One of our main worries for this project was the uncertainty of what was achievable. Working with a platform we were unfamiliar with really does blur the estimate for what we are capable of, especially in the short time frame. We had set a significant goal ahead of us (Creating two terrains for the plane to fly in and a QR code linked to it). To take a safe approach and ensure one fully functional and polished scene, we decided to first work only on the Beach scene. After that is completed, we would have the experience to construct the next scene (sky + mountain) easily.

The art people then set off to look for textures and assets while the coders started building on Unity. Through my research, I had already gained a basic understanding of what the beach should look like, so I gathered the textures (sand, wet sand, water, beach foam) and assets (palm trees, rocks) that would suit the beaches of Rabaul.

Then, I started constructing a draft beach scene. At this point, my purpose was first to familiarise myself with the platform, how to import assets, add textures, and the controls in Unity (and less on aesthetics). Most of the coders were working on their own beach scene, but we really needed to work together on a single scene. Unity collaborate was super difficult to figure out, so we decided that we would figure it out later.
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Life Balance
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This week, my progress on DES241 was quite minimal. Facing the deadlines of a myriad of heavy assignments, I found it difficult to multitask on several projects at once. With my personal work style, I tend to put all my focus into one thing at a time, making it hard to balance all my subjects - this is something that I'll definitely need to work on to help me survive senior years. All of our team members were busy during this time, so we collectively decided that we would take a break this week to focus on other projects.

We had a zoom meeting with Allan to discuss our project a week before the deadline. Allan said that the scope of our project (terrains and planes popping out of paper) was too big and that it did not actively incorporate the real world - what makes it different from playing a video? He suggested that we remove the terrain component altogether and instead bring the plane out to fly around the user.

This would change our project completely, and we needed to re-ideate and redesign. Although this felt would be a slight setback at first, we realised that this method would help benefit our project and create a better, more immersive effect. Our time was minimal, so we gained urgency towards working on the project. Our team quickly devised a plan for the following week, setting new Gantt chart deadlines and roles. We made sure everyone was attentive and up to date with their tasks. Below is one of the storyboards for how the planes would move in the AR experience. This exact storyboard was not carried out; however, it gave us inspiration for how to manipulate the plane paths.
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