Looking for BetaTesters for GATHER, small browser game of minions and harvests!

[Koobazaur]

Fellow Exillians,


I've just started testing my upcoming experimental title so if anyone is interested please respond or shoot me a PM It only takes about 15-20 and after I would ask you to fill a brief questionnaire.

Official GameJolt Site






You are one day old. You have no memory of the past. You have no foresight of the future. The gods made you to do their bidding. They require sacrifice


You control a Wraith sent to the idyllic land who must learn the rules of the world on his own. Powerless to affect the material realm, you must find arcane words to command and grow your minions, gather various objects and discover their use. The Krewski god demands sacrifice - but of what kind? And how will you appease them?

Release Date: Late August

[Jubal]

Moved to the Tinkers' Alley - non-commercial gamedev should go here, commercial gamedev in the indie labs, and the general gaming section should be used to discuss games that are not in development or developed by Exilian members.

Also, I will happily do a test run!

[DeepCandle Games]

me too!

[Koobazaur]

Thanks guys, PMs sent

[Koobazaur]

Just a quick update that the game is nearly done and for the past week has been undergoing some beta testing woo


The opinions so far are a bit mixed. While people like the overall idea, it is clear some of the elements are a bit confusing. The feedback mostly echoes my worries, which I guess is a good sign I had the right hunch about what may be problematic.


I have already fixed a few of the biggest problems (like the interface or confusing mechanics), but some I am still not sure how to properly address. At least not without a major design overhaul of some mechanics.


I think I will proceed with release this weekend as scheduled - perhaps the pubic feedback will give some more ideas on how those issues could be amended for my future titles.


In the end, this is meant as a Design Experiment, trying a few new things to see how they work out. I feel I have learned a great bunch already, and will undoubtedly get more feedback after release. I already spent way longer on GATHER than I initially planned and am ready to move on - incorporating my lessons in the next title!


Which, by the way, I already started planning and researching. Going back to my narrative roots with something more story-centric. Will keep you guys posted! Here's a little sneak-peek at blocking out a scene in the next title.

[DeepCandle Games]

Sounds good but maybe concentrate all of your energy into one project at a time? might be more speedy but up to you?

[Koobazaur]

Oh that's what I've been doing past 4 years on my 2 big games But now switching to smaller titles I can rapidly prototype. I'm moving into the new one as I am wrapping up the last one, it's nice to get a break since it's very different. Helps with the burnout too, and with smaller projects is still manageable.


I already proved to myself I can get my projects finished so I don't worry about it. I'm focusing on learning to finish them faster and actually being good now ;p

[Koobazaur]

GATHER is released! Learn the world, lead minions, gather resources, harvest sacrifice for the Gods! PLAY NOW

PLAY IN YOUR BROWSER NOW!

From the testing I've done, I already know it's not as good as I hoped. But that is the point of a design experiment - to learn what works and what doesn't. I definitely got a few valuable lessons from this project.


Hope you enjoy

[Jubal]

Sorry I never got the feedback form submitted - I really enjoyed the game, the giant "tutorial panels" I don't think worked so well but the other mechanics I quite enjoyed.

[Koobazaur]

The biggest failing, and most valuable lesson is now clear. I hoped to evoke a sense of wonder to make the players experiment and learn via trial and error only using non-verbal communication panels (deliberate design limitation). Clearly, this didn't work and ended up confusing / frustrating players. Instead of wanting to discover the world and its mechanics, they felt aimless.


However, I am not sure if it's a problem of initial motivation, not making the mechanics engaging/rewarding in themselves (like in other sandbox games), or simply needing to spell out things more clearly. Any thoughts on that?

[Jubal]

I don't think it was the non-verbal nature of the communication panels that was the problem for me, that bit I quite liked. It was them being in set locations, having to head back to them to see them, and that they took up quite a lot of on-screen space, I couldn't always see my minions around them, etc. I think another thing was that you needed the tablets in order, because there was only one end-goal process to work towards - the sacrifices. So that dampened the "wander around and find the tablets" aspect a bit I guess as knowing late-stage commands without early-stage ones was a bit useless.

Maybe if the game was a bit more complex and you had a few different goal processes then walking around to find the tablets would have worked better. Either way I'd have them as sort of findable items that you could then refer back to rather than permanent monoliths you needed to keep visiting.

[DeepCandle Games]

Or perhaps set it so there is a word setting for creating shrines?

[Jubal]

I think possibly if one did it by a discovery mode, what you want to do is assign keys to things or actions, then allow the player to experiment with combining them.

So eg you'd discover things like:
Q Follow me (have this given as a starting one)
W Pick up
E Deliver
R Throw/attack
T Stone
Y Carcass
U Flower

So rather than having it as a simple set of actions there's more experimentation and combination going on, which I think might help with the discovery principle.

[Koobazaur]

Thanks guys! Agreed on all points, but as it's more of a small design experiment, I wanted to keep it short and sweet. Initially I was planning a more complex command system (with individual words for different resources and more commands you could combine) but cut them out to keep it simple when I realized the current game doesn't really need them. Some players found even the 4 combinations hard to remember. A good lesson - if I made the tablets more visually representative it might have been easier to remember.


All good lessons if I play more with this idea :]

[Koobazaur]

Just put up my lessons on Gather, hope you guys learn from my mistakes


What I learned from my 2nd game design experiment: GATHER





My second free experimental game flopped. It's about leading a flock of minions to gather resources and harvest sacrifice for the gods. Here's what I learned from it.

Continue reading →