Indie Game Studio Production Meeting
Date: July 17, 2026
Time: 10:00–11:05 a.m.
Location: Studio conference room / Discord

Attendees
- Maya Chen — Creative Director
- Luis Ortega — Lead Programmer
- Priya Nair — Art Director
- Jamie Brooks — Producer
- Rowan Ellis — Game Designer
- Tess Morgan — Community and Marketing
- Alex Kim — Audio Designer (remote)

Absent
- Noah Williams — QA Lead (vacation)

Agenda
1. Review current milestone and playtest feedback
2. Confirm scope for the Steam demo
3. Discuss performance and controller issues
4. Plan announcement trailer and festival submission
5. Assign work for the next sprint

Discussion Notes

Milestone Status
- The core game loop is playable from the opening area through the first boss.
- The team is approximately four days behind the internal milestone due to save-system bugs and additional animation work.
- Art production is on schedule, but two enemy variants still need final effects and hit reactions.
- Music for the forest area is approved. Combat music needs a less abrupt transition when encounters end.

Playtest Feedback
- Testers responded well to the movement, atmosphere, and companion character.
- Several players missed the map upgrade because its interaction prompt blended into the environment.
- The first boss was considered visually strong but too difficult for new players.
- Players frequently opened the inventory when attempting to use the quick-select wheel.
- Two testers experienced corrupted saves after quitting during a scene transition.

Steam Demo Scope
- The demo will include the opening tutorial, forest area, first optional challenge room, and first boss.
- Average target playtime is 35–45 minutes.
- The crafting system will be visible but locked in the demo.
- The team agreed not to include the town hub because it introduces too many unfinished characters and localization dependencies.
- Demo completion will end with a short teaser montage and wishlist prompt.

Technical Issues
- Save corruption is the highest-priority blocker.
- Controller remapping works on Xbox controllers but needs verification on PlayStation and generic devices.
- Frame rate drops below 50 FPS in the forest during heavy particle effects on minimum-spec hardware.
- Luis proposed reducing overdraw and adding a lower particle-density preset before removing any effects entirely.
- Steam Deck testing is scheduled after the next stable build.

Marketing and Festival Submission
- Tess needs gameplay footage by July 28 to meet the trailer editor’s schedule.
- The trailer will focus on exploration, movement, companion interactions, and brief boss footage.
- The team will avoid showing the unfinished crafting interface.
- The festival submission requires a public demo build, capsule art, trailer, screenshots, and accessibility details.
- Priya will prepare updated key art using the current logo treatment.

Decisions
- Lock the Steam demo scope to the tutorial, forest, challenge room, and first boss.
- Remove the town hub from the demo.
- Reduce the first boss’s opening-phase damage by 15% and extend two attack telegraphs.
- Make the map upgrade prompt brighter and persistent until the player interacts with it.
- Prioritize save integrity and minimum-spec performance over new content during the next sprint.
- Keep crafting locked but visible to hint at progression in the full game.
- Target an internal demo candidate for August 7.
- Target public demo release for August 18, pending QA approval.
- Support keyboard and mouse plus Xbox, PlayStation, and generic controller layouts at demo launch.

Action Items
- Luis: Reproduce and fix scene-transition save corruption by July 21.
- Luis: Add automatic backup saves and recovery logging by July 24.
- Priya: Finalize effects and hit reactions for the two remaining enemy variants by July 25.
- Priya: Deliver updated capsule and key art drafts by July 29.
- Rowan: Implement first-boss balance changes and revised attack telegraphs by July 22.
- Rowan: Update the map-upgrade prompt and tutorial messaging by July 23.
- Jamie: Freeze the demo content list in the production tracker and move town-hub tasks to the post-demo backlog by July 18.
- Jamie: Draft the festival submission checklist and confirm deadlines by July 20.
- Tess: Create the trailer shot list and recording plan by July 22.
- Tess: Prepare store-page copy and wishlist call to action by July 31.
- Alex: Revise combat-to-exploration music transitions by July 26.
- Alex: Provide final audio mix settings for trailer capture by July 27.
- Noah: Run controller compatibility tests after returning on July 24.
- Noah: Coordinate minimum-spec and Steam Deck test passes for the August 7 candidate build.
- Entire team: Submit accessibility concerns and missing options to Jamie before July 23.

Risks and Open Questions
- The August 18 release date depends on resolving save corruption during the current sprint.
- Localization may be limited to English for the first public demo; Jamie will obtain translation estimates.
- The team still needs to decide whether difficulty settings should appear in the demo or be replaced by a single assisted-mode toggle.
- Steam Deck performance may require additional UI scaling and shader adjustments.

Next Meeting
- Sprint check-in: July 24, 2026, at 10:00 a.m.
- Primary focus: save-system status, boss balance, performance results, and trailer capture readiness.