UnReal World > Modding

Modding in valuable metals (Gold, Silver, Copper) for trade.

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Acolyte:
Just to break off from the BAC mod so as not to derail it.  ;)

Anyone with any thoughts?

   - Shane

Brygun:
There is value for trade versus value of use.

A very common mistake in roleplaying games is to assume that higher costing materials perform better. Gold is the worst example. Weapons and armor made of gold are heavy, soft and ineffective. Iron carburized* into steel is tough.

Gold being soft is what makes it able to take a decorative shape.

Gold has another decorative property in that it stays shiny. It doesn't oxidize like iron turning into rust or copper getting the green layer.

Modern day gold also has use for its conductivity which combined with the non-rusting make it useful in the sockets, connectors and plugs where two electronics interface.

A random idea put forward was to have a gold pot. The pot itself would weigh more than an iron pot for some holding contents. It would look fancy, trade well but perform poorly.

* carburized : to have a small amount, 1-3%, of carbon worked into the material. Thus a steel sword is still 97% iron.

Signatus:
Ok, so I made a simple add-on with copper gold and silver and some example items, and here's what I got:


--- Code: ---[SUBMENU_START:Precious]

.Harvest copper ore. "Hunting Horn" [effort:2] [phys:arms,hands,stance] *COMMON* /40/ [noquality] [patch]
{[NEARBY_TILE:river]} 'Near rapids' 
{[TERRAIN:hill]} 'mountainous terrain'
{*hammer}
[NAME:ore of copper]
[MATERIAL:stone]
[WEIGHT:1.2]
[PRICE:0]
[TILEGFX:bc-orepiece]

.Harvest silver ore. "Hunting Horn" [effort:2] [phys:arms,hands,stance] *COMMON* /50/ [noquality] [patch]
{[NEARBY_TILE:river]} 'Near rapids' 
{[TERRAIN:hill]} 'mountainous terrain'
{*hammer}
[NAME:ore of silver]
[MATERIAL:stone]
[WEIGHT:0.06]
[PRICE:0]
[TILEGFX:bc-orepiece]

.Harvest gold ore. "Hunting Horn" [effort:2] [phys:arms,hands,stance] *COMMON* /1h/ [noquality] [patch]
{[NEARBY_TILE:river]} 'Near rapids' 
{[TERRAIN:hill]} 'mountainous terrain'
{*hammer}
[NAME:ore of gold]
[MATERIAL:stone]
[WEIGHT:0.0025]
[PRICE:0]
[TILEGFX:bc-orepiece]

// roasting

.Roasted precious ore. "Hunting horn" *COMMON* /1/ \3\ [noquality] [patch:50]
{Ore of*} #0.06#  [remove] [patchwise] [name:Roasted ore of %s] [naming:last word] 'Copper/silver/gold ore'
//{Firewood} (4) [patchwise] [ground] '+to pile with ore'
//{Firewood} (4) [patchwise] [ground] '(You need to light them on fire)'
[MATERIAL:stone]
[WEIGHT:0.05]
[PRICE:0]
[TILEGFX:bc-orepiece]

// smelting
// improved method

.Smelt precious ore. "Hunting horn" [effort:2] [phys:arms,hands,stance] *TIMBERCRAFT* %-20% -M- /1/
{Roasted ore of*} #1#  [remove] [noquality] [name:Bloom of %s] [naming:last word] 'Roasted ore'
[MATERIAL:iron]
[WEIGHT:1]
[PRICE:0.01]
[TILEGFX:bc-ironbloom]

// Previous method

.Smelt copper ore. "Hunting horn" [effort:2] [phys:arms,hands,stance] *TIMBERCRAFT* %-20% -M- /1/
//{Bloomery*} [noquality] [ground] 'Bloomery furnace'
//{Fire} [noquality]
{Roasted copper ore} #1#  [remove] [noquality] 'Roasted iron ore'
//{Charcoal} (8) [remove] [noquality] [ground] '+to mix with ore'
//{Bellows} '+for keeping the heat up'
//{Shovel} [noquality] '+for tending the process'
[NAME:Copper bloom]
[MATERIAL:iron]
[WEIGHT:1]
[PRICE:0.01]
[TILEGFX:bc-ironbloom]

.Smelt silver ore. "Hunting horn" [effort:2] [phys:arms,hands,stance] *TIMBERCRAFT* %-20% -M- /180/
{Bloomery*} [noquality] [ground] 'Bloomery furnace'
{Fire} [noquality]
{Roasted silver ore} #0.05#  [remove] [noquality] 'Roasted iron ore'
{Charcoal} (8) [remove] [noquality] [ground] '+to mix with ore'
{Bellows} '+for keeping the heat up'
{Shovel} [noquality] '+for tending the process'
[NAME:Silver bloom]
[MATERIAL:iron]
[WEIGHT:0.05]
[PRICE:1]
[TILEGFX:bc-ironbloom]

.Smelt gold ore. "Hunting horn" [effort:2] [phys:arms,hands,stance] *TIMBERCRAFT* %-20% -M- /1/
//{Bloomery*} [noquality] [ground] 'Bloomery furnace'
//{Fire} [noquality]
{Roasted gold ore} #0.05#  [remove] [noquality] 'Roasted iron ore'
//{Charcoal} (8) [remove] [noquality] [ground] '+to mix with ore'
//{Bellows} '+for keeping the heat up'
//{Shovel} [noquality] '+for tending the process'
[NAME:Gold bloom]
[MATERIAL:iron]
[WEIGHT:0.05]
[PRICE:10]
[TILEGFX:bc-ironbloom]

