Weekly Dev Log #7 (Beta Edition)

This is Alex Rutishauser here again giving you an update on week 7 of development for Deadshot! 

Goals for the team this past week:

• Have Beta ready 
• Import final art assets to be ready before launch
• Review enemy behavior
• Add sounds 
• Implement changes based off player feedback this week

Which of these Goals have been accomplished by the team? 

• We implemented new art assets for Deadshot (Background specifically)
• Made slight changes and improvements to UI
• Variety of sounds added 

What are the team's goals for next week?

• Gather feedback and make any necessary changes that players think will improve Deadshot! 
• Add some more art if needed in certain areas 
• Maybe make slight level tweaks if needed based off feedback

What have you accomplished this past week?

• Added some sound effects for the game
• Fixed UI elements slightly
• Changed weapon mechanics (pistol is now free fire, so no reload is required but ammo is still limited)
• Changed small portion of level 
• Made Stickman's bullets bigger so players can see where they're shooting during gameplay

What will you accomplish by next week?

• I wish to have all our assets in place before we move into our post production phase 
• Look through any issues we're having in the game right now (bugs such as enemy AI)

What Will you need to learn to accomplish these goals? 

• I'll need to learn which assets need priority to work on 
• Look into issues and possible solutions 

Playtesting Report for this Week:

What were you playtesting? 

We were playtesting our Alpha build with some slight changes 

What did you want to learn through this playtest?

We wanted to learn if everything that we've implemented thus far in terms of assets and level design was in a good state overall before moving towards beta. 

Who were your playtesters? Do they represent your target audience?

Our playtesters were our classmates once again. 

What did you observe? What did you see when they were playing? Did they interact the way you expected?

I observed that the players were jumping through some portions of the level avoiding enemies, and that they would die very easily to the enemies. Also, the pistol didnt seem very effective as we thought against enemies, so we knew that changes had to be made for player health and damage. 

What questions did you ask your playtesters after they played the game?

We asked if the game felt fine from a mechanics standpoint and if everything seemed fine before we moved closer to beta. 

What feedback did you receive from your players?

-Bullets need to be bigger for stickman

-Ammo on UI seemed confusing (2 Different Numbers Displaying)

-Make slight UI changes (Icons next to ammo and such)

-Sounds to add character to the game

-A bit more verticality in level

-If possible time played counter at death/end screen

What, if anything, will you do with that feedback? Did you learn anything?

As always, player feedback is valuable and we'll keep it into consideration when making changes to Deadshot! We definitely learned quite a few things in the recent playtest and will keep note of it when working this week.