Iterations of the Formal Loop

In the weeks before the start of this games development, our class was discussing iterative loops in software development and game design. The idea is to go through a looping design pattern as many times as possible before release, and to analyze, iterate, and improve after each loop. 

This game prototype was only two loops -- which is not much (though the short number of loops was due to a short development period.) This results in a lot of the game being...less than pretty. However, just these two loops prove the efficiency of the iterative loop design process.

During the first loop, I created the camera functionality, photo grading, and programmed the deer's AI. At the time, I was tackling for a reason for the player to need to take photos in the first place. I ended up with having humans ask the player for photos of certain animals. I chose this, because it matched the resonance I was looking for as described in my devlog post: Resonance in Themes and Messages. 

This decision led to a more puzzle-structured gameplay loop, where each animal to capture required a certain solution to get the rank photo needed. The problem was--the deer during the first loop was not much of a puzzle to solve at all. It was simply an AI moving around at random until the player was close enough--and then runs away.

During the second iterative loop, I improved on this concept. 

First, I made it so that when the player is seen from a distance, the deer will turn and look at the player while huffing aggressively. During this stage, the player may crouch up close enough to take a Rank S photo. If the player tries to walk closer, the deer will run away. 

Secondly, I added bushes that the player can hide in. By hopping bush to bush, the player can get up close to the deer without being noticed. The player must peek out of the bush so that the leaves do not block the camera lens, and then snap a photo of the deer undetected.

With these two changes, the deer started to feel more like a puzzle to solve. By this point, my deadline was approaching and I still needed more animal puzzles. I thought of the idea to use items to lure animals out of hiding, so I implemented a quick and simple physics interaction system with objects.  This led to the rabbit hiding in his hole until tempted with a carrot.

For the next animal, I wanted to utilize the physics interaction system in a more active way. The sheep AI was derived from the deer's, with a few differences. The sheep is designed to be herded, so it will always run away from the player with more frequent and smaller distances to travel. The haystacks in the area can be used to block the navigation system of the AI. When the player moves the haystacks in a path, it will force the sheep to run into dead ends, where the player can easily get a high ranked photo.

If this game were to have a third loop, one thing I note is that the puzzle-structured gameplay is working against the basic joy of the camera. A camera is a toy and players enjoy taking photos of things, but the functionality of the camera is limited and the grading system discourages the player from taking photos that they personally feel look good. The current "pose" grading system requires the players to take photos from the front of the animal, but photos arguably look nicer when not from a direct front view most of the time.

Risk mitigation is a huge part of the iterative loop, and the game currently has a lot of risks. There is a lack of discovery in the game because of the limited number of animals. There is only one animal in each area, and the player is not rewarded at all for taking photos of anything other than the current questgiver's desired animal. These are risks that would need to be mitigated during the next loop.