Category: Team Meetings

Written by Ollie

Throughout semester 2, I have felt very fortunate to be part of the Soul Keeper team: all of my teammates are extremely hard-working and talented, and from talking to my friends and peers alike, I believe no other team in our class has had a stronger overall sense of communication that we did as a group. We have had very minimal arguments between us, and all of us treated each other greatly with nothing but friendliness and respect.

I am certainly pleased with our combined outcome of Soul Keeper! Like many others, I think the art work from our team has been outstanding: the paper doll aesthetic, character/animal designs and animation style has given our game a very strong sense of character and has helped it stand out among other games not just among our peers, but all games in general. The programming work done by Misty has also been incredibly strong (pun intended) and her skills have done a lot of heavy lifting (again pun intended) for the team. I do feel with Yulia we have had an imbalance in communication and engagement from the team at large, however it has not affected our ability to deliver a strong final product.

On a personal note, I am pleased with what I have produced and feel like my work and communication within the team has been consistent, however I do feel like I could have contributed a good amount more to the final game. Though unintentional, my work within this project ended up being very specialised which I feel does not reflect my given role of technical designer very well, and so I feel disappointed in myself in that aspect. It motivates me to learn and improve myself, though; in future projects I will take more accountability for my role and push myself to be significantly more hands-on.

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Written by Misty

During this group project, although my primary role was Mechanical Designer, I ended up taking on many responsibilities that were closer to a Technical Designer’s role. For example, I spent many time helping the art team import assets into Unity, managing resource integration, and acting as a bridge between the technical and art sides of the project. While these tasks helped maintain the overall workflow and reduced development issues, they also took away time that I could have spent focusing more deeply on gameplay mechanics and player experience design.

Looking back, the main reason for this was my concern about collaboration and version control at the beginning of the project. I worried that if too many people uploaded assets or modified files on GitHub at the same time, it could create conflicts or problems within the project. Because of this, I chose to take on more responsibilities myself in order to keep the project stable and organized.

This experience made me realize the importance of trust in teamwork. I should allow each member to take their own responsibilities. In the future, I would place more trust in my teammates and allow them to handle the parts they are responsible for. At the same time, I would set clearer boundaries for my own role so that I can dedicate more attention to designing and refining gameplay mechanics or puzzles, improving player experience as a Mechanical Designer.

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Written by Swan

I am both delighted and fortunate to be a member of the Soul Keeper team. This project has significantly improved my mindset and deepened my understanding of the group work process, and I am certain that it is only through working with my teammates in this group that I have made such great progress.

At the beginning of the project, I was feeling down due to personal setbacks in interpersonal relationships and assignments from the previous semester. As a result, I was initially guarded and skeptical toward everyone, and I lacked confidence in my own work. I was assigned the role of environment artist rather than character design, which is my specialty. At first, I was eager to swap roles with Lettie, but through subsequent discussions and practical work, I gradually realized I could excel in my role. Regarding group discussions, I have never experienced such a positive and collaborative atmosphere. Previously, I was always worried that my ideas would be rejected due to my perceived lack of ability, but my teammates took my suggestions seriously, which gave me the confidence to voice my thoughts during the middle and later stages of the project. However, I still have room for improvement in communication. Rather than speaking directly with team members in English, I tend to rely on translation tools for online communication or ask Misty to convey my ideas on my behalf. I will work hard to improve my spoken English skills. I’d like to extend a special thank you to Misty—she always tests and provides immediate feedback on how my art assets look in-game, allowing me to make adjustments right away and significantly boosting our efficiency.

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Written by Yulia

Working on Soul Keeper this semester made me understand more about both teamwork and the World Designer role. At the beginning of the project, I think I did not really understand clearly what a World Designer should do in the team. Most of the time, I focused more on my own research and organising ideas first. Because of communication pressure, sometimes I also did not join discussions very actively.

But later, when I started doing more world-building, audio selection and narrative work, I slowly realised that world design is actually connected with many other parts of the game. Things like atmosphere, player feeling and even gameplay direction can all affect each other.

I believe this project also opened my eyes to the importance of communication in group work. I would sometimes wait until my ideas felt more complete before sharing them with other people. Reflecting back, I think talking to the team earlier would have helped understand my ideas better. I still think I need more work about how to communicate and engage with team members in a teamwork setting; however, this project helped me learn about my role better and gave me experience in a development team.

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Written by Scarlett

Being a part of the soul keeper team has been a delight, in previous group projects I have taken on a leading role most often being involved in the coding too. This semester it has been brilliant to work on my art skills and focus on character design. I was initially unsure about animating as I had never done it before but after meetings with the team I was introduced to a paper doll style of animating, this let me slowly build up my skills by going from physical to digital. It has been very satisfying to work on this and recieve feedback from peers and lecturers. The improvement I saw over the project has been satisfying.

