A16 Survivor's Pack Starting Gear

[Valmar]

Players who start off in the game (first time) will get a survivors backpack they can place on the ground and break to open. Inside the backpack they will find this loot:

 

Random hat, top and pants

Worn boots

One common recipe book

Possibly one iron tool.

Painkiller and first aid bandage

Bottled water and two random canned food.

One random melee weapon

One random ranged weapon (bow, crossbow or pistol)

 

This is mainly geared towards servers as it only effects new players, but it works in singleplayer too as long as you start a new game.

 

Blocks.xml

 

Loot.xml

 

Open your entityclasses.xml and make this change to the playerMale entities' ItemsOnEnterGame properties:

 

<property name="ItemsOnEnterGame.GameModeSurvivalSP" value="[color="#FFA500"]Survivor's Pack (Locked)[/color]" />
<property name="ItemsOnEnterGame.GameModeSurvivalMP" value="[color="#FFA500"]Survivor's Pack (Locked)[/color], keystoneBlock" />

[TehAgent]

Sounds very familiar indeed...

[Valmar]

As they should, its based off the "break block for items" mod some servers do. Just a bit different.

[TehAgent]

Beta v 0.79.1 7.19.2015

 

Added:

 

.38 Revolver

380 Ammo

 

Survival Kit - Upon spawning for the first time, there will be a backpack in your inventory. Place it on the ground, slash it open with the knife, and collect the loot. A random assortment of pistols, ammo, tools, clothing and food will get you started. You wont have much ammo to start, so make sure you only use it in a dire emergency!

[Valmar]

Were survival kits once part of the game? I wasn't aware.

 

Edit: Saw the date. Now I'm confused. Lol.

[Mack Gideon]

If the "Starter pack" was something kinda generic, then you could have recipes to turn it into, based on the crafting grid, 24 other professions. Less loot in total, but more rare maybe. This would let a player pick their starting "character class" of sorts?

[Valmar]

That probably is a better solution than what I had in mind. I was going to make multiple class packs that the player starts out with but make them need to be unlocked with a "key" item they also start off with. You only get one key so you could only open one bag. Giving a generic bag and having you turn the bag into another via the crafting menu is a neat idea too. Though I do like the more direct way of having all the bags. It would make it easier for newbies who don't know about the whole "you use the crafting menu to make the bag you want" thing.

 

It's a good idea, though.

[RolandRhaine]

Does this mod work for single player use as well, or maybe for a "local" multiplayer where its just me and a couple of friends? Would be awesome if it did, it looks cool and I have found a lot of mods today that I want to try out for my single player game because I am not huge fan of multiplayer because I play the game when I get into the mood too. I dont want to spend a lot of time building a base on a MP server just to come back a month later and it be gone, so this is something I would enjoy on my SP game.

[alexander_q]

Have you given much thought to the professions? I'm tempted to gate a lot more things behind schematics and give those schematics for free to the appropriate profession. E.g, "Survivalist", starts with recipes "StoneAxe, Campfire, Wooden Bow, Arrows".

[Valmar]

Along as you follow the instructions it should work for singleplayer and multiplayer. Though remember it only works once. You don't get a new pack everytime you die. Its only something you get the first time you join the game. If you require any assistance setting it up let me know.

 

 

@Alex

 

Did you by chance read my entire OP?

 

"Perhaps next time I will make a larger version of this mod that features "profession-based" packs where user can choose between multiple packs, each having a different set of items tailored towards a specific type. Such as a Builder Pack, Melee Pack, Range Pack, Miner Pack... "

 

So, yes, I have given thought to making a profession-based version of this.

 

Putting things behind more recipes could be one way to make the professions stand out even more. Could compliment my Survival Note mod nicely. Hm. Maybe one day.

[alexander_q]

I noticed you have count="0" for a few items on the list. Does that actually mean you'll get none, or is that a quirk of loot tables?

[Valmar]

Its a quirk. A very weird quirk that took a lot of trail and error to understand on my part. It still doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Suffice to say if you set those values to 1 you'll get two of them. Because the container is set to 1 and it gives the group and if an item in the group is also set to 1 then it adds to the 1 from the container, making two. Forcing it to be 0 means it will only be the 1 declared from the container.

 

It's... a confusing system, in all honesty. Or at least it is for me.

[alexander_q]

Did you by chance read my entire OP?

