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About this mod
Restores Bethesda's General Workbench for crafting items that do not belong to a Chemistry table or Cooking stove.
- Permissions and credits
"Crafting weapons and armor without master file dependencies, compatibility patches and chemistry stations... Oh, how I long for thee!" - Unknown poet
In short, this is a tutorial / resource to restore the crafting workbench found in the base game if you want to craft new items like weapons and armor, but you don't want to use the Chemistry Station (brewing armors and weapons in a flask doesn't feel right to me) or external mods that add extra workbenches. Your new crafting recipes need the following crafting keyword "GeneralWorkBench [KYWD:00021891]" and that's it! It will be craft-able at ANY workbench with the same keyword from ANY mod without requiring ANYTHING else than Fallout4.esm. If your item is already distributed via leveled lists (or some other way), you can keep the recipe "latent" and not include the workbench at all so the recipes will only appear for people who actually want them (meaning they have a mod that adds them).
If you want to include the workbench you can either create a new one and give it the GeneralWorkBench keyword, or fix the one already in the game "MS11Workbench "General Workbench" [FURN:00091FD5]" and its crafting recipe so you can build it "co_MS11Workbench [COBJ:0011131A]". You can fix them yourself, or download the provided plugin from the download section and just copy the 2 records in question as overrides to your plugin in FO4Edit (only vanilla assets are used so it will not add any requirements to your mod). Since it is a vanilla workbench and recipe, there will always be only one available for crafting and your crafting category will not be littered by dozens of different workbenches.
And that's basically all!
Have you ever noticed the suspicious barrel inside USS Constitution called "Workbech"? When you activate it, it just says you cannot craft anything at this time. Of course, since the only crafting recipe associated with this "workbench's" keyword (GeneralWorkBench [KYWD:00021891]) is called DELETEME and is not functional (unsurprisingly). The barrel workbench's editor id (MS11Workbench) indicates it was supposed to play a role in the Constitution quest but the keyword itself has a relatively low FormID suggesting it was created relatively early in development (yes, it is all just my personal speculation) and I believe it was originally supposed to be what the name suggests - a keyword for workbenches for general crafting. Think of it as a Fallout version of Skyrim's Forge and Anvil. This might have been abandoned in favor of extended weapon and armor modding we know and love, the keyword was recycled to be used far the Constitution quest until it was abandoned for good. I believe the keyword would have been named differently if it was created purely for the quest. But again, this is just speculation and is not actually relevant.
Question: BUT WHY?
The lack of a "general workbench" is something the Fallout 4 modding community struggles since the beginning. You have workbenches for food and chemistry but when it comes to crafting weapons and armor, weird stuff happens. The modder will either:
Question: And you offer us a fourth option?
I suggest using a combination of them instead is a better description. AWKCR is best for keeping it immersive and clean but it uses custom keywords which forces modders to make their files depend on it. On the other hand, Chemistry station is reliable since it needs no extra master files and no compatibility patches because it uses vanilla keywords. So my question is this? WHY NOT USE A WORKBENCH (OR WORKBENCHES) THAT USES
A VANILLA KEYWORD - like the unused GeneralWorkBench keyword I talked about in the beginning? That will allow modders to make make their stuff craftable at a workbench possibly more reasonable than chemistry station while also maintaining compatibility with other mods without any "third party master files" or CPs.
Question: Can you give us some examples and then shut up already?
Sure. Here we are:
Suggested vanilla category keywords for modders who would like to use the GeneralWorkBench keyword (although you can create your own). These are the ones whose letter are capitalized by this mod to fit the workbench menus:
SHORT STORY VERSION
In short, this is a tutorial / resource to restore the crafting workbench found in the base game if you want to craft new items like weapons and armor, but you don't want to use the Chemistry Station (brewing armors and weapons in a flask doesn't feel right to me) or external mods that add extra workbenches. Your new crafting recipes need the following crafting keyword "GeneralWorkBench [KYWD:00021891]" and that's it! It will be craft-able at ANY workbench with the same keyword from ANY mod without requiring ANYTHING else than Fallout4.esm. If your item is already distributed via leveled lists (or some other way), you can keep the recipe "latent" and not include the workbench at all so the recipes will only appear for people who actually want them (meaning they have a mod that adds them).
