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tetley1173-igb220-blog · 8 months

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Meteor Miner Post-mortem

By Shannon Tetley

I'm finished with my asteroids game for now and I think it turned out pretty good. I put it together by following the tutorial I was given which taught me some new concepts and left me with a skeleton to work on. I expanded on it by adding random movement to the asteroids and by adding variables to them that determine there average speed and other traits like how much damage they do to the player. I think the biggest influence the textbook Game Design Workshop had on my design process was that it suggests that interesting choices are what make a good game and that players need to be challenged or those choices are meaningless (Fullerton). I tried to implement this idea by making the asteroids move at a random speed that is faster on average based on the asteroid size. I also added randomness by making the asteroids bounce off of the boundaries of the screen which also makes the game harder by concentrating the location of asteroids around the player.

Another concept that I leaned form T.Fulleton, was that play testing should be core to the design process (Fullerton). Knowing this I have been a lot more formal about how I've done play testing this time. I've used a template that was provided to me by the uni to create a questionnaire that players fill out after trying the game. I added to this template by including questions more relevant to my game that I though would elicit helpful feedback. My readings have taught me that I shouldn't be making games that are fun for me, I should make them fun for the audience. Playtesting is how I measure how fun the game is for my audience and is used to inform future iterations of the project. This testing has been very encouraging for me as players have a tendency to keep playing the game despite dying or achieving the main objective of the game.

Player Feedback

Some interesting insights where discovered through my play testing. I find it intriguing that despite having different issues with the game, the issues had some overlapping themes.

Generally speaking they said that:

The game was challenging and rewarding to defeat.

Some said that the asteroids where too fast.

The ones that could handle the speed didn't like the turning speed of the ship.

I suggested upgrades for the player ship which everyone agreed would be a good idea. Some testers even came up with this idea unprompted.

Some players died before realising they were losing hit points, others didn't notice they were dying till it was too late. Everyone agrees that it needs to be more obvious when your are taking hits.

My conclusions from this are that the game has some balance issues, some issues with the controls and issues getting feedback when events happen. I agree with them about the feedback when you lose hit points, its not obvious and it happens quickly. For the general game balance I think there are many options to fix this. I think simply changing the asteroid speed and frequency would alienate the less confident players. I could also fix the ship turning speed but being slow is a challenge in itself. Instead of addressing these issues individually I think the best option, as the players mentioned themselves, is to add an upgrade system to the game.

How would I change the game?

I would implement an upgrade system to the game by adding a store. I think that allowing the player to have a breather would help them out. Pausing the game to allow them to access a upgrades store would help in many ways. Simply pausing the game would allow them to rest and cope with what is happening. The can then make interesting decisions by buying upgrades that can help them deal with the challenges of the game. Is the ship turning too slow? Upgrade the turning speed. Are the asteroids too fast or numerous? Buy a slow down time machine, or buy a better gun to thin out the horde.

If I continue this project I would also add more feedback in general. Feedback for destroying asteroids to reward their success and feedback to warn them they are taking hits. Also I would add a title screen to invite them to play and improve the death scene I added.

A lot was learnt on this project particularly after playtesting. Now I know the basics of creating new scenes I'm going to start with the title screen for my next project as I think and introduction to a game can be quite important. Providing feedback to the player adds to their experience and ease of use for the game, I'll be sure to concentrate on including this for the next project.

References:

Fullerton, Tracy. Game Design Workshop. 3rd ed., A K Peters/CRC Press, 2014.

#post mortem #asteroids #asteroids postmortem #asteroids feedback #asteroids playertesting #playtesting

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briankolbgamedesign · 1 month

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Asteroid Survivors: Development Update #2

Today I had others get their hands on my game for the first time for playtesting which was certainly quite exciting. Playtesting is the best time to get a fresh pair of eyes on the game which is definitely something I was looking for as the part I was least sure of was balance and difficulty. It is important to note that the two people I had test my game are very competent playing games (as they are creating games themselves) so I have to take into account that their skills are likely much higher than the average player. So, let's have a look!

