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New episode - Don't make this assumption about your players
🕑 Added 2023-04-03 15:08:07 +0000 UTCIn this episode I take my game to GDC in San Francisco, and get some feedback. Along the way, I learn some tough lessons about playtesting and making assumptions about your players.
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Comments
Cam
Loved the video, Mark! I enjoy writing a note to myself against my level designs describing what I'm trying to teach the player. This has often kept me focused on a singular goal and keeps the design honest. Also, being able to view the notes in a linear list gives me an overview of the progression. This allows me to spot opportunities to tweak the progression. Eg. decrease a jump in difficulty if I pushed too quickly with new mechanics. Thanks again for the vid, I'm getting a lot of value out of your videos after getting back into game dev after a 2 year mental health hiatus. Keep up the awesome work.
Dennis
That was interesting (and relatable 😆). One more solution I can add from experience: Get some distance. As a solo-dev I have made it my MO to finish a section - usually a whole level and/or a boss fight - and then work on an entirely different part of the game for at least 3 or 4 weeks. Then I play the former part again and usually will get wrecked. Only after I made it easier to a point where I can reliably beat it again, I will pass it on to my playtesters. Now, that was for a platformer game - I don't think you can ever get enough distance to completely forget your own puzzles, but it can help to try it anyway. If you get back to it and have to think for too long about what you made there, that's probably a red flag.
