SaED Week 7: Beta Test Week 1

19/04/21 - 23/04/21

Veteran Feedback

During the first session of the week, the veteran tester felt comfortable using the controls, therefore not many questions were asked about what he needed to do in order to place towers or gather resources. I told him briefly about the functions of each tower and he did not hesitate in putting each one meticulously in place, he also immediately recognised the benefits that these towers can have. This tester had no issues with the first four waves of the game, having identified the immediate threat from the creeps up until wave 5. Whenever the portal creeps entered, the tester’s face had a look of surprise and he immediately proceeded to place towers near the end of the map, where no creeps had yet reached. He lost two lives due to his carelessness and overconfidence with his current tower setup and he was punished accordingly for not thinking of the bigger picture and planning for future waves. When both the speed and portal creeps entered wave 6, the tester became slightly surprised again and he quickly set out to upgrade his towers towards the middle and end of the map, rather than piling all of them close to the start. This is the kind of balancing technique that I wished to teach players at this point, as the first four waves are intended to be relatively straightforward, and I did not want players to be overconfident in their front-line strategies, so the introduction of the portal creeps help to employ this well.

The waves that followed were tougher for this tester. He decided to invest more in upgrading his towers, instead of placing new ones in similar locations, as he wanted as much fire power with the arbalest and splash tower at the beginning, having quickly realised how strong these towers can be whenever they are upgraded to their strongest form. One thing that I noticed with his placement of towers was that he only employed the arrow tower on one occasion. Whenever a creep went near to it and the arrows barely caused any significant damage to even the most basic enemy, the tester became very annoyed and indicated that if he had have known the arrow tower’s damage output beforehand, he would not have used it at all. Whenever the veteran tester proceeded towards the end of wave 8 and into wave 9, he felt that he had full control over the board. He enjoyed having amble gold, with which to experiment, however he noted that overall, it felt too easy as a result.

When the tester fought the boss at the end of wave 10, he thought that the existence of two buffers was quite pointless and commented that it would be a greater threat overall, if there was only a singular buffer that included the abilities of both combined. If this was the case, then the tester thought that the same number of these creeps could be used within each wave, and they would be more useful overall. I agreed with him on this, and I decided to implement it for the second session of the week.

Overall, the veteran tester had no difficulties while playing, apart from the introduction to the portal creeps. Through my observations, the tester seemed a bit bored and absentminded with the first couple of waves and I asked him about this, after the session was over. He said he felt this way due to the overall game speed at the beginning being too slow. I had set up each wave to be about 40 seconds long, with the exception of wave 10, due to it being the final one, which has an unlimited time frame. Having explained to the tester that the reason for this was to allow novice players a sufficient amount of time to prepare and comfortably learn the game’s mechanics, he suggested that a compromise should be made. This is something else I shall be working on for the next session.

After this session was complete, I implemented changes in accordance to the feedback received from the veteran tester. Since this session only contained one playthrough by the tester, I knew that more problems could potentially arise in the second session, when multiple playthroughs are conducted. Below are the changes that I made after the first session.

Changes to be Made (Session 1, Week 1, Veteran)

-HP and Speed Buffers no longer exist, instead being replaced by a singular Buffer enemy that performs both of the previous buffer abilities at once.

-Increase the attack power of the arrow tower and all of its upgrades to feel more useful.

-Make the game run at a slightly quicker pace that does not overwhelm novice players.

-Slightly decrease the amount of starting gold.

After making these changes during the week, I had the veteran tester come back and play through the game on three more occasions. While he was pleased with the improvements and thought each of them made the game more fun and balanced, he felt that it could be taken a step further. I will refine these elements again over the weekend to make what I feel is the perfect amount of balance.

