p3_alpha: gameplay changes, map update, bug fixes!
One of our biggest changes this week to the gameplay was shaving down the playtime of the game. Our playtesters were rarely able to complete the game and it felt like the player had to go through too many hoops to progress through the spaceship, so we just opened it up, shortening the length of the game & increasing the power of the player early on. We updated the map to have a more interesting & "workable" terrain - the initial one we had was very flat, with not many features. We plan on expanding this in the future, giving players more choices and variety in where they can get parts to repair their ship. We also fixed major bugs with our features, such as the gun and various death bugs, as well as added audio for the game and many sound effects. We also changed the perspective of the camera, as no one really liked the awkward 3rd person view we had before. First person was set as the default mode of the game, as we thought it would help the feeling of exploration the player gets.
Hopefully, within the coming weeks, we improve the aesthetic of the game through a higher quality map and streamline the gameplay experience some more. We had to cut houses and other structures this week due to time constraints & lack of development on the ideas, but next week they should be in with an interesting story to tell about the planet the player has landed on. Most of our efforts will be spent squashing bugs and adding cool features that won't bloat the gameplay time, like peaceful monsters or a more dynamic map.
