One of the things I absolutely adored about Mass Effect was the Codex, the in-game encyclopedia that had all sorts of facts about the world around you that were added as the game went on.

I would love if there was an In-game alchemy manual. Just imagine, you collect a bit of Nirnroot for the first time, and you can open a book and see a little sketch of it. It is accompanied by a small bit of info about the ingredient, but the higher your alchemy skill, the more information is written there.

Here's the visual style I'd want it to follow:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript

Also, there could be recipes for potions written there as well.

Man, that looks pretty cool. I'd like Alchemy to generally lean away from plants and foods back toward the fantastical ingredients, but that would fit nicely into that kind of book too. Get some more unicorn horns and chicken teeth in those potions.

And ash yams, and kwama cuttle, and scrib jelly...

Yeah I'm definitely for an Alchemy Manual in-game. It really pushes new players to the series away from using it and I've played everyone of the game and I've only had two characters that ever used Alchemy, not one of my favorite skills because of the difficulty to get a decent potion sometimes though I commend it for allowing people to experiment to try to get better results.

This is simply one of the most effective ways to increase immersion in games. It'll make playing an alchemist seem so much more realistic and satisfying.

Piecing together the little tidbits of lore is fun and I think is the reason there is no encyclopedia of everything in the character sheets. You as the Player must learn as much as you as the Player Character. I'd like to see a journal where I can write my own notes on the ingredients I use and the ones I just sell.
That said, you can't draw immersive little pics in a text only journal.
There were a few books in various TESs that had this sort of thing and I don't think it shouldn't be expanded.
Summirarily: I don't want to see anything "given away" or any game guide that logs everything your exposed to, but I enjoy buying a book(s) on alchemy with details on any given ingredient. Why stop there, bestiaries? factions? deadric princes? You know some people will be using the wiki at least a little here and there, why not eliminate the need to alt+tab in a way that add immersion and doesn't give things away for free (+Role play).

Alt+tab still crashes the game for me (very frequently anyways), so that's not an option here.
Pen and paper to the rescue, which is weird in these computer times...

Small chance that Bethesda will do it. 100% chance a modder will. It's just a matter of adding one or two books titled "The alchemist's almanac" or something like that.

Anything to enhance alchemy and anything around it is a big YES!

Although in this specific case I don't mind trial and error, I don't need a guide. I've spent hundreds of hours with alchemy and hunting ingredients.

Great idea, but Alchemy was already really easy to get into imo. Each ingredient has 4 effects based on level and you have to match ingredients with similar effects. What is hard about that?

It would be nice if it worked like the witcher, in which your have a list of known recipes which updates as you either discover them or read about them in various books

im all in for alchemy manuals and finding reciepes :D

This. A dynamic in-game Alchemy manual that details known ingredients, known potion formulas as well as custom ones, all in the perspective on someone discovering it for the first time. Knowledge could be gained from books, from experimentation, and even conversation.

Yeh Ill have to put in my vote for a Witcher style alchemy too. With recipes in various books and maybe a couple basic starter potions.

That's a great idea. While playing OB I often wondered why expert Alchemists couldn't discern what ingredients were present in a potion just by sipping it. If anyone should know, they should. I also though it would be a good idea to have the option to 'save' formulas, to produce one click potions at a later date.

The way I would implement/mod it is that you can purchase pages and notes created by various alchemists of the region.
While also being able to purchase earlier complete volumes of alchemy books from other provinces.
Also filling out your own book/journal when experimenting with the new ingredients.

If there is trade caravans.. they could carry alchemical ingredients from the other provinces. Ingredients including those only to be found in Cyradil, and Morrowind/Vvardenfell Provinces.

Excelent ideia! :thumbsup:. I fully endorse this idea.

Great idea!

I could really use something like this.

It would also be nice if we could control the type of effect we produce when making potions.

Should be a series of fairly expensive books. THEN there'd be a point in having 4 bookshops in the game!

Reminds me of that alchemy book mod I had in Morrowind. I absolutely loved it!

For those interested in alchemy, but are not aware, you should check out the first post in http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1171908-alchemy-in-skyrim-information-and-tools-by-darliandor/ thread.