"Deboi's Alchemical Expansion"

Role: Mod Creator
(Research and concept, documentation, programming, art assets, prototyping, balance)

Goal

My goal for this Minecraft mod was to expand upon the existing alchemy/brewing systems of the vanilla game. In my playthroughs of the game, I always wanted to engage in the system yet felt as if there were not enough options or reasons to craft the same few potion types. I aimed to not only add greater variety yet also add some weird effects which would allow for more player enjoyment for engaging in the system as a whole.

More Variety: I wanted to feel as if I had more options and choices in the potion crafting process, prompting more consideration than the vanilla system provides.
Progression: I wanted to add a greater feeling of progression when it came to brewing potions; the player should be rewarded for gathering progressively harder to obtain materials to craft the highest tiers of potions.
Strong and Fun Effects: Besides adding normally unobtainable effects in the base game, I wanted to add some brand-new custom effects to the game to add more flavor to the other aspects of the game, such as traveling or mining resources.

Overview & Technique Highlights

Mod Premise: This mod adds some more potions based on existing effects in Minecraft. as well as some new effects to play around with. Most of the new potions require the use of Alchemical Powders, made as a result from ultlilizing the new Mortar and Pestle crafting station. Using these powders on water bottles creates a new potion base, which enables a new set of brewing recipes to achieve stronger effects.

Craft new and familiar potions effects with over 30+ custom brewing recipes featuring upgraded vanilla potions and over 5+ custom effects made from 8 new potion bases.

Technique Highlight #1: New Potion Reagents

Goal: I wanted to create more ingredients for players to work with when they brew potions.

Result: I designed and implemented 8 unique alchemical powders, which are used as ingredients for 8 unique potion bases. These potion bases serve as the limiting ingredient in creating the upgraded potion effects this mod has to offer.

Techniques

New crafting recipes via the Mortar and Pestle provide the player ample means to acquire the new powders, as well as some quality-of-life recipes for other ingredients in the base game.
Each powder and resulting potion base gives hints towards which effects they create, overtime the player should obtain a general grasp on which ingredients are required for specific effects.

Technique Highlight #2: Multi-step Brewing Recipes

Goal: I wanted to make the process of potion brewing slightly more involved for players willing to properly prepare for the creation of stronger potions.

Result: I designed over 30 unique recipes for all of the potions featured within the mod. Some of these recipes include several tiers of quality, indicating that the strongest effects are rewarded for players who put in the time gathering and processing ingredients.

Techniques

Unique recipes were made for players to learn overtime, they were made similarly to their base game counterparts for an easier time remembering them.
I provided access to plugins such as JEI, allowing new players to simply click on the in-game GUI to overview the potential recipes right from the start.
Some potions were made to have multiple tiers, as to incentivize greater expenditure of resources for the purpose of obtaining the strongest possible effects.

Technique Highlight #3: New Potion Effects

Goal: I wanted to introduce some brand-new effects in this mod, going beyond the initial framework the vanilla experience provided.

Result: By iterating through the process of registering new potion recipes and effects, I developed event-based effects which trigger upon the player’s interactions within the game. The two effects listed above: Spider’s Climb and Golden Touch, are activated when the player is either moving against a vertical surface, or breaking blocks.

Process Breakdown

1. Research, Ideation & Planning

I wanted to enhance the vanilla experience of brewing potions while also allowing this mod to feel as a true addition to the existing framework, rather than a complete overhaul.

Analyzing Games: I mostly referenced the current iteration of Minecraft’s brewing recipes, which have remained mostly consistent across years of updates.
Ideating Mechanics: I referenced some historical accounts of alchemy and attempted to ideate how the use of a mortar and pestle, alembic, and other instruments could be implemented into Minecraft.
Resonant Theming: To maintain the “vanilla-feel” of the mod, I needed to intuitively create recipes containing ingredients fitting of their effects. In doing so, players would gain an intuitive understanding of which ingredients would be needed for specific effects, even the new ones!

2: Design Document - Excel Sheet Documentation

Purpose: I recorded and planned all of the new potion bases, ingredients, crafting recipes, and anything else relevant to the mod as I worked through it.

Organizing my work this way allows for quick revaluation and number balancing to the upgraded potion effects.
This documentation allowed me to focus on specific potion bases which were lacking recipes, and which ingredients may have been overused for existing recipes.
The table of recipes for the Mortar and Pestle assisted in the ideation of “quality-of-life” recipes, including the more efficient creation of color dyes, or processing of materials like bonemeal from bones.

3. Prototyping

Notepad Prototype

Result: My initial ideas and plans were recorded on a notepad, and was iterated upon as I did my research on the historical context of alchemy.

Goal: Design potential changes to enhance the vanilla Minecraft brewing/alchemy systems.

Solution:

I bullet pointed potential features to add as they came up in ideation. Although a large portion of these ideas went unused, they assisted in the creation of the release version of the mod.
I established ingredient properties as a potential route to expand upon Minecraft’s alchemy system. I wanted to see if a more complicated, yet modular approach would fit in the context of the vanilla game.
I researched the historical context of alchemy and chemistry and attempted to visualize the mechanical effects and gameplay elements behind each process in the context of my brainstormed features.

4. The First Interactable (Version 1.0)

Results: Developed and published a Minecraft 1.21.1 mod which adds upon the existing framework of the base game’s brewing and alchemy systems.

Execution:

36 Unique Potion Recipes: Including brand new effects, upgraded vanilla effects, and multi-tiered brewing recipes.
Mortar and Pestle Crafting: A brand new crafting station to allow the creation of new ingredients, and enhance the yield of existing crafting recipes for items such as bones and flowers.
Intuitive Recipes and Plugin Support: To make the learning of new recipes as painless as possible, recipes were adjusted to fit their vanilla counterparts. Additionally, the JEI plugin was made compatible with this mod to allow for one-button lookups of all new recipes for new players!

Future Goals and Thoughts:

As feedback is made available through Curse Forge’s websites, I will consider any feedback on potential additions and modifications to the current iterations of this mod.
I intend to support this mod given the time and inspiration to add more potion effects and recipes.
I also intend to add new mechanics, such as the currently unimplemented “Alchemical Bolus”, which would have served as the early-game application of brewing which is currently lacking in vanilla Minecraft’s progression.