Settlement Design Document
This is the design document of the settlement development.
The development is finished. --Clonkonaut (talk) 20:14, 18 September 2015 (CEST)
Prologue
Setting up the settlement gameplay is the next big task in the OC development and a huge step to make OC a complete game. To coordinate that development, this design document shall be the helpful guideline but also in many ways a binding guidance. It is my belief that without a proper guide the development will not be as fast as it could be and the outcome will not as interlocking as it could be.
But still, why do I do this? Discussion in the forum has been done, arguing has been done. But almost nothing else has been done. Progress in this sector decreased. To revitalise the development it is my approach the give the single developer the feeling of being in a team again. To let this feeling emerge the team must have a collective goal.
What about this document? I'm right now searching for a team that is willing to do exactly what is written in here. I don't think proper settlement will be done without any kind of complete concept.
--Clonkonaut 05:33, 26 September 2011 (CEST)
Everything marked RED is done in the Settlement branch. It means the object is on status "awaiting graphics".
See also here: Related forum post
--Clonkonaut 15:43, 16 July 2012 (CEST)
The Goal
The goal of this document is of course to implement and finish everything what is in this document. The presented content is mainly focused on the production lines and concrete objects that need to be coded. Of course, there are some basic functionalities which need to be implemented first but these are tended to be kept relatively short.
Finishing this document in the current state will finish most of the production lines. There are more things to do though. Focusing on production lines means how the player will get his construction materials, his vehicles, his tools and the stuff that lies beyond this self-serving system (foodstuff, "magic" objects, weaponry etc.).
Anything else that needs to be done to finish the settlement but which is not included in this document can be found in the Theory Needed section.
Anything else that needs to be done but which I do not consider directly linked to the settlement can be found in the Interdisciplinary Connections section.
Development
As long as the current feature freeze (see [1]) lasts, everything related to the settlement development should be committed into the devel branch.
Milestones
Consider the finishing of the producer and the workshop libraries as a milestone for the buildings. Scripting in the building sector isn't of much use without them (graphics however can be made).
Some of the new plants (or changes to plants) need the changes in the plants library at first.Milestone reached!
Content (Or Todo List)
Now let's get to the main topic. What has to be done?
Libraries
Plant
This library is already been found in the repository. It is the basic functionality for the plants or exactly in case of reproduction. It uses the PlaceVegetation function.
So far this only places plants on sky background. Find a way (either scripting or changing the engine) to extend this to make it possible that plants can grow underground (tunnel background) or both (sky and tunnel).
For underground plants use Placement=3, for both above- and underground use Placement=4 in the DefCore. Newest engine build from devel is mandatory.
Many new plants will be harvested to gain their products. This functionality could be written into the plant library. Chopping down as well since trees and big mushrooms can be chopped.
Navigation: cited in Big Mushroom, Moss / Lichen, Mushroom
Producer
This library is already been found in the repository. It is the basic functionality for every building that produces any kind of object using any kind of raw material. This is almost finished, nonetheless there are a few more things to think about:
Producer start producing whenever the needed raw material is present (and fuel if needed)
- Producer may be used by their owner or allies only. But see Ownership.
Producer may consume energy, see that PowerConsumer can be included without problems and power consumption may be defined at the right spots.
There are several buildings which will need fuel to process the material. This is not the same than the components of the product and may later be displayed differently than what else is needed to produce an object. Furthermore, fuel should not be referred by hardcoded IDs but every object with a positive "IsFuel" callback is acceptable. In addition to this one piece of fuel may be not sufficient for the burning process. In the past this behaviour was hardcoded to wood (see also Wood). However, fuel is free to implement any callback (GetFuelAmount*, GetBurnStrength, GetFuelStrength, BurnPower, ...) that returns its efficiency in percent (default is always 100, no object shall define this, IsFuel entails 100% efficiency). Producer consume fuel up to 100% (everything on top of that is lost).
