Hello people of Steam, welcome to our monthly Status Report! This will be the first post migrating from our old Forum website, so expect to see these regularly around the beginning of each month.
This month’s Status Report will cover progress on the next major update, information on the upcoming Standalone version of the game, a new Networking feature for modders, and news on our other resources.
r171 Progress Update
Continuing on with the development of the next major update, we’ve introduced many new additions and fixes that draw us closer to a final release. There is still more work to be done before then, so let’s take a look at some of the highlights from Experimental updates during the month of April:
ChilloutVR is migrating to Unity 2021.3.23f1
Significantly expanded the customization options for quick menu, movement, and turning
One-handed VR Movement was added
Microphone volume can now be adjusted
The “Go Home” feature in the exit menu is now functional
…and much more! These are only a few of the changes we’ve made; a much larger changelog can be found in our community Discord server and by navigating to the Experimental News channel.
On an additional note, we are aware that this update has been taking much longer than initially expected. This is mainly due to considerations and research required to find the most stable and compatible unity version to upgrade to and migrate old systems to the new foundation. We want to ensure that the stable updates add to the game's quality and performance, not diminish them. We are confident that we have the majority of issues derived from the Unity engine upgrade resolved and hope that we can give everyone access to the new version of the game within the next month.
With that said, if you’re a content creator and have not already checked out the current Experimental build of ChilloutVR, now is the time! Rendering changes introduced in Unity 2021 cause some incompatibilities with old shaders in VR, so be sure to prepare and update your content when the new CCK is available if necessary!
More information here: https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/SinglePassInstancing.html
Please don’t hesitate to ask for help in our Community Discord!
Standalone Progress Update
While additional work on a standalone port is still required, we still want to keep those interested up to date and informed of new information when we have more to share.
Development is proceeding well, as we’re currently working to provide early test builds to chosen participants who answered our call for applications back in March. All spots for the first wave of testing are filled but we are hoping to let more users test the standalone builds early once the first working builds are made. We are also looking into possible ways to allow public experimental builds for both Pico and Quest at a later date - just like currently available for Steam builds.
For the creators out there; shortly before, we’ll be aiming to provide a CCK capable of building and uploading content for the Android platform to use with Standalone headsets. This will allow new content to be uploaded, or existing content to be updated for support. Unfortunately, this will introduce a separation of content between PC and Standalone, but an indication of platform availability will be added to specify if a world, avatar, or prop is available for PC, Standalone, or both. A future development goal is to establish a custom asset format that allows building for all platforms together and loading the content generated for one platform on other platforms as well. This is a goal for the rather far future and we will elaborate on this further once we get to the point where we are able to move on regarding this specific feature.
If you have any more questions, feel free to ask over in our Community Discord server at the end of this post!
Mod Network
As some of you may know, modification of the ChilloutVR game client has allowed developers to express their creativity through more than just the avatars, worlds, and props that we directly support. These can be anything from small tweaks to entirely new features and overhauls. The possibilities that modding can bring to a game are endless and we enjoy the idea of users making the game their own within reasonable bounds.
Of course, modding isn’t very common for online multiplayer games to support for understandable reasons. However, our team understands the benefits that such creations can bring to an open sandbox like ChilloutVR through our own experiences of using and creating mods for games that we love. As such, we try to show our support for the modding community by equipping them with the tools and entry points needed to create something new and exciting. With that said, we will soon release a tool that will expand the possibilities granted by modding by a new layer; the network layer. Introducing the Mod Network.
Simply put, the Mod Network will allow mods to send and interpret messages and information over the network between users using our game server network. Such messages and information can only be sent to users connected to the same instance. Though this is already possible by creating a custom networking solution for mods independently of the networking of ChilloutVR, it is often outside the scope of small projects. In those cases, developers will likely find the Mod Network much more convenient and favorable to use.
Recently, we’ve been working with a few selected mod developers to test the capabilities of the Mod Network, and the results have been great so far! We’re really excited to get this out there and see how people put it to use!
Documentation on its use will be available in the near future, along with its public release, so keep an eye out for that if you’re interested.
Forums and Documentation
Just a quick update on our forums and documentation websites; both are currently unavailable due to changes to our infrastructure. We will bring them back in the upcoming days and will have a new, reworked documentation site - that the community will be able to contribute to - very soon; as was announced in former status reports. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused to anyone.
