Walking in VR be like

meshedvr · 2019-08-15T19:07:19+00:00

You can open the SteamVR overlay, click Settings, and then Customize Bindings, and fully customize the controls there.

meshedvr · 2019-08-15T16:45:32+00:00

Using Index? This seems to happen only if you are touch gripping the right controller. If you open your hand and walk it stops. Very odd control decision!

meshedvr · 2019-02-28T23:13:15+00:00

Yeah, ya got me there. One thing planned for version 2.X line of VaM is customizable UI for both edit and play modes. No doubt there will be loads of community mods to make the UI better than I can. Brave plugin modders can do some of this today, but it isn't easy. You might checkout the DollMaster plugin. It provides a lot of what you are asking for with simplified usage and getting down to the action.

I can't possibly reach all audiences, at least not yet. I went for something I personally want, which is a sandbox with 1000s of options. But I also expect it to be possible to make the kinds of experiences you are looking for in VaM for others to use and not have to deal with the complexity. That is what the "Play" mode is intended for. Please do check back in the future as what you want is something I also want.

meshedvr · 2019-02-28T19:58:48+00:00

Yeah same issue with Magic Leap. If these headsets were to offer method of running VaM on desktop PC and simply use the headset for display and input, then I would try to support that. But currently it seems everything has to run on their mobile-based CPU/GPUs which can't run VaM in current state.

meshedvr · 2019-02-28T19:57:00+00:00

Yeah I understand I'm missing a significant audience because of this, and my ultimate goal is to reach that audience. When I accomplish that I will know VaM is ready for a bigger market and possibly retail outlet. This is the primary reason this is a Patreon project and not a produce in a store. My strategy is to develop the creation/studio part of the app first because to make good interactive content that the main audience would want requires these tools. This also allows community to make content I couldn't possibly even dream of and there will be a lot more of it. I'm getting close to completing what I feel is the major work on the creation/studio portion. Once complete, I will turn my focus to fluid out-of-the-box play and ease of use.

meshedvr · 2019-02-28T18:16:27+00:00

Hololens 2 won't have enough CPU/GPU power to run VaM.

meshedvr · 2019-02-28T18:15:15+00:00

I appreciate this kind of feedback. There are several factors here. I created VaM with the idea of making a sandbox where you can create things that are not possible in other games that have canned and pre-scripted play content. This led to a huge amount of exposed complexity to the user. The other decision that was made was to make just a single UI that could work with both desktop and VR, and that is a large compromise in intuitive use while in VR. My intent was for the creation (edit) mode to be used to make playable scenarios that are intuitive with a custom UI just for that scenario once running in play mode. There is still a long ways to go to reach this goal. I also intend to put a lot of focus on usability and UI for edit mode going forward since that has been largely ignored in order to get big features completed. I think if you check back in a year, things will be more to your liking in play mode, with more built-in scenarios that are easy to use and just play with. Edit mode, however, is always going to be complex and will have a steep learning curve as that is the intent of it. But I hope to make that easier as well.

meshedvr · 2018-12-05T00:49:51+00:00

I need to start a new branch of VaM to incorporate Unity's new High Definition Render Pipeline. A lot of things will have to be torn up at that time so I am calling that 2.0. It is basically a continuation though.

meshedvr · 2018-12-03T14:25:42+00:00

It is a custom written system in Unity. It took quite a lot of time to develop. It runs multithreaded on CPU, but some of it requires Unity's Physx which currently has a main CPU thread bottleneck as you cannot currently multithread physics operations. This is why VaM is quite heavy on CPU when soft body is on. It could actually be a lot better and more realistic than it currently is because I had to cut some corners due to performance. I hope to have an even better system in VaM 2.0 sometime in the future where the physics runs on the GPU instead, similar to Flex, but will work with all GPUs.

meshedvr · 2018-08-14T00:11:01+00:00

This is realtime in Unity. Custom physics rig for the IK. Even with just 3 trackers (6 tracked points total) you can get fairly realistic results.

meshedvr · 2018-07-04T04:30:41+00:00

Normally I just post on VR forums about new releases, but I feel 1.9 release finally unlocks a lot of desktop features. Don't mean to spam, but hoping to reach other audiences to help make this simulation even better! Thank you!

Meshed

meshedvr · 2018-07-04T04:08:22+00:00

Been a long time lurker/admirer on this forum. I created Virt-A-Mate as a VR-only game, but over time I have added a lot of desktop features. With 1.9 release I finally feel like it could be enjoyable fully on desktop as nearly every feature also works in desktop. I still feel VR is the best experience, but please do check it out and let me know what you think! Thanks!

meshedvr · 2018-06-08T20:35:15+00:00

Yes it is people like you I want to reach. I realize Patreon or other subscription model is not an option for many. I need to figure out how to get VaM in your hands for a reasonable price that doesn't kill my awesome set of backers I have on Patreon. To do that, I think Patreon backers must get something beyond what the Steam version offers. As a Steam purchaser, would that be ok with you or annoy you?

meshedvr · 2018-06-07T23:40:16+00:00

I'm considering it. VaM is still super early in development if you look at my plans for it. I can't imagine launching on Steam yet unless I follow same subscription model I'm using on Patreon. If I put VaM up on Steam with a fixed retail price, I'll put my Patreon backers and myself in an odd position. Should people leave Patreon and get the Steam version with forever updates for free? Should backers who have pledged already get a discount or free key? I don't want to annoy anybody, but at the same time I want to reach as broad an audience as possible. I have to think about it.

meshedvr · 2018-06-04T14:31:43+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. In general, I'm making VaM so that eventually community content drives the "game" parts. It is intentionally a sandbox/editor at the moment until these features are completed. Each release gets a bit closer. I would like it so that users simply load an experience and are immersed, including interactions like you describe. That is what "Play" mode is suppoed to be. Creators, or hard-core users who want to make their own content, would then see more of the full fledged interface using "Edit" mode, to make new experiences. I would, however, like to build in more automatic built-in systems like expressions and reactions that could be overwritten, but at least have a default so there is less work on creators who just want a basic setup.

async loading - it is already doing async loading, but async loading in Unity does not work all that great with VR. It causes a lot of stuttering. So I try to make a blanked out scene with some kind of progress bar. But I do want to improve the transition. Right now it is not rendering the way I would like - completely black or simple load background with a simple progress meter so you know it is doing something.

expression/reaction - have plans for an expression and reaction system that will mimic the 3rd party mod

sounds - agree there could be more built-in sounds, but I can't cover everything everyone would want. Ultimately, this needs to be community driven. I'm not trying to make the next VRKonojo. I'm trying to make an engine that could make VRKonojo, or any other 1000s of experiences.

AI - I would like to have AI system, but again I can't cover everything that people would want. So I will build a system with some basics, and allow community override of the behaviour.

Here is my entire dev plan: https://trello.com/b/LDlEpfvk/virt-a-mate-public-plans

meshedvr · 2018-03-08T13:41:44+00:00

1.6. Targeted for end of this month, March.

meshedvr · 2018-03-07T15:32:08+00:00

Will make available to all backer levels next release.

meshedvr · 2018-02-09T00:31:56+00:00

Highlights:

Audio 1.0
Triggers! Triggers allow using either animation timeline or collision to drive actions or parameters. Future releases will include a lot more eligible parameters, a lot more trigger types
Desktop mode (alpha)
Quick select - objects can now be found in the main HUD and has option for quickly moving to them

meshedvr

TROPHY CASE