How exactly to set up a crafting station?

[luiscesjr]

I know this will probably be in the docs soon, but I'm trying to wrap my head around how the crafting system works.

I'm a bit confused even with the demo provided, nothing wrong with it, I'm just not able to fully comprehend it. So. basically to have a crafting station in the scene, I have to:

• Have a Craftingstation node;
• Have an inventory for it (Input, output? Just one?);
• Have a Crafting UI node;
• Have a Recipes UI scene in this last UI node;
• Have a Ingredients UI scene inside this recipe UI node;

Did I miss something? What exactly does the recipes and ingredients UI do? They are just for showing the recipes and needed ingredients? As I saw, the UI nodes are optional, I could make/use my own, or am I mistaken? It's probably easier to use the ones built-in, right? I had little to no success using the basic ones to create a custom solution.
I would also need to have an interaction between the inventory and the crafting table inventory, right?

[scriptsengineer]

Did I miss something?

Did you add the recipe to the inventory editor?

What exactly does the recipes and ingredients UI do?

It displays the available kraftstation recipes from craft_station.valid_recipes, and has a button that triggers craft_station.craft(recipe_index)

They are just for showing the recipes and needed ingredients? As I saw, the UI nodes are optional, I could make/use my own, or am I mistaken?

Yes, the idea is for everything to work without a UI if necessary, see the example of the bonfire, there is no crafting UI and yet it is possible to "craft" the meat, which is a craft_station with the auto_craft option activated.

It's probably easier to use the ones built-in, right?

The best thing is to create your own version; you just need to understand how the main nodes are. You can start with something basic that I will show below and evolve. Using the ready-made version can make you rigid depending on the type of game you are looking for. That's why the UI is part of a demo.

I would also need to have an interaction between the inventory and the crafting table inventory, right?

No, this interaction is just to make it closer to a final game, but this can vary depending on the genre of game you are going to implement. A 2D game may not have anything similar to what exists in the demo in relation to the demo.

---

Yes, it's a good idea to have a basic tutorial on how it's done with inventory, I'll put together a previous version of the tutorial here:

[scriptsengineer]

Basic craft_station tutorial
Add the nodes to your scene so that it looks like this:

Configure database for two inventory system nodes:

For CraftStation configure the input and output inventory to Inventory Node added previously:

Too add craft station type id (Same of configured on inventory editor), in this casa add "campfire" for 'valid_recipes' receives only campfire configured recipes (like steak in demo)

Check too auto_craft for simple craft recipes without need call craft() function:

Create script and add references of nodes:

extends Node3D

@onready var craft_station: CraftStation = $CraftStation
@onready var inventory: Inventory = $CraftStation/Inventory

Add process function for call functions:

func _process(delta: float) -> void:
	if Input.is_action_just_pressed("add_item_a"):
		inventory.add("raw_meat")
		print_inventory()
		
	if Input.is_action_just_pressed("interact"):
		print_inventory()
		
	if Input.is_action_just_pressed("item_place"):
		print_recipes()
		
// And add tutorial inventory print for show items in inventory		
func print_inventory():
	print("Inventory Items:")
	for item in inventory.stacks:
		if item.item_id != "":
			print(item.item_id," x ", item.amount)
		else:
			print("Empty")

How to print recipes of craftstation:

func print_recipes():
	print("Recipes:")
	var count = 0
	for recipe_index in craft_station.valid_recipes:
		var recipe = craft_station.database.recipes[recipe_index]
		print(recipe.products[0].item_id)
		count += 1

Test and use E to show inventory, and F1 to add raw_meat for craft station init process and create cooked_meat after seconds

[luiscesjr]

Valeu Rafael!

I understand time is a huge problem for all of us, so I appreciate you taking some of your time to answer. It's much more clear now, and I'm not saying this in a bad way, it's just that in the demo the nodes are so deeply connected with references all over the scripts, I felt a bit lost.

[scriptsengineer]

@luiscesjr I Update docs with craftstation

Manual
https://expressobits.com/inventory-system/manual/craft_stations.html

Tutorials
https://expressobits.com/inventory-system/tutorials/craft_station_tutorial_1_resources.html
https://expressobits.com/inventory-system/tutorials/craft_station_tutorial_2_nodes.html
https://expressobits.com/inventory-system/tutorials/craft_station_tutorial_3_ui.html

I would appreciate if you could give feedback on them.

[luiscesjr]

Amazing, loved what I saw so far. But my Inventory editor looks a bit different, is that a future release? There are some extra icons there.

With what you explained to me before I started my own UI solution, and then finished my custom workbench. I would start working on the smelter/forge, the tutorial came just in time!

Thank you very much for the work on the docs.

[scriptsengineer]

Yes, the editor's UI will be updated, but the functionality will be the same, just a change to bring it closer to something native to Godot.

I'm glad the tutorial came at a good time. Feel free to criticize and comment on any other tutorials you find lacking; that's the only way I can understand how new users use it and what their needs are.