You’ve only seen “basic crafting” so far, and it’s not even complete yet. So let’s start this article with a brief overview of the sections for crafting.
ACQUIRE THE RECIPE
Recipes are known by everyone (with rare exceptions). But having the skill to actually craft that recipe is something you have to unlock by climbing one or more of the Artisan skill tree branches. Once you know how to craft something, you go to the next step.
CHOOSE YOUR INGREDIENTS
Different resources have different characteristics. The recipe you’re building will result in an item that is greatly influenced by the characteristics of the ingredients you choose to use. For example, using Aluminum in a tool might influence its weight, but using Titanium will make it stronger, and Cobalt might change the appearance of the weapon in interesting ways. Additionally, the Titanium (for example) that you find on “Rodin IV” might differ significantly in statistics from the Titanium you find on “Gaiamar”.
Once you’ve decided which resources to use, you’ll use the basic crafting system to make the item. After it’s created, it is stamped with your Maker’s Mark and you’re done with the basics.
At this point, you’ve already made some appearance choices, depending on the ingredients you chose and how they are applied to the item. (For example, that laser pistol barrel that you used Cobalt for might have a blue sheen to the metal, whereas if you made it from Iron instead, it might appear a gunmetal grey. Did you choose wood or metal to make the pistol grip? Etc.)
ARTISAN CRAFTING
When you decide to push your design forward with more effort, you enter into the Artisan Crafting section. There’s a lot to this section, but suffice it to say that what you’re doing here is tinkering with the design and trying to find ways to make the device more efficient, the widget stronger or lighter weight, or the clothing more durable (as examples).
The process isn’t foolproof and you might even end up destroying the item you’re working on, but the goal is to make something that’s a standout achievement, a truly Artisan-level item.
Once you’re successful at that, then you finally get the option to fine-tune the appearance of that Artisan item.
ARTISAN ITEM APPEARANCE CUSTOMIZATION (THE STRETCH GOAL!)
Your device is already stamped with your Maker’s Mark, but there’s a lot more you can do to customize the appearance of your items.
Every crafted item has regions on it that can be visually customized with appearance paints, dyes, and you can even select from textures. It doesn’t matter if you’re making a power station, a shirt, a quantum rifle, or a starship engine, you can craft the appearance to be the way you want it at this point.
From clothing to weapons to tools, you can colorize and texture your items extensively.
There may also be some modular aesthetic choices you can make as well (like swapping out a barrel or power supply style, or having a high collar on a coat instead of a low one).
Everything can be aesthetically customized…even building tiles.
When you’re done with all of your aesthetic choices, you can then name your item, and write a description for it, all of which will be available for your customers to see if you sell it to them (or just to make you grin when keeping it for yourself).
Since players are always interested in both stats AND appearance, and because you, the crafter, get experience based on how often a player uses the items you create, it is absolutely in your best interest to create things that are strongly appealing to other players.
These aesthetic and lore elements you add to your items will definitely assist you in the goal of becoming a world-reknown crafter.
We did a deep dive into extreme modular functionality, but the crafting process
was inordinately complicated and the art burden was just too great. Maybe next game. 😉