1. Project Work Playtesting + Postmortem

2. Plan for today Lecture + discussion Groups status report New Features /Changes in game engine LUNCH BREAK Group work

3. Project Work the out of control project

4. Playtesting is key Imagine a game that works perfectly, but nobody wants to play.

5. finding the right testers GOOD TESTERS: development team member, traditional playtester (alpha), first- impression tester (kleenex), other game designers. BAD TESTERS: your boss, marketing, family, idiots, wannabe designers, extreme hard core fans. A surprisingly small number of people will be able to explain why something is wrong.

6. testing WHEN (early best by experts, alpha) HOW (watch people play, don’t coach, interview afterwards, listen to reports, how many people complain of the same?) Biggest danger: your game is too hard

7. “Usability testing encompasses a range of methods for identifying how users actually interact with a prototype or a complete site. In a typical approach, users — one at a time or two working together — use the Web site to perform tasks, while one or more people watch, listen, and take notes.” (Usability.gov) usability testing

8. things you want to know: -Do users complete a task successfully? -If so, how fast do they do each task? -Is that fast enough to satisfy them? -What paths do they take in trying? -Do those paths seem efficient enough to them? -Where do they stumble?— What problems do they have?— Where do they get confused? -What objects or behaviours are they looking for that are not now on the game? usability II

9. -Plan scope, issues, participants, location, budget -Develop scenarios (relevant tasks for users to try) -Recruit test participants -Conduct usability testing (at least two of you to observe and take notes, let people express themselves) -Make good use of the test results (fix problems! learn for next time!) Performance oriented usability tests

10. Postmortem

11. what is a postmortem? autopsy record of process (project diary) analysis of the team dynamics a reflection upon what went wrong + what went right on all fronts the point is to learn from the mistakes + sucesses

12. areas to cover CONCEPT (climate, accessibility) DEVELOPMENT (software planning, coding, testing) BUSINESS ASPECTS PROJECT WORK (timeline, team assignments, group dynamics)