《Drifting : Weight of Feathers》 Played by ArrowSan1999 - A soothing voice and a smooth gameplay
(the following gameplay footage has been approved by the original creator - ArrowSan1999 for usage in my devlog, for more information, see: Twitter.com for referenc)
Hello everyone,
Following the release of the demo of 《Drifting : Weight of Feathers》, the game finally reveals its true self to the public - I think most players will agree that it is one thing to look at a snapshot of a game and admire its beauty; it could be a drastically different experience when players actually get their hands on the game and trying to beat it on their own.
The expectation gap could sometimes become a harsh reality-check for developers: I've witnessed people playing my game and got stuck in the early section of my tutorial level; players have a hard time "moving around" and died a lot from not being able to hook from one platform to another; throwing and shooting while in mid-air also possess a huge challenge, most of the players give up trying after several failed attempts.
I felt excited every time I saw a new gameplay video uploaded from players and click to see it, only get discouraged and embarrassed afterward when I realized how bad my level designs are and the lack of signposts made players wandering around in my level like a headless chicken - in a game which is supposed to give players a smooth and fast-paced experience - this is definitely an issue that needs to be resolved.
One month after the public release, I stumbled upon a gameplay video created and uploaded by ArrowSan1999. Although I don't understand Japanese, I can see in the video that he was patiently trying out each mechanic in the game, and - despite the lack of proper hints - he managed to get past each section by trial and error. In the final tutorial section, after he solved the puzzle and unlock the last passageway, I can tell he understands how the game works and appreciate my (somewhat unmatured and un-polished) design of the game.
As a newbie game developer, his gameplay video is a shimmering light in a dark cave, given me some hope and courage to go on improving my game - it will be a dream too good to be true if one day my game could allow more players to enjoy it and appreciate its mechanism like the way he did in this video.
Thank you for reading my article and have a great weekend!
