TEAM NAME: Aurora

GAME NAME: ON
TESTING DONE:
1: Simple Level/Camera test this was an experiment to better understand how our controls and camera
felt to the player. The test took place in a large 3D environment with terrain, props, and placeholder
models. The player starts in one area and is given free reign over what they do, but we placed a number of
environmental cues in order to test how well we could guide them. Many of the areas in the environment
served as points of interest, showing us what players were most attracted to when it came to traversal.
There was no definitive end of the level, so we cut it off after a certain amount of time or until the player
fell off of the map (as collision boundaries were not yet in place).
Participants:
-

Results:

Dodge Lafnitzegger, 11 minutes, 9/30/2014

Oland Pelton, 10 minutes, 9/30/2014

Dodge - when Dodge first started playing the game, the first thing he did was experiment with the
controls, putting the game through its paces. He figured out how to move in an instant, and began walking
into different objects before him, clipping through them as there was no collision. He commented on the
shiny things, referring to the sparkling particle effects we had scattered around the starting area. He
proceeded to approach the water, indicating a desire to immediately jump in, but backed off when he
realized that he might fall through the world. He continued to move through the level, immediately
getting drawn to a prop of a wooden boat on the shore. At this point, he experimented a little more with
the camera pan speed. When approaching a new area with an island, he made a direct line to the island.
Once he reached it, he continued to the next point of interest, which was a formation of rocks. As he was
passing through the forest, he commented on the weird trees, referring to how they seemed to bend and
snap when he approached them at a certain distance, an artifact of the engine were using. He moved
towards a waterfall, getting slightly confused when he couldnt get near it, noting that it looked like a
path. When he tried to turn and continue down a different path, he commented on the camera, noting that
the automatic panning was annoying. He reached the end of the level, where he continued to explore
until he fell off the edge of the world. When asked, he said that the movement felt wonky, as he could go
up hills that he didnt think he should have been able to. When asked about the music and game type, he
said that it was calming, and assumed that the game was a poetic experience.

Oland - immediately latching onto the movement, Oland made the character spin around comically. As
result, he got disoriented, not knowing where he was meant to go. He tried to jump, hitting buttons on the
controller until giving up. He proceeded to climb up steep cliffs and hills at extreme angles, He soon
made his way back to the starting point, moving up to and into the particle systems. When he proceeded
further, he commented on the lack of ability to be able to look up or down, saying how am I supposed to
look at the pretty? He walked towards the boat prop, and continued along the path into the next area. He
said that the camera needs to move faster, as he continued. After moving through the trees, he made his
way to the island, and then to the interesting rocks. He commented you have no buttons that do things,
huh? after attempting to interact with them in some way. When he saw the waterfall, he immediately tried
to go behind it as though to find a cave or secret. When he moved on, he mentioned how he kept getting
stuck on things as he moved, since the ground there was rather pointy and rough. He said that the
prototype looked very pretty for the stage its at, and expressed an interest in the character having a slide
factor to prevent him from easily climbing up impossible slopes. He also emphasized his desire for a
camera that panned up and down. When asked about the music and game type, he said that the music felt
more fancy costume ball, rather than a pretty exploration game. He said that the game was most likely a
poetic experience game because of all the points of interest around the place.
Analysis:

Based on the results, the camera and movement scheme still need some work, most notably by including
the ability to look up and down, making it move slightly faster, and not making it auto track so harshly.
The players are clearly attracted by points of interest, especially if they include shiny particle systems or
cool artwork. This makes me think that more is better, so the next test would be to determine the point
when it gets too much to handle. If the environment was completely packed with interesting, glowing
things, the players would likely get confused by all the information, and be desensitized by it for the rest
of the game. Props are a great way to tell a story, and I think that the way we use and place our props can
be a powerful tool both for guiding the player and telling our story. I would be interested to see how
effectively we could convey story elements by only using props. It would be an interesting challenge, but
I would also like the gameplay itself to be a part of the story rather than just a method to access it.
A lot of the fixes for this prototype might seem obvious, such as setting boundaries and colliders. That
will come with time and polish, but what I think is most important are the parts of the game that players
were drawn to. The boat, island, rock formation, and waterfall all made noticeable impressions on our
play testers, and they each tried to explore or interact with them in some way. If we could capitalize on
that anticipation, we could set up some really interesting moments that resonate with the players, even if
theyre just small moments like a piece of audio/visual feedback.

