The Work This Week
Test Server
This week, the programmers have been working hard together with the CMU tech support team to build up a test server that holds our game on all supported machines without any additional setup. On the other hand, with the data synchronization between the server and client with a json implemented earlier, we were working on the shrink/expand game function for answering CTF questions, as suggested by our client.
Here’s the link to the test server: http://s1902.picoctf.com:8004/. The web page will automatically update as new builds of the game are pushed to picoCTF GitHub.
Game Design
Earlier this week during the faculty meeting, we were suggested to rethink the name of “aliens” to refer to those creatures on the planets, as the protagonist (who got lost after a space travel) is in fact the “aliens” to them. We decided to go with “inhabitants” which is more neutral and less earthling-centered.
The team was not proposing any new systems this week since we wanted to get the game ready for halves. However, after the client meeting, the team did become aware that the gap between gameplay and cybersecurity should be noted. After a discussion on Friday, we agreed to introduce cipher substitution using “encrypted conversation” when talking to the inhabitants, for example:
Original: I’ll give you 4 yiaberry and 2 iron for 2 adruppium.
Encypted: V’yy tvir lbh 4 lvnoreel naq 2 veba sbe 2 nqehccvhz.
Players will need to figure out what this sentence means to facilitate communication. Of course, they still can trade with inhabitants regardlessly, it’s just something that adds to the world settings and fun factor.
Art
Not having a dedicated UI designer, the team took faculty instructors’ advice and looked for some free-to-use UI materials that fit our space theme. Luckily it didn’t take much time and effort before we decided on a relatively modern and minimalistic UI pack that offered some basic elements such as buttons, fonts, and panels. The game felt much more polished after we switched from Unity default UI to the new one!
Halves Preparation
For our Halves presentation next week, we made sure to not only create an effective slide deck that documented our overall journey this semester in our exploration of a novel space concept, but also decided to show off what we have got so far as a complete game concept with core systems implemented and running.
Tune in next week for the video of our presentation, from which you will be able to see the fruits of our labor!
Client Meeting
We closed out the week with our client meeting on Friday, where we showed the latest version of our game and received feedback. Our client suggested us to consider adding some cohesion to cybersecurity, on which we discussed later and made some changes (under Game Design channel).
We also got permission to use the test server for future playtesting, which will drastically reduce the cost to run a server on our own end.
The Plan for Next Week
Next week, we have nothing else planned outside of continuing to refine our presentation that has been scheduled on Wednesday. In addition, on Monday we are going to have the final rehearsal with our faculty instructors. Stay tuned for our blog for week 8 as we’ll be posting a video of our zoom presentation there!