2.5D Sidescroller Update 2: Build 1 Feedback To-Do List

Using the feedback I received from play-testers in Build 1 I can make a to-do list for what I need to get done for Build 2.

Bugs to Fix

• Fix the numerous bugs associated with the one-way platforms 

• Walking off a platform and double jumping has a gravity issue where the player will fall extremely quickly.

• Go to project plugins and disable VR stuff. Will make packaging quicker.

• Placeholder double jump sound effect doesn't spawn if you jump after walking off an edge.

• Dashing particle effect needs to activate each time the player lands from a jump while still dashing.

• Make the player be able to activate dashing while in mid-air.

Feedback Changes

• The first jump is too high. Lower the first jump velocity

• Upwards momentum needs to immediately stop when the character bumps their head on the ceiling

• Air speed needs to be quicker in the air when jumping while dashing

• However, experiment and make adjustments to how much air control the player has when dash jumping. (Not sure on this one, I want to player to always have full control, I'll give it a go anyway)

• Increase falling speed very slightly

• Change the colour of the red area, change to a more inviting colour. Some players might think the red area is dangerous.

• In the controls area have a separate line for double jumping. So like this: (A -> A Double Jump)

• Change aerial mobility so the player can move left and right a lot quicker in the air

• Tweak the double jump so it feels less like a jetpack. (Jump height, gravity)

• Dashing speed could be faster, adjust dashing speed to be slightly faster.

• Add in a pause menu that allows players to quit the game rather than having to alt + f4

New Mechanics

• Make the player able to drop through one-way platforms 

• Create a simple objective for the player to complete while play testing. (Collectables?)

• Wall Jump

• Long Jump (Functions like 3D Mario long jump, trigger to jump button in quick succession)

• A very short, but quick dash forward. Both in the air and in the ground. (Mapped to the right bumper?)

2.5D Sidescroller Update 1: Build 1 & Play-testing Results

This week I got straight to it and started developing the first build for my 2.5D sidescroller.

The build contains:

Simple test area level for players to move around in. (Colour coded so players don't get lost)
Adjusted Player Movement System (Speed, friction, gravity etc)
Jumping
Double Jumping
Dashing (but functions more like a sprint)
One-way Platforms (Only one way for now)
Minor Particle Effects for dashing and double jumping
Placeholder Background Music: Super Smash Bros Melee - Break the Targets (Jam Alert!)

Screenshots of the build - 

So far I've had 7 people try out the game, while I work on build 2 I will continue sending out builds to gather more feedback this week, as well as gather more feedback from other students during class on Wednesday. 

I gave all of the play-testers similar instructions for their play session.

"Play the game how you would play any other platformer, while playing, tell me everything that's going through your mind about the gameplay. How does it feel to control, is it fast enough, what other moves and mechanics would you expect to see in a game that plays like this, that sort of thing" 

As they played I wrote down every piece of feedback they gave to me, their thoughts and impressions on the game and also suggestions for potential mechanics that they provided on their own merit. Alongside that, I also analysed their gameplay and picked up on a few gameplay habits that may affect how I further design the game. 

Build 1 - Play-testing Results Dropbox Link (PDF)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9nc1jiyqnxdxsvf/Build%201%20Feedback%20Results%20%28PDF%29.pdf?dl=0

Semester 3 Preparation: Brainstorming & Planning

What am I doing in Semester 3?

I want to create a 2.5D Platformer that draws a little inspiration from the character movement in the Super Smash Brothers franchise of games. I will also think of a unique mechanic to make it stand out so I'm not just copying.

Some key areas I want to develop on this semester...

• Maintaining focus and creating a game of a smaller scope. Allowing me to create a more complete and polished game for submission.

• A heavy focus on multiple play-tests. Creating a play-test build plan and getting game feedback at a faster pace, implementing changes with the feedback given to me. 

• Improving animation skill by listening to feedback and making changes accordingly. Animation plays a big role into making a character feel good to play, very important.

Example Play-test Build Plan

Build 1: Simple player movement and controls with default unreal engine guy. No animations, really small environment to test in.