If you want to include the workbench you can either create a new one and give it the GeneralWorkBench keyword, or fix the one already in the game "MS11Workbench "General Workbench" [FURN:00091FD5]" and its crafting recipe so you can build it "co_MS11Workbench [COBJ:0011131A]". You can fix them yourself, or download the provided plugin from the download section and just copy the 2 records in question as overrides to your plugin in FO4Edit (only vanilla assets are used so it will not add any requirements to your mod). Since it is a vanilla workbench and recipe, there will always be only one available for crafting and your crafting category will not be littered by dozens of different workbenches.
And that's basically all!
LONG STORY VERSION
Have you ever noticed the suspicious barrel inside USS Constitution called "Workbech"? When you activate it, it just says you cannot craft anything at this time. Of course, since the only crafting recipe associated with this "workbench's" keyword (GeneralWorkBench [KYWD:00021891]) is called DELETEME and is not functional (unsurprisingly). The barrel workbench's editor id (MS11Workbench) indicates it was supposed to play a role in the Constitution quest but the keyword itself has a relatively low FormID suggesting it was created relatively early in development (yes, it is all just my personal speculation) and I believe it was originally supposed to be what the name suggests - a keyword for workbenches for general crafting. Think of it as a Fallout version of Skyrim's Forge and Anvil. This might have been abandoned in favor of extended weapon and armor modding we know and love, the keyword was recycled to be used far the Constitution quest until it was abandoned for good. I believe the keyword would have been named differently if it was created purely for the quest. But again, this is just speculation and is not actually relevant.
Question: That's all very nice but what's that got to do with this mod? WHAT DOES THIS MOD ACTUALLY DO?
NOTHING! Or almost nothing, as it should. It is more a TUTORIAL and PROOF OF CONCEPT. It merely restores functionality to the "barrel workbench" (using the armor workbench model) and it restores the recipe that allows you to build it in your settlement. Yes, it was all in the game already. That's why I say it does NOTHING. It also adds 3 sample recipes and changes a few keyword display names to use capital letters as workbench keywords use capitals but that's about it. Finally, the interior of U.S.S Constitution is slightly tweaked to deal with the workbench's new model.
NOTHING! Or almost nothing, as it should. It is more a TUTORIAL and PROOF OF CONCEPT. It merely restores functionality to the "barrel workbench" (using the armor workbench model) and it restores the recipe that allows you to build it in your settlement. Yes, it was all in the game already. That's why I say it does NOTHING. It also adds 3 sample recipes and changes a few keyword display names to use capital letters as workbench keywords use capitals but that's about it. Finally, the interior of U.S.S Constitution is slightly tweaked to deal with the workbench's new model.
Question: BUT WHY?
The lack of a "general workbench" is something the Fallout 4 modding community struggles since the beginning. You have workbenches for food and chemistry but when it comes to crafting weapons and armor, weird stuff happens. The modder will either:
- Make it craftable at the chemistry station. That's the simplest and most straightforward way, although I never quite understood why since cooking stations make much more sense, they more often than not represent a camp where you can relax, cook some food and in the meantime craft new gear - just like Tomb Raider crafting. But no, everybody seems to be dead set on brewing weapons and armor from a chemistry jar for some reason. (Man, there are quite a few mods out there I wanted to try but I didn't because they used the chemistry station and I was too lazy to create a personal AWKCR patch.) :-D
- Creating their own workbench for their items. That's much more elegant and immersive but also requires more work and gets confusing for the player if there is more of them: you craft this left hand glove you need at this workbench, this right hand glove at the other workbench, this weapon here but the other one's workbench is on the other end of the settlement...
