Phoenixstar117
Recruit
So recently I re-watched the sneak-peak/preview of the weapon crafting system, and every time I get crazy hyped. Personalized weapons have always been something I crave in video games, and even more so when those changes you make actually affect the weapon rather than just add to the aesthetics.
My suggestion to help enhance this system even further than it already is (and this may even be planned, though it wasn't shown in the video), is actual steel/iron quality of the weapons themselves.
The two main factors that would be present in this is: steel quality, and steel grade. Steel quality would refer to general quality of the steel that the blacksmith uses to make the weapon, aka how balanced the carbon is in it. Steel grade would equate to the actual content of carbon and other alloying metals in it (though none have to be specified, for the sake of simplicity).
Both modifiers would be change-able by sliders, left being lowest quality/lowest steel grade, to the highest of both. However, only the steel quality one would be a simple low price to high price change. The steel grade one would require a bit more of an advanced system to determine price.
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Since the steel quality one is already pretty self explanatory, I wont waste any time on it. So to focus on the steel grade the first thing to note is how the slider would affect the weapons, primarily in flexibility/brittleness. The lower the slider, the more flexible and lighter the weapon, but the higher chance of it breaking to better weapons and not having a great swing effect. The higher the slider, the heavier the weapon and less chance of it breaking (except to more blunt and heavier weapons or armor).
That in itself is a very simple method of putting it, and not exactly accurate... but I think good enough to get the point across. This latter slider would also have to have multiple modifiers to go along with the two main modifiers of flexibility and weight.
-Flexibility Modifiers: Durability, Damage, Cracking
--Durability is the actual hit-points of the weapon; more flexible the weapon is the less durability it has.
--Damage is the actual damage the weapon deals (slash and stab); more flexible the weapon is the less damage it does.
--Cracking is the chance that the weapon itself actually breaks in an enemy-parry or failed attack, and has to be taken to the blacksmith to be repaired; more flexible the weapon is the less chance there is of it cracking.
-Weight: Damage, Speed
--Durability is the actual hit-points of the weapon; more weight the weapon has the more durability it has.
--Speed is the actual rate which the player can swing and re-attack with the weapon; the more weight the weapon has the less speed it can go.
Again for re-cap, the steel grade slider would work from MOST FLEXIBLE -to- MOST BRITTLE. Pricing of this would have to be a unique system... since in this case, the "best" ratio will really depend on the kind of weapon you are trying to make. If you want a rapier for quick attacks, you'll want a more flexible weapon. If you want a long-sword designed to cleave off heads, you'll want a heavier but not too heavy weapon that it ruins the swing speed. If you want a war-hammer designed to smash in helmets, you'll want the heaviest setting. So it will really depend on what kind of weapon... so as a base, you could set the pricing on the difficulty of manufacturing the specific steel grade.
From what I know of alloying steel/ with carbon, I would personally argue that about 2/3 of the slider (closer to the most brittle) is the most difficult steel to produce. The classification of "high carbon steel" is what it would likely have. Creating a good high quality, high carbon steel, with medieval technology was quite a feat and then even more so an expensive one. Sliding up to that point from MOST FLEXIBLE would cost more and more gold, plateauing at it, and then going back down at the same rate to the MOST BRITTLE... thus the MOST BRITTLE would actually cost more than the MOST FLEXIBLE, as it is still a grade that takes a long time to get (though isn't as tricky as getting a specific grade... this MOST BRITTLE likely being what is called Cast-Iron).
Though, in the end, the pricing for the steel grade would be less important than the steel quality. As you can achieve any grade of steel with enough attempts, but to get an entire blade with it's carbon content balanced so that the weight and blade integrity is also balanced, is far far more difficult. So it would be the more exponential slider for pricing.
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Two final notes on this suggestion is how it would affect aesthetics, and how you can determine what kind of metal fits your needs best.
-The way I propose to change the aesthetics is not necessary the realistic way, but an interesting one. It could be set that steel (after polish) lower on the steel grade slider (MOST FLEXIBLE) would be a more white/silver color. And then the opposite (darker) for the more MOST BRITTLE. Thus one could achieve very dark colored weapons when using heavy weapons, and very bright ones with lighter ones. Against not necessary realistic, but viable.
-Of having a way to find the best steel for your designs, every pre-made/NPC weapon has a set steel grade and steel quality setting. Thus after use of one, or seeing the weapon stats themselves, you could take the weapon to a blacksmith and have them inspect it, for a price. They would then tell you the exact variables to put into the sliders to achieve the same quality and grade.
--This idea may not be necessary as the video shows that the values for the weapon are shown changing in real time when modifications are done to the weapons, but the idea could still be useful and was worth mentioning.
