Major Update | KBM Character Beta Prep!
1. New VR Animation System
2. New VR Room scale Movement System
3. New VR Controller Offset System and Interface
4. New VR Seated Player Functionality
5. New User Interface Interaction System
6. Upgraded Settings User Interface
7. New Character Creation Level
8. Player Character Code Cleanup
9. New Multiplayer Faux System Testing System
Minor Updates
1. System Prep For Incoming Input Interaction Update
Major Update Summary
The first step to making a good KBM Character is to remaster the VR Character! After a year of development and system testing, I am remastering the entire code architecture. I have learned a lot so now everything gets an upgrade! The KMB Character is just the icing on the cake to accompany the system overhaul.
1. VR Character IK solutions have been upgraded to component space. World space solutions were great for single player but resulted in multiplayer VRKit components kiting behind the player.
2. Legs now animate when the player moves in Room Space. Improved multiplayer replication smoothness to reduce server corrections on connected clients. Bug fixed animations for parties with more than 2 connections. Now all connected clients properly animate to other clients.
3. VRKit Replication Properties have been improved to reduce network load. New intuitive controller offset user interface has been added to streamline character creation and improve overall hand positioning.
4. A new system was added to allow for seated VR gameplay. I am amazed no play testers asked for this, but I am glad I added it. Seated gameplay feels great.
5. I found a new and improved method for handling controller inputs with user interfaces. It is currently in beta in the Character Creation Level and will be fully implemented into the other user interface systems in subsequent patches. The upgraded method will allow for smarter input interactions with the planned input system upgrade and input remapping player settings.
6. The Character Creation Level required multiple upgrades to the Player Settings, so the entire Settings User Interface got an early overhaul. It looks great, performs better, and has a handful of new and improved settings with more coming soon.
7. The Character Creation Level has been in lined to be loaded immediately after starting a new Saved Game Slot. The old system required the player to manually launch the character creator which was unintuitive. It should have been and is now opened after starting a new profile and can still be accessed any time after. I also simplified the level, so fewer unique shaders need to be loaded. This took me a while to figure out since as the developer I almost always have all the shaders loaded, but the old Character Creation Level had some unique shaders that required additional loading for regular players which is annoying, so I fixed it. The only unique shader is the mirror which was also upgraded to better reflect the players avatar.
8. Part of upgrading the Player Character is cleaning up the mountain of code it contains. As a new developer I am still working on creating a functional organization and coding style system. While I do my best to keep my code clean and commented, you don't know what you don't know, and I am learning more every day. My code is now much more organized to support my ongoing efforts.
9. I can only play with one VR headset which makes testing multiplayer code extremely difficult and as a solo developer multiplayer testing is finnicky at best. I am in the process of creating an advanced faux VR system for multiplayer testing so I can debug multiplayer mechanics with confidence.
Minor Update Summary
1. I have the foundation for a new input system prepped that will allow for dynamic input mappings and smarter controller interactions.
Dev Note
-This was a massive update with loads of math to solve and upgrade the animation and room scale systems. As a VR developer I've got to say that animation and IK are probably the least fun things I've had to teach myself to code so finishing this part of the Character Upgrade feels great. The VR Character cleanup into KBM Character creation continues! If you have any suggestions or experience any bugs please leave a detailed post in the community section. Happy New Years!!!
Once again while working on this next patch I am going to be putting more effort into marketing and community outreach. Multiplayer games are more fun and exciting when there are multiple players! Coding more content and progressing the game is important but so is building a player base.