Hey there ladies and gents, Shadowclaimer here. Project lead of Metallurgy. I've come here looking to discuss a few points and get some feedback en mass from fans and users of the mod. With 1.7 shuffling around a lot of things we're looking to restructure the mod and address a lot of issues with some core fundamentals that were too entangled before to really mess with.
For those who don't use Metallurgy (either not a fan of it or were overwhelmed), I need your feedback as well. Effectively we're seeking to more actively engage the community on features and issues they're running into with the mod. Its an old mod, we've been around for almost 3 years now, and there's a lot of leftover things from the more archaic times of design that i'd like to change and address. I know people have issues with the number of metals (which is understandable, and I'll get to some explanation for those who don't understand particularly why we pursue the setup we have), but moreso I'm looking for things I can help do to improve the enjoyment of players of the mod in general.
So with 1.7 Metallurgy will be relaunching as Metallurgy: Re4rged (M4). Metallurgy right now has gone Open Source as of last night, and no longer requires permissions for modpacks. We're actively seeking members of the community to visit our Github, help out, suggest and discuss upcoming changes and ideas/concepts. (You can find the Github at https://github.com/TeamMetallurgy/Metallurgy)
So to get started, let's discuss design specifics.
For those not in the know on how Metallurgy is setup or what it is. Metallurgy was a comprehensive attempt to expand the "Mine" aspect of Minecraft. It drew heavy inspiration from Dwarf Fortress and other games that have a metric ton of ores/metals and allowed you to mix them to make new ones. The original Metallurgy had a structured tier system and actually changed the core metal statistics (which proved unpopular and was removed.)
All the metals in Metallurgy are broken into "Metal Packs", originally these were separate downloads (and if we ever get a launcher, it may return to that system) but as of now are one single download (with configs to disable metals). Each metal pack was given a "goal" or a role effectively.
Base Metals is a core set of metals. It contains and revolves between the Wood and Diamond tiers of vanilla Minecraft. These metals are straightforward (Copper, Tin, Bronze, Hepatizon, Angmallen, Manganese, Steel) and are usually metals used by other mods as well. The Base Metal Machines (Crusher and upgraded Furnaces) were also straightforward in their use to increase your output as a Miner.
Precious Metals were a series of metals added to the Overworld. They are akin to Gold (high Enchantability, low Durability, high Speed) and are moreso meant to be used sparingly or to make Alloys with other metal sets. The Precious Metal "Machines" were the enhanced Chests with more room.
Nether Metals were a series of metals added to the Nether, they vary in strength from Iron to post-Diamond, and have special effects when weapons were crafted out of them. They're relatively rare, and meant to encourage exploration of the Nether for more than just Glowstone and Nether Forts. The Nether Metal Machines were the Smelters, which are lava powered Furnaces effectively.
Fantasy Metals was a tricky one, its intent was as a series of metals that could be introduced to other dimensions through configs (Twilight Forest is my personal favorite to confine them to). You can do that, but most people just leave them in the overworld. They're more rare but typically a little better than their equivalents in the Base Metal sets (usually with enchantability) and are the largest set we created. Their machine, the Abstractor, consumes metals to generate experience orbs based on the enchantability of the metal.
Utility Ores were just that, a series of materials you can mine, mix, and create bits with. Usually they replaced Mob Drops (Bitumen can be cooked into Tar, which is a Slimeball replacement, etc.) or they can be used to make advanced variants of TNT.
Most people when they see Metallurgy think we've aimed at just throwing worthless metals in a "more stuff" fashion at the game. It wasn't our intent, there were direct systems in place and intended uses for each and every metal in the long run. We've come to find actually that our fans are a mixed breed, some of them run as many metals as they can get their hands on (IE: we could go the more stuff route if we wanted to and they wouldn't care) and others want each and every metal to have specific and unique uses. I'm privy to both sides, I want to offer players who want more metals to be able to add them and set them up however they wish, but at the same time I don't want to bloat the mod if it isn't necessary. Metal packs have allowed us to do such, you are not required to get more than a few metals if you don't want them, and I can personally sit down and design aspects and uses for each individual metal.
