Playtest
When we were figuring out how to most effectively playtest for InterStellar Postal Service (ISPS), we decided that it would be most useful to test minigames similar to the ones we are hoping to implement and get feedback on which the players enjoyed the most, what aspects they enjoyed, and what aspects they would like to change. This would let us know what to avoid when designing ISPS (or even what to implement so that the player could upgrade it away). Our idea initially had the player going through three stages: sorting, transporting, and delivering. For sorting, we used an old Super Mario game, Sort or ‘Splode, to test the idea of sorting by visual difference and test if the trackpad or arrow keys worked better for the minigame.
For transportation, we used Jetpack Joyride for its use of holding and releasing spacebar to move up and down.
For delivery, we used Crazy Driver for its use of arrow keys in navigating the terrain.
We have started on art and made a shared Unity project and GitHub. We have tried to cut down on the scope of ISPS since this playtest. Now, we will have players choose a contract to accept and have them play through the sorting and delivering minigames, repeating this loop until they have made enough money to accept another contract- at which point the minigame difficulty increases.
Questions
The questions we have right now mainly pertain to our core loop and upgrades. They are as follows:
- Does the new loop of picking a contract, sorting packages, and delivering packages make sense?
- For upgrade paths, we were thinking of splitting upgrades for each minigame into speed and capacity so the player can choose how they want to optimize the system. The speed upgrades would shorten the minigames while the capacity upgrades would earn the player more money. Do these paths make sense? What is the best way to represent them- bars increasing? a decision tree?
- We also have the player choose between an upgrade to a minigame or low initial cash but higher $/package earned (and vice versa). Would it be best to stick to the initial cash and $/package choices since the player has not played the games yet? Or are there alternatives to these starting states you can think of?
We are pretty solid on what the core loop looks like: we will have a hub where players can see the planets they have built trade relationships with and upgrade different aspects of their system. From there they can begin the loop of fulfilling contracts and they return to this hub after the loop.
