DevLog_06 Game Testing

Game Testing

Below is a link to the feedback form to complete once testing is complete:

https://forms.gle/aAn9ZzxQXL7aSNL3A

Player Feedback

Overall, the play testers most enjoyed the art style of the game, and complimented the fluidity of movement and platforming. They found the music to match the art style, and all agreed or strongly agreed that the game is suitable for ages 6+. 

Some of the more constructive points of feedback were that players found that the seeker enemies were too overpowered and that they hit the player too far on collision. They also found that the second level was a struggle with the current controls to rotate the player and attack enemies. They mentioned during testing that they weren’t sure of the goal for the level, as killing 10 enemies didn’t automatically end the level and there was an artificial timer on the level. 

The players also felt that the player attack area wasn’t far enough, so they had to get too close to enemies to hit them and it was leading to them accidentally running into enemies and being hurt. There was also mention that the players couldn’t tell when an enemy was about to attack, so they could be caught by surprise when trying to time their attacks on enemies. There were some requests for health pickups in the last section of the third level. I experimented with health pickups on the last section of the third level and found that it made it nearly impossible to die. The enemies were placed there to slow the player down and stop the area from becoming purely platforming, so the enemies had to be able to deal some damage and risk the players life if they tried to rush it. Instead, I added health resets on the checkpoints so that there is full health going into the difficult parts, but no top ups during the acid area at the end of the third level.

Updated enemy animation based on feedback. Also decreased attack time.

Updates from Feedback

One of the mains points of feedback was that the second level was a bit too hard, both with players dying and players not being able to kill enough bacteria before the end of the level. That was easy enough to fix. I added more enemies so that there are more opportunities to get kills, I also added a timer to the screen so the player could see how much time they had left. Finally, I decreased how much damage the basic enemies and the falling food does, that way the player is more likely to survive longer overall. I also altered the controls on this level to allow the player to rotate both left and right using Q or E on the keyboard. This makes it much easier to aim and get the kills in time. 

There are quite a few other changes made based on feedback, so to save everyone some reading I’ll just list them all here:
-Altered controls of attack and jump
-Decreased hit power of the seeker enemy.
-Added a checkpoint before the uvula on level one as some players were getting stuck and having to run halfway through the level again every time they died. 
-Added healing on checkpoints so that players have full health going into harder areas.
-Extended the travel distance of the carrot so the players don’t have to jump as far as it threw a few people off. 
-Decreased the default music volume to 10% as a lot of players were turning it down immediately after starting the game.
-Gave Lindslay mode infinite ammo.
-Decreased the time of attack for the gassy enemies.
-Added animation before enemies swell up for gassy attack. 

The timer on level 2

Reflections on Testing Process

Overall, I found the testing process to be very enjoyable, but also eye opening. It is much easier to have a critical view of your game when you’re not focused on actually playing it, and able to watch other people play it. I took many notes while watching people play, and then the players also mentioned some of the same points that I had noted when filling out the survey. 

I think if I were to do it again, I would ask a lot more questions for players to clarify what they mean by certain feedback. They would occasionally let out a “huh” sound here or there and more clarification would be really handy. I could also ask deeper questions in the survey. The testers gave some really good feedback and I wish I could expand on it with them to find out what they think of the potential solutions.

A checkpoint added to level 1, just before the uvula.

Bug Fixes

-Fixed enemy chasing dead player (This also fixed a glitch with the saggy bridge as the enemy was pushing against it after the player died). 
-Fixed player attack particles clipping through players head
-Fixed player blood on death from following the player around, instead it now stays at it’s point in the world if the player is killed and sent flying.
-Fixed bug with the final stats showing up with incorrect values.