2: Ability and Improvement tests - these tests involved asking testers what kind of abilities and
improvements they would like to have for their character. We had a number of ideas for where we wanted
to take our characters main abilities, but given the scope of our project, we want to ensure that we target
the powers that excite players the most. Given ten potential abilities, testers were asked to rate each out of
ten for appeal, their perceived allure or pull of an ability, and utility, how useful they thought each ability
would actually be given the theme of the game.
Participants:
-

Lucy Tibbits
Derek Sutton,

Caitlyn Jackson
Joel Sitte
Oland Pelton
Tyler Pugmire
Dodge Lafnitzegger
Jesse Hibbs
Douglas Zwick
Glen Aro
Devin Jensen
Daya Singh

(These tests took place on 10/3/14 and lasted from 2 to 10 minutes long)
Results and Analysis:
Sprint:
Average Appeal: 6.92
Average Utility: 7.42
The sprint ability, where the player character can move faster at the press of a button, was rated fairly
high in terms of both appeal and utility. It would seem that its the kind of ability that players would
enjoy, but its appeal is lower than its utility, indicating that its the sort of power that a player might
expect to have off the bat rather than something that they have to unlock. If the sprint was combined with
some sort of power to make it more appealing, such as charging the next attacks damage, it might be
something players would take a closer look at, and that would add an interesting dynamic to the game.
Melee Attack:
Average Appeal: 6.83
Average Utility: 6.67

The melee attack was advertised as an ability akin to an FPS melee attack, something that might get you
out of a close range pinch, but its cooldown keeps it from being a replacement to the standard ranged
attacks. It seemed to appeal to most testers, while slipping slightly when it came to utility. This would
have been one of the hardest powers for testers to judge, since you dont know how the enemies act in this
game. That said, it might become more obvious to see how useful a melee attack is to get out of sticky
situations in the game, and the general appeal is high enough for us to warrant further testing on this
mechanic.
Dodge:
Average Appeal: 7.58
Average Utility: 8.25
The dodge maneuver, a quick roll out of the way of an incoming attack, was one of our highest rated
powers based on appeal, and the highest for utility. It would seem that players are eager to have a move
like this that can allow them to gracefully and skillfully avoid danger. We should definitely look into
developing the dodge, and try to see if we can make it a little more appealing. Since its one of our most
involved abilities, we might be able to integrate it into other abilities to make it wanted very early on.
Power Shot:
Average Appeal: 8.33
Average Utility: 7.42
The ability to increase damage the longer the shot is charged seemed to really resonate with people. Its
simplicity and clear advantage have given it the highest appeal of the group and a very high utility score.
The fact that testers find this more appealing than useful is interesting. Tweaking its power/effects might
bump up the utility score as high as it can go.
Double Jump:
Average Appeal: 5.42
Average Utility: 5.58

The ability to double jump was one of our lower scoring abilities. Since the game was described to be
more action/adventure with emphasis, Im surprised how poorly it scored. Its difficult to tell the testers
what kind of environment they would be playing in, but the fact is that the double jump isnt very popular.
If we combine it with other abilities, in a similar way that we could with sprint, I think we can make this
both more appealing and useful. More testing is required to see if players will still pick it based on that
fact.
Triple Jump:
Average Appeal: 2.92
Average Utility: 4.5
Our lowest scoring ability, the triple jump was neither alluring nor seen as useful. Given that we already
have a double jump in the game, it stands to reason why testers would think it an unnecessary step. The
allure is low, but there is a marked gap between its utility, most likely from players assuming that if its in
the game then it must serve some purpose. I dont think that the triple is very important to our game, and
can be easily added/taken away if it proves to be needed/superfluous.
Melee Attack:
Average Appeal: 6.83
Average Utility: 6.67
The melee attack was advertised as an ability akin to an FPS melee attack, something that might get you
out of a close range pinch, but its cooldown keeps it from being a replacement to the standard ranged
attacks. It seemed to appeal to most testers, while slipping slightly when it came to utility. This would
have been one of the hardest powers for testers to judge, since you dont know how the enemies act in this
game. That said, it might become more obvious to see how useful a melee attack is to get out of sticky
situations in the game, and the general appeal is high enough for us to warrant further testing on this
mechanic.
Explosive Shot:
Average Appeal: 6.75
Average Utility: 6.58

The power to fire an explosive shot once in a while proved to be fairly interesting to the testers. That said,
it hardly blew anyone away. I think this ability needs to be altered to make it more attractive for the
players. In the same way that the Power Shot was popular, we could remove the idea of the explosive shot
being on a cooldown, and instead introduce a resource, such as ammo, that limits its use. Perhaps we can
eliminate that all together if the effects of the explosive shot arent too overpowered.
Kick Flip:
Average Appeal: 7.5
Average Utility: 6.8
The ability to leap away from a recently struck enemy seemed to appeal to most testers. The thought of
seeing your avatar pull off a very skillful backflip certainly has its appeal, but we might be able to
capitalize on that further by making the ability even cooler, such as by making the character fire an arrow
mid-flip. Its utility score makes sense, since it probably comes across as a power that sounds cool on
paper, but not quite as efficient as simply firing ranged attacks constantly. If we removed the restriction
for the player needing to land a melee attack first, the perceive utility might go up, and at that stage we
could probably incorporate this ability into the dodge move.
Trap:
Average Appeal: 5.17
Average Utility: 6.08
The ability to lay traps for enemies to walk into scored mediocrely to my surprise, given that the player is
an archer who likely moves around and backs away from combat a lot. This could be because players
imagine their character being far more aggressive, charging in and quickly dispatching foes without
having to give any ground. If that is the case, then we should reconsider what the moment to moment
action is going to be like if the players expect something that is faster paced.
Denial:
Average Appeal: 6.17
Average Utility: 8.25

