Thursday, November 21, 2013

Sprint 15: Destination Alpha (Playtest Results)

Click here to play the Alpha release version of the now retitlted "Force of Nature."


The alpha playtest was both informative and helpful. Some questions could not be answered properly/completely due to the lack of development progress in their given area. Not all of our players were avid gamers, and one of them was primarily a "mobile gamer".

1 – Did you find the game confusing or find yourself not knowing what to do?

            1                      2                      3                      4                      5

Player 1 - 5
Player 2 - 5
Player 3 - 3
Player 4 - 4
Player 5 - 5

All of the players agreed that the game needed basic instructions since we did not provide any prompts or tutorial levels in the game. Obviously over time they were able to discern the controls but it was time wasted.

2 – Were you able to defeat your enemies very easily?

            1                      2                      3                      4                      5

Player 1 - 4
Player 2 - 4
Player 3 - 5
Player 4 - 5
Player 5 - 5

Lane combat is very easy to participate in and all players agreed that the click to attack system was easy to follow. Players 1 and 2 found fault with the camera angle, which once again was our fault (incomplete implementation of the perspective camera).

3 – Did the environment feel expansive and make you want to explore it?

            1                      2                      3                      4                      5

Player 1 - 2
Player 2 - 1
Player 3 - 1
Player 4 - 1
Player 5 - 3

All the players were unanimous in their response. Everyone felt that they had no incentive to explore the map beyond the lane combat, and only one player attempted to walk beyond the lane combat (Player 5). This question turned out to be the most important part of the playtest result. These responses led us to setting up an experience system for the player, and also overhaul the character traits trees and combat from the ground up. 

4 – Was it easy to differentiate what you could interact with and what you couldn’t?

            1                      2                      3                      4                      5

Player 1 - 4
Player 2 - 4
Player 3 - 5
Player 4 - 4
Player 5 - 3

Even though we had not replaced the place-holder assets with our own custom models, all players found it very easy to discern what was interactive and what wasn't. Players 5 and 1 suggested that we keep the GUI colors separate for the different teams (i.e.: keep different HP color indicators for the enemy characters).

5 – Did the music and sound effects fit the mood of the environment they were in?

            1                      2                      3                      4                      5

Player 1 - 3
Player 2 - 3
Player 3 - 3
Player 4 - 2
Player 5 - 3

The only thing we had available in game during the playtest was the level's main ambient theme. All players thought that it worked with the level's imagery and themes. Player 4 thought that the theme didn't add anything to the game and should be changed. The other players told us what we already knew: we needed to add more sound effects for better interactivity.

Optional - Do you have anything else you want to say about the game?

Player 1 - N/A
Player 2 - N/A
Player 3 - "You should add lan or online player."
Player 4 - N/A
Player 5 - "I want to see other levels, and other characters."
  

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Sprint 15: Destination Alpha ( Revised Playtest Questions)

Force Of Nature
Team Huge

Circle 1 if you disagree heavily and circle 5 if you agree completely with the question. If you want to describe something specifically, use the provided space.

1 – Did you find the game confusing or find yourself not knowing what to do?

            1                      2                      3                      4                      5

2 – Were you able to defeat your enemies very easily?

            1                      2                      3                      4                      5

3 – Did the environment feel expansive and make you want to explore it?

            1                      2                      3                      4                      5

4 – Was it easy to differentiate what you could interact with and what you couldn’t?

            1                      2                      3                      4                      5

5 – Did the music and sound effects fit the mood of the environment they were in?

            1                      2                      3                      4                      5

Optional - Do you have anything else you want to say about the game?


Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Sprint 15: Destination Alpha (Playtest Questions)

Force Of Nature
Playtest


Thanks for playing our game, please take a few minutes to answer these playtest questions. The scale works like so, 1 means you disagree with the question, 5 means you agree completely. If you want to elaborate more, use the provided space.

1 – This game was very confusing. I didn’t know what to do.

            1                      2                      3                      4                      5

2 – This game was too easy. I always beat my opponents with no problems.

            1                      2                      3                      4                      5

3 – The environment felt very expansive and made me want to explore it.

            1                      2                      3                      4                      5

4 – The game characters felt natural within the game. They did not feel out of place.

            1                      2                      3                      4                      5

5 – The sound effects and music fit the game appropriately.

            1                      2                      3                      4                      5

Optional - Do you have anything else you want to say about the game?

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Sprint 15: Destination Alpha (Revised Task List)

TEAM NAME: Team Huge
GAME TITLE: When Nature Strikes Back
PRODUCER: Tejas Kumar

Task List Date: 11/07/2013
Due Date: 11/21/2013

Task List
Team Member
Estimated Time
In Progress?
Playtest (yes/no)
Done? (yes/no)
Add Flora: Digitally paint approx. 1000 trees and grass assets onto the new rainforest map. Different parts of the map will sport different amounts of flora, with the heavy rainforest dominating most of the map.
Pathfinding: Add AI pathfinding nodes on the map for all AI NPCs. Also instantiate spawn locations for all replenishable minions.
Colliders: Add collision for mobile AI towers.
UI and Inventory Scripts: Script a graphical user interface and then subsequently use that to program in-game inventory that can be manipulated graphically.
Tejas Kumar
November 21
Yes
No
No
Paper Prototyping: Create a paper prototype of a new human-themed map on a 9x11 in. canvas.
Asset Placement: Create a top-down mini-map detailing the position of the different assets as they would appear in-game. This will later be used to populate the man in Unity.
Kevin O’Brien
November 14
Yes
No
No
Tiger SFX: Create sound effects for tiger growl, tiger movement and tiger attack (main attack).
Rain SFX: Create sound effects for three different stages of rain: “pitter-patter”, “steady rain”, and “torrential rain”.
Ambience: Create a single discernable ambient theme that sets the mood for the map. This singular track will feature wind gusts and random animal calls. All other weather effects will be layered on top of this.
James Pharo
November 14
Yes
No
No
Character Models: Two human character models will be sculpted in Mudbox. All textures maps and UV maps will be imported and applied through Mudbox. Any additional texture effects (or repairs) will also be painted through Mudbox.
Polygon Meshes: Poly meshes for the two different types of AI towers will be done in Maya and then exported into Unity. Textures will be painted through Maya, and any additional texture work will be done in Mudbox (texture painting).
Matthew Cameron
November 21
Yes
No
No



Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Sprint 15: Destination Alpha

TEAM NAME: Team Huge
GAME TITLE: When Nature Strikes Back
PRODUCER: Tejas Kumar

Task List Date: 11/5/2013
Due Date: 11/21/2013

Task List
Team Member
Estimated Time
In Progress?
Playtest (yes/no)
Done? (yes/no)
Add flora to the rainforest map (this includes trees and grass). Add path-finding in the forest map and add collision detection to the new mobile guard towers.
Tejas Kumar
November 21
Yes
No
No
Create a paper-prototype for a third human-themed map and also create an asset-placement guide.
Kevin O’Brien
November 14
Yes
No
No
Create sounds for rain-drops, tiger growl, tiger gait, and weather effects.
James Pharo
November 14
Yes
No
No
Create models for the two human characters, and meshes for the attack towers in Mudbox.
Matthew Cameron
November 21
Yes
No
No