Testing Story and Character Sprint One - UQdeco2800/2022-studio-2 GitHub Wiki

Story and Character Testing Plan

Aims:

Does the story concept make sense?
Does the character concept make sense?
Do the majority of the studio members like the concepts?
Does this meet our themes of horror and adventure?
Does this work with a rougelike-style game?
Is it lacking any specifics?
Is it enjoyable?

Tasks:

Consult all teams about views on the story and character (offer to DM and talk privately)
Ask them to write out or verbalise what first comes to mind when they think of the concept
Ask them to describe the concept

Observations:

Any comments they make
First impression
Ton of text or spoken word
Areas of concern
Areas where their idea differs from the concept
Areas of hesitancy
The concept makes sense

Questionnaire:

What did you like about it?
What don’t you like about it?
Do you have any comments? on the concept?
Do you have any questions about the concept or how it will be implemented?

Rate on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree):

I think the character concept makes sense
I don’t understand why the character wants to sink Atlantis
I understand how my team should implement the story
I think the character concept is awful
I think the story concept is great
I don’t think this concept will work for roguelike
I think the concept touches on horror themes well
I am excited to work on this project because of the concepts
The story makes me feel disappointed I have to work on the game
I am confident in my ability to implement the story with my team

Draft survey

The team voted in favour of the survey to be confirmed and was circulated within the studio to ensure people where happy to work with this story.

Feedback Story & Character Concept:

Enemies Team:

“I like it, sounds funny. I think it’ll be fun to do a range of enemies so the fancy Greek gym bros on level 1 and the scary spooky sea monsters lower down. And for level 1 boss we might be doing Zeus btw? I still need to get most of this team’s opinion, but I thought when the player walks in, before fighting, he can be doing bicep curls with a lightning bolt which would fit into the level 1 gym-bro aesthetic.”

Skills team:

“I did the survey, nice job working so hard on the document it really shows,I like the premise, and keen to keep having a go at it, the joke premise wasn't my cup of tea but I'm glad to see everyone having fun with it and I think it will make for a great game. Thanks for being so accommodating, I do think I'm in the right feature for this, I'm excited to come up with some wild skills. I think being really tactful with which bits are comedy and which bits are serious will make the comedy stand out more and make for a nice balanced experience, so I'm hoping to go fairly gritty and serious with skill design, but still have a fun flavour with the plumber character. Things like instead of regular tape have magically embedded sealing tape to root enemies for a short time. I think it will be fun, as long as you think the premise permits that”

Team member A: “Hi Elias, I have read the story and submitted the survey. Three-level sounds decent to me, how about the other members think?” Team member B: “I'm down for 3, if we can manage 1 and be able to pull off the animation for moving to another level, 3 levels should be fine”

Elias: “An idea to avoid just another gym bro is lean into gym bro even harder, make him even more muscly (think buff dude from free guy vs beta gym bro (sorry for using beta!)). Hell even make him bigger, we can add to the dialogue about how he’s the bro of the house, how he’s superior to the rest, he’s the elite of the elite”

Member: “Waittt is Hercules or something Greek? Isn’t he meant to be like a super stronk boi? Could we do something with that perhaps and the making him just Uber muscley as you say… Hehe yess “Real gym bros only wear loin cloths” There’s this one character or something I’ve seen but can’t quite remember where they are so buff and their head is so small in comparison. We could do something like that perhaps?”

Feedback from Hoarders Team:

Elias: “Hoarders! Toilet idea negotiable, ultimately the premise of story’s idea was have a chest that maintains the same items throughout all the levels, one at start and end of levels so characters can swap items. Toilet idea came from having pipes in the world and hence it’s funny that all the items he needs to access get ‘flushed’ to the next level and vice versa. If y’all hate it let us know, especially if y’all already have a plan” Member: “I think the idea is kinda awesome!”

Survey Internal Testing - Team members:

What do you like about the story and character?

