Ideas needed for element of blacksmithing game

So I'm generally very protective of my projects until I have them in a state where I can at least show them off. Partially because of that irrational fear that my idea will be hijacked and executed by someone. I'm throwing that aside and seeking input early this time so that I can hopefully find my focus early on and execute successfully!

I started work on a 2D side-view game about blacksmithing. The focus would be on same-screen multiplayer, with players battling the clock to produce the required items in the allotted time. A variety of tools and work stations would be required to complete the objectives, and part of the fun would be switching roles as needed or figuring out the optimal workflow. The closest correlation I can see in an existing game is Overcooked.

The part I'm struggling with is figuring out how to handle the item crafting portion itself. Blacksmithing, for those who don't know, focuses on the forging of iron into usable objects, and generally follows the process:

• Smelting - Iron ore is heated in a bloomery where it forms a raw iron bloom, along with the slag it needs to be separated from.
• Working - The iron bloom is repeatedly heated and hammered to force the slag out and work carbon into the metal
• Forging - The wrought iron is shaped and cut/soldered to suit the needs of the item
• Hardening - The iron object is heated and quickly cooled in a slack tub to harden the metal, which also makes it more brittle
• Tempering - Alternatively, if the item is heated and allowed to cool slowly, it will be softer but more flexible
• Finishing - The forged item is ground and polished to remove imperfections.

I have a picture in my head of how the game plays overall: Players running and jumping from station to station (forge, anvil, slack tub, etc), dropping and picking up tools (hammer, tongs, etc) as needed. The problem is how to represent each phase of the process as an interesting element in itself. For example, hammering something on the anvil. Rather than just pressing X over and over to hammer, how can I make the act of working the anvil more fun? The best I can think of is a basic timing-/rhythm-based minigame, but that doesn't really excite me.

Additionally, the chosen system would have to not occupy much screen real estate, since a number of players may be sharing the screen and will need to have their actions all visible simultaneously.

Any ideas?

 

An old Apple ][ game called Olympic Decathelon springs to mind. There were (of course) ten events, and you controlled your avatar directly via keypresses, either rapid or carefully timed (or both). The running event, for example, involved alternately pressing keys as fast as you could, as each key controlled one leg. With the hurdles, it was the same but you had to hold a key in order to jump, which obviously required a bit more skill.

So, yeah, with the hammering I could see something where you have to time it just right to get maximum efficiency. Press too fast, and you do useless little taps; but wait too long, and he's wasting time holding the hammer up over his head. Get the right rhythm and you can pound out that step in minimal time.

Sure, by itself this would get dull pretty fast... but if it's only like 5 seconds of this for a good player, and then you rush off to the next station, I think it might be fun.

What kind of controller are you envisioning here? Sounds like gamepad, but obviously if we're all crowding around an iPad, that's a very different matter. Keyboard would be somewhere in between.

Assuming gamepad, will you require an analog joystick? Doing so opens up a lot more possibilities for skill. E.g., forging could require drawing a shape with the joystick, the more accurately the better.

P.S. I don't know why I'm helping with anything that keeps you from working on Uncharted Galaxies... but I guess you have to follow your passion.

 

It's not irrational. This is a really cool concept and I'm currently prototyping very fast with Playmaker so I can beat you to market! The name will be The Forge in case your wondering and think of using it.

Could you give a visual example of your concept or is Overcooked how you see the basic play area?
For some reason while reading your post I kept envisioning fire, explosions, flying molten metal pieces, heat and steam fx in a over exaggerated pixel art style.

Real elements are commonly game-if-ied as simple puzzles, for instance lock picking. Another option could be to hammer out the randomly generated slag bits as they pop up within the molten metal, filling up a container. Once enough slag is removed the player can move onto the next phase. Adding a wack-a-mole mechanic adds accuracy and dexterity to the core hammering stage.

Each stage could have a different popup interface to allow the player to have maximum screen space to 'work' the metal stage. This would serve to give the player as much screen space as they need to perform tighter manipulation if needed, and to also increase the fidelity of each stage - which is always good.
It would also give the other players input to see if they are in the lead, or falling behind, though I don't know if this would be a good thing or bad for the players.

This is where I think some extra fun could be derived from interesting gameplay. Finishing could be different per player, and could be similar to a cooking recipe. The player could choose from 1-6 different final designs that include a bunch of different options to make the weapon stand out more than there opponents, though maybe at the cost of not finishing first.
Different finishes could provide a wide range of different mini-games, gem cutting and placement, filigree, or that cool effect on katana blades. Different wraps for handles, etc.

