The video discusses the upcoming crafting and fabrication system in Star Citizen, detailing how players will gather materials and create items using blueprints and fabricators, while exploring the balance between crafting and purchasing items. It raises questions about the implications for ship manufacturers, the potential licensing costs for crafting ships, and the challenges related to material quality and user interface management.
In the video, the creator discusses the upcoming crafting and fabrication system in Star Citizen, highlighting its mechanics and potential challenges. Players will be able to craft a wide range of items by gathering raw materials through mining, salvaging, farming, or hunting. The crafting process will require three main components: materials, blueprints, and a fabricator. The creator anticipates that additional methods of gathering materials might be introduced, such as archaeology, and notes that the crafting system will feature multiple tiers of both materials and blueprints, allowing for the creation of higher-tier items.
The creator elaborates on the blueprint aspect of crafting, emphasizing that these will be tied to player accounts rather than being physical items. Players will still have the opportunity to find physical blueprint discs that can be uploaded to their databases. To obtain higher-tier blueprints, players can either find them or receive them as rewards for missions, or they can research existing blueprints to upgrade them. This research process will involve spending resources and meeting specific requirements, which may include crafting items with certain stats.
The video also introduces the fabricator, the device that enables crafting. Fabricators will come in various sizes and will be accessible in communal areas, similar to refineries. The creator suggests that players might have to pay to use these communal fabricators, which could encourage the establishment of personal bases or homesteads equipped with their own fabricators. However, the creator raises concerns about the implications of crafting, particularly regarding the balance between crafting and purchasing items.
One of the main issues discussed is why players would buy items if they can craft them. The creator argues that convenience will play a significant role, as crafting requires time and resources, making it more practical to buy common items. Additionally, the video explores the potential reasons why ship manufacturers would allow players to craft their ships, suggesting possibilities such as logistical challenges in delivering ships or the notion that blueprints could serve as licenses to manufacture ships. The creator proposes that a licensing cost could help balance the crafting system by imposing a fee for each ship manufactured from a licensed blueprint.
Finally, the creator addresses the existence of massive shipyards in the game, questioning their relevance if players can craft ships. They suggest that not all ships may be craftable and that shipyards could leverage production lines for efficiency. Additionally, the creator points out potential issues with material quality in crafting, indicating that the quality of materials will impact the final product’s stats. They express concerns about the user interface for managing materials and propose a quality rating system to simplify this aspect. The video concludes by inviting viewers to share their thoughts on crafting ships and material quality in the comments.