Since my last update, I added the random ghost objectives, a new item, and a few more details for polish. But I wanted to dive into an issue that came up in player testing and feedback.
New Work
First the new ghost objectives!
There are a few ghost objectives ghosts can find now, and dead players have the option to become a ghost or go back to the lobby. The lobby is the only time you can switch out your skins or spectate, so it might be nice to have that option. Currently, 2 of the objectives can turn some spaces into red or orange zones, which are noise environments that can also randomly spawn on the map when the round starts, but unlike the original zones that have items and treasure, these objectives just create the noisy environment randomly with no added loot. Another item creates what I call a “void” by limiting the vision of alive players. Ghosts finishing ghost objectives earn them coins, and there is also ghost orbs which all ghosts can find to trigger a corrupt mode.
I also made it so players can carry 1 fragment at a time, and a cool effect shows around them to let them and others know they have one. In order to bank coins found in hidden treasure or the ones earned from fragments, the player must deposit a fragment.
The new item I added is currently called GLASS, which can be used to make noise on another player, which can be helpful to shift the entities’ attention (provided their noise goes above yours) or simply kill them if you want their stuff (might need that fragment lol).
Mechanism Background
I added these kinds of mechanics because the game tends to feel very empty without these chaos rules. Before, you could find the fragments and otherwise ignore everyone else in the game, but now random item spawns, treasure, ghosts, and other players introduce a level of unpredictability that makes it hard to know what will ever happen. The entity is very straightforward, loud noise draws its attention, whoever has the loudest noise gets its full attention. It’s simple because everything else can be complex.
The Issue
The issue that came up in player testing is that the fragments are very punishing. Some dislike the design being too dark and punishing for fast movement (the whole point is to slow down and think), which I might not do much about, but some really like the design but feel rushed and helpless as soon as they engage with the objective. When you pick up a fragment, your noise meter will steadily increase, which is a problem because if the entity was already on you, then it won’t leave until you deposit the fragment or someone else makes a louder noise because your noise meter won’t go down. After depositing a fragment, it will go down, but there is a large spike of noise during the deposit, which could be risky. This is all pretty intentional, but it was reported to me as a bug. Players get anxious and freak out because the entity won’t leave them, and the world is getting darker and redder by the second. It’s pretty intense, and if you end up in a red or orange zone, especially with a fragment, your game will end pretty quickly (even I had a very hard time in these areas, and I even cheated!)
I’m thinking of addressing this by making the orange and red zones less common and easier to get in and out of like other zones, and I’m planning to add a drop option for fragments, so in a last-ditch effort, a player can ditch the objective. A big issue was the items as well. These items are made to support players in these very situations. You can null your noise or reset it alltogether or make someone else louder, but players didn’t even know they existed, and if they did have them, they didn’t know to use them. So they aren’t very descriptive and are spherical, so they blend in with the world around them, unlike the ghost objectives, which are very distinct. So I’m going to change their design and make them more prominent when a player has them, maybe some tooltips too. I can imagine that if players don’t know that they need to find these early, then the game becomes very difficult.
It’s also true that the very core mechanic of the game is too much. It’s intuitive that when playing a game, especially on Roblox, you want to move quickly and accomplish things fast, but this game requires the exact opposite. You don’t need to creep around the whole time, but you do need to dial it back and think, which might not be something players are willing to do too often. I’m working on this by adding these kinds of environmental cues like the fragment visual when a player has one, world tinges orange or purple for player or ghost objectives, world tinges black and red when noise is high, etc. All things to remind the user what’s good and bad, but it might need some work.
Conclusion
Right now, I think it’s just a bit of polish that I need to work on. I already have everything people need to be able to play the game, and more options for progression will happen in the inventory aside from just badges and skins (also needs to be more prominent since nobody knows it even exists lol). Once people know what they have around them that can help, and the unease from those around them that may or may not help them, will truly shape this game. I have gotten so much positive feedback through my YouTube shorts and those who have joined me, which means a lot, and I’m very excited to take this game to new heights. It started as a very basic tech concept
To a full game ready to adapt to all kinds of players and devices (console coming soon!)
