This sprint, I worked on multiple things for the team, the main one being the over-world system, that I kept iterating on and made sure that it worked with no bugs. I was able to also prototype new special abilities that we can QA test as well as implement the game. The final thing that I worked on was finalizing the player’s visual feedback.
The Overworld system had a major focus on the transition phase between the overworld system and also each level. Last sprint I had the overworld basic systems down but there were tons of bugs in regards to when the player left the level and went back to the overworld. Overall, the systems works perfectly now with three different levels (and the ability to add more easily) and that’s all that we need for this vertical slice. However continuing iterating with the transition phase will be necessary to nail down exactly what we want: A visual experience that makes the player feel like their entering this world of toys.
For the special abilities that I prototyped, I continued with the trend of the dashing ability and made two others that give the player the ability to change their play-style with just the change of playing more. The Shield (Pictured above) allows the player to collect enemy bullets which can give players who aren’t as keen on dodging or maybe waste too many bullets another chance to beat levels. The Shotgun ability, lets the player shoot three bullets (one in a straight line and two 15 degrees at an offset) so that players who want to spam shots quickly or have a tough time killing closer enemies have a better chance at success. Each special ability allows for success with different play-styles which is definitely one major aspect of the game.
The last thing that I worked on was the visual feedback of the player which has always been a major focus of my role on the team as a designer. I added the start of bullet trails after the player shoots a bullet which increases the polish level on the bouncing bullets. I also altered the camera shakes throughout the game and started prototyping feedback elements for the newly added special effects. Overall this sprint I was majorly focused on making the player feeling genuinely comfortable with the player experience and satisfied with the difficult gameplay.
Ethan Loewald 