It's over! Campaign has ended!
almost 5 years ago – Fri, Jun 21, 2019 at 05:44:16 PM

What a way to smash our records with this campaign!!!

We may not have gotten a "Projects We Love" tag on Kickstarter (They hate me!) but this campaign has done amazingly well over the past three weeks, smashing all of our previous goals from our campaign and game developments of the past with an AMAZING 850 backers!

It remained on the top pages for Video Games for most of the campaign length and all of you have made this one hell of an amazing project. I am so thankful that so many people (more than any other campaign we have ever run) have supported the development of this game.

With amazing backers we have raised £47,335(roughly $60,241)

The Eleventh Character

We have gotten so close to the 1000 backers goal and so close to the figurine but not quite. And the campaign has done so well to unlock so much amazing content for the game that I just didn't feel right about not including the eleventh main character. So at my own personal expense I am happy to also include the final character that was for the 1000 backer milestone award as a consolation for those who wanted the figurine goal to be reached.

I hope you like this fighter character who will be appearing as a full main intimate level character in the town as that extra thanks for all of your support. I certainly love her design.

What happens next?

We're going to need a couple of days to recharge as it has been an exhausting final week of the campaign. After the weekend I will be posting more details on what happens next in terms of character designs and Backerkit.

Due to the success of the game's Kickstarter, no doubt expectations have also risen but please bear in mind we are still a small dev team. We have tried to keep feature creep to a minimum sticking to our planned content from the beginning to suit our timeline and so despite the amazing success we will still be aiming to release in Summer 2020 as originally estimated.

Right now pledges will begin charging and this takes around seven days to complete, after which it takes Kickstarter another ten days to process and send us the funds so that work can begin in earnest. During that time I will be preparing the Backerkit surveys, designing the backer characters and dakimakuras, the Backerkit is where you will be able to select your add-ons and confirm your rewards, more on that to come as part of the aforementioned update after the weekend.

Thank you once again for placing your trust is us, we look forward to making this game and we will be posting regular updates for that as we progress.

So thank you!

Final Goals!!!
almost 5 years ago – Fri, Jun 21, 2019 at 02:19:52 PM

With around 8 hours left to the campaign we have achieved our £40,000 campaign goal, which due to your voting unlocks another character set for the game.

The Twins...

This new pair of serving woman from the tavern will become another pair of main intimate characters, with all the benefits of that, in addition a dakimakura will be designed for this pair, showing one on the front and one on the back, with the only thing telling them apart is a slight adjustment to their hair... Confuse them at your own peril! (The dakimakura will be designed and showcased before backerkit launches and available as an add-on item).

Final Goals

Ok so we are so close to the end, and as such we have our final goals for you, these goals were determined based on your votes in the recent poll, thanks to several hundred of you for voting we have created these to aim for to end the campaign...

More details on these goals will be provided as they are achieved. With just under eight hours left of the campaign anything is possible.

Add-ons and Item Reminders
almost 5 years ago – Fri, Jun 21, 2019 at 02:18:54 PM

With under six hours left on the campaign I felt you might all like a final reminder on the add-ons available during the campaign and the different levels, in case you were considering a last minute adjustment which might help achieve one of the final goals...

1. Talisman Costume DLC

Our first note is for the Stretch Goal DLCs, during the campaign we funded the creation of six backer voted for DLC packs for the game, these add new Talismans to the game which alters what outfits the different characters wear, as well as a special item in the game which allows you to specify specific outfits for each character if you so wish. The DLC packs are:  Maid, Swimsuit, Lingerie, Harem, Cat Girls & Burlesque.

These DLC packs are included in the £80 reward levels and higher, but for all other levels you can receive these DLC packs by adding £12 to your pledge level. Ensuring you receive all six packs (plus any other packs we may create for the Talisman DLC in the future).

2. Art & Guide Book

We have two ways for people to receive our art and guide book, as a physical book (recommended - it will be hard back and high quality) or as a digital download to view as a PDF.

The Physical Edition is available as part of the Physical rewards bundle or as a stand-alone add-on at any level for £40 (shipping fees on lower tiers are charged later via backerkit). The digital PDF version is available to everyone in the £70 and higher reward tiers, but again those at lower levels can choose this version by adding £20 to their pledge. Last but not least those who order the physical edition as an add-on will receive the digital pdf version as a free bonus too.

3. Physical Items

All of the physical rewards of the campaign are available as individual add-ons at lower levels. To be eligable you select the £20 reward level or higher and add the amount shown to your pledge (without changing your reward level). After the campaign ends you will be able to select your add-on item and will then be charged shipping fees based on your chosen items. All Physical Add-ons:

•  +£10 - Witches Brew Postcard Set
•  +£30 - Witches Brew T-shirt (Small - 3XL) 
•  +£30 - Witches Brew Poster
•  +£35 - Witches Brew DVD Edition
•  +£35 - The Witch Dakimakura
•  +£35 - Tavern Girl Dakimakura
•  +£35 - Blacksmiths Daughter Dakimakura
•  +£35 - Farmers Daughter Dakimakura
•  +£35 - Merchant Girl Dakimakura
•  +£35 - Elven Ranger Dakimakura
•  +£35 - Assassin Dakimakura
•  +£35 - Money Lender Dakimakura
•  +£40 - Physical Art & Guide Book

If you order these items during the campaign the funds go towards confirming stretch goals, but you can also choose to wait for Backerkit to order the items if you wish and pay via Backerkit. Other items may also be available to order via Backerkit.

