Dev Log - Prep

House Keeping

I took the time to review some of my code and refresh my memory on what I wrote. This was the perfect time to start moving some things around and catch things that don’t quite make sense. A script will now house all the statuses, instead of being inside a camera controller.

Variety of scripts have been cleaned up. This includes renaming scripts that now have a different purpose, and overall improve clarity for team members such as ClockManger has being renamed to SliderManager.

Some commenting has been added to various variables and functions.

I’ve created a confluence page that lists the functions of scripts, how assets and GameObjects are stored. The idea is to have my team members easily have access to a page where they can immediately get answers from. It needs to be clear and concise, aided with and imageries.

Pill Manager and Pill Choice Script

Before this was implemented, players simply will click the pills to use them. I thought there could be a better way to show the player they are about to use an item. So I’ve implemented a feature where the pills will move towards the players camera, plus, disabling controls and opening a UI that asks players if they wish to consume the pills. There is definitely more friction when using items, and may help our message. Some playtesting will be needed.

Additionally, I moved some of the functions out of the camera controller and into the pill manager. It just makes more sense to have these features in another script, making it more clean and easier to edit.

Multiple pills have been added, and corresponds to specific bars.

When I revisit this part, I hope to make the bars and pills a little more modular. Currently the additional bars are hard coded, and I think there is a better way.

Dialogue System

This was implemented so that the team has a way to implement narrative and give feedback to players. Currently, the text is hard to read, perhaps a larger outline will solve this issue, or using shaders that will prevent scenes from being too bright.

Two Versions – 3 Pills vs 1 Pill

Our team discussed about whether we want to have 1 pill or multiple pills. I advocated for more pills because I think from a gameplay perspective, it offers more agency for the players, and opens up to more decision making.

However, the 1 pill might be easier and strengthen our message, which was “It is okay to rely on stimulants for help.” The idea behind my work is to allow some play testing to find some data for our decision.