Again depends on the Tinker.
Only to a small degree. A given Tinker(those who are given blueprints by Shards that is, not gonna count those like Taylor who just make cool things but have to do it "the hard way". I will concede that even under that definition there is some variation in power mechanics, especially as some Tinkers
explicitly have other powers) may be able to control for their base materials, and while it's not demonstrated in-universe(unless it is, but I don't know of any examples off the top of my head), it seems fairly obvious that a Tinker with access to better materials is going to be able to make the same target technology better, more rugged, more advanced, more versatile, etc(depends on the Tinker, target tech, and base materials and tools which they pick from among that list).
So better materials/tools is good, and tinker-made materials/tools can make even crazier Tinkertech. Not sure if that's what you were referring to, but wanted it out of the way. Now to the other interpretation of what you said, referring to knowing the in-between steps:
I think a lot of this has been conflated by fanfiction and fanon, so
here's some WoG.
Wildbow said:
Think about it this way - you sit down to build something, you have a partial idea in mind, your power supplies the rest of the instructions and components. You get into the zone, you tinker away, and a lot of your actions become automatic.
The shard, meanwhile, is working in concert. They supply the ideas and the mental pictures, what's necessary and what's up to your imagination. Then, as you get underway, they assess variables like ambient temperature, radio waves, earth's superposition in the galaxy, the materials you're working with, fine tuning to an extreme.
People using a camera can't track all of the individual details, so they copy what they can, but the pieces don't fit together, the metal has superfine stresses and vulnerabilities they aren't aware of, the elements don't jibe, and it just doesn't work.
Usually I don't like WoG, but this seems mostly to clarify what's going on "on-screen" rather than add details that weren't in the original text, so I do actually find this kinda useful.
So the grade of the end-product
is the design, to a degree, and the Tinker is actually a lot more aware than either of us has been giving credit. In addition, Tinker Fugues are actually comparatively rare compared to this pseudo-awareness. They ARE having this knowledge and expertise beamed into their brain
in order to build the designs. The problem is that it's hard-to-impossible to communicate many of the later details to normal scientists and engineers, even if they can "talk shop" to a degree with other people, especially Tinkers and super-AI with tinkertech-deciphering Thinker powers.
I really dislike that idea, and no it doesn't make any sense. "Tinker" in canon was (at least at first) just a threat rating, not a type of power. tHis means there'd be mjany different types of Tinker depending on how they achieve the ability to make devices that don't require power usage.
Tinker
being a threat rating has little to do with what they can or cannot make. They're getting knowledge beamed into their brains, and could easily include "normal" stuff as easily as crazy physics-defying rayguns and nanomachinery.
Think of it this way, a tinker can make the same thing A) Consumer-grade, B) Industrial-gerade, C) Mil-spec, or D) Space-rated. Which will they build?
Those are kind of meaningless terms here, more referring to overall quality, while "space-rated" is essentially meaningless outside of ridonkulous testing specifications. In their natural environment, the average Tinker is going to make something that is not going to be understood by modern science. This is the general rule by which they operate, but is it not a "law". It can be bent and broken.
Tinkers breaking this rule are usually deliberately making "substandard" equipment by their own standards, buy may still be "super" by normal standards. Instead of making Skynet, you just make Deepblue. And a given device they make may not NEED to be "Tinker-grade", they may really just need a stronger motor to make their target device and quickly whip together something "normal" to get on with the build rather naturally.
We do see this in canon, rather easily, as any given Tinkertech device isn't 100% supertech. They may use normal servos in a device where they are secondary, or make normal wiring and circuit-boards in a device that doesn't really need much in the way of electronics at all. Example we know of is Kid Win's camera-drone, ad Tecton(who also had other powers) was known to do maintenance on standard PRT vehicles, but hated doing so.
However, we do have this:
Defiant said:
"It's not customary for tinkers to design things for teammates. If they do, it's on a relatively small scale, simple. Kid Win making Gallant's armor, for example. Any device requires a great deal of upkeep. Time is spent tuning, calibrating, repairing and identifying problems. Each device created is something the tinker then has to take time to maintain, and mass production means the tinker becomes tech support more than an innovator. Dragon and I don't sleep, or sleep very little, but even for us, it isn't effective. Far better to invest our time into the artificial intelligences and the ships."
Tinkers
can make less-than-super tech, but usually
don't. They are driven to use their power, and the obvious use for their power is to go all-out. Taking half-steps would usually seem pretty counterproductive to a given Tinker, just as it would any other
human, much less Shard-influenced(to greater or lesser degrees)
parahumans.
Note: Thanks to Juff and Ridtom of CauldronDiscord for their assistance in fact checking and bring in sources.