Novice Feedback

Going straight from the veteran tester to the novice tester during the first session of the week was quite interesting. The novice tester had no prior knowledge of games similar to this, so I had to explain the goal of the game to him, the purpose of the towers, the threat of the creeps, how to gather resources, the locations in which creeps are spawned, and the location of his goal. After this brief introduction, I elaborated more on the different types of towers within the game, to bring him up to speed with the veteran tester. While the veteran tester breezed through the first couple of waves, the novice tester took his time getting to grips with all the systems on offer.

Even though this session during the week was intended for a single playthrough only, I decided to allow the novice tester as many chances as he needed to feel confident enough in his abilities to pass each wave once, without losing all his lives. As each playthrough continued, the look of frustration and confusion on his face quickly faded, which I was pleased to observe. After his third playthrough, he finally managed to complete the game, with one life remaining. He was relieved that he was able to accomplish this and commented that it was incredibly satisfying to be able to reach the end.

After this playthrough, I asked him several questions relating to what I had observed with each playthrough. The first obstacle, other than figuring out the controls and goal, was the introduction to the heavy creeps in wave 3. The tester felt that the heavy creeps were a constant obstacle, due to how much HP they have, with one heavy creep actually being able to reach the end despite its slow walk speed. He asked if it was possible to nerf them in some way that would not take away from their imposing nature. Surprisingly, the novice tester did not fall into the same trap with the portal creep that was experienced by the veteran tester. Because the novice tester was so set on completing all the waves successfully, he planned strategically and he spread the towers evenly throughout the map, rather than just at the beginning, as was the case with the veteran tester. Throughout my observation of the novice tester, I was sure that he would not fall for the same mistake, because he was not overconfident like the veteran tester, instead he fought each wave head on, as if they were all equally difficult.

By the time the novice tester had reached the second half of the waves, his tower setup was surprisingly tidy and evenly spread. He decided to focus on placing fresh towers, rather than upgrading new ones, which surprised me in its effectiveness. Before the next session, I shall make the benefit of upgrading towers more apparent for players, rather than having them stick purely to fresh ones. It was also rare for the novice tester to utilise the more explosive and non-damaging towers, such as the electric and frost towers. When questioned on this, he explained that he was afraid of the risks associated with these towers. While it is true that the damage they produce is much lower to that compared to the arbalest, his most commonly used tower, their abilities help compliment them well, rather than feeling like weaker versions. This is something I wish to make more apparent in the next session, as learning about the use of synergy used in the game is vital to achieving victory.

Overall, the novice tester had a lot of difficulty during the first half of the session. He gradually managed to achieve victory and I hope that for next week’s session the changes that are made, which may contradict the suggestions provided by the veteran tester, will blend well to create a game as fairly balanced as possible. Through my observations, the novice tester seemed to be thoroughly engaged, following his third playthrough. This is something that I hope continues next week, despite my intention to make the game speed somewhat faster, however I do not want the novice tester to feel overwhelmed in the future.

Changes to be Made (Session 1, Week 1, Novice)

-Decrease the HP of the Heavy Creep slightly to make it a bit more manageable.

-Increase the number of lives the players have at the start of the game to allow novice players to make more mistakes.

-Make certain towers, like the electric tower, cheaper so the novice tester has the confidence and resources to be able to utilise each tower, rather than relying on standard and lower risk towers.

-In contrast to the veteran tester, find a middle ground for the game speed that will satisfy both testers.

After making these changes during the week, I had the novice tester come back and play through the game on three more occasions. He felt much more confident in his abilities, now that he was more familiar with the flow and intricacies of Tower Defence games, that by the third playthrough he was at a similar pace to how the veteran tester performed in his first playthrough. He did manage to lose half of his lives by the end of his final playthrough for the day, but he said that it was an overall improvement. The novice tester’s personal goal for next week is to continue to master the intricacies of Tower Defence gameplay. Something that I noticed through observation of the novice tester was that he seemed to get slightly more disinterested in the game as he continued to improve. This is something I will have to consider over the weekend, in accordance with the veteran tester’s comments, in order to create a balance in difficulty that is fair, yet provides a substantial challenge.

