Beyond Ethos: Chronicles of Nod

Started final bug testing phase 1 where I flesh out battle system and grammar issues. The process is going smoothly, but it is a long freaking game and the testing process takes about 4 times as long because you have to do everything possible and try to "break" the game in spots.
Phase 2 will involve rounding out the difficulty and trying the game from the "I want to battle as little as possible" viewpoint.

I started the "coding" part of the Alchemy system. So far, not as overwhelming as I had anticipated. I have a rudimentary version in place, I just need to flesh out the specifics of the recipes and make the interface sexy. The second game is already well into the planning stages and will feature the same system with one major addition. Alchemy will player a larger role in the story of the second game.

I hope to have some pictures of the Alchemy system up tonight or tomorrow. Basically, there are 32 Alchemical ingredients in two groups: Anatomical and Elemental.
Complex recipes use specific ingredients, but most recipes just use "Pranas"

The first step of alchemy is converting alchemical ingredients into their simpilist form (Pranas) EX: A Smoldering Ember will condense into 5 units of Fire Pranas and a Flame crystal will condense into 20 Fire Pranas.
The second step is using Pranas (or special ingredients) to complete recipes.
Finally, you must select a catalyst. Catalysts are burnt off during the Alchemy process and can be bought from any magic store (Alchemy ingredients must be found or stolen, though some common ones are also sold)
Salt is very cheap but only yields a 50% success rate on creation of the recipe.
Other catalysts, like Gold, offer higher success rates but are more expensive.
Mercury is a catalyst guarantees success, but can only be found and is limited in supply. It is required for the truly special recipes that must have a limit on production. There will be plenty of hidden Mercury.