4. Design Items

Thanks to the success of the campaign we have offered the option to design items for the game:

Potions

A backer can add £15 to their pledge to design a potion that will be included in the final game, all potions will have at least one use within the game.

Minor Characters

A backer can add £120 to their pledge to design a minor character who will appear in the game as either a villager or wandering adventurer. This tier gives you a lot of control over the characters personality, name and appearance.

Special Characters

A backer can alternatively add £230 to their pledge to design a special character who will appear in the game. This tier gives you a lot of control over the characters personality, name and appearance. In addition this tier offers you the chance to choose an alternate race for the character as well.

***

Other design options may also be available to order via Backerkit too, but the Romance-able character option is only available to order via Kickstarter, more details of that highest tier are available on the main campaign page.

Backerkit & Kickstarter

When the campaign ends we will be using Backerkit to provide rewards to everyone to make the whole process easier, more details on this and the timeline for it will be provided at the campaigns conclusion. Likewise the campaign will see regular updates with the latest art and game news to keep you informed throughout development.

More details on all of this to be posted once the campaign reaches its conclusion.

Stretch Goals

A final reminder of the stretch goals which could be achieved before the campaign ends...

Male Protagonist... The Alchemist
almost 5 years ago – Fri, Jun 21, 2019 at 02:18:38 PM

Hey everyone,

We are getting closer to the next goal which will add the option of a male protagonist, for those unsure of what that will mean for the game or how we will do it, I thought we should explain our plans more thoroughly to ease some minds on what it will mean...

Two Games... Male & Female

So to put it simply we will be making two games.  For the most part the games will be nearly identical, the same character stories the same in game options and events but with some minor adjustments here and there based on which game you opt to play 'The Alchemist' (male version) or 'Witches Brew' (female version).

In this fantasy world there are witches, who do various things to help the locals and brew potions.  Then there are the male counterparts known as Alchemists. Thus if we hit this goal we will create TWO games, Witches Brew and The Alchemist.

Witches Brew is the Priority

Before you get too worried about how this works, our aim will be to release them side by side, but let me explain, Witches Brew is the priority, essentially the writer will create the female protagonist version for Witches Brew, this will then be implemented into the Witches Brew game.

Once implemented and functioning we will then take that version and pass it to our editor who will edit the script to suit a male protagonist, most of the time this will just mean adjusting she's to he's and her's to him' but sometimes it might mean completely rewriting a dialogue or conversation to suit the male protagonist. Then when the editing is finished it will be implemented into The Alchemist with any adjusted artwork and illustration scenes as needed.

Rewards

With this adjustment, everyone at the £20 and higher levels who are due to receive a steam key for Witches Brew, will also receive a Steam Key for 'The Alchemist'. Likewise any other digital rewards will be duplicated for both games, e.g. DLC packs and such.

Physical rewards may be offered for The Alchemist via backer-kit if the goal is reached, but they will be optional extras only. So there is no need to adjust your pledge based on this new goal in anyway, essentially everyone will get the extra game as a digital item bonus so they can choose if they want to play as a male protagonist if they wish too or ignore it if they prefer. and none of the existing physical rewards will be altered in any way based on this target being achieved.

Examples of one Change

Below is an illustration of one change between the two games: Where the protagonist will be living;

The Witch will reside in the house shown on the left, whilst the Alchemist will reside in the house shown on the right, in each version the other house will then be shown as an abandoned house to visit and potentially collect regents for potion brewing alongside fishing regents, creature regents and essence found from the mushroom grove.

Discord Live Chat
almost 5 years ago – Fri, Jun 21, 2019 at 02:18:32 PM

Greetings all, we are now over half way to the next funding goal and just 200 backers away from hitting 1000 total. And with four hours still left of the campaign it could happen. As such I will be live on Discord for the next few hours in chat and on voice for those who want to join.

Feel free to come into the general text channel to ask questions and chat with me and the community, or if you have a microphone and speak English join me in my voice channel where you can ask questions there and get immediate answers. 

https://www.youtube.com/c/DharkerStudio/live 

I will also be streaming the gaming I'll be doing in Apex, PUBG, Terraria and Astroneer on our YouTube channel on and off as well, if you want to check it out.

I hope to see you on Discord.

https://discord.gg/SBk8AFH

P.s. Don't forget we also can still reach the 1000 backer goal to add another intimate level main character to the game... A little peek at whom is below.