Github LFS & Debugging

This post outlines some growing pains I faced when using Github LFS and debugging in Unreal.    

• “Empty Pointers”: the most significant and frustrating hiccup (and apparently a common issue) in which assets appear to get deleted, or show up with an incredibly small file size of 1 KB. Specific tracking rules were added to the .gitattributes to ensure that large files are properly downloaded. Resolving the empty pointers required re-cloning (twice), which provided a firsthand lesson on GitHub LFS’s monthly bandwidth limits. It also led to a probable superfluous, but educational and (hopefully) final lesson, in uninstalling / re-installing Unreal Engine.
• Real-Time Debugging Commands: “stat unit” which shows the processing time for Frames, CPU (in the game), and GPU all which help pinpoint the issues (with intuitive colour-coding stats, such as Red for alerts); “stat graph” which is “stat unit” represented visually.
• Communication: my partner and I learned to always communicate which assets and parts of the project we would need, and when we were done. This was simple but extremely effective. It meant almost no Conflicts, and that rare conflicts were easily resolved (we knew which option to pick). Another helpful action was Discarding our own unnecessary changes in Github so as not to have more commits.

Stay tuned for the next post about all the major changes to the game, and in the meantime, the latest version can be downloaded and played.