This may be the final episode, but who said this is the end? :) There are two more one-off videos coming: a look at skill balance by making a skill tree review / tier list, and secondly a massive game analysis / feedback video where I dig deep to see what didn't play well and how that could be rectified - through the eyes of a lead game / systems designer. :D Also, maybe you'd watch a "try to get as far as possible on the first day of Classic difficulty" video or two? Thank you all for watching! :D Cheers
Thank you for the videos. Have been playing along while watching the daily postings. Just some thoughts about the gameplay. Sometimes a low difficulty game is not so bad. Potion Craft gameplay is the kind of slow-paced puzzle game I am seeking. It allows many solutions with player determining what is the best solution based on their own criteria... fewest ingredients, most available, least expensive, etc. It's a free form game with enough structure, making challenging yet always (usually) solvable.
Ohh absolutely, you are correct! My issue with Potion Craft difficulty isn't that the game is too easy, it is that the game tries to sell me higher difficulty levels that are just more annoying, not more challenging. :D There is a lot one can do to change that and I think classic difficulty would benefit from having more rewarding decision making too, without making it more difficult. Or well, I think currently they have gone a little too far with the skill tree making things trivial. :) You're welcome to the upcoming discussion on that in the next two videos! Cheers
38:20 Regarding difficulty: I think there isnt much that can be done, to make a game that is impossible to lose, more difficult, without it feeling like it just takes longer. For example if you make the alignment radius to get higher tier potions smaller, it will technically be more difficult but it will probably feel like it just takes longer. Suffering is more difficult imo because it will take a much longer time to brute force some things then most people are willing to commit to the approach. so instead of gardening for weeks, one is much more willing to optimize which is the hardest part of this game imo. Anyway im looking forward to your video where you talk about this. personally i would like to see more uses for the legendary substances. i mean most of them are useful, but once you get them you dont really need them anymore. it would be cool to have a reason to optimize the recipes for the salts. Thank you for this series!
Yes, that's fair :) Lots more discussion on this in my big video about it. What potion craft needs for its difficulties is replay value. Anything that accomplishes that without adding features that don't exist will be a win! Smaller potion effect radii would contribute to that because some of the recipes won't work anymore or you have to be extremely careful with them, but there is more one could do! I agree that legendary substances as well as salts are not used enough, that would be great if there were more use cases for them. Cheers!
Looking forward to the two last videos about this version of the game! One thing I thought of to make it more difficult is dying faster (with a potion) when touching bones on the map. That will result in creating a more complex/detailed path, but that should only be a part of a more difficult option in the game, not enough on its own, so happy te see more options!
Glad you enjoyed it! I'm looking forward to showing you all the big game design / balance video :) but first a less serious one with the skill tier list :P
thx for this series, potioncraft is such a chill game to watch ❤ hope soon there will be an al rima playthrough in automation, maybe when it goes out of alpha/beta? but i gonne let myself be suprised for the next thing. guten rutsch past killrob
I think an Automation campaign might be the next thing, yes, but indeed I'll wait till we have the new features implemented :) glad you enjoyed this little journey!
Talking about balance. I just feel that the 3 tiers of potions need changing. There is no real decision between level 1.2.3. Potion you try for the level 3 each time (no counting rotated mixtures) . There is no real downside no decision to make. One thing would be to make all postions a bit rotated taht would lock you from maxing all of them before you get salts (to spice things up you could make the teleporters also rotate you when teleporting {the same amount each time forgiven whirlpool} taht feature could be added regardless of other things stuff would make teh pools more fun). Another idea would be to have the effects move to a different but predefined spot after you fire up the cauldron. So yoi could only get a level 2 potion and if you want it perfect you would need to throw more ingredients into it. And for replay purposes you could semi randomize the "perfect" positions for potions with the game seed. (so eaxh time you fire the potion all effects move to the next spot, could be a multitude of spots making multiple effect potions even more interesting) and for clarification if a effect is on postion x1 in the beginning after firing it would go to postion x2 next fire x3 up to x5 amd back to x1. Starting from scratch would always reset positions to x1. So now there woild be a real trade of am i ok with a lv 1/2 potion or do i want to hunt for a better one.
Honestly I think the skill tree is pretty well balanced, not in terms of every skill point having comparable utility, but in terms of allowing players to learn which skills they want and when to grab them. As I'm sure your next video points out, a few skills have zero utility while some others are game changing. I think the process of learning that is part of the game.
ahh philosophers salt. I am not looking forward to making that in my suffering playthrough. Although I did finally manage to get a potion base price above 1000. All it took was 166 levels in the final trading skill...
![Cursed Belt Weaving, Curseder Belt Tapestry & Cursedest Legitimately Obtained "INFINITY CHEST"! [4K]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/2NKK_2v4jiE/mqdefault.jpg)
This may be the final episode, but who said this is the end? :) There are two more one-off videos coming: a look at skill balance by making a skill tree review / tier list, and secondly a massive game analysis / feedback video where I dig deep to see what didn't play well and how that could be rectified - through the eyes of a lead game / systems designer. :D
Also, maybe you'd watch a "try to get as far as possible on the first day of Classic difficulty" video or two?
Thank you all for watching! :D Cheers
I am really excited for the analysis video!
thanks for the journey rob loved tuning in daily to your potion craft shenanigans
Thanks for staying with it the whole way :)
At least two more videos to come that are not a whole playthrough. Cheers!
