Opinions on a mini-crafting system idea for Recovery-based things.

[PoptartPresident]

Hi guys so I was coming up with this idea for how players can get more out of their journey by collecting items/treasures.

So in general, the idea is this:
When players are traversing the different worlds/dimensions, there are items that are not so hidden, AND hidden scattered all around the areas.

The thing is, the actual items themselves are not so glorious, and always heal a defined amount of HP or MP. (For instance, a player finds a milk bottle that recovers about 15 HP). This rule of thumb with recovering an estimated amount will be for HP AND MP.
And this will be how all items are found.

But the thing is, in the beginning, the player will be given some way of being able to combine these items such that it spits out an Elixir.
The idea is that All Elixirs in the game will recover based on percentages, unlike the original items. (For instance, combining 1 milk bottle with 2 more milk bottle creates the Dairy Elixir, that heals 25% of your max HP).

Is this a good mechanic to have in a game?
The way I see it, the player can freely use items as they want, but it might not be as effective as using percentage-based heals (Elixirs).


My only problem is how I'm going to allow combinations, so I think I might have some kind of "tier" system? I'm not quite sure yet. For instance, you can only combine tier 1 items with other tier 1 items, only tier 2 items with other tier 2 items, etc. Or if that doesn't work, maybe some kind of label for all items. For instance, "Food" can only combine with other "Food", "Brewing" can only combine with other "Brewing", etc.
I'd love some thoughts or feedback on something like this, and the best method to approach.

Also, what is a good crafting system plugin? I've seen there are lots of them, but I'd like to know if anyone has insight on the best one for my type of idea.

 

[ShadowDragon]

yes and no,

no, it doesn't

yes, if the items are limited like max 50 milk, you can combine to make elixers
which can also have a limit to carry.

if battles take a turn on using the item, it can be usefull to combine them,
it needs a nice purpose for crafting and a goal, but you can always impliment
them and use feedback on ther gameplay.

 

[EntangledPear]

I like these little extras in games, if they are useful (e.g. for your example, the elixirs will be valuable, because there is no other easier way to heal, or healing is sometimes restricted, etc.). It adds something else to do, and makes you strategize more. In your example it also gives motivation to explore. So I would encourage you to proceed with your idea

Unfortunately, I can't help with plugins, since I'm using VX Ace, but I'm sure there are some (for Ace, there are several crafting scripts). When you find them, their capabilities can also inspire you about the tiers or restrictions you'd like to use.

Good luck!

 

[PoptartPresident]

yes and no,

no, it doesn't

yes, if the items are limited like max 50 milk, you can combine to make elixers
which can also have a limit to carry.

if battles take a turn on using the item, it can be usefull to combine them,
it needs a nice purpose for crafting and a goal, but you can always impliment
them and use feedback on ther gameplay.

Ahh yeah that's the thing, item management. (I'm not a fan).
Though, I kind of wanted to take a Resident Evil approach, and just scatter the resources scarcely. That way, you're not spammed with 100 milk bottles throughout the entire game. Maybe there's only like 6-9 in one area of the entire game, and that same sort of logic is followed through with all kinds of items.
In other words, lots of items will not be openly available, but you can find them if you look even a little bit.
The items are also area-specific, so once you move to the next place, it's unlikely you'll ever see anything close to the previous items again. This could help me with (I think?) game progression and eventually letting the player craft more effective Elixirs that can heal bigger percentages.

Yes, using items does take a turn in my game, so I'll keep that in mind as well.

I like these little extras in games, if they are useful (e.g. for your example, the elixirs will be valuable, because there is no other easier way to heal, or healing is sometimes restricted, etc.). It adds something else to do, and makes you strategize more. In your example it also gives motivation to explore. So I would encourage you to proceed with your idea

Unfortunately, I can't help with plugins, since I'm using VX Ace, but I'm sure there are some (for Ace, there are several crafting scripts). When you find them, their capabilities can also inspire you about the tiers or restrictions you'd like to use.

Good luck!

This is great to hear. This is kind of what I was hoping for. The idea is that Elixirs are amongst the best types of restores/heals in the game since they are the only thing that's percentage based. (For instance, an elixir made from food can be 25% healing of map HP, or maybe another Elixir made from brewing ingredients can be 50% healing of MP. Or even revival Elixirs).

But of course, the only ways to get them are to craft them, or to buy them from an item shop you carry around with you (that is not always available).

 

[NamEtag]

Making the weak ingredients uncapped while limiting the crafted %healing to a very small number is not a bad way to regulate items.

But it doesn't sound like you have a way to collect large quantities of ingredients, or have particular diversity in the crafted item effects. If this going to be worth the trouble?

 

[PoptartPresident]

Making the weak ingredients uncapped while limiting the crafted %healing to a very small number is not a bad way to regulate items.

But it doesn't sound like you have a way to collect large quantities of ingredients, or have particular diversity in the crafted item effects. If this going to be worth the trouble?

