Sharing content with you, the audience, is a tricky subject. We have already reached a point in development where we need to start thinking about what content we share and what we should keep secret. In fact, if you read last week’s blog post we had fun withholding some info about a new character.
Jokes aside, the team is split on how we should approach sharing more “sensitive” content like later levels, endgame bosses, secret unlocks, and more. We fall into two camps: one that says “share everything; test everything,” and one that says “hold back content; don’t ruin the surprise.”
Sharing for Gameplay’s Sake
If you have been following our Twitter, you would know that every week we attend GLITCH’s Play/Test event where you can present your game for testing and feedback. Play/Test has been invaluable in the development of Fingeance: we get to talk to players, see what they do, and how they react to changes in the game. So many changes and improvements have been made because of this event and the ability to play test the game with the public.
So why would we want to hinder this process?
We are a small team working on a small budget, but we have big dreams. We want to make sure that all of our content polished and balanced before we release the game. Limiting the amount of content that we are going to show means that we can’t test that content with the public. We don’t have the means of hiring out a company to test out the game and we certainly aren’t looking to have everyone that attends Play/Test sign NDAs before they can play the game. Sure, there are some things that we probably shouldn’t show, but if it affects gameplay we should think about showing it.
It makes sense put gameplay above all else.
Right?
Savoring the Experience
Spoilers suck. If you were really looking forward to experiencing a story, spoilers can suck the wind from your sails. That first time you find a surprise or discover a secret is electric and precious. When we show off new content — and see players’ faces light up with joy and wonder — we get a huge kick. It’s inspiring, and a big part of why we do this.
So why would we want to ruin this for them?
Discovering new content in a game is a driving force to continue playing. “What’s around the corner?” “What other discoveries lay ahead?” Stillalive Studios, and their game Son of Nor, had this same problem. Throughout their process of developing the game, they were documenting it through development vlogs and blog posts bringing their followers along for the three-year journey. But, towards the end of development, they made the conscious decision to not show some content. This was to not spoil the game for those that have been there since day one, those that actively seek out their updates, those that care the most about their game. Yeah, this approach meant that this content isn’t nearly as well-tested as the other content, but there are other ways to test without showing all the content to everyone. We should be more confident in our ability to craft our game and only show certain content to a select few.
It makes sense to value the experience of the player above all else.
Right?
What do you think?
These are two approaches to the problem of sharing content. The answer probably lies somewhere in the middle. But what about you?
Do you want to see everything? Do you want to have surprises?
We are extremely interested in what you have to say so drop us a line here, on Twitter, or on Facebook.
We are back from GDC 2016!
This year marks the first year that my bro, Stephen, and I went to the Game Developer’s Conference. The Game Developer’s Conference (or GDC for short) is a professional conference where game developers from all over the world come together and share ideas, show off their games like the new crypto casino, and network with one another across a full week of talks. It has been my personal dream of mine to roam the floors of the expos and attend the talks from fellow game developers.
Before I go any further I want to give a huge shout out to Glitch Gaming for providing us with the opportunity to live the dream!
GDC Talks
A talk on Music and Game Design in the Last of Us
Throughout the week we each attended various talks held by game developers from around the world from small indie devs to large companies. Some standout sessions include a Game Design workshop where my bro created a paper version of Super Smash Bros.
I went to a talk about the indie game Super Hot where the speaker, Piotr Iwanicki, was extremely animated and you could see the passion that he has for has game and game development in general pouring out of him as he was giving the talk. Really inspiring.
I also went to a talk on the game Assault Android Cactus where you could find me fanboying out in the corner of the room (I really love this game). On top of that the talk they presented was completely relevant to Fingeance!
Awesome Game Devs
Aside from attend some really useful talks we also got to meet some cool game devs that were showing off their games at the conference as well as other attendees. It was great to hear from other developers who are going through the same things we are going through.
I want to give a quick shout out to:
@VeewoGames developing @SuperPhantomCat
@agens developing The Last Ninja Twins
@PrismaticGames developing HexHeroes
Ninja Egg developing @KyubTheGame
@BlindflugStudios developing @airheartgame
These are some really cool games and devs so go check them out!
So that is a brief summary of our time at GDC 2016. I learned a lot but one of the biggest things that I took away from the conference was that everyone is human and they are going through the same trials as you.
GDC was awesome, but now it’s time for some rest!
I also want to give a special shout out to Lane for holding down the fort last week! Glad you got my bro’s gift.
Phew!
As we said last week, we’ve finished up a HUGE push. It was pretty intense; we spent a lot of time working on new content for the game. We worked on new enemies, bosses, and environments (like the Kelp Forest). I wanted to take this time to reflect on the experience, talk about what we are doing now, and what is to come.
Push for More Content
The main reason why we were doing this push was to add a ton of content to the game. For the last year, we have really only been polishing up gameplay mechanics and 3 levels (really 2, but I digress). We have reached a point where we needed to figure out what an entire playthrough of our game would look like, how that would feel, and how players actually progress as you play through the game.
So we geared up for a huge push for content in a month’s time; working 14 hour days, almost every day. It was grueling, challenging work, but it was still a blast to work on. Seeing all of the new environments come together, the new bosses taking shape, and the new enemies introduced during this huge push was a humongous morale booster.
