11/2 Progress Report

All: We mostly communicated through Slack and Discord to discuss what was needed from the group, and then did our own individual tasks on our own time. Everyone remains mostly up-to-date on their promised works in progress.

Mark: Was able to record everyone for their characters, fixed any problems with the sound and cut them down for Justin. Though most were good, I think I'll have to re-fix some sounds to make them louder or softer and/or re record audio, also listening though the build with the voices I found some areas of sound already introduced that need to be altered.

Kelly: I continued to refine the background for the game, adding more color contrast and background elements such as garbage bins and fish and such. I also keep editing the score and time signs, trying to find the perfect compositional balance. I also worked on a quick transitional animation of a snapping turtle biting down.

Justin: Fixed bugs, implemented various mechanics, updated graphics, and a lot more things I can't remember.

Adnan: Finished the animations for every kid variant as well as finished the final zookeeper animations.

Alex: Worked on formatting the  fonts within the game, worked more on the formatting for the splash screens. Worked on more balance changes.

10/26 Progress Report

All: We all met on Thursday 10/19 and Friday 10/20 to discus next steps in regards to our game. As we reach the final stages of completion, most of our work consists of clean-up and bug fixes.

Mark: Added more sound effects to the game, and currently recording voices for all the children, and janitor.

Kelly: I fixed the environment for the game, adding in some bushes, some benches, some rocks, and a clock with potentially moving hands. I also tried to revise the zoo sign. I still think it could be made even better, but I am unsure exactly how to do so.

Justin: Fixed a lot of bugs as well as updated a few of the managers to fit with some of the new AI behaviors. Also added in updated sprites and sounds. Fixed more bugs.

Adnan: Finished all animations for more two more child variants. Finished up the final animations for the Zookeeper to help with clarity and fairness when he catches the player.

Alex: Worked on the fonts and instructions a bit more; worked on game balance a bit more.

Alpha Gameplay Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2s8YkeRKno&feature=youtu.be

Revised Format Schedule

New zookeeper animations Warning -> Looks up at player -> looking up idle -> looking sleep/caught				High	Justin
Add zookeeper noise for each actions he is performing / create sound for when he looks at you				High	Mark
New background and turtle transition				High	Justin
Create variations voice lines for characters				Medium	Mark
Make instructions "make sure to let go when zookeeper when you see the question mark"				High	Alex
:sun_with_face: :clap:				Medium	Justin
Kids arms not moving when they reach in	BUG			High	Justin
Missing idle when kid reaches				Polish	Justin
After completing hand score, the sound for child tugging keeps playing / cut tugging sound the second the hand score is confirmed)	BUG			Medium	Justin
Zookeeper always goes to text after "looking" at the player / it looks a little weird since its aleady a major action he does. Have him go right back to sleep instantly instead from his alerted pose.				High	Adnan
Missing chair on "look" pose				High	Adnan
Quit at end of game off-set-it starts in the right area and moves down to the right	BUG			Medium	Justin
when the head animations play for the kids, some frames freeze in place / doesnt cycvle properly	BUG			Medium	Justin
Make buttons on game over screen pop when you go over them				Low	Justin
Daria cries everytime	BUG			High	Justin
Animate Fish				Polish	Justin
Add turtle bite transitions to main menu and change text fade in to text punch				Medium	Justin
Make lamp turn on				Low	Justin
Sometimes two children go into the same lane	BUG - Have someone try and recreate			Polish	Justin / Alex
Replace Main Menu background with new background				High	Justin
Remove adrupt bakos screaming sound				High	Justin
Remove Runs Out 1, Daria crying				High	Justin
Change Runs Out Alt 1, a decent amount, and Tugging Alt 1, bring down slightly				High	Mark
Fix canvas scaler not working in build	BUG			High	Justin
Fix children not despawning / going home in build	BUG			High	Justin
Make hand animation last longer (when the bit off hand flies to store)					Justin
Make game SHORTER					Alex
Make sun move to match game time					Justin
Rooster crow/bird sings in the morning					Mark
Crickets and owl hooting at night					Mark
Oh Snap when the main menu pops up					Mark
Loudskeaper that says zoo is closing in 10 seconds					Mark
Make turtle clamp slower					Justin
Zoo Closing Background					Kelly
music speed up					Mark

10/19 Progress Report

All: With Brian's help, we created a revised game plan and schedule on google to take into account our new ideas and plans. Alex typed everything up and gave everyone tasks and necessity levels. The new schedule will be posted on Blogger. We also met on Friday the 13th to work together in a motivated team setting on our individual tasks.

