Welcome to the Developer Update for January 19th, 2023! Happy New Year!
If you’d like to catch up, you can read our previous Developer Update from December 15th.
Welcome Back!
Welcome to our first Developer Update of 2023! Before we get into the first few things we’ve been working on, let’s review what’s happened since our last Dev Update.
New Years 2023
We had a wonderful New Years 2023 celebration with music from many VRChat musical artists and DJs and the VRChat Entertainment Network! All taking place in the VRChat Square world, filled with tons of community-contributed content from the VRChat community.
As a side-note, yes, we did set a new user record 
Thank you to everyone who contributed and helped make this event happen! As we do every year, we learned a lot about running one of the largest VR events in the world. 
We think this year went pretty smoothly!
Stream provided by VRCDN
VRChat Square Community Contributors
Not all contributors are listed!
LØUИΛ, -Toaster-, -Toaster- , ~kio~, ~Riko~, ~Sam, 
Fizzi:heart:, 1, AcChosen, Aeriy, Aigey, Airishayn, Almond, Apakilypse, Apois, Arara Vilano, ArchiTechAnon, Ariexe, ArtsyLyds, Ash, Atiash, BananaBread, BigBadTeddy, Blue-kun, Bluefox, Camille, CapoLock, Carlos Austin, Centauri, Chevette, child of the beast, Club SCHISM, Colefreezer, Coquelicotz, Crazy Mango, Cubeboy, CyanLaser, CyberChimp, Darkjayson , Dicidius, DigitalAzure, DragonHeart, DustBunny, Emymin, Ethosaur, Faukk, FelixYoung, Fins, Fionna, FlowersRite花之祭P, FlurryPuff, FPaul, Gallium, Garret2727, GenkiDev, GetEmWetShaggi, GSoTN, Hadean, Hey It’s Siren, Hey It’s Siren, Hiyu, Hoizen, IsYourBoi, Jamie Vatarga, jenny0629, Jenny0629, Juice…, JunHakase, Kareeda, Karet, Kilerbomb, KimplE, Lakuza, Lamp DX, LaserShield, Legendary Actions Team, LegendsVR, Little Poe, llealloo, Logibear, LowPolyBunny, Lowrhen, Lucifer MStar, luf, Lunar Squad, Maebbie, MattyMT, Mayxsm, mcphersonsound, Meathamski, Melonbread , Meltyrice, Metamaniac, mimi, Mochie, Mojopeg95, Mr. Brunswick, MrMe, Murdercrumpet, Namoron, Nanoade, Naugamonster, Negative2G, Neomory , Nifaux, NProwler, Octuplex, Ostinyo, owlboy, Owlboy, Paci Stardust, Pandapropaganda, Resnauv, Rina , roflgator, Saracen, ScarletScript , SCRN, Seedsy, Senor Qweeph, Shadowsnipe, ShaggyMummy, Shanie MyrsTear, Shinikami, Silent, Sippbox, SippBox, Skipper, Sly, Smoli, Sournetic, Spearmint, spookyghostboo, Teeh, TFMJonny, ThatOneRebel, TheDoctor26, Thrill, Thrillseeker, Toaster, TrueAquaPsyc, Twice, Twisty10000, VeronicaJae, VR Dance Academy, VRF Team, WalGesicht, xCirrex, エーテルイカ, コクリコ, 魔いたけ
Music Event Contributors
Japan Stage
Daifuku (@Daifuku_VRC)
DJ SHARPNEL (@sharpnelsound)
Camellia (@cametek)
M4tyyyyy (@xM4Ty)
Europe Stage
JazzySenpai (@SenpaiJazzy)
Hadean (@HadeanUK)
Noire (@ItMeNOIRE)
Zuki (@ZukiVR)
Medlish (@medlish)
Timboy (@DJ_Timboy)
Americas Stage
Halo (@HaayloWho)
G-Dub (@GDub__)
PK (@king__deluxe)
Tacical (@TacicalVR)
Electro (@ElectroVRC)
Ru (@RuTransverse)
moethelawn (@moethelawnvr)
walleee (@walleee_)
OM3 (@OM3_OPR)
Sly (@SlyVR5)
Bunchasomething (@Bunchasomething)
Melonslices (@melonslices_vr)
Event Management and Support
JP Stage Management: Sera Akai
EU Stage Management: Turels_VR
Video Editing, Stream Management: 2TD
Last Chance for the VRChat NYE 2023 Merch
We partnered up with NEO4IC to create a unique shirt, “Tree of Realms,” featuring the tree at the center of the VRChat Square this year!
