Pivot

Week Six

(You can pivot if you want too. You can leave your friends behind)

First off, check out the AIM< Facebook page if you haven't already. I just uploaded some awesome art by one of the concept artists working on our team. I will be updating the AIM< Facebook page weekly with something or other. As development gets farther along, there will be more frequent updates and I'll be building up a presence on other social media outlets as well.

This week my team and I focused on a process called "pivoting". To pivot in game design and development (GDD) means that aspects of the design is re-addressed while still staying true to the original concept. This means that as lead game designer, I re-work and re-write portions of the rules to better meet the audiences expectations for our game. Key mechanics, like movement and level progression, certainly need polish at this point, but pivoting addresses how fun the game is and what systems build up or tear down that fun experience. The mechanics have to be fun or basically we would just be polishing a piece of trash that no one wants to play.

After going through pivot this week, AIM< now has a clear win/loose structure and mechanics in place to enable us to create opportunities for drama and excitement. The feedback from the AIM< prototype playtesters showed that fun tools were in place but the players needed a motive to use them. They wanted to experience a sense of accomplishment. So, along with the teams feedback, I wrote some large additions to the AIM< rules. I also had to address the readability of the GDD document as by this time it had gotten hard to read.

Audio work for AIM< is beginning! Along with working on this senior capstone project, I'm enrolled in a digital sound studio. Some of my classmates agreed to work with me on AIM< audio the final for the course. I'll be managing the team, making sure we stay on track and produce quality work. I look forward to sharing some of our sounds!

I'll post an image of the result of  my last big task this week. I designed a tutorial level and visualized it through Adobe Illustrator. The concepts at work in AIM< are complex enough that it will take time for players to wrap their heads around. A tutorial is a lower risk, higher reward scenario that the player can feel safe experimenting in. A sense of mastery is important for many players and a tutorial is one step in that process.

As someone who plays a lot of games, I acknowledge the need to learn many games' mechanics. However, I really don't want to get bored during the tutorial. Unfortunately I often do. As I designed the first tutorial for AIM<, I tried to design the map with enough drama to keep gameplay interesting and teach the core mechanics of AIM<. I think that the process is similar to writing a story. Jumping right into the middle of a story is disorienting. Starting with a long conversation or description of characters and places the reader doesn't know is tedious. Why would a reader be motivated to finishing the book? Introduce the characters and start hinting at the peril or drama straight away.

Have an awesome weekend!

AIM< Tutorial Level Concept by Aram Wahler