Week 10 – Playtest Day!

On March 29, we hosted a playtest session for our lastest build and received a wide range of insightful feedback from players. Below is a summary of the key takeaways organized by category.

Detailed Playtest Feedback

🎮 Controls

  • Middle Mouse Button Issue: Players found the middle mouse button hard to click and didn’t know it was interactable.
    ➡ Solution: Add support for Right Mouse Button as an alternative input.
  • Flute Play Experience: Players enjoy walking while playing the flute.

🧭 UI/UX

  • Icon Confusion: Confirm and refresh icons were unclear in function.
  • Missing Indications: Players want hotkey/function tooltips and a clearer way to know if a melody has been learned.
  • Visual Feedback: The glow effect for learned icons wasn’t prominent enough.
    ➡ Solution: Make UI highlights and feedback more obvious.

🧩 Gameplay

  • Melody Confusion: “Earth, Wood, Water” dialogue caused confusion—players mixed up note names and element melodies.
  • Navigation Requests:
    • Want faster walking speed.
    • Request to highlight interactable objects.
    • Desire to enter buildings.
  • Environmental Interaction: Unclear what objects can be interacted with.

🎨 Art & Visuals

  • Torch Design: Players didn’t recognize torches as fire sources.
  • Character Clarity: The butcher was hard to identify among market NPCs.
  • Water Visibility: Water in the well was not visually noticeable.

📖 Narrative & Text

  • Unclear Terms: Phrases like “Indicate Strings” and the term “Flutist” were unfamiliar or confusing.
  • Too Much Text: Players felt the intro had excessive reading—preferred more visual storytelling.
    ➡ Suggestion: Use more graphics/illustrations for exposition.

🗺️ Missions & Level Design

  • Lack of Direction:
    • Some players got distracted by villagers and didn’t proceed to the old woman.
    • Missions lacked clear structure—players want a task tracker.
    • Map Confusion: No clear mission markers.
      ➡ Players suggested a mini-map or improved main map guidance.
  • NPC Discovery Issue: The butcher was hard to locate without guidance.

🔊 Sound

  • BGM Requested: Players want background music for more immersion.
  • Interactive Feedback: Players expect to hear sounds when interacting with elements.
Playtest Rating Chart

🧠 Takeaways

This round of playtesting gave us valuable insights into player expectations and usability challenges. Moving forward, we plan to:

  • Improve control mapping and input flexibility.
  • Enhance visual and audio feedback for learned melodies and interactions.
  • Provide better mission and map guidance with clearer UI.