Benie's General Blog

Framework: COMPLETED!
Poses: SET!
Objects Grabbable: YES!
Unity: CAN GO TO HELL! 🖕
Project Status: BUG FREE (right now…)
Benie’s happiness: VERY!
Project: COMPLE… not yet
Redoing Submenus: THEY’RE CONFUSING!
Adding icons: BECAUSE SDK 3.0 ALLOWS IT!
Mother Nature wanting to ruin my day today with a damaging/destructive wind
threat: FUCK!! 😓

So yeah… today’s not the best day to do work on the project as I have to be very focused on the radar. I was ready to do a few things to fully finalize the project: give it that ‘cute little bow’ (sort of speak) to tie it all up with.
And it would be mainly for ‘the sake of visual clarity’.
Hmmm… maybe not the best way to phrase this. But hopefully you get the idea. Since catboy said I can organize the objects by certain categories, I thought “why not do the same thing for Submenus? To better organize to myself which pose does what.”
It’s the way the VRChat Team did the radial menu system for 3.0. I’m not a fan of the whole ‘pie chart’ style when it comes to this project.
But I guess I’m just not really used to the fact I don’t have to have a main avatar per each pose category like I did with 2.0. I do like it, don’t get me wrong. It’s just.. look. Look at this mess!
By the way, credit goes to Av3 Emulator for showing the Radial Menu as it looks like ingame.


Look at how disorganized this looks!! I really wish I had better control over what goes where, when it comes to these clunky radial menus. Plus you can end up misclicking if your thumb isn’t where it’s supposed to be and you’re in a hurry to conduct your
tests.
So this got me thinking… “how do I better organize this to make more sense for myself?” And I came up with an idea. Check out this diagram;

What do you think? I feel this is better organization, better filtering for me to pick the right pose for my needs and wants. Though I might just take the main JeroWorks 3.0 submenu out of BTDrexouium (since it has nothing to do with the avatar itself).
And this will even be better, once I (eventually) upload an actual avatar version of the object, go into full body and get to a ‘green screen’ world, and take some pictures of myself posing (as if Jero was actually doing it for me). With these more visual indications, my mind won’t be so confused which pose is what.
The only reason that’s stopping me, is how.. how I can’t seem to do transparency the
way VRChat likes it for its icons. I was told how to set up a base, but they’re under the assumption I’m not actually using ingame pictures (that are cropped out via the green screen world). I just dunno if it’ll work in my favor, or if there is a green screen world that I can hide my avatar’s shadow.
I just need a color I can easily crop out with Gimp, instead of a typical background.

But like I said, severe weather comes first for me. But thankfully, I dodged a lot of bullets and the MCV is finally out of our area. ..Whew. No severe weather or storms for awhile.
Unfortunately it took until almost bedtime until the all clear was given. So a day wasted due to bad weather (and my fear of “doing something else what if a storm sneaks up on me?!”)

But I did manage to get Jero’s VictonRoy model ingame as an actual avatar for my needs. It doesn’t have any gestures or anything a typical 3.0 model would, but seeing how the model is 2.0 (and I’m only going to use it for mainly one purpose (all because Jero’s no longer my friend)), it’s not a problem.
Though I did have a LOT of trouble trying to get it uploaded. The SDK was bugging out. But it was the old Poiyomi shader version (I ended up removing it and
getting XSToon3 (what my Drex uses) just for the model to have something it can use). As said, the upload is only temporary for pose/icon making to give the
main JeroWorks 3.0 submenu a custom icon of ‘Jero’ waving at the camera. I’ve had this idea for some time while the project was half completed.
Then after that, I can use the object poses (and me in full body) to get the rest of the icons I want. That is the plan for the custom icons.

Not THIS time, future Benie! For past Benie made a backup. There’s just no possible way you could screw this up so bad you’ll need to request help ever again (with this project)!
…At least.. PLEASE don’t fuck this up, current and future me! 🙏 I don’t want to have to go back to them again!
The only thing that worries me is the new Reset Target. Like, will it work with my other clones (in getting the rotation right and stuff)?
And.. 😲 well YES!! Yes it will! 😃 Huh. I didn’t think it would work! But here’s the proof!


