I collected the feedback for the team which the other members used to improve the game. I found the environment to not be totally suitable for playtesting. It was crowded and loud whilst our game was supposed to be a calm experience that relied on immersion into the story. I can’t imagine myself reading in a place like that yet we showcased a story game in there. In future playtests I would like to have people test in seperate rooms if my game is more peaceful.
I regret not preparing any questions for the players. I would’ve like to ask things as though they were a team leader. How would you change the way you played? What would you have wished to seen? What would you add or take away? What did you find rewarding? Also, finding general statistics like how long it took for people to play the game or amount of times they seemed confused would’ve been a nice touch.
Adam in a trance.
Playtesting 1
Own opinion
This was the first playtest feedback I was collecting and I think it would’ve been nicer to get peoples names and if I asked more questions. On the other hand I had a feeling everyone understood the flaws of their game. It doesn’t take setting up a playtest to understand falling off the map or dialogue happening out of wack is a problem.
Critique
As players played, the dialogue wasn’t happening at the correct time, so people didn’t understand the narrative at all. One said they had “no idea who I am” and doesn’t understand the objective. They suggested a name tag above the NPC’s.
There was no intuitive way to know how to open the inventory and the UI in the titlescreen was overlapping different elements, making it slightly jarring.
This is where I thought it would be neccessary to have an exposition for the pre-story for context. Plaers generally didn’t know what they were doing.
Positives
People found the map fun to explore, The mini games were regarded well and simplicity was well recieved too. People enjoyed both the ‘cute artstyle’ and the 3D envioronment.
Playtesting 2
Own opinion
My writing could’ve outlined the objective of the game. My parameters for successful writing was to add as much context as possible before playing the game. But it ended up boring people. After the playtest I made the decision of completely removing the narrative and adding the context of the situation as you play the game.
Critique
Everyone generally agreed the Exposition was way too long and we skipped it half the time. Adam really didn’t like how long it took to start the game. It took 2-3 mins to to start playing. He just wanted to play the game. Anna 2 Also says the character dialouge has to be simplified and even suggested colouring the text to make it more undersatndable of who is speaking.
The narration was confusing. Anna didn’t understand if she was Tyler and Marcus until we told her. She was confused about the objective of the game and what to do. The narration wasn’t happening in chronological order. This confused a lot of people. Anna suggested an instructions / task page of what to do.
The game was still rough around the edges. You can still fall through the map. Anna wanted an indicator for whether this was an arrow game or a wasd game. Adam says the placeholder of the map was a bit confusing. Izzy was confused about the rock minigame. It wasnt clear that you’re supposed to drag the rocks out of the (invisible) parameter. Raff somehow managed to walk through the fence, bypassing the ending screen. The number of ites you have in the inventory was too small to see.
Kamilla would of liked a shift key to sprint.
Positives
People enjoyed the style of the game. Kamilla liked the low poly. She also enjoyed the game direction being a walking sim x visual novel.
The sfx was enjoyed, Anna liked the sound effects of completing the task. Kamilla liked the sounds when walking.
The inventory was solid. Anna easily naviagted through it, Raff also enjoyed the inventory.
Though Anna was confused about the plot, she enjoyed the story telling. Raff read through the story pretty dilligently as though they enjoyed it too.
Final Playtest
Own opinion
This was the most successful test. As for my role, the narrative order was mostly fixed – enough to understand the story. People also understood the situation they’re in within the first few interactions between Sierra and Marcus. People enjoyed the dyanamics of the characters.
Positives
The dialogue is more consistent and people understood most of the story. Basic things like choices appearring when they need to is a huge win. Adam agreed that the game is fundamentally set in stone. He said the music felt like interstellar. When we pointed out that the music was made by Iris, Ollie thought it was something found online and made by a professional. Jordan pointed out that this was a viable vertical slice prototype.
