A game development experience in the starting area I thought would be amusing to share.

In the above image you might notice that I moved the starting loot case to the side of the main path. I also added another loot bubble and placed it on the other side. This might be a small change but it addresses a pretty big problem I see with a lot of players.

The first time I was informed of this issue it was explained to me that the pistol is not a good weapon and I should really be giving the player some kind of shotgun or something. This was an interesting bug report because I do, in fact, give the player a shotgun.

So I started to assume that maybe there was some kind of rare bug where the shotgun simply doesn't spawn. So I tested and test and tested. The shotgun always spawns. I simply could not figure out what was causing the shotgun to not spawn!

It wasn't until I watched my father playing the game that I noticed what might be causing the problem. The first thing he did while playing was saunter right through the loot container that holds the shotgun and immediately B line for the Door without even thinking about looting anything. This slight glance that he gave the shotgun loot bubble was just enough to trigger its progress tag to make it so that the loot bubble would never spawn again.

Anyone who completely ignores the loot bubble will very likely run past it to certain death. Once they die the bubble never respawns. And thus I will get the complaint that I should consider giving the player some kind of weapon in the beginning of the game!

Moving the loot bubble to the side so its not in the main path is a subtle way to address the problem. Anyone who is in Leroy Jenkins mode will now no longer trigger the progress tag of the initial loot bubble that contains the shotgun. This is true simply because of the loot container being off to the side and not in the direct path of the doorway ahead.

In other words, these pesky players will just race off and die a few times and eventually they might decide to see what those floating treasure chests are all about. This means that learning what the loot containers are for many end up being a harder lesson for some players than others.

I want the loot container lesson to be a conscious choice rather than some kind of auto pilot motion that the player will follow through on. I want players who are paying attention to be rewarded.

Now, go use that shotgun to kick some zombie ass. :)