LE Alchemy Overhaul - Advice Needed

[PushTheWinButton]

So I've been sitting on an alchemy overhaul for well over a year now - today I had the compulsion to put the finishing touches to it but I'd like some advice on a few things. The mod is finished, complete with perk alterations, tutorials and the like, and unlike most of the mods I make for Skyrim, I'm actually considering releasing this one. First let me go through what it does.

 

I made the mod because I didn't like the clutter-y nature of vanilla alchemy - you basically horde a tonne of ingredients, for which you more or less have to follow a guide to painstakingly discover all the effects, then you craft a sh*t tonne of potions in order to level the skill meaning your inventory is now full of loads of potions of different magnitudes and effects. In addition, all the potions the player makes have the same model and name, which I don't think meshes well with the cool looking and varied potions that can be found in dungeons. Also, potions were way too valuable. So basically I had several goals:

 

• Decrease the volume of potions the player has to deal with;
• Rework the vanilla alchemy brewing system to produce the vanilla potions instead (e.g. craft potions of Minor, Plentiful, and Vigorous Healing instead of "Potion of Restore Health");
• Thoroughly re-balance potion value and effects.

 

This may sound similar to Chemistry - An Alchemy Overhaul, and it sort of is, but I wanted it to be more simple, expandable, compatible, and mesh better with the vanilla game.

 

Basically, when you use an alchemy lab, you have 5 options:

 

1. Brew - craft stock potions using essences and Pure Water. The strength of these potions scales with the Alchemist perk. An exmaple: With Alchemist perk level 1 you can craft a Potion of Healing with 2 Essence of Restore Health and 1 Pure Water. If you have Alchemist level 2, that becomes a Potion of Plentiful Healing for the same ingredients, and so on.
2. Boil - boiling produces Pure Water from various items. Drinks, some food (soups, etc), and other potions can be boiled, and produce 1 to 2 (random chance dependent on Alchemy skill) Pure Water. Pure Water can also be found in alchemist satchels, etc, and bought from merchants. The purpose of the Pure Water requirement is to allow the player to recycle weaker potions, and also to limit the amount of potions that can be crafted (to combat the mass production which you can achieve in vanilla with the right ingredients and the Hearthfire planters).
3. Refine - refining is how you produce essences. You mix multiple ingredients to produce Compounds which are immediately broken down to essences on crafting. The essences are added to you inventory but are non-playable, meaning you can't see them and so they don't clutter your inventory. Basically this re-skinned vanilla alchemy - the potion models have been changed to look like void salts and their names have been changed to compounds. Therefore you're still free to experiment and discover new effects. An example: Wheat and Blue Mountain Flower produces a Compound of Fortify Health. When crafted this immediately adds an Essence of Fortify Health and an Essence of Restore Health (the two effects of this ingredient combination) to your inventory.
4. Craft - this option is basically a Smithing style crafting interface where you can craft several other alchemy related items, like Powdered Mammoth Tusk, Bonemeal, etc. I plan on fleshing this part out with exotic alchemy recipes like transmutations and stuff of that nature.
5. Cancel

 

To boil it down (pardon the pun) Step 1: Refine essences; Step 2: Boil water; Step 3: Brew potions. The potion values have also been meticulously standardised (seriously, I have a tonne of spreadsheets) and their effects have been balanced including buffs in most cases.

 

What I wanted to know is: is this understandable? I've tried my best to simplify every aspect of the mod but trying to circumvent the vanilla system isn't an easy task. Secondly I was wondering if anyone had any ideas for how I could expand any of the concepts I've mentioned - stuff like new perk effects, potions, and crafting recipes.

 

And before anyone mentions it, yes I know Complete Alchemy and Cooking Overhaul exists. It's a fantastic mod, don't get me wrong, but I doesn't tackle my issue with inventory clutter. My mod also aims to fit in more with the vanilla game and add less new features.

[Fantafaust]

I think this was pretty easy to follow and understand. I can't presently think of any way to supplement your present ideas though. Too focused on my own mods lol.

Hopefully you get this how you like it so I can check it out. I rarely play an Alchemist because it's so intensive and messy, so this sounds really good.

[lofgren]

It sounds really complicated to me. Or maybe complicated is not quite the right word.

 

What it sounds like is that you have added a bunch of extra steps to alchemy which does not appeal to me personally.

 

It's not that it is difficult to understand. It's just that I already find it overly complicated that I have to go visit a smelter, a tanning rack, a forge, and an armor bench in order to create a new piece of armor. Why can't I just go to the forge and pop out an Epic Glass Cuirass from animal pelts and ore? Or at least make all my leather strips and ingots without having to exit and re-enter the crafting menu four times. (Assuming I don't realize I have miscalculated and now I have to go back to the tanning rack because I was one leather strip short.) I like that alchemy is one-stop. I don't see any need to make it more complicated than that.

 

Anyway it's likely that I am not your target audience. But you asked for opinions so there is mine.

 

Decreasing the number of potions that the player has to deal with is a laudable goal though.

[Fantafaust]

Why can't I just go to the forge and pop out an Epic Glass Cuirass from animal pelts and ore?

Because MUH IMMERSIONS. lol