I know Unity isn't a G&S crafting system, but I thought this topic best suited to this area of the forum.
I am most impressed with the crafting systems at Antiquity and Pirate's Destiny. Not being a scripter, I was looking for a system that would allow for customization. G&S is just too specific to Gor and not well suited to my theme of 18th century Egypt. I wanted a system that I could use to craft Egyptian dishes with Egyptian ingredients. Well... I am happy to say that I found one - and that I love it!
I highly recommend Unity for other non-scripters who want to bring customizable crafting to their sims.
The Pros:
Once you get the hang of it, customizing the system really is as easy as editing a description line or a config card. You can easily create items, drop in scripts, and give your creations an immediate effect on the meter (Unity meter). The meter, however, is optional. That means that you can still craft and receive items even if you aren't wearing a meter. It is the best of both worlds in that regard. You can create whatever you can imagine. You can even drop scripts into any modifiable items that you own. If you want to use olives as a harvest-able item, for instance, then you can do so without having to build an olive tree from scratch. You can just drop the script into an existing olive tree! The creator, Warwick Falconer, is really nice and approachable. He's very hands-on. The rest of the Unity community is always reachable via chat, and they're usually very helpful and kind if I make a boo boo and need to ask them for help. Some of my scripter friends have even been able to innovate significantly. They've created 'camper'-like jobs that pay sim coins and scripted NPCs, like interactive animals and guards, that react to meter inputs!
The Cons:
As much as I do love the system, this wouldn't be much of a review if I didn't include a few cons. Firstly, I find the money system a little clumsy. It is handled through big pay chests that act as a bank. That's... not terribly convenient, as it requires the sim owner to physically place the chest. What about folks like me, who can't commit to regular pay days? What about folks from different time zones, who will never be on during 'pay day?' It's all too manual, with each player's name being put into a config notecard. That's why my friend made the paying jobs! Second, I don't like the fact that sim owners can hand out up-to-date meters, but that we cannot hand out up-to-date pouches. I understand that there was some issue of cheating. Unfortunately, I'd rather have cheating than leaving! I have to provide a landmark to the Unity sim if people want to get an updated meter. If you have to send a player off-sim to get something, it becomes very likely that the player will find it too complicated to bother or, worse, may leave entirely. Thirdly, the animals are static. Fortunately, my friend is working on a way around that!
I hope this review has shed some light. I'd like to encourage trade between realms. As soon as I figure out -what- you guys might like from Egypt and create some of those things, I'll be happy to get that going. In the meantime, I really encourage other historical sims to take a look at Unity as a crafting system option. I am loving it so far!
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