Game Development: Inventories.

[niltrias]

I think there is something to this. I'm the last person to make a realism argument but it would be pushing suspension of disbelief to just throw fucktons more shit onto something and that, somehow, making it better.

Yeah, thats why I said interesting, not fantastic. On one hand, a tool you lovingly craft over the course of a year is probably going to be higher q than one you hammer out in 30 minutes. On the other hand, sticking more metal onto the sword isnt going to make it a better sword.

I think it has potential, but would need more thought put into it before it would be good in-game.

[Delamore]

If improvement of items QL was added, improving could give more XP gain to the skill than the initial creation.
So instead of producing tons of vender trash, the player produces a few items that they improve as they gain skill to even higher QLs.
The crafted items would be of value, and the player gains skill.

Do you mean a system where a player could quickly craft a low-q item, or take more time and materials to slowly produce a masterpiece?
If so, that would be an interesting idea.

The idea is that you reapply different tools and materials to the item, for example you could use a hammer and anvil on a sword to boost it a little bit using the QL of the hammer, anvil and your smithing skill.
You could also improve structures like forges by replacing the bricks with higher QL ones.

[Jackard]

Probably already mentioned but the inventory changes added another mouseclick to the process of butchering chickens. (discarding junk that doesnt fit)

Not cool.

[niltrias]

Probably already mentioned but the inventory changes added another mouseclick to the process of butchering chickens. (discarding junk)

Not cool.

Yeah, I noticed that too. I would kinda like to see a option with dead chickens - pluck or butcher. Like how larger animals give you the choice of skin or butcher. Sometimes you need feathers, but mostly they are a PITA.

[Chakravanti]

Probably already mentioned but the inventory changes added another mouseclick to the process of butchering chickens. (discarding junk that doesnt fit)

Not cool.

Not to mention cause increased incidence of the strange UI bug I posted.

[Neyvn]

On the other hand, sticking more metal onto the sword isnt going to make it a better sword.

Not sure which culture did it but um. Yeah you can. There is a form of Tempering where Iron and Steel is combined and formed before its hammered out and folded back on itself over a new layer of steel/iron to be hammered together again. Strengthening the core. Like I said I can't remember which Culture it was but it did happen...

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But who says that you have to use more metal to make the sword better. I mean in the game how long does it take to beat out a sword. (Don't know myself cause I farm more then anything else) so you could easily suspend belief to assume that the smith is tempering the sword further to make it stronger. Add a bucket of water to a recipe to temper it and there you go...

Add in a chance to fail after so many workings and the sword breaks or no longer able to be tempered further. There can also be a timer saying that when a sword is made you have 10mins say to begin the tempering process else it cools enough that it keeps its shape and if you start the Tempering it shatters. But that's with a sword...

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Armour can be hardened by layering the metal through time (see plate mail in its true form), Some armour is able to be shaped after cooling, actually that's how repairs were done. Add in Whetstones and a Sharpening Skill that comes after the swordmaking skill (what ever that is) and there you go another way to gain LP for Smithing, Add repair work that requires a recipe or skill itself. (course I could be ignorant and you already get a good amount of LP from repairing weapons and armour)...

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What about adding a Thresher skill or something. That way seeds can be sorted or even averaged. Like the idea that Wheat is collected and put into tray that are flicked into the air, the good seeds are collected as they fall to the earth faster then the lower quality seeds and the husks of the bad ones. Once again spending belief...
Not like Farming needs another way to gain LP for that skill alone...

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If clothing degraded over time, the need for Linen clothes to be repaired and produced increases, I mean I am sure that nearly 90% of the people in the old map were wearing the same Linen Clothes that came with their character at the start. This would increase the Sewing skills need and such. Linen has more uses after Banner Construction and so on...

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Picking Plants and skinning animals are clearly a survival orientated skill and I mean if you are leveling that skill up you are already doing enough work to 'grind' that work. Same goes for Cooking. I mean come on, there are 3 different steps needed to cook something isn't there unless grinding wheat to flour moves towards the Farming skill. Then there is carpentry. I had made over 20 Barrels once and a good amount of log cabins, then there is palisades and chairs and wooden plows, beds, idols, claimstakes.... Need I go on. If Carpentry did more clear results to those works...

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We already do a lot of 'Grindy' work to get the LP already, the only difference is that at this moment there is no clear way for Newbs to get higher levels without making Vendor trash, but by allowing refinement, taking into account repairs and other things that come to nature with those skills and goods. There is an easier method...

Note: Ah shit. Text Wall...
Note 2: Kinda wrong thread to be talking about something like this though huh...

[niltrias]

On the other hand, sticking more metal onto the sword isnt going to make it a better sword.

Not sure which culture did it but um. Yeah you can. There is a form of Tempering where Iron and Steel is combined and formed before its hammered out and folded back on itself over a new layer of steel/iron to be hammered together again. Strengthening the core. Like I said I can't remember which Culture it was but it did happen...

Japan did that for sure. Probably Toledo and Damascus steel as well. But they werent adding extra metal to a finished sword, they were, as you pointed out, hammering two sheets of metal together, folding, and re-hammering.

As a minor side note, that stage of the process is not tempering.

[Potjeh]

I hate the idea of skill-specific LP, as it brings nothing but tedium. I do agree that doing something should make you better at it, though. So, I think that a system similar to the one in Dungeon Crawl would work best.

[Delamore]

I hate the idea of skill-specific LP, as it brings nothing but tedium. I do agree that doing something should make you better at it, though. So, I think that a system similar to the one in Dungeon Crawl would work best.

Not sure what system Dungeon Crawl used, but I'd like if each task gave LP into different pools so making a sword would give 2k smithing LP and 1k general LP.
LP could be spent within it's skill type at 100% and to other skills at different ratios, possibly have some work better with others.
General would be 100% anywhere.

[Potjeh]

You should really give Dungeon Crawl a spin, it's a great roguelike and the tiles version is very pleasing to the eye.

Anyway, in Dungeon Crawl you get XP for killing monsters, as usual. But converting this XP into skills isn't a matter of just buying skills. Instead, when you have stored XP doing stuff drains that XP pool and raises appropriate skills (fighting and weapon specific skills when you're striking with a weapon, shields when you're blocking, various schools of magic when you're casting, etc.). You can choose which skills to train, however, so your XP isn't converted into a skill you don't want. So, if you just want to train fire magic, you turn off all other skills training, try to get some XP and try to use fire magic whenever you can, because that's the only way to convert that XP into fire magic skill.

In addition to XP to skill conversion, you also slooooowly raise skills when you use them without spending any of the XP from your pool (so you don't need any XP in the pool, naturally).