Progress So Far:
Sunday - Stage 3 Complete
Memory Map Additions: Intro Level has a basic Memory Map(no collectibles and just one stage. Very basic)
To Do:
Main Memory's Memory Map(Collectibles have been placed(9))
Conclusion

The Cut
So yesteryday I could of had the memory map for the Main Memory done, but I paced around slamming my head against each wall I passed thinking about the best way to do the memory map. I had to cut the idea of interacting heavily with the memory map to trigger the stages to appear. I guess I hit a creative impasse. But basically I don't want it to be too complicated. I played Sly 2 on my PS2 for a break, and observed the first level's main map which connected all the tasks and had the collectibles inside it rather than inside tasks. Progression is what made them appear, and the real gameplay other than collectibles was inside the tasks themselves.

SO, the memory map will act as that hub level. The player can look around for collectibles, fully exploring the map with no time limit, and finding stages simultaneously and activating them. Once first activated I think I'm going to have them pop up at the entrance for quicker access once all four stages have been found, that way you can jump between each one faster.

I'm aiming to have this memory map set up shortly after this blog, and spend the rest of the day with the conclusion. My game should be done by the end of today!

Possible Demo
So, I have somewhere around three living, breathing people nearby to test the game for me. We'll be testing one at a time, seeing if I got the tone down and how the gameplay is so I can have one test, then I change what I need to change, and test again with someone new. This game will need a great amount of testing I'm sure!

So, that leads me to an important question. I asked this earlier but with no answer, but now might be a better time. This is for a contest, so does that make any difference? Should I have a public beta? I'm considering getting a playable game download onto this game page soon. Hmmmm.

Update: First Test
To avoid making a whole new blog update on the same day, I'll just quickly update here.

Once I put together the memory map and what was needed to bridge the intro and the level, I had my friend come over for the first test (This is more for me logging what the playthrough's were like).

Test Number #1:
(Prior to this test he had played the intro and two stages. He likes games with action more, but he also loves a good story. The memory was very intriguing to him. Advised I have more interaction with the memory.)
He played the game without the conclusion, just the full intro and full level. Timing was a bit off, but it clocked around 50 minutes, maybe an hour.(we had a save at 37 Minutes in, and we assume the time after that was 15-25 minutes or so, we never saved after he finished and I exited :/. Either way, he didn't see the conclusion so that's more potential time, I'm predicting about 10 to 15 minutes long, maybe.)

Bugs:

• One game breaking glitch in which, if he could actually finish and see a conclusion, one of the clues didn't work. With all of the clues found, the main crystals weren't shining. The game would have been unfinishable. I just fixed that problem.

• Tint Screen Screw-up, for some reason at some point he went outside in the sunset tint, and the tint wouldn't go away for a bit until we triggered another tint thing. A minor thing, and I went in but found that each possible transfer which takes you out of that area brought it back to normal tint. I don't know how to recreate it... hmmmm. Another test it seems.

• Event Issue, a simple mess up with a switch. I just fixed that.

• Transfer Issues: Two things, one, a stage had transfer events accidently taking him out of the stage. I had to direct him out of the bind and save, then fixed the transfers. Two, stage four didn't have a proper transfer, it transfered you to stage 3. Basically game-breaking, took care of that!

OTHERWISE it all worked very well, there were no issues with the NPC's move events or dialogue this time around. I think that's all set for the most part.

Level Design: Some Observations I've Made while watching

• The memory map seemed to help, but the visual representation of each stage bugged him. He was used to talking to a person and reading choices from a choice box to decide what stage to enter. Instead, I had it so once you found each stage in the memory map, they would all appear in a convenient square so you didn't have to run all the way to each one every time you wanted to do a different stage. This was good, but when looking at each sparkle he saw it as stages in order from 1-4 would make a Z, I felt it would make an n starting from the bottom left corner. If that makes sense ;). I should just put them in a line maybe?

• Intro touch-ups still seem necessary I feel in terms of dialogue. And then I just need to make sure scene transitions are smoother. I need to make sure the player is introduced to spectating properly. In steps: First you are spectating with a guide but without moving, then you are given free rein to walk with the guide. Then the tutorial comes showing you the actual mystery room and memory map set up. And then a quick stage with a clue to find and an understanding of having the crystal shining in the mystery room to proceed. AND THEN you are set loose onto the main memory with the addition of collectibles

Other Observations

• Once he started, I saw quickly it was VERY successful. When there was alot going on, he felt overwhelmed and didn't know who to follow in one stage which was my intent.

• He used deduction skills

• His interpretation was based on what HE saw. So when he thought someone was the killer because of their actions he followed them. Although he'd find an outcome he wasn't expecting.

• Maybe it's just him, but I had to explain to him what he just saw sometimes and THEN he understood. He admitted he wasn't always paying attention, quite dramatically he misses some things. Still gonna look into that though.

• He focused on finding all the collectibles and stages first. Then started spectating.

• His clue-finding changed erratically throughout. He found a clue and then another after a bit but it was slower. Second half of his playthrough of the level itself, he found them much faster.

• Second half of his playthrough, he started going to places he hadn't gone to yet and just happened across clues.

So for my first test, I've learned a lot. The level was very successful in terms of gameplay, however I broke his immersion with the quick game-breaking fix or two. It screwed up the "experience" testing part, as the second half of his playthrough was a bit odd.

If you're reading these blogs, thanks for keeping up! I use this blog in a few ways. One, for me so I can record my progress and put my design thoughts into words. Otherwise, I just hope it helps to know how well this is going and how the work is being done. I know I love seeing design details like this :p. My next REAL update is after the conclusion is made, and after at least two more rounds of testing are done. Maybe a third if I can have a friend come over and play. After all of that I hope I will have decided whether to have a public demo or not before submitting the entry. (Huh, looking back, this extra update is bigger then the original. Cool.)