Getting Player Feedback: Reactions vs Comments

As a game designer, I always keep in mind that I create games not for myself, but for others. What I enjoy most is the process itself, the development. But the end product? That's for everyone else!

Keeping that in mind, I always allow myself to be open to feedback from players. The only way I can create the best experiences for people to enjoy, is to hear from them what they want. But what I've discovered is that people tend to not tell you what they really want, well not directly, anyway.

Game balancing is one of the most important, and rewarding, parts of my job. This is the process of making small (and sometimes large) adjustments to gameplay elements to tweak the game's difficulty and ease-of-use. This process is not possible without outside feedback obtained by allowing people to play the game.

There are a couple different ways that I have participated in which to receive and process this information:

• Gameplay Survey: players play through a section of the game (most often a demo or vertical slice of the game) and complete a follow-up questionnaire.

• Usability Test: Having a player play the game while the designer (and other developers) observe. In my experience, the play session is recorded and then watched later. This is usually followed by a brief interview with the player to get their thoughts and comments.

These are two very effective means of getting feedback from your game. In my experience, one has proven to be more useful to me, as a Game Designer than the other. I personally, much prefer the second option: the Usability Test, and I'll explain why.

There are outside factors that can alter a person's responses; someone may not answer truthfully because of a fear of being embarrassed, or being perceived as "dumb". This is most common when asking people if they found the game was too difficult. I've observed play sessions where a player is stuck at point and is visibly frustrated, yet during the post-session interview, when asked if they were ever stuck or had any trouble, the person answers: "Nope. I had no trouble at all!"

Because I was able to watch the player as they were playing, I was able to see the part in which they actually did get stuck (and this was seen repeatedly across multiple test sessions with different players), I was able to identify a potential problem with the design and could think about ways to improve it. The part in question was a specific puzzle that did give the player enough information to logically deduce a solution, trial and error became the only effective method to solve it. Thanks to the information from the play sessions, I was able to identify and fix a problem before release.

Game balancing and testing is a very important part of the design process that must not be overlooked. My experience has taught me that by letting people play your game and by watching how they play, you can learn more about how your game plays than by simply asking them: "So, how was it?"

As with all disciplines of development, a game designer must remain diligent, focused and proactive.

2-for-1: "Long time, no see" & "Hard Times in Lordran"

Well, regular updates sure came to a screeching halt in September... but at least I have a good excuse this time.

That's right, I've taken inspiration from a Rodney Dangerfield movie

I'm bettering myself, one College credit at a time. On top of my very busy work schedule, I am taking some courses at Toronto's George Brown College.

It's been tiring and exhausting, but the payoff should be worthwhile; the self-satisfaction that I am continually bettering myself through education (or something like that).

I just realized that College credits are like Achievements that actually have meaning! Although, I think I'd trade any diploma for the chance to have the Xbox's "Achievement Unlocked" sound (or the PS3's "Trophy Unlocked" sound) play whenever I pass a class.

So, with that out of the way, let's move on to this week's topic:

Hard Times in Lordran


For those who don't know, Lordran is the fictional setting of the game Dark Souls. Dark Souls is one of my most anticipated games of the year ([barely]beating out games like Batman: Arkham City and Uncharted 3!). The only game I'm even looking forward to even more is Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

For the uninitiated, Dark Souls is the spiritual successor (and by that I mean "exact sequel" but can't be called that because it's being distributed by a different publisher) to 2009's Demon's Souls. Demon's Souls is considered to be one of the hardest games ever. I powered my way through that game (earning myself the Platinum Trophy along the way!) and it earned a spot amongst my favorite games ever. Demon's Souls provided a sense of accomplishment that has barely been matched since.


So far, after a week with Dark Souls, I can say that Dark Souls is better than Demon's Souls... and it's also a hell of a lot harder! The advertising campaign gleefully told players: "Prepare to Die", and they weren't kidding. In fact, dying is very much an integral part of Dark Souls, you will do it a lot. But if you able to learn from each death, you will eventually triumph and overcome. Just make sure the big words "YOU DIED" that appear don't get burned into your plasma screen.

Over the next little while, I will keep a diary documenting my journey through Dark Souls. If it goes anything like Demon's Souls did then it should be exciting journey of frustration, loss, despair, joy, more frustration and eventually... victory.

One week in, here's how things are going:

Character Name: Wiegraf
Character Class: Pyromancer
Level: 29
Bosses Killed: 3
Times Died: Already lost count (30+, I think)
Trophy Progress: 7%
Current Mood: Happy Adventurer
Current progress: Trying to kill the Capra Demon, not sure what to do about it as this boss has managed to kill me in less that 5 seconds on 3 separate tries...

Wish me luck, I guess.

