The Third Test, FireDawgs was Born

By week 3 of development we had run the game through the first 2 Testify tests (read about it here) and had decided to throw everything we had at some huge changes for our final test of the concept development stage. This was the big one, the one with all the changes.

• The car became a firetruck

• The gun became a hose

• The level became a city and it was now in danger of burning to the ground unless your trusty FireDawg managed to put out the fires in time

• We added a happiness meter that drains as your city burns

• Added a banking system for coins

• Added building unlock system to open new levels

• Added powerups

• This was when DogGunnit became FireDawgs.

It was hard cramming all the extra development into a week but it was worth it. It was incredibly clear from that 3rd test session that we had the game we wanted.

Positives

• The firetruck was so much fun

• The variety in the city was enjoyable

• The fires opened up a load of extra possibilities to enhance the gameplay

We got so much positive feedback from this stage that we were feeling pretty good about the game. It was definitely enjoyable to go through the Testify videos and while it took some time to get through them all it never felt like work. Testify itself was so easy to use, everything was straightforward from adding the SDK to our Unity project, from uploading builds and reviewing feedback. Adding the Testify events was simple and the handiest tool ever for reviewing all instances of the gameplay we wanted to track. We’ll definitely be continuing to use Testify as we develop FireDawgs.

We Also Did This. Sorry, Testers.

As well as getting great feedback on the controls, camera, layout and aiming in the game, we also had a bit of fun with it with a lovely little extra feature.

Admit it; you would have done it too. Sorry, testers! Thanks for being such great sports!

After Testify

Shortly after the third test we were due to pitch the concept to the Assembler panel. It went well and we got through to Stage 2! We now have 8 weeks to refine our prototype, nail down some of the gameplay, add in some side missions, work on the final art style and we’re even going to test some online multiplayer. Scary… but good scary!