Jess pointed out it was intuitive to gain reputation with the characters and satisfying to see their behavoir warm up to her. Lettie enjoyed the minigames to gain reputation and liked the art style and sound design. Jess and Ollie enjoyed the character dynamic between Marcus and Tyler. Jess also liked the subtle change in Tyler with bloody hands which was a neat featture for that situation to make more sense.
People also navigated the UI more seamlessly. For example, nobody needed guidance to open the inventory.
Critiques
Lettie points out a game breaking bug of ‘moving all the way to the left once the game begins’. Falling thorugh the map still persists. Jess says the reputation bar is such a critical aspect of the game, too important to be hidden away in the inventory.
Some people were confused about the narrative choices which lead up to unnatural character interactions. This includes the option to share a blanket to the characters at the start when you haven’t found one to begin with. Same with the blood mushroom.
Adam pointed most of the UI in the start menu didnt work. And there wasn’t clear indication of overall progression.
Ollie was confused about the first pieces of dialogue, because it wasn’t clear that it was Tyler’s monologue. When walking up and down, the character hovered. Ollie would have preffered if the running cycle for moving left and right would be used for up and down. He said the SFX isn’t great, especially compared to the music. He also wanted an ‘x’ button for exiting the inventory as he found himself dragging his mouse the top right of it, only to realise it wasn’t there.
Overall, the biggest critique was about how lengthy and unengaging the intro to the game was.
The intro writing was modified by Kevin using AI, but I knew the original writing was a similiar length anyway (AI use). I ended up scrapping it all so people can play the game asap. The final critique was that the choices you had didn’t make sense. You had options to give the characters items of which you never collected in the first place. This was because I failed to reset the variables to zero which was an easy fix.
By playtest 3 these issues were resolved and well recieved.
Raw notes
26/02/26 (from obsidian)
- Playtesting day today. For someone to playtest, tell them how they want him to play:
- Outloud or quietly?
- Get some questions ready
- Critique
- Dialogue is happening not under the appropiate time
- Glitch when the character illust doesnt leave the screen
- No intuitive way to know the inventory button
- Went under the world.
- Walking on water
- Start game has a ui overlaying
- We need a cutscene to letnthe plater understand what is happening
- Doesnt understand the objective
- Name tag
- Make it more understandable of
- Positves
- Fun map to explore
- mini games
- Nice and simple layout
- Like exploring and liked picking things up
- “No idea who i am.”
- Cute artstyle
- Really enjoyed the 3d style
26/03/19 (from obsidian)
Anna
- My narrative isnt being used. It was improved by ai, was made more visual
- A hand grabbed me out of the water
- i wanted a better adventure
- Theres filler in the narrative.
- Didnt know if she was tyler or marcus
- Easily navigated through inventory
- wanted an indicator for wasd
- The narration still isnt happening in chronological order
- Liked the sfx collecting the map
- You can still fall through the map
- Any instructions to reread?
- Confused about the objective of the game
- Start of the narrative might need indications of the objectives?
- You can see yourself in the foreground
- Liked the story telling
Adam
- Long intro… Intro is way too long
- The starting Dialogue is also very long
- Navigating through the level well
- Confused about the placeholder text of the map
Kamilla
- Likes the sense of low poly game
- Finding the game more intuitive than anna
- Likes visual novel x walking sim
- Running / faster movement (shift key)
- Likes the sounds when walking
- Camera is well done, sound is well done
Raff
- He is actually reading through the dialouge
- Liking the inventory system
- Somehow went through the fence
- Liked story
- Doesnt quite understand what to do
Another Anna
- Dialouge is too long
- Character Dialogue too long
- Simplify your writing much more
- Spacing out on the
- Colour the text to understand who is speaking
- Mechanically and visuals are good
- Once the objective actually works
- The reputatation should be more clear
Izzy
- Narrative and intro sequence is too long?
- Dragging the rocks confused her a bit
- She broke the game
Ollie
- Exiting the backpack inventory by clicking outside of the backpack
- Inventory, the number of itema isnt seen very clearly.
26/05/01
