A BIT MORE ON THE NEW SUPPLY AND CONTRACT SYSTEMS
So, I've been working all week on these two systems. I'd like to explain more on the systems a bit more, my plans and ideas, etc. The overall idea is set and working, but the smaller details CAN and MAY change : specifically, payouts, the changes to the Trader Chit system, the shifting of prices in the Shop, etc.
SUPPLY (AND DEMAND?) SYSTEM
The current system is known as the Contract System : crate up specific types of items, in specific amounts, and ship them for some coins and a trader chit.
The new system that is replacing this is the Supply System. It works in a very similar way : Crate up items, ship them, receive coins and possibly a trader chit. What's changing is how you crate things.
My goal is to have every obtainable item in the game have what is called an FMC value, Ferret Market Cost (before you ask, yes its based on the same idea as THAT mod). All items are categorized to different types : Materials, Components (like capacitors, etc), Food, Furniture, Weapons, Armor, and others.
The minimum shippable crate is 1,000 FMC. To make, say, a Shippable Material Crate, you can combine 4 [Iron Ingots] and an empty crate. Or, you can do the following :
- Iron Ingot (250), Iron Ingot (250), Coal Ore (250), Coal Ore (250)
- Iron Ingot (250), Iron Dust (250), Iron Ingot (250), Niter (100), Niter (100), Redstone Dust (50)
- Iron Ore (500), Redstone Block (450), Soul Sand (50)
And so on. Right now, every 1,000 FMC is worth 1 Silver Coin.
In my testing, the lower level crates in the original system would give you less reward in the new system, but the higher level crates will give you more. To that, I'll need to adjust the prices of everything in the shop accordingly, as well as how many points it takes to get to each rank.
BULK ORDER CONTRACT SYSTEM
This is a new system, which will be more akin to the definition of a Contract (unlike the previous Contract System). You will be able to find Contracts in the world in some manner : They will contain a list of items (either specific items, or types of items). This is still in early planning stages, but I'm considering payout to be 2 to 5x the value of the FMC of the individual items.
Here are some examples :
- A Miner's Delight
- Two Iron Pickaxes
- Five Iron Ore
- Five Gold Ore
- One Diamond
- Ten Coal or Charcoal
- Ten Torches
- One Fire Resist Potion
- A Small Armory
- Three swords, worth between 500 and 1,000 FMC
- Three axes, worth between 500 and 1,000 FMC
- Two Bows, worth between 10 and 100 FMC
- Fifteen Arrows (normal)
- Six full Iron Armor suits
- Two full Leather Armor suits
- Five Potions of Healing
Contracts are filled in the Ferret Business Mega Packager, a large 9x9 crafting grid.
TRADER CHITS
Originally, you got a number of chits equal to how many crates you shipped, not the value of them.
Instead, like Shop Reputation, the number of chits you get will depend on the value of the crate you are shipping. My rough thought is, every 10k value a crate is, equals one Trader Chit. This encourages you to make more complex items OR to combine smaller value crates into larger crates for maximum benefit.