Play Testing

This round of play testing has been the single most helpful round of place testing to date. Being able to watch people play, and see their facial expressions was pivotal in understanding when the experience was actually working for someone, if someone was frustrated, if someone was laughing at a joke, or if someone was (in general) empathetically connecting with the characters on screen. After doing all of these tests, I now have a good idea of what's working and what needs to be brought into balance for the release (of the first part) of Act 1!

Seeing The Forest Through The Trees

As a game developer it's important to not have to explain your game, and what's happening in it (unless it's intentional); it simply needs to be able to stand on its own. Sometimes that's what's going on within the story itself, the gameplay mechanics, and how they work in various situations. Someone should be able to pick up the game, and start to experience it without too many hang-ups, frustrations, or interruptions. I view my game as a piece of art, and as a piece of art that means that much of it is subjective to what I find entertaining, and meaningful but there's a balance that I want to strike as well. What I create still needs to be digestible for folks. A playable game not entirely subjected to my creative whims, but in the format of a playable experience as is the medium Ive chosen. For instance, I could tell when watching the playthroughs that some individuals love this type of game already. They knew what to do, how to do it, and they loved that it was a chill and narrative based experience. It's as much an interactive novel as much as it is a game (if not more). Did I make a solid list of refinements? Yes indeed, as there were key areas that need refinement. That being said, all the criticism was valid when taking into account someone else's personal perspective / expectations. Im going to touch on an outlier example, because I found it enlightening. I had one playthrough where the person became angry, and frustrated by the amount of text they had to read! They wanted a button to skip all of the text. They wanted platforming! Jumping on boxes and floating walkways! Action! Boom pow type of experience! And you know what? Their perspectives / feelings are entirely valid, but also not what Ira is about! Obviously this person isn't my target demographic, but there were still things to be learned from this interaction. An option to bypass text, or have characters opt out of conversations might have a place in Ira. Periodically giving people the option to opt out of longer scenes if they are not as interested isnt bad advice when blanched with the heart of the game. The player can decide what they are interested in exploring further in certain instances, and there is merit to that! Ira will never be a platformer, but they picked up on the character controlled sections needing more depth / refinement. As a person who loves getting behind the wheel of a character, they found some of the interactions / controls lacking. Specifically tool use was a little wonky, and at times a bit underwhelming. Watching them play gave me some solid points of refinements to make in this area. All that being said, getting a diverse set of play testers both inside and outside of your demographic is pivotal in understanding what youve created, and should always be leaned into. A person who is attune to character controlled action games might bring a different sensitivity to round out your refinements! [previewyoutube=d1oKOI5bYso;full][/previewyoutube] One of my favorite additions has been the darkness that envelopes a character when their flashlight isn't on. You get swallowed by it, and when you flip on the flashlight it cuts through the darkness and unveils things to interact with! Its a simple, yet fun and mysterious interaction. I know it seems little but sometimes thats all it takes to push something over the edge. Anyway, I cant express enough gratitude for everyone that reached out and took the time to play the demo. What I learned has been invaluable for the next steps in refinement, and the updates are well underway. Once again, Im grateful and appreciative of all of you! Please reach out if you are interested in round 2 of playtesting at info@iragame.com! This should be the last test before the first part is released.

MegaGrant Phase 2 Funding

Its been about 74ish days since requesting more funding to finish Ira the way it was meant to be, and hire a 2nd person! I should hear back within the next 2 weeks either way. That being said, it's rare to get 1 MegaGrant, let alone 2 of them! Fingers crossed folks! Currently Im planning on / working towards releasing the smaller episode as talked about in a previous update. Its basically going to be a refined version of the demo with extra content switched on totaling 1.5 hours or the first 1/3rd (roughly) of the game.

Wrapping Things Up

Anyway, thats how things are currently going and I hope all of you are doing well! How are you folks doing? I want to hear about it! I've really enjoyed getting to know many of you over the years! It was a treat meeting many of you as play testers. <3 Until next time folks!

[ 2023-09-28 17:34:57 CET ] [ Original post ]