IsFuel for defining an item as fuel and GetFuelAmount for defining the strength (return 100 for 100% meaning 1 fuel process, values greater 100 are ignored)
* GetFuelAmount already exists in coal (returns 80 but should be 100), wood (returns 30 but should be 50) and the rope bridge (returns 30 but should be dunno?). Apparently it is a callback used by the steam engine. We may capture it because the steam engine will probably get reworked too in some time.
The producer library may also include an option to accept objects which are made purely from the produced material. This functionality refers to the recycling options from the foundry and the sawmill. See the according entries as well: Foundry and Sawmill.
Navigation: cited in Coal, Moss
Workshop
This was cancelled
Besides the producer, workshops will be the other main building type. With these a clonk can produce objects when the needed components are provided. The main difference to the producer is the workshop needing a clonk to produce.
Workshops have a set of objects which can be produced using them (Is...Product or whatever callbacks suits the developer; first of all you may think about inserting the building's name). In case of menus see Menu Handling, for ownership see Ownership.
Workshop may also need energy. See Energy.
Examples of how to design this library are the tools workshop in OC and the workshop in CR.
One may perhaps consider to design the workshop and producer libraries to run alongside each other in case of anyone wants to make a building with both functionalities. However, if this means to drop serious features, it shouldn't be done.
Buildings
Most of the buildings of course don't need extensive scripting since they inherit their behaviour from the producer and workshop libraries. Because this document is focused on production lines there are hardly any other building types. Before describing the buildings in detail let's have a look upon the graphical designing.
Graphical Guidelines
Graphics are the prior task in the building section. Furthermore it's very important for OC as the buildings have a grave impact on the overall style. Because of this it's fundamental that the buildings follow some style guidelines to make a homogeneous impression and give the game the designated look.
Basic Styling
The first and biggest agreement was to lean OC on a Clockpunk universe. Clockpunk can be seen as a full cyberpunk subgenre or a a subgenre of steampunk. Regardless of the decision it shares a lot of elements with steampunk except that the main power sources are clockworks and springs. Already we've done a mixture of steam- and clockpunk because we have power through combustion which usually is a clockpunk no-go.
However, we can keep the mixture of both because clockpunk is on the one hand extremely rare and on the other hand very complicated in its design. So far, we don't even have a proper clockpunk object yet but maybe the teleglove (at least it goes into the right direction).
Steampunk often includes anachronistic technology or futuristic innovations. Structures consist of a curious combinations of technical devices such as gear wheels, strings or belts and of course pipes and pistons. More sophisticated machinery is often built from fragile looking but however sturdy constructions. These are very challenging tasks when it comes to designing und modelling such constructions. It is even more challenging when it comes to including clockpunk details. Therefore we should first focus on giving the most advanced technologies/buildings the best look in case we don't receive much models of the highest quality.
Regarding the weaponry so far the clonk is provided with a wide set of medieval weapons. Undeniable we do have a strong medieval influence in our style since these weapons (sword, the heavy shield, bow etc.) are unfitting in a traditional steampunk scenario. OC then is a mixture of steampunk and the middle ages and we can try insert highlights of clockpunk.
Dimensions
Existing buildings in the repository (foundry, steam engine and tools workshops) are good examples of how big the buildings should be. Futhermore do these ones respect the new idea of having buildings with no entries. Think of a 'building' as a bigger workbench not a four wall structure with interior.
On top of that there was the idea that every building should be designed to fit into future castle construction much like the ones known from CR's knights pack. If this was possible, there would no need in having a castle copy of every building like the old knights pack did. There is even more to think like building automatically changing the face of a wall behind them to gain more space by reaching throught the parapet walk or similar or applying gears in the wall. But these are dreams of the future.
You may bear this in mind. The dimensions of the old wall were 40x74 pixels.
