So, I like to browse the crafting menu, and it gets slow as I pile endless seas of raw materials. Every time I switch tabs it seems to reverify which recipes are viable, which can take a noticeable length of time and be frustrating. It also changes based on the category, which makes the delays uneven which adds to the frustration. It is a minor thing really, but can become grating over time. I do not possess much in the way of programming skill, but it seems to me that every time I switch crafting categories, it must go through each item on each recipe, and search the entire area for the required items until it meets that requirement, or doesn’t, in which case it checks every item in the entire area to see if it matches.
My idea is that if it were to go through every recipe to assemble a list of all the tools and components that might be needed, then searches the entire area making a tally of each item, then it could reference a list of only relevant items with an attached number rather than all items and needing to count them again for each recipe. Assembling such a list would hopefully be similar to the current system that checks if recipes are viable… If this list could be referenced by the player then it would give them an easy way to review which items are abundant or short in supply. Tools would presumably need to be given a separate list, listing the most highly charged tool, or possibly all charged tools if the user can reference the list.
It occurs to me that menu people probably use the search command and browse only very rarely. Assembling the list would presumably cause a significant delay in loading the crafting menu which would be detrimental to these hit-and-run crafters. So what if the crafting menu loaded onto a dedicated search tab. The list of all crafting items would only be assembled when the user switches out of the search tab. Having a dedicated search tab would allow one to reference their searches, check other recipes, then go back to their search without needing to retype it. It could even use the subtabs for multiple simultaneous searches. And an “All” subtab could be used with multiple searches to compare specific recipes, list an item’s recipe and the recipes for all its constituent parts, or comparing different fields, such as firearms and archery…
I am exceedingly doubtful that I could affect such an alteration to a living program, so do not actually have any plans to implement this myself. : (
1: Assemble concentrated component-list to speed up craft-browsing.
2: Add dedicated search tab to avoid the component-list.
3: Multiple combinable searches.
P.S.
Being able to sort and search based upon required skills would also be nice. It can be quite difficult to find new recipes gained with a skill level… Also, high-skill items tend to be better, it could be a handy way to compare high-end weapons for example…