FanExpo 2011

This year was my first time at FanExpo (or any kind of con for that matter) and I will start off by saying that I had a great and am completely sold on the experience. I’m ready to sign up for life.

My wife, Courtney, and I attended three out of the four days of the event (Thursday, Saturday and Sunday) and enjoyed every moment. It was a weekend filled with good times and good company.

Here are some of the highlights:

On the Show Floor

The main floor of FanExpo was a bustling city of vendors and exhibitors. The broad scope of the show helps make it a great atmosphere for everyone, from the super-nerdy to the ultra-nerdy. With Gaming, Comics, Sci-Fi, Anime and Horror being represented, there really is a lot going on. And there are plenty of cosplayers on hand too, so you’ll see your fair share of Storm Troopers, Wolverines and Narutoes (Naruti?).

Here’s an awesome Pyramid Head costume from the show floor:

I couldn’t help but feel that my knowledge of Anime is shallow at best, as there were a lot of Anime costumes that I didn’t even have a clue about. Actually, maybe I should take comfort in that :P

Artists Galore

Next to all of the big corporate booths is Artist Alley, where many independent (and very talented) artists set up booths to showcase and sell their artistic creations. This actually proved to be one of the more interesting places for us as we came across several great pieces of art that we just had to have.

One of the things I was hell-bent on finding was anything Mega Man related (which was surprisingly (or maybe unsurprisingly) difficult to find). So when I saw this print by artist Elizabeth Sherry, I had to get it:

The Light family portrait... all kinds of awesome!

Another artist of note was Ricky Kruger, who was showing off some really fantastic superhero paintings. Courtney fell in love with Ricky’s Captain America. It is one of our most prized finds of FanExpo. You can see it and more at Ricky’s website.

Ricky's an awesome dude, and deserves a million high-fives!

http://www.rickykruger.com/

http://sherryillustration.com/

John Waters

Fan conventions are very sycophantic gatherings, so there is never a shortage of celebrities. There were many big names on hand to see and get autographs from, but we were more interested in attending panels and walking the floor than standing in long lines for all-too-brief exchanges with celebrities. There was, however, one person on hand that Courtney couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see in person, John Waters.

We waited patiently as the line inched forward at a slow to non-existent forward pace. Courtney had a photo on hand, ready for an autograph, looking forward to catch little glimpses of his exchanges with the fans. We noted how kind and cool he was carrying himself, as expected.

We got to the front of the line, it was our turn. We walked up, got a smile and an autograph then a quick handshake and I took a few quick photographs of John Waters with Courtney. We walked away and I realized that it all happened so fast, it was a blur.

Marvel Panels: Re-invigorating my burning desire for comics

We attended a few Marvel panels (I was at two and Courtney went to four in total) and all were excellent. Getting the chance to meet comic book writers and editors provided amazing insight into the creative process (which was awesome enough). Getting information on current and upcoming storylines and series’ was cool, and it was all fascinating and occasionally hilarious (Jason Aaron is a master of deadpan humor).

The lesson I learned: It is my Canadian duty to support Alpha Flight. And I’m only too happy to step up.

Marvel Comics panelists (Left to Right): C.B. Cebulski (talent management), Axel Alonso (editor-in-chief) and Jason Aaron (writer)

Retro Gaming Lounge

One of my favorite places of FanExpo was the Retro Gaming Lounge set up on the 800 level. It was a large room with Old Computers (an Apple II and Commodore 64), Retro Consoles (NES’s, SNES’s, N64’s) and some nice rarities (a top-loading NES, an original PONG and a compact Genesis/SEGA-CD duo). There was plenty to look at and even more to play as there were stations set up and ready for Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64, Goldeneye and more.

There was lots of cool stuff there and I found it useful for those times I had an hour or so between panels.

We are merely passing through history. But this... this IS history!

Games

There were some games on display, but not very many. Sony had a huge booth set up for Uncharted 3 (the multiplayer beta has been available for a while, so it wasn’t new). Microsoft had a slightly stronger showing with a booth that had Gears of War 3 and Halo: Anniversary multiplayer matches going. I watched gameplay of both (there were lengthy lines of people waiting to play) and came away with more of a desire to pick up Halo: Anniversary than I did before (as in, my interest went from “None” to “A little”). I was reminded of how much I loved the original Halo, so I may actually pick it up now.

Ubisoft was showing off Assassin’s Creed: Revelations and Rayman Origins. As an Assassin’s Creed fan, AC: Revelations is a must-by for me. It was nice to see Rayman Origins, which is a fantastic looking multiplayer platformer (the animation is top-notch!). Unfortunately, the experience was marred by Ubisoft insisting on making the demo run on a 3DTV (I’m not a lover of the current 3D ‘craze’).

