Architecture Tool

Introduction
The Architecture Tool is a tool available in-game for Architects to use for design of Buildings and other structures. The tool produces blueprints which can be used for construction of said structures.

The Architect
While there is a huge range of customization in housing, it's the architects that creates the blueprint for a building. Any shape or size building can be created, as long as it's within the field of knowledge of the architect.

Architecture
The of Architecture provides the insights in the why and how of structural strength and other specific material properties of different materials and their application in various structures. This knowledge is required for the architect to successfully produce blueprints for efficient and effective construction and for high quality (high performance, low upkeep and long lasting) structures.

Building Types
The Architecture Tool is mainly meant to design buildings. To some extent, design of infrastructural elements may also be supported. The Buildings Category has 5 types for the purpose of this Wiki: Commercial, Industrial, Logistic, Military and Residential.

Tool
The Architecture Tool has a dedicated in-game interface and specific functionalities.

HOLD: More detailed information will become available and shared here in the future.

Blueprints
The Architecture Tool's main product are blueprints. Just like the map tool which is used by cartographers, the Architecture Tool allows the player to draw content directly onto a blueprint. Blueprints differ from maps in that they can be used to visualize depth by using a third dimension and that their scale is smaller.

Layout
To be described.

Materials
To be described.

Knowledge dependency
Within the Architecture Tool, there are several things that are determined by the level of knowledge of the architect such as: number of floors a building has, complexity of the shape (number of walls), and what materials can be assigned to the building (wood, stone, or other materials). The tool will also make the architect aware of any instability issues with the building but may not account for other outside environmental factors that may affect the building. Not much more is known yet about how this knowledge will be gathered and how the level of knowledge will affect the process and outcome of working with the Architecture Tool.

Availability
Originally it was planned to be released in Q1 2017 as a stand-alone tool. However, it is now being incorporated into alpha 2, so that everyone can experiment and test with the architecture tools and see what it feels like to design buildings in Chronicles of Elyria. As player-created content is paramount to the success of Chronicles of Elyria and isn’t part of Soulbound Studios' business model, the tool will be made freely available to everyone.

Construction
Construction is an active process which involves crafters of all walks of life to work together to create the individual components of a structure and then to combine them at the appropriate points of construction. As construction is modular, players can choose different components (either higher or lower quality) compared to what is marked on the blueprint. This is an aspect for architects to potentially take into account.

More information on the construction process is provided on this dedicated page: Construction.

Pre-Constructed Buildings
During the Exposition stage of game development, players can acquire pre-constructed buildings by purchasing them with Exposition Points.

For buildings acquired in this way, neither the knowlegde of an architect or the use of the Architecture Tool is required. A list of buildings available for this purpose is presented on this page: Construction.