Hello everyone!

I am back with updates on the progress of Same Day Delivery, coming at the start of our third sprint, meaning we are quickly approaching the halfway point of development. In this blog post, we will go over large changes to the game and decisions that have been made. I will get to show off some of the amazing things made by my team, and from now on, posts will also have playtesting information to show how players are receiving the game and things that we might change based on their feedback.

Playtests

For this first playtest, I was able to get 12 playtesters, mostly friends, who play games regularly or semiregularly and with an age range of 17-30. The most common ages were 21-25, which is amazing considering that is the exact age range for our desired target audience. For future playtests, we will also try to get more variation, not just with age but also with how often they play games, as having frequent gamers is nice for sniffing out key problems, but non-gamers do great to show you what parts of your game don't make sense and how to better teach players what to do and how to play.

After playing, testers were asked to fill out a feedback form containing questions about many different things from controls to bugs to art, and after looking at everyone's responses we were able to find not only trends in what players didn't like but also see what players liked most. Because this was such an early build, most of the problems were ones that we expected, such as obstacles not having hitboxes and being able to spawn an infinite amount of packages. The only issue that we didn't foresee was one only mentioned by three playtesters that they were unable to enter the van during the game, a major problem considering driving is half the gameplay. If it were one person, we might have assumed it was a hardware issue on their part, but it seems a lot less likely when it happened to three players. So far we don't know what could cause that, so our plan, for now, is to continue production as normal and see if those players report the same bug next time. If they do, we will know for sure that this is a problem and will dedicate time to fixing it.

The feedback for controls also went mostly as expected, with players having mixed reviews on how it felt to move around. Sheldon's movement had better ratings than the driving, but we anticipated that due to the van's more complicated movements and needed refinement. The main suggestions for control changes were better van turning and faster reverse speeds, both things that would do a lot to improve driving smoothness. Players also desperately wanted to drift the van, and look further up as Sheldon purely to throw packages farther. We loved these ideas, as it shows that players are wanting more goofy, fun mechanics to spice up the gameplay, and we plan on implementing both of those things as quickly as possible.

By the time the next playtest rolls around, we hope to have our core mechanics fully or mostly polished so we can consider them finished and transition into more secondary mechanics that will really add uniqueness to Same Day Delivery. Some of these things include robo-security dogs, porch pirates, pedestrians, and multiple package types with different sizes, elements, and other attributes. Our main goal is to make a fun game with only the core mechanics, then begin using these secondary mechanics to make the world and gameplay more varied.

Design Changes

So far we haven't had to make many design changes, and most things are still going as intended, but there are some small things that we did have to mess around with to make sure it creates the most fun for our players. The biggest thing that I have been trying to figure out is the map and how it will work throughout the game. After a lot of deliberation, I feel that our ideas for the map are much better and will create more fun for players. Before this, our idea was simply to have one huge town in which Sheldon will spawn at one of several locations, have completely random deliveries, and deliver more packages each day until they finish the final day and beat the game. This plan had many issues with it, namely the possibility that players would have to drive very far with each delivery and waste time, sections of the map never being seen, and each day feeling like the last. The new system should solve all of these issues and do a lot to add to the experience. 

The map will now be split into four chunks that the player will unlock throughout the game, keeping the map small when the player starts to not overwhelm them. More map chunks will be unlocked by playing through the game in the form of licenses. Players will start with a Class C driving license that only allows deliveries to one map chunk, but after 3 days they will be promoted to Class B, which will unlock another map chunk and allow deliveries to both. After that is a Class A license, then ending with a "Same Day Delivery" license, finally allowing deliveries to the whole map. This will give a greater sense of accomplishment and growth for players as they rise the ranks from average Class C driver to the prestigious Same Day Delivery driver.

In order to keep the whole map engaged, we will also have district-based deliveries, meaning each map chunk will have separate deliveries that need to be filled. Instead of simply having 15 packages to deliver, players will now have 5 packages for district 1, 5 for district 2, and 5 for district 3. Players will deliver to one district at a time, completing all deliveries before moving on to the next, and seeing a UI box get checked once a district is completed for the day, with the level now ending when all district boxes are checked off. This will work seamlessly with licenses, as at the start, players will have one district available, and therefore only have deliveries to that district, and once they unlock the next map chunk, they will now have packages to deliver to two districts, and so on.

The only other design change that I have had to make is a more fun one, and it is with the scope of Same Day Delivery. For every other project, the scope of the game has been too large, making stress and crunch inevitable, but for this game, we are having the opposite problem. I kept the game concept very simple to ensure we could make a great game in the allotted time, but I underestimated just how fast and efficiently my team works, and now we are already running out of tasks related to our original scope. To solve this, our producer is having me increase the scope by adding our wants and wishes, along with new ideas to bulk up the workload and get us to the end of the semester. Robot dogs, package thieves, and more small models to fill in the world are only some of the things that I am adding and will continue to add for the remainder of development.

The Group's Work

As mentioned many times, I am blown away by how fast everyone is working and how much is getting done already. After every sprint, we get to see loads of amazing work and it's hard to keep up with it all.  From modeling to programming to level design and everything in between, it is so fun to look through it all and witness all the game ideas coming to life.

Filling up a large world and making it lively and fun seemed like a daunting task, but with such amazing modelers, it has been smooth sailing getting amazing props and buildings for the game. From smaller things like signs and bushes to larger houses and pedestrians,  everything looks incredible, matches the art style, and some even have fun details that add to the game for players to find during a playthrough. 

Of course, all of these world-filling models wouldn't be nearly as useful without a world to fill, and that is where our level designers come in. After making annotated maps and coming up with fun road and neighborhood ideas, our level designers have been in unity making small map chunks for testing. Even though they are mostly for testing, they look amazing and are super fun to move around and explore. Seeing all the models and programming together in one place is beyond amazing and I can only imagine how cool it will all be once we get further into development.

My work thus far has been exclusively design work, whether it be filling out the game design document, making mood boards for different models, conducting playtests, or simply answering questions as needed. I feel that while I do have my work cut out for me, the team is making it a stress-free experience and I will always appreciate their patience and understanding through it all.

Everyone on the team has a key role to fill and they each contribute tons of time and effort to making Same Day Delivery a great game. I can't imagine development without this team, as they not only crush through tasks, but they create a joyous environment while doing so, with jokes, funny ideas, and enthusiastic spirits.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, this team is awesome, working with them is great, and this whole development process has been so fun. I cannot wait to see where the game will be by the next post and what will have changed, but I am ecstatic to continue working and pushing through.

Thank you all for coming along!

Kevin Estes

Lead Designer