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Submitting craft patterns

Discworld player help

Submitting craft patterns

Description

There are several types of crafts that have similar and simple to set up patterns. So simple in fact that even someone without coding experience can do it. So if you've had a great idea for a pattern, why not idea it in the correct format to increase your chances of having it implemented?

Described below is the format needed for craft patterns. Several examples have been included.

Patterns can be submitted with the syntax "idea special craft_patterns". Please note that submitting a pattern does not guarantee it will be used. We also reserve the right to change patterns and wording.

Pattern Messages

All crafts need eight messages for varying degrees of failure or success. When submitting a report they should be presented in the following order:

just succeeded,
average success,
good success,
exceptional success,
just failed,
average failure,
bad failure,
really bad failure

Place holder words

There are some special words that can be used as place holders in the messages:

The following is used by all crafts except goldsmithing and bodging:

$item$used in place of the item name in embroidery, engraving and pottery. This is the name of the object without "a" or "an".
The following are used for all crafts except engraving, bodging and goldsmithing:
$colours$used in place of the thread colours in embroidery and quilting, and for the stain colours in pottery. It will be displayed as "black, blue and yellow". It is not used for the moulding phase of pottery.
$a_colours$the same as above but with "a" or "an" in front.
$adjective$this is replaced by an automatically generated adjective describing the pattern, e.g. "crooked", "pretty".
$a_adjective$the same as above but with "a" or "an" in front of it.
$adverb$this is replaced by an adverb describing how well the pattern was created, e.g. "poorly", "expertly".
$a_adverb$the same as above but with "a" or "an" in front of it.

The following are used for bodging and goldsmithing only:

$material$a place holder for the material, e.g. "oak" or "silver".
$a_material$the same as above but with "a" or "an" in front of it.

Pottery notes: Pottery moulding patterns only need the top six messages. For the two worst types of failure, the clay is thrown off the wheel. Please only suggest items that could be created on a wheel. Stain patterns on pottery are added after the long description of the pot, so it should be phrased with that in mind.

Presentation

All messages should be enclosed within double quotation marks ("), and each message should be presented on a new line with a comma separating them (see examples below).

You may also want to suggest a difficulty for the patterns. There are four: "easy", "medium", "difficult", "expert". Additionally you may suggest how many threads (for quilting and embroidery), stains (for pottery) or engravings are required for the pattern to be completed. For bodging and goldsmithing, you can suggest the size of the raw materials (in feet for bodging and inches for goldsmithing).

Patterns also need a short name that is displayed when the item is incomplete.

All craft patterns except those for pottery have a description with them (see any of the pattern books for examples) and you can include this too.

Examples of idea reports

The examples are best viewed with a columns setting greater than 70.

     This is a pottery mould pattern.

     name: bowl
     difficulty: medium

     "$a_adjective$ bowl.",
     "$a_adverb$ made, flat bowl.",
     "This attractive bowl is flat and fluted.",
     "$a_adjective$ bowl with a delicate, fluted edge.",
     "$a_adverb$ crafted bowl.",
     "This looks like a lump of clay $adverb$ moulded into something "
       "bowl-shaped."


     This is a pottery stain pattern.

     name: stripe
     stains: 2
     difficulty: easy

     "A single $colours$ stripe winds around the rim of the $item$.",
     "It is decorated with a pattern of $colours$ stripes.",
     "A pattern of spiralling $colours$ stripes winds its way around "
       "the $item$.",
     "$a_adjective$ pattern of $colours$ stripes adorns the $item$.",
     "It is decorated with a wobbly $colours$ stripe.",
     "An uneven $colours$ stripe has been stained around the rim.",
     "A plain, wobbly $colours$ stripe has been stained around the "
       "rim.",
     "$a_adjective$ $colours$ stripe adorns the $item$."


     This is an embroidery pattern.

     name: cute little pig
     threads: 3
     difficulty: medium

     "$a_colours$ pig is embroidered on it.",
     "It has been deftly embroidered with a pig in $colours$ "
       "thread.",
     "It is decorated with neat embroidery of a cute $colours$ "
       "pig.",
     "A cute little $colours$ piglet wearing a bow has been "
       "expertly embroidered on the $item$.",
     "It has been embroidered with a fat $colours$ pig.",
     "An ugly and hairy pig has been embroidered on the $item$ in "
       "$colours$.",
     "A deformed pig has been embroidered on the $item$ in a mess of "
       "$colours$ thread.",
     "$a_colours$ blob has been embroidered on it."


     This is an engraving pattern.

     name: ornate star
     times: 3
     difficulty: medium

     "It has been engraved with a simple but elegantly drawn star.",
     "A single detailed star, with twice four points, has been "
       "engraved on it.",
     "A single ornate, complex star, with twice as many points as a "
       "square has corners, adorns the $item$.",
     "A single ornate, complex star, with twice as many points as a "
       "square has corners, adorns the $item$.  The fantastically "
       "complex interior decoration is reminiscent of gear trains, "
       "wood grain, the flow of molten gold, and the swirl of "
       "enchantment around a wizard's hand.",
     "It has been engraved with a simple but serviceable star.",
     "A clumsy star has been etched into the surface.",
     "It has been engraved with a symbol vaguely resembling a "
       "snowflake, but with too many arms.",
     "The surface proudly bears a pattern of scratches that might "
       "possibly represent the constellation of Ockjock the Celestial "
       "Salesman, but probably doesn't." 


     This is a pattern for bodging.

     name: staff
     difficulty: medium
     length: 6 feet

     "This is a sturdy $material$ walking staff, smooth and "
       "unadorned.",
     "This is a sturdy $material$ walking staff, smooth and "
       "unadorned.  About two-thirds of the way up, the wood has been "
       "subtly shaped for ease of holding.",
     "Slender and wieldy, this staff is six feet of $material$ "
       "shaped and balanced to be almost perfect for a long journey "
       "complete with bandit encounters.",
     "Slender and wieldy, this staff is six feet of $material$ "
       "shaped and balanced to be almost perfect for spellcasting or "
       "banishing demons the violent way.",
     "This is obviously a staff, and it would probably do well for "
       "any normal purpose, but it's not entirely straight.",
     "This is a five-foot length of $material$, of uneven width.  "
       "It's apparently a staff.",
     "This crudely carved $material$ stick probably wouldn't break "
       "if you hit something with it, but it certainly wouldn't "
       "impress a demon.",
     "Referring to this length of rough, splintery $material$ as a "
       "staff is a courtesy at best.  It looks as though the "
       "wood-turner chewed it to shape with his teeth, and then "
       "smeared it with an uneven coating of grime from the forge."


     This is a pattern for goldsmithing.

     name: $material$ fountain pen nib
     difficulty: expert
     length: 1 inch

     "This is a well-made $material$ italic nib.",
     "This is a very well-made $material$ italic nib.",
     "This is a masterfully made $material$ italic nib.",
     "This is a beautiful $material$ italic nib.",
     "This is a rather poorly made $material$ italic nib.",
     "This is an extremely poorly made $material$ italic nib.",
     "This is an ugly $material$ italic nib which will probably "
       "ruin your handwriting.",
     "This is an incredibly ugly $material$ italic nib which will "
       "probably ruin your handwriting."

See Also

idea, craft patterns