Skills system - capability already there? (Just unharnesed?)

[boomhaeur]

Had a thought this morning.

Perhaps the foundation for a simple skills system already exists in the game as developed.

What if in the build menu you simply added a category called "Skills" and then add products to the game that are Skill Levels. The same way you have a stone hammer, you could have a "Tools Contruction Level 1".

Skills could take a certain amount of time to produce and would be worked on like an ordinary project. You could even tie material requirements into skills - ie if someone wanted to develop some sort of carpentry skill they may have to apply 100g of wood to the "project" as practice materials. Others may simply just require time.

Then, as you do with tools you could just add skill levels as requirements onto certain projects (ie you couldn't build a desk without the Level 2 Carpentry Skill). Skill levels could be established by making the previous level a requirement.

Problems I see off the top of my head:

1. Under the current system skills could be "passed" to another user just like you pass a tool - is there a way to make something unpassable?

2. Death - When someone dies their skills will end up on the ground. Is there a way to have certain inventory items "dissapear" if a character dies?

3. Skills could only apply to construction not to use. So if one person learns something they can produce the items for everyone else to use (this has a lot of pros too though when it comes to people developing skills and then selling tools)


In the end though I see a lot more pros than cons. It would help with some of the massacres possibly down the road as newspans should in theory have to work a bit to get up to having an Iron Shield & Sabre (Weapons / Defense Skills). Weapons Level 1 may require nothing but that would allow you to build a bow, to get skill 2 you would need a bow and that would advance you to War Bow etc.

Might be fun, just a thought - that could add a new element while minimizing headaches on the Prog Team.

[west]

We've had numerous 'skills' threads.

but to minimize the problem of skillz lying around, they could be equippable. clothing doesn't come off of corpses when they die, equipped skills won't either.

[Meh]

If these skill objects were made to weigh zero grams then they cannot be exchanged between characters nor picked up after a characters death with current coding.

It would make a mess to clean up until we closed the "dropping 0 gram items at death hole". But you could make a accurate eulogy...

The only thing that it doesn't allow without coding is fighting, hunting, and moving improvements.

To add a skills category to projects would be a little but of coding but they could be added temporailiy to somewhere else.

There can be multiple projects that produce the same thing. Say a lock. The normal one requires a screwdriver. One that requires less time could require a screwdriver and a lock-building skill. Bit would produce the same lock.

[boomhaeur]

"The only thing that it doesn't allow without coding is fighting, hunting, and moving improvements."

Yeah, the skills really would just be limited to the realm of what you can and can't manufacture - which indirectly would limit you on what you could potentially obtain (unless someone gave you something).

"To add a skills category to projects would be a little but of coding but they could be added temporailiy to somewhere else."

I just pictured the skills option just being part of the build menu, as you have "Tools", "Weapons", "Ptotection" etc. I just envisioned a "Skills" category - or you could even put the skills right in their appropraite category so all of the tool production skills could be in "Tools"...

[Meh]

They can act as speed ups on resource gathering too just like a tool...

They can even do damage - bare handed fighting...

In a nutsshell I think this can work right now.

[boomhaeur]

cool... that was kind of my suspicion based on what I'd seen in the game...

[Anthony Roberts]

I like the idea of skills in the game, it would add some well needed flavour to the game!

[west]

What I always liked about the game was that it WASN'T skills-based, actually. Those are a dime a dozen. Cantr's free, and it's not skills based. I prefer it this way, actually.

[Anthony Roberts]

There's benifits to both sides, keeping it the same, and changing it to be skills.

I like the idea of skills, as long as everything is still possible build/make... skills just get it done quicker.

[Bran-Muffin]

Yeah, cantr without the skills is good, been this way for a long time and hope it stays this way.

[berserk9779]

I do not like at all the idea of skills that prevent you from manufacturing something. like:

800-5 :You can't build a house because you need a level 2 masonry skill
800-5 :you can't manufacture a sabre because you need a lvl 5 smithing skill
800-5 :you can't use warbow because you need a lvl 4 ranged weapons skill


do we really want to turn Cantr into a clone of runescape?

[Bran-Muffin]

Yeah... cantr witout skills. Keep it that way!!!

[berserk9779]

if not without skills only with skills that improve your productivity or walking speed or weapon accuracy.

just in a simple way like experience based. the more you walk the faster you walk.
but not: an expert walker can go where a inexperienced can't

[Bran-Muffin]

Yep still gonna have to say i dont like it :p current building and traveling system is fine.. dont like the violence system though.

[boomhaeur]

"I like the idea of skills, as long as everything is still possible build/make... skills just get it done quicker."

I could agree with that sentiment to an extent.

I think there should certainly be a range of items that don't require any skills to build - basic tools like a hammer, trowel, and possibly the lightest of weapons.

Certainly skills should help you build items faster etc. But I don't think it's outrageous that someone should need to develop a skill before manufacturing a sabre. In RL smithing etc. takes years to learn how to do properly, same with many of the skills our chars seem to have considering what they can build out of unprocessed iron and a few rocks or wood.

Personally from a role playing perspective I think it would add a really nice dynamic to the game and also allow people to grow and specialize their characters a little more.

I think a key to remember is that this sytem would only prevent you from Manufacturing something. But the skilled resource in your town could manufacture that item for you in exchange for something your char specializes in - I think it would be a very strong force in helping develop the economy of cantr exponentially.

For a "down the road" thought if structures/tools begin to have a "life" ie tools will wear down over time then it would be neat to see skills affect the rate at which the items decay. ie. someone with no masonary skill could build the house but it would slowly crumble and need constant repair whereas someone with a few levels of masonary skill under their belt would build houses that require less maintenance etc.