tester #8

like i said: 5 steps forward, 3 steps back.
if i have to be honest about today, i’d say that we failed to give this man the game he came to see (to test.) There was a bizarre error which prevented him from getting to the “end” of the game. this is the first time its happened. It was like, without the completion, the entire experience was lost…. even though there is no requirement for players to “finish” the game, these endings are somewhat essential closure on the experience of playing. Was it this lack of closure, of beginning connecting to “end”, which left him feeling that the game had no narrative, or is the game only appealing to those with an over-active imagination? …okay, i’m just thinking out loud but there was quite a bit of that today. also a serious question about a feature which solved a problem for a certain type of player was discovered to make the game lose suspense for today’s type of player. it’s the aimless wanderers vs. the instinctive navigators.
on the plus++ side today: no crashing whatsoever (memory issue solved), and the new collision system seems to be working out okay. the graphical changes (which only i know what the world has been through) are looking superb. but, some questions in my mind about the “mood” certain characters convey.
no, i can’t make coherent sentences or expressions of thought anymore today. there is another test tomorrow. maybe we will iron out some of these quandries and paradoxes and decide which players we can make happy and which will be left wishing we were making something more (or less.)