I should say this since I didn't mention it before:
One of the main reasons I want to use this crafting system is to not only encourage exploration, but to also limit items.
One of my pet peeves about games is when you have an over-abundance of items that you don't know what to do with.
I personally think there is a value in having limited, but useful items. Kind of like how in the resident evil franchise, you're never truly given an abundance of any one thing...(usually lol). Herbs are pretty limited in some of the games.

And yeah, you're right. There isn't going to be a way to collect large quantities of ingredients because it's within each area of my game. Once you leave "beat" a certain area, you won't see that kind of ingredient again. So everything you collect in the previous area matters to some extent.

I'll use an example with the milk bottles again:
For the 1st main area, I wanted the crafts to focus on making healing items. A lot of those beginning milk bottle recipes are only unique to the 1st area, so once you leave and move onto the 2nd area, you won't see milk bottles again. I don't plan for there to be a shop or resource that sells or gives them either, so it very much is going about you way to collect these ingredients to make more use out of them later.
Then for the 2nd area, (you cannot backtrack to the 1st area), the crafting focuses more on crafting new armors, or miscellaneous battle buffs. So it changes per area, which makes saving those heals from the 1st area all the more useful.



It's definitely a little tough to decide though...how many "exact" ingredients I should spread about, because then I have to take into account for players who will find every single ingredient, and players who don't find them much at all.

 

[NamEtag]

I should say this since I didn't mention it before:
One of the main reasons I want to use this crafting system is to not only encourage exploration, but to also limit items.
One of my pet peeves about games is when you have an over-abundance of items that you don't know what to do with.
I personally think there is a value in having limited, but useful items. Kind of like how in the resident evil franchise, you're never truly given an abundance of any one thing...(usually lol). Herbs are pretty limited in some of the games.

And yeah, you're right. There isn't going to be a way to collect large quantities of ingredients because it's within each area of my game. Once you leave "beat" a certain area, you won't see that kind of ingredient again. So everything you collect in the previous area matters to some extent.

I'll use an example with the milk bottles again:
For the 1st main area, I wanted the crafts to focus on making healing items. A lot of those beginning milk bottle recipes are only unique to the 1st area, so once you leave and move onto the 2nd area, you won't see milk bottles again. I don't plan for there to be a shop or resource that sells or gives them either, so it very much is going about you way to collect these ingredients to make more use out of them later.
Then for the 2nd area, (you cannot backtrack to the 1st area), the crafting focuses more on crafting new armors, or miscellaneous battle buffs. So it changes per area, which makes saving those heals from the 1st area all the more useful.



It's definitely a little tough to decide though...how many "exact" ingredients I should spread about, because then I have to take into account for players who will find every single ingredient, and players who don't find them much at all.

That's.....interesting. So items get a fairly significant buff to general power, but since they're locked to each stage, they form the basis for the unique gimmick tools that the player has for that location.

Sounds good, but runs into some issues for grinding and elixir syndrome. If they're intended to be used in regular fights, then non-renewable ingredients will be tough unless regular mook battles are also non-renewable. But if they ARE renewable, then players could farm up a bunch of ingredients and carry them over to the next dungeon.

 

[PoptartPresident]

That's.....interesting. So items get a fairly significant buff to general power, but since they're locked to each stage, they form the basis for the unique gimmick tools that the player has for that location.

Sounds good, but runs into some issues for grinding and elixir syndrome. If they're intended to be used in regular fights, then non-renewable ingredients will be tough unless regular mook battles are also non-renewable. But if they ARE renewable, then players could farm up a bunch of ingredients and carry them over to the next dungeon.

Yuppp, that's kind of what I'm trying to avoid as well, cause...I hate grinding lol.
Enemies are mostly to give EXP, but I do have a few enemies that can drop crafting items. (My enemies don't drop money in my game).
But those specific crafting items are either really basic/not helpful on their own, or a crafting ingredient that is used in a recipe that isn't very strong/practical to keep lots of quantity of.
(I mostly want to make it to where, if you have leftover ingredients from previous areas, the shop you can sell them to the shopkeeper you carry with you everywhere).


Also, as for when they should be used, I'm hoping that by limiting the useful items, I'm making it to where the player is encouraged to use their MP more often, and try to be smart with conserving energy before the next safe zone. Like, emergency-usage, especially for bosses.

 

[dennis_the_tennis]

Seem pretty unique, there's potential here for sure! One thing to point out is that flat values are only worse than %s later in the game. Early on, right when you first acquire them, they'll be the best they'll ever be in their default, non-elixir form. Sounds like that's already been accounted for when you said that the player is intended to stock up on elixirs early in the game and be rewarded for it later.

Make sure that intention is communicated to them somehow! You don't want to end up with a pseudo-softlock.

 

[ShadowDragon]

a nice way to if you take a example for milk bottles.

balance the game if there are 10 milk bottles throught the first area,
you need at least 5 of them to have a good change to continue, having
them all makes it's easier, lower, a harder difficulty to survive.

the number is just random, but you can try that the player search
the area (and or hidden area) to find them all, otherwise, it can be
difficult to continue (can be possible, but harder).

there are some nice ways to clean them out on the approach, but
that require the amount of recipe and which ones, and the mechanic
of battles and area to figure out how much at lowest and how many extra
to make it a slightly easier.