Thank you for the videos. Have been playing along while watching the daily postings. Just some thoughts about the gameplay. Sometimes a low difficulty game is not so bad. Potion Craft gameplay is the kind of slow-paced puzzle game I am seeking. It allows many solutions with player determining what is the best solution based on their own criteria... fewest ingredients, most available, least expensive, etc. It's a free form game with enough structure, making challenging yet always (usually) solvable.
Ohh absolutely, you are correct! My issue with Potion Craft difficulty isn't that the game is too easy, it is that the game tries to sell me higher difficulty levels that are just more annoying, not more challenging. :D There is a lot one can do to change that and I think classic difficulty would benefit from having more rewarding decision making too, without making it more difficult. Or well, I think currently they have gone a little too far with the skill tree making things trivial. :) You're welcome to the upcoming discussion on that in the next two videos! Cheers
38:20 Regarding difficulty: I think there isnt much that can be done, to make a game that is impossible to lose, more difficult, without it feeling like it just takes longer. For example if you make the alignment radius to get higher tier potions smaller, it will technically be more difficult but it will probably feel like it just takes longer. Suffering is more difficult imo because it will take a much longer time to brute force some things then most people are willing to commit to the approach. so instead of gardening for weeks, one is much more willing to optimize which is the hardest part of this game imo.
Anyway im looking forward to your video where you talk about this.
personally i would like to see more uses for the legendary substances. i mean most of them are useful, but once you get them you dont really need them anymore. it would be cool to have a reason to optimize the recipes for the salts.
Thank you for this series!
Yes, that's fair :) Lots more discussion on this in my big video about it. What potion craft needs for its difficulties is replay value. Anything that accomplishes that without adding features that don't exist will be a win! Smaller potion effect radii would contribute to that because some of the recipes won't work anymore or you have to be extremely careful with them, but there is more one could do! I agree that legendary substances as well as salts are not used enough, that would be great if there were more use cases for them. Cheers!
Thanks for doing this play-through, it was fun to watch!
Glad you enjoyed it! I hope there will be significant changes in the future of Potion Craft warranting another of these playthroughs :)
Looking forward to the two last videos about this version of the game! One thing I thought of to make it more difficult is dying faster (with a potion) when touching bones on the map. That will result in creating a more complex/detailed path, but that should only be a part of a more difficult option in the game, not enough on its own, so happy te see more options!
That is quite similar to one of the things that I would be advocating, you'll see :) could potentially added to the higher difficulties, yeah! Cheers
Awesome series Killrob, loved it. ❤
Glad to hear it! :D Cheers!
Gratulations! You are now a Grindmaster (sic) Alchemist :D
xD Looks like I am! Although the grind was less bad than in 1.0 with the endgame there taking forever to complete Chapter X :)
Really enjoyed watch this play through. Will look forward to your thoughts and balance episodes.
Glad you enjoyed it! I'm looking forward to showing you all the big game design / balance video :) but first a less serious one with the skill tier list :P
thx for this series, potioncraft is such a chill game to watch ❤
hope soon there will be an al rima playthrough in automation, maybe when it goes out of alpha/beta?
but i gonne let myself be suprised for the next thing.
guten rutsch past killrob
I think an Automation campaign might be the next thing, yes, but indeed I'll wait till we have the new features implemented :) glad you enjoyed this little journey!
Talking about balance.
I just feel that the 3 tiers of potions need changing. There is no real decision between level 1.2.3. Potion you try for the level 3 each time (no counting rotated mixtures) . There is no real downside no decision to make.
One thing would be to make all postions a bit rotated taht would lock you from maxing all of them before you get salts (to spice things up you could make the teleporters also rotate you when teleporting {the same amount each time forgiven whirlpool} taht feature could be added regardless of other things stuff would make teh pools more fun).
Another idea would be to have the effects move to a different but predefined spot after you fire up the cauldron. So yoi could only get a level 2 potion and if you want it perfect you would need to throw more ingredients into it. And for replay purposes you could semi randomize the "perfect" positions for potions with the game seed. (so eaxh time you fire the potion all effects move to the next spot, could be a multitude of spots making multiple effect potions even more interesting) and for clarification if a effect is on postion x1 in the beginning after firing it would go to postion x2 next fire x3 up to x5 amd back to x1. Starting from scratch would always reset positions to x1.
So now there woild be a real trade of am i ok with a lv 1/2 potion or do i want to hunt for a better one.
I propose a challenge: try to make philosophers salt with fewest ingredients (not including salt)
No thanks :P I can provide much more value elsewhere! :) This is not something that would interest me.
Will the next LetsPlay be the new Automation version? When it is bug "free" that is.
Probably, yes! :) Won't be bug free, but that hasn't stopped me in the past xD Cheers
Honestly I think the skill tree is pretty well balanced, not in terms of every skill point having comparable utility, but in terms of allowing players to learn which skills they want and when to grab them. As I'm sure your next video points out, a few skills have zero utility while some others are game changing. I think the process of learning that is part of the game.
ahh philosophers salt. I am not looking forward to making that in my suffering playthrough. Although I did finally manage to get a potion base price above 1000. All it took was 166 levels in the final trading skill...
Finished, and you still have an unknown effect on the Oil map (near South East).
wait there was more potioncraft for you to do?
oh no…
Welp, time to do clear my day’s schedule
Ohh my, now you'll have plenty to watch on demand! :D T'was a good series, enjoy!
Finale!
Final sprint to the line :D
Finally
A long journey completed!