This week

This week, the focus of the development was on polishing the game based on the feedback from the Beta release and the data analyzed within the Feedback Analysis document, as well as importing the final assets to be produced for the project.

Art

A major point of focus for the art team this week consisted of finalizing the UI icons for the inventory power ups to come with the final release of the game, such as the construction site (blockade/enemy trap), freeze time effect (enemy and streetcar slowdown), super car (temporary invincibility and destruction of enemies), and the broadcast beacon (decoy too alter enemy path):

New models to accompany the inventory power up UI elements such as the hourglass (freeze time) and cell tower (broadcast beacon) were also added to the assets list, as well as a new player death animation for when the game ends. 

Music

Some final assets for the music production were completed for the game over event and super car power up to add to the experience of the game, especially in making the player feel empowered when the super car power up is utilized.

Dev

In preparation for the final build, the following adaptations were made to the project:

• In response to the feedback from the Beta release about the game being too punishing in the case of the death upon first touch methodology, a life-counting system for the player was integrated into the system, in which the player is granted three lives that will be lost when coming in contact with an enemy vehicle or the streetcar. When the player touches an enemy car, they will lose a life and be granted temporary invincibility, in which they can destroy any enemy car they come in contact with. This is implemented to not only combat the punishing aspect of the game but also introduce a new type of strategy to incorporate into the playstyle.
• The new model assets were incorporated into the project to display item power-ups on the map that are more distinguishable for the player to adjust their playstyle accordingly to select their favorite inventory power-ups.
• The new music assets were also integrated into the project to greatly increase the experience, especially when a game over occurs. Furthermore, the super car power-up music will be played when the super car inventory power-up is used to increase immersion and sell the feeling of empowerment to the player, especially since this power-up grants temporary invincibility and ultimate destruction, similar to the super car power-up from the MarioKart series.
• Adjusted model sizes and colors for better visibility, including the player, enemy, construction site, hourglass, and tracers.

Obstacles/Challenges

Some challenges were faced in tackling ways to adjust the game to make it less punishing. Currently, the game ends when the player first touches an enemy or a streetcar; however, with the current wave designs and gameplay loop, the game is so challenging that the developers cannot play past wave 5. Therefore, further discussion is due to determine final design choices to make the game more balanced, especially for new players.

Features

Feedback received during the Beta found the game to be extremely slow or uneventful when a wave is "solved", especially since the player must wait a certain period of time before the enemies are destroyed for the next wave to come. Therefore, a function to fast-forward the game and increase the play speed was implemented to solve this issue. This implementation allows the player to adjust the in-game speed in three modes: 1) normal speed, 2) 2x the speed, and 3) 3x the speed. When a wave ends, the speed will be reset to the regular playback speed and the UI will be adjusted accordingly.

What's Next

Further discussion about the choice to keep the fast-forward feature or instead implement cycle detection will ensue, since the fast-forward feature does alleviate the issue of wait time, especially when replaying waves that had already been "solved" in previous game loops. However, feedback was received during the Beta presentation to find a way to keep the player thinking and moving constantly to prevent them from staying in a single corner during the entire game.

In addition, the final assets will be received and completely incorporated into the game to complete the final build, as well as final polishes to the ambiance, UI, title screen, controls, and mechanics. Playtesting will be conducted as well as a means of receiving more feedback for the polished changes and discovery of bugs to fix before the final project release.