Build 2: Same as build 1 but with feedback changes implemented, gather more feedback and make changes accordingly

Build 3: Basic Character animations and sound effects implemented into the build (Idle, walk, run, jump)

Build 4: Touch up and polish animations, change movement and sound effects if needed using feedback from build 3.

Build 5: Add in various attacks, grounded and aerial with hitboxes. No animations, just functionality. Get feedback on attacks and controls. 

Build 6: Implement animations and sounds for attacks, get feedback on how the animations flow with the movement mechanics they are associated with. 

Build 7: Polished attack animations using feedback from build 6. Changed sound effects if needed, Gather further feedback on the new changes.

Build 8: Implement "special" moves. Functionality, no animations.

Build 9: Change special move functionality with the feedback given from build 8

Build 10: Implement animations and sounds to special moves. Gather feedback on how they look and feel during gameplay

Build 11: Polish animations, change sounds using feedback from build 10

Build 12: Give playtesters a very short level to play through, get further feedback

Etc. This is a basis of a plan, sounds good so far, subject to change should it need to however.

"Why am I doing this?"

There are a couple of reasons I want to create a 2.5D platformer this semester. One of the main reasons is by looking at what I got wrong in semester 1 and semester 2. While I was decently satisfied with the work I produced, there are obviously a lot of things that could of made them better. Looking back at these mistakes I can use them as lessons to formulate a plan and make sure it doesn't happen again in semester 3.

For Animation & Game Feel

During the masters course I have been going out of my way to model and animate my player characters. I've been getting better but I'm still only an amateur, but practice makes perfect. However, while animating my own character is all well and good I haven't spent nearly enough time gathering feedback and polishing animations. During semester 1 in my essay I talked all about what makes player movement so important to player enjoyment. One of the biggest aspects of getting character movement to feel right is the character animation. During semester 1 and 2 I didn't ask for feedback on my character animations at all, because I was thinking at the time "I'm still a beginner at animation, so I won't focus too much on it" but that is a really bad way of looking at things if I want to create a character that feels and looks good while in motion. I will remedy that mistake this semester by immediately asking for feedback when an animation is implemented into gameplay and polishing them using the feedback I am given.

Alongside character animation there are other aspects I need to work on such as game "juiciness". Which is a way to describe the little extra details that are added to a game to bolster player feedback and make a game feel much better to play.

Here's a youtube link to a great lecture called "Why your death animation sucks" by indie dev Nicolae Berbece who talks in depth about game feel. It's a brilliant lecture and one of the few I will always refer to if people want to see a visual example of the development process in making games feel good to play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmSAG51BybY

For Level Design & Scope

In semester 1 I didn't actually sit down and plan out a level design. I just created an open environment with a few places for the player to explore. While it served it's purpose for play-testing and was still enjoyable to move around in I would much prefer to properly think about and design my levels before developing them rather than winging it and quickly designing it on the fly.

In semester 2 one of my biggest focus' was in the level design. While I did successfully plan and design a level, it was way too big and ambitious. I didn't have nearly enough time to polish it properly. So when it came to development and finishing off the project I had 25+ minutes of gameplay, but it wasn't polished and was very rough around the edges.

Designing a 2D game will reduce work amount as in my opinion they are a lot easier to design. When designing a 3D game you have a whole other dimension of space to deal with which makes it harder. I will also learn from my mistakes in semester 2 by designing a level that is a lot smaller. This will give me enough time to spend working on polishing the game, I would much prefer my work to focus on quality over quantity.

For becoming a "Master" of Player Movement

At the end of the day since semester 1 my biggest interest and subject I felt I was most knowledgeable in was "what about player movement makes video games fun to play?" During semester 1 I researched into it, read game design books and watched online developer lectures and learned more about "What makes a player character fun to control?" Semester 2 I took what I had learned and tried to develop an ambitious game of a different genre with a focus on player movement as well as shifting the flow of gameplay through a level design.  Semester 3 however I want to take everything I have learned in semester 1 and 2, and put it all into designing one last fun, polished game to show I know what makes a player character fun to control and also here is a game showing how I have made a character fun to control. Along the way I will further advance my development and design skills as always.

