Unlocked Recipes and Mechanics Alert and Improvements to the Handbook

[Darce]

So recently I've been thinking back to when I first started playing the game, not knowing much about the mechanics other than what was in the trailer, and I noticed I overlooked some crafting recipes and missed out on certain early progression items that not only would've helped a lot in those early days, but they don't really have any other use other than being a placeholder for early players.

And you could say "but that's what the handbook is for" and you'd be right, but (and I'm speaking from my own experience, so this may not apply to all) I tend to have a hard time when games offer my a lot of information that I don't really need at the moment all at once, and specially when that information comes just in the form of paragraphs of text. This led me to not engage with the handbook very often for anything other than looking for crafting recipes and crafting mechanics that remembered already having engaged with and figured out on my own. 

For this, I think an optional alert system available at the start of a new world would really help new players discover what things they can make with items they just picked up (similar to Valheim's) which would encourage gathering and looting more by instantly showing the new available options to you instead of having to go to your inventory and press H to see recipes for items you can't even craft yet.

Along with this, I think showing when new Crafting Mechanics are unlocked would also help players realize when they're progressing and encourage them to interact with the handbook more to find out how the mechanic works.

And rounding it up to what I started with, I think maybe a more interactive redesign to the handbook with, for example, a GUI that allows for the showing of images, or by making it start empty (other than the very basics like controls, grid crafting, etc.) which would make the player have to fill it up with recipes and mechanics they unlock while playing would help a lot to make it more understandable and engaging to some players.

Edited May 29, 2022 by Darce
fixed typos and redaction errors

[Streetwind]

Most excellent mockups!

[l33tmaan]

Putting images in the handbook really would go a long way.

[Role Player]

I wholeheartedly approve of this.