We started the week with our lecturer, Adam, explaining what our concerns were for the project as well as what we had discovered and our aims for the week. We discussed how the main concern for our project is getting everything done. We are currently receiving help with the coding and everything else is planned out, its just a case of finishing the work. Adam suggested we develop the skeleton pipeline we have into a more detailed plan with some soft deadlines for getting work done. 

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This week we made a plan of what we wanted to fix / implement into our prototype before getting the chance to playtest our game with the second year students next week. We would like to:

• Fix the ladder so that the player is able to move up and down into the eaves of the tent

• Add in some basic text when you speak to the character, preferably incorporating the retrieval mechanic for items

• Implementing UI for the main menu, a pause menu in game and the journal in the bottom right hand corner (even if it doesn't do anything yet it).

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We are also thinking ahead to the next prototype where we are hoping to develop 2D visual overlays when an item is picked up and fleshing out the discussions with the ladies. Personally, I think we should aim to have a full playthrough finished with one of the ladies so that we can have the item retrieval mechanic working and a basic timeline of events for when the lady goes to perform. We can then duplicate this process for the other ladies and change the dialogue and items needed to continue. 

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We booked in two meetings this week to get technical help with another lecturer. In the first of these meetings we added the menus, the overlays and worked out how to implement cutscenes for the future. In our second meeting we got the journal UI working so the player can click on the icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to open the objectives, collected items, photograph pieces and to see what is currently in the player's inventory. We won't be able to get the retrieval mechanic working for this playtesting session but we will aim to get this done for next time. We have also had some fantastic samples from the music student we are working with as well so we are looking to develop and implement that over the next few weeks too. 

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This week I have managed to work out the narrative storylines according to what the player picks up. When they confront the ladies at the end of the game each object they present will correspond to a different ending:

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• Headscarf – A faded patterned headscarf which clearly hasn’t been used for years. You can’t put your finger on it, but the scent is somewhat familiar.

• Magnifying Glass – A clear magnifying glass with a frayed gold ribbon attached. Storyteller’s used to use them all the time as props with the books they carried around. Could this be something to do with your mother?

• Show Ticket – One of the first shows Mendax ever performed in. The paper ticket is imprinted with her famous signature in glossy black ink.

• Locket – An elegant locket with a bright amethyst crystal centred into the metalwork. Years of neglect and dents in the locket means it cannot be opened.

• Inscribed Ring – A gold-plated ring with gems embedded into the pristine design. The inside has an inscription – ‘1874, Evelynne’

• Brooch – A scratched old brooch with various jewels dotted across the surface. The design can still be seen despite the years of dust and dirt.

• Teddy Bear – An old teddy bear with patches missing from its fur. Its old but the button eyes were ones you could never forget. This is Frederick, your teddy bear companion, gifted to you the day you were born.

• Blanket – A washed out yellow blanket with patches stitched over various holes and tears. This blanket layed on your bed for years before your mother was taken.  

• Ragdoll – A ragdoll with a stitched on smile and a little pink dress. Its been many years, but you remember your mother presenting it to you on your 5th birthday. You can still remember dragging her around your bedroom, taking her with you everywhere for years until she disappeared alongside your mother.

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Later in the week we spoke to Adam Rosser, BBC journalist with a wealth of knowledge and experience in the game design industry. I struggled to engage with his initial presentation as it felt like a lot of individual industry stories, however he discussed some very important ideas around what you can promise your game will be, i.e. don't make false claims about the aspirations for your game and do not overstretch yourself. Players much prefer a game with fleshed out ideas instead of incomplete designs. In the afternoon we had group discussions with Adam where he analysed each game idea very well and engaged with each one on an individual basis, critiquing us from the art style to the mechanics, from the platforms we will release our games on to external reading we have done around the project. It gave me a lot of confidence in that I managed to answer each question and keep my responses succinct to effectively translate the Inked Ladies idea. He said it was sensible to keep the mechanics limited as we were aiming for a much more visual / narrative-oriented game, citing games like Where the Water Tastes like Wine and Monkey Island. He also recommended reading 'Food of the Gods' by author and fellow journalist Cassandra Khaw, saying she knew how to quickly and effectively convey emotion which is exactly what I'll be trying to do with my narrative gameplay. 

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Finally this week I typed up a more thorough pipeline to give us an idea of what to do and when. There is a lot to complete but we have paced the workload well and we have left space to scope down certain elements if necessary.

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