Welcome to the Developer Update for November 10th, 2022!
If you’d like to catch up, you can read our previous Developer Update from November 3rd.
Spookality World Category Going Away on Monday!
We’re closing up the Spookality world category on Monday, November 14th!
The worlds aren’t going away, though! You can always find all the portals at the 2022 Spookality Hub.
Check them out in the menu while you can!
Creator Companion Reminder
We’re going to be releasing an in-app banner for the VRChat Creator Companion Getting Started guide next week, to get people more aware of the impending migration in January 2023.
We’ll be updating that page with more information focusing on migration too, since most people will be migrating old projects to start.
If you’d like to read more about the VRChat Creator Companion, check the docs! You can also check out some of our previous Dev Updates where we talk about it:
SDK2 Deprecation Reminder
In addition to moving our SDK management to the VCC in January 2023, SDK2 will be deprecated at the same time. The SDK will no longer be available for download.
On a future date, SDK2 worlds and avatars will no longer be permitted for uploads. We will support existing SDK2 content within VRChat for as long as possible.
VRChat 2023 New Years Plans!
We talked a bit about this last week! Here’s some updates.
VRChat NYE World Posters, Food Trucks, Storefronts
We’re in the middle of inviting people to create Posters, Food Trucks, and Storefronts to fill out the NYE 2023 world. We’re adding some additional stuff to the New Years world (one of which we preview below, in ongoing development) but for now we’re keeping some of it a secret.
Because these slots are so limited, we wanted another way so EVERYONE gets a chance to participate in the New Years event. So, this year, we’ve introduced something new:
The VRChat Entertainment Network
The VRChat Entertainment Network is a 26-hour long video stream we’ll be running! You can contribute video for us to play during the stream!
Check out this post to learn more. You can make a video and submit it right now! The deadline is listed on that page.
VRChat 2022.4.1p2
Today, we released a VRChat patch! It includes a bunch of fixes we wanted to get out before the weekend.
It also includes a few smaller features, like new IK options and the ability to rename avatar favorite lists within the VRChat application!
Check out the full patch notes here.
Ongoing Development
Groooooups
I don’t have much to show here, but Groups is a BIG focus for us right now. We’re pushing hard to have a version to release for this year, so the community can try out the initial release over the holidays.
We know you’re gonna have TONS of feedback, so we’re also preparing for that. We’re also preparing a proper communication campaign to show off Groups for release, including a new video Dev Update with Strasz.
Even More Graphics Udon Hooks
Recently, we added a bunch of new Udon hooks to access the VRCGraphics class of functions. However, we’re not done just yet!
Efforts are currently underway to add temporary RenderTextures to Udon, as well as constructors for RenderTexture
, Texture2D
, Texture3D
, and Sprite
.
We’ll have more info soon!
Udon-controlled Video Recording and Screenshots!
The New Years world is getting some cool and fun gimmicks to try out!
First off, these features aren’t currently planned for exposure to users, but honestly I don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t eventually be.
Here, we use a Cinemachine Clearshot system to automatically switch between cameras, which starts and stops video capture based on trigger areas and saves a video that can be reviewed without even leaving VRChat-- on a Quest 2! To reiterate, this recording is done without external software or platform APIs, and is started and stopped via Udon controls.
We’ve also included just the screen recording video captured natively on the Quest 2, just to show how it looks.
Creator Companion UX Update Progress
Lots of work on the Creator Companion’s UX upgrade!!
A quick list:
- All of the settings have been implemented!
- User packages functionality has been implemented!
- You can switch between light and dark theme (respects the system theme by default) (if you use light mode we report you to the appropriate authorities)
- Project migration UI has been fully implemented
We’re working hard on getting this UX upgrade ready as soon as possible. No ETA yet!
Conclusion
As noted at the end of the previous thread, we’re delaying our planned continuation of our toxicity discussion until a later date. We’ll let you know!
That’s all for this week! Sorry if it’s sparse. Groups is where we’re spending a ton of our current efforts!
Make sure you check out the Spookality worlds before the world category disappears on the 14th, and start throwing together some videos for the VRChat Entertainment Network!
Thank you, and we’ll talk to you next time.