Goon Game Log: 4/1/24 (Sprint 5)

Okay: so the theme of this sprint is ‘shit I should have been doing all along and just now realizing I should have been doing it.’ People really aren’t underselling the importance of testing; not just testing with others but in-house testing with yourself. I have done two tests in the past week, and in that time, I better understood my game but also unearthed several problems that have persisted since its first iteration. Needless to say, testing is now a mainstay of this project, and at least one testing PBI will appear for each sprint after this with a different testing goal to hopefully give more focus sprint to sprint. However, most of these changes will come into full swing in the next sprint. I’ve essentially jettisoned the rest of the sprint and replaced them with more applicable and actionable items. But getting to the heart of the matter would require more time than is available in this current sprint.

So, a little sneak preview of what I’m going to be cooking up. Number One: scaling back pre-production docs. Part of the reason this epiphany came about was that while filling out the Story Bible with strenuous detail, I thought, “Is this important. Will anyone actually need this? Aren’t I just filling space? Isn’t there something more actionable you could be doing?” And yes, there was. Most, if not all, of the pre-production docs, are more or less fine as they are. They get the main idea across for the minimum viable product and provide enough detail for artists to get concept art and early assets together. Programmers can start building tools and foundational logic strings. Designers have a direction to build new levels and features with; the same goes for writers. Overall, selling and explaining the idea (at least at an internal level) is solid enough. What could use work is the idea itself.

This brings me to two: revamping Zolo and other early features. It was not my proudest moment when I realized that I hadn’t upgraded Zolo, the baseline commander, to be on par with other commanders after the shift from AP to pure actions. His base stats are underpowered as initially, he could attack twice, so he’s gone from potentially doing 10 damage to only doing 5; his future kit items seem rather lackluster compared to his companions. Which felt wrong; yes, Zolo is the first commander you get and the most straightforward, but he’s also the protagonist and the center point of his organization. The player needs to understand that he brings something to the table gameplay and context-wise so they don’t end up wondering why someone more qualified hasn’t taken over. Following that line, I’m considering taking him in a buff hazard direction, focusing on his kit being able to lay down persistent Area of Effects that buff his allies but hinder his opponents. Similar to how Vail of Shadows impairs Line of Sight for enemies while giving Penetrate to allies, I’m kicking around the idea of him creating the equivalent of Ice titles from Fire Emblem: Engage, where moving across one of those tiles would increase MOV for the turn. That idea is still in the works, but that’s the jest of what I want to be doing with Zolo.

Then comes number three: ensuring the foundational units work as intended. I made the mistake of always moving on to improving and adding more complexity whenever a test yielded some sort of problem. To my past self, the problem was the player not having the right tools for the job or not being put in intricate enough issues to warrant the extra thinking. I now realize that while those may be the case, the best solution is minor tweaks and alterations to the basic units before building up. I need to prove that the basic Hammer, Schemer, Operative, and Agitator Goons function within the roles set by the same well enough to be used before adding new bells and whistles to them while also doing the same for the Beat, Blast, and Squawk Cops; making sure both sets of units fulfill their desired role and works towards the preferred play style I am trying to foster. To that, the sticking point for now is going to be the Agitator. Most tests, even my own, have shown that they are the odd duck out. They have the lowest movement, the lowest attack, and the most situational abilities. Sure, they can carry a lot, and in the situations they are designed for, they pull through, but the question now becomes if they are even worth bringing along. My next test will hopefully shed light on that question. But if they are not worth having around, what needs to change? My first thought was to expand their basic attack, allowing them to have an adjacent ally attack their target. With that change (and some stat tweaking), tanks serve two roles: control enemy attention and increase the number of attacks per turn. The goal here is to give them something to do both outside and inside combat, as most of their kit is geared toward when things break down.

To end on a high note, this past week has been, in the kindest words, enlightening. It has shown me the truth behind industry wisdom reaffirmed. That the ‘don’t focus on the show’ rule I hold myself also applies to designing the game as much as marketing it. Lessons learned, actions taken, progress altered but unhindered