 

Sorry, my saying "have you given much thought to..." is my less-needy way of saying "please immediately share your thoughts on professions in detail, namely which recipes would belong to which professions and what their starting equipment would be, because I am very excited about this concept".

 

EDIT: So I just implemented your mod. I didn't use the loot tables as I want to mess around with some of the profession ideas (so far have made it contain a "Survival Guide" which unlocks campfires, stone axes, wooden bows, arrows and a custom item called "cordage"). Because the "locked" version of the backpack has no hover text it won't be immediately obvious to unfamiliar users that they're supposed to break it. I might change the name to "Survivor Pack (Break Me)"

[Valmar]

On that I am not sure. I haven't given THAT much thought on it. I'm not sure I'd do anything quite to your standards where I'd lock the stone axe behind a book or anything. Though... maybe if I ever release a giant mod pack with everything I've ever made that could be a thing. I don't know. I'm reluctant to add more things behind recipe books, even if I include it as part of my Survivor Note mod. It'd feel like I'm artificially making my notes more worthwhile by purposely making the game more tedious with all the walled recipes.

 

Back on subject though.

 

I'm not sure on the specifics but here as some ideas.

 

Builder:

Hammer

Various recipe books.

Planks

Frames

Torches

1 food 1 drink

 

Miner:

Various recipe books.

Pickaxe

Mining Helmet

Forge

1 food 1 drink

 

Brute:

Various recipe books.

Iron Armor

Melee weapon

Bandages

1 food 1 drink

 

Archer:

Various recipe books.

Crossbow/Bow

Arrows/Bolts

Leather armor.

1 food 1 drink

 

Rifleman:

Various recipe books.

Hunting rifle

762 ammo

Repair kits

1 food 1 drink

 

Gunslinger:

Various recipe books.

Pistol

9mm ammo

Repair kits

1 food 1 drink

 

Survivor:

1 recipe book.

Bow

Arrows

Health kit

Bandages

Campfire

Sleeping Bag

Hunting knife

Stone Axe

3 food 3 drinks

 

 

 

 

Though again these were kinda just from the top of my head. I don't expect many people will care one way or another since you'd need a new game/new character to even notice this type of mod. Did you have anything specifically in mind in regards to classes and the like?

[alexander_q]

Ah excellent, builder and miner didn't even occur to me. This is my list so far:

 

<lootgroup name="Survival Backpack" count="1"> 
	<item group="Survivalist List"/>
	<item group="Gunsmith List"/>
	<item group="Doctor List"/>
	<item group="Botanist List"/>
</lootgroup>

<lootgroup name="Survivalist List" count="all"> 
	<item name="Survivalist's Guide" />
	<item name="clubWood" />
	<item name="campfire" />
	<item name="bedRoll01_1" />
	<item group="cannedfood" count="1"/>
	<item name="bottledWater" count="1"/>
	<item name="flashlight02"/>
</lootgroup>

<lootgroup name="Gunsmith List" count="all"> 
	<item name="Gun Maintenance" />
	<item group="pistol+ammo"/>
	<item name="repairKit"/>
	<item group="cannedfood" count="1"/>
	<item name="bottledWater" count="1"/>
	<item name="flashlight02"/>
</lootgroup>

<lootgroup name="Doctor List" count="all"> 
	<item name="Grey's Anatomy" />
	<item name="firstAidKit" />		
	<item name="antibiotics" />
	<item name="painkillers" />
	<item name="firstAidBandage" />
	<item name="vitamins" />
	<item group="cannedfood" count="1"/>
	<item name="bottledWater" count="1"/>
	<item name="flashlight02"/>
</lootgroup>

<lootgroup name="Botanist List" count="all"> 
	<item name="Plants for Dummies" />
	<item name="goldenRodTea" />
	<item name="herbalAntibiotics" />
	<item name="blueberrySeed" />
	<item name="cornSeed" />
	<item name="cottonSeed" />
	<item name="potatoSeed" />
	<item group="cannedfood" count="1"/>
	<item name="bottledWater" count="1"/>
	<item name="flashlight02"/>
</lootgroup>

 

And books:

 

