Here’s the survey (*ahem* click me! click me!) and may I remind you that this is that last time you get to have a say about the development of the game. These last few weeks will be dedicated to little other that fixing anything (hopefully everything) you find lacking in both the game and the manual.
Oh yeah, just stating the obvious here, but play the game and read the manual BEFORE doing the survey. You’d be surprised…
So here it is. This is the final round of Beta testing and the next step will be to release the game. The game now has a manual (as a PDF) compressed along with the game and hopefully it will give you a better understanding of my implementation of the time-travel idea. There are two links to choose from, depending on your preferred compression program.
To download a 7Zip (.7z) file, click on this link: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/95522906/Instant%20Replay%20-%20Beta%202%20Test.7z
To download a WinZip (.zip) file, click on this link instead: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/95522906/Instant%20Replay%20-%20Beta%202%20Test.zip
I haven’t made the surveys yet, but they are on their way. This will be your last chance to suggest any improvements to make and to point out any bugs still present.
Beta 2 will be released either Wednesday or Thursday. This will basically be the game, that is unless there are bugs or you guys think there are other improvements that are desperately needed. As usual a survey will follow.
While this game is also for the Xbox360 (part of the project requirements for a “game designed for multiple platforms”), I’m not releasing that version to the general public. The PC version does now come with a Manual (of sorts).
I’m just going to add as much ‘graphical prettiness’ as I can now.
Title says it all. Survey results show that a tutorial is needed. I was actually expecting that, and unfortunately I don’t have time to put in a proper in-game tutorial, but I will include a manual (of sorts) as a .pdf to be distributed with the game. I should have that by Beta 2.
Speaking of which, the second (and final) Beta test will be in just under 2 weeks time. As for where I am at the moment, besides creating the manual, I need to implement functionality for running the game on the Xbox360. From there it’s just prettying everything up and squashing bugs. At least that’s the plan.
I’m tired, I’m stressed, I haven’t had even a single week off for almost a year but at least I now have music in the game. Okay, so that’s little comfort, but it was desperately needed. I have persistent settings, controllable time-travel and I’m working on sound effects at the moment, so as you can see I’m working my way through my ‘To Do List’.
I would like more respondents to the survey though, so if you’re up for it I’d really appreciate your opinions. This round of Beta testing will be over by the end of the week.
Poor decision on my part, but I have the game compressed with 7zip, when I probably should’ve used WinZip – due to it being, well, everywhere. Anyway, here’s the link to a .zip version:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/95522906/Instant%20Replay%20-%20Beta%20Test.zip
Once you play the game, can you please click here to take the survey. It’s only 3 questions long and would really help me make the game much better than it is at the moment.
Finally, it’s here. Or more specifically, here:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/95522906/Instant%20Replay%20-%20Beta%20Test.7z
A word of warning, I forgot to mention that the WSAD keys and mouse move you around, but they’re there in the options and you can remap the keys if you want. Also the ENTER key is the only way to time travel at the moment, and will send you back the maximum amount of time (5 minutes or when you started, whichever is shorter). Don’t worry, I’ll do something about that before the second Beta.
It works with my computer which has the following basic stats:
This is the first of two Beta tests. In this one, I’m trying to find out what players think of it as it is, how difficult they find the level to solve, and what else they’d like to see in it. Bug squashing takes a secondary role, but if you find any big ones, I’d like to hear about them.
Speaking of which, I’ll be making a survey for you guys to fill out, and the first question will probably be along the lines of “Can you start the game?”.
Now this Beta version doesn’t have a whole heap of things that I will implement before the next Beta like:
If I have time I’ll add:
Oh yeah, a LOT more for me to do. You may also be wondering why I only have one level in there at the moment. Well I definitely know that the level is passable and frankly, it’s the one I’ve been doing most of my testing on, due to its having a nice variety of tasks.
God, this is nerve-wracking. I’m just hoping you don’t hate it…
I came so close to finishing all the CDR stuff yesterday (give or take a few bugs), but as I write, I’ve only got one more thing to implement before I start putting in the particle systems. Only thing is, it’s becoming a big problem. You’d think driving up a ramp wouldn’t be such a big deal, but yeah it kinda is.
I thought I had this figured out, but I thought about it a bit more and realised that it wouldn’t work. Just as I’m writing this, thoughts are going through my head on how I can implement it. It keeps coming down to two options:
If I’m to have any hope of keeping to my schedule, I’m going to have to go with the first option. That really sucks because I want as much control as possible to be with the player, but I also want to finish the project.
Hope you guys don’t mind but I think I’ll delay the first round of Beta testing a few days, so that means instead of late this week, you’ll get to test my game first thing next week.
Title says it all. Hopefully it also conveys my frustration. While Collision Detection and Response is among the first things you learn when making games, it doesn’t stop being a pain. In happier news, I’m sure that I’ll be done by mid-week. Yay!
In other news I’ll be conducting my first Beta test, open to all, near the end of next week. That’s right – BETA TESTING. Tell your friends, family, acquaintances and if you feel like it, random strangers on the bus!