Our biggest barrier to entry we're coming to find however isn't the metals we add or anything to do with the such, its actually information. Our mod has a huge problem with requiring external sources of info, and is scant typically on those sources. For instance, view our main "spreadsheet" (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...dEQ1X2JNOHgteUFRRGtFMlo0ZUQxN2c&usp=drive_web) this is the most useful piece of information any of our users have, and most have it bookmarked. I HATE the fact that is the case. I don't want our players to have to camp on a wiki or on that spreadsheet all day to figure out what to do next, its a huge detriment to the mod and to our players and I feel like its one of our biggest weaknesses. "What metal mines this, what metal mines that, where can I find X, what do I need to upgrade my machine next?" etc. etc.
Going forward, I'm shifting as much information into the game as we feasibly can. Tooltips are going to be EVERYWHERE. Our metals will display their statistics on their bars and tools, our ores will have direct information right in their tooltips. I want to see about introducing more sources of information in general, books, info tabs, etc. directly into the game itself to attempt to alleviate this frustration. Any ideas on things we can do to help with that are a godsend at this time.
In the same vein, our machines are losing their current upgrade tier system for a new UI based upgrade system. You'll build one core Machine (Crusher for instance), and then you'll have a tab on that machine's GUI that will show an upgrade bar, item type, and item slot (with name/bonus). For instance, the next upgrade of the Crusher might be Copper Gears, which require Copper Bars (and increase the machine's speed). By placing Copper Bars into the slot it will consume them to fill the meter and eventually grant the machine increased speed (and then show the new upgrade you're working towards.) I'd like these upgrades to be displayed as enchantments on the machines themselves even. This will allow players to upgrade their machines without breaking them, adding them to a recipe, rinse and repeat.
We're also highly looking into more systems for consumption of metals. In design I have a "metal profit" ratio. You as the player should not be gaining exponentially more metal to the point where it becomes useful, and if it does I need "metal sinks" just like an economy has its "gold sinks". You should have ways to dump old metals and make them useful always (even if they aren't on par for tools for you at the moment), we noticed in server tests the Abstractor was HUGE for this, players ate that device up and used it frequently and we're looking into more sources and uses for metals as well as more weapon/armor abilities for Nether/Fantasy metals.
Overall, I just want to talk about Metallurgy in general. Its hard for me to get feedback at times on MCF, and this seems like a core down to earth place to discuss things going forward and where I want to kick things off with 1.7 and M4.
So what do you want to see out of the mod? What can we do to accommodate the users more, servers more, and modpacks more? If you don't play Metallurgy, why? What can we do to earn your download?
For those who don't use Metallurgy (either not a fan of it or were overwhelmed), I need your feedback as well. Effectively we're seeking to more actively engage the community on features and issues they're running into with the mod. Its an old mod, we've been around for almost 3 years now, and there's a lot of leftover things from the more archaic times of design that i'd like to change and address. I know people have issues with the number of metals (which is understandable, and I'll get to some explanation for those who don't understand particularly why we pursue the setup we have), but moreso I'm looking for things I can help do to improve the enjoyment of players of the mod in general.
So with 1.7 Metallurgy will be relaunching as Metallurgy: Re4rged (M4). Metallurgy right now has gone Open Source as of last night, and no longer requires permissions for modpacks. We're actively seeking members of the community to visit our Github, help out, suggest and discuss upcoming changes and ideas/concepts. (You can find the Github at https://github.com/TeamMetallurgy/Metallurgy)
So to get started, let's discuss design specifics.
For those not in the know on how Metallurgy is setup or what it is. Metallurgy was a comprehensive attempt to expand the "Mine" aspect of Minecraft. It drew heavy inspiration from Dwarf Fortress and other games that have a metric ton of ores/metals and allowed you to mix them to make new ones. The original Metallurgy had a structured tier system and actually changed the core metal statistics (which proved unpopular and was removed.)
All the metals in Metallurgy are broken into "Metal Packs", originally these were separate downloads (and if we ever get a launcher, it may return to that system) but as of now are one single download (with configs to disable metals). Each metal pack was given a "goal" or a role effectively.
Base Metals is a core set of metals. It contains and revolves between the Wood and Diamond tiers of vanilla Minecraft. These metals are straightforward (Copper, Tin, Bronze, Hepatizon, Angmallen, Manganese, Steel) and are usually metals used by other mods as well. The Base Metal Machines (Crusher and upgraded Furnaces) were also straightforward in their use to increase your output as a Miner.
Precious Metals were a series of metals added to the Overworld. They are akin to Gold (high Enchantability, low Durability, high Speed) and are moreso meant to be used sparingly or to make Alloys with other metal sets. The Precious Metal "Machines" were the enhanced Chests with more room.
