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[vdapps]

Congrats to Early Access and wish you luck and success! I see already positive reviews on Steam, keep it up!

IDK, if you can share with us performance of Epic vs Steam laterm at least relative numbers.

As player I don't use Epic very much, as developer I would like to publish also there (but my dream is GOG).

[Alain]

Congrats to Early Access and wish you luck and success! I see already positive reviews on Steam, keep it up!

IDK, if you can share with us performance of Epic vs Steam laterm at least relative numbers.

As player I don't use Epic very much, as developer I would like to publish also there (but my dream is GOG).

Thank you so much! We don't have many reviews, but I am also glad they are positive Unfortunately, I can't share Epic vs. Steam numbers, but maybe I can down the line!

[Alain]

Greetings, Alchemists!

May has arrived, and our journey through BattleJuice Alchemist's Early Access continues with fervor. Here's a glimpse into what we've been brewing up for you.

Continuing from our last roadmap post for April '24, we're still knee-deep in the process of localization. Our publisher is currently hard at work getting BattleJuice Alchemist translated into the first batch of languages, namely Korean, Japanese, Russian, as well as simplified and traditional Chinese. It's a meticulous task, but one we're all committed to, ensuring that players from diverse linguistic backgrounds can fully enjoy the world we've crafted.

Now, let's shift our focus to The Well, the enigmatic new location we've been teasing. Some of you may have caught glimpses of concept art for it on our social media channels.



Nestled within the desert, The Well stands as a beacon of hope amidst the arid landscape. Its significance lies in the presence of the water spirit Undine, rumored to inhabit the central fountain, providing the city with its most precious resource: water.

The architecture of The Well is a testament to resilience and ingenuity. While not ancient, its design incorporates elements inspired by desert-dwelling civilizations, with sandstone, wooden structures, and ornate buildings adorned with red rocks from the surrounding desert. Shallow water channels intersect the city, traversed by small bridges, creating a unique and captivating environment for exploration.

Now, without further ado, allow us to introduce two of The Well's intriguing inhabitants.



Firstly, meet Willow, the scholar. Her appearance defies convention, sporting rare spectacles and elegantly floating robes. Always seen clutching a book and a feather, Willow exudes intelligence and curiosity in equal measure, embodying the spirit of learning and exploration that thrives within The Well.



And then there's Melvin, the Cleaner. Towering and commanding attention, Melvin's impeccably clean attire hints at his meticulous attention to detail. As a cleaner, he holds a humble profession. Initially, he appears calm and focused, but there's a craziness in his eyes that hints at something more. This intriguing edge makes it compelling to discover the role he plays in the city.



As you explore deeper into The Well, get ready to discover its secrets and form bonds with its residents. Keep in mind, though, that the folks here all have their own ways of revering the fountain spirit Undine. Balancing their needs and keeping them all content won't be a walk in the park.

This month, our focus remains on finishing The Well. We're implementing quests and working diligently to finalize the inclusion of all characters native to The Well into the game. While we're eager to share this new adventure with you, polishing and testing are necessary to ensure a seamless gameplay experience. As such, it will be a few more months before The Well is ready to be unveiled to our players. Thank you for your patience and support, and stay tuned for more updates as we continue to shape the world of BattleJuice Alchemist!

[Alex N.]

I've been creeping on this project, comfortable from withing the shadows, but I have to get out and congratulate you on what you managed to achieve, especially as a solo dev and fresh dad. I really hope it pays out for you after all the hours put in. Also I wish you a very pleasant "hope you won't end up burned out after juggling with everything, social media included" and a happy "keep up the good work, and no matter what don't forget to be proud of what you achieved today!"
Best of luck

[Alain]

I've been creeping on this project, comfortable from withing the shadows, but I have to get out and congratulate you on what you managed to achieve, especially as a solo dev and fresh dad. I really hope it pays out for you after all the hours put in. Also I wish you a very pleasant "hope you won't end up burned out after juggling with everything, social media included" and a happy "keep up the good work, and no matter what don't forget to be proud of what you achieved today!"
Best of luck

Hey Alex, thank you so much! This is really kind of you and I am glad you took a step out of the shadows As you say, it is really tough to wear all hats and especially to continuously keep posting. That's why it is really cool to get a word of encouragement and to know somebody is reading the devlogs Thanks again and have a great week!

P.S.: I really love the visual style of your projects, great job!

[vdapps]

Great work @Alain. This localization from the first release will be very nice advantage for sales, I'm 100% sure.

I checked your Steam page with another video content and game looks much better and smoother since I checked last time. Good work! Btw, do you have estimation for "howlongtobeat"? Beating the game in single-player in relaxed pace?

[Alain]

Great work @Alain. This localization from the first release will be very nice advantage for sales, I'm 100% sure.

I checked your Steam page with another video content and game looks much better and smoother since I checked last time. Good work! Btw, do you have estimation for "howlongtobeat"? Beating the game in single-player in relaxed pace?

Thanks vdapps! I'd say it takes 4h to play through the story content of what is accessible in EA right not. But if you take your time and decide to do some leveling and roaming of the procedural wilderness, you can spend a lot more time with the game

[Alain]

Fantastic news everyone! We released our localization update for the Early Access of BattleJuice Alchemist!





From today, our world and story will be even more accessible with the update now adding French, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Russian, Portuguese Brazilian, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese and Korean to the list of localized versions. This is only part of the ongoing development and update to the Early Access version with the team working hard to bring more content to BattleJuice Alchemist throughout the Early Access journey. The language update also contains a lot of fixes and a bit of secret content, which we will talk about in detail soon!



