0.8 Mulitplayer Update

Introduction

It's been a month since Potion Meister has been released to steam and I'd like to thank all the wonderful people who have shown their support by purchasing the game and providing valuable feedback.

This update is mainly focused on the new Multiplayer Mode and Balancing Changes.

Multiplayer

As I've mentioned previously, it was important to implement multiplayer as early as possible because as more features are added to the game it gets increasingly complicated to implement multiplayer. Implementing a fairly solid multiplayer mode required some deep changes to the existing architecture and thus it took longer than expected.

Nicknames

In the multiplayer tab from the main menu you can set your nickname. This nickname is how other players recognize you. Change your nickname and everybody will think a new player joined the game (This means your progress will be lost, until you return to your old nickname). I've done this to avoid (for the time being) having to deal with more intricate ways of keeping track of each player such as a login system etc.

Hosting & Joining Games

Once you create a multiplayer world you can click on it and host it. Before clicking the Host button take note of your room name, you can change it if you want. Once you've hosted your game, other players will be able to join your game by entering your room name (case sensitive) and clicking Join. Rooms aren't password protected but you can use complicated room names that likely to be pretty unique.

Interacting with other Players

Each player has his own progression in earning xp and unlocking potions. Players cannot use other players' cauldrons and jugs. If you want to give an extract or potion to another player then make sure to transfer the extracts or potions to a flask. This design allows for cooperation and sharing on one hand but maintains each players own progression and work on the other. For example, each player can focus and specialize in different kinds of extracts and recipes.

Balancing Changes

Seeing has it has been too difficult for most player to advance deeper in recipe tree. I've removed brewing requirements from Tier 2 & Tier 4 Extracts. This means that those extracts are created simply by mixing the proper ingredients and extracts. For such extracts you do not need to fuel up your stove and heat your cauldron . Another main change is that you start the game with all extracts unlocked. You earn XP from brewing extracts and can use you XP to purchase potions. This again has been based on your feedback that it's too boring to create random extracts just to get enough XP to unlock the next extract.

Small Changes

There have been a couple of small fixes. Most notable are the fact that it is now easier to focus on various plants and trees and that certain UI Menus are scaled properly.

Upcoming updates

I can't say for sure yet but there is a good chance in the next update there will be some kind of quests along with part of Potion Meister's storyline. Maybe there will be improved Visual and Audio Effects but it remains to be seen. As usual, I'm looking forward for your feedback and thoughts for the next update.