1 00:00:11,922 --> 00:00:12,630 SOPHIE CLYDE: Hi. 2 00:00:12,630 --> 00:00:13,580 I'm Sophie. 3 00:00:13,580 --> 00:00:14,990 PABLO VILLALOBOS: I'm Pablo. 4 00:00:14,990 --> 00:00:18,460 SOPHIE CLYDE: And this is our project, Night Hunter. 5 00:00:18,460 --> 00:00:23,470 So our early concept for this game 6 00:00:23,470 --> 00:00:28,750 was something like an invisible maze that you could only hear. 7 00:00:28,750 --> 00:00:33,100 So we had the idea of trying to-- 8 00:00:33,100 --> 00:00:37,720 the original idea came from the idea of superheroes 9 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:39,550 who have enhanced senses. 10 00:00:39,550 --> 00:00:42,470 Since this was to be an audio-only game, we thought, 11 00:00:42,470 --> 00:00:45,430 how can we enhance your hearing? 12 00:00:45,430 --> 00:00:47,350 We thought, what if you could hear the things 13 00:00:47,350 --> 00:00:49,160 that you can't see? 14 00:00:49,160 --> 00:00:51,970 So the idea was that you would try to move through a maze. 15 00:00:51,970 --> 00:00:54,580 You would hear what-- 16 00:00:54,580 --> 00:00:58,120 you would use something like sonar to try to-- 17 00:00:58,120 --> 00:00:59,320 you'd send out a wave. 18 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:00,310 It would make a sound. 19 00:01:00,310 --> 00:01:04,540 You could tell where it was in space and avoid it. 20 00:01:04,540 --> 00:01:07,320 That's pretty hard, as it turns out. 21 00:01:07,320 --> 00:01:10,170 One of the things we wanted to explore by making this game 22 00:01:10,170 --> 00:01:11,910 was how good at people-- 23 00:01:11,910 --> 00:01:14,220 or how good are people at actually figuring out 24 00:01:14,220 --> 00:01:16,142 where that invisible thing is. 25 00:01:16,142 --> 00:01:17,850 It turns out the answer is not very good. 26 00:01:17,850 --> 00:01:19,470 If you're trying to avoid something, 27 00:01:19,470 --> 00:01:22,020 that's very important that you are very good because you 28 00:01:22,020 --> 00:01:23,460 can't tell where the edges are. 29 00:01:23,460 --> 00:01:26,205 You can just tell it's vaguely over there. 30 00:01:29,610 --> 00:01:33,660 PABLO VILLALOBOS: Our original-- when we did original play 31 00:01:33,660 --> 00:01:38,460 storming, playing around with physical objects to come up 32 00:01:38,460 --> 00:01:41,100 with a concept, our original concept-- 33 00:01:41,100 --> 00:01:44,850 we split two tables up and we put objects 34 00:01:44,850 --> 00:01:47,340 down to represent sound sources. 35 00:01:47,340 --> 00:01:49,690 And we had people walk through it. 36 00:01:49,690 --> 00:01:52,290 And when they got close to the sound source, we would ping. 37 00:01:52,290 --> 00:01:57,090 And that was our original ideating playtest. 38 00:01:57,090 --> 00:02:01,260 But after that, we transitioned into more 39 00:02:01,260 --> 00:02:04,560 of a collection kind of game because it's 40 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:06,780 hard to detect those edges. 41 00:02:06,780 --> 00:02:10,080 And so with our first physical playtest, 42 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:14,310 we had one player wearing blackout glasses. 43 00:02:14,310 --> 00:02:16,020 So they were, effectively, blind. 44 00:02:16,020 --> 00:02:19,980 And then a bunch of our playtesting helpers, 45 00:02:19,980 --> 00:02:24,150 who are in this room, would act as sound sources 46 00:02:24,150 --> 00:02:25,800 that the player is trying to collect. 47 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:30,270 And so they would move opposite the direction 48 00:02:30,270 --> 00:02:31,500 where the player is facing. 49 00:02:31,500 --> 00:02:35,250 So it's as though they're always moving forward relative 50 00:02:35,250 --> 00:02:36,990 to all the other people. 51 00:02:36,990 --> 00:02:41,645 And all the sound sources would each take a step in cadence 52 00:02:41,645 --> 00:02:43,020 and then make some sort of sound. 53 00:02:43,020 --> 00:02:44,970 We did clapping at first. 54 00:02:44,970 --> 00:02:48,990 But we had a lot of, actually, very important findings 55 00:02:48,990 --> 00:02:50,328 just from this first playtest. 56 00:02:50,328 --> 00:02:51,120 SOPHIE CLYDE: Yeah. 57 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:52,650 One of the things we found out is 58 00:02:52,650 --> 00:02:55,620 that if everyone is making the same sound at the same time, 59 00:02:55,620 --> 00:02:57,417 it's really, really hard to figure out 60 00:02:57,417 --> 00:02:58,500 where they're coming from. 61 00:02:58,500 --> 00:03:03,920 It's just one big cloud of "what the heck is going on?" 62 00:03:03,920 --> 00:03:07,160 And it was also pretty hard to try to even-- 63 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:09,230 we had to show people how to move at first. 