- Using AWKCR's workbenches. This is the best way to go in my opinion it utilizes a single interface for multiple mods which helps to keep it clean and organized, not to mention other great features AWKCR brings. However, it requires the modder to make their mod dependant on another mod which they might be reluctant to - and I can somewhat understand that. So they make it craftable at the chemistry station instead... Sigh...
Question: And you offer us a fourth option?
I suggest using a combination of them instead is a better description. AWKCR is best for keeping it immersive and clean but it uses custom keywords which forces modders to make their files depend on it. On the other hand, Chemistry station is reliable since it needs no extra master files and no compatibility patches because it uses vanilla keywords. So my question is this? WHY NOT USE A WORKBENCH (OR WORKBENCHES) THAT USES
A VANILLA KEYWORD - like the unused GeneralWorkBench keyword I talked about in the beginning? That will allow modders to make make their stuff craftable at a workbench possibly more reasonable than chemistry station while also maintaining compatibility with other mods without any "third party master files" or CPs.
Question: Can you give us some examples and then shut up already?
Sure. Here we are:
- Bob created a custom pistol, he distributed it to NPCs and loot via leveled lists. However, he also wants it to be craftable for people who'd rather craft the pistol themselves than rely on chance to get it but he doesn't want his file to depend on AWKCR and doesn't like the idea of using chemistry station. He creates a crafting recipe which uses the GeneralWorkBench [KYWD:00021891] keyword in the Workbench Keyword section. As for the category keyword, he can create a custom one but in the end he decides to use a vanilla keyword: WorkshopRecipeFilterVendor02Weapons "WEAPONS" [KYWD:00118F66]. Now the pistol is craftable at any workbench using the GeneralWorkBench keyword regardless of the mod that added it. (At least one has to be installed or the recipe has nowhere to appear.) ALTERNATIVELY, Bob can load his esp in FO4Edit alongside the file I uploaded in the download section and use the "copy as override into..." function to copy the following records from GeneralWorkBench.esp to his own esp: "ConstructibleObject/ co_MS11Workbench [COBJ:0011131A]" (this restores the recipe enabling players to craft the General Workbench in their settlements) and "MS11Workbench "Furniture/ General Workbench" [FURN:00091FD5]" which is the fixed Workbench itself. Since we are using a vanilla recipe, your settlement's crafting menu will not be cluttered with more General Workbenches workbenches if you use more mods utilizing the General Workbench procedure - there will only be one (the one from the mod lowest in your load order will simply override the rest - talk about keeping it clean)!
- A real life example: DavidTheFalcon released The Elder Swords mod. He created crafting recipes using the same formula Bob used. He also wanted the swords to be craftable without relying on others. He created a custom workbench called Forge which has the GeneralWorkBench keyword. He can now craft the swords at his Forge, or at the General Workbench if he downloaded THIS mod. If he downloads Bob's mod, he will also be able to craft Bob's pistol at either workbench. (Creating a pistol at a forge is better than creating it at a chemistry station. :-P ) He doesn't need a different workbench for items added by different mods, they all appear at whichever workbench he likes.
Suggested vanilla category keywords for modders who would like to use the GeneralWorkBench keyword (although you can create your own). These are the ones whose letter are capitalized by this mod to fit the workbench menus:
- WorkshopRecipeFilterVendor02Weapons "WEAPONS" [KYWD:00118F66]
- WorkshopRecipeFilterVendor02Armor "ARMOR" [KYWD:00118F67]
- RecipePoison "AMMO" [KYWD:0006980D] (Simplified to AMMO from SYRINGER AMMO)
- RecipeUtility "UTILITY" [KYWD:0006980C]
- RecipeMisc "MISC" [KYWD:0006980B] (changed to MISC from UTILITY to prevent having two UTILITY categories)