HW4: Playtest Feedback Blog and Gameplay Video

In class on Monday we did a round of play testing for our levels. It was very helpful for me! I've attached the notes I took below, but here's a summary of the feedback I got:

Overall, the maze was difficult for people but too boring. Everyone was able to find all the keys after a bit of searching. They did get lost at times (and thankfully, everyone got lost in different places, so it isn't a design issue), but they always were able to get back on track. The maze wasn't very interesting because there wasn't any danger. Players suggested adding something to raise the stakes, such as a timer or damage traps. 

The bulk of the feedback related to the gameplay, but not all of it. Players did also pointed out a few glitchy walls and uneven floor planes for me to fix. They also commented on the narrative. They liked the art direction and thought it worked well for the story. They thought reading the notes from the Princess and anticipating a rendezvous with her was an effective premise. It made sense why the player was there and what they were supposed to do. 

I got a lot of good feedback! I already went ahead and fixed up some of glitchy walls, and I changed my four floor planes into one floor plane to even out the walking area. I also do want to add a timer that counts down from 60 seconds. Every time the player finds a note or passes through a door, they will gain 30 seconds. Each time they collect a heart, they will gain 1 second.

Some things that players didn't suggest that I still want to work on:

1. I want to add sound effects for when you pick up hearts and notes. I have been working on implementing a sound effect for when you bump into bushes, but I might abandon that idea if I can't get it to work in another hour or so. I'll probably focus on the SFX for collectables for now.

2. I want to animated the door opening rather than destroying the game object when the player touches its collider with a key.

3. I've been meaning to learn enough unity UI to allow players to actually READ the notes from the Princess. The first note should explain the game premise. The last note will tell the player the Princess has been kidnapped and is in another castle. All the notes in between will be love notes. One play tester thought the fun of reading these notes would be enough incentive to keep exploring the maze and not get bored.

Here's how the level is looking so far! You can watch a video of the gameplay below or check out a few screenshots.

We're almost done with this assignment, so the completed level will be published by Monday.