Crafting system

About this model

This diagram represents a complex, multi-faceted system designed for a crafting-based video game that incorporates elements of resource management, player progression, and monetization through in-app purchases (IAPs). At its core, the system simulates a virtual economy where various sources generate raw materials – such as stones, plants, trees, and animals – which are then transformed into intermediate goods or directly used to craft final products like vehicles, weapons, and cosmetics through a series of automatic and interactive converters. These goods can affect player experience (XP) levels or be made available in the player's inventory. Additionally, certain goods like pets or gunpowder have specific crafting paths requiring distinct resources and processing steps.

Interconnected with the crafting system is a player progression model that uses experience points generated by engaging with the game's crafting and exploration features, thus simulating a player's journey through the game. This progression influences the availability of in-app purchases, with the system offering various IAP options based on the player's progress stage, denoted by their crafting achievements and XP level. These purchases can yield resources, crafting materials, or exclusive items, adding a monetization angle to the game's economy. The diagram also includes mechanisms to simulate time passage and its impact on resource accumulation and item crafting, incorporating randomness to reflect the uncertain nature of resource availability and crafting outcomes, aligning closely with mechanics found in many free-to-play or freemium game models.

This public Machinations diagram, “Crafting system”, was shared in the Machinations Community by Surya Kannan.

You can open the original diagram in the Machinations app, press Play to watch how resources move through it, and change its values to see how the system responds. Machinations is a visual tool for designing, simulating and balancing game economies and other systems, where resources flow through sources, pools, drains, converters and gates. In a diagram, a source creates resources, a pool stores them, a drain removes them, a converter changes one resource into another and a gate decides where they go next.