Sprint 2 Recap

 Sprint 2 went by very smoothly, and there were far less issues compared to are original kick off from Sprint 1.

The biggest difference, was that no one was blocked day one. Work was assigned in a manner that anyone could start their individual tasks, without requiring work created by others first. The first thing I tacked this sprint, was the Maze Keeper model

Now I will be honest, he does not look particularly great. I ended up scrapping and restarting a total of 4 times. The biggest issue is that I have never done natural models before, let alone a humanoid. I'm great when it comes to mechanical and structural objects, but smooth and curvy things is not something I have experience in.

This was the first character I have ever modeled that wasn't just a primitive pill, so by those standards, I think the first iteration is pretty solid. The Maze Keeper will be further improved during Sprint 3.

I should also note that he is built modularly. The set legs, set of arms, torso, and head, are all individual components. I made him this way so those portions would be easier to animate later on. "Animating" basic movement is something I have done before using scripts, so I am comfortable and quite familiar on how to do it.

Next up, we have a few modular components

I ended up making a few additional modular pieces, as well as some props:

Modular Wall Hole

Modular T-Intersection

Modular Plus-Intersection

Flag Checkpoint

Key Pickup

These are of course all UVed, and were exported to the shared drive so the level designer could quickly begin using them to block out and build our first level. 

The two intersection pieces I did not originally have assigned. But after talking closely with the level designer about anything he had needed, he brought them up. I then talked to our lead, and got them added as cards, and finished them the same afternoon. The level designer was not blocked, but by using thorough communication, I was able to improve the efficiency that he could build the level at (and of course got some more points completed!).

Previously I mentioned how thorough communication is pretty vital. There seems to be a bit of a lack of that between the producer and the designer. This became pretty apparent when I was told to model a flag for a checkpoint by the producer. After completing it near the end of the sprint, the designer was confused why it was a flag, and requested a sun flower instead. I of course am capable of making a sunflower, but it indicated that this model was to be scrapped, and was entirely a waste of time.

I still got credit for it, but the time wasted completing assets that were not needed, and will not be used, was rather significant.

As modeler, I then decided that I should work in Unity. That's right, some tasks other then modeling!

I created a script to spin and hove the key I had previously made. This was to indicate to the player that it was a pick up, and to further catch their attention.

 After that I worked on a particle system. I created some neon yellow particles that would trail off and disappear. This is where poor communication strikes again. I'm not sure if any of my cards were more then one sentence, meaning there's no description on what is being asked for me. The card for producing the particles was along the lines of "Make a particle so that..." and never actually described the particle that I needed to make. No biggie, it gives me creative freedom. The issue was that the producer was not a huge fan of the particles. Being that they game me nothing to work with though, I had no way of knowing what they wanted.

Regardless I thought it turned out well, but will be making a few alternatives during sprint 3. This wraps up the majority of my work for the 2nd sprint, and I was overall happy with my output and how the project has gone thus far.