Sep. 12: Crafting Changes

Since the default NWN crafting system is kind of dumb (charging large amounts of gold for appearance changes, not able to handle things like helms and shields, not respecting custom content I want reserved for special items, allowing special items to be changed, etc), I'm going to be altering crafting in Aenea.

You can get a taste of what's coming by entering craft help into the chat bar. It will show you what you can do already (as of the latest reset).

The commands available now mean the player build module is very handy. Some appearances are not available, since they're ones I want reserved for custom content I create for the game.

When the changes are completed, the VC commands will require ranks in Craft Weapon (for weapons) or Craft Armor (for everything else) and a minor gold cost, but for now it's free to use.

The next reset will disable the normal NWN crafting conversation. Following that I'll soon be adding my completed version of weapon/armor crafting.

This is another fantastic added perk! Huzzah, !

Will the 3 emmiter shields currently in game be allowed to shift to the other emmitter shield options? theres two i want specifically as they remind me of the *shield of the seraphim* spells a certain wizzy uses.

i know they are spose to look like energy shields and thats cool...but having the option to access the other..er..4 is it? emmiter lookin options would be nice.

I want to save the emitter shield appearances for custom Aenean items and for custom player reward items. I don't think that basic crafting should be able to manipulate magic in the same way as a true original item creation.

If you shift an emitter-based shield to a different appearance, you can only go to the "solid" appearances, but not back.

will there be options to craft individual armor sections..like torso and thighs and such?

Kefrem: Yes.

Other changes going in:

Crafting will have several minor requirements.

Skills:
Changing a weapon appearance will require ranks in Craft Weapon (10-15, depending on the part). Changing appearance for any other item type will require ranks in Craft Armor (8-20, depending on item type).

Gold:
Making appearance changes to items will have a "materials cost" that must be paid with each change. 200 gp per change for items you can see on your character (helms, shields, armor, weapons), 100 gp per change for "icon" items that only appear in inventory.

Location:
You'll need to be in a proper "workshop" to do crafting. There are already shops scattered across the lands, including one right in the Vale.

Heh..with iggy's craft weapon and armor skill....he will be in demand with my bonuses i think hes in the 36 range in each

for the crafting requirements, are those ranks or checks (i.e. does my Int bonus count)? And is there/ will there be a way to change weapon colours?

It will be ranks (base ranks + Int modifier).

There will be a way to change weapon colors with this. I've been testing with a greataxe just to get the functions working, and it is working fine. Now I just have to do the coding for all the other weapon appearances.

Then all the armor appearances...

i tried using the belt option earlier and it didnt seem to be functioning...thought id bring it up.

without the ability to do many of the crafts the default system uses, it seems quite pointless. why not use both systems?

I actually found crafting helms very handy, and bone wands can only be made using the old system. also, without bone wands, it will be kinda pointless to go hunting skeletons with mages.

RayvenNightkind wrote:This is another fantastic added perk! Huzzah, !

this is a perk?!?!
its a punishment from hell towards everyone on the server who crafts or wishes to try crafts!
I am extremely insulted and angered at this!
no more fighting rust monsters for me as inexpensive easy to find and make equipment is gone, and no more being able to make wands.

how can this be 'fantastic'!?!?!

Anthroplayer wrote:this is a perk?!?!
its a punishment from hell towards everyone on the server who crafts or wishes to try crafts!
I am extremely insulted and angered at this!
no more fighting rust monsters for me as inexpensive easy to find and make equipment is gone, and no more being able to make wands.

how can this be 'fantastic'!?!?!

Hey, now, Anthroplayer, hold your horses! How do you know that is going to eliminate "easy to find and make equipment"? Call me what you will, but it has been my experience that never half-asses his custom content, nor does he ignore user input. If something is busticated, he does his best to fix it. If something is unpolished, he does his best to improve it.

Give his crafting system a chance before you outright condemn it. It may just be one of the greatest things that ever happened to NwN!

It is indeed fantastic and a perk, 's new crafting system is a lot more flexible the the original, as well as being cheaper. Rather than just putting the changes down and ranting about not liking them, specific examples need to be provided so that can make adjustments or what have you to the system, keeping in mind it may not be possible for all the capabilities of the old crafting system to be kept or will be kept. The world of Aenea was not created with the OC or expansions and their capabilities in mind, it was designed around a PnP game and the changes that are added are a attempt to give the world a more PnP feel. That is why the majority of the players here (or at least I would assume so) enjoy the world so much. With that in mind the change is new and will be likely to have a few bugs. And not everyone will like the changes, but in the end it's 's server and we are lucky enough to be able to share in the world he has provided.

