Elden Ring - Crafting Redesign

After completing Elden Ring, I’d barely used its crafting system. On the rare occasions I did, I found it complicated, poorly laid out, and clunky.
So I decided to work out what was holding it back, and what I could do to improve it.

 
 

Teardown + Goals

This outlines my most important critiques of crafting and the additional goals I wanted to achieve to encourage frequent use.

version 1

This first version made significant strides but was too busy and lacked a clear eyeline for the player.

Version 2

Version 2 returned to a three-column layout focused on strategically hiding info that is less important to most players.

 

Original Pop-ups

The secondary screens could also do with a spruce up. This explains my critiques of the Confirm and Sort pop-ups.

REVISED POP-UPS

With a new layout and some tweaked functionality, every step of the crafting flow now has reduced clutter and improved clarity.

EXTRA PROPOSAL

Running out of consumables mid-fight can be devastating if your build relies on them. This proposal allows Crafting Tools to be equipped in a weapon slot, giving players the power to replenish equipped items without opening the Crafting Menu mid-battle.

 

Try it for Yourself!

The best way to get to grips with my redesign is to try it out yourself!
(Requires controller)

  • The prototype supports both mouse and controller inputs, but is best experienced on controller. For mouse users, click the prompts at the bottom of the screen to progress.

    Useful hotkeys include:

    • Z to resize the prototype to your screen.

    • R to restart the prototype.

    • Click on an uninteractive part of the screen, and interaction points will flash blue.

    • Use the left column to change between the Main Flow and the In-Combat Flow.

    • Don’t use the arrow keys or space bar! They may take you somewhere unexpected.