Table of Contents

Sand types

Rules of physics

The tables below describe how physics interact with each sand type. The data is not exhaustive, and mainly contain types present in the demo.

Static types

Static sand sits in place and is not displaced by physics.

Type Blocks creeper Extra notes
BEDROCK Yes Cannot be excavated
BREEDERLAND No Spawns creeper or anticreeper, depending on which type is on top of it
CREEPERDAMAGELAND Yes Decays in contact with creeper
LAND Yes
LANDLOW0 Partially Blocks up to 20 creeper
LANDLOW2 Partially Blocks up to 80 creeper
METAL Yes Melts in contact with corrosive liquids
ROCK Yes Cannot be excavated
UNSTABLELAND Yes Decays on its own after a random amount of time
WOOD Yes Will burn when set on fire

Sand types

This sand type falls down with gravity, but doesn't flow.

Type Blocks creeper Extra notes
ACORE No Nearby AC ore is collected by miners to produce Anti-Creeper
BLOCKIUM Yes Units can pass through and be moved into
EMBER No Created when player ships are destroyed, can set materials on fire, decays quickly
KIRKIUM No Decays immediately in contact with creeper
RIFTIUM Yes Created when enemies are destroyed through nullification, can be collected with lathes for credits
SAND Yes Decays in contact with creeper
STONE Yes More difficult to excavate

Liquid types

Liquid type falls down with gravity, and flows like a liquid. Most of the time, ships can be flown into and operate inside liquids, but they may be damaged by dangerous liquids.

Type Blocks creeper Extra notes
ACID Yes Extremely harmful to ships
ANGORIUM No Can be collected by T.O.M. to supercharge it for a brief amount of time
C BREEDER LIQUID No Spawns creeper if there is creeper on top of it
LAVA Yes Extremely harmful to ships
MOLTENMETAL Yes Ships cannot be moved to or operate inside
PITLIQUID No Destroys creeper on contact
PIXELIUM Yes
WATER Yes Harmless to ships

Gas types

Gas types flow similar to liquids, except upwards. They generally decay after a short while. Most of them mainly exist to enhance visuals.

Type Blocks creeper Extra notes
ACIDRAIN No Flows violently after hitting a ceiling. Turns back into ACID after a short while
CREEPERGASRISE No Created when creeper evaporates. Evaporation occurs when creeper of very low density flows
TERPGAS No Created when terraforming

Sand interactions

Below is a full interaction table of sands in IXE. When two sands interact by coming into contact with one another, one or both sands may become something else after a certain amount of frames has passed. A second is 30 frames, so a time of 100 means roughly 3.3 seconds. A time of 0 means the effect occurs instantly.

Interaction Result 1 Time 1 Result 2 Time 2
ACID + METAL METAL ⇒ SMOKE 100
ACID + MOLTENMETAL MOLTENMETAL ⇒ SMOKE 100
ACID + LOOSEMETAL LOOSEMETAL ⇒ SMOKE 100
ACIDRAIN + METAL METAL ⇒ SMOKE 100
ACIDRAIN + MOLTENMETAL MOLTENMETAL ⇒ SMOKE 100
ACIDRAIN + LOOSEMETAL LOOSEMETAL ⇒ SMOKE 100
LAVA + WATER LAVA ⇒ STONE 90 WATER ⇒ SMOKE 60
LAVA + ICE LAVA ⇒ STONE 90 ICE ⇒ WATER 90
EMBER + WATER EMBER ⇒ SMOKE 0 WATER ⇒ SMOKE 0
EMBER + ICE EMBER ⇒ SMOKE 0 ICE ⇒ SMOKE 0
MOLTENMETAL + WATER MOLTENMETAL ⇒ LOOSEMETAL 200 WATER ⇒ SMOKE 30
MOLTENMETAL + ICE MOLTENMETAL ⇒ LOOSEMETAL 200 ICE ⇒ SMOKE 100
PIXELIUM + ACID PIXELIUM ⇒ PITLIQUID 0 ACID ⇒ SMOKE 0
CREEPERMAKER + ACID CREEPERMAKER ⇒ SMOKE 0
ACID + LAVA ACID ⇒ ACIDRAIN 60
METAL + LAVA METAL ⇒ MOLTENMETAL 300
LOOSEMETAL + LAVA LOOSEMETAL ⇒ MOLTENMETAL 200

There are a few notable extra interactions that aren't part of the interaction table:

Interaction Result
ANGORIUM + T.O.M. Supercharges the T.O.M. turret briefly
CHARGITE + B.O.B. Supercharges the B.O.B. turret briefly
WOOD Set on fire by EMBER, LAVA or MOLTENMETAL
WATER + C BREEDER LIQUID Liquids of similar viscosity mix together at constant odds

Creeper interactions

Creeper that finds itself embedded in sand that blocks creeper has a special gravity applied to it, to help it find open space to settle back on. For most sands, creeper that ends up inside (for example, because the sand fell on it) is going to travel through the sand with upwards gravity until it reaches a new empty spot to settle on.

Liquids that have settled, will flow around on the top layer of the liquid, if there isn't enough liquid to completely fill the top layer:

Most liquid sands block creeper, that includes e.g. water, lava or acid. However, creeper can find its way inside such sands, as the constant displacement at the top layer will end up with creeper becoming embedded in the sand very easily.

Inside water or lava, creeper flows upwards, so even if a larger amount of creeper is pressing against those sands at the top layer, at most a little bit of creeper gets inside and then immediately is pushed out of it. However, creeper that is in acid flows downwards, this means that creeper will very easily enter acid, and pool at the bottom of it.