There is/was a show on history channel called Forged in Fire. Might check it out to get some ideas.

 

I like this. Sounds like a good direction to go for a prototype!

The main thing making me want to go back to this game is the Nintendo Switch. This feels like a perfect game for that console. So yeah, analog stick, 4 face buttons, and two shoulders. Bindable keyboard controls for a PC release should be doable as well, though.

I'm so glad you brought this up. As I was fading off to sleep last night, I had a revelation on that game, and it's entirely thanks to you. Your questions of "what do you do" and "what is the core mechanic" that I didn't have answers for before, I've been thinking about randomly over the last few months, and I finally know the answer to it! I'm going to write about it a bit in the UG thread today. That project is not dead!

 

This gave me a good laugh that I very much needed this week. But also motivation to get to work just in case you're serious. Thankfully, I beat Zelda this week, so I can get back to some gamedev!

If I had to pick a visual style, I'd say something similar to Spelunky. I prefer the updated cartoon styled version of it over the original pixel art, but that can all be decided later. You're spot on with fire and explosions and things flying around. Players accidentally whacking each other with tools while trying to work, etc. I've sketched out a few character concepts that are exaggerated and cute, too, and I can't wait to see what they look like after they've been burnt to a crisp.

I think the trick is finding a way so the real processes (which I'm utterly fascinated by) is represented, but not adhered to so religiously that it isn't as fun as it can be. So while the way you described removing slag from an iron bloom is wholly inaccurate, it may be what's right for the game!

I've thought about little popup windows that are kinda zoomed in areas of the work stations. My concern is that it'd get too messy, but I bet if executed correctly it could work. I'll call this Option 2 for now.

I like it!

I tried watching that. I was fairly disappointed that it was using all these modern machines instead of the old classics, but it is still interesting. I don't have time to be watching TV, though, I gotta be first to market!

 

Neat idea!

Getting temperatures and timing just right is critically important in smithing. These elements seem perfect for gameplay. Don't stoke properly, and it'll take forever to heat your piece, letting other players leap ahead. Keep your carefully worked piece in the heat for too long, and it'll spark, burn, and be ruined.

I've seen some doubles alternate hammering on a piece. I don't know if this could be worked into the gameplay, but two co-op players could try to get their timing down to work strikes between each other, or perhaps the same with an AI partner.

 

Thanks, Tony! Glad to have your input on the temperature balance! I feel exactly the same way. Some flash game I played had a mechanic where you had to watch the temperature of your metal, but it was for melting and casting, which really bothered me, haha. Having to take a piece off the anvil and put it back in the forge (while controlling the temperature of that forge) sounds like it'll be fun.

I think the game will work great both as co-op and competitive, so I want to offer both modes. Perhaps certain goal items would only be required when there are 2 or 4 players, and these special items require a double-strike process on the anvil like you mentioned.

For the first time in a while, I'm very excited to get some work in tonight!

 

I saw recently "my little blacksmith" game on itch.io and was pondering why it actually got quite popular since it is practically also "just" a blacksmith game, but I noticed that the creator had implemented progression, through earning money, by making requested items for a customer who only stays for a certain amount of time.
The customers are not always polite, which adds humor "a longsword! NOW!"
The smithing process itself is simple, you drag ingots on stations and work them and the processed items aswell to combine and then sell them. But what made it so interesting and funny, were the physics. Because it made it feel to me as if those physics made me want to play around with them, also made me experiment how I could optimize my smithing process, as example by throwing the ingots through a window to get them faster inside instead of running with each one of them inside and I thought, that it's those physics giving it that feeling of flexibility and impact on how you want to play the game
I would probably go for something similar...like in 2D it could be funny to as example, flick the ingots over the screen on to the forge, instead of carrying them piece by piece over and the better you get at throwing, the faster you work
etc.
i'm not sure if i would go for "reflexes" when it comes to smithing, since smithing in real is more about force and precision and knowing where it needs to be hit. And if you want the gameplay to feel like lot of jumping around, it might be worth a thought to make the actions of each station rather short and simple, so you don't get stuck on something and therefore destroying the flow of action.

 

@Farelle proving that no idea is original, that's pretty much exactly what I had in mind, haha. Funny that it didn't show up in Google results for me, and I never thought to look on itchio.

Thanks for the recommendation! I'll have to give this one a try.