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 the mouse controls confusing

As a user, I find it hard to place objects on the right height

As a user, I find it hard to remove specific objects

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 had a hard time placing objects on the table

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

As a user. I would like to zoom out more to see my whole castle

Building Mode

Were some buttons and mouse layouts unclear?

• welke hoogte er objecten geplaatst konden worden en waar de trappen niet goed deden

• Yes, the camera button changed from one mode to the other. For the most part you could just use the mouse, but then all of a sudden you had to use the keyboard to rotate objects an use abilities in adventure mode.

• Yes, like how to dance

• That you had to unselect the destroy button was unclear to me

People who had trouble with the camera said the following.

• Om de objecten op de grond te plaatsten moest ik heel ver inzoomen.

• Het volledig ronddraaien ging wat minder, ik moest dit in meerdere keren doen.

• The camera would zoom in and out way too fast in the overworld.

• I didn't know I could walk with the mouse at first, so that surprised me. I also found it annoying how I couldn't stay in building mode while turning the camera.

People who had trouble with the Destruct mode said the following.

• trappen en hoogte van objecten plaatsen.

• I couldn't find it at first and from there on I just didn't know how to delete things until someone helped me. Didn't know I couldn't destroy walls in 'Floor Destruct Mode'.

• I forgot to unselect the desturct button.

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

• scrollen met een knop ingedrukt om de hoogte van het opject te bepalen

• dat je met de cijfers op je toetsenbord naar de verschillende verdiepingen kan gaan

• keep the camera control to one button throughout. give options to control everything through the mouse - keep the keyboard for those who want to use it, but try to maintain it to the mouse as much as possible. Also, allow rotating objects with Q and E

• Moving the camera does not cancel building mode. Why no 'Press D to Dance'?. Destruction Mode with a button tap?

• Maybe a mouse that demonstrates it for the first time

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

• Trappen plaatsen.

• Het in de hoogte bouwen was wat lastig door het in en uit zoomen, dit moest heel specifiek waardoor het af en toe mis ging.

• Floors were green even when they were not able to be placed. And the walls and floor have a different grids, so it was more awkward to align floor objects to wall objects.

• Too many to least, but the key ones were: I never placed a roof here; why can't I destroy this wall; I think I just deleted all my floors on accident.

• Noting else then rotation and destruct button.

What parts of the game where strong?

• Dat je verschillende verdiepingen kon maken vond ik heel tof.

• Veel coole items. en ik vond het leuk dat de map ook in de hoogte gebouwd kon worden.

• The variety of designs.

• The types of different walls, for different themed rooms.

• That it was satisfying that the things I made worked together.

What didn't you like about the game?

• Het op de juiste hoogte plaatsen was soms vrij lastig omdat je dan ver moest in zoomen.

• Soms is objecten plaatsen nog wat lastig. Bijv het roteren gaat soms niet goed of waar het item word geplaatst is niet altijd even duidelijk.

• It was hard to see where the wall placements started, espcially if you hovered it over the corners of the walls. Although the variety of floors was neat, the pattern repeated very quickly, which gave a very weird look to the floors.

• Worst things: My building mode got disrupted every time I turned the camera; My floors got deleted on accident; I'd accidently save and go back to the menu.

• That I couldn't make my own stairs.

additional comments about the building mode?

• ik vond de toevoeging van dakken en trappen een leuke toevoeging.

• ik vond de nieuwe items erg mooi :)

Adventure Mode

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

• Ik vind Q een rare knop voor een vuurbal.

• For a game mode where you have to dodge attacks and bullets, why do I have to stop moving so I can click on a weapon to pick it up, or on an enemy to attack? That ruins the flow of combat, and can be difficult later on when more enemies are around.

• Some things came intuitive like moving the camera and dragging for floors, but dance button for instance not. I also didn't know what the portal does. Also, I have no idea what build mode has to do with adventure mode

• What was difficult about the enemies

What parts of the adventure mode where strong?

• Auto targetting werkte goed je hoeft niet de heletijd te klikken zoals andere games.

• Makkelijk te leren.

• The idea is very interesting, and could have a very simple premise, but a deep amount of gameplay.

• I like archers.

• That if I clicked my character would follow.

What didn't you like about the adventure mode?

• het oprapen van items was soms een beetje lastig vooral als je word aangevallen.

• Ik vond het lastig om van wapen te wisselen, maar ik denk naar een paar keer spelen het wel onder de knie te hebben.