<item id="851" name="Survivalist's Guide">
       <property name="Meshfile" value="Items/Misc/Book" />
	<property name="CustomIcon" value="book" />
       <property name="Material" value="paper" />
       <property name="HoldType" value="21" />
       <property name="Stacknumber" value="50" />		
       <property class="Action1">
           <!-- UseAction -->
           <property name="Class" value="LearnRecipe" />
           <property name="Title" value="Survivalist's Guide" />
           <property name="Description" value="Survive in the wilderness" />
           <property name="Recipes_to_learn" value="Cordage,stoneAxe,campfire,woodenBow,arrow,splint" />
           <property name="Delay" value="0" />
           <property name="Sound_start" value="Misc/recipe_unlocked" />
       </property>
       <property name="FuelValue" value="20" />
       <property name="Weight" value="20" />
       <property name="Group" value="Special Items" />
       <property class="Preview">
           <property name="Zoom" value="10" />
           <property name="Pos" value="0,-0.2" />
           <property name="Rot" value="90,45,0" />
       </property>
   </item>

<item id="852" name="Grey's Anatomy">
       <property name="Meshfile" value="Items/Misc/Book" />
	<property name="CustomIcon" value="book" />
       <property name="Material" value="paper" />
       <property name="HoldType" value="21" />
       <property name="Stacknumber" value="50" />		
       <property class="Action1">
           <!-- UseAction -->
           <property name="Class" value="LearnRecipe" />
           <property name="Title" value="Grey's Anatomy" />
           <property name="Description" value="First, do no harm..." />
           <property name="Recipes_to_learn" value="bandage,firstAidBandage,firstAidKit" />
           <property name="Delay" value="0" />
           <property name="Sound_start" value="Misc/recipe_unlocked" />
       </property>
       <property name="FuelValue" value="20" />
       <property name="Weight" value="20" />
       <property name="Group" value="Special Items" />
       <property class="Preview">
           <property name="Zoom" value="10" />
           <property name="Pos" value="0,-0.2" />
           <property name="Rot" value="90,45,0" />
       </property>
   </item>

<item id="853" name="Gun Maintenance">
       <property name="Meshfile" value="Items/Misc/Book" />
	<property name="CustomIcon" value="book" />
       <property name="Material" value="paper" />
       <property name="HoldType" value="21" />
       <property name="Stacknumber" value="50" />		
       <property class="Action1">
           <!-- UseAction -->
           <property name="Class" value="LearnRecipe" />
           <property name="Title" value="Gun Maintenance" />
           <property name="Description" value="Clean gun, clean shooting" />
           <property name="Recipes_to_learn" value="repairKit" />
           <property name="Delay" value="0" />
           <property name="Sound_start" value="Misc/recipe_unlocked" />
       </property>
       <property name="FuelValue" value="20" />
       <property name="Weight" value="20" />
       <property name="Group" value="Special Items" />
       <property class="Preview">
           <property name="Zoom" value="10" />
           <property name="Pos" value="0,-0.2" />
           <property name="Rot" value="90,45,0" />
       </property>
   </item>

<item id="854" name="Plants for Dummies">
       <property name="Meshfile" value="Items/Misc/Book" />
	<property name="CustomIcon" value="book" />
       <property name="Material" value="paper" />
       <property name="HoldType" value="21" />
       <property name="Stacknumber" value="50" />		
       <property class="Action1">
           <!-- UseAction -->
           <property name="Class" value="LearnRecipe" />
           <property name="Title" value="Plants for Dummies" />
           <property name="Description" value="For all your herbal remedies..." />
           <property name="Recipes_to_learn" value="goldenRodTea,herbalAntibiotics" />
           <property name="Delay" value="0" />
           <property name="Sound_start" value="Misc/recipe_unlocked" />
       </property>
       <property name="FuelValue" value="20" />
       <property name="Weight" value="20" />
       <property name="Group" value="Special Items" />
       <property class="Preview">
           <property name="Zoom" value="10" />
           <property name="Pos" value="0,-0.2" />
           <property name="Rot" value="90,45,0" />
       </property>
   </item>

 

I'm all for gating recipes because - it means there's something a player can give you that you can't take from his corpse. It doesn't force cooperation as the recipes still exist in the world, however when you meet a player you know they are guaranteed to have a profession and there's a 3/4 chance they can make things you can't.

