Second Playtest Preparation

Creating the Lake Scene

Swan has sent me the Art assets of the lake scene, including the background and the plants, through Slack.

I downloaded them and import it to the unity.

Adjusting Composition

After importing the art assets and setting up the scene, I had a discussion with Swan. I invited her to review the composition in the engine to see if it matched her vision.

We identified the following issues and their corresponding solutions:

The ground in the scene appears blurred and dark in the engine. We will achieve a better visual effect by copying and stitching together multiple ground textures, increase the brightness.
When the player approaches the edge of the map, the camera captures space. We will create a natural barrier by using mountain art assets to block the edge of the map.
The number of plants is not enough; more need to be added. The scene should be filled with plants, leaving only the designated paths for the player to walk on clearly.
There is a lack of plant variety, resulting in an overly repetitive scene. Additional plants need to be created.

Refined Version：

Add and change art assets.

Throughout development, I closely collaborated with our two artists, Swan and Lettie, primarily through Slack group chats to align on both the game engine implementation and the overall art direction. Our workflow was designed to ensure efficient communication and quick iteration between design and art production.

Once Swan and Lettie had completed the new art assets, they would notify me via Slack and send the original files via email. I then imported these assets into Unity to evaluate how well they fit within the current visual style of the game. My review process focused on consistency across several dimensions, including lighting balance, contrast, resolution, and overall stylistic coherence with existing assets.

Whenever assets did not fully match the intended visual direction, I provided specific and actionable feedback to help guide revisions. This ensured that the art style remained cohesive and supported the player experience.

At the same time, I continuously identified areas in the game where visual guidance could be improved. For example, if certain interactive elements were not sufficiently noticeable, or if the environment did not clearly communicate player objectives, I documented these issues and shared them with the artists.

Responsibilities were divided based on specialisation:

•For UI elements and environmental assets, I worked directly with Swan to refine layout clarity and environmental readability.

•For character-related assets, I collaborated with Lettie to adjust visual emphasis, animations, or additional assets needed to support gameplay feedback better.

Art Iteration example:

During my own playtesting, I identified an opportunity to improve spatial awareness and player navigation through clearer visual guidance on the map UI. While the map already provided an overview of the game world, it lacked a clear indicator of the player’s current location, making it harder for players to understand their exploration progress or orient themselves efficiently.

To address this, I proposed adding a positional marker on the map interface to indicate the player’s current region. This feature allows players to quickly understand where they are within the broader world, while also helping them track explored versus unexplored areas. As a result, the map became both a navigational tool and a visual representation of player progression.

Complete Game loop

During this phase, I created and built all the scenes and core gameplay mechanics required for the game. I organised them into the following gameplay flow:

Start Menu
The player begins at the Start Menu and selects Start to begin the game.

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Opening
An Opening sequence introduces the background and provides basic gameplay instructions to guide the player.

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Clearing Scene
The player enters the first playable area: the Clearing.
Here, the player encounters a Peacock and can interact with it to trigger the first task.

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Peacock Minigame（Developed by Ollie)
The player must hold down the mouse button to wipe away the dust on the peacock, revealing its original vibrant colours.

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Return to the Clearing
After completing the minigame, the player returns to the Clearing scene.
A Peacock Soul Fragment appears. Interacting with it will: