Slicing might be better as cutting or chopping, since there are many different shapes one may need to cut things into, especially for ornamental things like a fruit bouquet or watermelon basket or a fancy bento. Even grating and using a blender or food processor would probably go into that category.

Roasting is not actually a unique action, IMHO. It's basically either baking or grilling, as the term can be used for both. Further, grilling and frying are almost the same thing. If you need a replacement I'd recommend the action of applying a liquid to a food, which includes icing, battering, basting, and brushing (e.g. brushing egg onto bread).

You also don't have a method of making food cold (chilling, freezing), but that's not as commonly used in cooking. It's mainly used for making ice cream and pudding. Similarly there isn't anything here about melting, such as melting butter or chocolate, but it's not a really common action.

Slicing might be better as cutting or chopping, since there are many different shapes one may need to cut things into, especially for ornamental things like a fruit bouquet or watermelon basket or a fancy bento. Even grating and using a blender or food processor would probably go into that category.

Ok. I'll group those categories into one.

Roasting is not actually a unique action, IMHO. It's basically either baking or grilling, as the term can be used for both. Further, grilling and frying are almost the same thing. If you need a replacement I'd recommend the action of applying a liquid to a food, which includes icing, battering, basting, and brushing (e.g. brushing egg onto bread).

I see. In that case, it would make sense to combine roasting and grilling. Thanks for pointing that out! I don't really agree that grilling and frying are almost the same though, as frying involves the use of liquid whereas grilling involves applying dry heat to a food. I'll replace roasting with new category called Coating (which will encompass icing, battering, basting, and brushing).

You also don't have a method of making food cold (chilling, freezing), but that's not as commonly used in cooking. It's mainly used for making ice cream and pudding. Similarly there isn't anything here about melting, such as melting butter or chocolate, but it's not a really common action.

Oh, you're right. I completely missed that. I'll add chilling and freezing attributes to the pastry chef. Correct me if I'm wrong, but most dishes that use those methods are typically desserts, so it would fit perfectly.

Hmm, without using a microwave (not including that in-game), I think melting can be done with either Frying or Steaming. For example, butter can be melted in a pan (frying), but it would be better to steam the chocolate by putting it in a separate bowl over a pot of boiling water until it melts (steaming, but using a makeshift double boiler like this). I've actually done both before. Butter and chocolate are used in a lot of things, so it might be more common than you'd imagine.

Thanks for those suggestions!

Hmmm, shouldn't you market it as a tycoon instead of an RPG? I mean, you have hiring staff and don't have fighting monsters and drinking potions :) Do you have any other RPGish mechanic so you want to brand it as RPG?

I mean, players who look for RPGs will complain there are no monsters or quests and players who would love to play "restaurant manager" would not find it because they would search for tycoon/simulation.

BTW, check these for inspiration:

* Pizza Tycoon (also called Pizza Connections IIRC)

* Hilsea Lido (Amiga, try on emulator - not about food but somehow I felt it's related to your mood)

Frying doesn't by definition require liquid - bacon, for example, is fried by simply tossing it into a hot pan and turning it over a few times. With eggs you can fry them dry or add butter/margarine/ghee to lubricate the pan first. This is comparable to greasing a baking pan; the purpose is to avoid the food sticking and getting torn up. Frying with liquid as an _ingredient_ is Sautéing or stir-frying. But it makes sense to combine all three.

I agree that a double-boiler is the pre-microwave standard way to melt chocolate and candy, and I also agree that it's basically the same as steaming.

Chilling is primarily for deserts, yes. There are only a few weird dishes that that aren't deserts which use cold - shrimp cocktail, cold blueberry soup. And the shrimp cocktail could instead have ice as an ingredient, just put it on the plate with the cooked shrimp. Similarly if you have cocktails and mixed drinks or milkshakes, those mainly make use of ice or ice cream as an ingredient, so you could probably avoid chilling as a procedure.

Coating sounds like a good term. I haven't suggested any specific dishes yet, mainly because there are just overwhelmingly many things it's possible to cook. Why don't you get back to me when you have a mostly-finished list and I'll half you fill in holes or even out numbers or whatever. You can PM me if you don't want to post the list of dishes.

Hmmm, shouldn't you market it as a tycoon instead of an RPG? I mean, you have hiring staff and don't have fighting monsters and drinking potions Do you have any other RPGish mechanic so you want to brand it as RPG?

I mean, players who look for RPGs will complain there are no monsters or quests and players who would love to play "restaurant manager" would not find it because they would search for tycoon/simulation.

BTW, check these for inspiration:

* Pizza Tycoon (also called Pizza Connections IIRC)

* Hilsea Lido (Amiga, try on emulator - not about food but somehow I felt it's related to your mood)

I wanted to make this game an RPG because it doesn't really focus on business sim elements. Rather, the gameplay involves leveling up your classes (chefs) to learn new abilities (dishes), gaining new party members (hiring new chefs), and general role-playing with an overarching story. I didn't discuss specific role-playing in this thread because I had a different question at the moment regarding dishes and gameplay. Regarding your concern about branding it as an RPG without the elements you mentioned, please see my previous thread (linked in the main post). Specifically, Thaumaturge's response to that post might answer your questions about that.

Thanks for those references. I'll check them out!

Frying doesn't by definition require liquid - bacon, for example, is fried by simply tossing it into a hot pan and turning it over a few times. With eggs you can fry them dry or add butter/margarine/ghee to lubricate the pan first. This is comparable to greasing a baking pan; the purpose is to avoid the food sticking and getting torn up. Frying with liquid as an _ingredient_ is Sautéing or stir-frying. But it makes sense to combine all three.

Actually, it does require some form of liquid. The reason why bacon and eggs could be fried without oil is because of the fat and the egg whites (both liquids). I've never tried frying these without oil though for the reason you mentioned (it would stick to the pan).

Chilling is primarily for deserts, yes. There are only a few weird dishes that that aren't deserts which use cold - shrimp cocktail, cold blueberry soup. And the shrimp cocktail could instead have ice as an ingredient, just put it on the plate with the cooked shrimp. Similarly if you have cocktails and mixed drinks or milkshakes, those mainly make use of ice or ice cream as an ingredient, so you could probably avoid chilling as a procedure.

Oh, I didn't know that. Thanks for sharing that information!

Coating sounds like a good term. I haven't suggested any specific dishes yet, mainly because there are just overwhelmingly many things it's possible to cook. Why don't you get back to me when you have a mostly-finished list and I'll half you fill in holes or even out numbers or whatever. You can PM me if you don't want to post the list of dishes.

Thanks! Actually, I'll post my list here when I have more time. But I might just do that as well. I appreciate the offer for sure!

Ok guys, this is my current list of unlockable dishes. Please feel free to suggest more items for this list. You don't have to research them. I'll take care of that part. But if you could just post the names of the foods you'd like to see in this game, I would greatly appreciate it. It is important that I finish this game before autumn (fall), perhaps sooner.

Click to see what they look like. I had to find all the images online again to link to them here.

1. Aloo Pie
2. Apple Pie
3. Baked Potato
4. Baked Stuffed Peppers
5. Baklavas
6. Batata Vada
7. Beef Curry and Rice
8. Black Beans and Rice
9. Cabbage Rice Noodle Pancakes
10. Canelé
11. Cherry Pie
12. Chicken Curry and Rice
13. Chiles Rellenos
14. Chili Sin Carne
15. Chocolate Lava Cake
16. Cream Horns
17. Cream Pie
18. Creamy Carrot Soup
19. Crème Brûlée
20. Crispy Waffles
21. Croissants
22. Éclair
23. Enchiladas
24. Fa Gao
25. Fruit Sorbet
26. Gobi Manchurian
27. Gomae Salad
28. Granola Parfait
29. Grilled Cheese Sandwich
30. Hanami Dango
31. Jelly Roll
32. Mille-Feuille
33. Mitarashi Dango
34. Mozzarella Sticks
35. Mushroom Soup
36. Omurice
37. Onigiri
38. Onion Rings
39. Pasta Bean Soup
40. Pea Soup
41. Pecan Pie
42. Potato Soup
43. Potato Wedges
44. Quesadilla
45. Ramen
46. Ratatouille
47. Rice Pudding
48. Seafood Chowder
49. Shrimp Noodle Stir Fry
50. Spaghetti and Meatballs
51. Spring Rolls
52. Spring Rolls (Veggie)
53. Sticky Buns
54. Strawberry Shortcake
55. Taiyaki
56. Tempura
57. Tomato Bruschetta
58. Tomato Soup
59. Turnover
60. Vegetable Sandwich [1] [2]
61. Vegetable Sauté

