We began shaping the game\u2019s backstory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The player is introduced as a carefree junior high student who loves spending time in the backyard but never takes responsibility for cleaning it up. One day, while tossing around a Frisbee, the player accidentally knocks over a trash can and simply shrugs it off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Suddenly, a squirrel leaps out, angrily chattering in what seems like nonsense. The world begins to blur and distort, and the player starts to shrink rapidly. Once the surroundings come back into focus, the player finds themselves miniaturized in a strange, oversized world. The squirrel\u2019s squeaking now becomes understandable:
\u201cYou destroyer! As the guardian of this place, I will teach you a lesson! Kid, you have much to see and hear – listen to me and learn!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
Level Blockout: Building the Upper Tree Scene<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nAlongside the narrative, we created the blockout for the Upper Tree Level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/upper-tree-level-blockout-1024x751.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nIn the scene:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- The large circle on the bottom right<\/strong> represents the bird\u2019s nest<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- The red cubes<\/strong> inside the nest symbolize pieces of trash<\/strong> that the player must remove.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- The large square on the upper left<\/strong> indicates the location of the NPC bird<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- The small cube on the lower left<\/strong> is the trash bag<\/strong> where players are instructed to dispose of the collected waste.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
This rough layout helps us define gameplay flow and scale. In the coming weeks, we will continue updating and fleshing out the scene with assets and interactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/3level.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nMiddle School Playtest Feedback<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nWe had the chance to conduct a playtest with middle school students, gaining insight directly from our target age group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here’s a summary of the feedback:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\ud83d\udcdd Gameplay & Mechanics Issues<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n- Players don\u2019t know what to do at first \u2192 Need clearer onboarding\/tutorial.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Unclear that both hands are needed to pick up leaves.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Leaves fall too easily from hands.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- One player felt she was normal-sized, but everything else seemed oversized.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\ud83c\udfa8 Art & Animation Feedback<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n- Art style is cohesive, and the squirrel is cute.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- The squirrel could be more lively \u2192 Needs mouth movement when talking & more interactions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\ud83e\udde0 Understanding & Learning<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n- Players understand the game is about decomposition but don\u2019t see how their actions impact the environment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Need more instructions to connect actions to environmental effects.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nShowcasing at GDC<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nMeanwhile, at GDC, we had the honor of showcasing our first level at the CMU booth. Huge thanks to everyone who came by to playtest, and to our faculty member Amanda for helping coordinate everything!<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GDC0-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Week 9 – Paper Work Week This week was a \u201cpaperwork week\u201d for our team, as Ayaka and Annie traveled to GDC in San Francisco, leaving us without programming support. While development work paused, we focused on building out our narrative, setting up a blockout for the Upper Tree Level, and conducting a playtest with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":598,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/3level.png",888,615,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/3level.png",888,615,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/3level.png",888,615,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/3level-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/3level-300x208.png",300,208,true],"large":["https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/3level.png",888,615,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/3level.png",888,615,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/3level.png",888,615,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"amorito","author_link":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/author\/amorito\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Uncategorized<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Week 9 – Paper Work Week This week was a \u201cpaperwork week\u201d for our team, as Ayaka and Annie traveled to GDC in San Francisco, leaving us without programming support. While development work paused, we focused on building out our narrative, setting up a blockout for the Upper Tree Level, and conducting a playtest with…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":681,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585\/revisions\/681"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nIn the scene:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- The large circle on the bottom right<\/strong> represents the bird\u2019s nest<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- The red cubes<\/strong> inside the nest symbolize pieces of trash<\/strong> that the player must remove.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- The large square on the upper left<\/strong> indicates the location of the NPC bird<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- The small cube on the lower left<\/strong> is the trash bag<\/strong> where players are instructed to dispose of the collected waste.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
This rough layout helps us define gameplay flow and scale. In the coming weeks, we will continue updating and fleshing out the scene with assets and interactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nMiddle School Playtest Feedback<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
We had the chance to conduct a playtest with middle school students, gaining insight directly from our target age group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here’s a summary of the feedback:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\ud83d\udcdd Gameplay & Mechanics Issues<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Players don\u2019t know what to do at first \u2192 Need clearer onboarding\/tutorial.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Unclear that both hands are needed to pick up leaves.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Leaves fall too easily from hands.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- One player felt she was normal-sized, but everything else seemed oversized.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\ud83c\udfa8 Art & Animation Feedback<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Art style is cohesive, and the squirrel is cute.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- The squirrel could be more lively \u2192 Needs mouth movement when talking & more interactions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\ud83e\udde0 Understanding & Learning<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Players understand the game is about decomposition but don\u2019t see how their actions impact the environment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Need more instructions to connect actions to environmental effects.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nShowcasing at GDC<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, at GDC, we had the honor of showcasing our first level at the CMU booth. Huge thanks to everyone who came by to playtest, and to our faculty member Amanda for helping coordinate everything!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Week 9 – Paper Work Week This week was a \u201cpaperwork week\u201d for our team, as Ayaka and Annie traveled to GDC in San Francisco, leaving us without programming support. While development work paused, we focused on building out our narrative, setting up a blockout for the Upper Tree Level, and conducting a playtest with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":598,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/3level.png",888,615,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/3level.png",888,615,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/3level.png",888,615,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/3level-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/3level-300x208.png",300,208,true],"large":["https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/3level.png",888,615,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/3level.png",888,615,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/3level.png",888,615,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"amorito","author_link":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/author\/amorito\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Uncategorized<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Week 9 – Paper Work Week This week was a \u201cpaperwork week\u201d for our team, as Ayaka and Annie traveled to GDC in San Francisco, leaving us without programming support. While development work paused, we focused on building out our narrative, setting up a blockout for the Upper Tree Level, and conducting a playtest with…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":681,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585\/revisions\/681"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/ecovision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- The red cubes<\/strong> inside the nest symbolize pieces of trash<\/strong> that the player must remove.<\/li>\n\n\n\n