Creating Artifacts?

Do you mean you've got an idea for how you'd like to set it up if you could, or that you have an idea on how you could actually set it up to work in the game, like what values to modify in the XML files/etc? I'd rather be interested in hearing about any ideas you've got for the second - I can't think of anything off the top of my head that would work anything like MoM's artifact creation system; in fact, the closest I can think of would be making it either the shop or a quest.

Hmm..

Have an advanced form of Conclave to be an "Arcane Forge", where you can design and create powerful artifacts. The city then spends an amount of time actually working on it, depending on the power. The upper limit in term of power creation being linked to the # of essence in the city (a 2-essence Arcane Forge would only be able to create Tier 2 magical items).

That would introduce a nice sense of balance and playchoice. Do you want to use your high-essence cities for research conclaves, arcane forge or magically enhanced military unit production?

Obviously, the creation of a magical item still necessitate metal, crystals and mana. And it requires the city to invest all of its production into it.

Man, that would be AWESOME to create the One Ring that way. Hell, you could even add negatives modifier to your magical items, like "Reduces the city size it is produced by 1" for really powerful items/enchantment.

I have asked for crafting from the beginning, and would definately LOVE to see it in a mod. I would even help, to the extent of my capabilities and availability...

It's not possible to add that sort of dynamic creation of an item's attributes. It is also not possible to add that sort of creation of items.

ddd888 made this post a bit back which has one kind of system in it: https://forums.elementalgame.com/431320

In that mod, you buy recipes, then bring the particular items to a quest point created by using the recipe. This way you can require stuff like "three wolf pelts" because that's possible in quest xml

Frabulon also posted this: https://forums.elementalgame.com/419996

the method was a bit different there, he used spells instead which required special resources you got by breaking down (using) custom items found in the world.

If you really want to do random items, I would go with the second solution. A strategic spell has ways to select one item randomly out of many. The resources to craft the item would always be static though. For example: I use 3 demon's horns, a wolf pelt and 10 metal. I craft 1 out of 3 possible helmets. One helmet has +10 Spell Resist, another has +5 Accuracy, another has +5 Spell Resist.

Edit: The first method also has ways to give you a random item, now that I think of it. I think the second solution would be more AI-friendly though, and also more player-friendly.

My idea would use the quest interface for the actual creation of the artifact. I'm not familiar enough with the quest system to know if it is robust enough for what I have in mind.

Have a spell called "Create Artifact" that when cast, creates a quest interface for creating the artifact. The quest itself would use a tree structure for selecting the options. First tier would be something like, weapon, armor or accessory. After selecting one of those, you would select the actual piece. (Sword, bow, chest, helm, ring, etc.) The next two tiers would give you a list where you would select the powers/features you want on the item. The last menu would give a summary of the item, mana, crystal, metal costs. The menu would either let you cancel or pay the cost and grant the item.

I realize this would require a quest with dozens of branches and separate items for each branch.

Another thought I had was to require a city structure like an artifact forge that would allow you cast the create artifact spell.

Thoughts?

Sure, the spells can unlock from whatever you want - spells, improvements, traits, faction abilities, world resources, finished quests, or even just a book you found somewhere.

Thanks for the reply Heavenfall. I realize that the current system would not allow that sort of dynamic creation. That is why I went towards a menu driven system that drills down towards premade items given as a quest reward.

I looked at the two links you put up. Thanks for those, they have some good ideas.

I'm just following soma abstract thoughts on the topic in my head, I'm wondering how much gui manipulation can we do - can we make buttons ?

Yes, but clicking them won't do anything.

Well that's just .... Dandy.