Also, we have launched a special bundle on Steam together with the team of Sobaka Studio. The ‘Alchemic Bundle’ contains two games - REMEDIUM and BattleJuice Alchemist and allows you to purchase both games with the 25% discount.

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/41846/Alchemic_Bundle/

[vdapps]

Thx for the answer. 4h basic runs seems good number to me (as I tend to do completionist plays, which on the other hand detract me from playing games of Skyrim type ).

This language list is really respectful for indie studio!

[Alex N.]

P.S.: I really love the visual style of your projects, great job!

Too kind !

Also, we have launched a special bundle on Steam...

That should be a good spike in sales/wishlists/overall community.

Two curiosities about localization. How do you ... do it, and most importantly how do you double check that the translated texts you're getting back are correct? And I don't mean only typos, but bad translation or changed words/phrases in places?

As always, great job Alain!

[Alain]

This language list is really respectful for indie studio!

Thanks as always, vdapps!

Two curiosities about localization. How do you ... do it, and most importantly how do you double check that the translated texts you're getting back are correct? And I don't mean only typos, but bad translation or changed words/phrases in places?

As you can imagine, it is a lot of communication and organizing. Luckily, one of the producers on our publisher's side is doing a lot of the heavy lifting. But I myself have to talk a lot to the translators as well, because they literally have hundreds of questions regarding backstory or how to deal with some references that may get lost in translation and so on. Often, multiple translators have the same question, so to avoid me answering the same question to different people over and over again, we use google sheets to manage the information and make it accessible to everyone working on the localization.
In the end, we can never be sure if the translations are perfect, because if we could, we could make them ourselves But the translators we work with are super professional in my eyes and our publisher has been working with them for many years.

[Alain]

Greetings, Alchemists!

As most of you may know, we launched our big localization update not long ago. We now have 12 languages in the game! This was quite the effort, and our publisher and translators did an amazing job bringing BattleJuice Alchemist to a wider audience.

Now for the main news: we have finished building The Well, our next big story location. We're excited to introduce two more characters from this mysterious new place.



Meet Clementine, the gardener. With her eccentric purple hair and enigmatic presence, Clementine tends to the lush greenery within the desert settlement. Her dark aura and delicate touch hint at something hidden beneath the surface. Next up is Stan, the salesman. Stan, a portly figure with a generous beard and luxurious attire, almost resembles a certain sultan His appearance exudes wealth and confidence as he navigates his shop.

And now for the really juicy stuff: here are some screenshots of The Well, the city where these intriguing NPCs live. The Well is a unique desert settlement, complete with water channels and lush greenery, thanks to the presence of the water spirit Undine.







So, what's left before you can start playing the storyline of The Well? Opening The Well means unlocking Act 2, which introduces a completely new desert biome with new enemies and much more to discover. We're preparing to open this location to players somewhen in August. Until then, we'll be doing thorough testing and having the translators work on the translations of the new quests and characters, while we ourselves are also getting started with the next top secret location.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1384060/BattleJuice_Alchemist/

Thanks for your patience and support. Stay tuned for more updates and we can't wait to share this new chapter of BattleJuice Alchemist with you!

[Ramos]

You are pumping so much content and work into this project, when it's going to be finished it's going to be a HUGE achievement.


 

[Alain]

You are pumping so much content and work into this project, when it's going to be finished it's going to be a HUGE achievement.

Thanks so much, Ramos!

[Alain]

Exciting news, everyone!

BattleJuice Alchemist Act 2 is almost here, and we can't wait for you to dive in! If you're heading to Gamescom, you’re in luck—come be one of the first to experience it starting tomorrow! Swing by the Indie Arena Booth (Hall 10.2, Booth F010g - E019) and join the fun!

We’re counting down the hours and can’t wait to see you there!

[Alain]

Hey folks!

The release of Act 2 for BattleJuice Alchemist is slightly delayed, but in the meantime, I wanted to share some insights on a related topic: the art of dialog writing.


Team Collaboration

Our dialog writing sessions are like cozy gatherings around a virtual campfire. With the whole team we brainstorm the questlines for each story location. While we have a rough roadmap for such a location, it's the collective brainstorming that adds depth and flavor to our storytelling.


Arcweave - Our Storytelling Toolkit

Fellow MegaGrant recipient "Arcweave" is our trusty companion in this storytelling adventure. Think of it as a digital canvas where our narrative takes shape. With its nodes representing plot lines, dialogs, NPCs, quests, events, or basically anything you choose, Arcweave helps us visualize the story less like a novel and more like a hypertext or wiki. This is what the outline for the full story looks like:



It is very concise, just one screen from which you can always dive deeper.

Dialogs are written only by myself, not the whole team, but also in Arcweave. Dialogs for a location are organized like this:



The blue nodes are individual NPCs and their dialogs branch from each one with quests (the yellow nodes) and other events (orange nodes).


Dialog Crafting

Here's the twist: Instead of traditional dialogs, we opt for monologues where NPCs do the talking. The player just chooses one-word replies of our protagonist Juice. This way of writing is a challenge, sure, but it adds a unique flavor to our storytelling and reduces text length. We aim to convey Juice's thoughts and intentions through the responses of the NPCs.



And there you have it! Writing dialogs for BattleJuice Alchemist is a collaborative journey filled with creativity and imagination. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to shape our story. Until next time, happy adventuring and please don't forget to grab a copy / wishlist, or even leave a review, which really helps us out.

Alain

[Ramos]

Congratulations on the Act 2 release!