Crafting Categories/Ideas, and What's in the Town?

While looking into Vlue's Advanced Recipe Crafting script, specifically the crafting categories, a stray memory happened to pop into place. Sometime just after the Y2K rollover, while looking around the 'net for game-making tutorials, I came across a gamedev.net article which listed some things to be usable in a potential game.


The article featured an assortment of craftsmen, merchants, and resources that might be found in a fantasy/medieval-inspired game. Albeit, most games even in RPG Maker might not ever become so complex as to use most or all of these, but I submit the link for those so inclined -- if even only so that a wider variety of "craftables" can be added to a game, if fitting thematically.


I found the old article by looking back into GameDev's archives:


http://archive.gamedev.net/archive/reference/articles/article250.html


It is no less interesting a read, as it was the day I first found it. And further, just up in the parent subforum, are a few other articles which may also be of interest:


http://archive.gamedev.net/archive/reference/listc2bf.html?categoryid=63


Hope this helps with your crafting-related creativity. Feel free to add further thoughts here. (I had at one point re-typed and re-formatted that list, adding in a few more ideas of mine, in an OpenOffice document and exported a PDF; but, I'll be danged if I cannot find the crazy thing....)

First of all, thanks for the links, some of those articles are very cool reads!

As far as the crafting suggestions, specifically, though, I question the utility of having stuff like that in most games.  Is it nice and atmospheric to get away from mainstays like "Potion" and "Sword"?  Sure.  Are most games better off for having a thatcher in each town?  I doubt it.

It's very cool to have completely unexpected items that you can craft - furniture, books, clothing, technology, art, and so on.  But I feel that, as the game maker, you have to go one of two routes if you want to include stuff lke this.  Either you have to actually make all of that non-traditional stuff useful in some way (the Star Ocean series does a great job with this, especially SO The Second Story, where there are dozens of crafting skills and they all make different types of items that are confer different types of benefits), or you have to actually pull away from realism and simplify the player's interaction with crafting (I like how Tales of Graces pulled this off, where a necklace, an hourglass, or a book are all simply items that sell for different amounts of gold, but all used the same interface to create and all could be done from the same place - they simply require different sets of ingredients).

Hmmm.  Are there any other ways to justify (from a gameplay sense) having all these different types of items?

I could see a place for them if your game is more of a strategy game, where you have to build roads, buildings, etc. Knights and Merchants is one that springs to mind. In addition to your troops, you had to maintain a bunch of other units like laborers, woodcutters, and smiths so your knights and archers and o on would be able to go out and conquer enemy armies.

In a regular adventure rpg? No, not really, i'd stick to crafting equipment, potions and other battle items.

@Wavelength


Well, in the very least, it's a good general idea for having lists such as that; using one idea on the list doesn't mean you have to use them all. They are all just ideas for the choosing....


Edit.


Not to mention, that at the very least, the merchant types could be used as referenced NPC inhabitants of the town, regardless of whether associated crafting roles are used. Aside from the people mentioned that are more specifically craftsmen, the list provides ideas for the various people and buildings that may be found within the town itself, especially a town where you want to indicate a level of prosperity and capacity for resource-availability.


As far as "local flavor", a town can only go so far with the tileset(s) you use (don't hurt me, Celianna, I love what you do); but the other parts should at least be in the local townies, in various pets and animals running around, in the items and resources laying around or mentioned by NPC in conversation, et cetera.


Edit x2.


I guess part of the reason I wanted to share this is the fact that some town maps seem sometimes "stale", or the same patterns of buildings and things laying around, or even the crafting systems being so focused on making the potions, armor, weapons, et cetera. I'd really like to see more variety in games by way of non-combat involvement. It's fine if you want making potions and junk; but I'd like to see games where you are building and improving things around the town or homestead, instead of necessarily being focused on the direct use in battle. I thought "Homework Salesman" might be a good start to that, based upon the description of reviving the hometown, though I've yet to play it. I do like the premise of rebuilding and restoring something to what it was; I'd even "put up with" a bit of combat for that sake.