Week 4/7 - 4/14

Alpha Demo

This week, we focused on starting to make our various features into a cohesive product with foundations of a core gameplay loop. 

We added a hub level with a new level select feature to allow the user to select levels with unique hazards to overcome in the lab, such as a level focused on dealing with fires, and an upcoming level for practicing mixing together chemicals. The idea behind this is to give the user freedom to choose which hazards they want to get experience with, so they won’t get frustrated with other hazards popping up and potentially distracting them. We also added a feature where a menu with an option to return to the lobby, as well as quit the game, pops up when the user presses the B button on the right controller. 

We also finished the fire extinguisher and fire objects, so when users pour two specific chemicals together, it creates a fire. At the moment, the chemicals that cause a fire are just the red and green ones, but with further research we can attach real names to them. Once the fires are created, the fire extinguisher can be used to put them out. We also added functionality to return to the lobby and complete the level, but only when the task of extinguishing every fire is completed. The goal of this is to expose users to unsafe behaviors that they would never knowingly do in real life to know how to respond to them if needed. 

We added distinct chemicals in flasks with distinct colors to visually distinguish them, and pouring them together in different combinations can create reactions such as fire. We also added a visual indicator on each flask for the amount of liquid left. The colors are meant to provide a clear distinction between the chemicals without relying on the user’s chemistry knowledge to tell them apart. The pouring animation is a step towards simulating actual situations that the user might find themselves in when a safety incident occurs.

Some minor changes have also been made to the lab environment itself, such as texture fixes, and exit signs above the doors. Some issues left to address are a) stopping users from teleporting into lab tables and other areas where they shouldn’t be and b) fixing the gaps between the walls so that you can’t see outside the lab. 

We also made some minor adjustments to the website to reduce confusion and improve the user experience, such as changing some text formatting to make the site look more pretty, updating pricing information, and changing the URL of the blog to reflect it properly.