Quick update:
I was working on the tutorial system and I realized the plan I had won’t work the way I wanted.
I will have to revamp the tutorials and make them easier to deal with from my point of view. For the player there will be no difference.
I have also been doing a lot of research on stills and barrels and flavors, so that’s a big step forward.
OK, tomorrow there will be more work for me to do…
2 Likes
Barrelling on its own, can be a rabbit hole, when addressing various sizes
Figure keep between American Oak and European Oak, for [some] simplicity
1 Like
Here’s another dumb thought of mine lol
Have you considered trying some of the new AI image gen services/tools to help with making artwork?
Never even attempted to do anything like this because I suck at making art assets, but I’ve got a subscription to NovelAI (not really recommended here because it’s trained on mostly anime) and it does a pretty damn good job at this sort of thing, even if it’s still obviously AI artwork. A little more progress and it’s gonna open up game design to a lot of people.
5 Likes
I know, I tried jumping into it…
I have been reading a lot about different barrels and charing and all sorts of stuff.
For extra simplicity I will have only standard barrels (200 liters) and quarter casks (50 liters)…
But since I added India and Japan as locations I will also add Japanese oak for extra floral notes and Indian oak for extra citrus notes.
I am not skilled enough to even attempt it.
I can spend a month tinkering with an amateur design function to arrange images in patterns and stuff, but I am not skilled enough to even attempt AI in any form.
2 Likes
To make things even more complicated for you: Don’t forget about yeast!
Different yeasts will impart different flavours and a lot of fruity notes are actually created during the fermentation. For example (not a Whisk(e)y, but same idea), the orange peel note in Appleton Estate Rums is supposedly created by their signature yeast strain.
1 Like
Oh I wasn’t suggesting you train your own AI to do that - There are a lot of AI image gen services out there ever since Stable Diffusion & MidJourney released, some free, that you just give a prompt and it sharts out an image -
It’s that easy. Food for thought, I’ll stop derailing the thread now 
4 Likes
I have not…
I am reading about that as well…
I have divided the game into 5 main parts:
Preparation, meaning grain selection, malting, etc…
Fermentation,earning yeast and containers and so on…
Distillation, pot stills, column stills, double, triple distillation, etc etc…
Maturation - barrels, finishing, solera, etc…
Distribution, meaning bottle and label design, marketing, sommelier reviews and all that jazz…
I have done reading on all those steps.
1 Like
Day 6…
I am considering scrapping the tutorial completely.
The plan I had initially didn’t work out, and now the other plan I am having doesn’t seems to be fairing much better either.
My current plan is to have a couple introductory messages and then moving on with mouseover hints and information. I will have the mouseovers anyways and I am not sure there is any need for tutorial messages. Maybe I will write a wiki screen in game and collect all the information there.
But for now, there will be no tutorial. Quick introductory screen or two and mouseovers…
1 Like
holy heck wow, reading thru the thread now! i understand very little and i am thoroughly impressed!!
keep at it Psy 
1 Like
Could have like an old notebook with pages missing along the lines of “My Grandfather started the business some decades ago, my father inherited it, now it is my turn…” with basics written out and pages to be found poking out from behind buttons in menues.
4 Likes
(insert inheritance storyline)
Dusty box, with some loose papers [evidence that they were once part, of a field book]
Basic summary page, per major point – with option tabs, for the more detailed stuff
Detailed stuff, being users actual sizing/choices – make it look like business affiliate(s)
2 Likes
I am yet to program the basics and people already wrote storylines and all that jazz…
3 Likes
Can you do the tutorial last? If you dont have stuff nailed down yet, it is a waste of time to do frequent tutorial revisits. Think of it as the abstract to research papers you always do them last as a summary.
1 Like
I could, but I think it’s all self explanatory…
Also:
I think this is pretty much all the tutorial I need.
2 Likes
Day 7…
OK, I was finishing a bottle of Buffalo Trace and decided to do some stuff while having a drinkie…
So I worked on the ingame menus, some mouse overs and stuff like that.
I will start working on the actual game screens and different selectors.
I am still considering using simple arrays for all the whiskeys in the distillery.
name, abv, ingredients, processes, etc etc etc. All of this in a simple arrays. That way I can easily tweak with a whisk(e)y in game. Just change a value in a simple array.
But for now all I have is this lovely empty screen:
3 Likes
So, almost day 8, but I am just needing some sanity check before I move on to programming…
Shall I do an arcade portion of the game?
Minigame for malting barley - if you beat the mini game the malted barley have even more sugar and produces even more alcohol.
Minigame for peating - grab all the smoke and get better and smokier whisk(e)y.
Minigame for ageing - play a minigame to get an extra flavor or improve the existing flavor note in the whisk(e)y…
I mean it will give the player something to do… Once you set up your process you can just play the minigames to try and improve the final product.
Or should I keep it to the stats and sliders and the game being based more on fine tuning than anything else?
3 Likes
2 Likes
I mean, if you lose passion, you’ll stop the project. But I say carry on with basics, and worry about rest later?
Unless basic mini-game is a fun addition for you to make in the mean time?
5 Likes
You are probably right…
2 Likes
Like @Trooper_ish said, when you need the mini-game to keep your focus (and fun) up, then do it. Can still scrap it (or turn into an easter egg) later.
3 Likes