{"id":102,"date":"2026-10-29T02:39:51","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T02:39:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yz5e24\/?page_id=102"},"modified":"2026-10-29T17:01:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T17:01:23","slug":"prototypes-and-tests","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yz5e24\/prototypes-and-tests\/","title":{"rendered":"Prototypes and Tests"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why I made these prototypes<\/h2><ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I made these prototypes to explore different reasons to use a first-person viewpoint. Rift Runner focuses on movement and combat across a run. Prism Relay turns shooting into route building. Beat Foundry keeps the space small so I can focus on timing.<\/li><li>Prism Relay and Beat Foundry were made on 7 October. They let me try two of the directions discussed in the feedback.<\/li><\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rift Runner<\/h2><ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Move through connected arenas, fight machines, collect supplies and choose upgrades. Rhythm rewards affect movement and weapon use.<\/li><li>The main player feedback concerns teaching, difficulty, rewards and route guidance. I used these comments to revise the opening and the HUD.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yz5e24\/2026\/10\/16\/week-5-testing-rift-runners-rhythm-and-hud\/\">Read the playtest feedback and see the participant photographs<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yz5e24\/2026\/10\/27\/week-6-pitch-evaluation-and-developing-rift-runner\/\">See the later changes and pitch evaluation<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yz5e24\/rift-runner-pitch\/\">View the full pitch and gameplay video<\/a><\/li><\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Prism Relay<\/h2><ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Aim: restore three relays by painting a continuous cyan connection from home, then return to the starting point.<\/li><li>The painted route changes movement and refilling. Cleanup drones can cover parts of it with rival paint, so the player has to repair the route as they move.<\/li><li>I wanted the paint gun to give the player a task beyond defeating enemies. The world uses conductive pigment as a temporary power network, which gives the route a purpose.<\/li><\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Prism Relay: reference and design choices<\/h2><ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendo.com\/en-gb\/News\/2022\/September\/The-fresh-Inkling-s-guide-to-all-things-Splatoon-2263870.html\">Splatoon: Nintendo beginner guide (2022)<\/a>: ink changes how players travel through a space. Covering ground also contributes to the objective.<\/li><li>I used that connection between shooting and movement in Prism Relay. Cyan paint gives the player a useful route, while the ink tank makes them think about when to refill.<\/li><li>My objective is a solo repair task. A connected line matters more than total coverage, because the relays need a link to home. This lets me explore route planning with a paint gun.<\/li><li>The grey buildings and bright cyan and magenta ground make the route easy to separate from the surrounding space. The minimap shows where the paint has spread.<\/li><\/ul><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yz5e24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/102\/2026\/10\/prism-relay-painting-route.png\" alt=\"Prism Relay gameplay showing a cyan route being painted towards Relay 1.\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Prism Relay: painting towards the first relay. The HUD shows its connection progress and the remaining ink.<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yz5e24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/102\/2026\/10\/week6-prism-relay.png\" alt=\"Prism Relay with all three relays powered and a return-home objective.\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Prism Relay: all three relays are powered. The final task is to return home.<\/figcaption><\/figure><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Prism Relay: what I would develop<\/h2><ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>I would make breaks in the power connection easier to locate. The player should know whether a relay needs more paint nearby or a repair further back along the route.<\/li><li>I would watch which path a player paints and when they stop to repair it. That would help me see whether the connection rule gives them enough to think about.<\/li><\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Beat Foundry<\/h2><ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Aim: survive three waves of factory robots while using shots, dashes and dodges to a 120 BPM music loop.<\/li><li>Actions happen immediately. Accurate timing adds bonuses, and a four-beat sequence leads to an amplified shot.<\/li><li>The factory shares one clock. The beat guide, enemy attacks and pulsing objects use that timing, so the music belongs to the setting as well as the HUD.<\/li><\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Beat Foundry: reference and design choices<\/h2><ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/news.xbox.com\/en-us\/2023\/10\/04\/hi-fi-rush-exclusive-oral-history\/\">Hi-Fi RUSH: developer oral history, Xbox Wire (2023)<\/a>: the developers discuss how blocking off-beat inputs made an early version feel unresponsive. Rewarding timing gave players more freedom.<\/li><li>That helped me decide to keep shooting and movement immediate. The player can aim and react normally, then use the beat to improve the result.<\/li><li>I also studied the Rhythm Dodge tutorial in Hi-Fi RUSH. Its approaching beat markers and separate action feedback informed the low beat guide and Perfect message in my prototype.<\/li><li>I adapted the timing idea to first-person aiming. Beat Foundry uses an original 120 BPM loop, a small arena and three enemy waves so that I can focus on the relationship between aiming and listening.<\/li><\/ul><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yz5e24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/102\/2026\/10\/beat-foundry-arena.png\" alt=\"Beat Foundry arena with robots, speakers and the 120 BPM beat guide.\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Beat Foundry: the first wave, with the beat guide below the aiming area.<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yz5e24\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/102\/2026\/10\/week6-beat-foundry.png\" alt=\"Beat Foundry showing timing feedback and a four-beat finisher.\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Beat Foundry: timing feedback and the amplified shot after a four-beat sequence.<\/figcaption><\/figure><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Beat Foundry: what I took forward<\/h2><ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>This experiment gave me a clearer way to develop rhythm in Rift Runner. Timing could change both movement and weapon use.<\/li><li>The later Rift Runner feedback showed that players could miss the benefit even when a reward existed. I needed to make the action and its reward easier to connect.<\/li><li>For Beat Foundry itself, I would focus on whether a player can explain what a timed action adds while still managing the enemies.<\/li><\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Related development<\/h2><ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yz5e24\/2026\/10\/09\/week-3-fps-prototype-and-peer-feedback\/\">Week 3: feedback on the hook and prototype direction<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yz5e24\/2026\/10\/27\/week-6-pitch-evaluation-and-developing-rift-runner\/\">Week 6: comparing the prototypes<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yz5e24\/personal-development-plan\/\">Personal Development Plan<\/a><\/li><\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why I made these prototypes Rift Runner Prism Relay Prism Relay: reference and design choices Prism Relay: what I would develop Beat Foundry Beat Foundry: reference and design choices Beat Foundry: what I took forward Related development<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":82,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-102","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yz5e24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yz5e24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yz5e24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yz5e24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/82"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yz5e24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yz5e24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yz5e24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/102\/revisions\/114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/yz5e24\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}