Here is a link to my final game: https://rachelnaidich.com/game.html
For P4, I wanted to revise my interactive fiction and incorporate more of the comments I had received before because I did not have enough time previously to address every suggestion I had gotten. For P2, after having some people test the game, I believed that the most important issue I needed to address at the time was people getting stuck throughout the game. To address this problem, I added an objectives tab on the left. The objectives tab keeps a running list of what the player’s current objectives are so that even if they can’t keep track of all the parts of the story in the head, they have a constant reminder of what they need to do next to progress the story along.
I realized after implementing this that this was not fully effective solution. People were still getting stuck even the objectives, and having deadends in the game that didn’t add any meaning to the story was frustrating for players. In addition, I received comments that the emotional bond to the characters could be stronger. It was unclear why the main character felt so bonded to certain people like Jackson and why she felt the need to help. For P4, I wanted to focus on fixing these issues.
To fix the problem of people continuing to get stuck with the objectives, I added a hint functionality. For the objectives that still don’t make the next step entirely obvious, there is a button that says “Hint” that displays a more in depth description of what to do when clicked. This functionality allows players to choose to figure out how to progress through the game and solve the mystery on their own if they want, but it also offers players flexibility by giving them the option of reading what to do next if they get stuck and need additional help.
For the problem of having deadends and not enough emotional attachment to the characters, I added some more story to parts that were previously deadends. Before, when you clicked on the various people’s rooms in the dorm, you would often just get a screen that said something like “You knock on their door. They is no response.” Now, you get an inside look into the main character’s thoughts on each of these characters in the dorm, which gives players a better insight on the relationships within the dorm. For example, you discover why the main character cares about Jennifer and why she is so eager to help Jackson.