Details
Components of a building are one, details in the graphics another. It is impossible to resemble every detail from the graphics in the components if you want more than a plain surface of bricks or whatever. Feel free to attach common steampunk elements (see above under Basic Styling) or combine brick/rock walls with metal plating etc. The current foundry of OC is a very good example. Since it would be bad to have the only source of metal in the game need metal to construct it consists of rocks and wood respecting the components but the graphics show metal attachments.
Navigation: cited in Tools Workshop
Foundry
The foundry already exists in the repository. It is the clonk's source of metal, smelting it from ore but also for gold bars.
So far it implements fuel handling itself. This should be moved into the producer library.
Metal production is already included. Extend the foundry to the production of gold bars. Needed raw material are nuggets. See Gold Bar and Nugget as well.
The foundry may also get a recycling option. This means that every object made purely from metal or gold bars can be smelt in the foundry to regain the resources. This functionality reoccurs in the sawmill so it could be moved to the producer library. See accordings entries (sawmill and producer library) as well.
The foundry may be used to burn two pieces of coal into one piece of sulphur. See Surrogates for further information.
Navigation: cited in Producer
Sawmill
The sawmill is the producer of wood. Wood is produced from cut trees or big mushrooms or as an recycling options from objects or vehicles purely made from wood. The recycling also occurs in the foundry (see Foundry) and so may be inherited from the producer library (see Producer in libraries as well). The difference between the sawmill and the foundry is that the sawmill also accepts vehicles. So far there are no vehicles made purely from wood but this doesn't matter. Once this functionality exists trees and mushrooms simply have to be vehicles (purely from wood is mandatory with these) so there is no special hardcoding to do.
Navigation: cited in Producer
Tools Workshop
The tools workshop already exists in the repository. With it a clonk can produce the basic tools of the game.
The produced objects are all that have the IsToolProduct callback. It should inherit the workshop library once it is done.
Basic tools are the following: axe, balloon, barrel, hammer, lorry, pickaxe, rope bridge, rope ladder, shovel. Make sure the callback is present in each of these definitions.
Armory
The armory is the production building for any weapon which does not depend on some crazy technology. It inherits from the workshop library.
Callback should not be IsWeaponProduct or similar since this may be misleading. IsArmoryProduct is more suitable.
Basic weapons are the following: arrows, bow, cannon, catapult, club, javelin, lead shots, musket, shield, sword. Make sure the callback is present in each of these definitions. Some of the weapons may have IsToolProduct, remove this.
Chemical Lab
The chemical lab produces every basic chemistry related object. It inherits from the workshop library.
Callback may be IsChemicalProduct but consider the naming remark(*).
Basic chemical are the following: dynamite box, grenade, powder keg.
With the chemical lab one can split up natural firestone into one piece of coal and one piece of sulphur (see Firestone and Surrogates).
Mill
The mill is mainly used to produce flour from corn seeds. It inherits from the producer library.
The mill may be smaller than the currently existing wind generator. Because wind is a very unsteady power source it should be possible to connect an external energy source to the mill. The mill's own wind wheel can simply produce energy (but only for the mill itself) so no extra scripting has to be done.Usage of the EnergyProducer library however must be altered so the mill is incapable of supporting other building.
We may even drop the classical windmill i.e. having it no wind wheel at all.
Later on if anyone gets a nice idea the windmill can also be used to crush other things than corn e.g. rocks or ore to acquire dust.
Kitchen
The oven is the main place to produce any kind of food. It inherits from the workshop library.
Callback may be IsOvenProduct. The oven should remain the only building which is needed to produce basic meals. Therefore when designing it, consider it having a stovetop and maybe a table to prepare the food. It also simply could be named kitchen but this sounds wrong for a building (even if buildings are not buildings in the classical scheme).
Basic food is: baked mushroom, bread. Later on after the introduction of animals there are obvious products like cooked fish, grilled meat and so on.
Production needs fuel. Bread especially needs water from a barrel. Find a way that the barrel is not consumed when producing.
