Playtest for 10/10

Safety in Embers Playtesting Report:

This round of playtesting showed us that the main elements of our game are working as intended. Players feel relaxed, if a little scared of the dark environment, and they enjoy the pacing of the game allowing them to become immersed in the environment. The small scale event system we have in place was enjoyed, and playtesters wish there was more of an emphasis on it asking for both visual and audio cues when events are happening. The events we currently have in place are satisfying, but not to the degree that our playtesters would like. This week we are going to begin experimenting with a more dynamic event system in order to give a little more depth to the vignettes that break up the scene. There were some mixed feelings about the control scheme of mashing spacebar taking the player out of the scene, but another player really liked the futility of attempting to relight the fire after it’s gone out. Other players were confused in general about the game, however, with this style of non-gamified gameplay this is unsurprising. Players also loved the changing of the scene based on the size of the fire, so adding more meat to the core of our game will be the focus moving forward into Alpha.

Potential changes moving forward:

           More player interaction

           More emphasis on events (i.e. cues etc.)

           More audio feedback

More events

Deeper events

Flesh out the events already in the game

More dynamic sound

Less confusion in “goal” and events

Expanding and populating the scene

Brainstorm control schemes

Michael Whitten 10/7/17

This week we had some new art assets be made along with some new sounds. I am working on a multiple layer track that loops and different instruments will be cutting in and out of the song reacting with the environment.

We also had a very big sit down to talk about the goal of the game, what is the main drive for the fire. Why is the fire there, what is its purpose? These are all things we are trying to figure out, and we are at the stage of development trying to find meaning behind it all.

JA 10/5

This past week I've spent administrating the process of moving into the next build, figuring out specifically which events we're going to implement, as well as spending time working on unique ways for the events to trigger. I have begun to construct a work schedule for the rest of the quarter and will spend this weekend fleshing it out.

JA 9/28

This past week has been spent mostly doing design work rather than production. I've been pulling art/game feel references in order to bring the team thinking closer together, writing up an events list to plan for future features and playing similar games in order to get a feel of how we want to push the game. I have yet to make a complete schedule but that will be my work moving forward. Talking with the team and working together will give me an idea of how long things will take, what else we can implement in scope etc. and greatly assist with the schedule creation

Zach 9/25

 --More art assets--

JA 9/21

This past week was spent pushing towards the prototype, so most of my work involved figuring out the components we would need for a successful prototype and pushing the team towards that goal. I played with builds, approved animations and art designs, and came up with some reference images and games to help the team. Staying on top of the project organizationally, checking in with the team and progress, and continuing to be available as often as possible (i.e. always) will be my goals moving forward. We're in a great spot right now and with the right amount of work will have a fantastic product at the end of the quarter.

Steady Progress

The past week, we managed to get a basic prototype up and running, which has let me work more on art assets. Our style has remained fairly simple, which allows for rapid art style testing and adjustment, and let me experiment on different methods inside of Autodesk Maya.