Is the sad ending rated low because it is sad, or because it came too soon?

Testers who reach the bad ending usually played less, and people who played less tend to be less moved. This entry compares like with like, so you learn whether the ending itself disappoints or merely arrives before the player is invested.

Why this works

Two things differ between a good and a bad ending: the ending itself and how long the player had to care before it. Comparing only people with similar play time asks the fair question, whether the ending hurts beyond what a short route explains.

When not to use it

Don't fix a bad ending that is meant to hurt, as in a tragedy where players should leave shaken. Low scores there can be the point. Also, with very few testers the groups are too small to compare.

In the full entry

• What to build, step by step
• Starting values and the reason for each
• 3 common mistakes and the fix
• 26 lines of example code with 4 checks that pass
• How your AI shows you that it works

Say this to your AI

Use the Spielerando entry "Is the sad ending rated low because it is sad, or because it came too soon?" (read_entry bad-ending-disliked-or-just-short) in my game. Build it step by step, and show me how you checked that it works.

Or skip this and connect the MCP: your AI then finds all of this by itself.Connect the MCP