We like that it does not take itself that seriously
It seems to be quite lavish looking at the start, quite a wide variety of enemies and utility to work with too, will be interesting
I like the use of the theme for gameplay
seems there will be a lot of variety and styles of gameplays that will make it a fun experience and its funny as well, good story + character, just MAKING it all work is a little stressful tbh
It’s fun.
it makes me want to know the following story.

What don't you like about the story and character?

Character: The sudden change from greek divine being to a plumber story
its funny and likeable, nothing for me to dislike
Well, it is atlantis and its ancient times, was there really someone who was specifically provided with 'tools' and 'knowledge' and were toilets really a thing?
I’m a bit confused on where the horror theme is coming in. Is it in the lower levels?
the character do not have much similar to us, so can not make me appreciate it as a personal favour.

Do you have any comments?

If the concept is a plumber then adding horror elements might not be the best option
Going forward I'd like to see the dark aspects of Atlantis, such as a grungy lower level where the lower class has to exist, then the bottom floor could be this sanitised location where a secret society is pulling the strings
it is good！

Do you have any questions about the concept or how it will be implemented?

I think the wiki described most of it perfectly
How does one make animations in java based game or libgdx? How do you actually implement a new image made from pixel art into the game? for someone with no java experience, its getting a lil overwhelming
Nope.

1: Strong disagree - 5: Strongly agree

Positive Questions:

I think the character concept makes sense: Average 4
I am excited to work on this project because of the concepts: An average 4.1
I understand how my team should implement the story: An average 4.16
I think the story concept is great: An average 4.5
I think the concept uses adventure themes well: An average 4.4
I think the concept uses horror themes well: An average 2.5
I am confident in my ability to implement the story with my team: An average 3.6

Negative questions:

I don’t understand why the character wants to sink Atlantis: An average 1.83
I think the character concept is awful: An average 2.3
I don’t think this concept will work for roguelike: An average 1.5
The story makes me feel disappointed I have to work on the game: An average 2

Areas of concern:

Horror themes not being used well
Implementing the story in other teams
Not understanding why the character wants to sink Atlantis
The character concept is awful
Disappointed have to work on the game because of the story

User Testing Outside of the Team:

The game's story and character was explained to them, they where asked for their initial thoughts.

“I prefer the structure of the story, and the content of the story appeals to me. There is no particular dislike. Most meet ancient greek. Personal orientation issues did not make me have insert emotion.”

“I’m confused why there is a plumber in an ancient setting, I don’t think they had flushable toilets?”

“It’s really good!”

“Okay, that’s pretty rad :3”

Asked About Colour Association

Q: "Would yall associate this with an ancient greek/Atlantis type theme?"

Answers:

"Yep, especially because of this game"
"Yes!" [Heart react]

Design & Story External Testing Plan

Aims:

Does the rulebook make sense? Do people like the colour choice? Do people like the font choice? Does this meet our themes of horror and adventure? Does it encourage cohesive design Does the story concept make sense? Does the character concept make sense? Do the majority of the studio members like the concepts? Does this meet our themes of horror and adventure? Does this work with a rougelike-style game? Is it lacking any specifics? Is it enjoyable?

Tasks:

Ask them to write out or verbalise what first comes to mind when they think of the concept
Ask them to describe the concept

Observations:

Any comments they make
First impression
Tone of text or spoken word
Areas of concern
Areas where their idea differs from the concept
Areas of hesitancy
The concept makes sense

Questionnaire:

What do you like about the design?
What don't you like about the design?
What do you like about the story?
What don't you like about the story?
Do you have any comments?
Do you have any questions? Rate on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree):
I think the colour choices for all the levels make sense
I think this fits with the ancient greek theme
I think this fits with the plumber theme
I think this fits with the horror theme
I think this fits with the adventure theme
I like the title font choice
I like the dialogue font choice
I like the colour choice
I like the character
I think the story makes sense
I understand why the main character wants to sink Atlantis

Responses:

Received 15 responses from people outside of the studio, many chose not to comment.