64 00:03:09,230 --> 00:03:12,590 It was hard to understand just from a description. 65 00:03:12,590 --> 00:03:16,220 If he's looking at me, I'm going this way. 66 00:03:16,220 --> 00:03:18,500 And we had to have someone pointing which 67 00:03:18,500 --> 00:03:20,270 way the person was looking. 68 00:03:20,270 --> 00:03:22,610 So we tried a second round, where 69 00:03:22,610 --> 00:03:25,550 the-- where everyone was making a different noise, 70 00:03:25,550 --> 00:03:27,810 and they weren't moving in sync. 71 00:03:27,810 --> 00:03:30,080 And it proved really helpful for our playtester, who 72 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:32,360 could lock onto one sound, turn toward it 73 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:33,615 until they got close enough. 74 00:03:33,615 --> 00:03:35,990 When the person got close enough, tapped on the shoulder, 75 00:03:35,990 --> 00:03:38,570 they were out-- collected, basically. 76 00:03:38,570 --> 00:03:41,000 And they got slowly faster and faster just 77 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:45,200 locking onto that one individual sound, pointing towards it, 78 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:46,910 collecting it until they were all out. 79 00:03:46,910 --> 00:03:49,070 We had a timer for that second round. 80 00:03:49,070 --> 00:03:51,240 The timer was not necessary. 81 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:52,700 So we're like, well, yay! 82 00:03:52,700 --> 00:03:54,780 This works so much better. 83 00:03:54,780 --> 00:03:58,370 So we moved on to making a unity prototype. 84 00:03:58,370 --> 00:04:00,500 PABLO VILLALOBOS: So our original unity prototype 85 00:04:00,500 --> 00:04:02,750 was kind of like this. 86 00:04:02,750 --> 00:04:07,163 It was a duplication of this, where the frames were 87 00:04:07,163 --> 00:04:08,330 in the center of the screen. 88 00:04:08,330 --> 00:04:11,090 And then there was a cloud of sound sources around them. 89 00:04:11,090 --> 00:04:13,910 And they would move against where the player was looking. 90 00:04:13,910 --> 00:04:16,640 So again, it was like they were flying around and trying 91 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:18,980 to collect these sound sources. 92 00:04:18,980 --> 00:04:22,820 But we quickly found out that it was-- 93 00:04:22,820 --> 00:04:25,220 like the other team mentioned-- is 94 00:04:25,220 --> 00:04:30,522 that it's very hard to determine or to lock onto something when 95 00:04:30,522 --> 00:04:34,910 you can-- when there's variance on the z-axis 96 00:04:34,910 --> 00:04:37,410 when you can look up and down. 97 00:04:37,410 --> 00:04:39,530 So we flattened it. 98 00:04:39,530 --> 00:04:40,940 So they were all around you. 99 00:04:40,940 --> 00:04:43,700 But even then, it was still hard, pretty hard, 100 00:04:43,700 --> 00:04:46,550 to focus on each individual sound. 101 00:04:46,550 --> 00:04:50,600 SOPHIE CLYDE: So we decided to change to an endless runner 102 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:53,330 prototype, where the idea is that you're here. 103 00:04:53,330 --> 00:04:55,190 Things are constantly coming at you, 104 00:04:55,190 --> 00:04:56,840 and you have to turn your head so 105 00:04:56,840 --> 00:04:58,280 that they will move toward you. 106 00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:00,260 It's like there's something coming over here. 107 00:05:00,260 --> 00:05:01,100 Oh, I can hear that. 108 00:05:01,100 --> 00:05:02,750 Oh, now it's coming at me-- collected. 109 00:05:02,750 --> 00:05:03,680 Huzzah. 110 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:05,180 PABLO VILLALOBOS: So we transitioned 111 00:05:05,180 --> 00:05:07,970 to a linear experience. 112 00:05:11,860 --> 00:05:14,740 SOPHIE CLYDE: So our final product is Night Hunter. 113 00:05:14,740 --> 00:05:15,970 The idea is that-- 114 00:05:15,970 --> 00:05:18,190 it's a little hard to see in this particular photo. 115 00:05:18,190 --> 00:05:23,470 But you're this tiny, little arrow ship thing. 116 00:05:23,470 --> 00:05:25,120 And there are small sound sources 117 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:27,670 that you can hear they're headed toward you. 118 00:05:27,670 --> 00:05:31,020 And you have to turn your head, wearing the frames, 119 00:05:31,020 --> 00:05:31,770 to find them. 120 00:05:31,770 --> 00:05:33,750 They will-- if you are looking at it, 121 00:05:33,750 --> 00:05:36,378 it will move towards you. 122 00:05:36,378 --> 00:05:39,970 If you miss it, it hits a invisible plane behind you 123 00:05:39,970 --> 00:05:41,790 and is deleted, and another one spawns 124 00:05:41,790 --> 00:05:44,940 because another thing we found was if there are multiple, 125 00:05:44,940 --> 00:05:47,153 you will hear one over here and one over here, 126 00:05:47,153 --> 00:05:48,570 and you can't tell which is which. 