(P.S. , if I overstepped my bounds in my response please let me know.)

Eric of Atrophy wrote:
Hey, now, Anthroplayer, hold your horses! How do you know that is going to eliminate "easy to find and make equipment"? Call me what you will, but it has been my experience that never half-asses his custom content, nor does he ignore user input. If something is busticated, he does his best to fix it. If something is unpolished, he does his best to improve it.

Give his crafting system a chance before you outright condemn it. It may just be one of the greatest things that ever happened to NwN!

I did not call you anything, odd that you reacted even more hostile than me.
Personally I like crafting system, but removing the old system was a major flaw, as it was the only way
for many basic items to be made, as well as the only way to make bone wands and unenchanted armor and weapons.

I gave it a chance for 2 days. I saw what was good and bad. The only thing I am complaining about is deleting the old ssytem. Until finished his system or the old system is assimilated or has its items copied into the new one, deleting the ability to make wands, and unenchanted armor and weapons is quite silly.

Now don't go attacking me cause I state the obvious, cause I state the obvious and sometimes very bluntly, but removing the ability to make wands was silly, now all we have is the other focus items, no wands. I hope either re-instates wand crafting and unenchanted crafting, or adds similar things into his current crafting.

RayvenNightkind wrote:
(P.S. , if I overstepped my bounds in my response please let me know.)

I'm not sure how you could have overstepped your bounds. Compared to the other DM/Player you had a nice well-put response. You had no insults and only offerred praise to projects. You are obviously following good forum conduct and are to be commended for avoided conflict.

However, Eric of Atrophy right out insulted me, why the DM/Player would outright do such a thing I dunno. Guess the person wanted to be extra defensive and chooses an offensive defense??? I didn't even insult them, or anyone else for that matter, all I did was state how removing wand crafting and unenchanted crafting was pointless. Why did I even take imbue focus if I no longer will be able to use it???

* flies in and casts a calm emotions spell... *

The change to crafting is a work in progress. I intend the new system to eventually have most, if not all, of the capabilities of the older system. I disabled the older system because of some built-in flaws that was messing with custom scripts I've implemented in the game (such as the custom item level restriction system) or capabilities that did not work with the ideas of some of the special items made for Aenea.

If you get back into the game before the next planned reset (and the simple addition mentioned in another thread), Smitty sells the bone wands for standard pricing (~20 gp each).

Anthroplayer,

My post offended you. I am very sorry for that, it was not my intention. Please accept my apology.

Eric of Atrophy

Status:

I'm about 1/2 way through entering the data for the weapon modifications (parts and colors)...I've got a-k done. Once I've got all the different weapon types + their top/middle/bottom parts + colors for all those parts entered into server-side 2da files, then I'll add the commands to alter them.

Boy, there are a lot of parts and colors for some of these weapons. That Player Build Module is almost a necessity for figuring out which part numbers you want to use.

Status:

Finally finished entering data for all the possible weapon parts and colors. Weapon crafting should be online after the next planned reset.

Armor crafting: testing in progress to make sure the code will work properly.

Base item crafting: in progress...only large bones ==> bone wands so far, but more are planned.

Hey ! Feels like such a long time since I managed to comment on anything in the forums....

Anyway.. does the new crafting system still use the base materials found around aenea such as "metal orbs", "spear heads" (the planks of wood and stuff from randomly breaking things up) etc... will it use the radial menu options that come up for such things?... will the craft dialogue ever be used for something else?.. (such as a certain green pc crystal (suggested ages ago))...

Hmm.. maybe these questions will be answered by myself in game when I go look at what's been happening... hopefully see you all tonight...

Welcome back, RustyDios.

For the moment, the new system only uses the large bones for making bone wands for enchanting. More such basic crafting will be added back in as time goes on.

Hmm i tried *fixing* spyders dagger so its handle wasnt to ugly....i tried this....

craft b 1 20 and m 1 20 now that should have made it color 1 appearance 20 on the middle and bottom(handle)right? if so...is it active cause nothing happened?

and i was in the workshop as well.

