Sam Iteration I - miwamiwa/CART315GroupPrototypes GitHub Wiki

Iteration I: BallTower V2 Melissa and Samuel

2nd iteration of Group Prototype I:

Balltower v2 by team Melissa and Samuel

In this iteration of the new balltower classic the player is once again searching for his dog on a platform filled with balls. The player can attempt to locate the dog by whistling and listening out for his barks. They can also collect arrow crates that will temporarily point them towards the doggo. Each time the player reaches the doggo, the platform falls and a new level start with more balls hiding the dog from view.

In this prototype we attempt to address some of the feedback we received in our first game prototype. We tried making the search more interesting by adding the whistle mechanic and more difficult by only displaying the help arrow on chance occasions. We also tried to adress the pace of the game by making the increase in ball density more pronounced between levels. Balls are also removed from play every few levels to delay the point at which the game becomes too chaotic to play.

  • Is the dog whistling a successful turn in direction, should it be supplemented with something else or simply refined?
  • Are players using mechanics as intended, are there any superfluous ones that have emerged?
  • How can we tune the difficulty to sustain a feeling of progression without ending up with a chaotic gameplay?

Playtest Questions

Are there too many balls?

The number of new ball spawns increases each level, and old balls are removed once in a while. Did you notice? How do you feel about the progression?

Did the fact that the dog moves make it challenging?

Are the arrow crates helpful? Should there be more? Or less, because it's making the search too easy?

Did you jump? Kick? Whistle?

Did you only rely on the barks or on the arrows to search?

Are you interested to see the level number you're at? Should we make it more visible? (Make it a part of UI?)

Are you having trouble with the camera controls?

Any bugs? Last thoughts?

FEEDBACK For this prototype, I took some time to compile the feedback, so here it is:

FEEDBACK (asterisks *** mean additional mentions)

// 2 MANY BALLS

  • no ***
  • feels fair since level and difficulty expected to increase
  • complements the search nicely

// BALL INCREASE

  • is fine ***

// BALL DECREASE

  • didnt notice
  • seems wierd/unnecessary
  • is fine

// DOG RUNNING

  • is cute
  • fits well
  • can be challenging/runs past you sometimes "so close"
  • sometimes challenging not always

// ARROW CRATES -too many -perfect amount * -sometimes useful other times nah -supercooldamn

// CONTROLS -didn't run * -used all but run -used all but run, eventually in the later levels * -kick should be key control -didn't know could whistle at first so jumped alot -whistle gets useful when # balls increases * -preferred jumping -didn't kick -key controls hard to grasp

// BARKS OR ARROWS

  • used mostly barks and jumping to see
  • both
  • mostly arrows and running around

// LEVEL NUMBER ON WALLS

  • is nice **
  • can't see at some point tho
  • would be nice as part of UI because can't see

// CAMERA CONTROLS

  • woop **
  • want to see up

// BUGS

  • sound breaks when too many objects buffer same sound
  • cam can go out of bounds
  • yaaaa
  • dog can fall right next to player when the level starts -"some strange glitching when the camera would only be moving to one side"

// SUGGESTION -friction to allow walking on balls (thought: layers? like friction enabled for player v ball but disabled for ball v ground? not needed?)

  • kick the dog and it goes YIP

// <3 -doggy running around (echoed in proto 3) -balls bouncing and their sounds