Alchemists! The long-awaited Potion Craft update with lots of new features and content is available starting today as a Public Beta Test. If you want to be the first to try out the changes, you can already do so via the Steam Beta functionality. We decided to make this update available as a beta for a number of reasons, which we want to share with you in this article.
Why has the update been released as a Beta version?
The current update is fairly close in content and functionality to the final version of the game, which we plan to release this fall. We've carefully read a lot of comments from the community and decided to listen to them by pre-testing the new content among the most interested and experienced alchemists before releasing it to a wider audience.
Another reason for such a move is the way the save files work. If we were to release this update to everyone, players would no longer have saves from the old version of the game working (and would only be able to play the old ones via betas in Steam, which not every player is willing to do). We want to make such a serious step to reset the saves only when we are confident in the stability of the game version, that is the release of the final version of the game this fall.
On top of that, we should not forget that the game is still in development and we need some time to polish things up properly. For example, in the current update many potions orders are not ready yet, there may be some missing localization, and there may be some bugs and optimization problems. We welcome your feedback! You can find more information on how to provide the feedback below.
Save file compatibility
We plan to make this test's save files compatible with future save files, so your progress should be preserved when the game is released. However, there is a possibility that we may need to make some changes to the ingredient and map paths, but we will try to ensure that even the recipes from the beta test are not lost on release, unless it's critical to the final balance.
Beta availability and what else you need to know
The update is already available to all aspiring alchemists via the Steam beta functionality. We have detailed how to install this update below.
Please note that the test version of the game may be unstable. It may also contain bugs, untranslated texts, unfinished content and other problems which we plan to fix for the game's release by fall. Only participate in the beta test if you:
- Want to evaluate new features early.
- Give feedback before the full release.
- Are ready for gameplay issues, bugs, temporary fixes, and missing pieces of content.
How to play the new version of the game
In order to take part in the beta test you need to follow these steps:
- Right-click Potion Craft in your Steam Library.
- Click Properties.
- Click the Betas tab.
- Select a version from the dropdown menu.
To return to the stable version of the game - select "None" in the Beta settings. The save files of the stable and beta versions are incompatible with each other, but will not be lost when switching versions.
How to submit feedback
To share your opinions as well as report critical bugs to us, you can use the new thread in the Steam forums, or check out the new section on our Discord server called ‘Potion Craft Beta’ where you can find two new channels called #feedback-beta and #bug-reports-beta.
What's new in the update?
- Completely redesigned Water alchemy map
- New Oil base and a dedicated map for it
- New map mechanics: teleporting vortex, swamps, map borders, big experience books, etc.
- New effects and quests for these effects
- Special quest requirements (e.g. make a potion without using a specific ingredient or make it at least level 3)
- New Salts: Moon Salt, Sun Salt, Philosopher's Salt
- New Ingredients (Read the devlog here)
- New customer classes with their own unique challenges and problems
- Developing relationships with merchants
- Reputation affecting which customers come to the shop
- Improved haggling with difficulty choices (Read the devlog here)
- Animated loading screen
- Improved save and load system (Read the devlog here)
- Accessibility options (Read the devlog here)
- Inventory sorting by element
- Full gamepad support (Xbox)
- And much more
Note: Steam-cloud and Steam-Achievements are planned for the full game release this fall.
Want to know more on how we develop Potion Craft? Check out this post.
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