This is an idea I've had forming for a pretty long time now, and for some reason am only just now getting around to putting it down on paper and into this forum! Anyway, I propose to introduce two new skill lines that aim to streamline the crafting process:
1) "Bigger Batches" - This skill path is simply to increase the amount of items you can make in one go.
2) "Multitasking" - This skill set is to reduce the tedium of having to prepare the sub ingredient of a recipe by including them in the main crafting process! A time penalty would/should apply to account for the difference. Priority would be given to using up any of the subingredients already in possession.
Included is a sort of middle ground skill, which essentially cancels the per-batch limit of subingredients while taking advantage of the multitasking skill, as well as a separate skill which increases the batch limit of non-food items.
To illustrate the Multitasking skill more clearly, imagine a recipe (Let's call it "Fauxtato" for clarity) which required 3 of a certain tincture to be created. Before learning this skill, you would only be able to make one "fauxtato" at a time if you hadn't already made any tinctures, since you can only make 5 tinctures at once and making two or more "fauxtatoes" would require 6 or more tinctures at once. If you had a single tincture already, you could make two "fauxtatoes;" 4 tinctures, 3 "fauxtatoes," etc.
And, uh, that's the summary. Next's the meat of the stuff I wrote up. I mostly based the recipe limit increases on the assumptions that A) 50 was the highest non-compound batch limit; and B) everything should eventually reach a total of 75 in a single batch. There's probably something along these lines that could be done with machines, too, but I haven't bothered with it.
I'm really okay with name changes.
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SKILLSET:Bigger Batches
prereq: master chef I
increases the number of items that can be produced at a time by 10 for recipies with a base limit of less than 35, or 5 for a base limit of 35 or more.
Bigger Batches II
prereq: bigger batches
increase of 10 for base limit of less than 25, or 5 for base limit of 25 of more
Bigger batches III
prereq: bigger batches II
increase of 10 for base limit of less than 15, or 5 for base limit of 15 or more
bigger batches IV
prereq: bigger batches III
increase of 5
bigger batches V
prereq: bigger batches IV
increase of 5
SKILLSET: Multitasking
prereqs: fruit changing, bubble tuning, spice milling, gasmogrification
allows a recipie's (including tools etc-- all non-machine crafting actions) subingredients to be created while crafting the primary item, at twice the energy cost as usual. production of subingredients is stil limited to their own per-batch limit.
Multitasking II
prereq: multitasking
energy penalty is 50% extra
Multitasking III
prereq: multitasking II
no energy penalty
Bigger Multi-batcherisation
prereq: bigger batches IV, multitasking II
ignores batch limits for subingredients when multitasking
Mass Production
prereq: engineering I, bigger batches IV
increases the craft limit of tools to 5
iMG upgrades:
prereq: bigger batches II
increase of 5 for recipies with base limit of 5 or less.
prereq: bigger batches III
increase of 10 for recipies with base limit of 25 or less.
prereq: bigger batches IV
increase of 10 for recipies with base limit of 5 or less.
prereq: bigger batches V
increases the limit of all recipies to 75.
prereq: mass production
increases the limit of tools by 5.