Posted October 04, 2023 by Conthorp
Playtesting was successful this week. Dylan's platformer featured automatic side-scrolling movement and a grapple you can use to swing around, while Alex's used a more typical WASD platformer movement, with the goal of testing how people feel about the grapple mechanic while having a control to compare to. Playtesters were very receptive to the physics of the grapple, and though they said it needed work, saw potential in the mechanic, and many features and changes they asked for were already planned.
The prompt for the next prototypes is "Corrupted Vision". For this set of games, Alex will be making a more free-form exploration centred platformer, while Dylan will be making a more linear platformer which goes against the original concept by holding the player's hand far more and being very easy to beat, with both games featuring the grapple mechanic as well as left/right movement capabilities. If playtesters dislike the prototypes fundamentally, then the original concept should be the better choice to pursue in the future. If playtesters enjoy the prototypes, then perhaps an overall change in direction is in order.