This week we are mainly focusing on getting a build for soft and playtest.
We analyzed the demographic and feedback from last playtest and here is the result:
According to the charts, our game can use some improvement on the juiciness and background story explanation to make players feel more involved and excited. Hence, we are currently developing a couple of cutscenes, which introduces the background story and characters, as well as adding more FX and other props to make the gameplay more interesting.
For the cinematic cutscenes, we iterated many versions of storyboards which eventually let the player stand by side with our protagonist, and understand why the killer whales are bad guys. Above all, we want the players to feel it is fun to watch them and to motivate them to continue to play, which means they also serve as part of the rewards after completing each level.
For the UI, we want to redesign so that they are more unified and have the same kind of retro sci-fi feeling as the gameplay. We were also able to add more visual elements to the UI as the game art progressed further. We also made sure that the buttons on the main menu are centered so that it is easier for people to select with an eye tracker, as well as experiencing a smoother transition when the game screen switches from the menu to the gameplay. Other than redesigning the existing UIs, we also added more interface such as the instruction menu, setting menu and score boards.
For the 3D assets, we are able to iterate the materials for the spaceships, so that they now look more inviting. The materials of Killer Whale are more metallic, less plastic, enriching with damages and other micro details. By adding the name onto the exterior of the spaceships, it further emphasizes and distinguishes the identity of each type of spaceship. The red emissive lights at the back of Killer Whale serve as extra visual clues to make it more visible to the players at far distance.
For next week, we will be preparing for the soft, as well as lots of iterations, including the audio dialogue, cinematic cutscenes, user setting permanence and more accessibility options. We will also integrate the content that we created this week and to have a new build for the soft.