Status Page
Our website developers are currently working on a new status page system to effectively inform the community about the current status of our infrastructure. This will allow the users to self-diagnose if a network connectivity issue is related to their connection or our network. This will include status indications for the game servers in all regions, the API, the hub, and other services like the forums. Upcoming features and systems accessible to the community will also be monitored and shown on the status page.
The status page will also provide a small API for developers to display the current network status on community websites and use it in discord bots.
The status page will also offer a feature to directly report outages without the requirement to send an email.
Final lines & social links
As always, thank you for your continued interest in and support of ChilloutVR's development. Tune in next month for more updates like this, see you next time!
Social media
Find us on social media with the links below: Discord: https://discord.gg/abi
Like every company, we need financial support to be able to push updates and improve our product. We are grateful for every bit of support we get. If you want to support us you can do so here: https://www.patreon.com/AlphaBlendInteractive
We are more than thankful for your support!
Not on our Discord server yet?
Use the link above to join our discord server and get in touch with our wonderful community, get help with creation-related topics, and find people to play with.
ChilloutVR 2022r170
We have just released a new update for ChilloutVR on the stable branch.
ChilloutVR 2022r170
This update contains the long awaited IK Rework and many other exciting changes.
IK
Added support for 11-point tracking
Added the possibility to use more than one tracker per bone (for example two hip trackers)
Added universal calibration
Added per avatar calibration saving
Added the option to smooth the tracking data for body points
Added the option to spawn a mirror when calibrating
Added the option to lock the avatar to the ground while calibrating
Added the option to freeze the avatar follow during calibration by pressing one trigger
Added the option for more customizability of the IK System (min/max angles, calculation iterations, and priorities)
Added the option for head follow calibration mode for full body tracking
Added a button to reset IK settings
World Transition System
Added a new System for world transitions. This allows the implementation of custom transitions
Added a button to test the world transition
Added the option to set up to 3 colors to customize the transition effect
Added new transition: fade to black
Added new transition: digitize
UI
Added HUD option to hide skeletal input message
Added a notification when you try to speak while muted
Added an option to disable to above-mentioned message
Added a remove all props button to the main menu
Moved IK settings to their own menu category
Chnage the way the menu is rendering, so it is less effected by other effects
Fixed the prop details button in search results now works as intended in preparation for public props
Fixed a bug where loading, distance, and block avatar could overlap
Voice Chat
Added a System to manage Audio source priorities in order to reduce voicechat-related issues
Implemented distance based Player Voice Priority
Implemented AudioSource Priority Enforcement
Increase the size of the voice chat buffer to further combat voice chat-related issues
Fixed errors in the voice chat system to reduce the issue of players not being able to hear each other
RCC
Fixed a Bug connected to RCC Exhausts
Fixed a Bug where vehicles became unsynced physics objects after exiting locally
Attachment
Implemented attachment options for hand Controllers
Implemented attachment options for additional trackers
Downloading changes
Implemented multithreading for downloading content
Implemented download speed limiting
Implemented an automated network check to find the best settings
Implemented an option to disable the mentionen check
Content Loading
Reworked the Content Filter System
Fixed a bug connected to the download size setting not working properly
Added a text to the block avatar to show the reason why it was blocked
Improved avatar loading time
Reduced hitching during avatar loading
Changed that blocked content will no longer be downloaded
Changed the block avatar to robot kyle instead of the replacement 2D avatar
Reduced stutter from users joining and leaving
Nameplates
Added static height adjustment
Added head follow height adjustment
Moved nameplate options to the graphic settings
Adjusted nameplate positioning to better match the avatars head positioning
General changes
Added an audio source cap for props
Added a function that long-range audio can be filtered even when not tagged correctly
Added RectMask2D to the prop whitelist with a limit of one per props and a maximum of 250 sub renderers
Enable finger tracking by default when using index controllers
Changed loading and distance avatar scale
Changed the player collider, so it will resize when crouching or rescaling
Changed the loading avatar style to a hexagon
Changed Player collider height to reflect the avatar size in all situations
Adjusted grip pressure for index controllers to reduce accidental grips (you need to adjust your custom SteamVR bindings if applicable)
A setting was addet to the input section to adjust the needed pressure
Removed alternative rescale and made the general scaling function more robust
Severely improved the performance of the TexturePropertyParser component
General Bugfixes
Fixed a bug where the mouth and grab pointer would not interact properly
Fixed a bug that would load you into the wrong world
Fixed a bug connected to some user blocks not being applied properly
Fixed a bug that lead to bugs regarding your own voice connection
