Week 13: Vertical Slice + Peer Playtesting

🎬 Vertical Slice Showcase

Week 13: Complete Experience Demo

Game Programming - CSCI 3213

Spring 2026 - Week 13

Oklahoma City University

📚 Today's Objectives

  • Present your Vertical Slice builds
  • Conduct focused playtesting sessions
  • Evaluate completeness and polish
  • Identify bugs and areas needing refinement
  • Assess scope for remaining features
  • Plan Alpha Build (Week 14) feature set
Vertical Slice: A complete, polished slice of your game representing final quality

🎯 Vertical Slice Explained

Horizontal vs Vertical Development:

❌ Horizontal Slice (What NOT to do):

  • All levels roughed in, none finished
  • Every feature partially implemented
  • Full scope but low quality everywhere
  • Hard to get feedback on final experience

✅ Vertical Slice (What you should have):

  • One level/experience fully polished
  • All systems working together in this slice
  • Represents final quality and feel
  • Players experience what final game will be like
  • Proves you can finish your vision
Why? Better to have 1 amazing level than 10 mediocre ones

✅ Vertical Slice Requirements

Your Build Should Include:

  • Complete Loop:
    • Intro/menu → gameplay → win/lose state
    • 3-5 minutes of polished gameplay
  • Core Systems Integrated:
    • Player controls (polished)
    • Primary mechanic working great
    • Win/lose conditions functional
    • UI displays relevant information
  • Audio & Visual Polish:
    • Sound effects for major actions
    • Background music
    • Art direction clear (even if simple)
    • Particle effects and juice
  • Quality Bar:
    • No game-breaking bugs
    • Runs smoothly (60 FPS target)
    • Feels like a real game

🎮 Today's Playtesting Focus

Different from Week 11 Playtesting:

Week 11 (First Playable):

  • Does it work?
  • Is the mechanic fun?
  • Can players understand it?

Week 13 (Vertical Slice):

  • Is the experience compelling start to finish?
  • Does it feel like a complete game?
  • What's the difficulty curve like?
  • Are there any remaining bugs?
  • Does the polish level match expectations?
  • Would players want to play more?

Evaluation Criteria:

  • Completeness (does it feel finished?)
  • Fun factor (is it enjoyable?)
  • Polish (does it look/sound good?)
  • Clarity (is everything understandable?)
  • Stability (bugs and performance)

🔄 Playtest Session Structure

20-Minute Rotation per Game:

  1. Introduction (2 min):
    • Developer gives 30-second context
    • Explains controls only (not strategy)
    • Sets up playtesters
  2. Full Playthrough (10 min):
    • Playtesters play from start to finish
    • Developer observes silently, takes notes
    • Multiple testers can play in sequence or parallel
  3. Structured Feedback (8 min):
    • Using feedback form (provided)
    • Rate: Fun, Polish, Clarity, Difficulty
    • Open discussion
Goal: Each game gets 3+ full playthroughs from different players

📋 Vertical Slice Feedback Form

Rating Categories (1-5 scale):

Category What to Evaluate
Fun Is the gameplay enjoyable? Want to play more?
Polish Visual/audio quality, juice, completeness
Clarity Easy to understand? Clear feedback?
Difficulty Too easy/hard? Well-balanced?
Stability Bugs? Performance issues? Crashes?

Written Feedback:

  • Best moment: What was most fun?
  • Worst moment: What was frustrating?
  • Bugs found: List any issues
  • Suggestions: 1-2 specific improvements
Template: Available on Canvas - fill out digitally or print

👀 What to Watch For (Developers)

Critical Observations:

  • First Impression:
    • Reaction to visuals and sound
    • Time to understand controls
    • Engagement level at start
  • During Play:
    • Moments of confusion
    • Points where they smile or lean in (engagement)
    • Frustration or boredom indicators
    • Deaths/failures - fair or cheap?
  • End State:
    • Did they reach the win/lose state?
    • Reaction to completion
    • Did they want to retry or play more?
  • Technical Issues:
    • Bugs encountered
    • Performance drops
    • Audio/visual glitches

👥 Playtesting Rotation

Group Structure:

Groups of 4 students - each student gets 20 minutes as developer

Today's Schedule:

  • Round 1: Developer A (20 min)
  • Round 2: Developer B (20 min)
  • Break: 10 minutes
  • Round 3: Developer C (20 min)
  • Round 4: Developer D (20 min)
  • Group Debrief: 10 minutes
Preparation: Have your build ready to run immediately - time is tight!

