The mod that I explored the most for this week was the Artisanal Soda Maker mod, which introduced soda making as a mechanic to the game. I really enjoyed this mod in particular, because compared to other mods that introduce new recipes or items to the game, the soda making mechanic was really well fleshed-out, and had several different components. There were two types of soda that you can make: artisanal sodas, which are fruit-based (the recipe was 1 sparkling water, which I will get into, 1 fruit of any kind, and 1 sugar), and cream sodas, which has the same recipe except it adds 1 vanilla extract. These are created in soda making machines that operate similarly to the Keg or the Preserves Jar. To acquire sparkling water, you first need to construct a “pump”, which is a new machine that pumps Fresh Water from the ground, and takes several hours to produce 5 bottles of Fresh Water. Then, we can carbonate the water using another new machine called a Carbonator, which requires Fresh Water and Coal. In addition to sodas, they also added a syrup maker to create fruit syrups, and introduced a new fruit tree (“Kola” tree), which produces Kola Nuts, which will allow you to caffeinate beverages (which will increase your speed stat similar to coffee) using a Cola Maker.
From left to right: Kola Tree, Carbonator, Soda Maker, Cream Soda Maker , Cola Maker, Syrup Maker
For me, as a passionate soda enjoyer, this mod instantly made the game more immersive and enjoyable, because it felt like I was able to explore my real-life hobbies through the gameplay. Mods that add new items and mechanics to the game not only make the gameplay more fresh and unique, but it also allows you to customize the gameplay to your liking. For someone who may not have as much interest in sodas, but has interest in other areas, they can find mods that introduce whatever game mechanic that they want. For example, if you’re a huge fan of jewelry, then there is probably a mod that introduces jewelry-making, using mining materials and minerals to craft them. There already exists crafting rings for mining/combat stats, but maybe the mod could introduce more accessory slots to equip necklaces, earrings, bracelets, etc.
From a more critical perspective, the introduction of artisanal soda makers also allows the player to protest against Joja Corp by being able to produce your own sodas, rather than being forced to consume Joja Cola. Not only are the stats of the artisanal sodas better (they increase your health and energy by a larger amount), you are also able to finally produce the only product that was unable to be acquired anywhere else other than from JojaMart. Although there is usually a price increase for more products, you can still acquire any basic cooking ingredients (sugar, flour, etc) as well as any seasonal seeds. Thus, by adding soda makers into the game, you are able to really “stick it to the man” by making your own sodas instead of supporting JojaMart by purchasing their Joja Cola. This mod makes it so that you are able to successfully boycott JojaMart completely, because there are no more products that are only purchasable from JojaMart. While there are no real gameplay or storyline changes, meaning that Joja Corp still exists until you complete the Community Center, there is still a real feeling of resisting corporate authority by spending.
