CAGD 270 - MegaManMaker v2 Feedback

 We were tasked to update our last Megaman level and improve it. We had to fix the problems presented in the previous playtest as well as improve it. During my last playtesting session, I was informed that the level had some inconsistencies with the instructions and did not need to include bosses. In addition, we were enabled to use doors and keys to enhance the player's gameplay experience. Taking advantage of this opportunity, I was able to fix many of the things pointed out to me.

Using the feedback given during the last playtest, many changes were made to the level. Starting by removing the bosses, they were good and gave a better feeling of completion to the level; however, in the instructions, it was specified that they were not enabled. I decided to find strong enemies but not bosses, and the two chosen achieved the objective successfully. In the end, we were supposed to have an orb that will be a finish line, so that was also added to this updated version. 


Another fix implemented was the space available for the player. My objective with the design of the mines was to have a claustrophobic feeling without discomforting the player. So in order to achieve both of these points of view, I expanded the mines enough so that the player feels like there is more space but still makes the player have a sense of claustrophobia.



After submitting the level, it was time for the playtesters to give feedback about their thoughts on the level changes. Overall the feedback was positive; the players were happy with the space available and the variety of enemies. There wasn’t much that could be improved from the player’s feedback. The players were very happy and excited at the end of the level. They said, “The level was complete and challenging.” and “The level was engaging, and I enjoyed playing it.” These responses led me to believe that the level was overall good and interesting, and the difficulty level seemed to be good for the players experienced and beginners in Mega Man.


My observations from the playtesters were that the level was very hard to achieve. Players would constantly touch the ceiling of the mines, and they would have a hard time jumping on platforms, overall the less experienced ones. For the difficulty, it seemed to be standard/medium since the players did not show complications in any section of the level. Something else I noticed was that there was not much of a challenge without the bosses. One thing that I noticed that was somewhat of an abuse from the players was that they were able to run the level without killing the levels. This might be because of the distance between the checkpoints. After analyzing my notes, the end of the level felt empty. In my level design, I based my view on the mines of the western theme, but the outside also had a big potential that I did not take advantage of. There was supposed to be a boss fight, but now it was empty, and no enemy was there to replace it and challenge the player. The end of the level could have been extended more to give the player more challenge.


Something that I’ve taken from this project is that following the game instructions is essential for the completion of the project; I was able to have creative freedom but with some constraints. This was a learning experience of the requirements and restrictions of a project. According to the feedback, the theme for this project was successfully achieved since the mines are a big topic of a Western theme.


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