Playtest Feedback
For each playtest, we let the player explore the game, but if they asked any questions we would answer them. Based on the questions, we modified the game to improve it and make it more intuitive.
We included quotes that made huge impact on the final game.
Alpha Test
Mostly everyone did not like the movement and wanted it to be more responsive. In response to that, we remade the movement. In order to do that, we had to restructure the code to make it snappier and more responsive.
Another person proposed making the tiles more distinct so that the player knows how many tiles to move. We took that feedback and implemented it.
A couple of people proposed a way to repair the fences and delete them. We didn't have time to implement these for alpha but because so many people wanted it, we increased the priority of the feature.
Beta Test
A playtester didn't like the button for attacking. It was bound on K which was awkward to press because they had to use their ring finger. The player had to press it repeatedly and quickly. Along with other reasons, we took this feedback and moved the controls onto the mouse.
Final Test
For our final revision, we didn't plan to add that much due to the time constraint. We added sound and music to the game to make it more immersive. Due to time constraints, we couldn't add a tutorial.
Obstacles
We didn't really have obstacles that blocked development but obstacles that slowed development. Because we focused on game mechanics, we had a lot of factors to balance. One way we simplified it was by grouping up similar factors. For example, planting skill and harvesting skill was grouped into farming skill. What also slowed development was refactoring/restructuring code. We didn't plan out completely how features would interact with each other, and as a result, we had to restructure the code.
Team Reflection
One thing we did that went really well is the work distribution. In the planning phase, we divided the whole game into three major parts, the enemy, the hero (the character player control), and UI/UX, which really pays off for a three men team. Because these three parts are relatively independent, each of us created our own branch in our GitHub repository, and we are able to work on our own part in the branch without waiting for others. And when we connect everything together, we used a few scripts for sharing data by two or even all three parts. Surely there are some cocks up in the version management which brings us tons of extra work, but the overall result of work distribution still helped us with developing progress immensely.
And if we have another two weeks to work on this, the three highest priority items we would work on our infinite waves mode, tutorial, and possibly an online database where the player can save their progress and share their scores. The infinite waves mode is for those who think the current five waves game mode is too easy, and are willing to spend more time on this to challenge themselves. Including a tutorial would help new players learn the controls and how to play the game. An online database would increase the competitive aspect. We had these three features in mind from the very beginning. In the developing process, we had to separate features into two lists. One labeled minimum (features that we must include to make the game complete) and one for optional (what we would like to include if we have time). This allowed us to focus on making a complete game and save optional features once we met the minimum goal.