Overclock Prototype Postmortem

What Worked

The time control mechanic itself was a huge success. It was more engaging beyond what I had initially planned for and led to all sorts of emergent interactions as I tested the system. Mechanics such as walking bullets trapped in the bubble into enemies as an offensive maneuver and running incoming bullets into walls to stop them were so fun and interesting. Simply playing with the mechanic in an empty room yielded all sorts of creative possibilities. The mechanic itself had the player thinking about all the potential possibilities it presented during combat without any external input.

What Didn’t Work

There were two main concerns I have with the system and that’s readability and foresight. It’s not always easy to determine where the bullets are going within the bubble, which can make it frustrating for the player when they don’t have the necessary information to make decisions. Additionally when it comes to the overall game loop of planning assaults before engaging in combat, there was a hitch. Because of the game’s first person perspective, the player is forced to enter combat to really gain an understanding of the situation ahead of them. Therefore, the learning process of understanding a combat situation is pretty heavily reliant on trial and error, since the player has no foresight into what may lie ahead. They simply have to rush into a situation, and then make a plan on their following attempts, which can become frustrating.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the system has a lot of potential. The main mechanic is incredibly engaging and provides a unique experience that really makes the player feel cool. However, while I believe that the majority of the system supports the goal of creating combat that the player has to think critically about, the game loop it resides in doesn’t create a fair experience. Being forced into combat and failing in order to make a proper plan for your second attempt at combat is too detrimental to the player experience. 

In the future I want to make changes to the overall game loop to ensure the player has adequate information before entering combat. That way they have the tools they need to make informed plans before entering combat. Alternatively, changing the flow of combat such that players are encouraged to make plans from moment to moment in combat as opposed to an overall strategy to defeat an entire room of enemies might solve the problem in a more interesting way.