First Feedback and Iteration
It’s been a fun week as I gathered feedback from the first playable.
Most of the issues reported relate to input. I addressed them by swapping walking for a faster running by default. This not only speeds up the flow of the game, but also removes an unnecessary key/button press. Walking is now optional and as such makes the game a little more accessible too.
I was advised to think about the first moments of the game. Where in the prior build the game started with a jarring descent into an underground space, the new build presents friendlier tutorial levels to ease the player in. These tutorials contain helpful hints and invisible progression-blocking walls to ensure that the player understands a concept before proceeding. More of these will follow as I intend to explain and give meaning to projectiles and puzzle pieces.
A key feature of this build is the implementation of unique challenges across each of the post-tutorial levels. The challenges vary from defeating an amount of enemies to survival within a timer. Enemies spawn at random positions, so no challenge is the same. Some challenges also remove an ability from the player to make things more interesting.
The v0.2 build of Re:Dream is now available on Itch along with a new tutorial-focused questionaire.