Greetings!
In the medieval world of The Guild, goods have always played an important role in daily life. From the humble beginnings of production, craftsmanship, and bartering of goods, you could work towards building your wealth, expanding your influence, and securing your dynasty’s future. As you weave through the intricate plays in politics, you could always count on the effects of certain items.
In this dev diary, we’ll look into some of the different items in The Guild - Europa 1410 and explore how they come to be, and explain the basics of goods production: from gathering raw materials to crafting intermediate products, to the production of valuable end products that can shape wealth, health, and influence. You will also learn how to harness the potential of the end products to aid you in your success!
Raw Materials and Resources
As the foundation of the economy, raw materials and resources serve as the first step in almost every production chain. Materials such as wood, stone, and herbs ought to be gathered from places such as mines and woodland, then sold either at the gathering site or at the marketplace - all of which you can access with a cart to transport materials back to your workshop.
In The Guild - Europa 1410, you will seek out raw materials to supply your workshop - the specifics of which materials you will need depend on your profession. If you were a Smith, you would be looking for iron and silver; whilst if you were an Alchemist, you would be looking for mandragora and deadly nightshade. These raw materials can sometimes be bought from the marketplace, from other entrepreneurs/business owners, or gathered and foraged. Choosing how you source your raw resources can affect your profits: buying items from mines might increase profit, but longer travel times and the risk of getting robbed offset that benefit.
Here are some of the available raw materials at the marketplace - though not all of them may be available due to supply and demand.
Alchemists can order their workers to “Look for Ingredients” to gain resources for the production of goods.
Intermediate Products
[p align="start"]Intermediate products serve as the bridge between raw materials and resources and end products. They transform resources into more refined and usable forms - for example, as a Smith, you can use iron and silver ingots, which are made from ore. You can combine the ingots to create an end product, like a silver ring. But if you want to create more profitable items, you will need to craft an intermediate product first, such as fittings, that can then be used to create, for example, short swords.[p align="start"]Other intermediate products, such as joining material, can be used to create more profitable items. Generally, intermediate products can be found on the marketplace or crafted in a workshop, though selling them often doesn't pay off.
You can forge fittings as a Smith, or purchase them from the marketplace. Fittings are an ingredient for some end products, such as…
… Short swords, which are useful for combat…
… Or silver chains, which you can use to influence others' opinions of you in the political scene.
Let’s take the Alchemist for another example. Paint can be made by your workers in your workshop, and you can easily sell it. Or, you can choose to keep it as an ingredient and combine it with iron ingots to make something a little bit more dangerous…
End Products
[p align="start"]At the end of the production chain, you will have end products which can be used in a variety of ways. These end products can be anything from food to give you energy, to luxury items that sway authority and opinion - but you need to make sure that you are within your legal right to use some items, otherwise you risk getting caught![p align="start"]Some end products are required for certain actions - for example, in order to build a beehive, you have to first catch a Queen Bee for the rest of the colony to follow. Meanwhile, some items can be used directly on yourself or your opponents. Items can have temporary effects, cause or heal illnesses, or be equipped as weapons or armor.
For the days that might not be too fruitful for your workshop, building beehives is a sure way to have passive income.
Passive income does not come easily - you ought to catch a Queen Bee, spend some money, and wait a little bit for your little workers to earn money for you.
Restore some of your energy with an Endurance Drink to continue doing tasks…
… or devour a feast to restore all of your energy!
How to Succeed with Items
[p align="start"]In The Guild - Europa 1410, logistics definitely matter - don’t forget that you need to have storage in your workshop for all the raw materials, resources, intermediate products, and end products that you get your hands on! You also need to take into account the distance to the source of your materials, the marketplace, and the route your valuable carts will take through your city. Battered and beaten carts take longer, and the more valuable the items are in your cart, the more you need to watch out for thugs and criminals - you can secure your cart by hiring escorts to try and have a smoother journey with your goods.
When you have all the riches in the world, you can use your money to buy influence in the political chambers. A gold chain or a nobleman’s staff may do the trick - depending on what position you’re aiming for.
Your Impact on Economy
[p align="start"]Economy plays a big role in goods production, and you should always plan ahead for unforeseen events like wars or famine. Your own actions can also create a shortage of a particular item or material, and if you are not careful and sell all your stock at once, you might oversaturate the market, causing prices to drop and your profit to plummet.[p align="start"]Throughout the Early Access period, we will add more and more aspects that impact economy and make for a challenging and realistic gameplay experience.[p align="start"]Items in The Guild - Europa 1410 will add color to your playthrough - you can craft or purchase them to use for your benefit, or to others' detriment. But you will need to balance each item’s cost against its use and see what items can truly help you get ahead. You may have more questions regarding economy in The Guild - Europa 1410, but don’t fret - we’ll be sure to have a standalone dev diary covering this interesting topic in the near future!
