"Chopping down a tree with a hammer is weird." "Breaking a rock with a sword makes no sense."
I hear you! Like the shared resource between inventory and storehouse, this is another one of those things I've been stubborn about for a while, but I can't argue - the current implementation *does* look weird.
The main reason HammerHelm lets you get resources using your weapon is I didn't want to force players to have to manually switch between their weapon, their pickaxe, an axe, etc. Even making it a hotkey still feels cumbersome to me.
So, I'm developing a system to automatically switch to the correct weapon/item and have an artist creating axes and pickaxes for you to craft!
The concepts were created by the same artist who made the apiaries, beehives, and trellis and she's also working on the in-game models.
The hammer in the above image is going to be the new starting weapon. I think a HammerHelm Dwarf should start out with a hammer! :)
There are four kinds of pickaxes and axes. Tress can be felled with any of the axes with better axes requiring less hits to knock the tree down. The same is true for the pickaxes and getting quality stone. For ore deposits, you will need the right pickaxe to get the ore.
Copper pickaxes can mine Copper and Iron.
Iron pickaxes can mine Jade
Jade pickaxes can mine Gold and Diamond.
And the Diamond pickaxe can mine Blood Stone.
Pickaxes can also mine anything at lower ore levels, so a Jade pickaxe can also mine Copper, Iron, and Jade. I'm, still debating whether a weaker pickaxe *can't* get ore or if it requires double the number of hits. Either way, making an axe or pickaxe won't be a big investment and you should easily have one by the time you get to the next ore level. These items will also NOT have durability so once you have one, you're good to go.
My goal with this system isn't to make getting resources more difficult but rather to make the process of chopping a tree or mining ore feel and look better. So the actual cost in resources to make these will likely be pretty low.
The tutorial will be updated to get you your first Copper Pickaxe and Copper Axe before the part where you make your first weapon. Existing saves will be able to just craft the items depending on what ore you have available.
Right now I'm thinking these will be craftable at the Metalworker. I'll add the higher ore ingots to the Metalworker as well, although they'll cost a bit more than the Armorsmith's or Weaponsmith's ingots. I don't want to put the pickaxes and axes exclusively on those two jobs though, just in case someone gets to Jade Ore before placing those buildings. I don't want them to gate advancement in this system.
(click to see full size)
The Equip Panel of the Inventory UI will be updated to include two new slots. One for your axe and the other for your pickaxe. Once equipped the system will automatically choose the correct item depending on what you are hitting.
Testing the system using the Jade Hammer and Jade Axe as stand-ins. Your weapons is the default in case you swing at nothing or break a create, alchemy log, etc.
This gif isn't the best quality (we're limited to 3mbs for uploads in announcements) so I also put up a video on my YouTube account so you can see it in action.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VIL-tXeRk4&feature=youtu.be
Once again, I want to say thank you to everyone for your support and feedback. I hope you all enjoy this once we finish it!
-Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna
[email protected]
- My Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuperSixStudios
- Discord Channel: discord.gg/soedesco