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CSC404:VideoGameDesign©EliasAdum
Announcements
§  GuestlectureonGraphicsforgamesbyaUbisoA3Dprogrammeron
Thursday!
Playtes-ng
§  NoclassnextTuesday(studybreak)
§  Playtes-ngsessiontodayduringofficehours!BA5250
§  UbisoAdemosession(almostconfirmed)
§  WeekofNov17th
§  Daypending(mostlikelyThursday)
§  Similarformatastheregularpresenta-ons
It’snevertooearly!
§  Ukenpresenta-on(confirmed)
§  December1st
§  Similarformataslevelup
CSC404:VideoGameDesign©EliasAdum
GameDevProcess
CSC404:VideoGameDesign©EliasAdum
WhatisPlaytes-ng?
§  Evaluatewhetheryourgameisfun!
§  Checkifthegamefunc-onsthewayyouintended
§  Iden-fydesignflaws
§  Gatherfeedback
§  Expectnega-vefeedback!!!
CSC404:VideoGameDesign©EliasAdum
WhatisNOTPlaytes-ng?
CSC404:VideoGameDesign©EliasAdum
Athingaboutnega-vefeedback
§  Usabilitytes-ng
§  Measureseaseofuse
§  Focusgrouptes-ng
§  Gatherthoughtsanda_tudetowardsyouridea/designfrompeoplein
yourtargetmarket
§  QualityAssurancetes-ng
§  Don’trejectitorgetdefensive
§  Canbeveryvaluable
§  Insomecases
§  Itwillmakeyourgamebeder!J
§  Lookforbugs
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16-11-14
CSC404:VideoGameDesign©EliasAdum
CSC404:VideoGameDesign©EliasAdum
Whyplaytest?
Howtoprepare
§  Becauseyourbossaskedyouto.
§  Haveaworkingbuild
§  Becauseyou’renotsureifyourmechanicworksinthegame.
§  Becauseyou’renearlydoneandwanttofindbugs.
§  Makesureyoudointernaltes-ngbeforereleasingittoyourtesters
§  Prepareaques-onnaire/survey
§  Scaledques-ons(rate1-X)arebeder
§  Don’tasktesterstowriteparagraphs
§  Doleaveasec-onforcomments
§  Ques-onsshouldbeasspecificaspossible
§  Don’task“ratethegame”askinstead“howlikelywouldyoubeto
recommendthisgametoyourfriends?”
CSC404:VideoGameDesign©EliasAdum
CSC404:VideoGameDesign©EliasAdum
Runningthesession
SomeRules
§  Watchingtheplayers
§  Talktoyourplayersaslidleaspossible
§  Everythingyousaywillbiasthem
§  Loggingthegame
§  Trynottoexplainbeforetheystart
§  Spoken:“Whatareyoudoing?”or“Whatareyoutryingtodo?”
§  Bedersenseofwheretheygetstuck
§  AAerafewunsuccessfulademptsthenexplain.
§  Post-game:Ques-onnaireand/orsurvey
CSC404:VideoGameDesign©EliasAdum
CSC404:VideoGameDesign©EliasAdum
Watchingtheplayers
Watchingtheplayers
§  Talktoyourplayersaslidleaspossible
§  Writeeverythingdownandlisten
§  Everythingyousaywillbiasthem
§  Don’thelpthem,letthemfigureitout
§  Trynottoexplainyourgame
§  Willgiveyouabedersenseofwhereplayersarege_ngstuck
§  GivesomehintsaAerafewtries
§  Don’tonlywritewhattheysay,recordreac-ons,emo-onsand
a_tudeaswell
§  Orderoffeedbackisalsorelevant
§  Recordgoodusefulstats
§  Ex:Numberofdeaths,loca-onofdeath,playsessionlength,etc
§  Ingameloggingwouldbenice,butcouldbetoomuchoverhead
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CSC404:VideoGameDesign©EliasAdum
CSC404:VideoGameDesign©EliasAdum
Watchingtheplayers
Spoken
§  Asyoutest,you’llno-ceifyourchangeswereforthebeder
§  Askyourplaytestersto“ThinkAloud”
§  Findtheirinten-ons,ifthey’reconfuseditmaynotbetooobvious
§  Iden-fythoughtprocess
§  Itera-ngoverplaytes-ngsessions
§  Ideallywithdifferentpeople
§  Askyourtesterlotsofques-onsandfollowups
§  Understandwhytheymadetheirdecisions
§  Easiertomeasureifsurveyques-onsarequan-fiable
CSC404:VideoGameDesign©EliasAdum
CSC404:VideoGameDesign©EliasAdum
WhoshouldNOTtestyourgame?
Whoshouldtestyourgame?
§  YOU!!!
§  Friendsandfamily,maybenot.
§  Youaretheworstpersontotestyourowngame
§  Ifyourgameseemsbalancedtoyou.It’sprobablyimpossible
forotherstoplay
§  Notidealbutbederthantes-ngityourself
§  FriendsofFriends
§  Muchbeder,speciallyiftheydon’tknowyou
§  Casualgamersareprobablythebest
§  Reddit
§  Torontaru
§  Meetups
CSC404:VideoGameDesign©EliasAdum
Industryexamples
§  Pre-releasepurchase
§  MinecraA
§  Minimetro
§  PrisonArchitect
BetaMilestone
§  Open(orclosed)beta
§  Inviteonly
§  Freetodownload
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CSC404:VideoGameDesign©EliasAdum
CSC404:VideoGameDesign©EliasAdum
Betadeliverables
Playtes-ngReport
§  In-classdemoofcompletedproduct
§  Shouldbe5-10pages
§  Shouldinclude:
§  Presenta-onprobablyatUbisoA
§  Testasmuchasyoucanbeforesoyougetthebestfeedback
§  Playtes-ngreport(duetheMondayaAerthebetapresenta-on)
§  Due:November21stby9:00am
§  Gamedescrip-on:changessinceAlpha
§  Concernsorques-ons
§  Expectedresultsfromtheplaytest,ifany
§  Previousinformalplaytes-ng
§  Tes-ngprocedure
§  Par-cipants
§  Results
§  Analysis
§  Changes
CSC404:VideoGameDesign©EliasAdum
CSC404:VideoGameDesign©EliasAdum
ResultsvsAnalysis
DON’Ts
§  Resultsisaraw,summarizedlis-ngofwhathappened,without
interpreta-on
§  Useplaytes-ngtoverifythatyourgameis“good”
§  Embracethenega-vefeedback
§  Askingleadingques-ons
§  Givenresults:
§  “Didyouenjoyourfun
starburstmechanic?”
§  Analyzethem
§  Implementthechanges
§  Takeyourplaytesters
tooseriously
CSC404:VideoGameDesign©EliasAdum
DOs
§  Getspecificresultsfromplaytes-ng
§  e.g.thejumpmechanicfeelsreallyfun-weshouldprovidemore
jumpingopportuni-es
§  Askingopen-endedques-ons
§  “HowdidyoufeelabouttheStarbustmechanic?”
§  Keepitconsistent
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