Overall the feedback I was given was fairly positive, the both of them saying the game was fun and replayable. According to them the game also had a good pacing of tension and release (something I'd attribute to the upgrade menu essentially giving the player a moment to breathe) and that the game objectives were clear. Some parts where the game wasn't as strong were in the game balance, flow and strategy. As for the strategy, both playtesters told me they enjoyed that the numerous upgrades made the strategy unclear as they followed different paths to try and last as long as possible, so I would consider this a win. I had mixed opinions from the two of them about flow, with one saying it was great and one saying it was okay but I personally didn't think it was particularly good. The upgrade menu appears suddenly unless the player is paying great attention to their score in the top left corner and I made the terrible decision of making the background for it a garish yellow which likely didn't help. I think some sort of indicator that the player is within 100 points of the upgrade screen would do the game a lot of good. The second pain point is the difficulty, with both of them having at least one comment about it. The first said that the initial state of the ship is somewhat unsatisfying to control before assuring me that if that was the point to make upgrades feel better, then it was okay. Although I do appreciate the attempt to assure me that it was good if it was intentional, it was not in fact intentional. I believe that all parts of the game should be satisfying if possible, even if it means the upgrades have to feel a little bit less impactful. The second mentioned that they believed the rammer enemies were unkillable which is in fact not correct, which signals to me that they need to have less health.

As for new ideas, one of the playertesters recommended adding a basic enemy that was worth more points which I think is a great idea for rewarding the player for going out of their way to eliminate a certain enemy. It's definitely something I wouldn't have thought of myself. Now to go mess with a bunch of variables for an hour or two!

#game development

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igb120seanc · 2 months

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SwitchR (Platformer) playtest insights

After having initial play testers interact with the digital prototype of my playformer SwitchR I have gained many insights to what makes the game enjoyable and key mechanics that could be fixed. There are "4 different areas of investigation for digital prototyping" (T.Fullerton, 2018) and of those 4 areas I chose the mechanics area as I believe that its the main interest for my platformer. From getting playtesting feedback I learnt that the control scheme is inconvenient as to change worlds the player must press the PageUP and PageDOWN keys. It turns out that a better way to control world change was if these 2 keys to change to individual worlds were just binded to one key meaning all the player had to do was press a singular key to switch back and forth from worlds easier. This gave me valuable insight into "prototyping for game feel" (T.Fullerton, 2018) to ensure that the player could enjoy the moment-to-moment gameplay which was platforming to the door objective whilst switching worlds. I am also happy that the playertest's proved that there was no need for an explanation on how to play. The players instantly understood that the system included changing worlds and a coin collection score whilst the content was platforms, player, door and coin. Tracy Fullerton mentions in her book that "Conflict challenges the players, creating tension as they work to resolve problems and varying levels of achievement and frustration" (T.Fullerton, 2018). When designing the levels for SwitchR I took this into consideration and ensured that the platforming was challenging but not to the point of over frustration. This proved to have payed off as play testers were happy with the challenge and difficulty of platforming.

From this playtest I am sure to iterate my game to make it a better experience for the player

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n10732110 · 6 months

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Week 13 - Assignment 3 Postmortem

After the playertest, we found areas where our game could be improved. We also summarised all the suggestions playtester gave to our game. There are the following points that can be improved on our game afterwards:

UI suggestion - mechanic needs to be explained, if not hard to understand. Make it easier to understand. More visuals on the side of the screen.

Movement speed feels too slow in the beginning.

Suggestions- homing missile, Health upgrades, healing.

More dynamic enemies, moving etc.

The bomb feels like it does nothing.

Upgrade system needs to be explained better.

Doesn’t quite understand the purpose of the L button in the beginning. (It did nothing).

Suggestion - have an indication when something is maxed out.

Add a restart button makes it more convenient.

Feels very hard. Especially for unexperienced players.

#assignment

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jakeharkins-gamedesign · 2 years

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Week 6 Playtesting - Cyber Flight

Playtesting of Cyber Flight was generally succesful, with player's feedback being generally positive. After playing the game, playtesters were asked to fill out a survey to determine what aspects of the game were fun, what needs improvement and possible new ideas.

What Works?

Playertesters quickly understood the control scheme for the game, commenting that the player moving towards the mouse felt natural for the game. Players also liked the ability to boost out of the way of enemies and/or asteroids using the ship's boost function.

