First Person Game

The response to the work in progress game was mainly positive. The game succeeded in being accessible to those whom were just playing it for the first time. The real strength was the straightforwardness of completing the maze with a given time limit. The rising water level communicated a sense of time-sensitive urgency to the gameplay. Furthermore, a bit of setting and background was provided by the detailed use of textures within the game.

After numerous play-tests, the game held up and could not be corrupted to perform unintended tasks. That being said, there were areas to be improved upon. The water level element was still being polished, and rose too fast for beginning players. While the simulated water was appealing on the surface, steps could be taken to ensure it looked better from all perspectives (mainly under). The biggest issue was the Game Over code was not fully implemented, which gave the testers more time to explore the map. Other than that, various visuals could be improved upon, like overlapping polygons and protruding objects.

Through observation, I believe the beta version was successful in its difficulty level. The gameplay area was not too vast, nor minimal that the player felt a suitable challenge while engaged. Most of the errors were simply visual, which could be corrected by merely re-arranging objects. The Game Over screen would require more work, as timing must be perfected, and the trigger itself will require an external instance.

While the beta version of the game was largely playable, and represented the look and tone that I would like to portray in the final version, various changes were made to accommodate critiques and further gameplay elements.

For improving the look of the water, I duplicated the element and flipped it 180 degrees so the player can see under the water as well as above. To achieve the Game Over trigger, I created a rigidbody cube to rise with the water level and set off the trigger to bring the player to the Game Over screen and end the game. Lighting was also adjusted to help achieve a more unnatural, underground setting.