Select the dagger.

enter craft weapon b 1 20

enter craft weapon m 1 20

I'll have try it again, but if you're missing the word "weapon" in there, it won't work.

I got a new 2-bladed sword for Aurora, and tried crafting it's appearance. I got the feedback message "Something prevents you from altering this weapon" or somesuch... It's a plain 2-bladed sword with no properties at all, was in a workshop, 17 in craft weapon skill. Any ideas on why it wasn't working?

Ah, figured it out. System isn't complete. Was trying to get the #17 parts on the weapon. The 'bottom' can be changed to part 17, but not the middle (hilts) or blade parts.

There's several other parts that aren't working, nor can I figure out why as they're not anything fancy like emitter shields or such, and like with the #17 parts, the middle or bottom may work, the third part in the appearance won't.

I'll look into it.

Further changes with the crafting are in progress (alterations to crafting weapons, helms, and shields to go along with the model that will be used for crafting armor changes).

Eventually, you'll go into a workshop, enter a command to load your current visible gear (armor, shield, helm, weapon), then use a couple other commands to quickly change/preview the appearances (without having to type in a number), then make the changes or cancel out.

For now, I'm looking at the 2da file that lists which appearances will work for two-bladed swords:
tops: 1, 2, 3, 11, 13, 14, 15 (colors 1 to 4)
middles: 1, 2, 3, 11 to 16 (colors 1 to 4)
bottoms: 1, 2, 3, 11 to 18 (colors 1 to 4)

From the script, it appears that something may be off with that two-bladed sword. The message you got means one or more things:
1. The part appearance isn't one of the ones part of this system
2. The weapon is cursed
3. The weapon is flagged as non-craftable
4. The weapon is flagged as non-colorable

If it's not one or more of the things from this list, then something is probably messed up with the script and I've got some bugfixin' to do.

I'm assuming that the crafting system is still in progress. Any updates as far as that goes?

Still in progress ran into a roadblock on armor crafting and then a roadblock on real life time. Still plugging away.

Retesting armor/clothing crafting after tonight's reset. I've got a system built, now I need to test it to make sure it works in-game with all the armor types. This one will be conversation-based, since there are too many options to make using the VC system viable for this. It'll make use of crafting mannequins, so you can see what the armor will look like.

Cooolnesssss!!

Return of the robes!

One minor fix to make to the armor/clothing mannequins (an error with them trying to reset themselves for the next person), then one more run of testing, then tailoring "workshops" will open in several places around Aenea.

Weapon crafting will be changing to use a visible model instead of the VC system after I recode things...figure it'll be a lot easier that keeping track of appearance numbers.

Armor crafting is in.

In Calithia, Tradeholm, and Macedone you can now find Sronj's Self Service Seamstress Shops. Enjoy!

Hot Damn!

Oh hurray, now Miow can be even more garish and add gloves to her custom armor

Oh lordy... and my eyes have almost gotten used to the first get up... almost

What can I say, the Aenean bright gnome Miow has retained her kender fashion sense in her new incarnation XD

Ooooooh ... can't wait to get back online and give this a whirl!

Works like a charm. Great stuff

Update to item crafting/modification:

After the next planned server reset, you will find a pair of "Mystical Modification Boots" in various workshops across the lands. The nearest is right in Bluebeard's Tower.

Click on the boots to start a conversation that will allow you to add or copy an equipped visible item (helm, shield, cloak, or weapon) to the boots for modification. You can then use conversation options to preview changes to the item...find what you like and you can copy the appearance to your own equipped item.

For cloaks, helms, and shields, the boots will always start with a base appearance, which you can then alter. For weapons, it should copy your weapon's current appearance and work from there.

Certain items will not be able to be altered to match the boot's item. These are usually ones that I have set a specific appearance tied directly to the item's material, background story, etc. Certain appearances should be skipped automatically when previewing on the boots (reserved by me for module items or player rewards).

Each such change will require a Craft (armor or weapon) check and cost gold. Each DC and gp cost should be listed when you go to copy the new appearance to your existing item.

The craft help/craft menu conversation will be updated to reflect the new functionality (I'll be removing the old, poorly-functioning, VC-based code for helms, shields, and weapons).

Hot diggity! I canna wait to try this one out! Thanks to you, !

Ace.... Can't wait to try this....