MA Semester 2 Submission: Body of Work, Playthrough, Learning Agreement

Summary

Another semester has come and gone and it's time to submit what I've got for Alpha Mask Striker. Overall I'm decently satisfied. I produced a boat load of work, however I may of overestimated how much work I thought I could do. The game idea was too ambitious and big for me to solo develop, however I managed to get the game to a complete state, with a clear end goal for players to achieve, and with a solid 20+ minutes of gameplay. It's just a shame about the lack of polish. If I get any spare time during the end of semester 3 I would like to come back to this and polish it up a bit more for the degree show.

Youtube Playthrough Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbDa6Kbdkb4

Learning Agreement

Game Jam Work

I also took part in a game jam this semester, it wasn't related to masters, I just did it for portfolio development. Thought I'd put it here anyway.

"Cooly's Funky Ride" Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff0xNnvpNUM

Alpha Mask Striker Update 10:Completed Essay, Gameplay Mechanics, Playtest Results

It's been a while since an update and that's because I've just been getting on with it. However to recap what I've been doing the past month...

Essay Completed

I got my essay done and dusted for the submission on the 27th April

Adding Gameplay Mechanics

Since I submitted my essay, I've been hard at work adding all the different gameplay mechanics and functions to the huge level that I designed over the semester. Here's a list of the gameplay elements that have been added since.

Secret Treasure Chests:

There are 6 different values of treasure chests that you can find. Ranging from very small to very large. You can find these treasure chests hidden around the level. Treasure chests open automatically when approaching them and dispense "Gaia" the game's currency to purchase upgrades for your weapon.

Upgrade Chests/Health & Armor Upgrades:

Upgrade chests function similarly to normal treasure chests, they open automatically as you approach them. However these special chests are a lot rarer and are usually the most well hidden. Inside these chests are health and armor upgrades which will increase your max health or armor depending on which one you collect.

Health Upgrade

Armor Upgrade

Jump Pads/Auto Jump Pads:








Can't forget jump pads, I love these things. When stepping on one of these you are flung high up into the air. There are two versions of the jump pad, the green one is a stationary one, where the player can control their aerial movement after bouncing. The blue jump pad is an automatic jump pad and will fling you to a specific area, the player will not be able to control where they go when jumping on these.









Locked Doors/Door Keys:

Self explanatory, locked door you can't get through. Find the key, come back and unlock the door and proceed. The key looks like a bomb right now because I originally had the idea that locked doors would have a bomb shaped key hole, as you slotted in the bomb key it would start the timer and blow up the door rather than just open it. Way cooler but had to be scrapped as I had to use the time to focus on other things.

Break the hidden targets challenge:

One section of the level branches off into a small secluded area, with targets hidden around the place and a treasure chest behind a magic barrier. If the player manages to shoot and break all the targets in the area the magic barrier will disappear, allowing the player to get to the upgrade chest.

Switches & Levers:

Switches are activated by shooting at the red orb on the device to the right, this will activate various mechanisms based on where they are placed in the level, they are used to open doors, raise and lower lifts or deactivate traps.

Levers function the same as switches but require the player to stand next to them to pull the lever and cannot be activated by shooting them. When a lever hasn't been pulled the square light will appear red, after pulling the lever it will appear green.

Poison Gas:

If the player enters poison gas their health gradually starts to fall for as long as they remain in there. The gas has a purple smoke effect and does not look inviting at all, players will know that it's dangerous. Unfortunately you cannot see how purple it is in this screenshot due to everything looking orange right now, which I'll get to why that is shortly...

Teleport Pads:

Teleport pads can be found throughout the level. These teleporters take you to the Gaia Shop, where you can use your collected Gaia to purchase upgrades. As you discover these teleporters they can then be used from the Gaia shop as shortcuts to various areas of the level. So if the player wanted to backtrack to try and find any secrets that they missed they can use these teleporter shortcuts to return to previous areas.