Looking back over the project I have worked on things mostly by myself occasionally forgetting that I could make things easier and get support from the team and the parts they have done. In the final weeks of the project I started to become more comfortable with this and collaborating more without being prompted by my lecturer.

I am immensely proud of the final outcome of the vertical slice both the parts I have contributed and the work of my team. The public playtest experiences were helpful and interesting to get a glimpse of how the industry works, getting people to provide their honest opinions on the game it was a learning moment to put aside how you feel about a project and put the players experience first.

Written by Ollie

On the 1st of May 2026, we held a public (“Arcade”) playtest in the WSA student Café along with the rest of our second year peers. The playtest lasted 2 hours, so we managed to get a lot of playtest and feedback as a result!

Photo credits: Ollie Margetts, Misty Zhang, Alex Malykh

Written by Scarlett

Throughout the playtest we took it in turns to sit by our game and observe players testing it. We tried to not intefer unless they were truly stuck. Unfortunately in the morning we realised there was abug with the peacock minigame in the build on Itch.Io. The cursor was offset quite a bit so that it would not draw in the place the place the player was clicking only below it. As it was too late we decided to keep the game as is and just let people know about the bug.

We took notes in a notebook so that they could be scribbled down quickly as the testers played the game. After the event I transcvribed the notes into a word document. Using different highlight colours to organiuse the feedback into sections.

• Cyan for UI
• Green for art and animation
• Dark blue for level design
• Yellow for gameplay
• Red for sound
• Purple for narrative

After doing that I made a table and summarised where each piece of feedback overlayed. I also included possible fixes for if we had more time on the project.

Written by Misty

Preparation

Second Playtest Preparation

Sound and Visual Effects

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During Playtest

We continued using the same strategy as in the first testing session: rotating roles within the team.

At least two team members stayed with the project at all times:

1. observed and documented player behaviour and feedback
2. provided technical assistance if any issues occurred during gameplay.

The remaining team members had the opportunity to visit other groups and playtest their games.

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Player Feedback

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Transcribed Feedback

Ann

• Typo in the opening intro text
• Was unsure whether the mouse should be used at the beginning
• Text still appears after collecting objects
• Consider prompting the player to use the mouse when feeding the deer

Vanessa

• Need a clearer prompt to indicate whether to use mouse or keyboard (Q)
• Add more “beauty” or magical focus in the visual presentation
• Typography could be improved
• Visual style should feel more cohesive as part of one world
• Reduce the saturation of the peacock to better communicate that something is wrong
• Visual reference suggestion: Bayonetta – Cereza and the Lost Demon

Anna

• Some objects are too easy to walk through (collision issues)
• Goals are not always clear
• Exit button is too easy to click accidentally – should relate to completion condition

Parker

• Instructions should change depending on the area
• Visual guidance in the lake area could lead players more clearly to resources
• Art style is strong
• Feeding the deer interaction needs improvement

Adam

• Increase peacock collision size
• Change interaction key from Q to E (more standard)
• Feeding the deer interaction is unclear
• Resources in the lake area are hard to find
• Interaction inputs should remain consistent (use same key)
• UI could close when clicking the button again

Marie

• Map boundary issue (camera can move outside map)
• Revise the resource logic for deer feeding
• Strengthen the deeper theme (e.g. Earth Day, protecting animals, nature)
• Suggest researching CHIPLAY references
• Consider submitting to itch.io or sharing gameplay video

Erik

• Animal hitboxes should be larger
• Sound design works well with visuals
• Visual hierarchy should be clearer so important objects stand out
• Some animation jittering issues
• Consider adding lighting layers to map and board
• Some players unfamiliar with keyboard/mouse controls
• “Less is more” – reduce visual noise

Jess

• Likes the visuals and style
• Click-and-drag interaction with deer was unclear
• Consider changing back to Q or adding clearer prompt
• Suggested adding more explorable areas

Nam

• Likes animations and particle effects
• Interaction with peacock should be more obvious
• Peacock should stop moving during interaction
• Player can get stuck near garden collider

Player 3

• Likes art style
• Enjoyed the mini game
• Soul fragment does not disappear after collecting
• Struggled with drag interaction

Kamilla

• Likes 2.5D presentation
• Likes art style
• Discovered UI late
• Background texture could better match apple colour palette
• Style and mechanics are enjoyable

Player 5 (Yansong)

• Beautiful art style
• Too many assets make the scene feel chaotic
• UI white frame helps distinguish interface elements

