Making the 1st Test Build
Last week we finished placing all assets with functional colors, after which we sat down to define what else was missing for the first build. After talking between us, we decided we want to make 2 builds, one for testing purposes and one to promote the game. The test build is focused on functionality, mostly polish from the programming side, some technical art details and lastly a few fixes related to colors for some assets. The build for promoting the game contains all other aspects necessary to present the first city as a final product that gets people excited about the game.
We started working on the list of requirements for the “test build” and by the end of the week managed to finish half of it. Now the game looks way better, with all missing objects being placed and having better looking and more functional colors. This was an intensive iterative process as we wanted to finish all changes to the levels and be able to focus on the other aspects of the game as soon as possible. For example, levels 5 and 6 required multiple iterations as these either look boring or the object placement didn’t guide the player view as intended. In the case of level 5, I made several iterations of how to fill the background until I ended up with the shrubbery labyrinth that we have now. I had to change the shapes, the assets used, the color and even the presence of entrances as these distracted the player, giving the idea that you can enter there.
Aside from placing and moving assets, I also placed the checkpoints on each level, configure the occlusion system created by my partner and correctly configure all HP Pickups. The checkpoints have been in the game for a long time but I had forgotten to place them with the rush of making the levels work. Now that they are in the game, each level has a better sense of progression as you don’t have to redo everything each time you lose. The occlusion system was recently finished and required only for me to configure it so it looks good when occluding objects while moving. Finally the HP pickups, these have always worked but they were missing some configuration to place the pickup in the correct body part of the player character. We have known that this was missing for quite some time but because it is not a functional requirement, I postponed it until now.
On the programming side, my partner has been working on optimizing the game and making sure the builds work. This has taken some time, not only because it is a complex task but also because she is busy with her job. Still, she managed to finish the optimization. Also, my partner worked on the lighting of the game and managed to create a very nice mood.
This week we are going to work on the rest of the requirements on the list for the “test build”. We would like to have everything done by the end of the week, but as many of the requirements are somewhat complex this goal may take up to two weeks to be accomplished.
