Tuesday 10th, Monday 16th December 2019.
Release 2 - Sprint 3. Scrum Master: Christian Rafferty
Overview
This week, we focused on testing and polishing each aspect of our game. My main role involved testing our game with a select group of users.
Product
The main products of this week were:
- Conduct User Tests
- Implement User Feedback
- Create Powerpoint
- Practice Presentation
Process
Conduct User Tests
Caoilinn and I conducted user tests on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. We monitored our user's behaviour, paying close attention to the things that we expected them to do, and the things that we did not expect them to do. We asked each tester to adopt a user persona; we also advised them to also speak their thoughts out loud - this would allow us to further understand the player experience. I made note of any reactions that our testers had to various game elements within our game (such as enemies and items), and I wrote down any questions that they asked. We ensured to provide minimal input, as we did not want to influence decisions. Once each test was complete, Caoilinn asked each tester a number of questions to further encourage feedback from our users.
Implement User Feedback
We met as a group on Friday to discuss our user feedback. We looked at the different areas that we could improve throughout our game. Many of our 'novice' users felt lost and disoriented while playing our game, as many of the walls and rooms look the same. I decided to add some decorator objects throughout the scene, to add variation throughout the game. I built upon the bit-shifted array, to place object that Nathan sourced into our scene.
Create Powerpoint
I created a Powerpoint presentation for use within our final demo. I created a simple outline in notepad, to get a better idea of how to structure the slides. I decided on a simple format - introduction, overview of game, user personas, game demo, universal design, user feedback, reflection and going forward. I then applied similar styles to each slide to develop a theme throughout the Powerpoint.
Practice Presentation
We met as a group on Monday to practice our presentation. We outlined our roles and talked about our plan for the demo. I created a simple script for us to follow while we played.
Issues
I ran into a number of problems while submitting our project to Moodle. I originally uploaded the project before I created a screencast. However, while I was recording the screencast, I realised that there were bugs within the game. I removed the upload, fixed the errors, and uploaded the project again. I decided to check the project one last time before completing the submission. Much to my dismay, the 'ShrineToTheDarkGod' project folder was empty - I had noticed an error while zipping the project, but I thought nothing of it. I fixed this problem, and uploaded the project - however, it was uploaded late.