Play-test Goals

• Observe how players are able to use the UI to build in creative mode

• See how the players interact with the controls of the game

• See what players make in creative mode

• See how players move around in explorer mode

• See how player play in adventure mode

• See how players interact with the lobby system

• See how players switch back and forth from modes

• See if the player noticed improved from the new sprint compared to the older version

Research questions

• Do testers enter a play state?

• What can testers create with the current editor?

• Are the controlls understandable?

• Do testers have easy access to the lobby?

• Is everything easy to understand for the player?

1. Introduction (5 min.)

1. 1. Inform the user that they are testing a game that includes a castle creation editor and explorer mode. The creation editor allows them to build. The explorer mode allows them to move their character around in their building.

   2. Show tester https://infinityskies.io/

   3. Play-test rules

      1. The player can do no wrong

      2. We are not judging you

   4. Player information:

      1. The player gets no information on the controls beforehand and figures it out during the play-test

      2. The player is told that he can visit other lobbies or can build his own castle

   5. Player tasks:

      1. Listen and carry out the tasks that the game designer gives them

      2. To explore our built

      3. to figure out the controls

2. Tree Testing (20 min.)

   1. The game designer may asks players to do certain tasks if he/she doesn't find it themselfs.

      1. Player finds his own castle

      2. Player goes to the building mode

      3. Player rotates an object

      4. Player makes a wall and puts a hole in it

      5. Player builds a roof on his castle

      6. Player finds a specific castle

      7. Player walks in exploring mode

      8. Player plays adventure mode

   2. Player while spend 15 min in building mode 3 min in lobby's and rooms and 2 min in adventure mode

   3. The game designer is in the same room keeping watch over the test.

4. Evaluation (20 min.)

   1. Have the tester fill out the evaluation form.

   2. Quick interview

      1. What did you like?

      2. What didn’t you like?

      3. What needs improvement?

      4. How did the controls feel?

      5. Was there a learning curve to the controls?

      6. What would you change to the controls?

      7. Were parts of the games hard to understand?

      8. Were any menus hard to find?

      9. Did you ever get lost in the game?

      10. Did you feel this new version is an improvement? (only for people who play tested before)

Adventure Mode

Building Mode

Lobby and Rooms

Music

As a user, I would like an option to invert my camera control

As a user, I would like it if the objects spawn in the front instead of the back

As a user, I find it hard to remove 1 wall by clicking on it

As a user, i find it annoying that my selected object dissapears when I rotate the camera with the mouse

As a user, I would like a counter to see how many squares i place a wall

As a user, I would like to build a whole square of walls in 1 go

As a user, I would like a option to stretch my already build castle

As a user. I would like some sort of ctr-z option

Building Mode

Were some buttons and mouse layouts unclear?

• I thought you had to walk with wasd

• turning the camera wasnt initially clear to me

• rotating of the landcape felt like it was in reverse

• schuiven van het beeld met WASD

• It felt weird how you can rotate objects in two ways ( by holding the mouse button down and by pressing R), however the mouse option also directly places the object down. I feel like I would just pick one anyway and stick with it, but having two probably would have led me to make mistakes when building more carefully

People who had trouble with the camera said the following.

• knowing which buttons control the camera

• rotating the landscape

• The camera felt like the slides you get when playing ice-levels. When zooming in it didnt quite stop when i stopped scrolling

If you can change the controls/button layout what would you change?

• make walking with wasd

• better movement of viewing your castle

• use WASD plus a mouse buttton to turn the camera would feel more intuitive to me

• reverse q and e and also being able to let g of objects with delete, being able to build diagonal walls, stretching the room by pulling a wall, copying an item, building a square room at once, counting the wide of my wall

• Schuiven camera met linkermuisknop en dan muis bewegen om beeld te verschuiven

Were any aspects of the game confusing? If so, please describe.

• i didnt understand destructing mode at first

• interface i guess

• some buttons such as the builder mode button could be more emphasized, either in size or positioning. The removing tool needed a specific angle to work on walls, which was a bit of a hassle

• how to fight in adventure mode

• At first I didn't get how the destroying mechanic worked, as you have to be on the build-tap for the specific type of object you want to destroy. I think it would've felt better if the destroy-option would separately offer me options for what I would like to destroy.

