Final version of "Let's Farm" is released!

                       Before writing the game, we had to spend a lot of time discussing the features, mechanics, aesthetics, and dynamics in order to create the best game possible. Most of the balancing is done in terms of the mathematical implementation. Every fruit has to progressively be more expensive to unlock, but we had to ensure that the players would still have to put in a reasonable amount of time into playing the game in order to make their work both rewarding and engaging. Since the value of the Orange and Banana are higher than the Apple, we had to make it proportional to the upgrade value that is added to the fruit once they are unlocked. For example, we had to ensure that the upgrade would allow each fruit to proportionally output to a number that is a tiny bit higher than the initial one that each player starts with for the fruits, which is a bit higher than twice as much. Overall, the hardest part of balancing the game was developing the time frame we would expect a player to finish it in. We had to playtest to ensure that the game was matching up to our expectations in terms of the balance, and it was nice allowing our friends and family members to ensure that what we had was sufficient in terms of player experiences. Basically, we judged their efforts to see if  we needed to balance the game more or not. For example, thoughts would come into our head of whether they were trying less when they progressed more than halfway through the game or if they were still facing the same impatient feeling they had initially  before unlocking the fruits with higher value. In addition to this, we also utilized the feedback we received on the playtesting class day. Many players wanted more balancing, and they felt that the first two rounds were too easy. We had to lower the pricing of the upgrades, and change the max score from $50,000,000 to $5,000,000. It is in our interest to ensure that we used the notes we took of other games we played such as Cookie Clicker to ensure that our game was just as well balanced. Whether or not the player unlocked the upgrades yet or not, we had to ensure that our game had a linear wallet to click ratio consistently throughout the progression of the game. We decided to set the maximum score to $5,000,000 in order to ensure that the game was able to be completed within reasonable effort and time considering the freedom we gave to players. In terms of upgrades, we decided to not cap it because that would provide more incentive for the cycle of earning cash, unlocking upgrades, and trying to earn cash faster in order to reach the max score possible. 

                    The importance of balance in game development is to ensure that the various features and aspects all serve an equal purpose. The spreadsheet helped aid in balance decisions if the unlock ratios were disproportionately too small or too large from each other. In addition to this, we had to spend extra time refining the game along as we went. Coming up with an original game that wasn’t thought of before was our main goal, and the development process overall brought out a meticulous side because of the passion we had for this game. We thought we were done with the first version put up on Itch.io, but we realize that we needed to add more character and provide more of a paradigm shift that would be thrown in so players wouldn’t be as bored. This feature ended up being the “Combo Points” in which a window would pop up with a specific fruit clicking pattern that players must follow through if they want bonus points. We also didn’t want the game to feel repetitive, so chose to throw in some extra unexpected mechanics as the game progresses overall. Aside from this, we took player feedback to heart and made sure that we made small refinements overall. We decided to lower the volume, add more color to the backgrounds, and even changed a few of the mechanics like the “Unlock” Button to make it more obvious for players to click on. In addition, we thought it would be fun for players to have the chance of unlocking achievements, which provides even more additional paradigm shifts and incentives. We can certainly conclude that this game development experience was a very fun and challenging experience . Through hard work and a lot of passion, we learned that we can execute our ideas to life as long as we put in the time needed and listen to what players want.