NEO4IC opened up a pop-up shop in the world!
Don’t worry if you missed it, they’ve still got it in stock for now! Get it while supplies last.
VRCat “Early Supporter” Badge Distribution Ending
The VRCat Early Supporter Badge is getting retired at the end of the month!
This badge is the one that appears in your profile, as shown above. It’s been active since December 2020, so needless to say, I think we’ve given everyone a fair chance!
Of course, if you already have the Early Access profile badge, you’ll keep it.
Don’t worry, VRCat will continue to pester you for treats from their vantage point on the quick menu.
Creator Companion Reminder
Before swapping to VCC, we plan to wait for the updated VCC with the Web UI (we call it “VCC-Web”).
Due to feedback, we are investigating direct downloads of packages. They’ll be VPM-compatible UnityPackages instead of the legacy ones. VCC will continue to be the recommended and primary method to set up the VRChat SDKs and keep them updated.
SDK2 Deprecation Reminder
In addition to moving our SDK management to the VCC, SDK2 will be deprecated simultaneously. SDK2 will no longer be available for download.
At 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.
Ongoing Development
A Legend Returns
As part of a recent internal jam, some of our team members decided to bring back a legend.
Coming soon!
Remote String Loading
As demonstrated in the VRChat Square NYE world, we’re adding the ability to load strings from the web with Udon!
Strings have their own URL allowlist and generally use the same approach as similar systems (like remote images, which are also on the way). They must load from VRCUrl fields, you can request their load at any time, requests will be rate-limited and automatically queued, and the queue is processed in a random order (to protect user data).
We’ve also added new Success and Error events so you can know whether the string loaded successfully and what happened if it didn’t. We’ll include a simple example in the SDK itself, and we’ve got more complex examples we can release afterward - like a working Calendar feed!
Fixed Camera Menu Scrolling
We fixed the Camera UI scrolling! Before, scrolling was hard to do, especially in smaller avatars. This would make people think we had removed features like Focus!
We’ve also fixed the arrows so when you click them, they scroll to the first “unseen” option instead of a fixed amount of scrolling.
HUD Adjustments
On desktop, notifications will now automatically get out of the way of the menus so that they’re still visible!
(In case it isn’t apparent, we’ve stuck the notifications on in that video so its easier to see)
Additionally, gesture indicators should no longer bonk into the rest of the HUD when using left or right notification anchors. This applies to both desktop and VR.
The alignment of side notification anchors on desktop has been adjusted so that the notifications face outward instead of inward.
Left:
Right:
On VR, we kept the original inward-facing notifications to keep them closer to the center, increasing visibility.
A Few Other Fixes
We’ve fixed an issue with the UI keyboard where the “0 characters remaining” message would show up initially where it shouldn’t be.
An issue where users would experience significant performance loss in the same instance as a blocked user has been fixed.
Chat Bubbles now respect the UI mask setting in the camera, so it will be possible to hide them from pictures.
Conclusion
That’s all for this week!
This isn’t everything we’ve been up to. In the background, the entire VRChat team has been planning and preparing for this year. Usually, the start of the year is full of this kind of planning, where we figure out what we’re going to do, who’s going to do it, etc.
As we talked about last year, one of the first things we’ll be tackling is improvements to Groups. Keep an eye out! We’ll talk more about those improvements as they get closer to release.
Thank you, and we’ll see you next week!
)