Eve of Alchemy (Demo available)

@Jeremiah Eastman Thanks for giving my demo a try! I put in a limited amount of some of the ingredients (like honey) to see if it would affect how players would use them and if they thought there was just not enough of them. Seems like honey is one of those things that you always need, so I'm planning on having a few different ways to get access to it (apiary, anyone?). The time the recipe is up seems to be a big issue, so I'm looking into a different method of displaying it.

Huh, I'm not sure where I messed up the number of potions display but I'm sure it was something simple. :rswt I didn't spend too much time on building the world for this demo, hence the reason the bookshelves say nothing else, but I'll definitely keep more details in mind for the real game.

@Gallia Feel free to give the demo a go! It is out of date at this point though, but general comments about the crafting system are always welcome. :rwink:

I already showed this off in the monthly progress thread, but here's a look at the new and improved recipe book! It will give you some details on the potions you've made, keep track of how many of them you've made, and tell you which recipes you've discovered.
I also came up with a new method of putting potions up for sale. No more just leaving them in a chest and forgetting them, now Eve can stock a shelf... Now she just need to figure out how to get customers to come buy things.

So I gave your demo a try, here’s some of my rambling:

@slimmmeiske2 Thanks for trying my demo! Sorry that the crafting was a bit confusing... I'll definitely be adding a tutorial section to the game's notebook so that things are nice and simple to understand (or if players are like me and constantly forget what buttons do :kaoswt2:). An animated title screen would look pretty cool, I'll keep that in mind when I start working on it. I never play in fullscreen mode so I hadn't even thought of having a 'quit' option to the title screen, but it would be good to add. I had thought the sprites were a bit small too, so I actually ended up making a new sprite base to hopefully better fit with the tiles.
Haha, the tree thing had slipped passed me when bug-testing, would you accept the excuse that Eve's just that great of a climber? I agree the day count was weird, it was something I added last minute without really thinking about how much sense it made when reading it. That'll definitely get fixed. I've heard that the pop-ups don't last long enough, so I've started working on a new version that is all player controlled. It's not pretty at the moment, but it does mean the player can choose when it disappears.

Hello @hiddenone ,
I just finished your demo, and i shall hereby give you all the feedback i can give.
I started the game on an old machine, and it works with no problem, and the title screen is neat, but what @slimmmeiske2 said, it would be better to have some animals running on the screen.

The menu works i had no problems going in and out the Credits or Options, there is no Quit button for some reason.
It launches in a windowed mode, you can maximize it, but you have these black bars at the side.
I decided to stick with windowed mode and it works fine.

When i started the first thing i noticed was that the music is nice and relaxing, so thats already a plus.
Graphical its ok, only that the models are a bit on the small side, and reminds me of RPG Maker XP.
The core mission is given from the start, creating potions in the big cauldron.
At first i was a bit confused, "Gran" told you to go out and gather ingredients, i did so, but i figured out fast enough how to craft, and that is to put the item on the 3 tables by the cauldron.
And i opened the menu , checked the list and started cooking up potions.
Around the end more recipes were added, and before the game ended i crafted everything, the hints given on the recipe actually spoils what you should use.
And in about 40 minutes i cleared the game, and i was a bit confused about certain things.

What did confuse me ?
The ending, i just didn't get it, was it all a dream ?
Another thing that i'm puzzled about is the title of the game "Eve of Alchemy", but isn't alchemy basically changing objects like turning stone into gold or water into wine ?
Creating potions is more what druids or witches would do, so "Eve of Witchcraft" would be a better name.

There aren't much tutorials in game how things work, but honestly its very easy to figure it out.

So what did i like ?

• I like the music because its nice and relaxing
• The demo is fully functional.
• It can be fully played with mouse only.
• It does have a fun craft system.
• It is easy to gather ingredients.
• The weather and day/night effects.

So what are the thing i didn't like ?

• There isn't much story progression.
• Insta-crafting is a bit broken, if i created a Health potion or Potion of Binding, i can instantly reproduce another piece by talking to the cauldron, but when i created a Mana potion it told me that it only works when crafting a potion.....

So what can be improved ?
Well i know it is a demo, but i still going to tell you what should be improved.

• There should be a story, not just crafting potions for the sake of crafting potions ;)
• A fullscreen mode can be added but if you do so also include a Quit button in the menu.
• More life in the game, npc's, animals, more areas etc,.
• The ability to store more than 1 potion in the chest, (if you have 10 potions you have to add them 1 by 1).
• More music would be nice.
• I found a bug or glitch, i post it soon.

So what can i suggest ?
(This is optional)

• An improved craft system, create potions in the cauldron and click-to-add mechanic, this makes crafting much faster.
• If alchemy is the case, then you have to expand the crafting a lot ;) i message you about this.

Bug or glitch ?
I told you i found a bug or glitch...
Basically when you go to the lower right of the map, you can glitch through the forest.



I hope this helped you out.
Keep on the good work, it was a fun demo!

Hey @hiddenone. I love the game, here is my feedback and stuff! :kaohi:

I just play the demo and relly like the idea, apart from what has already been said i think that if the focus is going to be exploring and collecting rare ingredients, then the day duration must be longer, so maybe less ingredient dense areas to compensate a longer walk for certain ingredients.
Really liked the art and your new ideas.

Hey, @hiddenone, really enjoyed demo of Eve of Alchemy, that was so fun! Can't wait to play it even more. Aviary would be nice, but what about wild beehieves on some trees and you need to craft "fog potion" to gather them without hurt. That would be a nice dependency I think! Having one fog potion to gather - let's say - 5 honey. Or other way to make honey - from dandelions! And you can make it in your cauldron :) 5 x dandelion = 1 honey for example (you know, that's actually a real recipe for "honey").

Wow! This game looked really awesome, so I downloaded it. It's really well made! I love the artwork. I had a lot of fun playing it. I think beehives would also be a great idea. I'd love to see more content, so keep it up.
My rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
:wink: