The Non-Gamer!

Today I tested with a further 6 people, out of which 1 failed the test again. The one that failed didnt manage to figure out that the symbols were actually able to be activated and was confused about the whole endeavour. Whereas everyone else who comepleted it managed to all complete it within a 5-10 minute margin this time round.

Out of the other 5 people that tested it all reacted as I had hoped, not knowing what to do for the first few minutes then eventually testing out things e.g. seeing if the symbols can be interacted with, then realising the walls moved. Once they realised that the walls moved they generally figured out the puzzle shortly after. Everytime they sat down to play, they always asked me what they had to do, but when I wasnt going to say anything they then started to explore for themselves. Every one of them again went to the switch from the start to which they all answered 'It was the only thing that seemed to be interactable' which was the reason they tried to press it.

I got a 7th and final player to test it today also, a player that doesn't play games atall! And to my amazement, she completed it! The test took her 30 minutes, so a while longer than some of the more hard-core testers, but still learnt exactly the same way as they did. One very interesting point was, where the ones that failed it were frustrated or confused, this tester was very relaxed while trying to figure out the puzzle. The only things I had to tell her (due to her not being a PC gamer) was that 'E' was interact 'WASD' was move and the mouse was to look around. Once this was understood she then explored the level and managed to match all the symbols, and even realised that some had to be added together. The walls that threw a few players, were thought about a lot differently also. This player at first thought that if she went to the smaller symbols above the walls, that maybe something would happen that would harm her so was hesitant at first; but after realising they didnt tried to see if something else happened even if something opened somewhere else. Finally as every player has done thus far, even this player went straight to the switch...because it looked like a button...

Next I have an idea that is going to use line of sight triggers in a level to see how players react to that, but so far these tests are a great help!

The Stanley Parable

Moving onto a little bit more research, I have recently bought and compelted a game called 'The Stanley Parable'. This is a brilliant game for me to look at as it breaks almost everything we know about the narrative of a game. The Stanley Parable  'looks at those parts of first-person gaming that are least easy to design for – exploration and messing with the game’s engine – and foregrounds them. It takes the very limitations of traditional gaming narratives and uses them to ruthlessly expose their own flaws' (Hiller, Brenna, 2013, www.vg247.com) Having palyed this myself this is exactly what it does - alongside being absolutley hilarious. One thing that got me, and made me feel like id properly beat the system was - If i dfied the storyline to a point where I was faced with a phone the narrator told me to answer...but I didnt want to answer it to see what happened. I then noticed that the phone was plugged in and I thought wouldnt it be cool if i could unplug the phone! And to my suprise, I could and I ended up getting a different ending - This made me feel like id accomplished something that the game didnt intend for me to accomplish, but ofcourse design wise it was doable.

Looking into this game though, seeing how it breaks everything and gives the player that choice to break everything through their own exploration is a great help, especially for the small test im going to be creating next. As it also plays on the players sense of noticing things e.g 'something was there before' or 'that wasnt there when I came through here last'

Laters taters!

The symbol Test!

Upon completing the Symbol test level I had 6 people test out the level to see how they played it. The results were interesting with only 1 person not completing it again, but everyone took between 5-20 minutes to figure out how to complete the puzzle.

The centre symbols

The puzzle itself was pretty simple, however was made difficult due to the fact of the player getting little feedback, and also being thrown into an environment without knowing what to do. There were 4 doors (which were not shown as doors, the only thing showing something was there was a symbol above them) Three symbols on in the centre of the starting room (which could be activated to open some of the doors in this area) and a switch again with a symbol below it which activated a lift down to more symbols (The switch was activated by one of the three symbols in the centre). The main objective was to climb the tower, which I had made tall and looming, to see if players thought it was their objective.

The 'Looming' Objective

The Solution: Activating one one of the symbols in the centre would then allow the player to activate the lifts switch, this would then take them down to more symbols. If the player ventured behind the symbol they are confronted with in this area they will notice another, if this is activated it will stay activated (unlike the three in the centre, as only one of these at a time could be activated) If they also activate the symbol they see at the base of the lift this will then allow them to access the corresponding door in the main area. When entering this door, they will then see two dots which are used together with the other symbol that was activated below, this will then allow them to access another door in the main area. Should the player then activate the symbol through that door and add it with the symbolthrough the Square symbols door, they will then create the grid symbol which allowed them to climb the tower.