I’m happy. Now to just do this 9 more times for the others.

EDIT: JeroWorks 3.0 completion chart (this will be updated)…
Readjusting object orientation between current Reset Target and new
one: Both ‘Standard’ and ‘Snuggle’ poses COMPLETED!!
Rebuilding framework STAGE 1 (changing ‘ON’ object toggles): COMPLETED!
Rebuilding framework STAGE 2 (adding new “Grab State” to object
toggles in Animator): COMPLETED!
Upload fixes to existing project ingame: UPLOADED
Testing objects ingame TEST 1 (spawning): PASS
Testing objects ingame TEST 2 (grabbing/placing): ISSUES DETECTED!!
Testing objects ingame TEST 3 (despawn/reset): PASS
Testing objects ingame TEST 3.5 (spawning another object despawns previous object): PASS
Make an actual avatar of Jero’s VictonRoy model and use it to take pictures for Submenu icons in a ‘green room’ world: …OPTIONAL, not required for project completion.

The next worry is the ‘Lay Down (side)’ poses. But if they behave, the others will.

It works too! But grabbing these specific poses is going to be.. weird. I’m going to redo the grab point for these, so I won’t be ‘trying’ to break my wrist in VR. That shit’s painful. 🤛
Oh. I forgot to set the Receivers for the ‘Snuggle’ poses. Well fuck, that’s extra work that has to be done.

…Okay! The objects have been aligned to the best I can, and the framework has been edited to support the changes. There is only one. last. thing. to do.
Upload the fixes, and test in VR. Here. we. go.
And… well. Ok it works, but when I grab the object, ..it rotates 180*, forcing me to turn my wrist 180* to fix it. And even the Idle Pose is doing it.
Going to apply another fix here. This one will rotate the grab point 180*. I dunno if this would actually fix it but it’s worth a shot. And if not, then… then I might have to
get catboy involved again. …AND I’m going to have to get catboy involved again. Fuck YOU Unity!!

EDIT2: I have a fix in place from catboy that I just got done fully applying to all of the objects. Also, new stuff!

The objects are now in their own little containers, just like adding a standard object to your avatar.
And here’s one part of the fix.

Since some of these poses are not exactly ‘normal’ for the SDK to handle, the Parent Constraint now has these additional options where I can better control just how I want the object to show up (and be grabbed). The whole thing can really destroy one’s mind though. This is likely not something I’ll remember several months down the line how I did it (much like coming back to Factorio and being confused what the fuck you did).
Catboy also warns me to “stop thinking your project is going to be bug free. I know how bad you want your project to work, but Unity will always present bugs. Unity is just, not stable. But I don’t mind helping you fix them.”
So Unity could brick my project even from adding icons. That’s why again I say the project is being held together by duct tape.

Anyway, time to test the fruits of my labor. …And after an hour re-fixing and re-testing, I got it into a form I am (finally) HAPPY with! Though there was one time where I almost swore Jero himself was trying to send me a message (as most of the objects were staring at
me, despite my best efforts to fix it).
But it was just me undoing my fix and not even knowing. The ‘Lay Down (Back)’ object was staring at me, and I was rotating something I just fixed instead of the object itself. And now they’re no longer creepily staring at me when I spawn them.

*yawns*
Welcome to Day 9, of myself trying to fully complete JeroWorks 3.0. I’ve learned a few things today, such as what a ‘little’ Rexouium-shaped ‘Birb‘ told me of how to make backups of my project folder in an efficient manner. This is the only true way
to ‘unfuck’ my work.
“Always remember to backup.” -Some random person

