From user testing results, we learned that there was an overwhelmingly positive reaction to the narrative. Participants mentioned being impressed with the quality of the narrative and the allure of the aesthetic of the piece. Multiple participants mentioned being “totally immersed”. One participant even broke down sobbing during a particularly emotive section of the game. After seeing the narrative resonate so well with a wide range of people with different interests, we decided to stick to the path that we were on, with the confidence to diverge from our original plot outline, which we considered was playing it too safe, and to double down on what we felt were the narrative’s strongest points- the surreal atmosphere and the writing style.
People also expressed that they particularly enjoyed the “very specific” atmosphere that we constructed. Our original plan included ideas to illustrate more than just the three entity characters, such as images of the attacker and the surrounding area. However, after speaking to participants in formal and informal situations, we found that most players found the minimal approach to illustration to be quite effective and allowed the flow of the writing to shine through better. One QA tester used the words “cathartic” and “relaxing” to describe the gameplay. While this was not our original intent during initial planning, as the project went on, the writing began to focus more on being abstract and evocative as opposed to trying to convey just brutality. This approach was important in emphasizing the “being inside someone’s thoughts” aspect of the project. We stuck to this approach and removed images of the attacker and the weapon in order to better help the player immerse themselves in the piece and attune themselves to the mood we were trying to create.
Going off the previous point, every participant commented on the use of music and sound, both ambient and interactive, in the piece. It was unanimously reported by them that the music and the sound design were key aspects of the project since they were able to evoke emotion by either complimenting or contrasting the text on-screen. Because we eventually decided to keep visual imagery to a medium, music was what we turned to in order to help us better construct the atmosphere that we were aiming for.
Most bugs and technical issues that we had while user testing was related to audio, primarily due to the engine’s technical limitations. Audio wouldn’t play during certain sequences and would sometimes display music controls as part of the screen, something that we didn’t intend. Some music tracks ended up breaking the game, and after testing was completed, would not work no matter what we did (recreate the sequence from scratch, use music from a different source, different file formats). Eventually, we settled on entirely new and different pieces of music for some parts, which we then tested with a smaller, new testing group much closer to the end of development (after original user testing was complete). The replacement music resonated well with the new testing group, and so we went with it.
Apart from technical issues, one big issue that we had early in development was players not understanding how to play or progress the narrative. Many of them were stuck on the introduction slide. It was immediately apparent that this was because we did not properly telegraph what was needed to be done with the user interface. A small, minimal tutorial was added to the beginning of the narrative, and other similar signposting has been added throughout the narrative as and when necessary.
While we were incredibly happy that players were immersed in the narrative, one thing that we noticed towards the end of development was that once players reached the end of the game, they did not realize the amount of content and other branching pathways that they had missed. Players that received a quick ending due to choosing incorrect options assumed that that was the end of the narrative, or that the narrative’s other pathways were similarly short and lacking in depth. The ending has been tweaked to include a sign that subtly nudges the player to replay the narrative, and the end screen includes a message asking the player if they were able to find all the different endings. This was done to encourage replaying the narrative. We believe that repetition is key to unlocking all of the secrets in the game.
-written by project lead Velvet Ishtar.
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