Judge feedback

Judge feedback is anonymous and shown in a random order.

• Feedback

  The concept for this game is most interesting, it appears there is only a tutorial level available at the moment as everything else remained out of bounds even after completing the tutorial.  Although there does not appear to be a menu system based on the UI method, it is in-game although limited. The instructions on what to do in the game are clear and presented well, there are some spelling errors and some windows do not stay up long enough for me to read but I was able to get the grasp of the gameplay mechanics.

  The way I steal items in the house is funny but works well for a tutorial, while most of the functions worked ok I did experience a few issues trying to command my player to do something.  Every now and then it would not recognise the command to steal items, get into the van, unload items…etc, I had to repeat the commands several times for it to work.

  The AI for the police chasing me seems to work most of the time however they would on occasion randomly move away and do their own thing.  While this is a small bug it did help me to get away.

  There does not appear to be any sounds in the game, it is always a good idea to have at least one ambient music file playing in the background to help break the silence which can encourage a longer gameplay.  The UI showing your progression at the end of the tutorial worked very well, calculating my total and storing this number helps to increase our goal to try to better it.

  Your documentation is ok but needs more detail added, when discussing a game of this complexity you need to show more detailed stages of development as well as more problem solving and screenshots supporting this.  This helps to understand how you built the game better.  You aimed to build quite a large project and although many assets had their own minor glitches you are definitely on the right tract with a good game given more time.

  
  

  Summary

  I understand how complex something like this can be in terms of programming and application, I believe this project was quite big to build and the passion is definitely there.  Perhaps with more time spent on development the minor bugs and issues would be worked out.  There is certainly room for improvement but then again there always will be in game development.  As a YouTuber and game developer myself we consider it a pleasure to try your games and I am pleased to have had the opportunity to try your game.

  
  

  Thank you.
  LCripps.
  Website: http://fellowplayerstudios.com/
  YouTuber – FellowPlayer: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXzcduiD99hcDMhhCzByRiA 

  

• No Documentation.

  Playthrough

  • Tutorial in the level
  • Customised player capsule.
  • Animating door.
  • Ok so we are burglars. Getting in the house...
  • Tutorial for picking up loot. 
  • Wait im in the red zone and cant pickup things.
  • There is a granny
  • and someone is coming. Hide behind the door. Got out. Not my buddy tho. Nicked mate.
  • Money in the van and escape at top of level.
  • End screen, didnt get any money whhaaaa. i got £24!!! robbed.
  • Try again...

  Playthrough 2

  • Got more stuff this time. I got nikked BUT comrade got away with £78 worth of loot.
  • Doors are quite funny, got  stuck a few times because of coordination bungling.
  • The red areas are not super clear. I don't really get the rules BUT having fun so gonna keep going.
  • There seems to be a  limit on how much I can carry OR is it the red bit stopping me. Dont think it has been explained.

  Playthrough 3

  • Still struggling with the red area.... Trying putting graphics quality up from the default and this has made the light more clear.
  • This time got away with £200

  Overview

  • Really really fun demo. Gameplay and Concept are very strong. Confident that the game knows what it is. Only let down by a few implementation details and UX. Lots of potential in the idea to polish and scale the game into shippable project.
  • While the game has a lot of character and charm derived from the gameplay, it doesn't present its own visual style and lacks audio and visual polish. Audio would be especially useful for this type of game to give indication of the 'alert' status or add tension to the sneaking elements. Also a good opportunity to add personality to the characters. Even with simple sounds like grunts and gasps.
  • The UI is functional but also needs a design and visual pass. Some of the key signalling of the game is a bit rough. For example sometimes the loot cant be picked up (not sure if a bug or feature) but sometimes I can pick up lots of loot. At one time my bag was huge (Nice touch)! Also the issue with the red areas, the language 'red areas' I think should be more about the camera specifically to tie it to the theme and also make it more clear what you are avoiding. Also tricky because the graphics didn't work on simple setting SO those issues need to be worked out.
  • We liked the doors, physics, granny and cops. Loot was very clear with the yellow colour. With the art style as it is, I would try not to mix the color yellow in with the sensors (from the kitchen i think).
  • Possibly the Overcooked of the burglary genre?

• I had a lot of fun playing this game. Its very well made. The game surely needs better UI/UX design and also would be great if you had sounds in the game. This will greatly improve the experience of the game. Also, it would be good to have an option to pick how many players are going to play this game. When I was reviewing this game, I was playing all by myself, but the game started in splitscreen mode which was very distracting. Overall, this game is surely one of the favourites :). Well done !!

• Summary
  I really like this game idea, the low ratings are mainly due to the fact that it still needs more work, but don't be discouraged by them, this actually holds a great potential in my opinion.
  
  Nice design with introduction of varied elements of game-play such as security cameras, movement sensors, house owner. All these elements could make for very enjoyable game mechanics and ultimately a very fun game! As you say in the supporting document though the actual implementation is somehow rough and still needs a fair amount of improvement/tweaking to reach its full potential especially in the AI department.
  

  The user experience is fairly smooth, there is a nice introduction and every element of game-play is introduced properly. The UI Hud and the menu system is very basic but functional.
  

  I think you're on the right track with this game but several key improvements should be made to the main game mechanics and the game AI in order to make them more challenging and dynamic. There are no sounds, music and special FX in general which is a huge miss in a game like this.

  I didn't have the chance to actually play with somebody (due to the lack of a second player) so I cannot really comment on the competitive dynamics of the game, which is admittedly a huge component of the fun. Nonetheless I would suggest to introduce a clearer change of mood when you transition from the "sneaky steal" part when you're trying to grab as much as you can in a stealthy way to a clear sense of 'urgency' when someone sets an alarm and players should rush either out of the house to secure whatever they've already stolen or hide somewhere to avoid getting caught.

  positives:
  - nice competitive mechanics
  - fun game ambientation
  - varied challenges
  - clear game loop
  - Gameplay elements are introduced properly
  - HUD elements are functional
  - levels flow well

  suggestions:
  - needs a bit of polish : stealing objects somehow unresponsive at times, players can jump but there doesn't seem to be a real reason for doing so.
  - AI needs working (as stated in supporting document)
  - there seem to be no way to restart the game after both players are caught.
  - there should probably be an indication that the police is coming.
  - It's be nice to always have some clear indication of who's winning (like score Hud of winning player scaling up).
  - popup windows, expecially those with long text, should not disappear authomatically but should await user input. 
  - tutorial shouldn't be mandatory.
  - end sequence when getting caught should be shorter.

• Interesting idea and I liked the inclusion of AI agents, but unpolished overall (not just in terms of programmer art, but also gameplay and controls). My version seemed to have the alarm active on level start which removed any sneaking challenge since the police were already inbound!

• Really liked the idea at the core of this game, so well done. The score however reflects the points below:

  - The tutorial is good, but there is definitely too much going on at the same time. Consider having a slower tutorial, introducing the player to the mechanics of the game one-by-one and give them time to enjoy what they've learned.

  - Still in the tutorial, consider using visual indications more, rather than a massive amount of text

  - In the game, I could not access any pause menu whatsoever or stop the action, obviously this will come at al later stage but thought of pointing it out.

  - Camera surveillance and police: it was very tricky to understand what was going on. There was a yellow light + cameras, but not sure what the range was for each of them as they were blinking. Presumably I might not have read the instructions properly, but it is possible that it is a case of cognitive overload (see point 1 in this feedback)

  - I could only play the tutorial level.

  If you get a good onboarding, you are definitely going to have something good here! I enjoyed the game, though in terms of functionality it is not quite there yet.