Summary
We spent most of the week preparing for the half presentation. It went well and we received good and helpful feedback.
Development-wise, we are a little delayed. We implemented the tutorial puzzles but didn’t finish the other two advanced ones.
Design-wise, we playtested the advanced puzzles, particularly the one related to binary exploitation, with some ETCers with the paper versions, and it worked well. We also brainstormed for the story in our game and agreed on the outline and character settings.
Half Presentation
It’s already halfway through the semester! We took a step back to review what we did, where we are, and where we are heading next. And we delivered the 15-min presentation on Friday. The video recording and the slide deck are shown below.
Feedback
According to faculties’ feedback, we met most of the expectations.
Presentation-wise, major comments included:
- More enthusiasm is recommended
- More explanations on the two CS topics would be helpful
- Could have shown more visuals from the development process
- Should have voiced over the demo video live
Product-wise, major comments included:
- Should iterate on the visuals more, making them support the gameplay and less blend
- How to reward players for correct solutions instead of brute force solving?
- The puzzles look a little too cryptic. Hard to tell if they really tell the CS concepts
- Leave time to polish for playfulness, considering the TAs are teenagers
Development
We implemented the two tutorial puzzles.
We also playtested the other two more advanced paper puzzles with some ETCers. They solved the binary exploitation one, so now we’re more confident and can start making them into digital ones.
Next Steps
We’re having the Fall Breaks next week, and we’ll grab the chance to fully refuel ourselves and come back for the second half with full energy.
Coming back from the breaks, we’ll quickly make up the implementation of the puzzles that we’re falling behind. We are also having the ETC Playtest Day on Saturday right after the breaks, and we’re eager to test out our newest build with some middle & high school students!