Week 5
Week 5: Mandatory Playtesting Session
Class Notes
At the beginning of Monday’s class a few games were briefly introduced, all of which had strong gameplay characteristics and representations, and I was intrigued by both coral island and fan cow. Helps our understanding of game design, we need to RESEARCH similar games and SEARCH for hobbies, just like sports games must have sports fans. Also need to SEARCH for press and UNDERSTAND YOUR NICHES.
Part2: The binding of Isaac this game is press that have previously covered horror games or press that have lists on Cozy Games. Also mentioned Fran Bow- guides around completing specific chapters. Also mentioned how to contact press- find people woh have written about similar games. Also mentioned is Fran Bow- guides around completing specific chapters. Also mentioned is how to contact press- find people woh have written about similar games. a note on publishers- can be Shameless self promo- ensure you can promote yourself/be a part of their community. Viral Games- Finding the right influencer/using meme-able or funny moments. Devs are not your audience- hard trust.
Part3: Press kit-publisher name/release date, etc. Game Page- steam. Social Media- tough/events/ways for people to be invested. Live Ops/Roadmaps- Games with Updates/Use Milestones/Get feedback. To demo or not to demo?!- Pros: Playable build to talk about/create more wishlists, Cons- Not enough polish/major changes. Events- Free student/indie spaces, Tons of events happening/considerations:price, marketing. Quick Tips- watch fonts/ensure people can read/accessibility.
Some improvements
After talking with parker, some improvements have been suggested: Originally, the player was required to use the mouse or press space to have dialogue, but now it has been changed to press F to have dialogue; and a tutorial has been added before the start of the game, prompting the player that they need to press F to have dialogue.
Later parker improved on mine by replacing the ‘press F to continue’ that only appeared at the start of the game, with a button tutorial that always appears on the screen.
After our discussion, we will be adding an old rat into the beginning of the game to act as a guide. It will tell the player what is going on in the family in general. First I added the dialogue about the old mouse to the yarn spinner system, and then I added the eld mouse trigger. Although the model of the old mouse has not been added yet, it is still possible to complete the dialogue.
Added dialogue option to open dialogue on your own by pressing “F”