Great idea. With like 7 or 8 different numbers for each material, things shouldn't get so complex, and using simple names for them would help not-so-hardcore players. You could even set it as a game option: simple or complex materials. Simple materials wouldn't have near so much stats, so those players that prefer to stick to the standards could create their servers/worlds/games with it, while complex would use all of the stats.
Well, I obviously don't have access to the source code, but my coding experience makes me think that procedural generation of crafting materials is probably easier than procedural generation of other things. There is probably less graphical variation to worry about, there are fewer logical restriction issues than with other things. For example, planet generation most likely needs to have very complex restraints to make sure that the planet is useful; that the player can walk around, that there are places where mobs can spawn, etc. Materials might have some basic numerical bounds based on what kind of materials they are. For example, metal might tend to be harder than wood, wood probably tends to be more flammable.
^This would be a major problem. I am all for variety, but it would be just like in MC how there is different wood(and they all do the same thing) you lose a lot of inventory space for moving into different biomes. It would mean trying to get rid of one wood type in order to try to free up some space. If we want variety we are going to have to give up inventory space and if we want inventory space we are going to need to give up variety. It is a lose-lose situation, though it did look like we would have a lot of inventory, but nothing is certain.
The other option is having all type materials sort under the same inventory item, but if you click on them you get a drop-down of all the different types in your inventory. That said, it seems like you don't actually carry resources around very much, but rather stock them so your factory can craft with them. This isn't like Minecraft or Terraria in that you craft yourself with items in your inventory, it seems more like where you stock your warehouse and your factory produces the items you need.
That's one possible answer to the inventory problem. Another just occurred to me though, which would actually be pretty useful. Why not have a materials inventory for each planet you have visited? You'd have one tab for each planet and in those tabs, the materials found in THAT planet. It would make it easier for you to return for more of a certain material, as you'd know where you found it. Of course, if there were TOO much planets, this would get a bit spammy.
I am sure that the player will have to walk around with 'some' resources for practicality(like dirt for getting up to heights) and they have to lug all these resources to the factory like you would with a chest. Though I do like your idea of having a drop down on the resources and you can choose from quality of resources, but that is essentially increasing your inventory. This begs the question how much is too much? Could I carry all the resources contained in a single planet around if I wanted too? At what point would having having a different quality of resources become a hindrance in carrying useful resources? A line is going to have to be drawn somewhere, the question is where.
Let me re-affirm, Alpha - your inventory would hold things you use, like your weapons, med-packs, tools, scanners, communicators, etc. along with stuff you've gathered on-planet. When you return to your space-station, you just access your warehouse console and it goes into a drop-down page of all your items, a la X-Com... piccy: Stolen from the Open-X-Com site. Ideally the in-game one might have images beside every item, but that's the kind of thing I imagine we might end up looking at if we get a storage warehouse type thing.
The guy who posted above me talked about how copper was useless later on in Terraria so I was trying to make a point about how you could have the set in stone series of materials that remain constant in addition to new strange materials. Like if I want to start off with using Iron to forge into Steel in a factory to make plating for a mech or ship, I could also then in the future find something like Adamantium and then I could use that to make my stuff. Since everything that is procedurally generated would be limited in amount, unless you want it to then be found everywhere, one would still need to rely on constant materials. The reason we don't make stuff in real life out of the best possible material is because of costs and material rarity so it only makes sense to keep some small amount of realism in a game like this. Without keeping some use for the set in stone materials you get rid of the need to use them, making them ineffective in the later parts of the game.
The thing is that this would invite people to get away from this old style of crafting where it has to be one material. The point would be to allow you to combine materials to create unique armor, buildings mats, weapons, etc. So, you don't need to have copper, iron, etc. You'd simply combine whatever mats you find to create your things.
Exactly, you don't need to create EVERYTHING with the BEST possible material but rather improvise on the go. You got 200 iron-like mineral in a planet? You'll use it for a certain structure this time, because it has slightly more hitpoints than other similar materials. Next time you want to craft an iron-like armor? You'll have to look for another similar kind of material on another planet. Administration of resources ^^ You don't always need to be able to create everything out of the best possible material or out of the same mid-level material or whatever, variety!
So material inputs lead to different HP and other various factors scaling up or down rare material = better buildings and named items or extra stats and basic materials commonly available will be lower quality but easier to get up
Alright that makes more sense Zolon, but still it was said that you can custom make your buildings. So there is the option to lug around a bunch of materials if you want to.
First of all, this idea is really great, it goes well with all the others procedurally created content that the Dev already said they would put in. I really love exploration and discovery so that perfect for me. If procedurally-created-materials end up in the games it really need a simplified mode for the people who don't want overcomplicated stats and if special properties get also implemented it would need to be turn off if your using simplified mode because if not people would end up posting on bug forums thing like "There is something wrong here, I have iron armor and I get 30 electric damage from that monsters but my friend who is also using a iron armor only take 15 electric damage from the same monsters, its a bug".
Just wanted to drop in here and sort everything out. After reading a lot of the posts on here there seems to be some minor confusion with the way the op is presenting how procedural generated materials would be useful. 1. To the comment about inventory space, so far I like the idea of all "types of wood" being stored under the same inventory spot with a drop down list to view the individual types of wood. That seems to be the most logical usage of inventory space. 2. To the ones commenting about base materials, ie Basic Iron, I believe the OP is suggesting that instead of using Basic Iron to make a Basic Iron Broadsword, he is stating that you may have 6 Tempered Iron, 4 Solar Iron, and 2 Radiated Iron and let's say it requires 10 Pieces of "Iron" to create a Broadsword. Instead of using just basic iron, you could use any combination of the aforementioned "specialty irons" to create a unique Broadsword. Say I used 4 Tempered, 4 Solar and 2 Radiated, I would get a Hardened Solar Broadsword that is Slightly Irradiated. (OP: Let me know if I'm off by this). This way, you don't have the scour the many planets to find 10 Tempered Irons just to make your Broadsword or other weapon. 3. As far as statistics go, weapons and armors always have underlying amounts of statistics, especially when you add variations to the mix. Having more statistics to create a better feel for the game only adds more depth. As far as naming conventions go, I don't see why you couldn't have placeholder names for the generated weapons and/or armors that are created for ease of looks. Like above with my Hardened Solar Broadsword of Slight Irradiation. Yes it's a long name, but it could work. Then when you view the actually statistics for the weapon, it could give you some of the advantages of the weapon underneath it. Like +2 Damage, 40% Chance to Inflict Solar "Blah Blah", 20% Chance to Do Radiation Poisoning... Just a generalized statement. Anyways, hope this clears up some inconsistencies and if I'm off by any of this OP, let me know.
Oh god yes this! All of my yesses. I have thought of something like this some time ago when on a thread about tier, although the system was something different. But in the end it's basicly the same concept. I'd love if ores and materials would work like that. It would totally break the routine of "go to a planet, dig deep, get last tier ore, get the hell out. Make things SO MUCH MORE ENJOYABLE! You have my full support.
I cant really say much that hasn't already been said, but I love this idea and it would be awesome to see in-game.
This is so great. It has to be in the game. Although it may be hard to code, hard work equals good games.
