How enjoyable was the experience?
The game was well received across the board. Playtesters noted that the game was easy to get into and the controls were easily learnt. Objectives were clear and the players were able to complete them. Some playtesters remarked that the initial prototype level was more easy than enjoyable and recommended that changes be made to enemies. These changes were implemented for the second round of playtesters who did not express the same concerns as a result. The environment design and animations were praised, despite some small animation flaws. Body language while playing was positive, no boredom was observed and several verbal comments signalled positive experiences during testing.
How well do the mechanics work?
The movement mechanics were found to be quite rough by the majority of initial playtesters, Dylan in particular said in post-playthrough interviews that it felt ‘like the player was gliding across the ground rather than walking, and didn’t come to a stop when the key was depressed’. Other playtesters made similar remarks, prompting me to overhaul the movement system. This overhaul resulted in positive feedback from the previous playtesters and good remarks from the new ones. The jumping mechanic also worked well, stair movement could be improved however; currently requiring the player to jump up the stairs, a cause for negative feedback from the majority of playtesters. The fighting mechanics were fluid and verbal feedback was shown to be positive, however a few playtester; Steven the most vocal, suggested increasing the difficulty of the enemy. Health pickups worked well, and the main/pause menus were well implemented. No further bugs were found during testing.
How frustrating are the levels?
The initial test level was found to be at a more ‘tutorial’-level of difficulty than anything else, and was therefore assessed to be quite easy by all the playtesters. The relatively small amount of health of the player did prove to be surprising to playtesters however, causing Joseph, for example, to actually die in the first playthrough as he was not paying attention to his health. However these game aspects made the game more difficult but still far from frustrating overall, an opinion expressed by all playtesters in post-playthrough interviews.
How does the game challenge you?
Health conservation and avoiding enemy hits/killing the enemy before they deal too much damage was found to be the biggest challenge, but not one that detracted from the overall enjoyment. The game was found to be enticing when players found the artefact in a level, pushing them to progress to the next level and a higher difficulty.
Pros
- Good movement
- Smooth combat
- Decent difficulty level
- Clean UI
- Good story and progression
- Great visuals, and game world
- Professional sounds
Cons
- Jumping necessary for stairs
- Jagged animation loops
- Level simplicity
Recommendations
- Tweak animations
- Tweak movement
- Increase enemy difficulty
- Weapon upgrades
Based on these recommendations and analysing the pros and cons that each playtester mentioned I made a number of improvements to the game.
- Completely re-did the movement system, creating a more realistic player movement mechanic. As a result, enemy movement also benefited from this overhaul.
- Animations were replaced, however some jagged looping remains at the time of writing.
- Enemy health and damage were increased, as well as the number of enemies per level.
- Extra environment mechanics are being developed in order to further level interest and game enjoyment
Further Recommendations
- Day/night cycle
- Weather conditions
- Gameworld NPCs
I would like to implement these recommendations should I continue to work on the game past the constraints of time place upon this assessment.
Vincent Bornaghi – N9463020
IGB100 Group 4 