#Tactile Crafting Mechanics Ideas Thread

46 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

past fox
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As I just put in #suggestions, I'm very much in the camp of tactile, physically-realized crafting as an alternative to the 3x3 grid, and I wanted to make a thread where we could share ideas for how that could be manifested in a way that feels like you're really participating in the creation of your tools and other objects, without making the progress a tremendous slog.
My primary idea is for interactions to be based on directional key inputs, for example, hammering an axe head onto a stick could be DOWN > DOWN > DOWN, or something a little more complex like wooden tongs could be using the arrows to "wrap" rope around two sticks(UP > LEFT > RIGHT) and then pull tight(LEFT + RIGHT) and then tie(RIGHT CLICK). The ideal is that nothing should take up too many button inputs so as to be laborious, especially if it's an item that might be made very frequently, like knives.
I think anything likely to be made in bulk(like, for example, most blocks) should be allowed to be craftable in bulk, where the crafting process is treated as just 1 block, but spits out whatever number you set to make(limited by raw materials in one's inventory, of course).
I think the crafting "menu" could be converted into a button or similar, so that you can tell the game "I'm ready to craft now". Maybe having a mini-inventory to place items into, so that the game has a frame of reference for what you're trying to make. Alternatively, using the handbook as a conduit for it: "I have the materials to make a flint spear, I'm going to go into my handbook and click "craft" under "flint spear".

These are just some ideas, so please do share yours and feel free to critique!!!

mental plinth
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I'm personally of the opinion that not everything needs a dedicated system like that, but god yes we need more in-world crafting

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i think the best way to add more of these are to use block interactions (like building a pit kiln, sailboats, lighting fires, etc.)

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big fan of the new fish flaying and hide scraping mechanics

hasty cobalt
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I think, it should be a toggle (default off) to leave in current crafting grid recipes, as more of an accessibility measure, if anything in world shouldn’t be slower than current speeds but I do love me the immersion it can add

mental plinth
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the immersive woodworking mod also does that really well imo, while the wood processing from it may be excessive for vanilla i love how the sawhorse is built, for instance

mental plinth
past fox
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both fair criticisms! one could also do a balancing effort, where you can make single tools or blocks in the crafting grid, but if you want to make stuff in bulk you can use the tactile method?

hasty cobalt
past fox
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a big appeal this game has for me is how much it feels like im DOING stuff and not just feeding items to a magical gnome that lives in my inventory and turns rocks and sticks into usable items

mental plinth
past fox
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i do really like the drop spindle! i just wish it were ground-storeable 😭

hasty cobalt
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My big concern with eventually getting rid of the crafting grid has more to do with hand health and carpel tunnel
If I have to manually scrape every single hide via the floor and it takes 3 seconds of holding shift+rclick it will be absolute murder on my hands which already can get sore after 8 hours of factory work

past fox
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i do definitely agree it should be a toggle/config

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not everyone has the patience for that sort of thing anyway, regardless of ability

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and i think games should be fun before anything else

hasty cobalt
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Outside those concerns, clother’s heirlooms automated textiles being just as well animated (seriously it integrates the Jonas parts it uses into the model and animations it’s that detailed) is nice to combo as a mid game automation tool for in world processes

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I’m pretty sure immersive woodworking also has midgame automation too and any in world method shoul have an automatable form to alleviate bulk crafts later on

past fox
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sadly i havent had the opportunity to really try a lot of the immersive craft mods the community has come up with, mostly because i didnt want to overcomplicate things for my boyfriend who is new to the game

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i do have immersive fibercraft in though since weaving is so braindead in vanilla it hurts me

mental plinth
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i think early game stuff especially could really benefit from in-world crafting, stuff like the hand baskets, reed chest, raft, woven fencing, rope, could all have a "place a base on the ground then add materials to it" mechanic

hasty cobalt
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Daub does have that in world crafting and it could be neat to extend it to the wider wattle/crude stuff

vagrant belfry
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It is as it says, generic crafting

mental plinth
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also it might just be me but i'd love for bow crafting to be more complex, those 2 bushmeat and bones in the recurve bow recipe are abstracting a crazy amount of complexity for making the composite hornbows they're based on!

hasty cobalt
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Toolsmith is certainly a good standard for how tool crafting can be handled in world (even if some of the handle carving could be changed to be more in world)

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Isn’t the bushmeat used as a sinew stand in?

mental plinth
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funny considering that you CAN get horns in vs

hasty cobalt
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Huh, didn’t think it was a hornbow as those are usually crafted wholly from the horn and sinew, not a bow stave

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Oh wait I’m thinking Native American hornbow not composite hornbows

mental plinth
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i didn't know native americans had full-horn bows 😮, it's usually a layer of horn behind the limbs

mental plinth
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add skeps to that list

mental plinth
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firewood, boards, debarking logs, making barrels/crates/chests/buckets

