FLU GAME

Sprint Goal

This sprint was all about polishing. Lots of it! After an intense previous sprint, the goal was to refine what we already built and push the project closer to a final, cohesive state. This included improving textures, enhancing environmental details, and refining animation elements like brush movement and falling leaves.

Focused Work and Team Support

To stay efficient, I focused on Shots 0010–0030, allowing me to compartmentalize my work and maintain a higher level of quality. Once those were in a solid place, I shifted toward supporting teammates where needed. From 3D modeling, animation, or technical troubleshooting.

My contributions this sprint:

• Refined garden environment with updated foliage and grass

• Added Niagara particles for falling leaves and fireflies

• Improved water system with splash zones and refined textures

• Created a new water basin texture in Substance Painter

• Added small environmental details like candles on outdoor lamps

• Fixed material issues such as glittering on plants

• 3D Modeled, textured, and rigged a new paintbrush asset

• Animated Shot 0040

• Updated marketplace environment with additional artifacts (Fox and Cat)

• Helped troubleshoot diversion control issues

• Assisted teammates with Unreal workflows and animation setup

This approach helped maintain progress while also strengthening team support where it was needed most.

Niagara leaf particle test

Challenges & Blockers

Ever heard the saying… “Everything that can break will eventually break.”

What started as a minor soft lock quickly escalated into a diversion commit issue that put nearly three weeks of work at risk. Rather than making the situation worse, we paused and brought in the expert (Tony). The three of us (Blaise, Tony, and Myself) We spent over 3 hours troubleshooting the issue safely and were able to recover everything without losing progress.

This was a major inspection moment. It showed how fragile our workflow can be without proper version control habits.

Testing new brush skin weight

Remaining technical issues:

• Light clipping through materials

• Water appearing/disappearing (needs more subtle flow control)

What Worked Well

This was one of our strongest sprints in terms of teamwork and coordination. Everyone stepped up and contributed:

• Strong collaboration across animation, lighting, and environment work

• Improved communication and troubleshooting under pressure

• Maintained momentum even after major technical setbacks

Once we resolved the diversion issue, the workflow became much smoother and more reliable.

Adjustment for Next Sprint

One clear improvement moving forward is to consistently commit work in diversion before exiting Unreal. This small habit will prevent soft locks, reduce risk of lost progress, and keep the pipeline stable for the entire team.

Sprint Retrospective

This sprint reinforced the importance of technical awareness and team coordination. When something breaks at this stage, it affects everyone, so having the discipline to pause, troubleshoot correctly, and support each other makes a huge difference.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend the last client presentation in person due to being out sick with the flu. However, I still joined through voice chat to listen in on the feedback and stay aligned with the team. Even while at home, I made sure to stay engaged and take notes on both client and professor input. Moving forward, I’ll be applying that feedback directly into the next round of updates to ensure my work continues to align with the overall direction of the project.