Enemies:

While I haven't got a screenshot for them yet, I do have 2 placeholder enemies so far. One of them roams aimlessly until they notice the player. When they notice the player they will chase them down and deal damage when touched. I want this enemy to be a floating alien head with two rayman like hands at each side of the head. The other enemy is a simple turret enemy, this enemy will be an alien in a little UFO that shoots at you.

Alongside adding gameplay mechanics I've also had a go at adding some quick simple art assets to try and capture the atmosphere of the level, as an attempt to visualise what the bigger picture could be if I was a game designer that had access to an art team.

To answer the question of "why is everything so orange?" it's because I messed around with the skysphere to get the orange, fiery sunset sorta vibe to the starting area of the level. Once I've built the lighting, interior areas shouldn't look orange anymore.

Playtest Results

To wrap up the update I also had two playtests this month and got feedback from around 15 different people. Rather than ask them to fill out a questionnaire I watched them play and took notes on their gameplay as well as their personal feedback they told me during the play session.

Haste Style Feedback

- A lot of players mentioned they found the sprint speed is too low. (Increase Sprinting Speed)

- A few players mentioned the running animation on the player character isn't very good due to no hip movement. Someone even compared it to Roblox character animation (LOL) This is an issue however as animation plays a huge factor into a character's movement feeling good. (I will try to polish the running animations if I have the time).

- Players really liked the jumping animations, "looks cool", "that double jump looks elegant".  Although sometimes the double jump animation wouldn't activate. (Animation bug, will fix, nice that they like the animation though)

- The Aerial Spin and Dive moves are supposed to give the player a little boost in z velocity, however it doesn't seem to work properly until the hover boots have been activated. After that it works fine. (Gravity issue? Hover boots change the gravity so the player falls slower, maybe I missed a value change somewhere in my player blueprint. BUG FIX)

- Once they were working, players liked the aerial spin and dive moves, almost all of them reacted with "whoa" when they first activated the move. They like the animation and the extra aerial mobility boost they get. Some players experimented and realised you can combo spins, into dives, into double jumps and hover boots etc. Whereas others seemed happy to just use one move at a time. (A case of emergent behaviour, the players that experimented realised the movement of the game just expanded for them, and with that, started to pull off more impressive jumps and traversed the environment in new ways. The players that didn't experiment still managed to get by just fine on the normal path)

- One player in particular mentioned they wanted a ledge grab, for that extra safety net if you don't quite make a jump. I'll think about it, but my ledge grab in StarKid was buggy and I couldn't get it to work properly. Not sure I want to invest the time to get it working in this, as well as have a new animation given all the other mechanics I still have to work on. A ledge grab would be good, and I do want it. But maybe I should focus on other things? I might just make the specific jump he was struggling on a little easier. This is a tough one.

- Some players mentioned that the Aerial Spin and the Aerial Dives functions felt like they were the wrong way round based on their animations.

The Aerial Spin shoots the player directly forward, it functions as an attack as well as a boost in forwards velocity to make longer jumps. 

The Aerial Dive gives the player a boost in z velocity, functioning as an attack as well as a triple jump to make higher jumps.

I understand where they are coming from, I'll swap them around.

Strike Style Feedback

- Players felt like they were moving too slow again. A large majority of them thought this. (Increase movement speed slightly)

- A large majority of the players didn't like the double tap a direction to dash. Some said they would prefer if the dash was mapped to a button instead. (Change dash so it's mapped to a button)

As predicted however, it was a little hard for testers to give feedback on Strike style given a lot of the animations for the character were missing. A lot of them mentioned the character sliding around while shooting looked weird, which it does. (Finish animating as well as figure out how it's going to work!!)

That about does it for work over this past month, it's been very busy and I've had a lot to do. Being realistic everything I wanted to do isn't going to get done as I made the scope of the game a little too big. However, what I have got is a lot and I've learnt a lot so right now I'm happy with it. Plans of action are get as much work done as I possibly can before the deadline. Body of work blog post will be up tomorrow. Time to down some energy drinks, it's gonna be a loooooong night.