[alexander_q]

I'm trying to make an elegant profession selector, but my chosen method has hit a road block. It seems like it's not possible to have several items that all share the same recipe. I tried:

 

<recipe name="Survivalist's Pack (Break Me)" count="1" scrapable="False" craft_time="1" learn_exp_gain="0" craft_exp_gain="0" >
       <ingredient name="Select Profession (Craft Me)" count="1"/>
   </recipe>  

<recipe name="Doctor's Pack (Break Me)" count="1" scrapable="False" craft_time="1" learn_exp_gain="0" craft_exp_gain="0" >
       <ingredient name="Select Profession (Craft Me)" count="1"/>
   </recipe>  

<recipe name="Gunsmith's Pack (Break Me)" count="1" scrapable="False" craft_time="1" learn_exp_gain="0" craft_exp_gain="0" >
       <ingredient name="Select Profession (Craft Me)" count="1"/>
   </recipe>  

<recipe name="Builder's Pack (Break Me)" count="1" scrapable="False" craft_time="1" learn_exp_gain="0" craft_exp_gain="0" >
       <ingredient name="Select Profession (Craft Me)" count="1"/>
   </recipe>  

<recipe name="Botanist's Pack (Break Me)" count="1" scrapable="False" craft_time="1" learn_exp_gain="0" craft_exp_gain="0" >
       <ingredient name="Select Profession (Craft Me)" count="1"/>
   </recipe>  

 

The idea was that the player would select his profession from the crafting menu, but no matter what is chosen it always produces the bottom-most recipe, in this case "Botanist".

[Valmar]

A few thoughts:

 

Your lootgroups are likely done wrong. You're going to want to have the Survival Backpack lootgroup on the bottom of the others. This gave me no end of nightmare. It took me a long time to figure out why my bags weren't working. Apparently if a container/group has an item group within it that comes AFTER it in the xml file, it breaks. So if you have a container or group that points to another group make sure that other group is in the list first.

 

That being said I'm not sure what you're planning there. Your backpack would give a random profession, yet your recipes suggest you want them to be able to decide what they want?

 

As for the recipes your problem, from my experiences, is that you've not given the ingredients a grid number. If you have one recipe that uses the same grid and ingredient as another, it won't work. In your case your recipes all call for the same ingredient so to make it work each one would have to use a different slot.

 

For example:

 

<recipe name="Survivalist's Pack (Break Me)" count="1" scrapable="False" craft_time="1" learn_exp_gain="0" craft_exp_gain="0" >
       <ingredient name="Select Profession (Craft Me)" count="1" grid="0, 0" />
   </recipe>  

<recipe name="Doctor's Pack (Break Me)" count="1" scrapable="False" craft_time="1" learn_exp_gain="0" craft_exp_gain="0" >
       <ingredient name="Select Profession (Craft Me)" count="1" grid="-1, 0" />
   </recipe>  

<recipe name="Gunsmith's Pack (Break Me)" count="1" scrapable="False" craft_time="1" learn_exp_gain="0" craft_exp_gain="0" >
       <ingredient name="Select Profession (Craft Me)" count="1" grid="1, 0" />
   </recipe>  

<recipe name="Builder's Pack (Break Me)" count="1" scrapable="False" craft_time="1" learn_exp_gain="0" craft_exp_gain="0" >
       <ingredient name="Select Profession (Craft Me)" count="1" grid="2, 0" />
   </recipe>  

<recipe name="Botanist's Pack (Break Me)" count="1" scrapable="False" craft_time="1" learn_exp_gain="0" craft_exp_gain="0" >
       <ingredient name="Select Profession (Craft Me)" count="1" grid="-2, 0" />
   </recipe>

[CyrusBlaze]

What I did in the past (A10 - didn't make one for A11)was essentially 'Uncraft" the main bag making you pick one of them (similar how you take bullets apart)

 

**rough quick copy/paste code**

<recipe name="Select Profession (Un-Craft Me)" count="1" scrapable="True" craft_time="1" learn_exp_gain="0" craft_exp_gain="0" >
       <ingredient name="Doctor's Pack (Break Me)" count="1" grid="0, 0" />
      <ingredient name="Gunsmith's Pack (Break Me)" count="1" grid="-1, 0" />
       <ingredient name="Builder's Pack (Break Me)" count="1" grid="1, 0" />
       <ingredient name="Botanist's Pack (Break Me)" count="1" grid="2, 0" />
   </recipe>

 

So you place the bag in the output and select which bag you want from the grid. Then do what you need to do with the bag to get the items.

Now I haven't toyed with this yet, so it may or may not work this way any more. Especially with the changes to bullet dismantling.

[Valmar]

That was a brilliant idea, Cyrus. However, like you mention, I'm skeptical it would work anymore with the changes to dismantling. Still, it was very clever.

[alexander_q]

A few thoughts:

 

Your lootgroups are likely done wrong. You're going to want to have the Survival Backpack lootgroup on the bottom of the others. This gave me no end of nightmare.

