Main Character Weapons and Equipment Design User Testing
User testing was conducted consistently and effectively to provide a better user experience of the game feature throughout the game development process. Targeted users are aged from 18 - 25 university students that are unfamiliar with programming which are less likely to take development considerations and limitations into consideration to avoid biased or constrained answers.
During sprint 3, we implemented the resource mining and attack functionalities of the main character. This will include equipping defense items bought from the shop to the main character sprite and animations, implementing a range class that limits how far the player can attack the enemy from and which various other features can use (buildings, enemies etc.) and finally adding animation and functionality around the main character's death. This user testing was conducted to gather feedback on the design aspect of the weapons and equipment designs on the main character.
Throughout the user testing process, there are a few important goals that we want to achieve:
- Determine if the artwork that was designed is immediately recognisable to players without any explicit instruction to the design
- Determine if the artwork suits the style of the whole game style and how can it be improved
- Determine which design is liked more by potential players considering context of the game
The user testing for the design aspect of the weapons and equipment for the main character was conducted through a questionnaire/survey format with 13 testers. Based on the high fidelity prototypes shown below as well as the overall responses and feedback can also be seen in the following pie charts:
According to the results that were allocated from the survey, it can be seen that most of the testers liked the overall designs of the weapons and equipment. However, it can be seen in the first pie chart (for the helmet) that there is a relatively high percentage of 38.5% came back with the response with “maybe”. The reason for this can be seen in the testing feedback above due to the relatively large size of the helmet. Overall, the testers liked the overall designs and agreed that the designs do fit the overall game theme of Atlantis Sinks. From the last pie chart, it can also be seen that most testers agreed that the game should be able to equip multiple defense items at a time in the future sprint.
Furthermore, there are a few potential future iterations can be refined and improved in the later sprint including: Ability to equip multiple defense items in the future sprint.
- The size of the helmet should be smaller and more proportional to the main character
- The pixel sizes of the weapons and equipment can be more consistent (comparing to the main character)
- The size of the arrow can be smaller and more proportional to the main character
- The colours can be more refined and improved in the future sprint such as shading, lighting as well as colour schemes