Fixed a bug where avatar reloading would not reload your own avatar
Fixed a bug where the camera data would network the tablet instead of the lens
Fixed a bug where some meshes would lead to crashes when highlighting is enabled
Fixed a bug where prop filters where not applied properly
Fixed a bug where nameplates would be positioned incorrectly
Fixed a bug where the voice position would be positioned incorrectly
Fixed a bug where the blinking would get stuck when being disabled mid-blink
Fixed a bug where advanced avatar triggers could trigger for non-local avatars
Fixed a bug connected to prop audio not working
Fixed a bug connected to dynamic bone interactions not working properly
Fixed a bug that lead to camera gesture settings not working properly
Fixed a bug that lead to smaller avatars not being able to move properly
Fixed an exception when deleting props
Fixed some issues with avatars using old cck animations
Fixed multiple issues where objects could collide with the menus
Fixed multiple issues where some Parameter stream configuration lead to unexpected behavior
Known Issues
Some avatars are experiencing strange ik behavior when Knee/Elbow Trackers are used
The Avatar could be offset when exiting a chair in an extreme angle
ChilloutVR 2022r169p1
We have just released a new update for ChilloutVR on the stable branch.
ChilloutVR 2022r169p1
This update aims to bring voice chat changes and the client side changes for auto reconnecting
Voice Chat
The voice data is now distributed on a grid system to minimize the amount of data that is transferred
The noise suppression is now less heavy
Optimized the logic so fewer channels are needed in general Important! This update is required in order to properly hear each other. If you are on an older version you will be unable to hear users that are on the newer version.
Reconnection Some people had problems with shorter disconnects that lead to them needing to rejoin the instance. We implemented an automatic reconnect feature that tries to reconnect in case of such small internet outages or peer breaks. The client-side implementation is already working, but the reconnect will currently lead to the avatars reloading. This will be fixed with an upcoming server software update, which will make the reconnect happen as smoothly as possible.
General Bugfixes
Fixed a bug that the camera would display a black image until the first image was taken
Fixed a bug that lead to severe log spam on props with misconfigured subsyncs
ChilloutVR 2022r169
We have just released a new update for ChilloutVR on the stable branch.
ChilloutVR 2022r169
This update aims to iron out some long-standing IK issues in preparation for the bigger IK rework and to get some of your requested features in.
IK
Foot offset is now kept properly after calibration (https://feedback.abinteractive.net/p/full-body-tracking-trackers-on-feet)
Animation will no longer have an influence on the avatar when in full-body tracking (https://feedback.abinteractive.net/p/idle-pose-animation-have-influence-on-your-full-body-tracking)
The avatar animator will keep running while in full body calibration
You can now recalibrate without the avatar reloading
Seated play is now automatically disabled when full body setup is detected
Fixed the avatar floating above the ground while in half-body tracking (https://feedback.abinteractive.net/p/avatars-float-5cm-above-floor-in-3-point-vr)
Interactions
You can now mark UI elements to not be interacted by index pointers by adding "[NPI]" to the GameObject name
Fixed a bug where disabling a chair could trap the player (https://feedback.abinteractive.net/p/disabling-chairs-locks-player)
Implementations
Fixed a bug where the Thumb bone would not move properly (https://feedback.abinteractive.net/p/broken-thumb)
Fixed an issue where animations would have an influence on finger spread while finger tracking was active
Fixed a bug where blinking would not be transferred over the network when using eye tracking (https://feedback.abinteractive.net/p/overrided-blinking-state-isn-t-copied-to-movement-data-from-network)
Haptic settings are now separated instead of an ascending list
UI
You can now also select players when the quick menu is open (https://feedback.abinteractive.net/p/selecting-users-w-small-menu)
Fixed a bug where the camera shutter would be stuck when taking a photo while loading into another world
Fixed a bug where hud notification icons would disappear while there were still notifications remaining
Fixed permanent stutter when changing menu categories
Fixed Issue with the stepping of the Falloff Distance slider
You are now able to disable certain hud notifications
When creating a new instance you will automatically open the details page (https://feedback.abinteractive.net/p/auto-select-newly-created-instances)
You can now set nameplates to only be visible when a menu is open (https://feedback.abinteractive.net/p/show-nameplates-when-small-menu-is-open)
added an option to display a small placeholder when an avatar is distance hidden
When an avatar is loading, a small loading indicator is now displayed (https://feedback.abinteractive.net/p/some-sort-of-loading-avatar-or-visual-for-remote-players-changing-avatar)
Movement
Fixed a bug where Holoport Locomotion could collide with the local players
You are now able to jump in holoport locomotion
Holoport speed now matches the normal player speed
Added an option to invert the vertical mouse direction
Video player
Fixed visible stutter on SetUrl
Fixed Issue with Video Player AudioSources not having the correct position
General Bugfixes
Fixed Issue with CVRParameterStream LocalWorldDownloadPercentage not outputting any value
Added force termination to the BundleVerifier in case it gets stuck
World downloads get a higher priority now
ChilloutVR 2022r168
We have just released a new update for ChilloutVR on the stable branch.
