Recently came back to this game, and it’s still as amazing as I remembered!
There were a few things that I wanted to note / ask from my playthroughs:
I feel like clairvoyance potions should counteract the vision-reducing effects of fog.
Why can’t I get “Something toxic” from fiend’s powderbox mushrooms? Given their effects in-game, I would think they would be a potent source of it.
Some way to “unequip” potions from the throw action would be nice. I’ve lost a game due to an errant mouse wheel and 2 fireball potions, so it would be nice to have some way to prevent that. If a way does exist right now, I think it should be indicated better.
After a while, the list of locations you can visit becomes rather crowded. I think it would be useful if there were some way to remove locations from the list once you no longer intend to visit them.
I also have a couple of suggestions for the game, though obviously you shouldn’t feel compelled to add them. I’m mostly just throwing around ideas I had while playing:
I feel like all the mid-game research is all bunched up on the third row of the tech tree, and it would be better (both for readability and progression) if the third row were split into 2 rows, resulting in 2 rows for early-game research, 2 for mid-game, and 2 for late-game.
I think it would be interesting if there was some way to “transmute” one alchemical ingredient into another. Perhaps tempering “Something to burn” into “Something volatile”, or vice-versa. Or maybe condensing “Something metallic” into “Something that glitters”.
All in all, keep up the great work, and I look forward to the upcoming Steam release! Don’t feel pressured to rush on the update, your health & personal life is more important than getting an update out sooner.
Hello, thank you for your input! >I feel like clairvoyance potions should counteract the vision-reducing effects of fog.
That is a cool idea. It fits the flavour. I will probably make it that way.
>Why can’t I get “Something toxic” from fiend’s powderbox mushrooms? Given their effects in-game, I would think they would be a potent source of it.
They used to give that, but I changed it to something sinister at one point for more usefulness, as something toxic is abundant anyway. Now that I think of it, though, I can just make both options available.
>Some way to “unequip” potions from the throw action would be nice.
I never considered that it would be useful, but implementing it won't take long, so I will.
>I think it would be useful if there were some way to remove locations from the list once you no longer intend to visit them.
I will need to think of such a feature.
>I feel like all the mid-game research is all bunched up on the third row of the tech tree, and it would be better (both for readability and progression) if the third row were split into 2 rows, resulting in 2 rows for early-game research, 2 for mid-game, and 2 for late-game.
What is currently a late game won't be for very long, and specifics of the research tree, too, will be subject to change.
>I think it would be interesting if there was some way to “transmute” one alchemical ingredient into another
Something like alchemical gold is a possibility, but I don't have any specific thoughts yet.
I have a few small suggestions that I hope can give this game more appeal to people trying it out and give it the recognition it deserves:
The introduction is a bit redundant when you are asked to give your soul to the devil. Many people would normally not agree to this and the game forces them back to the title screen and redo all the tutorial crafting and prison escape again. Its not a ton of time lost but can be pretty frustrating especially for a new player who is deciding if they want to play any further.
I suggest having the narrator come in after the second time you refuse and say something like "After realizing that there is no exit, the alchemist reluctantly agrees." and move the story forward instead of ending the game and wasting the player's time.
Another idea would be to put in an option in the title menu to skip the intro section altogether and start directly after the prison escape. Choices for extra lives could be selected in this menu. This would be perfect for players who want to just go directly into the real game.
Feels like the upgrade for the boots/gloves should be cheaper, the upgrade seems to be the kinda thing you'd smack out in like...the first three areas. But consistently I have 5-7 areas available to explore and only 1-3 max common-knowledge (I forget its actual name), so I'm running around getting hurt by nettles/snakes when that feels like something I should be able to solve in the first five minutes. Knocking the cost to 3 shouldn't be a huge deal should it?
Hello, dear creator of this game and everyone else here.
There is a unofficial subreddit for this game called r/Alchemist_rougelike.
There currently are no rules and if you have any suggestions just message me on reddit.In the moment I am writing this comment I am the only moderator.
