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Day 75 — Grid Upgrade, Pivot, View Mode, Decor, and Lighting

Cozy GameFortnite / UEFN

Context

I continued working on the 50x50 grid. I eventually want to offer this as an upgrade. Unfortunately, I had to stop halfway today and pivot back to 25x25. It's unfortunate, but I need to move forward. There are a lot of holes in the code right now that prevent scaling this up, which will actually be a great opportunity in the near future to improve this code with this specific use case. Instead, I decided to push forward, address some of the minor improvements needed to get some good quality demo videos for promotion: Added a 'View Mode' which allows you to rotate the camera for a better view. Added landscape rocks for decor. Added lighting as items.

Modern Demo Curated Island GIFModern Demo Curated Island GIF

Grid Upgrade and Pivot

Tried to continue the 50x50 grid upgrade, but ran into too many blockers. Decided to pivot back to 25x25 for now to keep progress moving. This highlighted the need for future refactoring to support larger islands.

New Features for Demo Videos

  • Added a 'View Mode' for better camera rotation and presentation
  • Introduced landscape rocks as decorative items
  • Added lighting as placeable items to enhance demo quality

Summary

What I accomplished:

  • Attempted 50x50 grid upgrade, then pivoted back to 25x25
  • Added View Mode, landscape rocks, and lighting items
  • Improved demo video quality for promotion

What I learned:

  • Scaling up requires deeper code changes
  • Small features can greatly improve presentation
  • Sometimes it's best to pivot and keep momentum