Newsletter #10: March 27th
Overview:
This week we began using our feedback from our first playtest to implement small changes that could enhance the experience. We also began to implement the UI into our game which it was lacking. Development also began on the Dominant Species Card Game. We ended this week with a playtest at the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC)
The playtest build can be downloaded at:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B61FeDSwwr4uN1NvTnd2SVVGV00&authuser=0
Tasks Completed:
- Integrated UI
- Design and Initial implementation of Instructions
- Playtest on 28th March
- Initial Dominant species card game implementation
- Art Update
- Improved Workflows- Handing off Journal content creation to designers
Playtest and Findings:
This past Saturday March 28th, we had our second playtest at the ETC. We had 14 children between the ages of 7-10. We were able to playtest some of our initial instruction sets and our new UI. We are still compiling all of the information we got from the playtest, and will be using the initial insights to improve our build for the playtest on this upcoming Wednesday.
Design:
The design team have been finishing up on the next few games and have directed some energies towards creating an instruction flow for the current games. They have also worked on finishing up on the Journal game design and have started working on the last of the relationship game.
Art:
The artists have been churning out assets:
Explorer for the Tutorials:
Updated Local Map:
Icons on the map:
Programming:
This week our programmers implemented new features such as the UI and the Dominant Species Card game as well as polished some of the older games.
They also added in new features into the game such as the instructions working alongside the designers.
Also the programmers were able to hand off some of the journal content creation to the designers having created the necessary tools and pipelines to do so. This allows the designers to freely create and alter the information that is important to the games and also frees up developer time to do other tasks.
Moving Forward:
Next week the team has a playtest at the Mountainview Elementary School on Wednesday. We are planning for this to only be half the team and looking to create the necessary questionnaire.
We will also:
- Go over the playtest feedback from both playtests
- Finish up initial implementation of the Dominant Species mini-game
- Implement new art assets into the games
- Keep working on creating new art assets
- Update the build for the upcoming playtest
Important Dates and Deadlines:
April 1st Wednesday: Playtest at Mountainview