Let me start by saying that the crafting system in rust is one of the more engaging gameplay elements. the idea that you can progress your character by collecting resources and crafting items or buildings is one of the major draws for me to play the game. With this in mind, I think it's essential that it be something that Facepunch "get right" both from a gameplay and immersion perspective
In its current state, I believe that the crafting system is fundamentally flawed and would benefit significantly from some deeper consideration by the developers.
Currently, most items in rust are crafted from components that can be sourced from the most basic of materials. Case in point: I farm metal ore which smelt into metal fragments which i convert into low quality metal which i use to create a gun. From a game play perspective this might make sense. it MIGHT even make sense logically from the perspective of things like pipe shotguns (still a bit of a stretch however, IMO) However, when it comes to things like M4's and laser sights... the immersion i think is lost somewhat.
This issue has been further highlighted by the inclusion of several new items in the experimental version. Things like helmets made from buckets and paint cans, I think, are a neat idea. However, they do not fit with a crafting system in which seemingly everything can be created from base materials. Why would someone use metal fragments to make a paint can, only to turn around and convert that pain can into a helmet? The fact that the helmet was made from a paintcan suggests that the person wanted a helmet, and a paintcan was the only appropriate resource they had available.
There are a lot of ways to rectify these inconsistencies. However, until a definite direction for the game is selected, it will be hard to implement them. the items that are working their way into the game suggest a post-apocalyptic vibe where tools and equipment are re-purposed from existing items. This is a fantastic direction, however, i feel it should be more accurately reflected in the crafting system. (bucket helmets should be created from buckets... buckets need to be found, not made). This is a problem because the current gameworld exists more or less as a pristine wilderness.Nothing about the current gameworld reflects a post apocalyptic environment and there are currently no sites out in the forest where a player could reasonably be expected to come across a bucket for crafting or anything else. as long as the game world is kept generic in deference to the final direction of the game, implementing a deep and believable crafting system will be difficult.
The problem you have is with the high tech type items. I agree we should not be able to craft them but supply drop or salvage from ruins would be fine by me
it's correct high tech type items are the most significant issue from a GAMEPLAY perspective. However the environment and crafting system should also have an impact on the ESTHETIC of items you can make. This is an important distinction, I think. If, from a gameplay perspective, the developers what players to be able to craft an automatic weapon, the implementation of a ranged weapon that shoot in rapid succession should reflect the limitations of the crafting system. for rust, with its current primitive crafting system, maybe this means some kind of nailgun with a hand crank. the player cranks it to shoot and a stream of nails come flying out the business end. functionally, it would be very similar to an mp5. However, the ability of a person in a primitive environment such as rust, might be more plausible. a player runs around and gathers wood and leather and metal and creates a contraption the flings nail... ok i'll maybe buy that. a person runs around and collects the same materials and ends up with a machined metal complete with lasers and optics.... ehh i'm a little skeptical about how that works.
Earlier, I described the environment and crafting system in rust as primitive (crafting system as in how materials are handled and how they are combined) Other than what players actually make, there is no indication that people have ever existed in the rust world (speaking in terms of the experimental build) This works well and has a cohesive feel for building of wooden bases and simple equipment (stone hatchet, bone knife, campfire). Many of the new items implemented in the game do not have a similar "primitive" feel. Instead they have a "scavenged" feel. The most recent iteration of what 's being referred to as the "hazmat" suit. It incorporates a fishbowl, duct tape, and frog galoshes among other "scavenged" items. I love the design, but feel such an outfit could never arise in a crafting environment where everything originates from leather, cloth and metal fragments. To this end, I think rust would be better served by a crafting system that builds new items from from preexisting items that are scavenged from the environment.
Lol, so when I click on agree to the OP i get a "thanks dickhead" comment when I mouse over... I find this funny, because it seems to be added by a moderator of sorts to make me out like a dickhead for agreeing with a guy that makes a legit point.
[QUOTE=ZorAk771;45994259]Lol, so when I click on agree to the OP i get a "thanks dickhead" comment when I mouse over... I find this funny, because it seems to be added by a moderator of sorts to make me out like a dickhead for agreeing with a guy that makes a legit point.[/QUOTE]
nah, random trigger for using those votes;) "your paypal has been charged" is another one.
If changing esthetics regarding the resource used to craft the items is your concern I think it is the devs concern too. For example, look at the trello of the [URL="http://playrust.com/friday-devblog-23/"]different meats from the different animals[/URL], I dont think that they are gonna dissapoint us with the esthetics. They have good artists, we can trust them on this. Also they are trying to make rusty weapons that can fit better with the primitive crafting abilities of the players.
The pristine wilderness is a placeholder, eventually the wolf monuments will become post-apocaliptic procedural generated rad towns and abandoned ruins:
[url]https://trello.com/c/OFdWLTD6/73-abandoned-lighthouse[/url]
[url]https://trello.com/c/C45Rdxfd/76-concrete-tunnels[/url]
[url]https://trello.com/c/0nczRdQ8/77-wind-turbine[/url]
[url]https://trello.com/c/Fmbclroh/78-spherical-tanks[/url]
Experimental and legacy crafting system is simple, you got the basic resources (metal ore, sulfur ore, wood, bone, cloth and leather) and you can craft everything from them but, as you pointed out, crafted items like the coffe helmet or the bucket helmet are inconsistent with the system cause they require some different class of basic resource, post-apocaliptic junk, which could be found at abandoned ruins or rad towns. That would solve that inconsistency.
The other inconsistency, the one about crafting military gear (the thompson machine gun and even the bolt rifle imo, those are weapons that need some advance tecnology to be crafted), have a multiple times discussed solution: higher tier crafting machines or crafting tables.
I have been thinking about a crafting system for a game that I will like to make. I am gonna try to explain it just with words so use your imagination. Imagine a crafting bench like the repair bench of Rust but with a bigger panel over the table, in that panel there will be a blank blueprint. Once you interact with the bench you could select the blueprint from the ones you know, once it is selected you could actually see the blueprint in front of you, with the parts disaggregated and the quantity of resources you need for each part. Lets take the example of a gun blueprint, in front of you would see a drawing of the decomposed gun:the barrel, the handle, the trigger... and how many of what resources you need to make each one of them. Once you have crafted a part it will appear in the blueprint, once you have all of them crafted you would have the gun in your inventory. You would be able to change the blueprint even if it is not finished, retaining the crafted pieces. Maybe this system is tedious, but I like it better, because of the graphic impact in the gameplay and the realistic approach. This system have connotations of personal crafting that could be good to explore.
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