ChilloutVR 2022r168
Blocking You are now able to block other people in-game. This feature is only available in newer instances
Vote Kick Vote Kicks are now implemented in the game. A corresponding Server Update will be released tomorrow
Categorization You are now able to categorize World, Friends, and Props in addition to avatars. Props will need a small API update which we will deploy tomorrow. At the moment it can take some time for the category switch to be reflected over the details pages and the overviews
Props Detail Page We added the Props detail page. You are able to see similar information to the avatar details page here and are able to set favorites
Voice Chat We implemented further changes to the voice chat to further mitigate the issue of the voice cutting out after some time in bigger instances
Content downloading We change the way content downloading is handled to mitigate the issue of content stopping to download. Additionally, we put a debug view in the quick menu which lets you see if there are still downloads remaining and their percentage.
Safety Limits We adjusted the rather aggressive safety settings to more reasonable limits:
Shader Filtering is now disabled by default
Shader Filtering Loop Limit is now set to 512 by default
Advanced Safety is now disabled by default
Bugfixes:
Fixed some crashes regarding RCC components on props
Fixed log spam connected to the CVRParticleSound component
Fixed an issue where the user could join in a different world while joining an instance
Fixed Grip origin behavior in VR
Fixed a bug where missing Human Bones in a rig could cause a crash
Fixed an issue where hitting F5 repeatedly would crash the game
Fixed a bug where user filters were not properly applied after refresh
Fixed a bug where dynamic bone components would not be properly enabled
Changes:
We Updated AVPro to the latest version
We added the command Line Argument --cohtml-debug to enable cohtmls live debug features
Menu tabs now automatically refresh their data on switching if it is too old
Rebuild our Index finger tracking support, so it interferes less with other systems
GraphicsSettings.lightsUseLinearIntensity is now set to true. This will allow more support for lighting setups and allow color temperature to be used on Lights
We changed the behavior of Avatar Distance Disable to be more performant in some cases
We changed how Avatar child colliders are handled while sitting in a chair
ChilloutVR 2022r167p2
We have just released a new update for ChilloutVR on the stable branch.
ChilloutVR 2022r167p2
Invite Requests Invite requests are now fully implemented in-game
UI improvements The menu has undergone some changes which make it more responsive and easier to understand:
Most main menu buttons now give visual and haptic feedback when clicked
Settings headers are now better formatted and most provide an info text
Fixed Slider getting stuck on the cursor when releasing out of menu in desktop
Camera, Seated Play, and Flight mode are now highlighted in the quick menu when active
The Media Play button was changed to a PlayPause button
made values in sliders more readable
Safety Settings
Limits for advanced safety can now be customized
Bugfixes
Fixed a bug where some RCC components could disable VR mode
Fixed a bug where Attacheables would have a wrong offset in VR
The Far Clipping Plane for worlds now gets clamped to 25000 in order to prevent crashes on world load
Fixed a bug where videos from a playlist would not start playing while in an offline instance
Known issues Our network department is currently investigating issues related to content uploading.
Next Steps We will work on further improving the stability and providing better self-moderation tools soon.
ChilloutVR 2022r167p1
We have just released ChilloutVR 2022r167p1 to the stable branch.
This update fixes the issue that vive controllers were not properly assigned to the avatar's hands.
ChilloutVR 2022r167
We have just released a new update for ChilloutVR on the stable branch.
