Week 11 Devlog

Discuss the insights form playtesting

The playtest this week was very interesting, and our game received quite varied responses. 

On the positive side, most of our players liked the premise of our game, and grasped the goals of collecting the items, and reaching the end of the level quite quickly. The oxygen management system was deemed to be intuitive enough and all of our playtesters made the connection that the oxygen refill stations restored the oxygen meter and are effectively the checkpoints of the game.

The playtest did help us to pinpoint the flaws in our design however, and a lot of players struggled to navigate the opening area of the level. I noticed that players who were used to first person style PC games picked up the WASD/SPACE controls really quickly. These  players were more successful in progressing through the level, and  seemed to enjoy the game more as a result. Players who struggled with the controls found the gameplay to be more frustrating, and enjoyed the game less. 

An interesting takeaway from the feedback was the request from players for a Sprint Bar, which was a feature that we actively removed during the protoyping stage. I believe that this feedback is a result of certain stages of the level terrain being a wide flat surface, which is less exciting for players to traverse. 

The final takeaway seems to be players perception of difficulty. Players who were accustomed to playing similar games picked up the controls and enjoyed the level of difficulty, and they seemed to enjoy the feel of the controls, and the difficulty of the gameplay. The players who were not used to the controls found it very challenging to play, and told us that the game was too difficult and should be made easier. 

How will feedback be implemented for the Beta?

Our plans are to tweak the level design slightly to include better signposting for players, and make the tutorial stage of the level more simplified and linear, to help newer players get to grips with the controls. 

We don't plan to add the sprint bar back into the game, but to accommodate the desire to get across the level quicker, we will adjust the terrain and make it more engaging to traverse, and potentially reduce the size / scope of the level to make the gameplay quicker as a whole.