Hey everyone!
This week has been all about focused playtesting! Every morning, my friends at Caketown and I have been jumping into Discord to play Wave Defense: Trappist for an hour, diving deep into the gameplay, identifying bugs, and brainstorming quality-of-life improvements. These sessions have been incredibly productive, and I’m thrilled with the progress we’ve made. Let me share what’s been happening!
Morning Playtesting Sessions
The daily playtesting sessions have been such a refreshing change of pace for me as a solo developer. After spending so much time working alone, it’s been amazing to have a cozy morning routine where we play the game together, take notes, and discuss ideas in real time. It’s also been a great opportunity to get fresh perspectives—there were so many things that felt "obvious" to me but turned out to be unclear for others because I’ve been working on the game for so long that I’ve gone a bit "blind" to certain details.
After each session, I’ve been organizing the feedback into my Trello boards, tackling issues one by one, and pushing out an updated build for us to test the next day. This rapid iteration has been so satisfying, and the amount of improvement we’ve made this week alone is incredible.
Improvements Across the Board
The focused playtesting has led to improvements in every part of the game, from gameplay mechanics to the UI and even sound design. Here are just a few of the highlights:
- Dash Improvements: The feel of the dash has been refined to make it smoother and more responsive during combat.
- Clearer UI: Multiple adjustments have been made to make the UI more intuitive and easier to understand, especially for new players.
- Sound Cues for Power Plants: Added sound notifications for when your power plants are running low on energy, giving players a heads-up before things go south.
- Balancing Changes: Small but impactful tweaks to gameplay balance based on feedback, making the experience more polished and engaging.
And these are just a few examples—there have been so many smaller changes that all contribute to making the game feel more polished and closer to the vision I’ve had for it.
Preparing for the Public Demo
With all the progress we’ve made this week, I’m feeling more confident as we approach the public demo on Steam in early December. My focus now is shifting toward ensuring that the demo version of the game is as polished and ready as possible. There’s still plenty to do, but I’m excited about the direction the game is heading and can’t wait to see how players respond to it.
Your Feedback Matters
I’m looking forward to hearing from even more playtesters as we continue refining the game. Every piece of feedback helps make Wave Defense: Trappist better, and I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who has already shared their thoughts and suggestions.
If you haven’t yet, make sure to wishlist the game on Steam and join our Discord to stay updated and participate in the conversation. The public demo is just around the corner, and I can’t wait for more of you to jump in and experience the game for yourselves.
Thank you for following along, and see you next week!