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Categorised Issues

A. Interaction clarity & control guidance

• Unclear whether to use mouse or keyboard
• Confusion about click & drag interaction
• Feeding deer interaction unclear
• Interaction prompts missing or inconsistent
• UI close behaviour unclear
• Players unfamiliar with controls
• Need consistent key mapping (Q vs E)

B. Visual hierarchy & art direction

• Scene sometimes feels visually chaotic
• Need stronger focal point or magic emphasis
• Objects do not stand out enough
• Need clearer visual hierarchy
• Reduce peacock saturation
• Improve typography consistency
• Cohesion across world elements

C. Interaction

• Soul fragment does not disappear after collection
• Interaction feedback unclear
• Peacock movement should pause during interaction
• Animation jittering issues
• Sound design positively received

D. Level design & navigation

• Hard to find resources in lake area
• Need clearer environmental guidance
• Some areas discovered too late (UI discoverability)
• Suggest adding more explorable areas

E. Technical issues

• Objects collision problems
• Hitbox too small (animals)
• Player stuck in garden collider
• Camera moves outside map boundary
• Exit button triggered too easily

F. Game design & concept depth

• Theme could be more meaningful (nature protection etc.)
• Need clearer player goal communication
• Opportunity to strengthen narrative context

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Improvement Table

Category	Feedback	Improve Method	Expected Result
Interaction	Players unsure whether to use mouse or keyboard	Add early tutorial prompt and consistent control instructions	Players quickly understand interaction methods
Interaction	Confusion about drag interaction	Add visual hint or animation demonstrating drag behaviour	Reduced interaction friction
Interaction	Inconsistent key mapping (Q vs E)	Standardise interaction key (E) across all mechanics	Improved usability and consistency
Interaction	Feeding deer unclear	Add icon, tooltip or animation feedback	Players understand objective faster
Art	Scene feels visually chaotic	Reduce asset density and increase contrast hierarchy	Clearer player focus
Art	Important objects not obvious	Add lighting, outline, or particle effects	Players recognise interactable elements easily
Art	Peacock colour too saturated	Adjust colour grading and value contrast	Clearer narrative tone
Visual design	Typography inconsistency	Standardise font style and UI layout	More cohesive UI
Game feedback	Soul fragment not disappearing	Add destroy object trigger after collection	Clear feedback for progression
Game feedback	Peacock moves during interaction	Pause movement animation during interaction	Clearer interaction state
Navigation	Hard to find lake resources	Add environmental guidance cues (lighting, composition)	Improved exploration flow
Navigation	UI discovered late	Introduce UI tutorial moment earlier	Better onboarding
Technical	Animal hitbox too small	Increase collider size	More forgiving interaction
Technical	Player stuck in collider	Adjust collider boundaries	Prevent gameplay interruption
Technical	Camera outside map boundary	Add camera constraint limits	Stable player perspective
Technical	Exit button triggered accidentally	Add confirmation or unlock condition	Prevent accidental progress interruption
Concept	Theme not strong enough	Strengthen environmental storytelling	More meaningful player experience
Expansion	Request for more areas	Expand map sections if time allows	Increased engagement time

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Refinment

Second Playtest Refinement – Misty Zhang

Written by Misty

During Playtest

Before the first playtesting session, our team assigned initial roles to ensure the testing process could run smoothly：

Ollie & Lettie – documenting player feedback (question, confusion, suggestion, etc.)

Swam – encourage player to test the game.

Me – Explainer, helping players set up the game and supporting them during gameplay.

I also fixed critical technical issues in real-time whenever major bugs occurred to prevent interruptions to the testing experience.

We adopted a flexible system where responsibilities were rotated among team members. When someone left to playtest another group’s game, another member would step in to take over their role. This allowed the test to continue efficiently while ensuring everyone had the opportunity to both observe players and experience other projects.

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Player Feedback

Here’s the player’s feedback draft we recorded during the playtest, we recorded:

• suggestions shared after completing the play session

• players’ verbal questions

• spontaneous compliments or reactions

• noticeable emotional responses during gameplay

• moments of confusion or hesitation

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Playtest Documentation

After the playtest, Lettie organised those feeback into clear bullet points, categorised and summarised it.

• Green – art issues
• Yellow – UI issues
• Blue – sound feedback
• Pink – story and goal issues
• Red – minigame

Based on this, I(Misty) organised this into a table form for further refinement.

To see further refinement based on the first playtest:

First Playtest Prepare & Refine – Misty Zhang

By Scarlett White

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This week we have our first mandatory playtesting session. To prepare for it our Mechanics Designer wrote a list of what would be required for the prototype.