Players enjoyed the flow of gameplay and thought that being able to wipe groups of enemies off the screen was satisfying and made the game fun to playing. Dodging asteroids and enemies at the same time felt challenging but not overwhelming.

Improvements?

Players noticed that they could catch up to their own bullets after firing, while it is only a visual issue it some what detracts from the experience of playing. In future updates the laser/bullet should be made faster to ensure the player cannot catch up.

Another change to the weapons would be to allow them to destroy asteroids; this would allow players to more effectively deal with asteroids, rather than waiting for them to fly off screen.

Some players also found that they could gain immortality by sitting inside asteroids; in future, asteroids should break apart after hitting the player, this will prevent players from using them as cover and makes hitting asteroids more dangerous as each small asteroid may also deal damage.

New Ideas?

After playtests the general feedback was that the player needs either a secondary fire or some sort of ability that allows them to defeat large numbers of enemies at once. Adding weapons with higher clearing potential should play into the feeling of satisfaction felt by players.

It was also made apparant that more enemy types were required to ensure the game contains some variety and players are encouraged to continue playing.

Overall, this playtest was successful, players enjoyed the game, but feel they need more abilities to keep engaged.

#playtest #cyber_flight #feedback #playtesting #development

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miss-unfortunate-yt · 3 years

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Royal Medieval Fortress Home | 50/50 Collab @Symtherin | The Sims 4 Speed Build & Tour | NO CC

On YouTube now!: https://youtu.be/1tXgGqXxgAI Today I am doing a 50/50 collab with my wonderful friend Symtherin!! She is an amazing builder and a great content creator! I had so much fun with her idea for this collab!

I took a 64x64 lot and split it down the middle, then I built this beautiful Medieval fortress! Once I was done with every single detail, I swapped teh build with Symtherin and she must now take my floor plan and shell and turn it into something completely different!

Be sure to check her channel out to see what she came up with! Symtherin's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/Symtherin

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tonywgus · 3 years

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Sunlit Small Home Starter ☀

Tier 3 (68 Tile) Small Home with one bedroom and one bath. The star of this small home is the garden complete with a small fishing pond in the back of the property. The home itself is filled with natural light throughout the day thanks to the glass roofing and the sunrrom lounge. Perfect starter home for any single sim or couple.

17,376 Simoleons, one bedroom/one bath, bonus - small fishing pond (no additional charges)

🔗 https://bit.ly/36UjgrT

#tonywgus #playertested #debug #moo #starter #smallhome #tier3 #tinyliving #thesims #the sims #thesims4 #the sims 4 #ts4 #simblr

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myfawnwysimblr · 5 years

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Black Botanical - Tinyhouse

No CC

Lot Size: 20x15

Under §20.000

Starterhome / Single

Playertested! :D It all works, hehe.

Gallery ID is MellowHell

I’ve been spending my whole Sunday looking at small houses and building them, I think this is my favourite (if the most simple, as well). There’s a small bathroom that’s too difficult to screenshot, but it is there. Use bb.moveobjects when placing!

#/me #ts4 #the sims 4 #ts4 build #s4 build #bb #ts4 mm #ts4 maxis match #ts4 tiny house #my builds

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maven08094 · 1 year

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Sears Kit * Home No.115

Based on 1908 floorplan no#115

3 bedrooms, 1 1/2 bath

$63,201

20 x 15 lot

NOCC

Download - https://www.ea.com/games/the-sims/the-sims-4/pc/gallery/CDE8E0763B0A11E9847E033D2F3B18E4?category=all&searchtype=ea_origin_id&sortby=downloads&time=all&searchquery=maven08094&max=50&maxis=false

#Sims4 #sims4gallery #TheSims4 #TheSims #sears #kit #playertested #ShowUsYourBuilds #my sims #sims #sims 4

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sorrenm · 4 years

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Week 12 (Assignment 3 playtesting)

During the playtesting sessions for Familiar Witch, I assumed the role of the communicator. Throughout each session, I would brief the player on how the session runs, and the expectations of both parties. This being that it was important that they would speak their thought process out loud, even through steps that may be considered irrelevant to them. In turn, I made it clear that we would not be speaking during the test, nor answering frequent questions relating to the game. However, as the session was a deep playtest, if progression would stagnate I would prompt the player with hints to push them in the right direction. After the playtest and survey was complete, I would openly answer any questions the tester had regarding Familiar Witch.

