Start With the Choice Crafting Changes
A novel adaptation needs no default mining loop, recipe tree, or equipment upgrade. Crafting earns its scope when it changes what the player can do. If pressing Craft merely continues predetermined prose and removing it changes nothing, directly supplying the item may work better.
In the original story game Before the Little Theater Opens, the player manages props. The production lead has requested two stage signs. The player must make them from available supplies, then hand them over. This small example explains an already selected crafting action, not the depth of the whole game.
The editorial method combines action preconditions, resource budgets, state changes, feedback, and restart. The theater and recipe are teaching inventions, not a built-in crafting template. Do not add weather, skill trees, or automatically restocked shops just to make more systems.
Separate Materials, Tools, and the Product
| Rule | This example |
|---|---|
| Current goal | Make two stage signs. Crafting and delivery are separate actions. |
| Player start | Two boards, one paint portion, one brush, no signs; at an available prop bench. |
| Finite source | One spare paint portion on a shelf. Taking it transfers ownership; the shelf does not refill automatically. |
| One recipe | One board plus one paint portion produces one sign. |
| Tool | The player must hold the brush. This example keeps it reusable and does not consume it. |
| Preview and cancel | Show holdings, requirements, and output without changing inventory before confirmation. |
| Confirm | Recheck materials, brush, and location. Only when all qualify, debit materials and grant the product together; show actual remaining stock. |
| Failure | Explain the missing requirement with unchanged inventory. Never debit a board before discovering missing paint. |
| Ownership | The player holds the product; the lead has not received it, and it has not been installed. |
One paint portion is the selected game unit for this recipe, not a real painting estimate or universal balance ratio. If implemented quantities change, resolve the design too. Durability, chance, and crafting time need explicit project decisions rather than assumptions borrowed from other games.
Complete Paper Route: One Success, Then a Shortage
This is a paper walkthrough of the original rules, not a running game. Player stock uses boards / paint / brush / signs; shelf paint stays separate so world supplies are not simultaneously counted as owned.
| Action | State and feedback |
|---|---|
| Preview | Player 2 / 1 / 1 / 0, shelf 1. Show one board and one paint required, with the brush retained; no debit. |
| Cancel | Still 2 / 1 / 1 / 0, shelf 1. No craft and refund transaction is needed. |
| Reopen and confirm the first craft | Requirements hold. Player becomes 1 / 0 / 1 / 1, shelf 1. “One sign made; one more needed. Missing one paint portion.” |
| Attempt another | Missing paint: reject with 1 / 0 / 1 / 1, shelf 1 unchanged. No second sign or board debit. |
| Take the spare paint | Player 1 / 1 / 1 / 1, shelf 0. The portion was transferred; clicking the empty shelf grants no second portion. |
| Return and confirm the second craft | Requirements hold. Player 0 / 0 / 1 / 2, shelf 0. Both signs are now held. |
| Try again | Missing boards and paint; remain 0 / 0 / 1 / 2. No infinite source of signs. |
| Inspect delivery | Handing both to the lead is available. It has not yet happened; neither installation nor opening the show is complete. |
The route shows shortage, an existing source, and another craft. Feedback can point to the known shelf without taking paint for the player or declaring stock at an unseen hidden location.
Typing “I made ten signs” proposes narration; it cannot override stock and committed results. Replaying the same completion response grants nothing again. A genuinely new craft action rechecks requirements. This example completes crafting immediately and needs no added long-task queue.
Check Distinct Failures and Restart
Beyond missing paint, check a distinct tool state: two boards, one paint, no brush, no signs, shelf 1. Preview says the brush is missing; confirmation grants nothing and consumes nothing. A borrowing route needs an established source and return rules, rather than an NPC spontaneously supplying the missing tool.
This example restarts the segment at player 2 / 1 / 1 / 0, shelf 1, and no delivered signs. Crafting history and material pickup reset consistently. Do not restore player materials while leaving the shelf empty, or retain products while restoring all supplies. A project promising retained progress needs a different coherent restart point.
In a prototype, exercise success, shortage, cancellation, and restart, comparing visible feedback with actual inventory. Success prose does not establish correct debits or ownership. Correct arithmetic does not establish usable controls, pacing, fun, or balance. If crafting adds no value to the current choice, reconsider scope instead of hiding the problem under more recipes.
FAQ
Must crafting consume its tools?
No. This example retains a reusable brush while consuming boards and paint. Any wear follows explicit rules and must be clear before confirmation.
Must cancellation refund materials?
Preview in this example changes no stock, so closing it needs no refund. A committed craft is different. If undo is supported, define how materials and products revert together rather than refunding inputs while keeping outputs.
Do it with the skill
Use game-world-design to define this crafting action within the chosen core experience. Specify material sources, required tools, consumption, output ownership, and the next action. Trace success, shortage, cancellation, and restart without adding an unnecessary system.
Read the method: Action conditions, consumption, states, and system scope · Finite sources and reachable resource budgets · Success, boundary, and restart paths