Playtest session 3

External tester: Barry (previously played earlier prototype)
Testing time: approx 10mins
Playtest objective: Test out new maturing/expiring bonus oranges

Results:

• The 4 minutes of the game felt like ages (Barry bombed out twice and had to start from the beginning just as he was about to finish the level)
• There's a better proportion of predators, which made it more interesting trying to evade them
• He targeted bonus oranges - it seems a natural instinct even when he didn't really use all the stink bombs
• He didn't pay attention to the health bar - despite the fact he died when it dropped to zero twice, he just wasn't worried about it. Suggested it start flashing red when low
• He said he liked the farmer - it reminded him of an end level boss on old games. It was a bit scary and he made a point to avoid him
• He found the oranges changing colour confusing and he was unclear why this happened
• Said the entire game was definitely more playable than it was
• Identified a strategy as not flying too far between oranges to conserve energy, although he still aimed to get as many oranges as he could

Observations:

• Now I'm working out how to use the timelines, I'm not going to have every level the same length of time. i will make the intro level 3 minutes long, which will give players just enough time to get used to the predators, how the bonuses and bombs work, before making them work harder to sustain their food sources
• Interesting that he made a point of noticing the dropping health bar last playtest session and this time paid it no heed whatsoever. i assume that's because he was too involve din game play this time :-) I think the flashing red idea is a good one, but I don't' know how to do it. I'm considering at least playing a beeping sound to provide some warning, but I don't know if that will just be distracting...This does need to be addressed.
• Hopefully including an explanation of the orange progression in the instructions will be enough to clear up confusion about their changing states. Plus, once I've sorted out the sprites, it should look much better
• I'm really pleased that he identified a strategy i was hoping would be noticed i.e. the hover between trees to conserve energy - although if this was played too much, a player might notice that all of the oranges are 'hibernating' when they are running low - if a player doesn't ensure there's a changing cycle of oranges at different stages, they might starve, and the only way to do that is y eating them at different rates
• I'm pleased with this new game play development! It's at least a bit more interesting than it was!