Situation: The goal of this week was to start developing a paper prototype in order t start with the first playtests.
Task: To do that, we decided to start by breaking down the tasks that need to be finished for the prototype and the playtest and create a plan of action out of it. Afterward, we started with the tasks of primary importance, namely designing the two core systems of the game - the building and score systems and documenting those.
Activities:
At first, I started we started by discussing and defining the upcoming milestones. We ended up with 2 for the first half of the project - the paper prototype and the first version of a digital prototype. Based on that, I created a breakdown of the design tasks for the first prototype - the paper one:
Afterwards, I also created a gameplay priority map to visualize what the features priority is. The reason for that is that we have to have the ‘core’ gameplay ready for the first digital prototype, but we had little insight into what it exactly entails. With the priority map in mind, I have a clear overview that the gameplay required for the first digital prototype is 1. Core Mechanic and 2. 15-min city MVP.
The next aspect we focused on is the building system. It has been decided that there will be different types of buildings - houses, necessities, and recreation - that players can place. Necessities have a walking range, meaning that citizens residing within that range will walk to the nearest necessary facility, while others will have to drive if they don't have one nearby.
The first decision we made is to use a hexagonal grid for the game after conducting research and small playtesting. A square grid doesn't allow for a natural-looking road system and city layout, while an octagonal grid has gaps between tiles and lacks significant advantages compared to the hexagonal grid.
Next, we discussed road placement and whether it should be done manually by the player or automatically by the system. Initially, we opted for the latter to reduce the player's cognitive load and allow them to focus on other aspects of gameplay.
However, during playtesting with Max, a game-breaking problem was identified - the presence of a dominant strategy that involved placing all necessities in the middle of the city. This strategy always resulted in higher scores, as more people would use bikes instead of cars. Although this aligns with the planning of most smart cities, we realized that it would make the game less engaging and impactful. So, we needed to find a solution.
After defining the problem, we brainstormed several ideas to address it. Some notable ones were:
Restricted building spaces: Introducing buildings that cannot be removed. While this is a good idea for future expansion, it doesn't solve the problem.
Budget: Making placing and removing buildings cost money to discourage placing only important buildings randomly. However, this idea introduces a new mechanic that doesn't align with the current game vision and core gameplay.
Additional requirements: Requiring players to place a specific number of facilities. This idea supports the core gameplay and solves the problem, but it limits creative freedom and customization options, potentially reducing the impact of the game.
Complete concept overhaul: A radical solution considered as a last resort.
Ultimately, we chose a different solution: allowing players to manually place houses and roads on separate tiles. Additionally, instead of a circular walking range around facilities, the walking range will depend on the number of road tiles that separate the facility from the house. This preserves the core gameplay and eliminates the dominant strategy, as there are multiple viable placement options. We then decided to focus on a score system that emphasizes citizens' access to necessities, housing, and air quality.
Results: Created a planning list, gameplay priority list and building system high-level design document.
Reflection: Overall, I am happy with this week’s progress, even though we encountered a big challenge and had to postpone the planning, I am happy that we managed to figure it out and learn from it.
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