- johnny.chang@futuregames.nu
- Stockholm, SWEDEN
A prototype I made during Unity C# course at FutureGames.
A point & click adventure experience, where you play as an investigator, doing errands for the royal court.
In this playable prototype, you are tasked to find the King’s missing sword. You search the town center for clues, which brings you to the nearby forest. You can see the sword, but there is a kid who won’t let you pass, unless you figure out how to soften his little heart and gain his trust…
A
This feature should be unique in a good way, and never seen before in other games, or at least be in the forefront of its kind. It should also be prominent in the game, attract much of the player’s attention, and provide plenty of joy.
B
This feature should be good and provide a pleasant play experience but does not need to feel extra fancy or special.
C
This feature should be of average level, and comparable with most games. It could be necessities to provide basic functionalities and help make the game feel fully functional and complete. It does not have to stand out, but rather run discreetly and feel like a natural and expected part of the experience.
Description:
A. The narrative and dialogue lines have been assigned as top priorities, since they are the features that are supposed to evoke a feeling of curiosity, joy and laughter within the audience, which will be a central part of what drives the player to keep on playing. Making choices is also a key part of the game, which means the dialogues need to be interesting to read and the story needs to be compelling and feel consistent, so the player will not feel lost and confused.
B. The interaction, camera and audio system have been assigned medium priority, since they are not supposed to make the game feel special or be a central part of the play experience. However, audio-visually, they will be very noticeable. Any kind of flickering, unpleasant sight angles, or abnormal sound will immediately attract negative attention and decrease the overall play experience. However, sound that make sense, responsive interactions, and well-coordinated camera positioning, will most likely provide a pleasant feeling.
C. The rest of the features have been assigned low priority since they are less noticeable in the game or rarely used. They should, however, at least be polished and friction free, but does not need to be very advanced or have high complexity.
I have chosen these quality targets based on four pillars: Meeting design/requirements, free from visible defects, free from friction, and fun. They are based on my ability to deliver a certain degree of performance into the game development. The higher level of quality I expect from a certain feature, the harder it will become to meet that expectation, if my level of skill is not up for the task, which could significantly prolong the development time.
It may be better to optimize each feature according to the current level of skill and effort I’m able to dedicate, and see to that each of them is polished, well balanced, and work in synergy as a whole.
Before starting to put effort and resources into developing the game, this understanding could help when designing and deciding which features should become more prominent and take more space in the overall play experience.
Of course, the features with higher quality target rating should end up being the ones attracting most attention during gameplay, while features with lower quality targets should be more discrete and be there only to help the game run smoothly and to maintain a pleasant or friction free experience.
© 2020, Johnny Chang. All Rights Reserved.