But what I haven’t learned, is why in the FUCK the Contact Receivers are ignoring
my Transform settings. This behavior is baffling the helpers as well. …That’s not good. If they can’t help, I’m screwed.
Though I was forced to expose the project to show them proof where I put the objects
in, where I put the Transform settings, and where it’s actually grabbing. They suggested to delete the Reset Target and re-add it. That didn’t fix the issue. Clearly I fucked something up so bad with that ‘idea’ I had. 🤦‍♂️
One helper said “here’s an idea. Do you have a backup of your Drexouium somewhere that you made no changes to? Restore it and link your existing framework to it, and see if it happens there as well.”
So this would be my 3rd attempt. As they say.. “3rd time’s the charm”. Let’s hope it happens here as well. …AND it didn’t! It still grabs at the object’s origin point! One good thing is the issue of it showing up at spawn, is gone. But a NEW bug has replaced it! Now the object isn’t resetting to its origin point when I turn it off! It uses its last location instead.
The only thing I can think of, is because I was.. rushing to get this fucking thing in a test state. I guess you can tell I’m getting tired trying to fix these bugs. I seriously need
another Atherian-like person to sit down AND HELP ME in a call!!! I’m sick of having to ask for help, and waiting hours! It’s getting ridiculous! I want this fucking project DONE NOW!!! It’s been over a WEEK!! 😣
…Please, God. If you’re listening. PLEASE let someone who knows how to do this, show up and be willing to let me call them, so I can finally FIX THIS INSANITY!! I don’t care
if I’m ‘forced to expose my project’ anymore! I WANT THESE ISSUES FIXED!!! 😖
Half of me feels like stepping away from this project and cool off, while my
other (determined) side says “No!! ..Must fix issues! Must.. fix.. issues!! Must.. make.. JeroWorks 3.0.. WORK!!” And no, it has nothing to do with Jero himself. It’s me, putting my mind to something, and expecting results for my effort.
Or just going insane at this point.

The only thing, I can think of at this point…, is the Reset Target has a lot to do with where the object is (actually) being grabbed (in relation to the Transform). Something, is overriding the Transform.
It could be the angle of it. It could even be the framework bugging on me.
I just.. I’ve already said my peace. I need. someone. to call me, and look at this mess I’ve created. Showing pictures, and them trying to explain, is not solving the issue anymore. The only thing that will, is them seeing my project in real time. Then they’ll be all “OH!! I see the problem! Try X! That should help.”
This is what I need at this point. No more having to explain my issues. No more asking for help. I need someone that can help me, in a call. Someone I can speak to. ..This is the only way to fix the issues now (or tell me “I’m sorry but what took you over a week, 3.0 won’t do for you.”). And in that case, I’ll say.. HELLO 2.0! I missed you, bud! Let’s fire up World Fixed IK and Final IK, and do what I want.

EDIT: I had time to calm the F down and tried to help who I could. One person was using the wrong Unity version, another person’s all “I want to learn how to build avatars but I’m also willing to get commissions”. And I said “there’s several websites out there that will do commissions”.
Turns out the person is a complete newbie to Unity. Hasn’t uploaded anything. Ahh the memories of uploading my first avatar, before you didn’t have to be a ‘New User’ (because the Trust & Safety system didn’t exist back then) to upload. How they thought I was trying to retexture, and one guy was like “I think all he wants is to upload the avatar”.
Good times, good times. But enough with the trip down memory lane. One user
named ‘catboy’ tried to help the person. Why am I naming him? He’s the one that helped me in a call.
He told me he’s been wanting to help me for awhile but couldn’t, that what I wanted
was “big brain time”. But he was willing to listen as I explained the entire idea of the project. He also didn’t really think of much when he saw the names of the clones, and even said “Jaro”. Was a bit interesting. Glad I can trust him with such an important (to
me) project.
There were a few times where it felt he couldn’t help me, until I said “here, let me get in VR to show you what happens”. When he saw that, he said “Yes, I believe I know how to solve this. In theory.” The fix was actually quite simple, which I will have to apply to all of the
objects: take the Jero clone and position the Contact Receiver’s transform where it’ll be sitting on the palm of my avatar’s left hand.
When doing this for the Idle Pose one, it was the rock that killed both issues!! WOOT!! “But I see an issue here. I might be able to work out a plan that will prevent your objects from ever spawning at world spawn again,” he said. I was quite excited of this news as he pulled up MS Paint and started drawing out ideas for him to understand how to place this into my existing foundation.
The idea be eventually came up with was.. ironically similar to the idea I had for the
two Snuggle poses (but with a much less risk of fucking up the project). Add a second reset point, infront of me. But this one won’t mess with the original. It started with changing
the ‘brains’ of the foundation a little.