⚠️ Common Issues at This Stage

Scope Creep:

  • Problem: Tried to add too much, nothing is polished
  • Solution: Cut features for Alpha, focus on polish

Incomplete Systems:

  • Problem: Win/lose states missing or broken
  • Solution: Prioritize completeness over new features

Difficulty Imbalance:

  • Problem: Too easy (boring) or too hard (frustrating)
  • Solution: Playtest data will reveal this - adjust variables

Performance Issues:

  • Problem: Frame drops, lag, stuttering
  • Solution: Profile and optimize - object pooling, reduce particles

Lack of Juice:

  • Problem: Feels flat despite working mechanics
  • Solution: Add screen shake, particles, sound - quick wins

🎮 Playtesting Sessions Begin!

Next 90 Minutes:

  • Break into assigned groups
  • 4 rounds of 20-minute playtest sessions
  • Fill out feedback forms thoroughly
  • Take detailed developer notes

Reminders:

  • ✅ Be respectful and constructive
  • ✅ Focus on the experience, not just bugs
  • ✅ Think aloud while playing
  • ✅ Developers: observe, don't defend
Timer: I'll announce rotations - stick to 20-minute schedule!

💬 Class Debrief

Share with Class (Volunteers):

  • What surprised you most about your playtests?
  • What feedback was most valuable?
  • What's working better than expected?
  • What needs more work than you thought?
  • Most interesting game you played today (and why)?

Key Lessons:

  • Quality > Quantity - polished slice beats rough sprawl
  • Completeness matters - players notice unfinished edges
  • First impressions count - polish sells your vision
  • Playtesting reveals truth - trust the data

🎯 Next Week: Alpha Build

What is Alpha?

Feature-complete build with all planned content, but rough edges acceptable.

Alpha = Vertical Slice + All Features:

  • All levels/content implemented
  • All mechanics and systems working
  • Full game can be played start to finish
  • Bugs are acceptable (but track them)
  • Polish can be uneven
  • Placeholder art/sound OK in some areas

Focus This Week:

  • Expand beyond your vertical slice
  • Implement remaining features
  • Add all planned levels/content
  • Fix critical bugs from today
  • Don't worry about perfection yet
Scope Check: If you can't finish all features, CUT NOW - don't wait until Week 16

💻 Week 14: Code Review Component

Next week includes code review session

Prepare Your Code:

  • Clean up and organize scripts
  • Add comments to complex logic
  • Remove dead/unused code
  • Ensure design patterns are clearly implemented
  • Push latest code to GitHub

What We'll Review:

  • Design pattern implementations
  • Code organization and architecture
  • Performance considerations
  • Best practices adherence
Tip: Review SOLID principles and patterns this week

📝 Homework & Deliverables

Due by Week 14:

  1. Alpha Build:
    • Feature-complete game
    • All levels/content implemented
    • Playable start to finish
  2. Bug Tracker:
    • Document all known bugs
    • Prioritize: Critical, High, Medium, Low
    • Add to GDD or separate doc
  3. Code Cleanup:
    • Organize and comment code
    • Prepare for code review
    • Push to GitHub
  4. Feedback Summary (Submit to Canvas):
    • Summary of today's playtesting
    • What you're changing based on feedback
    • Updated feature list for Alpha

📝 Summary

Today's Accomplishments:

  • ✅ Showcased Vertical Slice builds
  • ✅ Conducted thorough playtest sessions
  • ✅ Evaluated completeness and quality
  • ✅ Received structured feedback
  • ✅ Identified bugs and improvement areas
  • ✅ Planned Alpha Build scope

Key Insights:

  • Vertical Slice proves you can finish your vision
  • Polish in one area > rough implementation everywhere
  • Playtesting reveals invisible issues
  • Time to expand to full feature set

Final push begins - Alpha next week! 💪