How to Prototype with FirstLook

FirstLook is a powerful tool that can be used for a number of different reasons, including prototyping. In this guide we’ll go step-by-step and show you how you can use Firstlook to help manage and organise prototypes and get the information you need to make informed decisions.

Prerequisites

Before we begin there are a few practical decisions you’ll need to make and mirror in the configuration of FirstLook. Let’s look at what will need to be set up.

Flows and Roles

One of the first things you will need to do is decide how you want players to interact with FirstLook - from when they sign-up to the moment they are handed the keys to your build. To do this, you’ll need to configure our Flows and Roles feature.

Some important things to think about when setting this up

• Implement questions in the Sign-Up Form to allow you to segment players before you invite them.
• Customise the messaging players will see and receive throughout. Remember to set up the custom Invite Email so players are notified when they are invited to participate.
• Configure how you want players to access your Discord server. If you want channels that are gated for specific events, assign Discord Roles once they are onboarded.

Key Distribution

Providing access to your builds is a fundamental part of this process. Make sure you have imported the necessary Keys into FirstLook and it’s been added as an unlock to the Role you configured above.

Landing Page

Another thing to think about is how you want players to sign-up. If you want players signing-up organically, then the best bet is through your Landing Page. This can be customised to fit to your unique style.

Branding

Lastly, since your game is unique, you’ll want every part of the player experience to be as unique. Through our Branding feature you can add your own style which will be mirrored in the above Landing Page, with what the player sees as they sign-up and onboard to FirstLook, and any messaging that gets sent to them.

The First Prototype

Now that you have everything ready, let’s look at the recommended process in getting your first prototype in the hands of players.

Sign-up

The first step is having players sign-up to help prototype your builds. We would recommend having the Landing Page be the entry point - which can be added to any website. As players begin to sign-up they will link their accounts, join your Discord server and answer any questions you’ve configured in the Sign-Up form. They’ll be added to the Waitlist - where they will sit until you invite them.

Segmentation and Tagging {#segmentation-and-tagging}

Next you’ll need to decide which players you’d like to invite. Thankfully that’s really easy in FirstLook and you can simply filter players by the answers they gave during the sign-up process. To do this, simply go to the ‘Players’ tab -> +Add Condition → Questions → Select the answers you wish to filter by. This will then give you a list of players ready to invite.

Tip

There are lots of different Conditions you can add to segment players. Have a look through what’s available and see if there is anything else you find useful to filter players by.

Use the Tag feature to add tags to each player so you know they’ve been a part of this event. This can be later used to identify and filter those players.

Invitation and Access

To invite them, from the same tab, select all the players and hit the Invite button in the bottom right-hand corner. You’ll be able to turn off Invite Emails, but we strongly recommend that you have players notified. Players will now go through onboarding and will finish adding their details, linking any further accounts and accept NDAs.

Note

Once a player has onboarded, they will have access to the keys you’ve configured. If you’re assigning Discord Roles at this stage, they will also be granted.

Feedback

Gathering feedback during and after any event is a great way to collect valuable information about their experience. There are 2 great ways that you can do this.

1. Surveys - You can easily create a survey in FirstLook and send it to everyone who participated in the event.

2. In-game Surveys - If you want to take it one-step further, you can use our SDK and actually have surveys natively in-game. These can also be triggered by events so you can get immediate feedback on things like the difficulty of a boss, the scaling of a weapon etc. If you’re interested, please reach out for more info.

Survey and SDK docs

• https://docs.firstlook.gg/player/surveys/
• https://docs.firstlook.gg/setup/sdk-setup/

The Next Prototype

As you’ll likely be wanting to test multiple prototypes in any given period it’s important to know how to manage this next bit properly.

1. Create a new Role - If you’re happy with the Flow you’re using, create a new Role under the existing Flow for the next event so you can assign different keys and Discord Roles. If you’d like players to go through a different Flow, create a new one from scratch. This is helpful if you have different onboarding requirements for other events.

2. Move them back to the waitlist - Once you’re ready to invite them to the next event, move the necessary players back to the waitlist. This can be done from the ‘Players’ tab, by selecting the required players and clicking Move to Waitlist. This will remove the ability for players to see their keys (as they will be on the waitlist again) and will now have to wait until you invite them. If you want them to keep keys from previous events, no need to do anything. If you want them removed, you’ll need to revoke access from the Keys tab - they can also be hidden. Actual access to the build will need to be managed on the platform side.

3. Change Role - From the same tab, use Change Role so you can move players into the new Role you’ve created.

4. Invite - Now it’s time to send them an invite again so they have access to the new event.

Tip

For any further events, go back to Segmentation and Tagging and repeat the process.