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Blade Avuari

Clay overhaul: Ceramics, molds, and more! Warning: Long post

33 posts in this topic

The idea

Many people agree that clay needs an overhaul. Ideas that have been dusgussed include clay items and more types of clay. But from what I see, these have not been thoroughly discussed. To remedy this problem, I have taken my time to compile three diffferent mechanics in clay that could be used to add more skill to the game, and add a level of believability, being clay uses, sources, and ceramics.

Raw clay

The first thing I wish to discuss with you is how clay is found. In my opinion, clay deserves to come in multiple forms like many other minerals. Now, in real life, there are many different types of clay, which also come in many different forms. So, I think that there should be three main categories of clay; river clay, surface clay, and ground clay. Each of these categories of clay could also be further described by the biome it came from. These clays will have the color of the biome's rock. Depending on the category of the clays, there will be different uses and methods of cleaning it.

Wedging

With clay, a player can mold different objects, including pots, bowls, and figures. Before any of these can safely be created, clay must be wedged. This is done by throwing clay at a flat surface until "wedged clay" is created. Objects can be created with unwedged clay, but this is risky. When a large object needs to be created, clay is wedged on top of more clay.

What clay can make

Once clay is wedged, objects can be crafted. The most important ones are containers. These include ingot molds, (I will call them boats,you will learn why) bowls, jugs, and pots. They will all be explained in the container section. Lastly are decorations, like figures, and bricks.

Containers

Clay can be used to store many different things. There are jugs, which hold drinks, ingot molds, which hold metal, bowls, which hold food, and are reuseable, and pots, which let you grow plants.

Decorations

There will be special items, like decorated bricks, figured, and similar objects, that can be made from clay. These will be purely aesthetic, and also be placeable, and will work to make building look better.

Molds

Instead of just the ingot boats that hold just metal, there should be other molds as well, which would allow you to create specially shaped objects that couldn't be created with the anvil, or make tools using liquid metals. There will be two types of molds: Tool molds and figure molds. Tool molds can be created by using a spoon to dig clay out of a block of clay, opening up a menu similar to the knapping and tool menus. There, clay is taken out in the shape of a tool head. Figure molds are created by putting a figure in a block of clay, then using a knife to take the mold halves off of the figure. Both types of molds are fired in the kiln, and can then be filled with liquid metal, creating tool heads, which will be less durable than anvil-made tool heads.

Pottery Wheel

Similar to the anvil, the pottery wheel modifies a workable material. The difference is, the actions that must be performed using it can be done in any order. Clay is placed on the pottery wheel, along with a shape (the equivalent of a blueprint) to create pottery. The pottery is thinned out by pressing buttons on the pottery wheel screen, and is adjusted to fit the requirements for the shape. Once the pottery is ready, the player can press the finish button to create an unfired item. (named as "unfired [container]")

If mistakes are made, clay can be rewedged and recycled.

Kilns

This is where the claymaking gets stressful; Unfired clay must be placed in a kiln, in a 5x5 grid. If unwedged clay is fired, it has a large chance of exploding, ruining all other clay in the surrounding 8 slots. If an explosion happens next to unwedged clay, that clay also explodes. Covered containers also have a chance to explode. This creates alot of agony if an entire kiln full of clay is destroyed.

When running, the kiln will slowly use up coal or charcoal.

Glaze

Before being used to store food, a bowl should have to be glazed. I cannot think of a way glaze would be created, but if it is added, it could add another way to decorate clay, or an additional chance for greenware to shatter in the kiln.

Other

I have mentioned a few things without explaining them, because they are fairly obvious, like uses of containers, or I just can't think of a way to explain them, like the figures. I will hopefully have set up a section for crafting recipies, but as of writing this section, I haven't added it.

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I really like this, but i dont understand the kiln part, do you mean an explosion like a creeper? or TNT? does that happens in real life?

I think that clay could have more uses than the only one it has now.

PS: PLZ PLZ PLZ!!! take bricks back, i miss my brick houses =(

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Does it literally mean Explode or do you mean the item gets destroyed?

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<p>

Does it literally mean Explode or do you mean the item gets destroyed?

<p>

I really like this, but i dont understand the kiln part, do you mean an explosion like a creeper? or TNT? does that happens in real life?<

Basicly, the clay shatters in the kiln due to air expanding. It really isn't an explosion, and doesn't break anything but the clay. I couldn't think of a good word to use.
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This is a very good idea indeed +1

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Before being used to store food, a bowl should have to be glazed. I cannot think of a way glaze would be created, but if it is added, it could add another way to decorate clay, or an additional chance for greenware to shatter in the kilnn.

Quoting from Wikipedia: Ceramic glaze raw materials generally include silica, which will be the the main glass former. Various of metal oxides, such as sodium, potassium and calcium, which act as a flux to lower the melting temperature. Alumina, often derived from clay stiffens the molten glaze to prevent it from running off the piece. Colorants, such as iron oxide, copper carbonate orcobalt carbonate, and sometimes opacifiers such as tin oxide or zirconium oxide, are used to modify the visual appearance of the fired glaze.

