Summary
Regardless of whether it is being developed by an indie or “AAA” studio, everyone knows that there is a good chance that modern video games will come packaged with some sort of crafting system. While the indie scene has given rise to an explosion of gameplay creativity, and big-money studios have just about hit the limit of graphical fidelity and realism, crafting systems have remained stagnant since they first started to become an industry staple (with the inception of a little-known sandbox game called “Minecraft”).
The procedure usually goes as follows: the player picks up two or more items, opens a menu at a crafting bench, and then, after waiting for a little loading bar to fill up (some games skip this step), a synthesized item is dropped into their inventory list. While it is true that manufacturing can be a somewhat repetitive task, developers have made fun games out ofmowing the lawn and power-washing playground equipment, so why shouldn’t crafting also be gamified for fun and immersion? Thankfully, a few developers are forging ahead and showing the world that video game crafting can be both realistic and enjoyable.
Few games, even those that sell themselves on their immersive world-building,historical accuracy, or attention to detail, come quite as close asKingdom Come: Deliverancedoes with its crafting realism. While Henry isn’t able to pick up the family tradition of smithing, he can learn alchemy, which is all done in first person over a cauldron and in real-time. Players will first need to teach him to read to be able to follow the recipe correctly for a potent batch.
The concoction will fail if Henry fails to add ingredients at the right time (or fails to add the right ingredients at all). A sandglass is conveniently placed near the cooking pot, as are all the ingredients needed for any particular potion. Herbs and other materials must be hand-picked out in the lands of Bohemia.Kingdom Comeconcedes that having to cook up a potion manually every time could get a little dull, so it offers players the chance to brew them automatically with sufficient skill.
Neo Scavenger
WHERE TO PLAY
NEO Scavenger is a game where you must survive in the wasteland long enough to figure out who you are. Each turn, you must decide where to go, how to scavenge for supplies, and how to deal with anything and anyone you encounter. And with each passing minute, the pit in your stomach grows, your dehydration worsens, your muscles tire, and your body temperature drops in the cold autumn air. Choose your starting abilities carefully, because they and your wit are the only tools you have in the apocalypse!Unique Setting- Near-future, post-apocalyptic Michigan with local cryptids and folklore. And something else beneath the surface…Turn-Based Play- Take your time with each turn, and play at your own pace. Save and quit when you want, and resume later.Permadeath- If you die, that’s it. NEO Scavenger is balanced around a single difficulty level: permadeath. Your save will be deleted if you die. So choose every action carefully!No Grinding- There is no XP in NEO Scavenger. No levelling-up. Instead, progress comes from learning how to play the game better, and using your strengths to your advantage.
While it might not have the most detailed graphics in the world with its sprite items and grid-based crafting menu,NEO Scavengerpushes the boundaries of realism. There is more than one way to skin a cat, and true to this (horrifying) idiom, recipes for objects (spears, hot water, clothes) are open-ended, meaning that things can be recycled or materials substituted. For example, to create a spear, a stick can be combined with an object with a sharp edge (scissors, a knife, or a shard of glass).
Players drag items from their inventory or from the nearby environment and combine them in the crafting menu. Some tools lose their durability with use but are retained after an object has been crafted.Time is considered a resourcewhen fashioning items (described as fractions of a move) and is used up in varying amounts depending on the output. Certain player skills are required to make more advanced objects. Although two items made of different resources will function the same,NEO Scavengerstill stores the physical properties of their ingredients and can be broken down back into the original materials if needed.
Players are never taken out of the game when crafting objects, weapons, and clothing inThe Forestand its sequel,Sons of the Forest. Instead, materials and tools are all displayed to the player organically over a plastic tarp on the ground, and crafting is done by putting objects together into the center and combining them. While this could be seen as a visual upgrade to hitting the “craft” button, it offers a far tactile experience that feels completely different than scrolling through an abstract list.
As well as portraying item crafting withgritty, earthy realism, the gamealso gives players the same treatment when putting up structures. Logs need to be split with an axe to create wooden panels (refinement via menus has no place inThe Forest). Walls and roofs have to be physically slid into place and connected together by hand before they start protecting the player from the elements (or cannibals), and everything must be carried by hand (or for heavier objects, over the shoulder).
Vintage Story
Vintage Story is an uncompromising wilderness survival sandbox game inspired by eldritch horror themes. Find yourself in a ruined world reclaimed by nature and permeated by unnerving temporal disturbances. Relive the advent of human civilization, or take your own path
While readers might be forgiven formistaking this game forMinecraft(although, frankly, the blocky design is remarkably derivative),Vintage Story’s approach to item creation is quite different from the game that kick-started the ubiquity of the crafting system. Players find materials for tools in the open world. Rather than combining materials on a grid, they chisel out the shape of the device they want in bits (or miniature blocks).
Shovels, axes, and spearheads are all carved out tiny chunk by tiny chunk from a slab of stone or metal, although (probably to preserve the player’s sanity) the recipes are selected from a menu beforehand. Likewise, containers and chests are sawn up and molded on the ground by hand, just as aMinecraftplayer would shape their house. Althoughwell-designed menus permeate the gamefrom start to end, more novel approaches to casting and shaping objects can be found inVintage Storythan in many other beautifully detailed survival games.
Similar to another game that deals with having to deal with the unpleasantries of fending off all the horrors associated with a verdant expanse,Green Helldepicts all its inventory management without turning the player’s eyes away from the tangled nightmare, namely by displaying every item in or on the player’s backpack in real-time. The really neat thing about crafting is that it isn’t a one-and-done mechanic, but it is spread organically over steps, which all play out with interactive gameplay and animations.
For example, to cook food on a campfire inGreen Hell, the player must assemble the fire pit with sticks before lighting the tinder in a little stick-spinning minigame. With a fire before them, players lay various meats around the fireuntil they cook into tender, juicy steaks.Green Hellkeeps the player involved and makes survival crafting more than just a background task that happens in the abstract or off-screen.