What parts of the game where strong?

• it felt fluently

• you could place things pretty easily :)

• it was intuitive to place objects, walls, and floors. It was easy to move objects after placement

• making doors and windows, and putting in the furniture

• variatie, makkelijk bouwen, veel mogelijkheden

• The wall and floor building felt really natural. Being able to create large stretches at once feels like it should be in all building games

What didn't you like about the game?

• destructing mode

• the movement of the camera sometimes

• the removal tool was a bit clunky and could be placed more visible. The windows and doors being in the category of walls was a little confusing

• that i couldn't build diagonal walls, and i missed my roof

• the clouds. Also the fact that a building automaticaly closes up after all walls are connected felt like it could hinder my building in some portions. Maybe if you could select what building parts you'd want to be actually classified as a building would offer more options.

additional comments about the building mode?

• make the sensitivity for zooming in and out higher

• just fix the camera (maybe its fine and im just stupid but idk)

• I really liked it, would like for my chairs to be closer to the table though

• I don't really see the reason for having the option to place multiple island when you could just at the start fill the entire world with islands. Its cute, but doesnt feel like it adds a lot. also, MORE TREEEEEEESSS, loved them!

Adventure Mode

Were any aspects of the game confusing? If so, please describe.

• i didnt understand anything

• How to pick up objects or weapons

• I didn't understand how to fight my opponents, click on it? should I hold a key while doing it? I had not found an object yet while fighting my opponents, this might have been the problem

• I ofc can't reeeeaaally judge the adventure mode as it wasn't finished. But as is, it felt like I didn't really do anything except click on enemies. I don't know if I was able to block, but I didn't find any way to actually do it. Also, changing weapons was unclear until I was told which button to press.

What parts of the adventure mode where strong?

• walking

• the movement of the character while walking is very smooth and switching weapons was easy

• the walking and picking up objects

• Andere wapens kiezen, de vuurbal

• The OP armor was sickk!! Having an adventure mode in general feels like a great idea tho! Maybe make it in such a way people won't just use bots like in runescape for farming.

What didn't you like about the adventure mode?

• i didnt really knoow what was going on

• Hard to say at this stage, I think it would be nice to have a visual indicator for picking up items in some way

• I did not understand how to fight, but then again I'm not used to playing those kind of games

• Soms lastig met je poppetje lopen en klikken

• The fact that you could only have one of each type of object on you at any time felt slightly limiting.

Additional comments about the adventure mode.

• Maybe there could be an instruction mode fr the very inexperienced gamers like me

• Hyped to see it finished!

Lobby and Rooms

Were any aspects of the lobby confusing? If so, please describe.

• it didnt work yet

• Finding the limits of each circle

• I did not find any other castles in the lobby

• Voor mij nog niet duidelijk dat het de wereld was waar je in speelde

• The buttons told me what the UI-options were, but some just gave an abstract name. This is how I accidentaly started the adventure mode for example. Maybe having less options out in the open but having them under dropdown menus could help structure them

What parts of the lobby was not easy to understand?

• the use at the time

• finding other castles

• Same answer as above

What aspects of the lobby did you enjoy?

• it looked pretty

• the option to see other players islands potentially without loading times

• the zooming and moving

• Gaaf om te zien hoeveel andere mensen er in zitten.

• The world maps with different player-islands seems like a fun idea!

Additional comments about the lobby?

• I felt maybe it zoomed out a little to fast

Music

Did you enjoy the music of the game?

• yes

• yes, it felt medieval which sits the setting

• Had not noticed

• ja

• Music?.... Honestly, I really didnt notice any music

Additional comments about the music?

• it reminded me of runescape

• i like it

• Probably not annoying since I didn't notice it

The graph while contain the following information.

Light blue: Player has little experience with games.

Blue: Player has moderate experience with games.

Dark Blue: Player is very experienced with games.