Prime BFD: crafting web page updated - close analysis

PitchBlack Games have updated their website with new info about crafting in Prime. The screenshots tell us quite a lot about crafting in the game over and beyond what the captions say.

Here's the site:
http://www.primeonline.com/game/professions/

First, a recap

I'm going to recap some things that we already knew for the benefit of those who haven't been following the game. We know already:

- Prime will heavily depend on player crafters for gear. Mobs won't drop gear and NPC vendors will presumably sell white loot as unexciting as in every other MMO.

- Gear decays and eventually breaks. You not only have to buy gear from players but you have to keep buying gear from players.

- Character progression is skill based and you will only have enough points for 6 maxxed out skills. We don't know for sure whether professions will use one of these skills but it seems quite likely. If so then most professions will require both Harvesting and another skill (eg Armour Tech) and quite possibly Invention too.

The professions are:
- Armourtech
- Biotech (buffs)
- Weapontech
- Harvester
- Inventor (new schematics, this function can be performed by stealth players who steal tech off the other factions)
- Chemist (seems to be another buffer)
- Soldier for Hire - receives cash from the government and can use special illegal weapons.




Now, about this new professions tutorial:

1. There are varying grades of materials.

There are varying grades of materials.

I enlarged the picture and zoomed in. The highlighted item is Titanium, Grade 80. This suggests a simplified SWG like system using resource stats. This fits with the resource finding system we've already been shown.

In other words if you've been finding Titanium, Grade 80 you can make better armour if you can only find a better spawn. Next week a new spawn of Titanium appears but it's grade 75 so barely worth harvesting. The week after some Titanium grade 90 spawns. This is so good that not only do you put all your harvesters on it but you ask your guildies to harvest some too so you can grab as much as possible before the spawn vanishes.

Also interesting in the picture is the large backpack. It has 7 by 9 spaces. It is open to page 2 of 3. That suggests that the total backpack space is 189 squares. We have been told we would be given a generous amount of backpack space - it certainly appears to be true. We have also been told that weight isn't a factor so if we want to jetpack around with 189 stacks of concrete it appears we will be able to.

The dialogue in the picture says:


AverageJoe45: hey Maximus where you at? Can't wait on you all day.
Maximus: Relax I'll be there in a minute, I'm taking a screenshot for the website!
DragonofPeace: Hurry up these Rodons aren't going to kill themselves!
Maximus: :)

I now want to play a Rodon inventor and invent black mascara and Joy Division.



2. The grade of material you use in making an item determines its quality.

The grade of material you use in making an item determines its quality.

The blue text on the selected item reads 
Grips of Deflection
Rare
Hands
Armor 45
Dexterity +5
Deflection +8

OK so it looks very likely we will see a Green for Uncommons Blue for Rares Purple for Epics colour code system. And we can see that the combat system will use multiple defensive stats like WoW's.


3. Carrying out your profession is accomplished by pulling up its in-game interface.

Carrying out your profession is accomplished by pulling up its in-game interface.

The picture of the crafting interface shows us a number of interesting elements.

It says Armortech Workstation level 600. Presumably that's the skill level of the player although it is possible that different workstations apply different bonuses as they did in SWG.

Crafting schematics are grouped logically by type which will be a relief to those of us who have struggled with some crafting interfaces in MMOs.

The Schematics Selected has one space for a schematic (ie a blueprint) a space of the schematics name then up to ten boxes for materials. It is likely that more complex items may use more materials.

There's a box for a Working Est., probably a working estimate of time it will take to finish the craft. This doesn't look like a quick crafting system.

I have no idea what the little dolls with white marks indicate. They don't correlate to the list of armour types on the left.

Not sure what the boxes at the bottom are.

And last you can Create or Experiment. The obvious uses of these buttons are that Create makes one item, experiment has a chance to create a new pattern based on the item, maybe we could experiment on those blue gloves schematic to make some epic gloves. In SWG however Experiment was a way to tinker with the properties of an item to make it better and all decent gear was experimented for quality improvement.


4. You can create items by using materials and known schematics from your library.

You can create items by using materials and known schematics from your library.

In the Library list on the left the hands section is opened and shows 5 recipes:
Cobalt Grips
Heavy Grips
Grips of Malice
Iron Wall Grips
Grips of Deflection (the blue quality gloves we saw highlighted earlier).

Cobalt Grips is selected and is green texted. I'm guessing they're Uncommon. 6 of the resource boxes are filled each with 1 resource. The first appears to be Tritanium.

We're looking at a system that is considerably more complex than WoW's. Where the basic green quality gloves in WoW might use 2 copper bars this uses 6 resources of variable stats. And later on the webpage we're told the crafter's skill plays a part (I think this guy is 600 skill out of a possible 1000 max) and we're told that stats may vary even for identically produced items.


5. Only "Unique" items will not be craftable. Everything else can be reverse engineered and crafted by a player.

It's not clear whether reverse engineering is done by the Inventor profession or by the profession relevant to the particular item type (eg Armourtechs for armour).



6. You can also acquire many schematics from other Expert NPC's or advanced players.

You can also acquire many schematics from other Expert NPC's or advanced players.

OK the Working Est box now says 2.29, presumably 2 minutes 29 seconds to create one pair of green quality gloves. The squares under it show the materials actually used I assume (as distinct from the resources required by the schematic shown above).

The control panel on the bottom right of the UI has two of its panels highlighted. I'm guessing the panel at 11 o'clock opens your inventory and the panel at seven o'clock opens your workstation.


7. You can also experiment by changing one or more of the components in an existing schematic or by trying your own unique combinations.

You can also experiment by changing one or more of the components in an existing schematic or by trying your own unique combinations.

In this screenshot he's experimenting. No item is selected from the schematics window because he's trying a unique combination and doesn't know what he will get. Expected time is 5 minutes. He's put 6 resources in the window, I guess it could be any random resources, he's used the ones he had in there to show us the recipe from before.

It sounds like he could have decided instead to keep the Cobalt Grips selected and experiment based on that schematic rather than going for something completely random.


8. When you successfully create an item from one of your experiments it is automatically added to your library of schematics.

When you successfully create an item from one of your experiments it is automatically added to your library of schematics.

He's invented an item, a green quality hat called an Assassin's Helm. The new schematic uses 4 resources to make, one of which is Titanium. It appears as though the system looked at the resources he was playing around with and found some that make a recipe. So a key to experimentation might be that you need to have all the resources present that go to make up the item you hope to discover. Presumably players will very quickly put up lists and inventors will go to the crafting interface with an "I need one of these plus one of these plus one of those to invent this" attitude rather than the exploratory gameplay we see implied here. Of course if you want to explore just don't research the answer first.

The helm seems to match the doll with the white lines on its head so maybe those dolls in the middle are signifiers of the location the item is worn.



9. About Items.

• Durability - Items have a finite lifespan.
• There are ranges even within each quality. One rare item will more than likely have different stats from an identically produced and named rare item.
• The skill of the crafter does play a role in determining that final stats on an item.
• There is a skill requirements in order to make an item but not for acquiring its schematic.
• As a faction progresses, special schematics may be introduced that advances their technology. So it is very possible for one faction to possess technology and schematics that another one does not.
• There are schematics in the game that will be discovered through experimentation and invention. In other words, the items will not exist in the world at all until the players discover the schematics and create the items.

This is only an introduction to creating items in Prime Battle For Dominus. Once you get started, you can experiment to find the finer nuances of each profession. There are a wide variety of professions to help you find your niche in the economy.