 

Yeah I figured that out on my own last night. Fortunately the error log is impressively specific.

 

 

That being said I'm not sure what you're planning there. Your backpack would give a random profession, yet your recipes suggest you want them to be able to decide what they want?

 

Yeah I was going for random at first but the players wanted to choose, so I've now made a profession selector which I'll explain below.

 

 

As for the recipes your problem, from my experiences, is that you've not given the ingredients a grid number.

 

Wow. I really should have just waited until today and come back here. You've answered all of the questions I painstakingly worked through myself last night.

 

What I did in the past (A10 - didn't make one for A11)was essentially 'Uncraft" the main bag making you pick one of them (similar how you take bullets apart)

 

Valmar is right, this doesn't work quite the same anymore. This was my first approach to a profession selector after the recipe one. In the case you've given, the player would be able to obtain every bag from scrapping the one Select Profession item.

 

Anyway, the profession selector I arrived at is just the recipes I gave in a previous post with differentiating grid references, like so:

 

recipes.xml

	<recipe name="Survivalist's Pack (Break Me)" count="1" scrapable="False" craft_time="1" learn_exp_gain="0" craft_exp_gain="0" >
	<ingredient name="Select Profession (Craft Me)" count="1" grid="0, 0"/>
</recipe>  

<recipe name="Doctor's Pack (Break Me)" count="1" scrapable="False" craft_time="1" learn_exp_gain="0" craft_exp_gain="0" >
	<ingredient name="Select Profession (Craft Me)" count="1" grid="-1, -1"/>
</recipe>  

<recipe name="Gunsmith's Pack (Break Me)" count="1" scrapable="False" craft_time="1" learn_exp_gain="0" craft_exp_gain="0" >
	<ingredient name="Select Profession (Craft Me)" count="1" grid="1, -1"/>
</recipe>  

<recipe name="Builder's Pack (Break Me)" count="1" scrapable="False" craft_time="1" learn_exp_gain="0" craft_exp_gain="0" >
	<ingredient name="Select Profession (Craft Me)" count="1" grid="-1, 1"/>
</recipe>  

<recipe name="Botanist's Pack (Break Me)" count="1" scrapable="False" craft_time="1" learn_exp_gain="0" craft_exp_gain="0" >
	<ingredient name="Select Profession (Craft Me)" count="1" grid="1, 1"/>
</recipe>  

 

And then a bag for each profession, with a "(Break Me)" version and a lootable version to get around the player-placed-blocks-don't-get-loot problem:

 

blocks.xml

   <block id="1500" name="Survivalist's Pack (Break Me)">
   <property name="CustomIcon" value="backpack01" />
   <property name="Material" value="paper" />
   <property name="Shape" value="Ext3dModel" />
   <property name="Mesh" value="models" />
   <property name="Model" value="LootContainers/backpack01" param1="main_mesh" />
   <property name="IsTerrainDecoration" value="true" />
   <property name="DowngradeBlock" value="Survivalist's Pack" />  
   <property name="Place" value="TowardsPlacer" />
   <drop event="Destroy" count="0" />
 </block>

 <block id="1501" name="Survivalist's Pack">
   <property name="Class" value="Loot" />
   <property name="CustomIcon" value="backpack01" />
   <property name="Material" value="metal" />
   <property name="Shape" value="Ext3dModel" />
   <property name="Mesh" value="models" />
   <property name="Model" value="LootContainers/backpack01" param1="main_mesh" />
   <property name="IsTerrainDecoration" value="true" />
   <property name="LootList" value="180" />
   <drop event="Destroy" count="0" />
 </block>

 

And then different lootcontainers for each profession pointing to their appropriate lootgroup:

 

loot.xml

	<lootcontainer id="180" count="1" size="8,4" destroy_on_close="true" sound_open="UseActions/open_backpack" sound_close="UseActions/close_backpack" open_time="1.5" loot_quality_template="baseTemplate">
	<item group="Survivalist List" />     
</lootcontainer>  

<lootgroup name="Survivalist List" count="all"> 
	<item name="Survivalist's Guide" />
	<item name="clubWood" />
	<item name="campfire" />
	<item name="bedRoll01_1" />
	<item group="cannedfood" count="2"/>
	<item name="bottledWater" count="2"/>
	<item name="flashlight02"/>
	<item group="startingShoes" count="1"/>
	<item group="startingPants" count="1"/>
	<item group="startingTops" count="1"/>
	<item group="startingHats" count="1"/>
</lootgroup>

