The week of Halves was spent trying to wrap up our prototype and resolve as many issues with our fluid molding process as possible. On Monday we had our first playable demo with both AI and molding working within the same scene. However, we had to create a number of temporary solutions to blocking issues that we will need to replace as we move forward.
For example we decided to have a stand-in interaction for slime creation. Guests simply pull slime material from a never-emptying bowl instead of some of the more involved methods we had discussed. We also decided to have a hack for pulling a fluid particle back together. The slime objects very easily split apart into many, many smaller pieces. Further the collider for the slime would end up separated from the particles and was not visibly connected to them. So, when guests clapped this pulled the particles back into their original shape. We also had one hand grabbing and one hand molding as there was overlap between the gestural controls for both activities.
While these are all issues we will eventually need to replace, they allowed us to churn out a demo. There were still many bugs, and no transitions between molding and interacting with slime AI characters. But, the experiences started to feel merged. Players could pluck slime from a bowl, mold it, reform it, drop it into the playground environment and then pull it back out of the space and mold it.
Meanwhile we were also preparing as a group to present at halves. There was a lot of rehearsal required as this was a new experience for half of the group. The space we were performing in was also intimidating and having time there was important.
The day of Halves our performance went well overall. All team members practiced enough that our presentation was smooth and told our story. We managed to refine things down based on faculty feedback and iteration. We had a number of playtesters try our experience and generally the feedback was positive. We did hear that while the molding was fun, it was a bit confusing. It will be very important to resolve the issues and hacks mentioned previously in order to push forward. Players were also looking for more interactivity from the characters themselves. Even things like slime sound effects will make the world come more alive. We will begin talking these issues when we come back from halves.