Trouble using the User Interface: some users had trouble with the controls, this resulted in a degraded experience with the game. I included a tips section on the tutorial level to counteract this and reduce confusion in the player. This inclusion of help/tips also extends to the mini games were clarification is made as to what the players goal is.
Erratic choices: some users made unique decisions on where to go, when to face enemies etc. and ended up in unintended locations. As a result I chose to attempt to reward the player for these unique discoveries by hiding collectibles in unique places around the level and attempting to proved consistent responses/feedback to the player. This should hopefully increase the amount of fun the user has.
First Impressions: the aesthetics were a unique selling point, the linkage to the theme and the variety of enemy types and paths available. Enemies initially were a lot harder to defeat and injured Rosie a lot quicker, with the feedback given I chose to re distribute variables to make the journey less demanding for the player. This results in new data being able to be displayed to the player less frantically, so the player can process what's happening.
Depth: The most exciting element of the game for some was the choices available to the player: costumes, bonuses, secret coins, secret areas etc. As a result I chose to expand on this and to include a secret mini game one each level which will reward the player further for exploration and experimenting with costumes to reach secret areas. Other elements were also added to expand depth and to continue to communicate new data to the player.
AI & Outcomes: The play-testers found the AI to operate efficiently, each enemy type follows different rules (bouncing, following the player etc). Their difficulty level has been altered to make the game less demanding yet still rewards the player accordingly.
Analysis:
One appropriate model I feel that reflects how the play testing affected the "player pleasure experience" is set by Le Blanc. In this model Le Blanc explores how certain aspects of the game (fantasy, narrative etc.) will effect the experience the player has when playing the game. He defines numerous forms of pleasure within the game that I feel appropriately fits our game.
Narrative: Prior to this play testing narrative was a main focus of the game (following the EGA model), this resulted in a lot of unnecessary text on screen which distracted the player from other aspects of the game. This became problematic throughout testing as it became very difficult to differentiate whats important and what was simply lore or flavour text. As I moved to the EGA model narrative became more subtle, less text on screen and more meaning is implied through aesthetics (the enemies reflecting Rosie Red's appearance). I feel this change improved the game for the better as it allowed the player to focus more on the game play experience but still find narrative pleasure through finding the lore throughout the level.
Challenge: The game was initially pitched as being a challenging experience, enemies would track the player and do a lot of damage to Rosie upon contact. The enemies spawn with a degree of randomness and their behaviour also can be unpredictable (this was to increase the replay-ability of the game), this as well as the goal being unknown to the player initially was intended to reward the player through exploration/discovery. The problem with this was constantly restarting the level, this quickly became frustrating for the player. This meant that as the game was introducing new data(enemy types) the player was chunking the experience. As defined by Koster, this chaos furthermore meant that the player was not having as much fun as a result. I chose to fix this by changing enemy behaviour to being more consistent and reducing their quantity, damage, speed and spawn rate. This meant that the player was able to focus more on experiencing the new data, through interacting with the enemies through gameplay or by aesthetic appreciation of their design. This impacted the players experience positively as they were able to play the game more casually and enjoy the journey. After all it is a casual game.
Discovery: This was a crucial element of my game. The player was to be rewarded for finding new paths to complete the level, for finding coins and costume chests. These rewards would give the player bonus and such, giving them a reason to come back. Playtesters enjoyed this feature as it meant that the player was given a fair chance to reach the goal with their inefficient means(they can only use the torch and move). I then decided to expand upon this by adding features that would improve the rewards received by the player through discovery. The main improvement being the mini game. This was a separate game style which juxtaposed the main game, it was a more casual (higher replayability) style of game and had a simple goal. The player could unlock these mini-games by finding the secret door on each level, giving them a reason to explore. Again I feel these improvements impacted the game positively.
Another model I feel which also correlates with the impact of the changes made at this stage is Caillois interpretation of the social structure of play. Ludus llinx (formalised vertigo) was my initial pitch on what I wanted the structure of the game to be. Play-testers found this disorientating as it meant they weren't focusing on the game-play, instead reading text etc. Again as I moved to the EGA model I wanted to focus on making the experience more fun for the player I did this by the addition of extra game-play elements (minigames - costumes etc.) and by adding extra player abilities (double jumps) to avoid stagnation.
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