Howdy. I've just posted a new version of Chunky Orbits and a dev diary video.
https://youtu.be/efaOQrsaQZU
What's new:
Molten Chunk. A destructive projectile with fancy-schmancy particles.
Asteroid Belt. New option for rebooting your universe that spawns 150 small Absorbers that orbit a center stone.
The mini solar system Reboot now creates random orbits for the 3 planetoids plus a sparkly comet with elliptical orbit.
Adjusted the menu positions so they are less likely to intersect your other hand when activating.
Menus now disappear when you move away from them or spawn a new chunk.
Fixed a case where chunks would get stranded in space and not included in the gravity calculations.
Just a couple more weeks of working on the sim. If you have a suggestions or feedback now is a good time to send 'em my way.
Small update posted
Made a small update to Chunky Orbits today to fix a problem. The gamepad version of the sim was not launching properly if there were no tracked controllers present. Should be working now. Kind of a hacky fix but I'll figure out a proper way to accomplish what I need soon.
I also replaced the green direction arrow with some fancy particles that indicate the direction you'll go with the 'pinch and pull' movement.
Early Access beta3 - new menu system
New version of Chunky Orbits is posted and ready for your gravitic ponderings. I'm testing out a different menu system that takes better advantage of tracked hands and VR.
Press the Menu button on either Vive wand to open and close a menu of 3D icons. Poke at them with your controller to select 'em. Left hand brings up the ReBoot universe menu, right hand brings up the list of Chunks that you can add to your Universe. Rift+Touch users can use the A and X buttons.
The old Analog stick based menu system is still in place. I may keep both. The new menu needs tweaking, but it seems like a much better fit.
Small update with better performance
I posted a small update to Chunky orbits tonight.
Improved performance. I optimized the main game loop that caclulates the gravitational forces. It's now twice as fast and more consistant across all rendered frames. Should provide a smoother experience and allow you to add more rocks to the scene before performace decreases. On my system I can get nearly 300 chunks going before I start to see frame drops.
Fixed the texture on the Vive wand on the title screen. Wrong button was highlighted. ːsteamfacepalmː
New Universe starts with 100 rocks instead of 42. Soon you'll be able to choose what to spawn when you reboot your Universe.
That's all for now. Bigger update coming on Monday, the 31st.
Early Access Beta 2
I've posted a new version of Chunky Orbits. The tracked controller version of the sim now includes all of the objects from the gamepad version along with a few new features. Here's a short video that demonstartes the new goodies:
https://youtu.be/3v-x5u8mSNM
You can now add rocks that leave trails as they move through space, or add an Absorber chunk that grows as it eats smaller chunks. You can also grab rocks from the sim and delete them if you like. Change your scale from a normal human to a 100 meter tall giant, too.
Making good progress on the sim. Keep that feedback coming! Next beta will be done in a couple of weeks. Gotta spend this week finishing up a big update to my other VR game, Crashed Lander. I was nearly done with a the big 3.0 update when I got my Touch controllers and then Chunky Orbits made it through Greenlight.
Video demo of the Pinch and Pull movement system
The most recent version of Chunky Orbits includes the beginnings of tracked/controller support along with a different kind of movement system. It's a little weird so I made a short video to show how it works. Much easier to demonstrate than to describe. :csdsmile:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccldOxxeNiU
Chunky Orbits Beta1 - tracked controller support
Howdy folks. I've posted the Early Access Beta1 version of Chunky Orbits - the beginnings of tracked controller support. Should work with your Vive wands or Oculus Touch.
I'm experimenting with a new way to move around the space, something I'm calling 'Pinch and Pull'. It's a little weird, but it works well and seems to reduce that feeling of motion sickness that some people feel in VR.
To move around:
Press both of the Grip buttons - one on each hand.
Pull your hands apart to move forward.
Pinch your hands together to move backward.
Release the Grip buttons to stop.
The direction you move is controlled by pointing your hands. While holding the grip buttons you'll see a Green Arrow. That arrow shows the current front/back direction. When you move your hands farther apart or closer together you'll follow the direction of that arrow.
Much harder to describe than it is to use. :csdsmile: I'll make a short demo video soon.
The gamepad version of the sim is still available. Just press A on your gamepad during the title screen to launch that version. Touch users will see the Vive wands in their gameview for now. I'll have the proper Touch models in there soon.
Head on over to the Beta Builds forum to leave feedback, offer suggestions, or get some help.
