Week 3: Alpha Playtesting

Development Progress

1. What has been recently completed?
   • An alpha build was created.
     • A core section of level geometry was created to match 1/3 the size of the final level
     • Each person used this to create a different scene containing 1/3 of the final level and build the puzzles in that 1/3.
   • Puzzles Created:
     • Fireplace Puzzle
     • Fountain Puzzle
     • Earth Puzzle
     • Final Door Puzzle
2. What each of us is currently working on:
   • Cody:
     • Wind machine & related puzzle
     • Fixes for final door opening bug
     • Additional assets and level design improvements
   • Michael:
     • Progression system hooks
     • Improvements to the earth puzzle (more combinations, bigger challenge)
   • Travis:
     • UI improvements
3. What features/ideas are on the backlog are to be done next?
   • Wind puzzle
   • Progression system hooks
   • Improvements to the earth puzzle
   • Debris Placement
   • Further 3D asset creation
   • Updates to temp 3D assets
   • Element Wheel UI improvements
   • Text Box (Pop-up) UI implementation
   • Final text (for intro, puzzle clues, etc)
4. Analysis of play-testing:
   • Playtesting to be run during class today (5/23/19). The feedback and data we get will be analyzed and the results will be included in an upcoming post.
   • Additional playtesting will be run on a subsequent build after making changes based on the initial feedback from this round of playtesting.
5. Obstacles that are blocking development:
   No major blockers at this time, but we may need to reduce scope on some things:
   • 3D assets will continue to be created whenever possible, but full functionality is the top priority. Therefore, we may end up using reducing the amount of/detail of 3D assets.
   • The amount of cleaning and debris will be dependent on time.
6. Reflection on game and process. What is working, what is not working.
   • Breaking up tasks has positives and negatives. It is very effective allowing us to work in parallel but can be challenging when there are interactions or dependencies between different people’s work. Overall, this method has been productive and effective.
   • While there is work being done every day and the branch merges frequently, we often only merge at a whole-level scale toward the end of each weekly period due to logistics. If possible it would be good to do this a bit earlier.