I started using the base gun we created and fiddling with variables to see what factors players enjoyed. Then, I began testing the vacuum gun in actual situations of vacuuming up items, creating unique testing scenes for whatever aspect of the gun I wanted feedback on. Using this method, the vacuum gun systems slowly improved.
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This testing extended to how the vacuum-gun interacted with other systems. We learned that players loved collecting endless masses of items, but our early UI was designed to force players to limit their collection, so we retooled it to encourage hoarding. We learned that players didn’t like randomly getting medium-sized objects clogging their gun-barrel when vacuuming up a pile of treasure, so we tweaked the drop rules and adjusted level-design to avoid this. We learned player’s preferred repairing structures piece by piece in one go, rather than in chunks. The list goes on, connecting systems, UI, level design & more. With each test, the game became more and more satisfying to play with without even a shred of rhyme or reason.
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This evolution continued across development, as we switched away from the blocky sand piles we had been using to the Marching Cube systems we have today. This took tons of testing, in and out of team, to bring the new M.C. system to the same level of satisfaction we had before. I tested different rates of clearing, different drop rates, build speed, anything that would matter when it came to interacting with this core system, and the pacing of the game. Thankfully, after testing every week, after making dozens of changes, we were able to bring the M.C. systems to a level of satisfaction we could be proud of, without crashing our game.

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Today we are still improving, testing new improvements, and making sure this satisfaction doesn’t drop as we make changes to other systems while continuing development.​