Week 12: Preparing for Softs

Summary

This week we evaluated the feedback we received from the ETC Playtest Day and prioritized our tasks in preparation for Softs. Elaine, our client, came to the ETC to hear about our progress and the feedback we received. She introduced us to a new method to evaluate tasks by first writing down everything that needs to be done and then comparing two tasks and asking yourself which one is more important. You continue to do this until all tasks have been assessed, revealing a breakdown of most important at the top to least important at the bottom. This was incredibly helpful for our team and allowed us to really confront what it is we think needs to get done before softs in order for everyone to feel confident. After this meeting we divided up tasks and have been focused on prep for softs.

Art

This week we finished the polishment of new UI art. The new UI style will be more festive. We used the color palette from our logo design to make the whole game look visually cohesive.

We also started to draw the new tutorial pages based on UX designer’s tutorial design. The new tutorial will look like a monkey professor introducing mechanics to three little monkeys.

Design

This week we worked with the artists to come up with a new design for our tutorial. Based on the feedback we got on Saturday’s ETC playtest, we found that it would be more engaging for the players to have story-telling instructions of what is the goal of this game. And we were thinking about adding a narrative design to come up with a complete story board which will show the whole process of the game. Thus, players will be able to understand our game more in the preparation stage. 

Tech

Updated Portal Effect

Improved gameplay mechanics(2 players can now form a link to help herding)

We received the new UI design along with guidelines aimed at transforming our discussion phase into more of a game-like experience rather than a standard app. With the new design, players can easily identify their character and role, and they also receive more feedback when selecting answers. 

Additionally, we are currently planning to implement the second level by the end of the weekend in preparation for the soft opening. While most technical challenges have been resolved, we are still working on how to seamlessly switch scenes or levels while maintaining network connectivity.

Next Steps

After softs, our big goal is to implement the 3rd phase. We will also focus on polishing and addressing any bugs that might affect the gameplay. In the coming weeks we will also look into what the future of the game looks like and where we see it going.