What it says on the tin. I’ve been wanting to get into world development, but my plans keep getting super ambitious and the better of me. I get overwhelmed browsing for assets and bookmarking/organizing, get ideas beyond the scope of my coding knowledge, and also get the urge to do everything by hand (which I guess a “draft” with presets can always help.
Do you use Blender, Unity directly or an AutoCad program? Do you make floor plans. How did you advance your scripting knowledge etc.
Practical advice here… if you haven’t ever created/uploaded a world to VRC (or perhaps anywhere) you need the create the “Hello World” of Unity/VRC projects.
Creating a world (in VRC), downloading and installing the tooling, creating a project, adding the required objects, setting values, uploading and finally standing in your world is where you should start.
If you’ve done that (or more) build up from there. And plan to throw away the first few attempts.
I started by figuring out how the SDK works and uploading something very simple.
After I got comfortable, I made a list of worlds I’d like to create, and I pick the best idea.
I choose a project, I ask myself which world would…
work well in VRChat?
suffer from being in VRChat?
suit my development skills?
be easiest to design?
be playable in 1-2 weeks?
To motivate myself, I ask which world would…
sound exciting to me?
bring something new to VRChat?
I usually start with scripting and the world layout- that’s the most difficult part. Artwork usually follows later, but I try to set the mood by adding colors and music early.
Later, I create geometry in Blender, download CC-licensed assets from the internet, or ask friends for help. (Don’t forget to add credits!)
You mentioned that your plans are too ambitious. What are your criteria for choosing a project?
Thats a very good point. There was someone i follow who was making a mod for another game and she mentioned how its common for people to use placeholder graphics make sure everything functions right then its much easier to just slot everything in. It makessense, just as an artist im not used to mechanics before graphics, my approach for drawing is the opposite. Then it just means i get discouraged fast by how ugly shit looks at the start haha. This post made me think so ive actually been practicing this in tower unite which is my current fascination.
Basically my ideas are born from what i think is “missing” from vrchat as far as a world i would like to be in. Mostly game worlds or the idea of porting some board games. Thoughts on how they would need to be adapted, buuut like someone said i havent made a “hello world” yet where i experiment with common triggers and toggles sooo that should be first.
Im also intimidated by UdonSharp. I have done a hello world and a color palette generater with C# but when it comes to what i want to do i kinda have nooo clue where to start with scripting, visual or otherwise
Basically when it comes to assets. I have the supremely unreasonable expectation sometimes for myself that every object or texture in the world has to be either CC0/Public Domain or modeled by me.
every object or texture in the world has to be either CC0/Public Domain or modeled by me.
There are plenty of CC-licensed models - just don’t forget to add attribution!
Assets also sometimes go on sale for free - or you can buy things on sale. Though I wouldn’t worry about that while you’re still learning.
Basically my ideas are born from what i think is “missing” from vrchat as far as a world i would like to be in. Mostly game worlds or the idea of porting some board games.
That’s how I got started, too! VRChat has some aspects that can make traditional board games difficult.
VRChat players might disconnect at any time.
VRChat players don’t want to spend time learning how to play.
Text is difficult to read in VR.
Interacting with small items is difficult.
I usually try to adapt games that don’t run into these issues. I.e. simple social games where players can drop out at any time.
If you don’t tick all those boxes, that’s fine, too - you’ll be appealing to a niche audience, but they might really enjoy your game. This also gives you the benefit of not needing to script everything - if dedicated players enjoy your game, they can read the rules and do things themselves.
i kinda have nooo clue where to start with scripting, visual or otherwise
It can be helpful to approach UdonSharp by learning Unity C# development first. https://learn.unity.com/ has some great courses.
I also strongly recommend finishing your projects. You’ll learn a lot from releasing something - things you can’t learn if you cancel 10 prototypes halfway. That’s why it’s a good idea to start with something small.