Another productive week working on Ale Abbey, our upcoming Monastery Brewery tycoon came to an end...
With the recent addition of the Pilgrims - and aiming to close the quest-giver chapter - we worked and finalized working on the last of them, the Bishop. We also worked on a number of icons that will be used to represent the four Virtues that will accompany every recipe crafted in your Monastery's Libraries, and of course, we tested the hops out of filling the Pantry with ingredients relative to your inventory/supplies at any given time!
-- Pantry filling up nicely
Moving away from the screenshots in our last post and onwards to testing it in-game, the Pantry looks tip-top when its visuals - and how full those shelves are - change according to actual levels of inventory and ingredients in the Monastery. Wishful thinking have four Pantries in your Monastery and ALL of them up to the rim with ingredients... but this could all be yours one day!
-- Icons for the Recipe Crafting UI
Following a creativity streak, we produced a number of icons that can be used to represent the four Virtues that will accompany a Recipe in its development and will directly affect the resulting brew. The four Virtues are i) Flavor, ii) Color, iii) Strength, and iv) Foam, and will come with ranges that the player can affect through their choice of ingredients and other variables... Far more complex than just that, we will be analyzing the Virtues in a follow-up post ;)
Haven't yet settled down on which ones we will end up using, so feel free to give us some feedback!
-- Bishop Model and Animations
Latest and last quest-giver model and animation incoming! In just a few days our Raimo managed to create a few potential models for the last quest-giver planned for Ale Abbey, choose and tweak, and animate as well. Still a work in progress, but here is the Bishop!
Stay tuned as we will be sharing more about the variety of quests and their rewards in a future post!
-- Did Superiors really play an important role in brewing?
And talking about Superiors like the Bishop, were they really that important in the history of brewing? In the following list, although not all of them had high positions in their Orders, these Monks and Nun helped keep the art and craft that is brewing not only alive but thriving!
- St. Arnulf of Metz: While not an abbot, St. Arnulf (c. 582 – 640) was a bishop and a key figure in the early history of brewing. Legend has it that he popularized brewing in the region of Metz, France. He encouraged the local farmers to grow hops, an essential ingredient in brewing, and taught them the techniques of making ale.
- St. Benedict of Nursia: The Benedictine order founded by St. Benedict in the 6th century, had a significant influence on brewing during the Middle Ages. Brewing ale was an essential part of monastic life, and the monks not only brewed for their own consumption but also for the local communities. They often perfected their brewing techniques and shared their knowledge with other monasteries (expect to see a lot of all that in Ale Abbey... just saying!).
- Alcuin of York: Alcuin (c. 735 – 804) was an English scholar, theologian, and advisor to Charlemagne. He was not an abbot himself, but he played a role in promoting education and learning in the monasteries. It's likely that brewing knowledge was passed down and preserved through the monastic system during his time.
- Hildegard von Bingen: Hildegard (1098 – 1179) was a German Benedictine abbess, theologian, and polymath. She is known for her writings on various subjects, including natural history and medicine. She might not have directly promoted brewing, but her writings on the use of hops as a preservative in beer have historical significance for the brewing industry.
Join us next week for more of Ale Abbey's news! For now, enjoy your weekend responsibly ;)
-- Hammer & Ravens
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