Playtest in the game
Some things only exist in the game: voices, conversations, how big a room feels, whether you can walk through a doorway. So play your map often, not only at the end.
Play your map
- Press Play in the header. You need the Robotopia game installed.
- The editor checks your map for problems first. If it finds any, a Not ready yet window lists them and the game doesn't open. See troubleshooting for how to fix them.
- If the checks pass, the game opens your map.
Then change one thing and play again. Many short tests beat a few long ones.
What you only see in the game
- Voices. The editor doesn't play them.
- Conversations. Talking to a robot is the only way to know if its personality works.
- Size. At eye height, rooms shrink and streets grow.
- The path. Whether players can tell where to go, and whether they can get there.
- Gaps. Pieces that look lined up from above can leave holes.
Play it like a stranger
You know where everything is, so it's hard to test your own map. Try once pretending you don't.
- Stand where you start. Don't move. What can you see? Does it show you where to go?
- Walk the obvious path, without heading straight for the good part.
- Talk to every robot like a player would: something rude, something off-topic, and something it can't know. See writing personalities that behave.
Check before you share
- The start faces something worth walking to.
- You can't walk off the map or fall through the floor.
- Every robot has a personality and answers. A silent robot looks broken.
- Every robot answers something it should know without making things up.
- No floating props, no gaps you can see through.
- Play opens without a Not ready yet window. Then Publish and download will work too.
Watch someone else play
This helps more than anything else. Give your map to one person, then watch and say nothing.
Where they get stuck is a problem with the map, not with them. What they ask a robot is what everyone will ask. Don't explain; write it down and fix it after.
When you're happy, share it.