Testing gameplay feel inside finished levels is a bad idea.

It's taken me a few years to come to this (apparently obvious) conclusion because I stubbornly assumed you have to "test in context."

However, finished levels are often complex, full of different rooms, switches… a lot of things that can break at any given time.

Not to mention, they're often graphically demanding.

It’s a real pain to run from the spawn point to wherever the thing you’re testing is. More than 20 times in my career, I’ve been testing a pick-up or interaction that’s on the other side of the level.

And it's a repetitive loop of:

Press play, run around, repeat...until you’ve wasted most of your development day.

Sure, you could spawn the character wherever the camera is, but even that’s something you have to remember to do.

So when I learned Doom added their new Ripatorium mode, I realized that I have to talk about how that's the solution.

The idea is that it's a separate mode that allows you to drop into any map, spawn any enemies, and adjust any settings.

All with the sole purpose of playing whatever section of the game you want, however you want.

The solution is to create a separate area where you can test anything and everything easily; here's why:

Less time wasted running from place to place.
Less graphically intensive, so you can focus on gameplay instead of worrying about graphics or performance.
Build custom things you’d never show players: little shooting ranges, small testing areas, specific features; all in one map. Having them lined up lets you test every feature quickly, almost like tests inside of code.

Even more important, by separating gameplay and graphics (which are also important, yes):

You waste less time worrying about unrelated issues/tasks, and you get to focus on the feel.

If you have the chance, build your own Ripatorium.

It's one of the biggest reasons why our Realistic Assault Rifle Template feels the way it does. Or, if you can't be bothered to create one because you think it's too much effort, you can also learn directly from our finished product.

We've done all the work of making the gameplay, so feel free to study it:

https://links.infima-games.com/realistic-assault-rifle-template

Catch you soon,
Octavian
Infima Games

P.S. Maybe we should start calling it Ripatorium, too? It sounds kind of badass.

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