Shaun's comments

We have started to get detailed feedback from players of the EduFrag-DrexelCoAS004 map (alkyne quiz). I'll be posting comments and responding in the post. If these comments give you ideas use the wiki to put your suggestions.

Here are Shaun McLaughlin's thoughts:

I tested the unreal organic chemistry maps on Thursday over at the library. My name wasn’t on the list for testing but they let me check out the game since Jay was there. I thought that it was pretty sweet with a few minor exceptions. Things you can’t really control are the computer speed down there is horrible and the fps rate makes the game extremely laggy.

Things to think about:

1.) Spawn the characters (enemies) at different parts of the map

a. When your doing a death match they all spawn in the same room and seldom follow you when you continue taking the quiz, makes it kind of boring not having to fight people except in the main room

2.) Not sure if it’s possible but you could eliminate the actual door that you go through once you walk through it. I’m not sure how the maps actually work but if it is a hidden entrance maybe the computer characters can’t pass through that easily due to their programming. If the door falls off or opens once you pass through it the computer chars may be able to follow you easier.

3.) Kind of sketchy, but if you strafe near the door you can tell which answer is right before you click it. Not sure how you would fix that but you could maybe make some kind of warp that will pull you through when you get close to the door. Or have a black hallway past each door so even if your glitching through everything will look the same till you actually pass through it

4.) Not sure but if you enter the wrong room, somehow make it possible to show the right answer after a certain amount of wrong ones. Like I doubt you could program what the pit looks like but you could flash the right answer one the screen when you die or at the end of the death match. Some times the death match will finish before you finish the quiz.

5.) Also sometimes the computer characters will disappear (walk in and out) of a door. You obviously know that is the right answer if they don’t die when the walk though it or they probably are programmed not to walk into doors that lead to pits.

My comments:

1) If you did not play online I don't know why the computer was lagging - I tested it myself last week. Maybe the bots made the difference.
2) The game was not designed to play with bots - they were supposed to have been removed by default - this is now fixed in the library.
3) The problem with being able to peer into the correct answer has been fixed with your suggestion of having a short dark hall in the correct answer. It still needs to be updated on the master map.
4) Your idea of showing the right answer is sort of implemented in the idea of everyone respawning in or near a "study room". Right now there is only one picture in the alkyne study room but we will put more class notes there. We could also put hints on the walls of the pit and put a light in the pit to see as you fall.
5) For your last point of the bots walking into the correct answers, the game was not designed to play with bots. I would be interested in how you found the experience of playing by yourself without bots. In that case it would a strict alternative to taking the quiz in WebCT.