The Slot-Crafting💡🧁

After our initial playtests, one feature clearly stood out as needing the most improvement: the crafting system. While combining multiple materials to create wild and unique items was fun, the process itself required too many steps, and the interface wasn't as intuitive as we wanted.

Let’s break it down.

Slow Start

In the earlier versions of the system (we had a few iterations...), crafting a new item required the player to:

1. Find the correct crafting station on the level.
2. Place it in the Briefbase.

1. Gather the necessary resources.

2. Access the crafting station physically or through a large crafter selection screen.

3. Select a recipe or set up a new composition of materials.

1. Click OK once you’ve created something with a specific composition for the first time. Too long!

Let's speed things up!

The new version, internally called "Item Creation v4," simplifies the process significantly:

1. Find* an appropriate crafting base item —like a cupcake with slots.
2. Gather resources.
3. Drag the resource onto the base.

It’s that simple!

Our setting allows players to mix any kind of ingredients, so if you want to combine cotton candy with rusty nails, go ahead—just maybe don’t eat it yourself! 🧁📌🔨

*NOTE: The current version of the game does not have the option to create base items on your own. This will be included in future updates. For the time being, we scattered plenty of them across the Sanctuary for you to try out the system itself.

Quality-of-life improvements

The key is convenience. The easier the system is to use, the more likely it will be used often. That’s why we’ve added two alternative ways to make the process even smoother:

I. Interactive Details Panel You can now select a slot-filler directly from the details panel of any base item.

II. Precise Crafting If you love experimenting or testing combinations before hitting the craft button, simply right-click on a base item to bring up a dedicated crafting window with a "Randomize" option for extra fun.

Clearing Slots

Lastly, if you’re unhappy with your creation or need those materials elsewhere, you can always Clear Slots without any cost. We want to encourage experimentation, so there’s no penalty for trying out new combinations. :)

Visual changes

To get even more satisfaction from mixing various ingredients, we are also focusing on alternating the visual representation of the base items. We have a prototype that works on changing colors, but it doesn't seem to cut it. If we are making a Cotton Candy Jacket, we want to see a character covered in cotton candy!!!

What do you think?

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this new crafting system! What wild combinations are you excited to try? Let us know in the comments, and share your favorite creations with the community. Your feedback helps shape the future of To the Star, so don’t hesitate to tell us what you’d like to see next!

P.S. Kudos to Damien Monnier from Exit Plan Games, who co-designed this mechanic!