Well. It says that they generally include silica. Sand is usually silica (SiO2). We have sand, and that can be an ingredient. Sand could be melted in a forge, then have flux added to it. The alumina, could just be clay. So there we go, a way to make clay. This glaze making method could tie in with the whole glassblowing suggestion. :)

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Glaze would give a a reason to use some of the unused minerals in the game for coloring perhaps. I dont know just an idea!

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Glaze could be a mixture of water, sand, and a dye. That way we could have different colored clay items.

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I really like this, but i dont understand the kiln part, do you mean an explosion like a creeper? or TNT? does that happens in real life?

I think that clay could have more uses than the only one it has now.

PS: PLZ PLZ PLZ!!! take bricks back, i miss my brick houses =(

Does it literally mean Explode or do you mean the item gets destroyed?

"The purpose of wedging is to remove all air pockets and holes which would cause a piece to explode in the firing; to eliminate foreign matter such as nails, cloth, and leaves; and to secure an even consistency. Never use un-wedged clay."

and the way he explained it, there are consequences for failing (EDIT: not failing, but forgetting, or neglecting to wedge) to wedge your clay in game. In real life, the result is not so dramatic, but in game it would cause a real penalty, though i think it would be better to reduce the destruction to the 4 pieces touching the un-wedged.

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I'm trying to think of a way to do the glaze section. Also, I'll start working on item textures and crafting recipies now.

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We really don't even need clay for every stone type, I'd be happy with just red, brown, yellow, white, and whatever else natural colors clay comes in, plus additional colors for glazed items. Glazing would really only apply to stuff you were going to be able to place, (bricks, jars maybe?) making different looking items that are just going to sit in a chest or in your inventory all the time is kind of pointless. I would love to have almost everything be placeable as an item, but that would probably require a shitload of block IDs.

Stuff that was historically used as a glaze was salt, and cassiterite off the top of my head. Basically you could use the same stuff you'd use to color glass with that I typed up a big post about in the glass thread.

Wedging is a pretty necessary step for real clay, but I can't see it as translating to anything but a busywork stage gameplay-wise, which doesn't really do much other than waste time.

Clay is already it's own block pretty much, but I don't know why it's textured as each individual dirt with a clay overlay instead of like the ores that are overlaid over the rocks. It would probably simplify things to have some different clay colors on each one instead of a single clay on a bunch of different dirts.

Placeable jar containers would be cool. something that only holds little items like seeds for instance. I was thinking something like this but with a bunch of different colors and a texture that doesn't look like crap, like maybe glazed ones with a wavy line down the middle like in Link to the Past.

post-1143-0-93231700-1355548012_thumb.pn

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I really think these are good ideas and would fit into the them of terrafirmacraft: customization and believability

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I love this entire idea. I can see it now: shelves covered in pot containers and jars of wonderful colors.... ¦>

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*Appears out of nowhere*

Try not to double post, fliffy, some users can't stand double posters! :3

*Dissapears*

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*Appears out of nowhere*

Try not to double post, fliffy, some users can't stand double posters! :3

*Dissapears*

I edited the post to be different. *The reason I double posted is because I was on a crappy 3ds Internet browser (please don't start argueing now on the quality of the 3ds Internet browser)

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I currently can't figure out how any of these items would be crafted... Can anyone help?

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I edited the post to be different. *The reason I double posted is because I was on a crappy 3ds Internet browser (please don't start argueing now on the quality of the 3ds Internet browser)

Does the 3ds browser include the edit button? Or is that something mobile browsers just don't include.

Also, yes the 3ds browser really is horrible. They probably shouldn't have even bothered.

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*Appears out of nowhere*

Try not to double post, fliffy, some users can't stand double posters! :3

*Dissapears*

Two posts in a row consisting of different content/ideas is not a double post. There are plenty of legitimate reasons for doing it, including in actual conversations in real life.

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jeri, a double post is everything that makes your name pop up twice in a row. no matter the reason

there is a edit button for a reason :D

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Two posts in a row consisting of different content/ideas is not a double post. There are plenty of legitimate reasons for doing it, including in actual conversations in real life.

I had double posted but i edited one of the posts to be different than another rather than let there be more than one of what i meant to say

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In the Speculation for Build 70 thread, Dunk said stuff about steam power. That could tie in with this. Like having a kick wheel to spin it..just an idea.

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Maybe glaze could be made by grinding minerals that are currently useless. Throw a bunch of minerals in the quern and then grind it nicely untill it becomes a glaze powder. Craft the glaze powder and unglazed ceramic item togather to make a ... glazed wet (?) ceramic item and than bake it again.

This may seem like too much work but actually it would be pretty easy to make. I bet you could make tons of jugs or mugs to store food or edibles by this method and a furnace.

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