If the creator of this game wants the subreddit to be removed just message me.
My only issue with it is that the correct spelling is "roguelike", not "rougelike". Would be great if you fixed that. I'm fine with the idea otherwise and won't mind posting some updates there.
I just wanted to leave my feedback after playing for a couple of hours, but first, a preamble.
In videogames I have two favourite things - necromancy and alchemy. I'm also of the opinion that both of these elements of fantasy are horrifically underutilized. Both, of course, because the elements that I like most about them would often necessitate the creation of a game built entirely around them and not merely have them be classes in something larger... Which brings us to Alchemist, a game built entirely around alchemy.
I think you've knocked it out of the park, all in all. I love the elegance of the system you've presented here. Just enough moving parts to make you feel like your little alchemist is brewing and distilling without drowning players in the nitty-gritty details (Said by one who adores such details in, say, Cataclysm DDA). Additionally I adore the idea that this is a game in which you are intelligent, not strong, and appreciate your stance on preparation and observation being the keys to making it in this game. The lack of armour +1 and flametongue swords that enable me to just run in and eviscerate every last viper in the forest is a lovely and grounding choice. It makes me pay more attention to the world and brilliantly sells the fact that you are just an alchemist. I adore it, and think that what you do have here is brilliant and, again, elegant. The focus on the fact that you are an alchemist and not the generic roguelike hero is refreshing and exciting alike. I read earlier that you want to keep permanent upgrades relegated to tools, which I would also like to gush about, but this is long enough already.
The music in the main menu was excellent for setting the mood, and I do quite enjoy the writer and listener's back and forth while discussing the story. It's personable and well written all in all, though I did want to go through at some point and collect any typos I've found if that would be something you'd consider valuable.
The weather having an effect on the world, the lighting, the graphics easily and readily conveying all of the important information, the intriguing story... I've nothing but praise and excitement for this game and really very much just wanted to offer my encouragement. I'm most assuredly and certainly an ardent and enthusiastic fan, and look forward to buying it the second I see it pop up on Steam. (Stalked your reddit posts a bit, noticed it was a priority for you.)
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How is the development going? The release date on steam is close, will it be postponed again?
I think so. I got back on track, though, so it will hopefully be the last time.
Recently came back to this game, and it’s still as amazing as I remembered!
There were a few things that I wanted to note / ask from my playthroughs:
I also have a couple of suggestions for the game, though obviously you shouldn’t feel compelled to add them. I’m mostly just throwing around ideas I had while playing:
All in all, keep up the great work, and I look forward to the upcoming Steam release! Don’t feel pressured to rush on the update, your health & personal life is more important than getting an update out sooner.
Hello, thank you for your input!
>I feel like clairvoyance potions should counteract the vision-reducing effects of fog.
That is a cool idea. It fits the flavour. I will probably make it that way.
>Why can’t I get “Something toxic” from fiend’s powderbox mushrooms? Given their effects in-game, I would think they would be a potent source of it.
They used to give that, but I changed it to something sinister at one point for more usefulness, as something toxic is abundant anyway. Now that I think of it, though, I can just make both options available.
>Some way to “unequip” potions from the throw action would be nice.
I never considered that it would be useful, but implementing it won't take long, so I will.
>I think it would be useful if there were some way to remove locations from the list once you no longer intend to visit them.
I will need to think of such a feature.
>I feel like all the mid-game research is all bunched up on the third row of the tech tree, and it would be better (both for readability and progression) if the third row were split into 2 rows, resulting in 2 rows for early-game research, 2 for mid-game, and 2 for late-game.
What is currently a late game won't be for very long, and specifics of the research tree, too, will be subject to change.
>I think it would be interesting if there was some way to “transmute” one alchemical ingredient into another
Something like alchemical gold is a possibility, but I don't have any specific thoughts yet.
Oh no, steam release is postponed again...
Yes, sorry about that. There are reasons I can't fully concentrate on development lately.