 

The lootgroup includes a custom Book appropriate to the profession. For the survivalist it looks like this:

 

items.xml

	<item id="851" name="Survivalist's Guide">
	<property name="Meshfile" value="Items/Misc/Book" />
	<property name="CustomIcon" value="book" />
	<property name="Material" value="paper" />
	<property name="HoldType" value="21" />
	<property name="Stacknumber" value="50" />		
	<property class="Action1">
		<!-- UseAction -->
		<property name="Class" value="LearnRecipe" />
		<property name="Title" value="Survivalist's Guide" />
		<property name="Description" value="Survive in the wilderness" />
		<property name="Recipes_to_learn" value="Cordage,stoneAxe,campfire,woodenBow,arrow,splint" />
		<property name="Delay" value="0" />
		<property name="Sound_start" value="Misc/recipe_unlocked" />
	</property>
	<property name="FuelValue" value="20" />
	<property name="Weight" value="20" />
	<property name="Group" value="Special Items" />
	<property class="Preview">
		<property name="Zoom" value="10" />
		<property name="Pos" value="0,-0.2" />
		<property name="Rot" value="90,45,0" />
	</property>
</item>

 

As well as some starting clothes lootgroups very similar to yours Valmar.

 

My next project will be to create recipe books for all of the individual recipes I've gated via the profession guides. They'll go into a loot table so a Builder player might find the recipe for "stoneaxe", but the "Survivalist's Guide" won't go into the loot table. So it's possible to obtain all of the recipes of any profession, it's just a massive headstart to be a given profession.

[Valmar]

I see you've even had the foresight to make the "break me" bag a weak material. Very nice.

 

I will use these ideas you've given me when it comes time to make my "big" mod. I'm thinking... more gated items, though some of the items are only obtainable by Survivor Notes because you won't find a book that tells you how to make an improvised weapon - that will be something you learn from the notes of fallen survivors. I think that makes sense. Plus if I gate more things I can implement a "class" system using this bookbag approach more easily.

 

Not sure how popular such a thing will be but it sounds interesting so I believe I will take a whack at one of these days.

[Gazz]

If you do professions, it wouldn't do much unless you did gate quite a lot of things behind the unique "profession" book.

Without that, everyone is Master Of Everything within a few days.

 

I had already tried having more than one part listed for weapons but that no worky.

 

So if you want to make a Gunsmith class, you'd have to define completely new weapons with whole sets of better parts.

The gunsmith could then (fer instance) combine multiple regular parts into one "advanced" weapon part that he can use to craft the advanced weapon.

That would be a desirable profession and would not require everyone to have it... because everyone could repair those weapons.

 

Other classes are harder to define because it's all about trade-able items. Just won't work to any desireable degree without The Skill System. =)

[Valmar]

I have no illusions of it working flawlessly. Like you say, we need the skill system for these things. I don't expect anything I do to be a true replacement. Merely... a placeholder. Though I could just keep it so that the only way you can unlock certain recipes is if you choose a specific class. Though that goes against how I personally like to play. I do like professions but, personally, I like that someone can become a "master" of everything. I like the freedom. That doesn't mean it wouldn't be nice to have professions that help you out in the start by giving you a beginning advantage, however. Which IS something I think can be done.

 

Granted, its all a moot point once they hit high level and have everything... But still.

 

However what you bring up about Gunsmiths is a very interesting concept. I like it. Though I can't think of any similar situations one could do to make any of the other classes special. A higher tier melee class? Higher tier armor class? How does this translate to builders, higher tier tools? Hm. It's given me much to think about. The more I think on it, the more I like it, so that is good. Thank you for the input, Gazz.

[Gazz]

It's similar to what I did on my server.

 

You can craft [weapon part x] + [repair kit] + [weapon part x]

into a new [weapon part x] at "your" skill level.

 

You still need a constant influx of weapon parts and oil if you want to keep upgrading your guns as you level but it adds something to do and gives you more headaches when hauling all those parts back home (instead of scrapping them all) so that's good. =)

Mass production with molds is way too generic and detached.

 

This way crafting actually matters and is used for Fun Stuff, not just to make generic items like wood frames and ammo.

[Valmar]

A very interesting approach, Gazz. I assume two pistol barrels and a repair kit, for example, would craft into an Advanced Pistol Barrel, for example, yes?