Tying up Interactivity

14:13 BA2a , Interactivity 0 Comments

Having received feedback and reflecting upon previous play testing, I've decided to keep the glitch in the game.

Having watched an Extra Credits video on the concept of mechanic as metaphor, something I've really tried to push with my game, I now see this bug as an extension of the message. You can literally be dislodged from the world, be free-falling, but you can still make progress. You just have to find another way of working. How can you make this work for you?

I very much felt incapable, dislodged and like I was perpetually free-falling when making this game due to my own mental health being at an all time low due to many factors- this bug is highly reflective of what I've faced and what many others have and do. The point is, you push on regardless, despite how broken and disorientating everything may feel.


Adding the above prompt among the others into the game, I've also added the exit gate, and a small rock- placed at the bottom of the pit as a tongue-in-cheek "rock bottom".

The fact Ennui sets you back to the beginning isn't always a bad thing, it fixes "the glitch", and sometimes starting back at square one can give you the perspective you need to move forward.

Also, going back to the art game "loneliness"  and seeing how there's no narrative present, it leaves the player to create their own, is rather like what I've done. There is an objective given, but little else, players are to explore and experience the game in their own way. I've had one playtester use "the glitch" to their advantage, to further explore the game, and in fact, do so easier as the walls no longer hold them back. An idea present in another Extra Credits video is whilst developing the game, all devs should consider what it is their exploring whilst developing, leading to cohesive development. I've been exploring the ups and downs of depression, the game world itself being an emotional landscape, of climbing up or sinking below, climbing up from the depths being quite difficult and taking time.

The game Spec Ops The Line  which didn't have the budget to compete with games like COD, used its disadvantage to create a game that served to critique the genre, the game being about PTSD and ridiculing the idea of pretending to be a hero in a virtual environment, when the reality is far more macabre. It reflects PTSD through disassociating the player with their actions through mechanics and gameplay, players feeling as its a game they must shoot their enemies, however through loading screens the game guilts the player for their actions- reflecting the cognitive dissonance the protagonist would have for his violent actions. The game breaks the 4th wall a lot, it reaches beyond the game and to the player themselves, engaging them in a very direct way. Metaphorical mechanics have large impacts on players.

***Play-testing***

With all features in my game now collated, I decided to get it playtested one more time. My tester, at the pit to rock-bottom, actually chose to float down to investigate, the only player to have done that so far. She was very engaged, and really enjoyed mode swapping and how the Notions each had something different to say in different worlds. In this version of the game however the killzones were not big enough, so appearing in "the void" was still an issue, the feature of slipping through the world actually helped and was enjoyed! Some visual feedback from the harp could be good when its used, maybe even a sound clip! The lights were hard to find, which is intentional, but maybe a Notion to underline this and make it seem intentional would be good, perhaps some more arrows as well as it was rather difficult to navigate and the prompts were hard to see so may need some replacement.

Other than that, it was engaging! An Easter Egg of sorts (a prompt holding a light at the beginning which if you fade through you can collect) was found which was an interesting feature the tester revealed to me. The Notions she felt were neither good or bad, not on her side but with no power to hurt her. A main feature was that the harp was very hard to find, I may add some more clues.

I'll tweak these features in Timor, before testing it again!