From the role of communicator, I frequently had playertesters asking questions throughout testing. It was important that I did not answer them in relation to Familiar Witch, as it result in a false representation of a naive playtester. When this would occur, I would elaborate on the fact that we could not respond or explain the game during the playthrough. I also greatly shortened the intended script, as many playtesters were testing multiple games. It was tedious for both the tester and the testing team to go through the same script when majority knew the process. This was not universally done, only with playtesters familiar with the speaking their thoughts out loud where a practice exercise was not necessary.

#playtesting

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julianafutureworks-blog · 6 years

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K4 - Co-op Game - All Assignments

Summary

‘Burden Hero’ is a turn based game with the ultimate goal of cooperation, the game opens by showing the characters the adventurers (players) can choose to play as and introducing them to the great Burden Hero himself. The adventurers must traverse through the dastardly dungeon, protecting the mighty burden hero from all harm and slay the evil boss at the end of the dungeon.The king has sent out an important quest for aiding his son ‘Burden Hero’ to urgently slay the evil monsters sealed within the dungeon. If you fail, the monsters will breakout of the dungeon after the holy seal is expired and will destroy the nearby lands, leaving death in their trails. If the adventurers succeed, however, they will be paid back kindly with eternal riches for their service.

‘Will you accept this quest adventure, or will you shamefully deny?’

This is a co-op game for 2-5 Players.

Rules Sheet

The story:

You are fellow adventurers helping the “””great””” hero through a dastardly dungeon and slay the beast that lies within. Protect the “”””GREAT””” hero as you will all be facing many dangers on this journey.

Icon Names:

Health Points (HP): ‘Health Points’ is your amount of health your adventurer has, if your health reach 0 then you are dead.Attack Points (AP): ‘Attack points’ are the amount of damage your adventure can dish out with abilities.Evasion Points (EP): ‘Evasion points’ will rely on how well you can avoid attacks from 0 - 6. The number of EP you have will be based on the dice. (you must roll within your adventurers EP numbers to avoid an attack. If you didn’t then you will take the hit).Tokens (T): Abilities can not be used constantly, your chosen adventurer will have a limited amount of tokens to signify their usage (tokens show how many times you can use your abilities). If you run out of tokens can cannot use your abilities.Bad Effects Token: This token is given to anyone who as been afflicted with a bad effect (stunned or DoT)Passives Abilities(P):Most ‘Passive’ abilities do not need tokens to be at use. They are always active (based on our chosen adventurer)

The Dungeon

The dungeon has 3 levels of depths to it, every time the adventures reach a new level of depth, the difficulties increases:

More monsters (+1 per level of depth)

More rooms

But there are factors that balances the game out:

More treasure (+1 per level of depth)

+1 extra token per level of depth. Min 0 tokens - Max 3 tokens

When encountering a room with a question mark, these mystery rooms have a certain preset for each number on the dice. Roll the dice to see what number you get. You must complete on of the mystery rooms to continued. You can also do another mystery room for possibly more rewards.

Empty

Ambush (draw monsters based on level of depth)

Treasure

Trap (lose 1 equipped treasure card)Monastery (Heals all adventurers for 2 health)

Mini Boss (draw from the monster boss card pile

Treasure

After deathing all the monsters within a room, the players can draw a treasure card from the treasure deck (+1 based on level of depth). Although some treasure cards may be useful. However, there are some treasure cards that are either useless or more harmful than useful.There are 4 types of treasure:

Armor (body/helmet): Adventurers can have up to 2 pieces of armor: Head,Body. If the player has two of the same type of armor piece, the adventurer must choose which one they must discard into the discard pile.

Consumables: Consumables are one-time use treasure cards. After being used, it must be immediately discarded into the discard pile. Adventurers can only carry 1 consumables at a time. (Consumables do not take up an action)

Weapons: There are normal weapons for all adventurers to use.

Rubbish: Treasure cards that do nothing can be discard right away.

Weapons, Consumables & Armors can give both good and bad stats. When receiving and equipment cards (armor & weapon treasure cards), you cannot discard it if you are not wearing anything whether good or bad. You can only discard it when receiving the same type of equipment card.

