Prototype 1 Iteration Questions

[MeghanC1470]

1. How does the environment feel to you? Does it give off a cramped, trapped feeling?
2. Do any feeling of discomfort arise while playing?
3. Did the enemies startle you at all?
4. Did the upgraded cameras following you make you feel watched?
5. Please describe any other feelings that arose as you played.
6. Please give any feedback.

QUESTION FOR THOSE WHO PLAYED THE PREVIOUS VERSION OF PROTOTYPE 1 Compared to the first Prototype, do you believe this is a positive upgrade?

[sebchampoux]

How does the environment feel to you? Does it give off a cramped, trapped feeling?

Yes the environment looks very nice! It didn't feel too cramped to me but I'm not claustrophobic.

Do any feeling of discomfort arise while playing?

It was a bit uncomfortable to be constantly followed by both the cameras and the robotics enemies, yes.

Did the enemies startle you at all?

No, as I was walking around I could see them approaching so no jump scare occurred during my playtest.

Did the upgraded cameras following you make you feel watched?

Yes definitely. They really looked like cameras and successfully conveyed the idea of being surveilled.

Please describe any other feelings that arose as you played.

Apart from the feeling of being watched I don't think I felt anything else whilst testing this prototype. The environment seemed like an abandoned spaceship to me, it inspired stress and scariness. But there were no interactive elements in the game (like foes, stuff that moved as you passed by, interactive stuff, etc) that pushed these impressions beyond a vague feeling.

Please give any feedback.

The main character's walk (and run) speed were a bit slow to my taste. Although that might be fine considering that the intent of your game is for the player to feel watched; if we could walk around at light speed perhaps we wouldn't notice it as much. So possibly not a big deal, but just though I'd share this with you.

Compared to the first Prototype, do you believe this is a positive upgrade?

Yes! I admit it's a bit far in my memory, but I do remember not really understanding the idea of being watched in your first prototype. Not only is this idea very clear in this iteration, but the environment looks a lot better too. This is a vast improvement over your initial version. Nice job :)

[PatrickChavez]

1. How does the environment feel to you? Does it give off a cramped, trapped feeling? While the hallways were wide enough to move around with relative ease, the dark, closed-off nature of the “facility”, combined with the security cameras and strange enemies, made me want to escape from my surroundings.

2. Do any feelings of discomfort arise while playing? Yes, the slow movement of the player character, combined with the music and enemies, made me quite uneasy. I was relieved when I saw the exit.

3. Did the enemies startle you at all? Yes, when I noticed that my health was dropping, I turned around and got frightened by the nearby enemy. I like the fact that despite their slow movement, enemies can still easily catch up to the player and overwhelm them. This leads me to prioritize the stamina meter during tougher sections.

4. Did the upgraded cameras following you make you feel watched? Yes; their sheer number, coupled with the fact that they always look directly at the player, made me feel like a lab rat being experimented on.

5. Please describe any other feelings that arose as you played. I think the prior questions summed up my feelings for the prototype.

6. Please give any feedback. Having an instructions screen/section would be nice just to understand the goal of the game and get to know the controls.

QUESTION FOR THOSE WHO PLAYED THE PREVIOUS VERSION OF PROTOTYPE 1 Compared to the first Prototype, do you believe this is a positive upgrade?

Absolutely, the game is a massive upgrade from prototype 1 in every single way: the environments are more detailed, the sound design manages to evoke feelings of dread and the enemies are more threatening.

[CocoChao]

1. How does the environment feel to you? Does it give off a cramped, trapped feeling? The environment looked eerie and futuristic. I felt like the cameras and the enemies were observing my every move. It did not feel cramped, but I wanted to get out of the maze as quick as possible.

2. Does any feeling of discomfort arise while playing? Yes, I felt uncomfortable at the beginning, because I could not see the end of the tunnel and there were many dark spots. It made me wonder as to what will happen and what will I see if I decided to head that way.

3. Did the enemies startle you at all? No, I did not realize they were following me until I reached the end of the maze the first time. I did notice them turning around whenever I approach them. But I could not see their eyes/front, so I did not know they were heading towards me. On my second try, I noticed that the enemies shake when they approach me, and sometimes they leave me when I encounter other enemies.

4. Did the upgraded cameras following you make you feel watched? Not really, I just thought they were lights that were pointing at me, I feel like it would be more noticeable if you made them a little bigger.

5. Please describe any other feelings that arose as you played. I feel like the music definitely helped create the ambience of the game.

6. Please give any feedback. Whenever I tried to jump, I would shake and jump a little. Also, I am not sure if this is a bug, but I could not jump over the enemies. If I turned around, the enemies would end up in front of me and they would block my way.

QUESTION FOR THOSE WHO PLAYED THE PREVIOUS VERSION OF PROTOTYPE 1 Compared to the first Prototype, do you believe this is a positive upgrade?

