Since the end of last week, we have not deviated drastically from our newest design. Instead, we have conducted several playtests (three in total, spread over two days), mainly to see if we should stick with a system that automatically rates player’s news-spreading tactics or if we should have players rate each others’ tactics instead.
Through those playtests, we have decided to slightly narrow the number of categories players can choose from in order to spread disinformation (we cut “frequency,” after discovering that the category both confused players and wasn’t as important to have around as some of the other categories, such as “headline”). What’s more, we have consulted with a professional journalist concerning our game’s framework; she pointed out that some of the most important aspects we could hit on are headline and photo, while aspects like frequency are a bit less important.
As far as the actual content of our game goes, we have now decided to ask players to spread stories that are more rooted in reality (which will allow us to more heavily bank on players’ associations with specific people, places, events, et cetera). We are currently conducting research on topics/stories that players would be able to a) connect back to real life, and b) feel compelled to engage with (which we will determine with the help of a survey).
Additionally, we built a rough non-responsive UX prototype, which we were able to show to Brenda Harger during our faculty advisor meeting. While Brenda liked the direction we were going in, she also mentioned that our current prototype felt very individual (with respect to the act of sharing fake news). After being urged by both our client and Gigantic Mechanic game designer Greg Trefry to focus on bolstering our game’s social aspects, this new revelation was less than ideal.
In the coming week, we will be working to solve this design problem, as well as continue to test, build and iterate on narrative, UI, UX, and tech (we are currently planning playtests for both next Tuesday and next Thursday).