We chose the Published Game track for the Summer Studies course, so our goal was not only to make a prototype. We wanted to finish and publicly release a complete game within approximately three months.

Our main goal was to create a short top-down 3D adventure with simple controls, varied locations and a visual style inspired by illustrated storybooks. The game needed to be approachable for players who did not normally play many games while still offering enough variety to keep the experience interesting.

We also wanted each area to feel different. Instead of repeating the same activity throughout the game, we included character quests, environmental puzzles, memory-based challenges and short parkour sections.

The project was very asset-heavy. The artists were creating characters, environments, animations, cutscenes, UI and promotional materials while the programmers developed the gameplay systems. Keeping the technical and creative work connected was therefore one of the most important parts of the project.

Production Process

We used an Agile and iterative approach throughout development. We organised tasks through Trello, created playable versions early and regularly adjusted our priorities as new assets, feedback and technical problems appeared.

Git and GitHub were used for version control. This allowed me and another programmer to work on different systems and regularly combine our changes in the same Unity project.

Because many features depended on work from several disciplines, I also tracked what was needed before something could be considered complete. A quest might require programming, dialogue, a character model, animation, an item, UI and audio before it was ready for the player.

 

The development was divided into five main stages:







 

Late May - Early June — Kick-off and planning
We began with orientation, brainstorming and design meetings. We agreed on the main story, gameplay direction and visual style, then divided the first responsibilities between the artists and programmers. We presented our plans early in the course, which gave us a clearer understanding of the amount of art, animation and technical work the project would require.

June — First prototypes and core systems
We focused on getting playable content into Unity as early as possible. My work during this stage included menus, player movement, audio, dialogue, cutscene systems, the labyrinth and the first level prototypes. The goal was to test the main game flow before all of the final assets were available. This helped us identify which ideas worked, which systems depended on each other and which parts of the original concept needed to be simplified.

July — Online development and content integration

After beginning the project together in Kajaani, we moved to fully online development. The artists continued working on characters, environments, animation, UI and cutscene materials, while the programmers developed gameplay and progression systems. Clear communication became especially important because we could no longer solve every problem by speaking to each other in the same room. I spent much of this stage integrating models, textures, animations, audio and UI, building scenes, setting up collisions and connecting the different parts of the game. I also kept track of missing assets and communicated with the artists when something needed to be adjusted before it could work properly in Unity.

Early August — Final integration and presentation
As the final presentation and course deadline approached, we focused on making the game playable from beginning to end. I tested the complete game flow, fixed scene and integration problems and checked that quests, dialogue, transitions, animations and saving worked together. We also continued improving the visuals, atmosphere and final presentation.

August — Steam setup and release
I was responsible for setting up and managing the Steam page. This included paying the publishing fee, writing the store description, selecting tags, completing the age-rating information and keeping track of the screenshots and promotional artwork that still needed to be delivered. Steam initially rejected some of our materials, so I had to understand what needed to change, communicate the new requirements to the artists and organise the updated submissions. The additional work delayed the original release plan, but we successfully released Scaredy Cat on Steam and itch.io.

Post-release development
My work did not end after publication. I continued reviewing player feedback, fixing visual and gameplay bugs and preparing updated builds. Some players found the parkour section frustrating and more difficult than the rest of the game, so I returned to it and made changes to improve the movement and make the section easier to complete.