The ability to stop enemies from using their abilities was decently alluring, but perceived as very useful.
If we want to make it more alluring, well have to modify it in some way, such as making the immediate
gratification more obvious. If the power simple stun locked enemies, it might come across as more
appealing since enemies would be at the players mercy if they were without backup.
Upgrade - Improved Movement Speed:
Average Appeal: 6.58
Average Utility: 7.5
Upgrading movement speed seemed moderately appealing, but was seen as quite useful. If its an
improvement that players feel like they need but dont feel like they want to unlock, we could simply
make it improve naturally on its own as the player grows in power. That way, they would gain the benefit
without having to manually select it.
Upgrade - Improved Attack Speed:
Average Appeal: 7.58
Average Utility: 8.58
Increasing attack speed scored quite highly, suggesting its always something that players want. If it
comes down to bow combat, the speed at which the character is able to pull back on the string and fire is
very important to the players perceived skill with it. If theyre unable to fire off shots at the same rate
that theyre lining them up, thats a serious problem. I would imagine that the starting attack speed would
be fairly high, and gets even higher for players who feel like they need the lightning speed to pull off
awesome stunts.
Upgrade - Improved Damage:
Average Appeal: 8.33
Average Utility: 8.67

Our highest scoring improvement in both appeal and utility, there seems to always be a place for a simple,
easy to understand, damage increase. Its simplicity means the players know exactly what theyre getting,
and its effects are obvious. A damage increase is definitely an option that we should give to players, and
experimenting with making it an active ability (like some sort of rage mode) might make it a good
candidate.
Upgrade - Improved Health:
Average Appeal: 7.58
Average Utility: 8.33
More health means more hits a player can take before they die. This is an interesting improvement,
because it might appeal most to those looking to make the experience easier, but to those who think they
are skilled enough not to need it, they can safely ignore it in favor of other improvement. That is why I
think this upgrade is so necessary: it gives players of lower skill something to improve their experience
while giving players of higher skill a dump stat that lets them spend their hard earned skilled points
elsewhere, essentially catering for min-maxing player types.
Upgrade - Improved Health Regen:
Average Appeal: 7
Average Utility: 8.5
Higher health regeneration scored very highly for utility, but lacked in appeal in comparison. If we
wanted to make it more appealing, we could introduce a new mechanic within the healing that makes it a
little more interesting, such as the player gaining a huge regeneration boost every time they destroy an
enemy.
Upgrade - Improved Dodge Distance:
Average Appeal: 5.33
Average Utility: 5.67

Improving how far your character could dodge proved to be one of our more lackluster upgrades, most
likely due to the fact that the testers were unsure whether it was an upgrade that they really needed. In
most games, the dodge you get from the start is more than sufficient to cope with the enemies you
encounter. Taking inspiration from the Power Shot ability, we could transform this into an active ability
that lets you dodge further the longer you charge it, which could lead to some interesting gameplay.
Upgrade - Improved Dodge Cooldown:
Average Appeal: 6.67
Average Utility: 6.75
While not as popular as the dodge distance upgrade, the reduced dodge cooldown still didnt impress too
much. Its appeal and utility scored almost the same, suggesting that it was an upgrade that probably
sounded like it would be useful, but didnt really capture anyone too strongly one way or the other. It may
prove to be something that we can naturally improve over time, like the movement speed improvement, if
players arent too interested in pursuing it actively.
Upgrade - Chance of fire:
Average Appeal: 6.5
Average Utility: 5.5
The chance to set an enemy ablaze with each attack was decently appealing, but lacked when it came to
utility. This is most likely to the percent chance of it happening. The thought of an enemy suddenly and
unexpectedly bursting into flame is an amusing thought, but when it comes to actual application its a
little hard to fully judge since it likely wont happen on each attack. If we made it a guaranteed event, it
might increase testers perceived usefulness while also making it more appealing.
Upgrade - Larger Weak Points:
Average Appeal: 3.75
Average Utility: 6.5

The potential to make enemy weak points easier to hit turned out to be a turn off in terms of appeal,
although testers admitted the usefulness of such an upgrade. It would seem that players are more
interested in what they can do. Making the weak points bigger probably feels like an easy mode where
the game holds your hand as you play through. This upgrade could be altered in such a way that makes
weak points hidden as standard, but the acquisition of this power could make them visible.
Upgrade - Auto Aim:
Average Appeal: 3.75
Average Utility: 5.5
This proved interesting, as the exact definition for what auto aiming does is highly variable. If we assume
that it means that the player can afford to make more mistakes when aiming, then it would seem that
players are turned off by this idea, similar to the way they were turned off by the larger weak point size.
However, testers noted that this ability didnt seem very useful despite its purpose, and can likely be cast
aside. It might be more favored by players who feel like they have less aiming skill, but Id rather create
something intrinsic to the system that fixes that problem, rather than relying on players to purchase the
upgrade themselves.