I stil have 0.1
I have a few small suggestions that I hope can give this game more appeal to people trying it out and give it the recognition it deserves:
The introduction is a bit redundant when you are asked to give your soul to the devil. Many people would normally not agree to this and the game forces them back to the title screen and redo all the tutorial crafting and prison escape again. Its not a ton of time lost but can be pretty frustrating especially for a new player who is deciding if they want to play any further.
I suggest having the narrator come in after the second time you refuse and say something like "After realizing that there is no exit, the alchemist reluctantly agrees." and move the story forward instead of ending the game and wasting the player's time.
Another idea would be to put in an option in the title menu to skip the intro section altogether and start directly after the prison escape. Choices for extra lives could be selected in this menu. This would be perfect for players who want to just go directly into the real game.
There is an option to skip the tutorial that appears after you meet with Ricardo.
As for replaying the introduction, there is a purpose, but I might make individual parts skippable.
Really like the game so far
Feels like the upgrade for the boots/gloves should be cheaper, the upgrade seems to be the kinda thing you'd smack out in like...the first three areas. But consistently I have 5-7 areas available to explore and only 1-3 max common-knowledge (I forget its actual name), so I'm running around getting hurt by nettles/snakes when that feels like something I should be able to solve in the first five minutes. Knocking the cost to 3 shouldn't be a huge deal should it?
Everyone is going to have different experience in terms of which and how much knowledge they find at any given point. You seem to be getting unlucky.
The cost of the research is proportional to its benefits. It would not make sense to have it lower.
Hello, dear creator of this game and everyone else here.
There is a unofficial subreddit for this game called r/Alchemist_rougelike.
There currently are no rules and if you have any suggestions just message me on reddit.In the moment I am writing this comment I am the only moderator.
If the creator of this game wants the subreddit to be removed just message me.
My only issue with it is that the correct spelling is "roguelike", not "rougelike". Would be great if you fixed that. I'm fine with the idea otherwise and won't mind posting some updates there.
Thanks for correcting me, English is my third language with the other 2 being Romanian and Russian.
Hello!
I just wanted to leave my feedback after playing for a couple of hours, but first, a preamble.
In videogames I have two favourite things - necromancy and alchemy. I'm also of the opinion that both of these elements of fantasy are horrifically underutilized. Both, of course, because the elements that I like most about them would often necessitate the creation of a game built entirely around them and not merely have them be classes in something larger... Which brings us to Alchemist, a game built entirely around alchemy.
I think you've knocked it out of the park, all in all. I love the elegance of the system you've presented here. Just enough moving parts to make you feel like your little alchemist is brewing and distilling without drowning players in the nitty-gritty details (Said by one who adores such details in, say, Cataclysm DDA). Additionally I adore the idea that this is a game in which you are intelligent, not strong, and appreciate your stance on preparation and observation being the keys to making it in this game. The lack of armour +1 and flametongue swords that enable me to just run in and eviscerate every last viper in the forest is a lovely and grounding choice. It makes me pay more attention to the world and brilliantly sells the fact that you are just an alchemist. I adore it, and think that what you do have here is brilliant and, again, elegant. The focus on the fact that you are an alchemist and not the generic roguelike hero is refreshing and exciting alike. I read earlier that you want to keep permanent upgrades relegated to tools, which I would also like to gush about, but this is long enough already.
The music in the main menu was excellent for setting the mood, and I do quite enjoy the writer and listener's back and forth while discussing the story. It's personable and well written all in all, though I did want to go through at some point and collect any typos I've found if that would be something you'd consider valuable.
The weather having an effect on the world, the lighting, the graphics easily and readily conveying all of the important information, the intriguing story... I've nothing but praise and excitement for this game and really very much just wanted to offer my encouragement. I'm most assuredly and certainly an ardent and enthusiastic fan, and look forward to buying it the second I see it pop up on Steam. (Stalked your reddit posts a bit, noticed it was a priority for you.)
Thank you very much, means a lot.