127 00:05:48,570 --> 00:05:49,945 Even if the sounds are different, 128 00:05:49,945 --> 00:05:51,330 it's still really hard. 129 00:05:51,330 --> 00:05:53,130 It's easier if the sounds are different. 130 00:05:53,130 --> 00:05:55,343 It's still really hard. 131 00:05:55,343 --> 00:05:57,510 PABLO VILLALOBOS: And another massive change which-- 132 00:05:57,510 --> 00:06:00,270 we made is that there is a UI now. 133 00:06:00,270 --> 00:06:02,310 So before, we were just doing completely blind-- 134 00:06:02,310 --> 00:06:03,630 you're just-- 135 00:06:03,630 --> 00:06:05,370 you're only using your ears to play. 136 00:06:05,370 --> 00:06:10,800 But we actually made this UI for playtesting initially-- 137 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:14,387 or for debugging so that we could see the sounds coming 138 00:06:14,387 --> 00:06:14,970 at the player. 139 00:06:14,970 --> 00:06:16,835 But we thought maybe for a tutorial, 140 00:06:16,835 --> 00:06:18,960 this would be really useful because then the player 141 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:24,520 could conceptualize what they're doing before they go blind. 142 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:28,530 But we decided to actually add it into the game. 143 00:06:28,530 --> 00:06:34,770 So you can always see where you are, and you can see 144 00:06:34,770 --> 00:06:36,180 the sounds coming into view. 145 00:06:36,180 --> 00:06:37,530 They start out of you. 146 00:06:37,530 --> 00:06:39,953 So you still have to use your ears to localize it. 147 00:06:39,953 --> 00:06:42,120 But once you get close enough to it, you can see it. 148 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:45,660 And then with more precision, you can actually collect it. 149 00:06:45,660 --> 00:06:47,910 SOPHIE CLYDE: Instead of having a full range of vision 150 00:06:47,910 --> 00:06:50,100 and sight, it's more like you have a really, really 151 00:06:50,100 --> 00:06:51,430 limited range of vision. 152 00:06:51,430 --> 00:06:55,740 It's like being almost blind because this is-- 153 00:06:55,740 --> 00:06:59,160 you still have to get yourself in the general area using 154 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:01,340 your auditory senses. 155 00:07:01,340 --> 00:07:02,340 And then you can see it. 156 00:07:02,340 --> 00:07:04,597 And then that helps with the final-- 157 00:07:04,597 --> 00:07:05,430 oh, it's right here. 158 00:07:05,430 --> 00:07:07,050 I thought it was here-ish. 159 00:07:07,050 --> 00:07:07,800 Oh, I can turn it. 160 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:08,880 I can see it now. 161 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:09,743 It's there. 162 00:07:09,743 --> 00:07:11,910 PABLO VILLALOBOS: And with this version of the game, 163 00:07:11,910 --> 00:07:16,470 we felt like now it was-- 164 00:07:16,470 --> 00:07:19,290 we didn't want players to rely too much on their visuals. 165 00:07:19,290 --> 00:07:22,420 We still wanted to get that audio-first gaming experience. 166 00:07:22,420 --> 00:07:25,950 So what we decided to do is have the screen occasionally 167 00:07:25,950 --> 00:07:26,820 go black. 168 00:07:26,820 --> 00:07:28,390 So you can't see anything. 169 00:07:28,390 --> 00:07:31,170 And then you have to truly rely on just your ears 170 00:07:31,170 --> 00:07:32,762 to actually collect the sounds. 171 00:07:32,762 --> 00:07:34,720 SOPHIE CLYDE: So you'll be playing for a while. 172 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:36,090 And suddenly, the screen's black and you're like, oh, 173 00:07:36,090 --> 00:07:36,630 what's happening? 174 00:07:36,630 --> 00:07:37,880 Wait, I can still hear things. 175 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:39,060 It must still be going. 176 00:07:39,060 --> 00:07:39,780 Oh. 177 00:07:39,780 --> 00:07:41,360 Oh, I still have to use my ears. 178 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:43,110 PABLO VILLALOBOS: And we rationalized that 179 00:07:43,110 --> 00:07:45,150 as a radar system failure. 180 00:07:45,150 --> 00:07:46,650 So you're on this spaceship, and you 181 00:07:46,650 --> 00:07:50,380 have a radar of the-- your immediate surroundings. 182 00:07:50,380 --> 00:07:53,430 And then occasionally, for whatever technical reasons, 183 00:07:53,430 --> 00:07:54,270 it goes black. 184 00:07:54,270 --> 00:07:55,800 And then you're flying blind. 185 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:58,830 But you can still use your other sensors, like your ears, 186 00:07:58,830 --> 00:08:00,890 to navigate.