First prototype
Last week I had proposed the following objectives:
- Replace the “Broken unity loader” aesthetic. The aesthetic just needs to be a mock aesthetic, this will be replaced in the future once I do research into other game loading screens.
- Implement the drag and drop mechanic for the different elements within the game screen for the research phase.
- Develop the stackable content shape phase. These objects need to stack on top and instantiate themselves.
- Implement the refinement phase, where the stack is droppable into the loading bar object.
These were accomplished and then tested. Playable here: https://deadfish1225.itch.io/critplay-mechanics-test
Replacing the aesthetic-The aesthetic overall was simple enough to replace as it only existed in the first scene. Then I had chosen simple colours and shapes for the objects in the game. These all act as placeholders for the time, in the future if there is time, they would be changed.
Research phase-Drag and drop mechanic was implemented well enough.
The objects that are picked up shake when hovering over their correct places. The shadows also help the player predict where they fall.
The drag and droppable objects, during the next phases are used as evidence of the players involvement and their own impression on the game space.
Development phase-Here the various coloured boxes represent different content types. The boxes, once clicked move only at a certain depth. The trigger for the next scene is that there should be a cube in contact with the upper blue plane for some time. It won’t be tricked as it also requires the user to let go of that cube.
As of right now, there is no feedback if the user gets it right. There needs to be a smooth transition from Development to Refinement. Similar to the first transition.
Refinement phase-There is currently no challenge for this phase, instead the player just needs to open the switch until all the cubes fill the bar up to the top and they succeed.
This does not feel engaging as the player only needs to click a trigger and wait for some time until it fills up.
Playtesting
The current focus is to solidify the first three phases as the last one will have the least amount of interaction. The current prototype has been shared with my classmates. Some have commented as shown below. This was shared with the link above.
Unclear goals
Zhu had stated that he was stuck on the first level.
Here the issue is most likely both the fact that I have only given the mechanics and puzzles to test as well as not giving enough information in the game to solve the puzzle. Without the context and narration it seems Zhu was not sure what was needed to progress. This may be solved by implementing Voice Over narration, as well as providing contextual, visual clues.
Required stack indicator(blue plane) is unclear
Arthur found that the blue plane was hard to discern from the background.
Arthur was not able to see the above plane. I believe the issue could be solved fairly easily by changing the alpha value of the material for that plane. However, that blue plane was meant to represent the physical screen. The transition between Research and Development was meant to imply that the player is being pulled into the game. As such a gritty texture could be implemented onto that plane ot further imply the existence of a computer screen.
In Pony Island the player can see scratches and smudges on their monitor that shows the Pony Island game being played.
White screen
Zhu also stated that there was an issue that a white screen appears during a transition between the Development and Refinement phase. I had not seen this issue but I will try to replicate it in game.
In person playtest
Another playtest was conducted with a person I am living with, they were not told anything about the game other than that they only need to use the mouse and click to interact with the game. The following notes were gathered.
Research phase
The main issue here was that the shadows were too harsh on the eyes, playtester suggested removing it. In fact the playtester commented on it on two occasions. Along with the shaking the effect was worse. It seems that the light and shadows were too strong and caused too much strain on the eyes.
I plan to resolve this by using soft shadows, currently it is set to hard. Also the pure white of the objects may be too intense for players as well. Just setting it to a slightly darker colour could help with readability.
Development phase
Again the player was confused on what to do. They thought that their goal was to arrange the boxes into piles associated via colour. Only then did they accidentally solve it by stacking the boxes high enough. This reinforces on what had happened with Zhu and Arthur. I still believe it can be resolved with Voice over and contextual clues.
There was also an issue where the player did not stack the boxes in the correct position. During transition, the tower would be placed in the wrong area and would not be dropped into the loading bar. Again this could be solved by highlighting an area where the box can be stacked.
Refinement phase
Beacause the last puzzle was not solved correctly the player experienced additional confusion on the next level. This highlighted the fact that all parts of the game must be completed without issue, otherwise one problem will lead on to another. Take the loading bar for instance, the player must place the bar in the correct place otherwise it may appear somewhere unexpected and could mess up any of the transitions.
Next steps
Taking in the feedback I will focus on resolving them and then moving forward on the Voice over narration. Which I feel will require a case study into other games and how they implement voice over narration. Specifically on games that have a meta-narrative focus.
What needs to be fixed for the game is:
- Use contextual clues thorughout to aid players in solving the puzzles.
- Resolve the blue plane/screen appearance.
- Replicate white screen bug in Refinement phase.
- Adjust visual aspects of Research phase making it less straining for the eyes.
- Confine the stacking boxes to one spot for a better transition to the next scene.
- Begin implementing the finalisation phase.
My current approach seems to be producing good results and am on track, once these changes have been made then they will be playtested once again.