Our current plan for the prototype is to have:

• 1 animal – the peacock with animation
• A fully animated player
• An inventory system
• The notebook system
• The peacock minigame

During our Tuesday meeting we all focused on finishing up our tasks for the prototype.

Ollie – Getting the peacock minigame working

Misty – Importing the assets and ensuring the mechanics work as intended

Swan – Finishing up the notebook UI

Me – Finishing the character and peacock animation

Yulia – Finishing up the ecological structure of the world

I also updated our group roadmap to better reflect how we are doing in the project

Written by Scarlett

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What everyone has been working on:

Technical Artist Ollie – prototyping the peacock minigame

Mechanics Designer Misty – creating the protoype for Thursday’s presentation. Specifically character movement and animation.

World Designer Yulia – Conducting research into the animals and environment

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This weeks meeting focused on me and Swan working on the art style for the game by painting with watercolour together. I devised an activity where we would paint the same reference we could then analyse both artworks and see what we each needed to change.

For the techniques we referenced our joint mood board. Where we have devised some rules for the art style.

Misty provided us a list of the assets that need to be created.

So as it stands I will be responsible for the,

• Player character
• Deer
• Peacock
• Puzzle

and Swan will be responsible for the,

• Lake
• Clearing
• UI button
• World map
• Notebook illustration

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To prepare for the presentation on Thursday, everyone will be creating their own slide of the work they have been doing and I will be assembling it and creating the rest of the slides.

Written by Ollie

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In our second meeting, we needed to get together and discuss our expectations on how we would work as a group – things like how we would communicate, when our meetings would take place, etc.

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Firstly we created a sheet of our individual work preferences, strengths and weaknesses to get a general vibe of how everyone wants to go about making the project. See below:

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Our main task though was to create a “team contract” of sorts: laying out what we expect from each other and our motivations for the project.

We settled on a list of objectives, displayed further below but also summarised here in written form for clarity.

• Store the project using a shared GitHub
• Maintain a backup of all group files using OneDrive

• Have weekly meetups: Tuesday afternoons (starting at 1pm) & Friday afternoons before games business class (also starting 1pm)

• Use Slack for online communication: one channel for posting/sharing our work and another for casual group talk

• Don’t rule out any conflicting ideas. Experiment and ideate, but still keep time constraints in mind!

• Set weekly deadlines and objectives to keep us motivated and working consistently

• What motivates us:
  • sense of achievement
  • fulfilling the game vision
  • creating a great player experience

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Written by Ollie

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On the first Thursday of the semester, the selected projects that we would be working on were revealed, as well as the teams and team structures for each.

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Soul Keeper was the last team project to be revealed – the game concept and design document was the work of Elina Orlovska, one of our fellow second year students. It’s an isometric 2D game revolving around the idea of “restoring the order of life by connecting with nature and animals through the world around you”, as put by her elevator pitch.

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Our team was revealed as such:

Ollie (me!) would be the group’s technical designer, overseeing the general design for the game and being a bridge between the art and mechanics for the game.

Xuan as the environment artist, in charge of creating the lushous landscapes for Soul Keeper – one of the game’s defining factors.

Lettie as our character artist, responsible for creating the character designs for both the player character and the all-important animals the player would be interacting with.

Misty as our mechanics designer — in charge of scripting and all the behind-the-scenes work that goes into the game engine…

…and Yulia as the world designer, behind the layout and organisation of the world and its assets: again, very key to the direction of this game.

All of us had the understanding that these roles would fluctuate though, and later we would come to re-establish them somewhat to better fit our preferences.

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After some discussion, we decided that because of the project’s scope and prefrences within the group, we would keep our given roles but rely on them much more loosely, reconfiguring into simple two groups of two: Ollie and Misty as the tech/design group, and Lettie and Xuan as the art group.

Despite these two groupings, we want to avoid becoming bubbled within them and so are going to have meetups as a full group whenever possible — rather than fully dividing into disconnected groups of two.

These groupings are more a representation of how we assign tasks, not how we communicate as a team.

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Unfortunately, Yulia is currently absent and it seems she will stay unavailible for the medium-term, so we are planning around this and are splitting the responsiblities of world design between both sides of the team. If she comes back during the project, she would act between both groups.

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Finally, we spent some time setting up our short-term aims for the first week of the project:

On the art side of things, Lettie and Xuan would be working to create rough concept artwork for the game and develop a coherent artstyle between them that we could use for the game’s materials.

For the tech team, Misty and myself would be working on setting up the shared GitHub for the project for the whole team, and create a simple prototype using greyboxing in which the player can walk up-down-left-right to set the game’s earliest foundations.

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