CSC371 Milestone #2
Iterative Development (Part 1)
1 Description
It is impossible to completely design a marketable game from scratch. Game designers use an iterative design approach in which they continually loop over the following four stages: Prototyping, Playtesting, Evaluation, and Refinement. This process needs to begin as soon as possible in the development of a game and is the reason why I had you create a prototype in your Milestone 1. In this Milestone, you are going to do one iteration of the aforementioned design process.
2 Iterative Design Process
Iterative design is a design process based on playtesting. The key is to get a working prototype up and running as soon as possible. Using this prototype, you playtest the game evaluating the rules, player choices, and general game play. Using this evaluation, you make changes to the prototype and begin the process again. The key concept is that you never know how a game will actually play until you play it.
2.1 Prototyping
For this milestone, you must create a playable game prototype that contains at least 30% of the game's rules, controls, and features. This first prototype is not going to be pretty. You should concentrate on implementing key game rules and basic controls. Pretty graphics and cool animations should be left out at this point. It is ok to have a circle kill a square or have a triangle capturing ovals at this stage.
2.2 Playtesting
Once you have a playable prototype, you are going to playtest it. You should try and find as many people as you can to try your game. Every member of your team should play it, some students from other groups should play it, and, if you can manage it, get your mom, grandma, or little brother to play it. Also, you should observe players playing your prototype and note when you feel they were having trouble with a game mechanic or looked confused as what to do next.
You should have some way of capturing the feedback from those that playtest your game. You could observe players and note when you feel they were having trouble with a game mechanic or looked confused as what to do next. You could have a questionnaire that they complete after playing the game or perhaps you could interview them. Try and determine if they understood the rules, the goal of the game, and did they like the controls. Did they feel challenged? What decisions were they required to make? Did they like the feedback they got from the game? What didn’t they like about the game? Would they play it again? Why or why not?
You need to develop a script that follows the format of a playtesting session I presented in lecture and use it during playtesting. That format had the following sections: Introduction (2-3 mins), Warm-up Discussion (5 mins), Play Session (15-20 mins), Discussion of Game Experience (15-20 mins), and Wrap-up (1-2 mins).
2.3 Evaluation
Compile all the results from the data collected during Playtesting. You should build tables and graphs that summarize the results and highlight common complaints or compliments. What percentage of players enjoyed the game? How many suggested changing the controls? How many felt the game was not challenging or too challenging? On average, how long did people test your game? You should be able to state facts concerning all the questions you gave the players and all the observations you made. Be sure to include the total number of players surveyed when presenting your results.
2.4 Refinement
Finally, look at the evaluation results. Do you see some commonalities in their complaints or praise? What changes could you make to your game to address their concerns? Brainstorm several different ways to improve the game. Prioritize those improvements making sure to justify all of your decisions.
3 Design Document
Now that you have implemented some of your game, tested it, collected feedback, and come up with a plan to improve it, it is time to revisit your game's design document
(that you created in Milestone I). Look at the key concepts of your game and make changes, if needed, to them based on what you have just learned about your game. Review and revise your project timeline as well.
4 Write-up
You are going to submit a 5-10 page paper describing your iteration through the design process. Your paper should use 12pt font, have 1in margins, and be single-spaced. Here are the major sections (label them clearly) you need in your paper along with a brief description of each:
Description
Briefly describe the goal of your game, the basic rules, and the control.
Prototype
Describe what features and rules you have implemented in your prototype. You are required to minimally implement 30% of your final game.
Playtesting
Describe the process the players went through in playtesting your game. How much time did you spend explaining the rules and controls. How long did they play for? Did you have them try out different scenarios? Who playtested your game? Discuss all the methods you used to collect feedback from the players. What questions did you ask them? When did you collect the information from them? You should include your playtesting session script.
Evaluation
Compile and analyze the results.
Refinement
Given this feedback, what should you change about your game? You should include both your initial ideas during brainstorming and then the prioritized list of game improvements discussed in Section 2.4.
Design Document
Attach your revised game design document.
