Cooking Polish

[novacadian]

Disclaimer : This is meant as a positive suggestion on how to polish the cooking craft. It is not meant to be negative to the extensive work that has already gone into it.

My character started into the cooking craft over the last couple of days. From a programmer's perspective the evolution of its present state is very evident. The cooking book object was created and the library of cooking functions was placed in one convenient place (from a programmer's perspective). From a player's perspective, it took me a full day to realize to stick the book into the mind slot. That was only realized after another player told me to. The entire system is based on spoilers. No one would be able to figure it out start to finish on their own.

"But Trasok tells you all about what to do with books during his quest about metallurgy", said one player.

Well my character has never held a pick axe in her hand, so a lot of help that may be to her.

It is my thought that the library of functions should be broken down and placed in the respective utensils that perform the different cooking acts. So the cutting knife would hold the function "dice' and then when the command "/dice tuber" was entered in the command line, if a tuber was highlighted, then a roll would be made against the character's cooking skill to see about success or not. That way you could dice tubers while in the kitchen, sitting on a rock or riding on your mount. Success or failure would be based on your skill not some arbitrary time that it remained inside a container.

There are some uses for the container concept. Like placing different ingredients in a mixing bowl, oven, on the grill, etc.. Yet again one would take their mixer and "/mix ingredients' of a highlighted bowl. The mixing would then be controlled by the player by how much they chose to mix the ingredients instead of some arbitrary timer in the object containing the items.

Ovens and grills could have more control in that regard, as they do in rl. Yet bowls do not mix things people do. Tables do not slice things knives do through peoples' use.

Having the functions in the utensils that one performs the task with (as much as possible) would allow one to watch someone cooking from across the room as one does in real life and not only by being close enough to a container to be able to look inside it.

Again, there are exceptions; like being able to look in an oven.

So it seems the first big break up of the cooking lib would be to have the prep functions and actual cooking (by applying heat) functions separated from one another; placing the prep stuff in the respective utensils and the cooking (by applying heat) in the respective cookers be they grills, ovens or what-have-you.

It is my feeling that in this way cooking could be made more intuitive and not based solely on spoilers by fellow players; though welcome ones in its present state.

- Nova

[RlyDontKnow]

No one would be able to figure it out start to finish on their own.

actually I've been able to back then, it's really not that complicated if you get the "hint" the NPCs give you.
also there's the cookin guide in the wiki now which outlines the basics quite nicely

It is my thought that the library of functions should be broken down and placed in the respective utensils that perform the different cooking acts.

how would you know how to clean a carp just from looking at a knife? really doesn't make sense to be honest

That way you could dice tubers while in the kitchen, sitting on a rock or riding on your mount.

dicing tubers while riding on your mount sounds a bit... dangerous tbh

Yet again one would take their mixer and "/mix ingredients' of a highlighted bowl. The mixing would then be controlled by the player by how much they chose to mix the ingredients instead of some arbitrary timer in the object containing the items.

you do recognize there cannot be continous steps? it'd still have to be discrete, so there'd still be some arbitary time it takes just like for all other crafting. just that you'd have to "/mix" it every time yourself instead of the auto-use or "combine".

Having the functions in the utensils that one performs the task with (as much as possible) would allow one to watch someone cooking from across the room as one does in real life and not only by being close enough to a container to be able to look inside it.

I don't get that relation tbh. how's the partial split of the book into a bunch of items and the split of use/combine into one command per tool/action related to being able to do things from far away? doesn't make any sense for me to be honest...

So it seems the first big break up of the cooking lib would be to have the prep functions and actual cooking (by applying heat) functions separated from one another; placing the prep stuff in the respective utensils and the cooking (by applying heat) in the respective cookers be they grills, ovens or what-have-you.

so only if you apply heat you're actually cooking? I very much doubt that, but maybe we have different means of "cooking". anyway, as you may have recognized, everyone can grill a few pieces of meat or heat some water, that doesn't make you a cook
hence there's a different split. there's one book for the "apprentice" which has mostly preparation work and one for the cook.

It is my feeling that in this way cooking could be made more intuitive and not based solely on spoilers by fellow players; though welcome ones in its present state.

to be honest I do think it'd just make things even more complicated. from a players point of view as well as from an engine's point of view. e.g. it'd be even more impossible to find out what you actually need to do to get a certain final product or even recognize what you're able to do. on top of that creating a bunch of new commands doesn't make sense to me as they're basically all just "/use" (e.g. "/dice") or "/combine" (e.g. "/mix") and having more commands tends to confuse people even more from my experience.

anyway, still thanks for your thought about how to make things easier, it's nice to see someone at least thinking things through

[LigH]

As in most "Massive Multiplayer" Online Roleplaying Games, there is some degree of expected interaction between players too.

You as player are a noob about crafting? ... Your character will be too, despite a few possible levels of a skill by its creation. Don't be afraid of roleplaying a need of advice. It is just as natural as asking for help in real life ... hmm. What kind of nonsense am I telling here? Real men don't ask for the way. They get lost with the map in their hands. Or trust the navi until they drive into the river.

[novacadian]

When the NPC told me to dice some tubers, it seemed intuitive for me to highlight a tuber on the table and then type the command "/dice tuber". If that does not seem intuitive to you folks then may as well lock the thread.

- Nova

[derula]

it seemed intuitive for me to highlight a tuber on the table and then type the command "/dice tuber".

Does not seem intuitive to me, seeing how in PS commands are either like "do something with target", in which case the command would be "/dice", or "do something with an entity with the name x", in which case the command would be "/dice pungent tuber", and it would not need to be targeted.

The only thing one might be able to improve (doesn't limit to cooking though) is a possibility of being trained by players instead of NPCs. I have no idea how that should work, though, but I think this is definitely worth a thought and might greatly improve the game - or it might just summon a heap of master crafters & cooks (if done incorrectly, it certainly will, so it's a bit dangerous too I'd say).

[Roled]

Just have to say I read the headline for this thread and thought
"Yum!
Sausages!"

 

[LigH]

Saussage pies? ... Pizza!
__

Well, this thread emphasizes the differences in the way of thinking between programmers and users. Programmers are able to abstract many different but still similar things down to a level where they can be handled efficiently with the same one engine. Users want just the opposite...

[novacadian]

Well, this thread emphasizes the differences in the way of thinking between programmers and users.

My wish was from a user's perspective; my observations from a programmer's understanding of how it, likely, arrived to be in its present state. My solution was offered as that of a programmer; not a user.

- Nova