I remember playing your first prototype and I noticed you added many other elements like the music, new materials, and other elements. It improved in many aspects. Nice game!

[LeVieuxSinge]

How does the environment feel to you? Does it give off a cramped, trapped feeling?

Not really. There is a start, but I feel like there is too much light.

Do any feeling of discomfort arise while playing?

Yes, especially with the music.

Did the enemies startle you at all?

Not really. At first I thought they were barrels until they started rushing me. I realized later that they were reducing my health but it doesn't really because you can simply rush to the end and they cannot reduce your health enough to kill you.

Did the upgraded cameras following you make you feel watched?

Yes.

Please describe any other feelings that arose as you played.

Feeling of chased more than watched with the enemies chasing me.

Please give any feedback.

Good environment design, yet I feel like the concept of "game" still need to be developed. Maybe having a more concrete goal would fix this.

[LiliaIsABell]

1. How does the environment feel to you? Does it give off a cramped, trapped feeling? I did feel trapped, especially since I felt that I could get out, but didn't know how. I did feel a little distressed since I don't like feeling trapped and as if I can't escape. I genuinely felt relived when I made it out on my third try.

2. Do any feeling of discomfort arise while playing? Yes, a little. As I mentioned previously I felt a little distressed even though it wasn't real. It got worse when I couldn't sprint anymore. All I wanted to do is sprint out of there.

3. Did the enemies startle you at all? They didn't startle me, but I did feel nervous when I noticed they were approaching me and I couldn't out run them (before I realized I could press shift to sprint).

4. Did the upgraded cameras following you make you feel watched? Yes. What made me the most nervous were they enemies and didn't always notice them, but when I did they do add a little eeriness.

5. Please describe any other feelings that arose as you played. When I first played I was confused because I wasn't sure what my goal was and what were my controls and because of the little "x" in the center I kept trying to shoot things. Afterwards, when I figured it out, I felt really rushed to get out. I really wanted to get out and when I saw there was an exit I was so relieved I actually deeply exhaled.

6. Please give any feedback. Honestly, all I wished for were instructions, because when i first played i wasn't sure what to do and I looked in your Wiki for instructions and couldn't find it. But, as distressed as I felt, I thought it was well done and a huge improvement from the first time. Before, I mostly felt like a leader and thought the game was silly and now I genuinely felt trapped. Just a little suggestion, maybe the exit could be a door and it leads to the next scene which has outdoor scenery, like forest or something. Also, personally I would hate this, but if you really wanted to fuck with people like me, have arrows leading to an exit and then make it a one fake with a snarky message. That would be awful.

[amandaclement]

How does the environment feel to you? Does it give off a cramped, trapped feeling? Yes, it does. It gave me this kind of grimy abandoned factory/laboratory feeling with a futuristic touch. When I noticed that the enemies were heading towards me, that made me feel a bit trapped and encouraged me to want to escape.

Do any feeling of discomfort arise while playing? Yes, I think mainly due to the security cameras always being pointed towards me. Paired with this environment, the music is quite discomforting too.

Did the enemies startle you at all? At first, yes. I didn't quite understand what they were and that they were following me so I was quite surprised when I starting loosing health suddenly. Once I understood that they were enemies, they weren't too hard to avoid - I didn't really have to dodge them and could just go straight through the maze without paying much attention to them.

Did the upgraded cameras following you make you feel watched? Yes, I felt like a test subject trying to escape or complete an experiment.

Please describe any other feelings that arose as you played. When I first opened the game, I felt a bit confused with what was expected of me and did not immediately realize that the barrels were enemies. It didn't take long to realize that I was in a maze, but I'm still a bit confused as to why the barrels are enemies. Besides that, I found the ambience discomforting and mysterious.

Please give any feedback. It could be helpful to have some instructions at the beginning of the game just to give the player some basic guidance. The enemies weren't too hard to avoid so I would suggest adding more, especially towards the end so that it's hard to reach the finish line. And if you're looking to make things even more discomforting, making the halls more narrow could intensify the feeling.

Great job with the environment + music by the way, it's really well done and seems to work well with your intentions!

[SylvainTran]

1. How does the environment feel to you? Does it give off a cramped, trapped feeling? It made me feel uneasy and trapped.

2. Do any feeling of discomfort arise while playing? A lot.

3. Did the enemies startle you at all?

I don't startle easily, but I was surprised that barrels could harm me. I wasn't sure what was going on until I noticed my HP dropping.

4. Did the upgraded cameras following you make you feel watched?

Yes. If they had mechanical sounds it would be worse.

5. Please describe any other feelings that arose as you played. I just wanted to get to the end to say I beat the game. I didn't want to die

Please give any feedback.

It's a straightforward level -- maybe if you varied the encounters with the barrels and the corridors a bit it could be more engaging. Like vertical level design, hallways with traps... Or some way to defend or push off the barrels within reasonable constraints. Cool ambiance!