// coinage testing

.Generic coin.  "Hunting horn" [effort:3] [phys:hands] *CARPENTRY* [noquality] /5/
//{*forge*} [noquality]
{Bloom of*} #0.02# [name:%s coin] [naming:last word]
{*iron hammer}
[TYPE:valuable]
[WEIGHT:0.02]
[MATERIAL:iron]
// COPPER
[PRICE:0.1]
// SILVER
//[PRICE:1]
// GOLD
//[PRICE:20]

// Previous method for coins or crafts

.Copper coin. (64) "Hunting horn" [effort:3] [phys:hands] *CARPENTRY* [noquality] /5/
//{*forge*} [noquality]
{Copper bloom}
{*iron hammer}
[TYPE:valuable]
[WEIGHT:0.015]
[MATERIAL:iron]
[PRICE:0.1]

.Silver coin. (4) "Hunting horn" [effort:3] [phys:hands] *CARPENTRY* %20% /3h/
{*forge*} [noquality]
{Silver bloom}
{*iron hammer}
[TYPE:valuable]
[WEIGHT:0.012]
[MATERIAL:iron]
[PRICE:1]

.Gold coin. (2) "Hunting horn" [effort:3] [phys:hands] *CARPENTRY* [noquality] /4/
//{*forge*} [noquality]
{Gold bloom}
//{*iron hammer}
[TYPE:valuable]
[WEIGHT:0.018]
[MATERIAL:iron]
[PRICE:20]

// weapon testing

.Precious spearhead.    "Hunting Horn"  [effort:3] [phys:arms,hands,stance] *CARPENTRY* /6h/ 
{Bloom of*} [remove] [name:Spearhead of %s] [naming:last word]
//{*billet}  [remove] 'Good billet for the edges'
//{*billet}  [remove] [noquality] 'Second billet for shape'
//{*forge*} [noquality] 'Forge or furnace'
//{Charcoal} (4) [remove] [noquality] [ground]
//{Bellows}
//{*anvil*} [ground] 'Anvil nearby'
//{*hammer} 'Hammer'
//{* tub of water} [noquality] [ground] 'Tub of water for quenching'
[MATERIAL:iron]
[WEIGHT:1]
[PRICE:0]
[TILEGFX:bc-spearhead]

.Precious spear. "Spear" [effort:1] [phys:arms,hands] *CARPENTRY* /3h/
{Spearhead of*} [remove] [name:%s spear] [naming:last word]
{Staff} [remove]
{Knife}
{Whetstone} [noquality] '+for final sharpening'
//original spear price is 43 arrows or so
// COPPPER
//[WEIGHT:5]
//[BLUNT_ATTACK:4]
//[POINT_ATTACK:6]
//[PRICE:30]
// SILVER
//[WEIGHT:6]
//[BLUNT_ATTACK:5]
//[POINT_ATTACK:5]
//[PRICE:60]
// GOLD
//[WEIGHT:7]
//[BLUNT_ATTACK:3]
//[POINT_ATTACK:6]
//[PRICE:100]



[SUBMENU_END:Precious]
--- End code ---

Note that I fixed harvesting to hill + river for testing, couldn't find the original mountain + rapids adjacent to each other. This could be reduced to 1 with the use of optional nearby tiles, perhaps, but I'm not sure. They could also be removed if we create ore "flowers" with an appropriate rarity blooming in mountains or caves.

Roasting and smelting is condensed into a single recipe each. This could be combined with the iron ones, so it's elegantly solved.

I also have the material specific smelting I was using before, allowing more control.

I just created the generic coin, which will become copper/silver/gold coin depending on the material. The pricing and WEIGHT can be adjusted according to the comments below it. This can be applied to any craft I guess

I also have the material specific versions of the coins in particular.

Lastly I made an example spearhead an spear which can be made from these various materials. Again, the properties of the spear can be adjusted according to the material used. It will be iron spear, gold spear, silver spear, etc. The values are mostly examples.

Bert Preast:
As I understand it, bronze weapons were still highly prized during the iron age because bronze can hold a sharper edge than iron can.  The reason iron took over was because it was much easier (and therefore cheaper) to produce and maintain.  I don't know if it is possible to mod how quickly weapons degrade, but if it is then a bronze weapon should be superior to iron but more expensive and degrade faster.  Gold and silver weapons are almost useless as weapons, but they look cool and right through history to the present day people have been happy to pay a lot to look cool   :D

Ingots for trading is a great idea!

Acolyte:
One aspect of precious metals is that they were rare. I mean really rare. Items weighing in at the pounds level would be vanishingly rare for silver and almost non-existent for gold. Copper is much more common and would still be used for all kinds of utility items such as pots and tools like knives - particularly if alloyed into bronze. Anything to be used as a weapon would very rarely be made of anything but iron/steel.

Really, copper and bronze are the metals that would still be in significant use in the iron age. A "decorative" copper spear point is quite possible as a badge of office or some such but a silver or gold one? Not too likely and massively valuable if they did exist. A bronze spear point might actually still be used - just don't hit anything made of iron or steel.

General rule throughout much of history is copper/bronze:silver is about 1:20 and silver:gold is about the same 1:20. So a gold precious spear would be 400 times the cost of the copper one and that's if there is enough gold around to make one.

   - Shane

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