Week 5 was dedicated to trying to understand what were the pros and cons of the two prototypes we decided to pursue (Pilot and Bull) and one other game deviant of bull. (Endless Bull Runner)
The Games we developed were:
- Hero Bull: An arena with proposed minigames
- Pilot : A space themed exploration
- Endless Runner Bull: A game where the bull went string and targetted certain things
Week 5 was the last week of our exploration phase and now our goal was to finalize one direction that we would pursue.
We had been exploring various game mechanics which had developed into 3 distinct games. Our plan was to playtest these 3 games with surrogate ETC students and faculty. Through this playtest we would see the various pros and cons of each of these prototypes.
Pilot
- Pro – Freedom/Exploration
- Pro – Tracking the enemy as they made a turn
- Pro – Wider range appeal
- Con – Dwell fire still not good
- Con – Confusion about enemies / targets
- Con – Disorientation
Hero Bull
- Pro – Flinging / Bumping
- Pro – Minigames
- Con – Turning not responsive enough
- Con – Confusion w/ ring
Endless Runner Bull
- Pro – Rewarding Combos
- Pro – People felt excited about it
- Pro – High replayability
- Con – Need to indicate how players are moving
- Con – Easy to get tired by the fast pace
Final Direction
Based on the playtest results, we decided on our final direction by converging the things that had worked.
We came up with the idea of SPACEBULL NOVA.
The concept: Players pilot a spaceship, sprinting towards red enemies, shooting down incoming missiles, and finally flinging enemies away with momentum horns.
Gameplay Objective: Players play as a pilot driving their spaceship – SpaceBull Nova. In each round of play, the player needs to chase a red spaceship by gazing at it to accelerate towards it. Once reached, they would fling it with Momentum Horns.
Game Progression:
- Exploration
Players wander in a set area of the universe. Players can explore to find floating equipment for “Buff”. They can only equip one “Buff” for each Chasing (explained later).
- Chasing
Once Players encounter a target enemy, the chasing round starts. Players need to gaze on enemies to accelerate, dodging/flinging obstacles & shooting incoming missiles to keep approaching the enemy.
