Pizza Panic was our first time having to deliver a "vertical slice" prototype within such a short period of time. The project duration was 3 weeks. While we were not able to reach that vertical slice stage, we were still able to produce a fairly complete executable game within that time while also fulfilling our other life responsibilities such as jobs or school work.

With that said, there was understandable still quite a lot that we did wrong with the project.

Unfinished Stealth Mechanics

     Pizza Panic was created over the course of 3 weeks as a class assignment. Because of this, several features were incomplete or left out due to time restraints. A large core of the gameplay loop depended on stealth, which is currently incomplete in the projects current build. As it stands, the killer NPC's are too oppressive because the player cannot hide from them effectively. They also can hear the player from very far away, even while the player is crouching or a floor beneath them. 

     If a second iterative loop were to be completed for this game, the stealth mechanic would see major overhaul. First and foremost, the hiding mechanic would be known to the player! As it stands, there is no indicator to show the player that hiding behind objects will obscure them from the A.I's view. Crouching would also be given a purpose by reducing the radius of the player's footstep sounds while crouching. This would make sneaking behind NPC's easier and allow players to get to the doors more effectively without alerting the killers, allowing players more flexibility with their play style.

     Right now, there is also a bug where when hiding, the NPC's will run to the player's last seen location (before hiding) and then run away instead of killing them. The idea was that if the killer last saw the player within a specific radius of the hide location, they would be able to kill the player since they saw them enter the spot. Right now though, even if the NPC doesn't see the player enter the hiding spot, they will still walk to that location. This would need to be fixed up to feel more immersive. The map is also smaller than planned, so the player runs into NPC's more often that we intended. Originally, there were going to be 4 floors, but we settled on 2 due to time constraints.

     If you take a look at the game loop below, you will notice why the stealth being underbaked is such a huge problem. Avoiding the killers is part of the primary game loop, which is what most of the game will consist of. It's really important that every mechanic in the primary loop is functional and provides its function. 

     Speaking of the game loop, it's pretty unfinished... Let's talk about that.

What's with this weird loop?

     So, I will admit that this chart for the game loop was created retroactively past the projects due date. During the initial design discussions we had, we never actually mapped out the loop on paper. Instead, we all collaborated on a brainstorming document that explained the rules and concept of the game. Since we only had 3 weeks, we were all very eager to get a start in the engine! We also still needed to learn how to use and implement FMOD, which we knew would take some time. 

     You can see what that brainstorm document looks like here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19rb4MV0w-joYnv4O9sYGWR-6-ouIZ7LzUScyxErYXcY/...

     The chart as it is seen now is mapped out to display what is actually in the prototype currently. As we discussed the concept, we decided we wanted to create a "stress-management game". At the time, we didn't actually know why these types of games worked, so we were not prepared to effectively pull one off. Stress-dopamine loops are the backbone of those games, which ride on the dopamine that prolonged stress creates in the mind. However, the stress needs to wade up and down. When the stress is too prolonged, it acts completely opposite of the intention and will frustrate players. 

     Now this isn't too big of a problem in the prototype, but we certainly didn't hit the nail on the head with our implementation. We are lacking a strong enough "down" to reward the players for their stress. In the primary loop, the current "downs" are completing the delivery and escaping the building. While we didn't do playtesting on this project, it's a hunch of mine that game completion alone will not act as significant enough reward for the player.

     It only takes a few minutes to reach the "escape the building" section of the game, so I think that would be an appropriate place to insert a better reward. One possible solution is to give the players a means to fight back against the killers, allowing for a sort of "turn-the-tables" reward. After all the stress of timers and running into killers, I imagine players would feel quite nice being able to get rid of the source of stress with their own hands. 

One more thing...

     Another issue I have with the game is that there is no killers out and about until the player misses a delivery. This means that if players perform well, they will be able to complete the game without seeing a single killer. This is a problem because the killers acting as obstacles is a huge part of the primary loop, just like I mentioned with the stealth mechanics.

...but that's all for this little post-mortem! I feel like we have all learned a lot since this prototype, and part of that is due to being able to look back on our mistakes like this!