We have a whole prototype running very well on the iPad and iPod/iPhones. On Monday and Tuesday, the team did a quick internal play testing to find any small problems in the game. We came up with over 20 things to fix, and we fixed them. For example, we simplified the user interface used for connecting devices together so that it would be easy for people to follow. We tweaked the volume of the sound effects so that no individual player’s sounds will overpower the others. We tweaked the design of the levels so as to present a balance between designs that seem constructed and those that seem more random in order to maximize both surprise and the feeling of polish.

Next Week

This upcoming week, we will stress test our game and try to find as many bugs as possible. Then, have the pleasure of presenting the game during three consecutive days to employees from EA as well as game enthusiasts from around Silicon Valley. We will take careful notes of their feedback and make implementations on a daily basis.

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Developed Prototype V2.2

We implemented several new improvements to our game. Now, when cars are paired, arrows appear above them indicating the gesture that each individual car has made. This should make it easier for paired cars to sync their gestures. In addition, we’ve added power-up tiles – when players pass through them, they get an increase in speed. Because we’ve designed this speed increase via a logarithmic function, players who are further behind will experience a greater speed increase than those at the front, thus improving the dynamic nature of the game.

Playtest with High School Students

On November 9th, 2012, team West-Turn had a public playtest with 30 high school students. They each played our game, often several times over. After each round, we asked them to fill out surveys wherein they could not only describe the things they enjoyed and the things they wished could be improved, but also rate different aspects of our game, including how clear the goal was, how easy it was to learn to play, and how fun it was. Overall, the response was very positive and we gathered great ratings on all accounts.

We took advantage of this playtest to also do some A/B testing in order to figure out whether cars which lag behind should be eliminated. It seemed as if both versions were equally fun, so we’ve decided to create a new version we hope will marry the advantages of each. In the first 2 minutes of the new version, we will not allow cars to be eliminated. In the last 30 seconds of the game, we’ll allow cars to be eliminated. This will hopefully make people who survive until the very end happy. At the same time, we will avoid players from being eliminated too quickly.

Next week, we will start developing our PV3, where we will be using our level editor to build level 1 for the game. More obstacle and art is coming.

Let’s go team West-Turn!

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Team West-Turn gave a presentation for Halves about our progress and exhibited a live demo of our game. After the presentation, many artists, programmers and designers visited our demo booth. Artists gave great feedback about colors, objects and theme. Programmers talked about Bluetooth connection, plug in and Unity. Designers talked about the jump system, elimination system, item system and the balance of the game. We received over 30 suggestions in 30 minutes, which was an amazingly efficient way of getting user feedback. This time, we couldn’t have one on one interview but did a group session with open feedback where we listened and answered questions.

Next Week

We will start development on our next iteration of the game, which will feature a more defined game mechanic and a tweaked balance system for better experience. We are half way there and we feel like we can do more during the time given to us.

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After a successful playtest, we marched on to iterate designs and make a better version of the prototype. We changed many things.  For example, players now are encouraged to hold the controller in portrait mode and place the iPad in the same orientation.  Players who perform poorly are now eliminated from the game, and players have new ways to avoid obstacles like jumping.

It was a very challenging two weeks. We had to implement UI, improved features, more art assets and tutorials. Our team had to communicate and work in tight schedules to create many features for the next prototype version.

On October 26, we opened our game to a public playtest. Many people were interested so we were fortunate to get a total of 6 groups (over 20 people) to test our game.  We found that the game rules needed clarity and that we need to iterate the game mechanics. What was great from the playtest was seeing how much playtesters enjoyed the game and how eagerly they said they awaited the following version.

Next week, we will be doing our halves-presentation and showcasing a live demo. Until then, we will be debugging and improving the features.  Like the last presentation, we will impress the audience with a great game and a great presentation. Let’s go team West-Turn!

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Developed First Prototype

We worked hard this week to finish development of our first prototype. This prototype includes all the basic mechanics including avoiding obstacles, pairing, and shakedowns. It also includes the basic art layout such as the road, cars, as well as randomized obstacles and stock music with audio effects.

Playtested Prototype

We held our first playtest to get feedback from other ETC students. The response to the game was positive. Playtesters said it was “exciting,” “fun,” and that they felt connected to other players in the game. They liked the pairing mechanic, and wanted more visual and auditory feedback from the game during shakedowns and pair-ups  On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the most fun game they’ve ever played), they rated our game a 6.

Next Week

We will be working on adding additional systems to the games, in addition to new art and sound assets.
If you just can’t wait to see this game in action—stop salivating. Here is our first playtest video:

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Finished Detailed Game Design Document

This week, we wrote a detailed game design document and came to a consensus on the finer details of the gameplay. We presented this to our Smilegate which was impressed with the quality and level of detail of this document. As a team, we also came up with additional ideas that we can use after the core gameplay has been fully explored, including an item system and an attack system. We’re aiming for a wacky and humorous mood for the game.

Created Paper Prototype 

We have created a paper prototype and played it to check if our game mechanics had any flaws. Through the paper prototype we learned ways of improving the design. For example, we learned that we need a mechanism for the players’ speeds to vary right from the beginning of the race. We also learned that it would probably be a good idea to ensure that multiple obstacles don’t appear in the same lane too close to each other.

Designed Game Architecture 
Our programmers have finished de- signing the core game architecture. This will ensure that each program- mer’s code will fit properly into the overall schematic of the game. Not only will the code be flexible, but it will able to track player behavior during the game. This will let us analyze player data during playtests, which will help us improve the design of our game.

Next Week 

• Finish the first virtual prototype
• Playtest the prototype

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We presented our team project and progress to approximately 20 Electronic Arts employees, as well as the rest of the SV-ETC.

We received a great reception from the audience, many of whom were excited about the game that we are building, saying it reminded them of fun racing games they played as children. One audience member asked us how the players were going to hold their individual phone; another commented that each player can press the iPhone to calibrate the location of the phone.

Next week we will be building our first prototype. Our game designers are working on documentation so to aid in the development of the prototype. Stay tuned for more information on our website at http://www.etc.cmu.edu/projects/west-turn/

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