In the user testing most of the user figured out the idea without the need for me to explain; however, there were some pitfalls were the users were a bit confused:
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- When the two users start to play at the same time and they start to fire they sometimes missed the effects happening and failed to get that the fire portals to the other screen.
- The hardware setup I had during testing was not finished so some users failed to get which buttons correspond to which direction.
- Button coloring: Some user recommended having the Fire button in different color so they know it’s supposed to perform a different action than movement.
- Some users asked about the keyboard controls even though they suspected it’s either gonna be the arrows or WASD. Also the firing button ‘V’ wasn’t clear except for gamers.
What worked really well was the communication between p5 and the neoPixel screen. Once the users got the hang of the game they enjoyed the game so much and the animation of getting hit. They also liked the separation of colors between the player: Yellow and Blue including the fires color coming out of both of them. Some were impressed by the gameplay and how the pixels smoothly switch between the two screens.
To fix the earlier issues I would have a clear instructions page on the game startup that would clarify the controls on both sides and explain scoring system. I would also the core idea of the game to even get the users excited to try it out.