---
That's the end of this suggestion. Again, please take note it isn't made to be as realistic as possible but as simple as such could be for the sake of being able to put it into a video game. Feedback on how to improve this idea is appreciated
My suggestion to help enhance this system even further than it already is (and this may even be planned, though it wasn't shown in the video), is actual steel/iron quality of the weapons themselves.
The two main factors that would be present in this is: steel quality, and steel grade. Steel quality would refer to general quality of the steel that the blacksmith uses to make the weapon, aka how balanced the carbon is in it. Steel grade would equate to the actual content of carbon and other alloying metals in it (though none have to be specified, for the sake of simplicity).
Both modifiers would be change-able by sliders, left being lowest quality/lowest steel grade, to the highest of both. However, only the steel quality one would be a simple low price to high price change. The steel grade one would require a bit more of an advanced system to determine price.
---
Since the steel quality one is already pretty self explanatory, I wont waste any time on it. So to focus on the steel grade the first thing to note is how the slider would affect the weapons, primarily in flexibility/brittleness. The lower the slider, the more flexible and lighter the weapon, but the higher chance of it breaking to better weapons and not having a great swing effect. The higher the slider, the heavier the weapon and less chance of it breaking (except to more blunt and heavier weapons or armor).
That in itself is a very simple method of putting it, and not exactly accurate... but I think good enough to get the point across. This latter slider would also have to have multiple modifiers to go along with the two main modifiers of flexibility and weight.
-Flexibility Modifiers: Durability, Damage, Cracking
--Durability is the actual hit-points of the weapon; more flexible the weapon is the less durability it has.
--Damage is the actual damage the weapon deals (slash and stab); more flexible the weapon is the less damage it does.
--Cracking is the chance that the weapon itself actually breaks in an enemy-parry or failed attack, and has to be taken to the blacksmith to be repaired; more flexible the weapon is the less chance there is of it cracking.
-Weight: Damage, Speed
--Durability is the actual hit-points of the weapon; more weight the weapon has the more durability it has.
--Speed is the actual rate which the player can swing and re-attack with the weapon; the more weight the weapon has the less speed it can go.
Again for re-cap, the steel grade slider would work from MOST FLEXIBLE -to- MOST BRITTLE. Pricing of this would have to be a unique system... since in this case, the "best" ratio will really depend on the kind of weapon you are trying to make. If you want a rapier for quick attacks, you'll want a more flexible weapon. If you want a long-sword designed to cleave off heads, you'll want a heavier but not too heavy weapon that it ruins the swing speed. If you want a war-hammer designed to smash in helmets, you'll want the heaviest setting. So it will really depend on what kind of weapon... so as a base, you could set the pricing on the difficulty of manufacturing the specific steel grade.
From what I know of alloying steel/ with carbon, I would personally argue that about 2/3 of the slider (closer to the most brittle) is the most difficult steel to produce. The classification of "high carbon steel" is what it would likely have. Creating a good high quality, high carbon steel, with medieval technology was quite a feat and then even more so an expensive one. Sliding up to that point from MOST FLEXIBLE would cost more and more gold, plateauing at it, and then going back down at the same rate to the MOST BRITTLE... thus the MOST BRITTLE would actually cost more than the MOST FLEXIBLE, as it is still a grade that takes a long time to get (though isn't as tricky as getting a specific grade... this MOST BRITTLE likely being what is called Cast-Iron).
Though, in the end, the pricing for the steel grade would be less important than the steel quality. As you can achieve any grade of steel with enough attempts, but to get an entire blade with it's carbon content balanced so that the weight and blade integrity is also balanced, is far far more difficult. So it would be the more exponential slider for pricing.
---
Two final notes on this suggestion is how it would affect aesthetics, and how you can determine what kind of metal fits your needs best.
-The way I propose to change the aesthetics is not necessary the realistic way, but an interesting one. It could be set that steel (after polish) lower on the steel grade slider (MOST FLEXIBLE) would be a more white/silver color. And then the opposite (darker) for the more MOST BRITTLE. Thus one could achieve very dark colored weapons when using heavy weapons, and very bright ones with lighter ones. Against not necessary realistic, but viable.
-Of having a way to find the best steel for your designs, every pre-made/NPC weapon has a set steel grade and steel quality setting. Thus after use of one, or seeing the weapon stats themselves, you could take the weapon to a blacksmith and have them inspect it, for a price. They would then tell you the exact variables to put into the sliders to achieve the same quality and grade.
--This idea may not be necessary as the video shows that the values for the weapon are shown changing in real time when modifications are done to the weapons, but the idea could still be useful and was worth mentioning.
---
That's the end of this suggestion. Again, please take note it isn't made to be as realistic as possible but as simple as such could be for the sake of being able to put it into a video game. Feedback on how to improve this idea is appreciated
