Playtest-topia! [04/09/2023]

 Oya!

Playtesting has passed! It was awesome getting to see people play HOMOLUPUS for the first time and hearing their first impressions and responses. Overall, I think it was 90% a success! The other 10% accounts for new bug and glitch discoveries and all the patches now needing to be filled after taking feedback, but that's exactly what playtesting is for!

Here's a collection of playtesting feedback/data:

As you can see, the results yield alot of new information. From here, my next steps are 1. Fixing bugs and issues as listed 2. Figuring out an improvement for communicating LH and PM stats and deciding how these will practically effect the game 3. Potentially easing up the controls to make for a more pleasant playing experience (though I might not do this because I think the bad controls have artistic merit, and I say that unironically) 4. Fixing and finalising the Inventory and Item Use system, and 5. Further developing and exploring the implications and communication of werewolf-dom to players.

Other improvements include, finally, brand new U.I! This has been one of the most satisfying developments yet in really polishing the game and making it feel real. You've got the LH bar in the syringe on the left, PM/Character stats on the right with icons for each NPC, and inventory in the bottom right corner. I think it looks great for what it is and I'm so glad it's finally done.

Additionally, that shower cutscene I always wanted is now implemented! Polishing out the bugs is still a work in progress, but I think it's a great detail that players will really appreciate if they happen to discover it.

Lang's model is still... a work in progress. I feel very little motivation to work on him, though I know I really have to. I think the biggest problem is that I still really don't know how I want him to dress. The original costume designs have just kindof fallen though, so I need to redesign them once and for all if I want to get my mojo back.

Naomi, however, is looking very cute in her design stage. I think I'm far more motivated to work on her than anything else, even though her model is the least of my concerns right now.

The main concern is exactly where I'm gonna go with the rest of the game. What's going to happen next? A part of me just wants to make the beginning of the game first, like the opening cutscene and prologue. I'm just brimming with ideas for it and barren as a desert when it comes to the continued story. 

So then comes my holiday checklist. The next playtesting session will be Thursday the 21st of September, so I have about two weeks. What do I want done by then? I have some ideas.

    - Finalised and functioning Inventory / Item Use system.

    - Redesigned and finished Lang model including textures and Mixamo animation (this also means I'll finally be able to re-animate the Cage cutscene.

    - Illustrated Naomi icons and semi-final Naomi orthographic design

    - Shaders implemented (outline shader, PSX shader, etc)

    - Rough-out of exactly how the opening cutscene and prologue will play out and, likely, a working portion of this in-game and ready to play.

That's alot, but that's what I want before next playtest. We'll see how feasable that is.

I love you

- Monkeydog