Death

If an adventurer dies during combat and the team kills the monster and completes a room, the dead adventurer will be revived but loses all but keeps one treasure card. The team can also give their own equipment to the revived teammate if necessary.

Goal

Your goal is to move up the tower and kill the greatest monster within while keeping your hero alive. You slowly move up the dungeon, killing monsters and looting rooms based on each floor & level. Each floor based on the level of depth will be harder than the last level but also more rewarding.

Death/ Dazed

When a player runs out of HP, they are in a ‘dazed’ state where they cannot do anything until the rest of the team defeats the monster or the monsters defeat the team. If the team defeats all the monsters within the room, the dazed player awakens but loses one equipped piece of equipment (body armor, helmet, weapon or consumable).If the entire team is defeated by the monsters. You lose.

Fighting

When encountering each room, the players will be greeted by a monster (+1 on level of depth). The players must take turns killing the monster while fending off the monsters attacks.The turn stat will be like this:

Player 1

Monster

Hero

Monster

Player 1

Etc.

If there are more players:

Player 1

Monster

Player 2

Monster

Player 3

Monster

Player 4

Monster

Player 5

Monster

Hero

Monster

Player 1

ETC.

Adventurers

The adventurer list:

Knight

Mage

Archer

Dryad

Thief

Knight:

10 HP, 3 AP, 2 EP (2 tokens)

Impenetrable Shield: All damage will be directed to the knight, reducing damage taken by 75% for 1 turn, CD (4 turns)

Moral Speech: Boosts Ally damage (including abilities) by 1 for 3 turn.(P)

Undying Duty: regain 1 hp every 2 turns

Mage:

6 HP, 4 AP, 3 EP (3 tokens)

Icycle Dart: Deals 3 damage with 50% chance of stunning the enemy for 1 turn. (role an odd number to stun enemy)

Enchanted Weapon: Give ally a buff that has a low chance of stunning the enemy for 1 turn. (role a 1 or 2 to stun enemy)(P)

Necromancy: After killing an enemy monster, Mage has the chance to allure the monster to fight on our side with half stats. (role a 5 or 6 to successfully allure the monster). The monsters must kill the dead monster (your side) before targeting the adventurers & hero.

Archer:

6 HP, 3 AP, 3 EP (2 tokens)

Kukri throw: archer throws 2 of his kukri out, dealing 3 AP each while dealing 1 AP per turn for 2 turns. (roll dice on an even number to land the kukris successfully)

Poison arrow: Deals 4 damage while dealing 2 AP on the next turn.(roll dice on an odd number to land the poison arrow successfully)

(P) Scouting: At any time of the dungeon, Archer can see the content of the nearby room for information.

Dryad:

7 HP, 2 AP, 2 EP (2 tokens)

Rooted: does 2 AP and stuns the enemy monster for 1 turn.

Life Essence: heals team for 3 hp.(P)

Leech: Damage dealt by the Dryad will be halved will return was hp

Thief:

5 HP, 3 AP, 4 EP (1 token)

Smoke bomb: a powdered explosive that stuns all enemies for 1 turn.(P) Scavenger: after completing a room, thief can pull an additional treasure card and give it to anyone.(P)

Sneak Attack: Thiefs’ normal attacks deals double AP to enemy monsters who are under bad effects (stunned or DoT)

Hero (not playable)

7 HP, 1 AD, 1 EP(P)

Heros Blessing: heals team 1 HP every 3 turns.

Materials List

Dense Cardboard (for the board)

Ink (print the design onto the Burden Hero board)

Litho Coating

Boards:

A board

Character stats board

Monster Stat boards

Cards:

Character Cards

Monster Cards

Boss Cards

Treasure Cards (with their own weapon, armor, consumable icon)

Tokens:

HP Tokens (1 side of the token represents 2 Points, the other side will represent 1 Point)

AP Tokens ^

EP Tokens ^

“You are here” Token

Bad effect tokens

Dice:

1 Dice

HP Tokens:

