{"id":275,"date":"2025-03-31T21:45:52","date_gmt":"2025-03-31T21:45:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/lost-echo\/?p=275"},"modified":"2025-05-15T02:44:01","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T02:44:01","slug":"week-10-playtest-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/lost-echo\/week-10-playtest-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Week 10 Playtest Day!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

Detailed Playtest Feedback<\/summary>\n

Controls<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Middle Mouse Button Issue<\/strong>: Players found the middle mouse button hard to click and didn\u2019t know it was interactable.
    \u27a1 Solution<\/strong>: Add support for Right Mouse Button as an alternative input.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Flute Play Experience<\/strong>: Players enjoy walking while playing the flute.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    UI\/UX<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    • Icon Confusion<\/strong>: Confirm and refresh icons were unclear in function.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Missing Indications<\/strong>: Players want hotkey\/function tooltips and a clearer way to know if a melody has been learned.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Visual Feedback<\/strong>: The glow effect for learned icons wasn\u2019t prominent enough.
      \u27a1 Solution<\/strong>: Make UI highlights and feedback more obvious.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Gameplay<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      • Melody Confusion<\/strong>: \u201cEarth, Wood, Water\u201d dialogue caused confusion\u2014players mixed up note names and element melodies.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Navigation Requests<\/strong>:\n
          \n
        • Want faster walking speed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Request to highlight interactable objects.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Desire to enter buildings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Environmental Interaction<\/strong>: Unclear what objects can be interacted with.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

          Art & Visuals<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
            \n
          • Torch Design<\/strong>: Players didn\u2019t recognize torches as fire sources.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Character Clarity<\/strong>: The butcher was hard to identify among market NPCs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Water Visibility<\/strong>: Water in the well was not visually noticeable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

            Narrative & Text<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
              \n
            • Unclear Terms<\/strong>: Phrases like \u201cIndicate Strings\u201d and the term \u201cFlutist\u201d were unfamiliar or confusing.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Too Much Text<\/strong>: Players felt the intro had excessive reading\u2014preferred more visual storytelling.
              \u27a1 Suggestion<\/strong>: Use more graphics\/illustrations for exposition.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

              Missions & Level Design<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
                \n
              • Lack of Direction<\/strong>:\n
                  \n
                • Some players got distracted by villagers and didn\u2019t proceed to the old woman.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                • Missions lacked clear structure\u2014players want a task tracker<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                • Map Confusion<\/strong>: No clear mission markers.
                  \u27a1 Players suggested a mini-map<\/strong> or improved main map guidance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                • NPC Discovery Issue<\/strong>: The butcher was hard to locate without guidance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

                  Sound<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
                    \n
                  • BGM Requested<\/strong>: Players want background music for more immersion.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  • Interactive Feedback<\/strong>: Players expect to hear sounds when interacting with elements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n
                    Playtest Rating Chart<\/summary>\n
                    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
                    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
                    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
                    \"\"<\/figure>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

                    Takeaways<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
                    \n

                    This round of playtesting gave us valuable insights into player expectations and usability challenges. Moving forward, we plan to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      \n
                    • Improve control mapping and input flexibility.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                    • Enhance visual and audio feedback for learned melodies and interactions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                    • Provide better mission and map guidance with clearer UI.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

                      <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                      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. Takeaways This round of playtesting gave us valuable insights into player expectations and usability challenges. Moving forward, we plan to:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":308,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/lost-echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/lost-echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/lost-echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/lost-echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/lost-echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/lost-echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":505,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/lost-echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275\/revisions\/505"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/lost-echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/lost-echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/lost-echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/lost-echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}