Devlog 1 - Game Development Process and Playtesting

Game Development Process

The first step in our game development process was brainstorming several ideas and concepts for a mobile game that would be achievable within the given time frame. Once we decided on an endless runner, we discussed different power ups and mechanisms to make the gameplay more enjoyable. After finalizing our game overview, we began working on our Alpha build which included basic player and enemy mechanics in order to the controls on a mobile device. Once we were able to build the game with the basic mechanics, we further developed our game by enhancing the game design with sprite animations, and various enemy attacks and obstacles. After the beta build and playtesting, we focused on polishing and refining the game to improve the overall gameplay experience.

Playtesting:

Some of the user feedback from the playtest included:

• Decreasing the background and camera’s start speeds at the beginning of the game
• Changing the background color
• Fixing the flying and falling speed of the player on mobile
• UI is really small on a mobile 
• Want to know how many carrots they collected in each run
• Some sprite animations for certain power ups wasn't triggered
• Add a moving effect to the ground
• Add more feedback for death state
• Include a pause button

For the final game, we polished the game mechanics based on the feedback. The initial speed of the player was slowed down to help the player familiarize with the controls and act as a tutorial. The background color was changed based on the player’s powerup to make the gameplay more immersive and enjoyable. The UI was also changed to be adjusted to screen size.