Resource mod as base for other mods?

[Mobbstar]

The Deal

 

I've been thinking about this. There are several mods which require metal (or similiar resources that appear naturally in an unrefined form), but the only things there are (after all this time ^[1]) are rock and gold... usually not fitting. So, the mod makers end up implementing a metal of their own, which has worked suprisingly well so far. ^[2,3]

 

That's only true for bigger mods though, smaller mods struggle to create unique metallurgy for basic application, iron being a good example. ^[4,5,6] And I haven't seen a single mod with interesting metallurgy yet. ^[7]

 

HitD is a massive mod that features many ores and metals ^[8], it sounds like a great base mod at first. But it's not and hasn't been used as a base yet for a reason: The resources come in a RPG bundle that not everyone enjoys and not every PC can run (w/out memspike fix).

 

Also, filling the crafting menu with a lot of recipes makes using metallurgy harder, especially when expanded by other mods. (I think the recipes go away when not near the forge, so everything else is fine in that regard)

 

I personally dislike how straight-forward basic metallurgy is. Iron ore for iron, silver ore for silver, etc.

 

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The Concept

 

Maybe it'd be best, considering above points, to create a core resources mod of sorts. Smaller mods could build on that, and bigger mods can "feature cross-mod support" .

 

That core mod would feature new ore rocks that drop a variety (as in, more than one type of) metal nuggets (not ore items, but rather like gold) and resources. And of course a smeltery structure with an unique crafting window for mixing those metals to alloys. The exact ratios could be documented in a Tome of Knowledge, a mod I made for that kind of purpose which should become part of the core mod rather than being a standalone.

 

Metals and alloys:

Copper

Tin

Bronze

Zinc

Brass

Iron

Lead

Silver

Uranium

Platin?

 

Misc resources:

Salt

Sand

Glass

Chalk?

 

The smeltery would take burnable fuel items (wood, charcoal, etc. like a firepit) and have a currently undefined number of slots one can place items in. If there's enough fuel and an alloy can be made, the smeltery will consume those items, lock itself and open after a while with the alloys either inside or dropped.

 

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The content is entirely untested, as of now a spontanous idea of mine and absolutely not set in stone. Please suggest something!

 

What do you think about that? Yes, no, differently or like that?

 

If this idea becomes somewhat popular, I'll do my part of it (I gotta work on IR and U&A already though).

Only content that will find some use will be added. (e.g. sand, which is already an item in 3 or 4 mods)

 

Contributions so far:

Crockpot - Boulder art

Volgera - Coder

Mobbstar - (self-declared) Lead designer

[Blueberrys]

@Mobbstar Great idea overall.

The process of making metals sounds somewhat complex, a lot of mods might want to have resources available straight off the bat, without having to experiment with, learn about, or find many resources. I assume most ores nuggets on their own will result in a metal for less complex creations? e.g. iron_ore iron_nugget becomes iron_metal if used alone, but weird_alien_ore weird_alien_nugget must be combined with other ores nuggets to make anything.

 

Edited.

[Mobbstar]

@Mobbstar Great idea overall.

The process of making metals sounds somewhat complex, a lot of mods might want to have resources available straight off the bat, without having to experiment with, learn about, or find many resources. I assume most ores on their own will result in a metal for less complex creations? e.g. iron_ore becomes iron_metal if used alone, but weird_alien_ore must be combined with other ores to make anything.

 

Huh, I meant that, say, a copper boulder drops copper nuggets which can then be combined with tin nuggets to make bronze. No ore items involved.

 

I clarified that point in the concept.

[Blueberrys]

@Mobbstar Sorry, I worded it wrong. I meant that perhaps some base nuggets could be made into metals without mixing with other nuggets. e.g. copper nugget > copper metal

Can be useful if someone wants to make their items easy to obtain.

[Mobbstar]

@Mobbstar Sorry, I worded it wrong. I meant that perhaps some base nuggets could be made into metals without mixing with other nuggets. e.g. copper nugget > copper metal

Can be useful if someone wants to make their items easy to obtain.

 

But... but...

 

*sigh*

 

In the base game. Gold. You mine it, you get a gold nugget. You can use it immediately.

I meant it like that. No "making" metal involved.

 

I suppose when I said nugget you thought of ore nuggets... I can't think of a better word.

[Blueberrys]

@Mobbstar Ohh, okay. Sorry xD I was thinking of alloys.

[Mobbstar]

I guess I should make it happen then. (only 2 votes? Not all at once! ...)

 

Buuut I need input:

1. What does one (or can one) put into the smeltery to make alloys? EDIT: And how?
2. What metals and alloys are considered basic and should be added?
3. What other resources are probably needed?
4. Does anyone want to contribute code/art?

You can see the current content and plans above.

[Kzisor]

@Mobbstar, this is an interesting idea, but I believe Don't Starve is too small to actually make most of these alloy's useful.

 

What would you use these alloy's to create? New tools or weapons? How would you balance each tool set when you would have dozens of alloy's?

 

It is a commendable idea, but I don't think Don't Starve has enough growth to allow it to be justified. 

 

 

[Mobbstar]

I failed to find any mod that requires heavy metallurgy other than HitD, so unless someone makes me aware of a WIP mod that does, I'll just cut the content down to iron, sand, glass and improved ToK books.

[TheShadeofTheNorth]

Sand would be actually pretty cool, I'M TOTALLY SUPPORTING SAND AND GLASS, FOR THE SAND LOVERS!!!!!!!! Actually i'n lazy and i don't want to do complex things. hehe