Devlog #1
I've received feedback on the concept document I wrote for this project. While the overall feedback wasn't much in number, the contents of it did help me to realign my focus for what the game should be. I was told that my gameplay should be given a chance to expand more and find a way to differentiate it from other titles like it that exist already. In response to this feedback, I've made goals for myself to include some extra features if I still have the time to do so, like a ranking system and mid-game events that add extra pressure on the player. The mid-game events were an idea I had where occasionally, a cutscene will trigger where some kind of unexpected force will attack a specific part of the map and cause a fire breakout, where there will also be some more people to rescue. These kind of unexpected events are things I hope will add pressure to the player and cause them to consider their time management within the game.
With the ranking system, my overall idea for it would be that depending on how fast you complete the level and how many people you rescue at the end, your rank will change, going from Bronze, Silver, Gold, and finally Platinum. I'm hoping that with this ranking incentive, it'll provide replay value for the game and build on the core experience by having players go through the game multiple times to find the best routes and ways to save time so they can achieve the Platinum rank and improve their overall time. I want this game to be a simple experience, but also including that extra incentive of perfecting your route and gaining the best overall score will help to add replayability and an extra layer of depth to my game.
When prototyping the game, I decided to pursue the paper prototyping option, as it would help to give a sense of scale to how big the map of the game should be and make it easier to know where to place hazards and collectibles. For the prototype, I used graph paper to lay out what I want the overall map to look like, marking spots for buildings, fire hydrants where you can refill your water, and spots where hazardous fires are located. I used little tokens to represent where potential spots for people to rescue could be placed, and I used one more token to represent the player and their firetruck. This helped to give me an overall feel for the scale of the game and how the player would end up navigating through the level as they progressed.
Compared to other methods of prototyping like wireframing and concept maps, paper prototyping was the best for allowing me to come up with the layout of the level and how the player would interact with it. As a result, it has helped me to progress a lot in building the level in Unreal Engine 5, and the gameplay mechanics should be starting development soon after, as their mechanics will revolve primarily around how the buildings and obstacles will be laid out. With the feedback I received from initial playtesting of the first build, I plan to also include some additional obstacles like hazards that require crouching to get through and indoor fires that the player needs to get out of the firetruck to handle, as well as big fires that only the firetruck can put out with its hose. With these additional mechanics, I'm hoping this will build on the core experience by asking the player to consider what they want to use to get past obstacles, but while also considering the level of their water and how much they're willing to spend before they can refill.
