CAGD 270 Post 3

Simple DnD Map v3

Hello everyone, my name is Angel and today I will be going over the feedback I got from our last playtest of our final version of our DnD map for our level design class. For my play testers, I had Jacob and Muhammad playtest my map once again. Jacob played as the Warrior class while Muhammad played as the Ranger class. This time around we did have a different rule sheet to work around with that made it very crucial for at least one person to choose or play as the Warrior character type and I will explain to you why in a minute. Along with working with a new rule sheet we were also tasked with recreating our whole map with a new theme and an objective to be accomplished. The theme was Alien invasion, and our goal was to create a prison break style map. With these changes came some new challenges to be faced as well as some room to experiment with some new and fresh ideas.

What went right 

This time around there was a lot of stuff I felt went right with my map. The implementation of the new rule sheet and theme was just the start of it. Jacob and Muhammad both said that they had a lot of fun playing my map. With version 3, we were also tasked with adding a checkpoint system and Items to our map, something that we weren’t allowed to have in the first two versions of our maps. These new changes definitely helped in creating a whole new atmosphere to the game.

Both Jacob and Muhammad got to use the checkpoint system at least once and the items that they came across in my map. They both thought I did a good job representing both resources very well in the map, as well as locating them properly throughout my map. As for the pathways I designed for my map, they also said they enjoyed how they were constructed and prompted with different routes to take. This gave them the opportunity to choose a certain route without knowing what kind of path it would take them through. Muhammad especially liked how I implemented a jump path in the beginning with the chance to either roll an even number to successfully make the jump or an odd number to fail it causing them to take 1 damage point to their health. 

What went wrong 

Fortunately, this time around there wasn’t anything that went majorly wrong with my map. The only stuff where I saw could be improved on was on some of the enemy stats. Not all of them needed this, but there was 1 or 2 that had this issue of unbalanced stats. Where they either had too much health or their defense stat was just overpowered to the point where they blocked almost all of the players' attacks. This is where I said earlier that somebody playing as the Warrior character was crucial because they would have the highest defense and attack stat for the group which could have helped them in combat.

Both Jacob and Muhammad let me know that perhaps that was the only negative thing they had something to say about. However, when they were giving me this feedback, they did say that since there had been some major changes done to the rule sheet especially to the stats of the enemies for this specific version, it was almost impossible not to run into this situation. I guess for the most part, I did miscalculate on the stats of my enemy characters. “However, it is a mistake that anyone could make”, they both said. I will definitely improve on this next time.

Overall

This was definitely a learning experience for me and is one that I will never forget. Nevertheless, I will continue to work on other ways and ideas that could potentially help me fix some minor issues where I can improve on so that next time, I am having a playtest for one of my games/maps I can provide a more smoother fun gameplay experience.

CAGD 270 Post 2

 Simple DnD Map v2

For our second playtest I play tested with my same partners from last time Muhammad and Jacob so that we can see and test each other's improvements on our maps. This time around we did select new roles for their characters in the game so that we could get a different experience from the player’s side. Muhammad went with the Mage character type and Jacob chose the Warrior character type. This allowed them to engage with different stats that these characters have and use them to their advantage.

Improvements

I’ll start with some of the improvements that I made to my map since last time. First, I changed a couple of the beginning pathways leading to my first enemies on my map by adding some jumping points where players would need to use their jump action/skill in order to progress further. I also made some changes to the enemy's stats including health to force some conflict there. Lastly, I created a fake pathway in a sense that would lead the players to believe they have chosen the correct path later to find out the complete opposite.

What went right

As for the improvements I made to the map, they did indeed prove to be effective and overall great with some minor exceptions. However, both players communicated to me that they did in fact like the way my version 2 map came out. They really liked the variety added to it since last time and enjoyed playing it this second time around. With these improvements they actually got a chance to reach my last boss fight as well. Something that was definitely missing from last time's playtest. This allowed them to see the full potential of my map as well as the creativity that went into creating it.

 

What went wrong

As for the major problem that went wrong this time around was that there was a particular moment in my map that felt unbalanced and just out of place. 

It was the confrontation between the players and the first enemy. The players were stuck for quite a while fighting off what should have been a pretty easy enemy to kill. However, I had given this specific enemy the defense stat of a boss level. As frustrating as it was to see, the enemy kept defending the player's attack causing it to receive no damage for at least a good 5 turns. Later in the feedback that I received from both players, it became clear that my first enemy just seemed too overpowered to begin with. They mentioned that it would have been nice to see that my other enemy ahead, which was the guard they had to defeat in order to retrieve the key for the locked door, had the stats that that enemy had. That would have made a little more sense at least they said. Which I totally agreed with.

In this case it resulted in them kind of being slowed down a bit causing them to reach the boss fight with little to no time to spare in our playtest. This was something that could have easily been avoidable and that I will work hard to prevent it from happening again. 

Overall

This version 2 map did improve on some of the areas that needed some work from last time, such as creating new pathways for players to adventure and allowing the players to use their skills and actions early on in the map. However, it did create a minor but big problem that could have easily been avoided. That is definitely something I am going to have to fix about my map while making improvements on it. 

CAGD 270 Post 1

Simple DnD Map V1

For our first playtest of the semester, I partnered up with Muhammad and Jacob and we each got to play each other's Level 1 Maps. The start up for my map was pretty easy. Muhammad chose the Ranger class and Jacob chose the Rogue class. 

Things that went Right

For my playtest with my partners, there were many things that I felt like went right. One thing being that there was not a whole lot of confusion from the players side as soon as we began. For my particular map there wasn’t a narrative background per se, but I did quickly mention to my partners before starting that I had based my entire map around outer space and aliens so that they could just get an idea of my map. Which at the end they came to like really well. As for the characteristics of my map. I think they enjoyed playing on it, as I found them being really motivated to reach the end of it, which was the boss fight. Unfortunately, our playtest session came to an end before they could get there. However, during the playtest, they got to experience the majority of my map through the many options I provided to them in the form of pathways. Especially when it came to a specific task, I had planned for them to accomplish before getting to the final Boss fight. This provided them with something to do before they can access a specific area of my map by making them explore the rest of the map first. They had lots of fun and overall turned out really well they said.  

Things that went wrong

For the stuff that went wrong I can honestly say that only a couple minor stuff went wrong. One of my partners suggested that perhaps I could have had a little more variety in the beginning pathways of my map leading to the center. After careful review I agreed that perhaps I could have added some more enemies in the beginning causing the players to choose their pathways more carefully. Another suggestion was that I could have added some jump spots early on in my map instead of leaving it open for more open moves to be played directly. This caused for some faster playthrough that could have been slowed down a bit with some more enemies and smaller activities to do. Overall, though, these minor issues did not impact the quality of my map so much but there is room for improvement. 

Improvements 

Like I was just mentioning earlier there are a couple of things that I can improve on with my map that could cause for a better playtest next time. For starters I will begin by adding more variety of options for my players to choose from at the beginning so that it's more actively engaging for the players. Such as adding more small enemies that block your progression to the other side of the map. Another area of improvement could be that I should probably relocate my jump spots on my map from where I originally had them. Since mine were particularly at the end. I did not allow the players the chance to try that skill/action. I would like to at least double up on the jump spots available on my map so that all players can experience at least once. 

Finally

Overall, it was a good beginning tutorial level map and performed well with the exception of some minor details. I will definitely work hard to resolve those so that my next playtest can result in a more smoother run.