VR Realms 0.2.4 went out on October 8. This is what we have been building since, and it all arrives with the next update, 0.3.0.

Face tracking

If your headset tracks your face, your avatar's face now follows yours.

• Your expressions. Smile, jaw, brows, cheeks and tongue, with your eyelids and where you look.
• Other players see it. Your face travels to everyone in the session.
• On by default. The switch is in Settings, on the Comfort tab. Type /face in chat to see what your avatar can move.
• Your avatar needs face shapes. One with the standard face capture shapes works as it is. One with only a talking mouth opens that mouth with your real jaw.
• Working today on a Quest Pro. More headsets are being tested.

Webcam tracking (desktop)

No headset? A webcam can move your avatar.

• Face Only. Your face, eyelids and eyes.
• Face and Head Movement. Your avatar's head also turns, nods and tilts with yours.
• Upper Body. Your arms, shoulders and fingers too. An arm follows while its hand is up where the camera can see it.
• It is off until you pick one in Settings, on the Comfort tab.
• Your camera picture never leaves your PC. It is turned into a pose for your avatar on your own machine. It is never saved, never shown and never sent. Only the pose travels to other players.

Avatar looks and outfits

One avatar can now come with a whole wardrobe.

• Looks. The same avatar in other colours and textures.
• Outfits. Swap the armour for a shirt, take the hood off, change the boots. Change one piece at a time, or put on a whole outfit in one pick.
• Where to find them. Quick menu: Avatar, then Looks or Outfits. Or the small shirt button on an avatar's card. Or in chat: /look, /outfit and /wear.
• Everyone in the session sees what you wear, and the game remembers it the next time you wear that avatar.

For creators

The Creator Kit that ships with 0.3.0 is what makes these avatars.

• Looks. Add a look, pick other textures or another material for each part of the body, and the kit makes the rest.
• Parts. Point the kit at a modular character pack and it sorts the pieces into slots: hair, torso, legs, feet. Dress the avatar in a 3D view, choose what players start with, and save outfits.
• Wings, tails and hats. A piece from another pack can hang on one bone. Move, turn and resize it with handles in the 3D view, with Undo.
• Lighter avatars. Build keeps every avatar texture at 2048 px at most. An avatar with parts can be up to 800 MB.
• The guides are already up: Looks and Parts and outfits.

Also in the works

• Items made for your hand. Creators will be able to set exactly how a Workshop item sits in your grip, so a fishing rod or a tool goes into your hand the right way round. Desktop first, VR to follow.

0.3.0 is in testing now. VR Realms is free, so if it is sitting in your library, come and look around. Want to meet people? Our hub hangouts are on the events page, and you can tell us what you want next on Discord.