veins all over it. use this ore to make your power production shoot through the roof! look between -350 and -500 for this ore.

tier IV ores
hint, dig deeper than the dwarves
also note that you cannot mine these ores with your normal drill. dont even bother putting a drill head in them it wont do anything. these ores need a new machine altogether
one last note, bring a BFG, finding these guys has been the biggest pain in the tush. took me about a half hour.

chromium: this pink ore can be found below -700 (officially) but -800 is where i found the biggest one

molydinu molibdium moulimdiniumum: Molly-D can be found at -700 but just like chromium, -800 is your best bet. it is black and peach colored.

crystals are tough to find. what makes them difficult is that they arent an ore or like any other block. these guys typically spawn in small groups( 1-6 crystals) and are spread out a lot(20-50meters). they give off a weird sound and have produce their own light, so theres one advantage. the best way to find an ore is to dig strait down and ping for UNKOWN. but with crystals, i found digging down until you find a cavern is the only way. one trick is to, while digging down, ping for AIR. if youre lucky, you will come across a cavern. explore the cavern going everywhere. be careful about placing torches too far aghead of you as you may block out the light the crystals emit.

diamond: 0 to -100 unlike minecraft, you dont have to dig far for these guys, in fact, i never do. walk along the surface and look for any caverns. they spawn close to the surface so there is no reason to dig for them. these guys are bright white

emerald: -100 to -200 while undergound, ping for air with your scanner. if your lucky, youll find a cavern. these are the only places i know of that spawn any kind of crystal. dont expect to dig a hole and find them by pinging for unkown. it just wont work, youll have to spelunk. these guys are green

saphire: -300 to -500 follow the same rules while lookuing for these guys. these are blue. look for them in the cold caverns. seems everything there is blue.

topaz: -500 to -700 this orangeish yellow crystal spawns most commonly in the toxic caverns. good luck.

sugalite: when yo sugga mama wants this pink cyrstal, youll be in for an adventure. these spawn deep. -700 to well, ive never been deeper than -900 and they still spawned there.