The Research System

[T145]

Design

Have a multi-block setup for research, w/ a research table and some pedestals.
Place research notes acquired from a dungeon on the table, and it will recommend general items to research.

In-world layout example:

OOOOOOO
OOOTOOO
OOOOOOO
OPOOOPO
OOOOOOO
OPOOOPO

where:
O = empty space
T = research table
P = pedestal

GOAL:
Fun and intuitive research that doesn't require any GUIs.

Research Process

1. Place the notes discovered in a dungeon upon the research table.
2. Place some items in pedestals and right click w/ paper and a quill, w/ paper in your inventory.
3. After some tries (randomly selected based on research difficulty), the paper will be turned into research fragments, simulating frustration and tearing up the notes.

• If the observed item is close to the actual item, send a message saying "I think I'm getting closer...".
• If the observed item is the actual research component, send a message saying "Eureka!", and replacing the research notes w/ some "encoded" with your observations.

4. After it's all done, show some cool indication from the table.
5. Take the original research notes and the "encoded" fragments to a crafting table to craft the discovery.
6. Right-click the table to remove the fragments from your inventory and the contents of the table and retrieve the discovery, which can be added to the codex arcanum by crafting.

• Place the pieces in a grid on the table and then craft, or just right the center parchment?

Other recommendations

• Go from superficial observation to empirical knowledge to experimentation (i.e. the scientific method) somehow in the research process.
• Have "research boosters" to increase success rate, such as bookshelves, like in TC2. Should this ability influence the table recipe?
• Have the table gain a sort of intellect and be able to recommend items more intuitively as you use it more. The recipe should probably include a zombie brain if this is used. Maybe reinforces the logic behind the previous recommendation.
• Have the table receive more specific upgrades, allowing the research of things like the dark arts.

[Enderborn1235]

Interesting. Will the upgrades be placed in the world or in a GUI within the table? One last thing, is there going to be an API?