So there has been a bit of a disruption on here due to a fun experience. I decided right after the tournament to fall and tear a ligament in my ankle. Yay! But back in the saddle (cowboy pun!)
The Beat, The Step, and The Cowboys Tournament was an awesome success! First we must give recognition to our finalists
1st: Larry Chang
2nd: Abhishek Singh
3rd: Shantanu Daas
4th: Ariel Kuo
And thanks to all of the participants. So the most important this: What did we learn?
- There is a big difference between how a skilled and less skilled player plays. In fact, as a developer of the game, I can’t beat Larry, ever.
- Likewise, there’s a big difference between play styles. In post tournament interviews, we found some players described aggressive, defensive strategies, as well as strategies that relied on making themselves unpredictable
- The way advanced players use bombs is different. Players used bombs not to kill, but to force movements and control the board.
- Level Balance. It may seem obvious, but balancing a level so neither player has an advantage is extremely important.
- Level Flow. Players tend to want to make opening movements to position themselves,
Finally, Awesome announcement: Beatstep Cowboys will be showing at GDC!
Beatstep Cowboys is a Pitch Project at Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Studio, and we will be showing our project on their booth. More info soon on that.