Navigation: cited in Bread
Spinning Wheel / Weaving Loom
You can pick a name that suits you. Cloth Shop may work as well. This one is to produce cloth. It inherits from the workshop library or if we discover the procedure too time consuming we might change it to producer later on (then probably energy is needed).
So far, this building only produces cloth but in the future may be used to produce decorations (like the tapestries from CR's knights pack).
The naming is as well a proposal of design. Of course, cloth production consists of spinning first and then weaving but designing something that includes both instruments might be too massive a building.
Inventor's Lab*
The inventor's lab produces complicated devices and tools, sometimes even dangerous and unstable stuff. It inherits from the workshop library.
Callback may be IsInventionProduct but consider the naming remark(*).
Top secret stuff so far: airgun, boompack (but we may move this to the chemical lab), grapple bow, grenade launcher, mechanism, teleglove.
* You may think of a better name.
Shipyard
So far this building is single purpose: constructing airships, the powerful flying machines. It inherits from the workshop library.
Callback may be IsShipyardProduct or IsShipProduct.
Later on this building may be used to construct further big vehicles like a submarine or a boat. Or for upgrades for the airship (like metal plating, a cannon or so).
Items
The items are ordered first come the raw materials and later on the refined products. Raw materials are listed completely, apart from that, existing objects are only listed of changes must be made. Existing, unchanged items are in italics.
Coal
Already exists. Is fuel, fuel efficiency should be 100% (see Producer library). Two pieces of coal can be burned in the foundry to get one piece of sulphur. See Surrogates for further information.
Corn / Grain / Crops
Named: Seeds
Pick a name that suits you. This can be a bag of seeds or one big ear or a bunch of corn stalks.
Acquired by harvesting corn (see Corn / Crop plant).
Cotton
Cotton is needed to produce cloth. Acquired by harvesting cotton (see Cotton plant).
Crystal
It is highly unlikely theory is needed anymore.
Until now this entry is empty. But see Crystal in Theory Needed.
Firestone
Already exists. Natural blasting source. Unlike in CR it should not be possible to produce it but it may be used as a source for sulphur and coal (see Surrogates).
Navigation: cited in Chemical Lab
Gold
Already exists. Should be removed because instead of it there will be nuggets and gold bars. The graphics can be reused but should not look a solid chunk of gold but rather a chunk of rock/ore with golden stains in it.
Moss
There already is an implementation by Mimmo in Tests.ocf/Moss_Test.ocs. So here's just what might be changed.
Can be used to replant a moss plant or as a very untasty meal (see also Food).
If carried by a clonk, it may be wet for a longer period (let's say around 5 minutes). Keeps being wet when contained.
When dried it is fuel, fuel efficiency should be 100% (see Producer library).
It could after some time turn into wet moss when in a wet surrounding area (in water).
However planted (by the player or by itself) the items should be removed.
Nugget
Acquired by blasting gold ore (see Gold Ore material). Smelting in the foundry results in a gold bar.
Navigation: cited in Foundry
Ore
Already exists. Source for metal. No changes.
Rock
Already exists. One of our three basic construction materials. No changes.
Sulphur
Already exists. Basic ingredient for a lot of chemical products. No changes.
Wood
Already exists. One of our three basic construction materials. Also is fuel, fuel efficiency should be 50.
Navigation: cited in Producer
Cloth
Basic material for balloons and airships.
Metal
Already exists. One of our three basic construction materials. No changes.
Gold Bar
Acquired by smelting nuggets in the foundry. Basic material for any gold products or simply source of money (if we ever introduce a proper money system, see Money)
Navigation: cited in Foundry
Flour
Acquired by crushing corn in the mill.
Cooked Mushroom
Produced in the oven when baking (fuel consumption) a mushroom (mushroom is not listed as an item but see Mushroom plan).
Balloon
Change components to cloth.
