For Week 6, our team’s primary focus was on making sure that our payload packing experience would be ready for playtesting in time for Friday’s scheduled playtest. We also wanted to make more progress with the AR moon colony so that we could discuss it during ½ presentation. Since our ½ presentation time was on Friday of Week 7, we spent most of our time working on our project, but we did dedicate a few hours to make a draft of our presentation’s structure.
Payload Packing
We had intended to playtest payload packing at least once before ½ presentations. With that in mind, we scheduled one playtest for the Wednesday of Week 6 with ETC students. This would give us time to make any last minute adjustments before testing with people external to the ETC. We had another playtest schedule for the Friday of Week 6 with high school students visiting the ETC.
However, there was still some work to be done before we could playtest. We needed to implement audio and visual feedback. This included a level UI that would help guests determine when the lander was balanced and audio that would help the guests understand what was happening on screen. After these elements were added to our prototype, we were ready to begin testing!
With the ETC students on Wednesday, we found that testers typically enjoyed using the joystick to control the crane. Many of them also enjoyed using the crane to knock over stacks of payloads. On the other hand, some of the testers were confused about the different boxes that we used to represent the payloads and had frustration with their ability to place payloads in the correct position.
With the visiting high school students on Friday, we found that these testers also enjoyed using the joystick to control the crane while being frustrated with their ability to place payloads in the correct position. Two testers didn’t notice the current minimal UI we were using for the level and, thus, were uncertain of when they balanced the payloads.
Other interesting behaviors that we noticed included competition between testers in the same group. One tester Another behavior was the differing amounts of caution between testers. Some testers moved the payloads with caution, seeking to ensure that each payload would be handled gently. Other testers took joy in knocking around payloads and causing chaos.
AR Moon Colony
Quickly checking into the AR moon colony prototype, we were able to finish many of the basic components of the experience. This included 3D models of the colony buildings and add-ons as well as the grid, build, and navigation systems.
Currently, we have planned four possible buildings that can be built in the moon colony. These are:
- Moon Residence – Spawns astronauts
- Greenhouse – Creates smaller greenhouses on adjacent tiles
- Engineer Office – Spawns rovers and robots; adds satellite dish to adjacent tiles
- Solar Panel Farm – Turns on the lights on adjacent tiles
Review & Looking Ahead
For Week 6, our team was able to playtest one of our experiences, payload packing, with both ETC students and high school students. Important mechanics, such as the crane arm operation, seemed to be received well by our testers. Additionally, we continued to make progress with the AR moon colony.
However, the playtesting also revealed a few things that we want to change. Most notably we want to improve our UI. We will make a larger UI that also incorporates additional information about our payloads. We also have a few bugs that we’re looking into. For the AR moon colony, we want to be able to integrate all of our components into a more complete experience.
In Week 7, we will be mostly focused on preparing for ½ presentations. However, we will continue to work on some aspects of our project. For example, we can design and implement a new UI as well as integrate the different components of the moon colony experience.