Answers to Questions for Each Tester – (Veteran Tester) (Novice Tester)

1. Did each creep feel imposing but still relatively easy to deal with? Please explain.

Yes.

Each creep felt unique and kept me constantly considering my options.

Yes.

Almost a bit too much as creeps such as the heavy and speed creeps felt a bit overwhelming.

2. Did each tower feel useful? Please explain.

No.

Arrow tower felt completely useless.

No.

Arrows felt underwhelming and I was more than happy to stick with the basic arbalest tower and its upgrades.

3. Were there enough consistent resources to allow for ample experimentation? Please explain.

Yes.

Almost too much. I felt like I was allowed to place towers freely in any given situation and more than half of my towers were fully upgraded.

Yes.

Even though I did not get intimately familiar with each tower until near the end, realising the potential certain towers had that late and not being punished for it felt very lenient.

4. Did the price for towers and their upgrades feel fair? Please explain.

No.

Even if the arrow tower costed nothing, it would still not be worth using over other options. The ones I did use felt overly fair and I’m unsure whether I would personally weaken the damage output of these towers or make them more expensive.

Yes.

Knowing what I know now about certain towers, I think the price for these towers are fair.

5. Were there any harsh difficulty spikes? Please explain.

No.

Other than my initial run in with the portal creep. I felt, although slow-paced, each wave felt smooth and curved in difficulty in a very natural way.

Yes.

Due to being introduced so early on, the heavy and speed creeps felt very overwhelming at first which lead to a swift game over from my first session. I’d like them to be slightly nerfed.

6. Did anything strike you as being incredibly unbalanced? Please explain.

Yes.

The arrow tower felt incredibly useless and either needs removed or tweaked to be more powerful. My idea about having a singular buff creep could help increase the imposing nature of some of the lesser creeps in the game as well.

Yes.

While not unbalanced per se, I felt that the towers offered to me initially, along with the gold given to experiment, were ample enough in hindsight. I am frustrated at myself for not realising sooner but maybe in repeat playthroughs my experience in handling the heavy and speed creeps will fair slightly better.

7. Did the pacing of waves feel smooth and consistent? Please explain.

Yes.

Every wave felt like I was learning something new about the game and I wouldn’t change much about it. I can understand how less experienced could potentially feel about certain creeps and would feel fine if the waves were altered in some way to help circumvent this.

No.

Heavy and speed creeps felt a bit much early on and would much rather see them in later waves. My mind could be potentially changed here upon repeat playthroughs or an increased amount damage dealt by towers early on.

8. Did the weaknesses of each tower make up for its usefulness? Please explain.

No.

The arrow tower was purely weakness and zero usefulness.

Yes.

I didn’t get as much time as I had liked to use every tower but the ones I did use felt useful and intuitive.

9. Were you able to understand certain tower/creep synergies? Please explain.

Yes.

Putting aside my overall feelings of including two buff creeps, the abilities they had provided a great challenge in increasing the difficulty of the overall game.

No.

While I was able to use the frost tower this week, I already have thoughts in my head for next week to combine it with the flame tower and see what happens. I don’t think I can give a proper answer to this question this week due to not being able to use every tower yet.

10. Was it immediately clear what purpose each tower and creep served? Please explain.

No.

The use of icons when building the tower felt confusing as I didn’t know what tower was going to be built immediately. However, other than the arrow tower, every tower felt its purpose was a worthy inclusion. As for creeps, I’m glad they were paced in such a way that they taught me the usefulness of certain towers and how it always kept me focused and tuned into the game.

No.

Again, I didn’t have the time to use every tower but the creeps all felt imposing, even the very basic ones. This is my first time playing a game like this, so I can understand why the developer made the decision that he did. They seem very obvious to him but at times it felt confusing to me. I am hoping that the next few sessions will clear up any confusion I have left.