Bread
Produced in the oven from flour and a water barrel (see Oven as well, the barrel itself should not be consumed). Tasty meal (see Food).
Grenade
Named: Iron Bomb
Produced in the chemical lab. Basically a metal ball filled with black powder (so components may be something like metal, sulphur and coal). When fused (ControlUse) it can be thrown. Very evil weapon in clonk to clonk combat because it produces 2-3 flying splinters upon explosion.
Priority is very low since this is not particularly related with settlement (it can be used for mining or hunting though).
Navigation: cited in Grenade Launcher
Grenade Launcher
Produced in the inventor's lab. Used to shoot grenades, making them explode on impact.
Priority is low, see Grenade.
Mechanism
Until now this entry is empty. But see Mechanism in Theory Needed.
Plants (Vegetation)
Some new plants or changes to existing plants. At first some thoughts about harvesting.
Harvesting
Harvesting so far only exists for the mushroom (because of the harvestable plants only the mushrooms exists!). Harvesting is done by simply interacting with the plants. There was a suggestion that the Clonk should need a tool since every non basic skill was stripped from the clonk. One suggestion for this tool was the sword. Swords are hard to acquire for players because they need an armory and lots of metal before getting it. An armory isn't an usual building in a peaceful settlement game.
The other idea was to introduce a new tool, the sickle. For a start, no tool is fine. If harvesting is found to be too easy a tool may introduced later but that's a matter of balancing.
Harvesting may as well be moved to the plant library.
Navigation: cited in Settlement_Design_Document#Mushroom
Big Mushroom
Big mushrooms are a totally new plant. Think of it as a kind of underground tree. To give developers the possibility to create neat cave scenarios these mushrooms are the way to provide the player with wood even if underground. These mushrooms grew so big that they lignify and may be chopped (using the axe) and sawed into wood (using the sawmill). In case of chopping since this is the same than what the trees do it could be moved into the plant library.
Big mushrooms and mushrooms are different types of plants. So big mushrooms aren't just regular mushrooms grewing bigger because this could lead to confusion and to a rarity of normal mushrooms.
Big mushrooms grew exclusively underground (see Plant library).
Corn / Crop
Named: Wheat
Pick a name that suits you. Corn is indeed misleading for American fellows.
Corn is a medium sized plant (like the old bush from CR or even tinier so it doesn't outreach a clonk). One plant consists of a bunch of stalks. It doesn't cover large areas like one might expect but grows more like tussocks. It grows aboveground, like tress, so no special behaviour.
When fully grown corn can be harvested gaining at least two pieces (may be 2-3 by random) of corn / grain / crops (see Corn / Grain / Crops item). Therefore reproducing corn is pretty easy.
The growth of corn is boosted when it is sprayed with water. This means that corn consumes little amounts of water on top of the material it grows on. But if fully submerged, corn doesn't grow.
Navigation: cited in Corn / Grain / Crops, Cotton Plant
Cotton
Cotton behaves alike Corn. When harvesting you get the Cotton item.
There was a suggestion of joining corn and cotton into one plant. If we think that cotton and corn growing consumes too much space, we might consider doing this.
Lichen
There already is an implementation by Mimmo in Tests.ocf/Moss_Test.ocs. So here's just what might be changed.
Lichen is a middle sized plant (like bushes from CR). It grows on the background (tunnel), so exclusively underground (see Plant library).
Lichen may be harvested which means the clonk rips out pieces of it. One plant may produce up to 4 pieces of moss (so four graphical growing stances are needed) if fully grown and regrows if the player doesn't destroy it in whole. Reproducing moss is therefore pretty easy.
If one feels up to more algorithm coding he or she can make moss grow only near water (still underground). However, replanted moss grows everywhere. If planted before sky the moss stays in its first growing stance (and will only produce one piece of moss if harvested). Currently only to plant underground.
Mushroom
Already existing. Nothing really new here. Mushroom becomes the ingredient for cooked mushrooms. Raw eating so far provides the clonk with 10 energy, we may keep this (but see Food). Changed to 5.