The Uncharted 3 booth was pretty cool, but I'm already sold on the game so I didn't stick around too long

In Good Company

Meeting people is easy. Sometimes. FanExpo is one of those times. It is a crowded, fast-paced and sometimes stressful environment, but in the end, everyone is there for the same (or at least, very similar) reasons. It was easy to meet people and start up a conversation (you are literally constantly surrounded by conversation starters).

BrentalFloss

One of the last panels I attended on Sunday afternoon was for Brent Black (AKA Brentalfloss). Brentalfloss is a musician who performs the “…with lyrics” series, where he takes classic videogame themes and adds lyrics.

Interestingly enough, while waiting in line to get into the panel, I noticed that a few places in line in front of me was Tommy Tallarico, a videogame music composer most known for creating the music for the game Earthworm Jim and one of the founders of the Video Games Live concert series (I’ve been twice).

This turned out to be the highlight of my weekend! It was a Q&A session was hilarious, interactive and just a lot of fun. The hour flew by so quick and everyone was having such a good time, that when organizers literally drove us from the room, Brentalfloss took it to the hallway and just kept going. Afterwards, he took the time to meet everyone, one by one. It was really awesome!

Brentalfloss was full of hilarious stories. Everyone had a great time.

http://www.brentalfloss.com

Final Thoughts

I had a great time at FanExpo and recommend it to anyone who has a dedicated interest in Gaming, Comics, Sci-Fi, Anime or Horror. And I highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in many or all of those mediums/genres.

We’ll be at FanExpo 2012 for sure. But we’re also looking forward to San Diego Comic-Con and (hopefully)PAX East as well!

I don't know what took me so long...

A thinking man's game

I really enjoy strategy games, but only of the "turn-based" variety. I believe that turn-based strategy games get the heart of the genre better than RTS (real-time strategy) games do. After all, strategy is about thinking and planning, it's not a race.

Think about the greatest strategy game of all time: chess. It's turn-based. You have to watch you opponents moves and react (and even predict) appropriately. A pure battle of the minds.

Maybe I'm just a little biter because I'm not terribly good (in fact, downright terrible) at RTS games (Warcraft, Starcraft, Command and Conquer). I find that when I'm playing these games, especially when playing against human opponents, I am never able to think. With everything continuously and constantly happening, I don't get a chance to properly plan ahead.

Now before you cry out: "But that's the whole point of RTS's!!!", let me just say that I understand that, I'm simply pointing out how it's not for me. I'm simply saying that to me, a pure strategy game comes down to thinking and completely removes elements that rely on reaction time and precision. If I lose at a strategy game, I want it to be because of my poor decisions or an oversight (which is completely my own fault), not because I mis-clicked on a unit on screen and didn't give him orders fast enough, or worse, because the other guy has created a key-bind for every unit type in the game and I haven't.

This recent revelation of my love of turn-based strategy games has come after I finished the campaign in Advance Wars: Dual Strike for the third time. I also came to the revelation that it is hands down, my favourite DS game.

This game is awesome!

The Wars series (sometimes referred to as the Nintendo Wars series) is a series of turn-based strategy games that have long existed in Japan but were never released in North America until Advance Wars on the Game Boy Advance (previous entries were released in Japan for the Famicom and the Game Boy).

While the games have a "cartoony" look, they are very intricate and expertly balanced military strategy games. I definitely count the Advance Wars games as my personal favourite turn-based strategy games.

From a game design point of view, my appreciation of strategy games comes from the fact that the outcome is almost always decided by the players understanding of the game (or lack thereof). This is different from action games, where perhaps the player has lost because of a slip of the thumb, causing them to miss a jump or fail an attack. The reflex element (some would call it skill) has been completely removed, leaving the player with only their wits to help them get by.

That's why I (heart) strategy games.

I really DO (heart) level editors!

Finally, an update that's on topic with the title of this blog!

First, for anyone who hasn't tried Terry Cavanagh's excellent game, VVVVVV: check it out!

VVVVVV is a 2-D platformer that uses a gravity switching mechanic instead of jumping. It has an cool retro look and an AWESOME soundtrack. I got the game while ago, and enjoyed it quite a bit. However, the game recently piqued my interest once again when v2.0 was released, which included an in-game level editor!

Try this game, it's awesome!

I've been working with it for a few days, and have created my first level. It's available on my website here.

If you have VVVVVV, I encourage you to download the level and try it out. Leave and comments below, or e-mail me (jason.canam@gmail.com).

Install instructions: download the *.vvvvvv file and place into [user\Documents\VVVVVV] (Win Vista) or [user\My Documents\VVVVVV] (WIn XP). You should see other *.vvvvvv files in that directory.

I really appreciate the inclusion of the level editor, and has really helped me to fall in love with this game all over again.

Everyone should try VVVVVV. Check out the Humble Indie Bundle and support indie developers!