14 DAY TRIAL // BioWare has shared quite a lot of brand new details about the Dragon Age: Inquisition crafting system and how it was envisioned to augment the dragon hunter experience, while allowing players to create and customize all sorts of gear.
Dragon Age: Inquisition is set to debut next month and BioWare has made it clear over the last few months that it's going to allow players to do all sorts of impressive things in the new role-playing experience, from engaging in the ambitious story campaign to going on adventures with friends in the multiplayer one.
The crafting system allows for creation and customization
Now, BioWare reveals what sort of design principles it used when making the actual crafting system for the new RPG and how players can customize their look or create a whole new one, depending on the resources they loot during the campaign.
According to the studio's latest blog post, the core fantasy in Inquisition is that of the dragon hunter, and as such, players need to have the tools necessary to create and customize their own weapons and armor, while going after the huge beasts.
The new system runs on schematics and resources
Inquisition's new system needs schematics, which in turn determine some aspects of the end result, while the resources determine other things, like the effectiveness or the visual style.
"A schematic determines the shape of the blade if you're crafting a sword or the shape of the core armor if you're crafting protective gear. Each schematic takes some combination of metals, leathers, and cloths, and the materials you choose to use determine the effectiveness of the gear, any bonuses built into it, and the visual appearance," the studio reveals.
BioWare exemplifies its statement by saying that a sword made out of serpentstone will have a dull green color, while one made from onyx will be a shiny black, just like the material.
Upgrading existing gear will also affect the appearance
Customizing existing gear will also allow players to change the appearance, depending on what additions they made to the items.
"Once you have a core piece of gear, you may also be able to upgrade it. If an armor can take upgrades, they will change the shape of the armor as well as add new properties, but will inherit the color scheme of the core body of the armor. Similarly, if you install a new hilt or pommel onto your sword, it will smoothly unify to match the rest of the blade's color scheme."
The customization process also allows players to give their own name to their gear, further increasing the amount of personalization they can bring into the RPG.
In order to showcase the crafting system in action, a special set of screenshots is now available in the gallery below.