Mushrooms grow above- and underground (see Plant library).
Regarding the harvesting of mushrooms see Harvesting.
Material
New materials and/or changes.
Crystal
Until now this entry is empty. But see Crystal in Theory Needed.
Gold Ore
Gold ore replaces gold. It looks similar to ore but should have a distinguishable golden shimmer. When blasted it produces nuggets.
Navigation: cited in Nugget
Ore
Since gold ore gets a shimmer why not do the same with ore and try to give it a silver shimmer.
Obsolete.
Epilogue
All further topics which where mentioned above.
Food
Food is more likely a matter for Theory Needed but I decided to give it its own major section. Food was largely discussed beforehand and even critised with not having the right to exist in the original objects of OC.
There is no real purpose for food so far. Being the only source of energy for the clonk was not an effective way to fully integrate food production into the gameplay. Of course this need could be made stronger with hungering clonks.
Until a real purpose is found food remains a nice feature in the settlement of clonk. Even giving it no purpose at all but leave this to the developers of scenarios would work out. Not every part of the game must the strictly functional but can just enrichen the variety of possibilities. Or producing food may even become a goal in some scenarios thus making it the main focus of the player.
Navigation: cited in Bread, Moss, Mushroom
Interdisciplinary Connections
This sections is dedicated to those topics which I did not consider particurlarly parts of the settlement concept but which are however connected to it.
Menu Handling
The menu handling is important when it comes to activate building, putting items in a container or getting them from it. I restrain from summarising the various ideas which have been discussed so far. Until now there hasn't been a solution found. I think the menus have been a main obstacle for the settlement because no one wanted to start working on settlement before the menus were made. The menus are a big drawback and even bigger because many of the ideas require changes on the engine of which the motivated object developers aren't capable of.
I say that menus aren't necessarily needed for the settlement. It doesn't matter how the player later can put stuff into a building. This 'how' has not to be decided by the settlement concept.
For testing purposes we need of course menus in the producer and workshop buildings. Keep these ones simple. Make something, don't spend much time, mark the place in the script with comments so the menu handling may easily be changed in the future. Workshops and producer just need a simple menu showing the products. Workshop can use the old functionalities to display needed components.
Navigation: cited in Producer, Workshop
Money
This could as well be a topic for theory needed. We haven't decided yet how buying and selling of stuff should work. But it isn't important for the production lines since these work without having some kind of market place.
When it comes to money the gold bars are what replaces the old gold chunks and therefore should be regarded as the same source of wealth.
Navigation: cited in Gold Bar
Ownership
There was an idea to have flagpoles to manage ownership of buildings. It doesn't matter how this gets implemented. Just insert a quick ownership test in the workshops / producers and nothing more so far. For testing this is enough.
Ownership is a matter of another part of the development and we cross that bridge when we come to it.
Navigation: cited in Producer, Workshop
Theory Needed
These topics aren't yet fully developed. There are ideas but no hand-tight concepts to start working with. To start the discussion I will summarise we got so far.
Navigation: cited in Goal
Crystal
Deprecated.
Crystal is well known from CR as 'the' magic ingredient. Magic is a complicated matter in OC. So far there are various ideas about magic even to abandon magic or to restrain it to very little uses. Abandoning would mean to replace magic with doubtable science (see Matthias' post in the forum here).
Either ways could make use of crystal as the magic ingredient it was or as a material with surprising characteristics when used together with electricity or for focusing light.
Crystal could be the stuff* for very powerful and rare objects. It doesn't necessarily have to be a material but could also be gathered by blasting huge crystals which appear in caves (or whereever we think they should be).
* Writing the sentence 'Crystal could be the stuff' makes the author very uneasy...
Navigation: cited in Crystal in Items, Crystal in Materials
Energy
Energy is a big task in settlement. The only power generator implemented so far is the steam engine. Two libraries regarding energy are present in the repository right now: PowerConsumer and PowerGenerator.