• Don't like clicking to attack and pick up things, makes it hard to dodge attacks. The UI hid a lot of info, I didn't know I could cast abilities until i randomly clicked on a keyboard button. The character felt a bit slugish. The weapons felt very bland, nothing unique or interesting about their design of attacks made them fun to play with.

• It felt like I'd win even if I used 10% of my focus.

• That I felt that I didn't have to do anything.

Additional comments about the adventure mode.

• vuurbal is wel geinig

• If you want to make a bullet-hell like game, where the character is being attacked non-stop from all directions, never have the character stop moving. Also, take the idea of fantasy higher by making the weapons more interesting to play with, rather than just a sword that swings, maybe it does spin moves to help you deal with large waves of enemies. Or the weapons gain upgrades that let them do really cool stuff, like the bow can start firing a rain of arrows later. The gameplay so far is very simple and dull, but it has the potential to be more strategic with the addition of various weapons and their unique feel.

Lobby and Rooms

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

• dat die niet in op je kasteel inzoomt wanneer je daar op klikt.

• soms een beetje gek met het inzoomen.

• Clicking on a section of the map would send me somewhere else. The zoom in function was way too strong. And I couldnt just double clic on my island to get in.

• What lobby? the chat?

• Where my home was was not very clear.

What parts of the lobby was not easy to understand?

• The mouse wheel, although used for the zoom in and out, and also to move camera, woud also click on the various islands whenever i let go of the button. That made it very difficult to navigate the over world.

• I haven't looked for other players.

What aspects of the lobby did you enjoy?

• De world map vond ik een hele toffe toevoeging

• Naar andere kastelen gaan

• Ik vond de verschillende werelden erg leuk, ook de circels vnd ik erg leuk bedacht.

• The over-world map is beautiful, and the idea is very fantastical

• The chat function?

• That looked like a big world

Additional comments about the lobby?

• Als je op home klikt en je bent uitgezoomd ga je niet naar je kasteel toe.

• De wereld ziet er mooi uit.

• The island plots are too neat, doesn't feel like floating islands, but more like stagnant plots of land. Maybe make them feel a bit more like they are actually flying.

Music

Did you enjoy the music of the game?

• I don't remember the music

• Ja past goed bij de sfeer en was niet verveelend

• ja

• yes

• The only music I heard was from the main menu, and it was very nice

Additional comments about the music?

• Mooi deuntje, valt niet te veel op als je bezig bent en ik zou er lang naar kunnen luisteren.

• There was only music in the main menu during my play test

• Not remembering the music tells me it was good as background music

Improvements (questions for playtesters who tested before)

Did anything improve since the last time you playtested?

• Toevoeging van daken, bomen, trappen en verdiepingen

• Trappen en daken zijn erbij gekomen. Wereld kaart is groter. In zomen is iets minder fijn geworden

• Nieuwe items zoals de trap en bankje. Ook kon je nu in de hoogte bouwen en dat vond ik leuk.

Did anything improve since the last time you playtested?

• De daken werkte de vorige keer nog niet en je objecte op verschillende hoogten plaatsen

• Ik vond het erg leuk dat je je kasteel hooger kon maken.

Did anything worsen since the last time you playtested?

• het plaatsen van vloeren was iets lastiger omdat je ver moet inzoomen om ze op de grond te plaatsen

• nu moest je meer gebruik maken van het in en uit zoomen, dit ging niet helemaal lekker.

Additional Comments about the whole game

• Ik zou graag ronde torentjes enzo kunnen bouwen, net als een echt kasteel.

• Although the game looks really interesting and has a unique premise, the game play still feels like a significantly simpler version of other game genres. The building mode is serviceable, but nothing really interesting and unique happens there. Same goes for adventure mode, which has the potential of something there, but as of this build, feels more like a chore than an epic adventure

• It seems like the game's development is going into an interesting direction and with more content and more polish it seems to be enjoyable. It did give me mobile game vibes, tho. Oh and I disliked how the top right corner reminded me that this is an NFT game :c

• NFT's are bad for the environment. The world doesn't really need more environmental problems so instead do something that makes the world a better place and not a worse place.

• The building part was very nice. I wasn't very invested in the fighting aspect because it didn't become diffucult yet.

The graph while contain the following information.

Blue: First time this player has played Infinity Skies.

Orange: Player has played Infinity Skies before.