Big health token: 1 side has 10 HP, the other side has 5 HP

Normal health token: 1 side has 2 HP, the other side has 1 HP

Design Statement

We will be talking about the Co-op board game called Burden Hero. Now, the Co-op game Burden Hero would consist of at least 2 people can would be able to play so that there wouldn’t be any unfair advantage given to the enemy if you were playing by yourself, However, the maximum people that can play this game is 5 players. The acceptable age range we have given it is 8+, the reason why we have done that is because anyone lower than 8 would have difficulty playing this game as this is a complex game as it has effects and skills. The time to understand the game and how it works would take at least 30 minutes of gameplay, that way the fundamentals of the game is understood. We will be mentioning the research that was conducted so that we would be able to brainstorm ideas as well as which games were inspired and what was implemented for this Co-op to be created. We will also mention on how the game plays and what rules were implemented in this game so that there would be a fairness advantage and becomes a balanced game. While smoothing out the edges of the Co-op game, we’ll be able to present you the game without any of the flaws, making this fun for the players and as well as being progressive. If we’re going to make this a flawless Co-op game, we would need to mention about the playtesters and the feedback we receive from the playtesters and then make improvements on the Co-op game from the feedback given from the playtesters. Finally, we’ll mention the conclusion about the Co-op game about our and the playertesters final thoughts.

Pokemon, Munchkins, Darkest Dungeons, The Guild of Dungeoneering

For the research, we decided to investigate games with a system where players must co-operate together in order to win the game. MOBAS like ‘League of Legends’ and ‘Dota’ are good example of a cooperative game. The group of players must fight against another group of players, combining each players talent on timing and knowledge to outwit and defeat their opponents. However, a proper cooperative game would be the game fighting against the players. ‘Darkest Dungeons’ demonstrates to the player the punishments of not cooperating together. Another game we researched is ‘Left 4 Dead’ where the players are placed into a post apocalyptic world and must travel from point A to point B, covering for each others’ backs from hordes of zombies and the occasional zombie variants.

The characters undergo stress when adventuring the dungeons and the player must manage stress levels, provide supplies & fend off monsters. We wanted to implement that seriousness that ‘Darkest Dungeons’ gives off, however we had to tone down the level of difficulty due to our target audience The inspiration for our board game was from: Pokemon for the cute cartoon aesthetics where each monsters are unique or absurd but still works due to the art style.

Munchkins for the layout of the board game & gameplay, Darkest Dungeons for the level of factors that adds to the difficulty & the opinions of high risk, high reward gameplay & The Guild of Dungeoneering for it treasure system and pleasing sketchbook aesthetics.

You are fellow adventurers helping the ‘great’ hero through a dastardly dungeon and slay the beast that lies within. Protect the ‘Great’ hero as you will all be facing many dangers on this journey. It is a turn based co-op game where players must travel from room to room defeating the monsters until you enter the final room to defeat the big boss. Players will encounter treasure after complete number rooms or encountering mystery rooms. The treasure is a way to balance out the late game with a hint of chance, giving the players good or bad gear.

During the first play testing session, we presented the first prototype of the co-op game. The mechanics of the game very basic but was able to keep the functionality of the game intact. The board was simply a descending ladder of numbered rooms with no mystery rooms. There were no treasure cards either, meaning the players must methodically think of each action cautiously. Also, if a player happens to be defeated by the monsters, they are permanently removed from the game, making the burden hero more vulnerable. Perma death was scrapped with a lighter penalty, if a player is defeated by a monster, they will be dazed and will not able to fight until the rest of the team defeats the monsters within the room. However, if all of the players or the burden hero is defeated by the monsters, they will lose the game. Previously, there was a ‘cool down’ mechanic within the game where abilities from adventurers and monsters run on a cool down (meaning the abilities can not be used after a certain amount of turns). This was removed due to how tedious on having to remember each individual cool down length and was replaced with ‘tokens’. Monsters (except the boss) no longer have abilities and abilities uses tokens as source of energy, each character have different numbers of tokens so the player can keep track on how much they can use and strategically think on when to use them.

After all the researching, play testing, getting critical feedback from people that played ‘Burden Hero’ and improving the co-op game from the given feedback. We have produced our final product and we are pleased with final outcome of ‘Burden Hero’. We were able to craft the prototype into a full fledged game while conserving our base ideas, game mechanics and theme for the game.

Images of the game

#XB1000 #FWXB1000

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