What do you like about the design?

I like how Ancient Greek is represented in the design

title font!

Fonts are dope

Purple being used to represent

The NPC design is nice

"the architecture is fun like the greek aspect cause its Atlantis just a little confused on the time period of it when is the game set in regard to its time period -s o we could reflect that in the NPCs present in the game and the relationships that are being explored. Since it's said that we are at Atlantis it's assumed that it will be set during the ancient Greece era but which one is the question cause of some conflicting things like the upper reflecting the old times with the architecture but also the new stylings of current Greece so a little different in it. are the upper class holding on to the idea of the old times for superiority's sake and to be closer to the concept of divinity to give them to right to be "arseholes" if the slums look so much like the game stray is it going the be pretty futuristic like it kinda conflicts with the ancientness of the upper sector why mostery for lower levels what made it like that"

What don't you like about the design?

The first level colour is too bright and doesn't fit into the horror theme

The font feels more like a normal pixel game, not an Ancient Greek one

The purple isn’t rich enough

"conflicting time periods - when is it set so would that influence the look of the areas u explore

upper ancient inspired middle slums - futuristic inspired "

What do you like about the story?

It's clear why the plumber wanted to sink Atlantis

How the island will sink

The plumber guy

Atlantis, it’s one of my favourite stories

"- the concept is fun - plumber tired of rude people and is willing to sink atlantis even if it means that the protag must go thru all the different levels and enemies in order to even do it so the pettiness level is fun - although i understand that is a surface level understanding of the game i would like to know abit more about atalantis and its history and how its come to be - like how the upper class become the upper class who is appart of the said class etc"

What don't you like about the story?

Plumber seems like it doesn't fit in but I don't know if ancient Greece had plumbers so could be wrong...

The horror part, it doesn’t make sense

Didn’t know there was plumbers in Ancient Greece

The horror?? I guess? As it doesn’t make sense, like is it in level 2 onwards or?

i like the concept of the story i find it funny, no real issues.

Do you have any comments?

It’s a cool idea

Funny idea, keen to play it

"- why is Atlantis separated into quadrants - history/lore

are the people of Atlantis related to the monsters

how the monsters get to Atlantis - where they always there? evolution? the greek gods at play?

like the fact that the npcs are going to be mixed poc thats a fun idea but maybe explain how those people got there

is atlantis an island or is it connected to the mainlained - geography

whats the world building of the game

can you talk to the npcs in the game as the protag - are there any side quests?

like the idea that the art style is like terraria/ stardue valley/ undertale

can the npcs make a noise when ur interact with them

does the game allow u to explore or does it only really prompt the player to follow the story?"

Do you have any questions?

Does the plumber dude survive when he sinks the island? How do the monsters and horror come into this? It's weird to go from fancy mansion to monsters tbh "the lore - how did it come to be? why is it separated? monsters where did they come from? where were they first there? did the people of Atlantis evolve from them? are they related to the monsters? how do each class feel about one another - relationships exploration? don't really know all that much about the plumber - need a bit more info about them than just an older gent that worked long enough for upper snobs and as a result, want to sink it cause they had enough - assumed that they might be from the slums so classism conflict?"

Rate on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree):

I think the colour choices for all the levels make sense - An average of 4.3
I think this fits with the ancient greek theme - An average of 4.4
I think this fits with the plumber theme - An average of 3.9
I think this fits with the horror theme - An average of 3.0
I think this fits with the adventure theme - An average of 4.7
I like the title font choice - An average of 4.6
I like the dialogue font choice - An average of 4.5
I like the colour choice - An average of 4.6
I like the character - Average of 4.4
I think the story makes sense - An average of 4.3
I understand why the main character wants to sink Atlantis - An average of 4.6

Take Aways:

Story doesn't quite make sense
The horror doesn't fit in
Plumber needs to be connected to the story better
Need to flesh out the lore more and fix plot holes