Thaumaturge adds Koeksisters

Ovicior adds Kulfi

I might also suggest the following, in no particular order:

Chakalaka (Described by Wikipedia as a "vegetable relish")

Tomato Bredie (A stew)

Frikkadel (A type of meatball)

Malva Pudding (A dessert)

Melktert/Milk Tart (Another dessert; essentially a custard tart)

Vetkoek (A fried bread that can be used for either sweet or savoury purposes)

Boerewors (A type of sausage)

This page includes some South African foods, including the above, while this page is a broader list of African dishes, I believe.

Hmm, I see what you mean about bacon making it's own liquid. Not sure about pancakes, but maybe the pancake batter is the liquid.

Azuki Bean Ice Cream

Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts

Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

Bison Burger

Barbeque Chicken Pizza

California Rolls

Calzone

Cheeseburger

Cherry Spice Bread

Chocolate Mousse

Cookies (Lace Cookies are a particularly unusual variety, as are Pizzelles.)

Coconut Soup

Cranberry Orange Muffins

Green Tea Mochi (also Taro Mochi)

Ham With Pineapple Rings

Lasagna

Mashed Pumpkin

Milkshake

Pancakes

Pickled Turnips

Pineapple Souffle

Quiche

Rabbit Fricassee

Sauerkraut (usually with dumplings)

Scallops

Southwest Chicken Salad (grilled chicken, corn relish, tortilla strips, cherry tomatoes, greens)

Steak

Steamed Lobster (or Crab Legs)

Sweet Corn Cake

Tamales

Venison Stew

All these national/regional/ethnic specialties will be great for your game's social sharability. I'd put the share buttons right on the announcement ("You've learned how to make CURRYWURST!"), and right there, your players in greater Berlin will start publicizing your game for you. That "OMG THIS GAME KNOWS ABOUT X!!!" player reaction is absolute gold for you -- figuratively and literally.

(Actually, packs of regional specialties would make awesome DLC. I wouldn't bat an eye at paying an extra $2-5 each to download recipe packs from the regions I've lived in.)

A quick trip around the world:

Masala dosa

Laphet thoke

Btw, very important cooking action that's missing: marinating/pickling/soaking.

Wow. Thanks for the suggestions, everyone.

All these national/regional/ethnic specialties will be great for your game's social sharability. I'd put the share buttons right on the announcement ("You've learned how to make CURRYWURST!"), and right there, your players in greater Berlin will start publicizing your game for you. That "OMG THIS GAME KNOWS ABOUT X!!!" player reaction is absolute gold for you -- figuratively and literally.

(Actually, packs of regional specialties would make awesome DLC. I wouldn't bat an eye at paying an extra $2-5 each to download recipe packs from the regions I've lived in.)

I didn't consider adding social aspects to this game but, now that you mention it, it might not be a bad idea. It's something I would add after everything else is finished maybe. You might think this is weird, but I've never used Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, or anything else related to social media in that capacity (not sure if this counts). So it's going to be a bit of a challenge figuring everything out when I eventually have to use some form of promotion to create a following for my games. Haha...oh well.

I imagine it would make for good DLC. Thanks for that encouragement. On the other hand, I'd feel more comfortable including that content from the outset. Pay once and get all the features right there without having to pay more money. I think that's fair. That model might be better for free-to-play games, as it's a way to support the developers (so they can earn enough revenue to pay their bills and continue making games).

Btw, very important cooking action that's missing: marinating/pickling/soaking.

Hmm. I could include this as a cooking action. Because it wouldn't require as much gameplay, it would be an occasional category.