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we can't even make sticks lol

mental plinth
past fox
# mental plinth we can't even make sticks lol

this is an aside but man, it really bugs me when people call being able to craft sticks a busted mechanic. i think sacrificing a log in exchange for guaranteed sticks is a very fair trade compared to being forced to personally nerd pole up a tree and punch every block in hopes that i get enough sticks...for the entire duration of the game

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(note that im referring to responses to people suggesting it as a mechanic)

mental plinth
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the tree felling mechanic exists so we don't have to climb every tree and chase the logs like in mc and yet here we are dirt pillaring anyway to give the tree a haircut

elder crater
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Good, straight sticks were historically fairly sought-after for arrow shafts, poles, etc., so some degree of scarcity makes sense. I think the problem is twofold:

  • Requiring sticks in recipes that could realistically have valid alternatives (carving an axe handle out of a larger piece of wood is a normal thing, if you have the right tools)
  • No representation for historic methods of obtaining large quantities of sticks (like coppicing)
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Imo deepening the mechanics like that would be more positive for gameplay than a blanket "skip this annoying thing" button

elder crater
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And I'm slowly writing a long-winded forum post for it, but this might be a good thread to bounce around the idea of a template-based tailoring system where you cut out the material in essentially a scaled-up knapping process that spans multiple blocks, and that then spits out a work item that you need to sew together

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The keyboard-based crafting inputs in the original post here I'm a bit torn on, since it could devolve into a convoluted macro-key mess fairly easily that might take players out of the experience more than it immerses them

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But making players use the existing control inputs in a more tactile fashion I could see being a benefit, if implemented with restraint

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The fruit press is a good example imo

past fox
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the reason i envisioned tongs being more complicated is that they arent as heavily used as things like knives, axes, shovels, etc, so being a lengthier series of inputs(all being limited to the arrow keys and right click) wouldnt be as much of a slog

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if i had to do the konami code to craft a shovel, at the rate i go through them, i think id just give up lol

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but just a simple down>down>down to "hammer" the head on would be fun i think

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and itd probably be roughly the same for most of the tools

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i do see how it could be really tedious over time though, so im also very fine with an alternative of quick crafting for single items and a more involved, tactile process if you want to craft in bulk all at the same time

elder crater
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I think my complaint is more centered on ergonomics and complexity than the idea outright. The extra keybinds feels a bit like a typing minigame within a crafting minigame

past fox
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thats fair, i personally think itd be fun but i understand how it could seem like a quicktime event lol

elder crater
# past fox but just a simple down>down>down to "hammer" the head on would be fun i think

Like, this could be reinterpreted with just the right mouse button while still being "tactile"

  • Hold right click with a container of heated pitch glue until it covers the top of the handle
  • Put the axe head in your hand and right click on the glue-covered handle to set it on top
  • Put a wooden mallet in your hand and right click on the head to trigger a character animation of hitting it with the mallet and shifting the head down
  • Repeat twice to seat it all the way
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Aside from accessibility, I think it's generally more immersive to need to look at and do different specific things in the game world than to look at and do specific things on your keyboard

past fox
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thats fair yeah

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oh! another thought i did have a little while ago about the "crafting mode" thing(so as not to make confusion with ground storage, other interactions, etc) is that perhaps you could also access it directly from the inventory, where instead of a crafting grid its just a "box" where you place items you want to craft with, and then when you go to craft them itll ask what recipe you want to make

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just to avoid friction re: typing item names and scrolling through the handbook til you find what you want

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makes it more right-in-front-of-me but you dont have to worry about confusing the game when a stick can be used 5 different ways

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itd also eliminate recipe shape conflicts because if two items use the same recipe, the game will just ask what you mean

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(tbh id also kinda like it to ask me to pick, even if theres only 1 recipe, since im kind of bumbling and often accidentally craft the wrong thing while on autopilot!)

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"hey, are you sure you meant to craft FIVE TRAPDOORS?"

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tbh the thing i want above all is just for the game to feel less abstract(within reason, of course) so any way that we can get there that feels good is alright by me :)

elder crater
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Can very much agree there

elder crater
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It just needs to be expanded and fleshed out more

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Possibly with a crafting-specific keybind to be held while interacting, if existing keybinds become too much of a mess

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Like imagine you put a stick on the ground and then shift+right-click on it with another stick. That would bring up the recipe menu for items based on combining sticks with other sticks, like crude ladders

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Shift+right-click on a log while holding a knife and it'll ask you if you want to carve a wooden club or a wooden pan

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etc.

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The recipe selection menus do detract from the immersion a bit, but far less than the alternatives imo

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If anything it could be thought of as an internal "what was I going to make, again?" in your characters head

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As opposed to the crafting grid which is effectively your character instantaneously transmuting things inside their pocket