Do you mean you've got an idea for how you'd like to set it up if you could, or that you have an idea on how you could actually set it up to work in the game, like what values to modify in the XML files/etc? I'd rather be interested in hearing about any ideas you've got for the second - I can't think of anything off the top of my head that would work anything like MoM's artifact creation system; in fact, the closest I can think of would be making it either the shop or a quest.
My idea would use the quest interface for the actual creation of the artifact. I'm not familiar enough with the quest system to know if it is robust enough for what I have in mind.
Have a spell called "Create Artifact" that when cast, creates a quest interface for creating the artifact. The quest itself would use a tree structure for selecting the options. First tier would be something like, weapon, armor or accessory. After selecting one of those, you would select the actual piece. (Sword, bow, chest, helm, ring, etc.) The next two tiers would give you a list where you would select the powers/features you want on the item. The last menu would give a summary of the item, mana, crystal, metal costs. The menu would either let you cancel or pay the cost and grant the item.
I realize this would require a quest with dozens of branches and separate items for each branch.
Hmm..
Have an advanced form of Conclave to be an "Arcane Forge", where you can design and create powerful artifacts. The city then spends an amount of time actually working on it, depending on the power. The upper limit in term of power creation being linked to the # of essence in the city (a 2-essence Arcane Forge would only be able to create Tier 2 magical items).
That would introduce a nice sense of balance and playchoice. Do you want to use your high-essence cities for research conclaves, arcane forge or magically enhanced military unit production?
Obviously, the creation of a magical item still necessitate metal, crystals and mana. And it requires the city to invest all of its production into it.
Man, that would be AWESOME to create the One Ring that way. Hell, you could even add negatives modifier to your magical items, like "Reduces the city size it is produced by 1" for really powerful items/enchantment.
Another thought I had was to require a city structure like an artifact forge that would allow you cast the create artifact spell.
Thoughts?