ChilloutVR 2022r167
Voice Chat We changes some fundamentals of the voice chat which should lead to better connectivity and Tweaks the voice chat fall-off so you should be able to follow conversations better in crowded areas. IMPORTANT! The voice chat changes are not compatible with past versions so we urge everyone to update if you want to be able to hear each other properly.
VR Experience
Mouse rotation is now blocked when 2 controllers are present
Rotation is also blocked while pointing at menus
The menu tilting now has an adjustable threshold
Arm IK is now disabled when a controller is missing/losses tracking
Sliders are no longer stuck when releasing the pointer while outside the menu
UI
Download percentage of worlds is now displayed properly
Worlds will now display a player count for players in public instances of that world
Players that are connected but are not in an instance will no longer be displayed as in a private instance
Safety Options
Video Player Permissions are now fully implemented (only available in instances created after this announcement)
Advanced safety can now be disabled for friends
Hiding avatars at a distance can now be disabled for friends
Bugs
Fixed a bug where Advanced Safety would remove spring joints to aggressively
Added the following missing RCC Components to the prop Whitelist: RCC_Light, RCC_Exhaust, RCC_TruckTrailer, RCC_TrailerAttachPoint, RCC_SuspensionArm
Fixed some issues that lead to increased memory usage
Fixed a bug where Avatar distance disable would hide wrong components when returning to view
Fixed a bug that rendered the in-game youtube search unusably
ChilloutVR 2022r166p1
We just released a new Update on the stable branch.
ChilloutVR 2022r166p1
This update contains the following changes:
Bugfixes
Fixed an issue that would result in users not being able to connect to our real-time API network.
Fixed an issue that would render UI elements unusable on some worlds
Fixed a bug where the local avatar would be culled in some situations
Fixed some crashes related to concave mesh colliders
Fixed some crashes related to menu-related actions
This update is meant to resolve all remaining issues connecting to our API network. This means those of you who had problems seeing friends online in real-time or receiving/accepting invites and friend requests should now be able to use those features.
ChilloutVR 2022r166
We have just released a new update for ChilloutVR on the stable branch.
This patch is adding support for the new API and game server network.
##ChilloutVR 2022r166
API We completely reworked the API in order to be more responsive and scalable in the future and also lay the groundwork for real-time communication for future functions.
Safety We implemented the following Safety Measures:
Bundleverifier: Unity Victim process that loads avatars/props into it before loading them into the game. Prevents crashing from corrupted asset bundles
AdvancedSafety: Scans components of Avatars/Props and removes malicious/excessive ones, prevents a lot of crashes
True Shader Anticrash (TSAC): Filters shaders to stop most malicious ones from crashing you
Option to replace all shaders for avatars and props
Animation and Unity event sanitation for props and avatars
A URL Whitelist was implemented, which is used by the Video Player by default
Performance The following changes were done to increase performance:
Fixed an issue that lead to reduced performance when using an avatar with a lot of advanced avatar values
Added an Option to disable Avatars at a set distance
Bugfixes
Fixed an issue where the menu was unusable on screens with narrow aspect ratios
The Main Menu position will now update when changing an Avatar
Fixed narrow aspect rations not being reflected properly in the Camera Mirroring mode
Fixed a Bug where all pointers could trigger world UI elements for other people
Fixed a Bug where local Interacteables could be triggered over the network
Fixed a Bug that lead to large lag spikes when unloading avatars with many dynamic bone components
New Features
The MovementParent Component can now be used on avatars and props. A dedicated setting can be found in the menu
Avatars now also have a generated "grab" pointer which is active while grabbing with the corresponding hand
Avatars and props can now be downloaded simultaneously
Known Issues We know of some people having issues with establishing a WebSocket connection to our new API service. Those people can still play ChilloutVR as before but the following functions are not available:
Seeing friends as online in the overview
Sending friend requests
Unfriending
Accepting/Denying friend requests
Sending/Receiving Invites
Receiving Global Broadcasts We are currently still investigating this issue and hope to have a final solution in the following days.
Some safety settings may be a little bit too harsh. We will gather feedback and will make necessary changes accordingly.
Currently, only US Region is open for instance creation in order for us to collect data on how the new infrastructure behaves. EU and AS game server regions will follow tomorrow.
Please note that this update has a high impact and feedback is very important. Please contact us at team@abinteractive.net for now. A dedicated feedback site is coming tomorrow.
Future Plans We plan to expand our Network over the following days and try to release several updates over the next days to ensure a great experience on the weekend.