I am extremely proud to say that we succeeded reaching our goal. It is now possible to play a full campaign from start to finish (That is SO great to say). It isn’t by any means balanced or final, but it is playable.
But where do we go from here?
Loading…
The most immediate area that I have been working on personally is adding in a loading screen. It really is starting to show that we need some sort of indicator saying, “Hey, the game didn’t freeze, it is just loading right now!” as many times while we play test the game people wonder if the game crashed.
It is still in its early stages of development but this new loading screen should do a few things:
- Tell the player the game didn’t crash.
- Make going from one part of the game to another part a lot more seamless.
- Give you a status update on your progress in the campaign.
I am pretty excited about adding this in because what I have so far already make the game feel more cohesive and smooth rather than a jarring transition between one part to another (and you know how much I love transitions!).
Here are some designs to the loading screen that we are trying out, which do you think is the best so far? Leave a comment below or message us on Twitter or Facebook!
Shopping in Progress
The longer term area that we have been working on is the shopping experience. We previously mentioned how much of a pain it was before we revamped the design before, but it still is a place that players are the most confused and least engaged. Don’t get us wrong; this redesign is WAY better than the last design, but it still isn’t fulfilling what we want the experience to be. We are figuring out what the best way to present the shop and we are even looking at the three different categories of Cannons, Gadgets, and Augments that are being presented. So there is a lot of work in front of us on that end of the spectrum that we are going to be tackling for the next couple of weeks.
Catching Our Breath
We have been easing up on the pedal bit this past week after this push to look at where we need to go next and also to catch our breath. We worked hard these past weeks and we do need a bit of a rest. One way that we are doing that is we are going to be participating in the Global Game Jam 2016 this weekend! Global Game Jam is an event where you make a game within 48 hours based around a theme (or not, you don’t have to follow it). We are going to be at the GameCraft Jam site here in Minnesota so if you are going we hope to see you there! Working on other projects helps reinvigorate our drive to making Fingeance. If you want more information about what the Global Game Jam is check out their website!
This is actually only our second time participating in the event. You can check out our last game we made What Do Oujia Do Now?
The shop has been a major problem for players for some time now. When the player is first shown the shop, a bunch of info is thrown at them: items available, item descriptions, item costs, etc. It was a very intimidating view.
This is especially true when there are more than one player playing. So much text is shown that many players just said “Nope,” and moved on to the next scene. We definitely don’t want that to happen: building a custom ship is a core part of Fingeance. We set out to make this interface approachable.
Working on the new shop
The primary issue came from the amount of info presented all at once. Looking at the shop scene for the first time was like looking at a friend’s overcrowded desktop: it’s an incomprehensible mess. I then asked the question, “What if we divided it into separate menus?” This way, we can have simple, clean default view. Other functions can be accessed with buttons. Pursuing this angle, we came up with the idea of a “main menu” that shows what you currently have equipped.
In the main menu, you can select ‘shop’ from a list of options. This way, you aren’t shown all these unfamiliar parts right away. You opt-in to looking at them. The shop view also got a huge update. For one thing, we cut down on text. The items are presented as smaller “cards” that condense relevant information into icons or keywords. If you want more info on the item, then at the press of a button you can get a full description.
You may have noticed that the shop has a new area called “Slots”. Currently, we are experimenting with the parts and loadouts that the player can make, so we are trying out this new system. We want to help players realize their ideal playstyle, so we are expanding the system to allow more options for the player to be creative with their builds. But again, we are just in the testing phase. Don’t expect to see this fully fleshed out in-game anytime soon.
Bullet Flair
In addition to working on the shop, we also started work on changes with the bullets, but how much does bullet cost? Lane has been working on making bullets visually more appealing by adding the ability for bullets to flash and updating the bullet trails.
Along with these visual changes, he has also been working on making the bullets do more interesting things beyond “move forward”. These bullet patterns aren’t in the game yet, but expect to hear more on it soon!
Blog Changes
So, you may be wondering why I am talking about things that the others have been doing. Well, that is because we are changing our blog post schedule. Writing these blogs is pretty time-consuming and we want to work on the game more, do social media more, and try out other avenues to reach out to you guys! From now on, posts will be on Wednesdays only. But that doesn’t mean that you won’t hear from the others: we will alternate every week. We may also post on other days if we feel it is appropriate (or if we are just too excited about something to hold ourselves back).
So stay tuned and remember to check back next Wednesday for more updates! Be sure to check out our other social media outlets in the meantime, Twitter & Facebook.
This past week has been rough… I have had a major set back. My computer charger died on me and I haven’t been able to work on Fingeance since last Saturday. I was able to finish up that menu system that I mentioned I was working on last week, but other than that I haven’t had the chance to really work on much in terms of art and sound.
So instead I turned my attention to the logistics of Escape Industries. I thought about how we are running the site and some possible endeavors that we could look into. I even thought about some design work in the game as I couldn’t do much else.
What about you? What are some of your opinions on how we are doing in terms of blog posts and social media updates? Do you like our current schedule of posting 3 times a week? Where else do you want to see us post on?
With all that said I sadly don’t have a lot to show you so it is going to be a short post today. Hopefully I can be up and running soon. But check out Friday and Monday for Lane and Stephen’s posts!