The producer and workshop libraries should be designed to run alongside PowerConsumer.
The concept of energy may be altered in the future: <!Maikel> Okay, in that case, do not consider it [energy system] as a rigid system which may not be changed. So feel free to suggest another system.
These are thoughts upon energy which I collected so far:
- The old line kits aren't liked anymore. Making the player installing these lines is considered outdated since no one ever had joy in this. Mechanisms may be the new line kits (see Mechanism).
- The ownership system with flagpoles may as well distribute energy from owned power plants to owned power consumers. This is a matter for Interdisciplinary Connections.
- Power plants may have a range within they support buildings with energy.
- Power plants may no longer produce energy via SetEnergy and so supply various buildings but supply a fixed number of buildings. Weak power plants just support one building whereas a strong one supports many. This would solve the problem that wind generators where in fact the strongest source of power in CR and the power plant became an almost never used alternative. When one wind generator would just be able to support a single building, maybe only in close range (like one flagpole or even less if power plants implement their own range of energy support), they were less likely the player's choice.
- To nerf wind generators they could weaken when near to a wall or near to another wind generator.
- Various types of power plants were suggested, scattered ideas which may be picked or dropped as suited:
- Acid battery: Works like a potato battery and uses acid and metal to produce energy. Metal is a valueable material and acid is rare and dangerous therefore this one is not easy to run.
- Solar power plant: This looks a mast with a rare crystal on top (crystal is as well on the theory needed list!). It produces energy when on the surfaces i.e. in direct sunlight. Furthermore there are two ideas: The first one is having to build some mirrors besides the power plant to focus the light. This would make the plant very costly. The second one is that the plant works fine as long as there is a direct line of sight to the top of the map. If there isn't you may construct mirrors thus being able to direct to sunlight indirectly into the plant (or the crystal on top). Mirrors would be moveable by grabbing to show a stream of light. On top of this the solar power plant is able to fire a laser beam by focusing the sunlight. This consumes the crystal at once and does whatever seems nice to the target (bursting up flames or so).
- Monster generator: Lure a monster into this and it will be your hamster in a wheel. Needs the introduction of monsters first.
- Lava generator: Uses lava to work or has to be built near lava. Uses water to cool down. Therefore very dangerous and costly.
Navigation: cited in Workshop
Mechanism
PeterW wanted to have mechanism as a basic material for various objects. To be used as a door opener, blowing dynamite or similar automated actions. A replacement for the line kit.
Missing is almost everything, appearance and exact behaviour.
Navigation: cited in Mechanism in Items
Surrogates
The basic ideas behind surrogates is to give the developer (and the player) the opportunity to design a scenario (or to play a scenario) in many different ways without the need to provide the player with the same resources over and over again (or to farm these resources in the same way over and over again).
A basic settlement scenario has to have rock, wood and metal in it. But the rest of the available resources shouldn't be that mandatory. Even wood and metal needn't necessarily appear in the same form (i.e. ore and trees). Big mushrooms in caves deliver wood, one may design a ruined castle in which the player finds a lot of metal objects from which he can acquire metal by recycling.
Without sulphur the player will run out of explosives. This forces the designer to insert sulphur in the scenarios unless we come up with a nice idea of explosives without sulphur or a way to get new sulphur. I had the idea of the dust bomb (using flour and a crystal or flour and coal or metal) which does not need sulphur to blast but I didn't want to include this in the design document. I also had the idea to get sulphur from burning coal in foundry which is costly but a way to get sulphur when coal is provided. I included this idea. Another natural source of sulphur are firestones which can be split into sulphur and coal, this idea is also included.
There are more ideas waiting when we decide to reintroduce crystal. And everyone should feel free to come with ideas about surrogates.
Navigation: cited in Chemical Lab, Coal, Firestone, Foundry