Pre Christmas Playtesting and Meeting

Hey again. It's been a busy week making sure everything is ready for the Christmas break. I met with Chris, one of the specialist tutors and had a meeting. More on this below.

Firstly I am currently on track with my schedule. I'm happy to report that playtesting vs bots has begun and I will be able to start playtests with only players shortly.

So far both Andre, and Ross have playtested my levels. Below I have recorded their playtests and written down the feedback I recieved.

Construct Playtests

Andre Construct Playtest

Ross Construct Playtest

Clocktower Playtests

Andre Clocktower Playtest

Ross Clocktower Playtest 1

Ross Clocktower Playtest 2

Map Feedback

Andre Feedback

 

Construct

- Suggested possibly making crane model taller, while leaving the crane jib in the same place. A gap in the crane would allow players to move through the middle.

Clocktower

- Need to fix the main lift. Can fall through it if standing on the join between the glass and metal.

- Takes too long to collect Redeemer. Change Kismet.

- Add static meshes to the map to create visual focal points so the player can easily tell where they are in the map.

Ross Feedback

Construct

- Liked Construct. Navigated it well without ever playing it.

Clocktower

- Disliked Clocktower. He said it gave him a feeling of vertigo, and he didn't like having to look around before moving around the map. (Literally doesn't like having to look before he leaps).

Meeting With Chris

The meeting with Chris was straightfoward. I showed him all three map designs, via the editor and playtesting footage. We agreed I was on track with my schedule and had produced a good amount of work so far. Chris recommended my next step to be "cooking" the maps so I can test them against players instead of just bots.

Chris also gave me excellent feedback on the clocktower design. Implementing these changes to the gear kismet should make the map much easier and faster to navigate.

Chris Feedback

Construct

- Seemed to like the design.

- No obvious problems with the design.

Clocktower

- Need to fix the lift. Can fall through it if standing on the join between the glass and metal.

- Gears shouldn't rotate. Too disorienting for players.

- Gears should stop at their start and destination points for 1 second to allow players to easily jump on/off them.

- Gears should move slower vertically. May stop player phasing through the gears.

- Redeemer weapon takes too long to collect if players miss the small window of time. Change the kismet so:

1. Clockhand starts pointing towards the ledge for 5 seconds.

2. Clockhand rotates 360 degrees in 5 seconds.

3. Repeat from step 1.

What's Next

The next step is to implement the suggested changes to the Clocktower design. Once this is done I will "Cook" each level so I can playtest the game with multiple players instead of bots.

Playtesting with players instead of bots will give me more accurate feedback on each design. I will prepare a simple questionaire for people to fill out after playing each design. The results should help me decide which of the two designs should be carried foward to the next stages of my project.

- Sam