Indie Game Studio — Weekly Production Meeting
Date: July 30, 2026
Time: 10:00–11:05 a.m.
Location: Studio conference room / Discord

Attendees
- Maya Chen — Creative Director
- Luis Ortega — Lead Programmer
- Priya Shah — Art Director
- Ben Foster — Game Designer
- Naomi Brooks — Producer
- Eli Park — Audio Designer
- Sam Rivera — Community and Marketing

Absent
- Jules Martin — QA Lead (vacation; notes shared in advance)

Agenda
1. Milestone status
2. Combat prototype feedback
3. Art and performance constraints
4. Steam demo scope
5. Playtesting and marketing
6. Risks and blockers

Discussion Notes

Milestone Status
- The “First Night” vertical slice is approximately one week behind the internal schedule.
- Core exploration, dialogue, inventory, and save/load systems are functional.
- Enemy pathfinding remains unreliable in narrow spaces, especially around doors and stairwells.
- Two planned environments are still using blockout art.
- The team agreed that polishing one representative level is more valuable for the demo than partially finishing three.

Combat Prototype
- Internal testers liked the dodge-and-counter rhythm but found encounters too punishing before upgrades.
- The heavy attack is difficult to read and its controller vibration feels excessive.
- Ben proposed a short hit-stop effect to improve impact without increasing damage.
- Accessibility concerns were raised about relying only on color to communicate unblockable attacks.
- Eli will test a layered warning sound, while Priya will add a shape-based visual cue.
- No additional weapon types will be added before the demo.

Art and Performance
- The latest lighting pass looks strong on high-end PCs but drops below 45 FPS on the minimum-spec test machine.
- Dynamic shadows from small props account for a significant portion of the GPU cost.
- Priya will revise the lighting setup and bake shadows for noninteractive props.
- The team will keep the dense fog effect in the forest but reduce its resolution during combat.
- Character portrait animations are deferred until after the demo.

Steam Demo Scope
- Target demo length remains 25–35 minutes.
- Demo content will include the prologue, forest approach, and inn encounter.
- The optional cellar sequence is cut from the demo but will remain in the full game.
- Demo players will receive one weapon, two abilities, and a limited crafting tutorial.
- Save files will not carry over to the full release because the underlying quest data is likely to change.
- Naomi will update the milestone plan around the reduced scope.

Playtesting and Marketing
- The closed playtest is scheduled for August 14 with 30 participants.
- Jules requested automated crash logs and a reliable feedback form before invitations are sent.
- Sam has drafted the Steam announcement but needs final screenshots from the polished inn level.
- The team will avoid announcing a public demo date until the closed playtest results are reviewed.
- A short development clip showing the forest lighting pass may be shared next week if performance changes do not significantly alter the visuals.

Decisions
- Focus the vertical slice on one polished level rather than three partially complete environments.
- Keep the current dodge-and-counter combat model, with clearer attack telegraphs and reduced early difficulty.
- Freeze weapon scope at one weapon for the Steam demo.
- Remove the optional cellar sequence and portrait animations from the demo.
- Use baked shadows for noninteractive props and lower-resolution fog during combat.
- Do not support demo save-file transfer to the full game.
- Delay announcing the public demo date until after the August 14 closed playtest.

Action Items
- Luis: Fix pathfinding issues around doors and stairs by August 6.
- Luis: Add automated crash-log collection to playtest builds by August 10.
- Ben: Rebalance the first three encounters and prototype hit-stop by August 4.
- Ben: Simplify the crafting tutorial for the demo by August 7.
- Priya: Add shape-based unblockable attack cues by August 5.
- Priya: Complete the optimized inn lighting pass and final screenshots by August 8.
- Eli: Create and test an audio warning for unblockable attacks by August 5.
- Naomi: Revise the production schedule and demo checklist by August 1.
- Naomi: Coordinate the August 14 playtest invitations and participant list by August 7.
- Jules: Finalize the bug-report template and playtest feedback form by August 10.
- Sam: Update the Steam announcement with approved screenshots by August 11.
- Sam: Prepare the forest lighting development clip for review by August 6.

Risks and Blockers
- Pathfinding bugs could affect the inn encounter and delay the closed playtest build.
- Performance optimization may change the look of approved marketing assets.
- The team has limited QA coverage until Jules returns on August 3.
- Controller remapping remains incomplete and must be resolved before any public demo.

Next Meeting
August 6, 2026, at 10:00 a.m.