[Hajo]

Hi,

in some game I found things like "Iron sword recipe" and "Leather armor recipe".

I wonder if "recipe" is a good word here? When I tried to translate backwards, from my mothers tongue to English I find words like "pattern" (for tailoring) and "construction manual" (for engineering).

Would "Leather armor pattern" and "iron sword construction manual" be better? Do you know better ways to say that in English?

I'm working on an item crafting system currently, which basically works by scroll-like manuals/recipes/patters (need words ;)) that the player can use to create items from components and/or other items. I'd like to have this in proper English.

[Adam]

Pattern sounds good for things like clothing.
Construction Manual seems a bit off, construction to me relates to big things like buildings and bridges.
You could use schematics for small complex things, like guns.
I don't know what you'd use for swords off the top of my head tho.
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[Verious]

Maybe:

Iron sword design
Iron sword plans
Iron sword crafting guide

[Hajo]

Thanks for the suggestions and help :)

Good to know that "pattern" is indeed used in tailoring. Arcanum had "schematics", that I remember. "Plan" and "design" look good to me, too, but maybe biased by the fact that just those words would be useable in my mothers tongue, too, for the purpose.

Now I have a few more words to play with, breaking the monotony. Thanks again :)

[Verious]

If the game is set in medieval times, the word "schematics" wasn't invented yet, the same holds true for "blueprints".

[Locrian]

Yeah I hate it when games use the word "recipe". I'm gonna cook me some pantaloons! Riiiight...

I like the idea of 'pattern' for armor.

For swords at first I was thinking of molds. Iron Sword Mold. But I don't think swords are made that way. I think its more just beating a brick of metal into shape with years of skill guiding you. It's like making a good painting, you can't really do it by following a manual. So maybe instead of thinking plans, think starting materials: Iron Sword Alloy or Iron Sword Ingot.

edit: ... oh i see, you want both a plan and materials. Only other word that comes to mind is outline.

[Nodtveidt]

"Pattern" for armor would work if the armor is designed to be sewn together; things like leather armor, ring mail, etc. could use "pattern". Normal mail might be considered a "pattern" as well, although that might be a bit clunky. For metal plate-type armor, saying "pattern" doesn't really work; you could say that it would be a "design" or "plan". Swords aren't typically made in moulds, they're generally made by hammering hot metal...unless you're making traditional Samurai type swords, in which case you're also stretching the metal (these weapons are difficult to craft...wakizashi, katana, etc). This is more of a "plan" than anything else.
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[Verious]

You could also add a roleplaying element to crafting by having the player find a "Journal" or some other record.

If the player found a black smith's personal journal, he could read it to learn how to make a particular item. The journal could have a name, such as "(name)'s Journal" and then items created using the journal could inherit the name as tribute to the author. For example, "(name)'s Long Sword of (attribute)".

This could add a level of history to the game. Perhaps later in the game, when the player has gained experience, they could write their own journal.