Nether Metals were a series of metals added to the Nether, they vary in strength from Iron to post-Diamond, and have special effects when weapons were crafted out of them. They're relatively rare, and meant to encourage exploration of the Nether for more than just Glowstone and Nether Forts. The Nether Metal Machines were the Smelters, which are lava powered Furnaces effectively.
Fantasy Metals was a tricky one, its intent was as a series of metals that could be introduced to other dimensions through configs (Twilight Forest is my personal favorite to confine them to). You can do that, but most people just leave them in the overworld. They're more rare but typically a little better than their equivalents in the Base Metal sets (usually with enchantability) and are the largest set we created. Their machine, the Abstractor, consumes metals to generate experience orbs based on the enchantability of the metal.
Utility Ores were just that, a series of materials you can mine, mix, and create bits with. Usually they replaced Mob Drops (Bitumen can be cooked into Tar, which is a Slimeball replacement, etc.) or they can be used to make advanced variants of TNT.
Most people when they see Metallurgy think we've aimed at just throwing worthless metals in a "more stuff" fashion at the game. It wasn't our intent, there were direct systems in place and intended uses for each and every metal in the long run. We've come to find actually that our fans are a mixed breed, some of them run as many metals as they can get their hands on (IE: we could go the more stuff route if we wanted to and they wouldn't care) and others want each and every metal to have specific and unique uses. I'm privy to both sides, I want to offer players who want more metals to be able to add them and set them up however they wish, but at the same time I don't want to bloat the mod if it isn't necessary. Metal packs have allowed us to do such, you are not required to get more than a few metals if you don't want them, and I can personally sit down and design aspects and uses for each individual metal.
Our biggest barrier to entry we're coming to find however isn't the metals we add or anything to do with the such, its actually information. Our mod has a huge problem with requiring external sources of info, and is scant typically on those sources. For instance, view our main "spreadsheet" (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...dEQ1X2JNOHgteUFRRGtFMlo0ZUQxN2c&usp=drive_web) this is the most useful piece of information any of our users have, and most have it bookmarked. I HATE the fact that is the case. I don't want our players to have to camp on a wiki or on that spreadsheet all day to figure out what to do next, its a huge detriment to the mod and to our players and I feel like its one of our biggest weaknesses. "What metal mines this, what metal mines that, where can I find X, what do I need to upgrade my machine next?" etc. etc.
Going forward, I'm shifting as much information into the game as we feasibly can. Tooltips are going to be EVERYWHERE. Our metals will display their statistics on their bars and tools, our ores will have direct information right in their tooltips. I want to see about introducing more sources of information in general, books, info tabs, etc. directly into the game itself to attempt to alleviate this frustration. Any ideas on things we can do to help with that are a godsend at this time.
In the same vein, our machines are losing their current upgrade tier system for a new UI based upgrade system. You'll build one core Machine (Crusher for instance), and then you'll have a tab on that machine's GUI that will show an upgrade bar, item type, and item slot (with name/bonus). For instance, the next upgrade of the Crusher might be Copper Gears, which require Copper Bars (and increase the machine's speed). By placing Copper Bars into the slot it will consume them to fill the meter and eventually grant the machine increased speed (and then show the new upgrade you're working towards.) I'd like these upgrades to be displayed as enchantments on the machines themselves even. This will allow players to upgrade their machines without breaking them, adding them to a recipe, rinse and repeat.
We're also highly looking into more systems for consumption of metals. In design I have a "metal profit" ratio. You as the player should not be gaining exponentially more metal to the point where it becomes useful, and if it does I need "metal sinks" just like an economy has its "gold sinks". You should have ways to dump old metals and make them useful always (even if they aren't on par for tools for you at the moment), we noticed in server tests the Abstractor was HUGE for this, players ate that device up and used it frequently and we're looking into more sources and uses for metals as well as more weapon/armor abilities for Nether/Fantasy metals.
Overall, I just want to talk about Metallurgy in general. Its hard for me to get feedback at times on MCF, and this seems like a core down to earth place to discuss things going forward and where I want to kick things off with 1.7 and M4.
So what do you want to see out of the mod? What can we do to accommodate the users more, servers more, and modpacks more? If you don't play Metallurgy, why? What can we do to earn your download?
