Capitalist Alchemist

jonas-michael 2021-10-04 22:27

Disclaimer ahead: this game has seen very little balancing. I expect most items to be too cheap, but I never managed to actually check on them.

Since I did most of this project by myself (except for the graphics, for which I am eternally grateful!), I experienced a significant lack of preplanning and in return found myself at a lack of time for a lot of polishing I had planned. However, regarding the actual game, I am very happy with the result. I feared my plans would be too ambitious, but I managed to finish the game in time. My only personal issue is with the balancing.

I might revisit that part tomorrow and upload a post-LD version for you to experience, what the actual feel of the game was supposed to be.

spawnie 2021-10-05 13:04

I am sorry, but I am having a hard time figuring out how to make steel or where the shop is :( . I would advise not using fancy fonts when there is a lot of stuff to read.

EDIT : if open and close the inventory menu it goes back in a weird place where I can't access the shop button, or any of inventory at all.

jonas-michael 2021-10-06 08:45

@spawnie do you have "special" screen resolutions active? I have mainly worked with 1920x1080, so I don't know, how all of it would behave inn different resolutions. I will look into it.

Edit: I just noticed the problem. You were not using fullscreen, probably, right? I will upload a version with this bug fixed - since it is game breaking, this should be allowed.

glenugie 2021-10-06 09:56

I like the art, and I think the basic premise is good but perhaps lacking a little polish. Some more guidance at the start of the game was good, because I spent the first few minutes kind of aimlessly clicking around the different sections trying to work out how to progress (and honestly even then I couldn't really work it out). Might be as simple as just adding a section to the book that explains how to interact with the furnace to make steel - because I have no idea if I was just putting the iron/coal in the wrong slots or what, but I couldn't make the darn thing spit anything out. Another small issue as well is the "I don't have any use for that" message stays up for a really long time, and partially blocks off the UI elements for interacting with the book while it's present. That said, good effort - and I like the idea behind it!

fegabe 2021-10-06 10:02

you can see at first sight all the effort and planning behind this game. The mechanic is interesting and the story fits well. I'd try to make the gameplay smoother for someone that just enters into it, like adding a step-by-step tutorial instead of having to learn reading texts through the book. Also a more readable font will help. Good job!

misfire-dev 2021-10-06 11:25

The level of intricacy in the game is incredible for the time frame :O its a bit buggy, I encountered most of the same problems that have already been brought up, but I still had fun trying to work out the recipes, this is a great entry :)

jonas-michael 2021-10-06 12:39

@fegabe @spawnie @glenugie @misfire-dev I have just uploaded a version, where the inventory is moved as intended. If this bug was preventing you from playing and enjoying the game, you can have another try now! Also, I have added a short help as to how you can make steel in the description.

In any case, thank you for your feedback. Thank you for appreciating the ambitions I had for the game in regards to the content. I know, that I have overdone it and left no space for polishing in my schedule. Since this was my first time doing all of the programming, I think this problem was to be expected, but I didn't respect it enough.

I will take your more detailed feedback into consideration the next time I have to make a game; I have always done step-by-step tutorials, so I thought I might try something new, but it didn't seem to stick. Also, the choice of font did match the style I was going for, but considering the font size I can see why there were problems with readability.

mordrick 2021-10-06 13:49

A nice little game about alchemic combinations.

There's a lot to explore and the effort behind the game can be felt. I would have wished for a slightly better UI without zooming in on the different spaces and some kind of highlighting on the interactive parts for example by placing them bright on the front while the background is a bit more darker).

However it is fun to try out the recipes and the overall gameplay is nice.

Thank you for making this game!

lazyseal 2021-10-09 14:29

Unfortunately, i did not figure out how to play this game :( I think the font is really bad to read and the art is too noisy and it is difficult to perceive the whole picture

asimir 2021-10-12 13:25

A fun game, and really impressive for the time frame.

Unfortunately I keep getting an error "Out of memory. If you are the developer of this content, try allocating more memory to your WebGL build in the WebGL player settings." I've tried three times now but can't get much further than making the red potion because of it, and I have to start again every time it happens. Please could you tag me if you're able to fix this or if you add a load/save feature, as I would love to be able to finish the game.

jonas-michael 2021-10-13 23:47

@asimir sorry for the inconvenience. This is the first time I have heard of this error, but then again I havent finished the WebGL version. I will look into it, but I will most likely not work on a load and save system. I will notify you as soon as the error is fixed.

splitpainter 2021-10-20 17:30

@jonas-michael

> this game has seen very little balancing. I expect most items to be too cheap, but I never managed to actually check on them.

I found indeed that in the game, but you were brave to do a game like this, so kudos. In game jams it's always risky to choose genres that require a lot of balancing.