Mark: Continued to mix sounds together and started the task of replacing old sounds that we thought could be better. I'm looking to get everyone on the teams voices for the game and have them read some voice lines so we can add them for each child.

Kelly: I came up with a modified game plan to make for a more interesting game, I created the sign/billboard in the environment so that the score had a place to rest in the game, I made a game over screen, I drew frogs for the background, I created different skies for the changing time of day, I created a sun that can be moved for the time of day, I created a cloud to give the background more movement and animation, I created a shadow for the zoo keeper, I created a results screen (different from game over), and I animated an idle state for the turtle to give him more life and some blinking action.

Justin:

Everything here

Adnan: I finished all the kid animations. I write small sentences, but trust me, they cover enormous amounts of work.

Alex: Helped make the animations more concise, in addition to fixing some bugs with Justin. Made the instructions screen, as well as a custom font we can use for all our text in photoshop.

10/12 Progress Report

All: We all met on Saturday 10/8 to further discuss the final working product and the playtest needs, and then to also work on our own individual tasks in a motivated group setting. The game as a whole is mostly playable at this point, it just needs the rest of the animations in to fully sell the idea. Alex found people to play the newest version of the game, and fill out the playtest survey.

Mark: I continued to create, find and edit sounds for the team. Currently I'm working on getting the finalized sounds that we need so once I have that finished I can work on polishing those sounds and music because at the moment the sounds aren't bad I just think that they can be alot better. The other goal I've been working towards is getting the sounds of the others saying things like "Oh Snap!" and the combo lines so we can insert those when the child looses his had, and gets a combo. The main thing for that is once we get those VOs, it's just a matter of pitching them and cleaning them up.

Kelly: I created an extra sprite for the turtle to make him blink and wag his tail while idle, I finished the hand counting and blood pop UI animations, I animated the turtle gulping and licking his lips for when he bites a child's hand off, I finished up the environment and sent all the separate PNG files to Slack, I created/edited a background for our lose state, and I created a screen mock-up with all of our assets. Also, I talked with Alex to tell him exactly how to implement each turtle animation, so that they triggered at the correct times, and were timed well.

Justin: Fixed lots of more bugs and implemented a lot more of the art for the zookeeper and the blood splat. Also implemented a placeholder end screen. Also worked on balance of the game and made some plans to rewrite a few of the scripts in order to meet changing design needs.

Adnan: I finished all the animations for the Zookeeper. The kid animations are next.

Alex: Worked on implementing the animations for the turtle. I spent a lot of time with Justin trying to nail down the right feeling we want for turtle, as well as fleshing out other game mechanics going forward. We got the bite, the lick, and the tug animation looking as seamless as we could, we think this setup feels best for the player.

10/10 Playtest Report

Write a one page report (150-200 words) describing what you learned and what you will change in the game. List at least 10 changes you will make to your game based on the playtests. I'm not grading this for eloquence but SPELL CHECK and use proper grammar.

Each team should post the report to their blog.

           From the onset it was clear that what people enjoyed most about the game was the actual biting mechanic itself. Almost everyone that played laughed at the start of the game (thanks to the art and sound as well) and thought mashing to score was very engaging. The problems started arising when the player tried to look for more depth in the game, and in trying to understand exactly what was going on in the game at times.  These problems were mostly tied to how the player read the animations (of the turtle, zookeeper, and children) and how the score was perceived. In addition, many players kept questioning if the score indicator was for points or simply a time limit. There was also confusion on what the actual end state of the game is. Many of these problems we saw coming (since there are still some animations and gameplay tweaks to implement), but now have a concrete idea of what we need to do to push the overall fun factor of the game. Here are the top ten planned changes based on the playtests:

1)      Clearer Zookeeper signals and animations = for many people, reading the zookeeper was too difficult and often times it felt too random to understand what he was actively doing.

2)      Clearer controls = telling the player to mash meant something different to everyone, the controls need to be relayed clearer or simplified a bit.

3)      Speed up timing of children = for some, the wait period between children swapping in and out was too long.

4)      More feedback when a child is bit.

5)      Implement clearer win and lose state.

6)      Clearer feedback when receiving hand (when the score goes up basically).

7)      Clearer indication that the hand over the turtle is for points, and not a timer.

8)      Push risk/reward gameplay further = right now there was no reason for a player to not play it safe when they were mashing/waiting for the next child.

9)      Push the bloodiness of the graphics a bit more.

10)  Incorporate tutorial for the entire game.