Deliverables
You must submit the following on, or before, the due date:
A playable 30% prototype that you will demonstrate in lab on the due date.
A 5–10-page paper describing each phase of your iterative development: Prototyping, Playtesting, Evaluation, Refinement. It should also include a revised game design document. You will submit this using Canvas using the title "Team#_Milestone2.docx" where you replace # with your team's assigned number. Please include the first and last name of everyone in the team at the top of the first page.
Google doc link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fNnchRtx1swxbsey3llcevhJSmifoepIlZkcq8P0dJM/edit?usp=sharing
CSC371 Milestone #2 Iterative Development (Part 1)
1 Description
It is impossible to completely design a marketable game from scratch. Game designers use an iterative design approach in which they continually loop over the following four stages: Prototyping, Playtesting, Evaluation, and Refinement. This process needs to begin as soon as possible in the development of a game and is the reason why I had you create a prototype in your Milestone 1. In this Milestone, you are going to do one iteration of the aforementioned design process. 2 Iterative Design Process
Iterative design is a design process based on playtesting. The key is to get a working prototype up and running as soon as possible. Using this prototype, you playtest the game evaluating the rules, player choices, and general game play. Using this evaluation, you make changes to the prototype and begin the process again. The key concept is that you never know how a game will actually play until you play it. 2.1 Prototyping
For this milestone, you must create a playable game prototype that contains at least 30% of the game's rules, controls, and features. This first prototype is not going to be pretty. You should concentrate on implementing key game rules and basic controls. Pretty graphics and cool animations should be left out at this point. It is ok to have a circle kill a square or have a triangle capturing ovals at this stage. 2.2 Playtesting
Once you have a playable prototype, you are going to playtest it. You should try and find as many people as you can to try your game. Every member of your team should play it, some students from other groups should play it, and, if you can manage it, get your mom, grandma, or little brother to play it. Also, you should observe players playing your prototype and note when you feel they were having trouble with a game mechanic or looked confused as what to do next.
You should have some way of capturing the feedback from those that playtest your game. You could observe players and note when you feel they were having trouble with a game mechanic or looked confused as what to do next. You could have a questionnaire that they complete after playing the game or perhaps you could interview them. Try and determine if they understood the rules, the goal of the game, and did they like the controls. Did they feel challenged? What decisions were they required to make? Did they like the feedback they got from the game? What didn’t they like about the game? Would they play it again? Why or why not?
You need to develop a script that follows the format of a playtesting session I presented in lecture and use it during playtesting. That format had the following sections: Introduction (2-3 mins), Warm-up Discussion (5 mins), Play Session (15-20 mins), Discussion of Game Experience (15-20 mins), and Wrap-up (1-2 mins). 2.3 Evaluation
Compile all the results from the data collected during Playtesting. You should build tables and graphs that summarize the results and highlight common complaints or compliments. What percentage of players enjoyed the game? How many suggested changing the controls? How many felt the game was not challenging or too challenging? On average, how long did people test your game? You should be able to state facts concerning all the questions you gave the players and all the observations you made. Be sure to include the total number of players surveyed when presenting your results. 2.4 Refinement
Finally, look at the evaluation results. Do you see some commonalities in their complaints or praise? What changes could you make to your game to address their concerns? Brainstorm several different ways to improve the game. Prioritize those improvements making sure to justify all of your decisions. 3 Design Document
Now that you have implemented some of your game, tested it, collected feedback, and come up with a plan to improve it, it is time to revisit your game's design document
(that you created in Milestone I). Look at the key concepts of your game and make changes, if needed, to them based on what you have just learned about your game. Review and revise your project timeline as well. 4 Write-up
You are going to submit a 5-10 page paper describing your iteration through the design process. Your paper should use 12pt font, have 1in margins, and be single-spaced. Here are the major sections (label them clearly) you need in your paper along with a brief description of each:
Description
Prototype
Playtesting
Evaluation
Refinement
Design Document
Deliverables
You must submit the following on, or before, the due date:
Assessment
You will be graded in the following categories: