Crafting
Learning paths through this topic
Build an upgrade ladder where late levels are risky but luck cannot run out
Upgrading a sword from plus zero to plus ten should be exciting at the top and boring at the bottom. Fixed odds lead to players burning through hundreds of stones, or to levels that fall back and feel unfair. This entry sets odds, a fall rule and a guaranteed success.
Make low-level enemies drop fewer crafting materials without rounding them to zero
A strong player returns to the first stage and farms rats for rare ore. Cutting the drops by half is fair, but when a rat drops one ore, half of one rounds to nothing and the stage feels dead. This entry scales the amount and keeps the average honest with a single roll.
Bring a harvested plant back without it popping up in front of the player
The player picks a herb on a ledge and stays nearby. Thirty seconds later it grows back right in front of them, which looks like a glitch and lets them farm it without moving. This entry waits for the right moment: after the timer, and only when nobody can see the spot.
Craft a grenade on demand without getting around its cooldown
When the grenade count hits zero, the game quietly builds one from scrap and the player throws again at once. The cooldown that was supposed to pace the fight does nothing, or a refused throw still ate the scrap. This entry orders the checks so neither happens.
Allow a craft that makes the pack lighter even when the player is overloaded
A player carrying too much ore wants to turn it into one light bar, but the game says the pack is full and refuses. Or a tiny bar of iron is allowed even though the result is heavy. This entry judges the weight after the craft and slows the overloaded player down gently.
Hold a button to craft, and let the bar sink slowly when you let go
The player holds the craft button while dodging, lets go for a heartbeat, and the whole bar snaps back to zero. Or a shaky thumb makes it flicker. This entry makes the bar forgiving without letting anybody leave it half full for later.
Refill an emptied quick slot with the same item instead of a random empty one
The player sets up the quick bar with health packs on slot two, uses the last one, crafts more, and they land on slot five. In the next fight the finger presses two and nothing happens. This entry lets an emptied slot remember what it held, so new items return to it.
Let auto-crafters share materials without the cheap recipe starving the important one
With several automatic crafters running, the cheap recipe that is always affordable eats every plank the moment it arrives, and the expensive recipe the player actually wants never gets its turn. This entry lets important recipes hold back what they will need soon.
Let players buy ten upgrades at once when each one costs more
In a clicker, every machine you build costs a bit more than the last, and players want a "buy as many as I can" button. A shortcut formula tells them they can afford one more than the shop will actually sell. This entry makes the button and the price shown agree to the last coin.
Craft more than once per frame when upgrades make a machine very fast
Late in an idle game a machine is so quick that it should finish several items between two screen updates, but the game only ever hands out one, so the upgrade seems to stop working. This entry counts what really finished and keeps the unfinished part for the next update.
Refill crafting energy one point at a time, and stop the clock when it is full
Each craft costs a point of energy that comes back slowly. The usual bug is the wrong start of the countdown: spend a point from a full bar and it refills at once, because the clock was running all the time. This entry starts and stops the countdown at the right moments and survives long absences.
Keep a huge material count honest when tiny crafts keep adding to it
After a few hours an idle game counts materials in the trillions, and suddenly a craft that should cost exactly what you have says you are short, or the stock does not move at all. Ordinary numbers drift. This entry shows a small number type that compares fairly and settles tiny leftovers.