The lift switch

Most of the testers managed to figure this out, however observing them play I noticed certain patterns most of the players took. For the start, they instantly went straight to the switch for the lift, but then realised it did nothing however they still persisted as they didnt know that the symbols in the centre could be activated; however once they noticed the symbols could be activated they then understood that they had to match the symbols together. The thing that threw most of players was when I decided to change the mechanics part of the way through, which was to add the symbols together to access different doors. My initial idea for this was for players to wonder why one sybol didnt turn off but other did, and then hopefully piece together that the ones that didnt turn off had to be added together. eventually the players did realise this which was great! Also another thing that confused them was the fact that the walls were actually doors. This was interesting to see as because there was no indication that underneath the symbols above the walls that a door was there, players seemed to not approach them. Though when they did approach them and realised they opened they then understood the level that bit more.

An example of a symbol that is activated

Two testers got confused at the begining of the level due to not knowing what the controls were, I made an effort to not tell them the controls due to this being a test, however i gave them 5 minutes to see if they figured them out. I only had to tell one of them that 'E' was interact which them allowed them to continue. The other tester ended up quitting after 10 minutes, due to no hints being shown and them not realising that the walls were doors.

My tutor seemed to like the fact that I changed up the rules part of the way through as it toally threw him and caused him to re-think the level, at which point he then thought one of the symbols was actually a map. He wasn’t sure however if it was a good or bad idea. Mainly because some people might find it frustrating, as I have told them symbols can be pressed, but then suddenly two can be added together; whereas some might think ‘YES! I beat the system.

Below are two videos that I took of two very different testers, one that quiteand one that completed it pretty quickly:

 
Hoey! - Ended up quitting after 10 minutes, I also asked some questions about the level towards the end of the video.

Tommy! -  Completed it after about 5 minutes, unfortunately my phone decided it didnt have enough space to film more so this cuts short and I didnt get to have to questions on film!

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly how a player is going to think when creating a puzzle like this, one might get it straight away, and another might take their time. Maybe adding such an obvious objective, E.G a giant lift, will make the player figure things out too easily? due to the fact they know exactly what they have to work towards expecially when posed with buttons like this level. The door test seemed to be a bit more confusing for people which made them take a while to realise what was going on; whereas this one might have seemed a bit too straight forward? - I asked myself this question after only two people had tested the level, but upon observing other testers I think I managed to do things quite right. Either way, my views on adding an eyesore may change as I test a bit more, I think having to explore for the eyesore may add a little more to the gameplay E.G. the player will be running through the jungle then suddenly be posed with a cliff face, and on the horizon they can see a giant structure in the middle of a lake. Once they see that they may think that that is where they have to go and will then try to find their way there. 

Laters taters!

Symbols!

Seeing as I didn’t post anything last week I thought I'd post a small update to give an indication as to what I’m doing next, because the last week was spent deciding!

Over the last week I was feeling like I had to get more work done for the game I’m working on e.g. more level designs, so I decided to start designing the full map of the area so I knew where each dome would be, what was in each dome and what each dome was. So now I have a basic idea of the planets layout.

However I still felt I had to get a little more research done similar to the door tests research, as this was really helpful to show how the players played and learnt. After having a quick chat with Josh I decided to design another small test level, but based around different symbols to see if players reacted any differently.

A game that I had recently played called 'Hiversaires', this is a point and click escape type game for the IPad/IPhone/Android Phones and is mainly based around symbols. I ended up spending about an hour or 2 on this game trying to figure it out and was given no indication what to do from the start, but I learnt that things had to be powered up before I could use them and I only had a certain amount of 'batteries' to power them. Eventually I gave up as I got so far and I got totally confused as to where to go, but up to that point a lot the symbols that were shown, I was always like 'I've seen that somewhere before!' then head back to it. This is the exact reaction I love as it makes the player take their environment in more, or it will trigger something in their subconscious.

So during this week I'm going to be creating this small symbol test, because this will help with my research but also help with the game I'm working on; as there will be a lot of hidden areas in it requiring magical runes etc.

Laters taters!