This will likely be a quick blog post of my thoughts, with the first VRChat Developer Update video. Shortly after this, I’ll be doing my analysis of Bendy and the Ink Machine‘s Chapters 1, 2, and 3 (and why I too am eagerly awaiting Chapter 4).
And now, on with our feature presentation!
If you’re a part of any community (that’s a part of VRChat), it’s likely someone pasted the link to a video, titled ‘VRChat Developer Update #1‘ (linked for your viewing pleasure). When I originally saw the title of this video, I thought the person that posted it, accidentally posted a necro post (because surely the devs wouldn’t be doing their first update video.. when the game has been out since late last year). But when I kept seeing this video posted in every VRChat community Discord server I’m a part of (plus a discussion about it), I started to take notice (and eventually watched it).
Tupper (the guy speaking) started going over the “massive population growth” (aka the ‘Ugandan Knuckles era’), and what they had to do in order to deal with it. They say to expect more update videos “on an every other week basis” (roughly, every two weeks), explaining that they want to keep the community informed “as reasonably possible” to upcoming (and future) changes to VRChat.
Future Benie update: LIES!!
Now let me stop right there, by thanking them so much for wanting to do this. It (obviously) shows to me, the devs definitely care for the community (and their game).
I was wrong assuming this…
This feels almost similar to the updates the Space Engineers devs were doing every Thursday, when the game was in its Alpha state.
Moving on, they’ve split the discussion into six groups, starting with Safety.
What I was looking forward to, is if they’ll finally start harshly cracking down on hackers who are stealing avatars. Instead, they state “security and safety are jobs that will always require more work, and are tasks that will never end.”
“tasks that will never end”…? Huh?
Let’s stop here. Is this literally saying “hackers will never stop”, or saying that the struggle to get rid of them “will never end”? I would assume it’s the latter.
It’s 2021, and it’s even worse than it was back then.
—
So now they’re talking about ‘Safe Mode’, something I personally have never had a need to use (yet always manage to trigger it without even trying to)… and I hope they address these issues.
And finally, they talk about the other ways of blocking people (or reporting to the staff for being a hacker).
Next discussion… ‘Playmaker’. I’ve heard this thing get discussed a lot in the VRChat Discord server (mainly in the #worlds channel) — how it will revolutionize the way you do world building (by actually making a game within VRChat (or even in your own Inde game)). Currently, the version of Playmaker on the Unity Asset Store, isn’t compatible with 5.6.0. .. It also costs $65 USD (with a current $13 off discount).
So wait. Does this mean, this part of the discussion.. is nothing but an advertisement for an upcoming paid Unity asset?!
Actually, that might not be the case. Yet what kills me, is Tupper’s acting like they own the rights to Playmaker (when it shows this ‘Hutong Games LLC’ does on the Asset Store), saying they’ve been working on a “very limited” closed beta for players to join, and will allow more as the development continues.
Hey VRChat, stop acting like you own the rights to Playmaker. Give the actual developers credit (by naming their company)!! He never even said “we’re working hard with Hutong Games to get Playmaker into your hands”.
Next discussion… ‘Home’. This is something I’ve heard getting bounced around a few times in the past (and it’s kind of the reason why I wanted to create my own world). But now it’ll soon be a reality. Tupper explains that you will no longer appear in The Hub, but in an instanced world called ‘VRChat Home’. It would be small enough “for only you, and a few friends”. Essentially, it’ll replace the need for The Hub being the place to teach new players the basics.
Two additional things. The first, similar to Safe Mode, you’ll be able to ‘quick teleport’ back to your home world with the correct button (or keyboard) press. And the second, you will no longer have to go into Steam and fiddle with VRChat’s advanced launcher settings (aka putting in the World ID), as you will be able to pick your (logging into VRChat) spawn world.. ingame!! That is so nice!
It’s release date as he states, is to look for it “in the next couple of updates”. Sounds like ‘SoonTM’ to me.
Thank fuck you don’t have to do this anymore.
Next discussion… Vive Controls. This discussion is very brief, stating people who have the highly expensive paperweight.. err, sorry.. the HTC Vive, have been requesting a way to toggle “the old Vive movement system” on and off.
His response is, the devs haven’t forgotten about it, and it’ll come.. ‘SoonTM’. lmao.
Sucks for Vive users (who have wanted this). But I’m glad (for them) that it’ll come.. just, when they have time.
Next discussion… ‘Coldfront’. The world that Tupper (and his dev buddies who are running around in this segment) is simply called this. It’s coming out, right now. And I wonder if the name is a direct burn to Mother Nature for not making it Spring yet (due to getting so many rollercoaster rides this April with strong cold fronts).
—
What it is, is a King of the Hill-style combat world, having weapons to kill other players with (that get parashooted into random spots).
The goal is to get to the center of the map, which is a large tower. At the top of the tower, has a “command case”. Hitting the button on the case, your VRChat username is displayed map-wide “for bragging rights”, (and the game is over).
He goes on to say that they plan to ‘play’ with certain features (aka nerfing or buffing specific weapons, and/or redesigning specific areas seen as an unfair advantage to the enemy) as time goes on.
As far as I know, they have abandoned the world idea in favor of SDK3 content.
Final discussion… Feedback. A simple reminder to join the VRChat Discord server (if you haven’t done already) starts off the discussion. There’s also this ‘Canny‘ service, claiming it’s the best way to get ahold of them.
There’s also two email addresses, with the first that you can simply say just how awesome VRChat is; being ‘Hello@vrchat.com’. And second, all job inquiries (resume and cover letter) can go to ‘Jobs@vrchat.com’.
To close out the video, is 33 seconds of shenanigans with the new world, with the Benny Hill theme playing.
And that’s about it! Great first update, and I liked how it didn’t feel too serious. It was easy to understand (at least for myself), and I look forward to video #2 in the next two weeks.
Though I gotta say, I’m quite hyped for the VRChat Home feature (especially being able to select the world you spawn into (once you login) ingame, instead of having to mess with the World ID in Steam’s advanced launcher settings (for VRChat)..