And also this..

And finally, this (which really.. was confusing that he wanted me to set the object like this). But this is where the new reset point is.
I’ll fix it later though.

After those three things (really using the number ‘3’ here with JeroWorks 3.0, aren’t we? Feels like I’m marketing my own project, which I’m not), it was time to go back in VR and test.
At first it didn’t work, but he had a fix for this (which is the New State of the second picture). He explains how it “relinquishes control of Parent Constraint” for me to grab it. And after the quick fix..

IT WORKS (again)!! Dude, you’re awesome! Thank you thank you THANK YOU!! 🤗 You saved my project, and my sanity! 😄
I loved how extremely patient he was with me. He really had the same “let’s butcher some issues” attitude I did.

With it once again fixed, as I said I’ll need to apply the fixes to the remaining 10 objects. But I’ve made a project backup before I start work on that, to make this ‘Benie-proof’.

After 8. long. days and feeling at times I was fucked, I’m happy to report…

JeroWorks 3.0 is COMPLETED!! 😄
I did what I was hoping would be possible, all thanks to the VRChat Discord. I no longer need their help! Just got a few things left to do on my end. Everything works exactly as I want!
..Well, maybe not everything. The only problem, is I cannot have a ‘toggle lock’ to prevent myself from accidentally clicking on the object. Noone’s learned how to do this. Maybe it’s just not possible. Atherian knew, but the project was so messed up it never worked. Which is why I felt I should try again asking for help from the VRChat Discord, and I’m glad I took that plunge.
Especially when I don’t — and I mean no disrespect to Atherian — having to reach down in order to reset the object. Atherian tried his best and I am still grateful for his help. He never really did his sword work like this, and I’m pretty sure he wanted to tell me “this isn’t guaranteed to work, just letting you know”.

Today, my mother wanted to ‘get involved’ (by almost constantly wanting me to get off my computer and help her) of me trying to figure out why the Grab Object Disable wasn’t actually.. disabling. Not to mention I am really starting to get tired having to explain everything I’ve done that lead up to the issue. I wish Discord had a way where you can do chat transcripts for helpers to read, that way they’ll see everything since Day 1 of your issue and be able to assist more efficiently.
Anyway, the help was a bit confusing (possibly as confusing as last night), but some parts of it begin to push through, such as to go back to the previous configuration I had but do it differently, like this.

Then use the Bool I set up where;
Object Grab Disable > Object Grab Off: True
And back.
After testing, the toggle lock was working in reverse (enabling Parent Constraint instead of disabling). So I reversed the conditions and that got it working. But the moment I did a gesture.. the object jumped to my hand. After reporting my findings, the person
said “ohh, that’s actually normal behavior. I’ve never found a solution to stop that.”
So the toggle lock isn’t going to work. FUCK. What the fuck do I do NOW?! Someone else came to my rescue, saying “did you try a Contact Receiver inside the object? This way the grab will only respond if you do a Fist when near it.” Remembering that’s
what Atherian did to make the grab work, I thought “alright.” Went back and forth trying to figure out how to set up the configuration. I cleared the settings Atherian did and eventually went with this.

I did not need a ‘Custom’ for the Collision Tag. ‘Hand’ was already available. And the Parameter below is what will be used for the next step. Which, finally turned into
this.

“Wait. Why does this look familiar?” you might be asking yourself. Well I really have come full circle with this. Heh. Basically, I had to remove the old bool as it doesn’t work. But I did not fully know I absolutely had to do this (nor did I know not removing it would cause problems). More on this in a bit.
Between Object Grab OFF and Object Grab ON, is another condition: the parameter I set up in the previous step. Was told that to ‘true’ and I’m all set! But I had this set with the previous configuration.
I tried to use Av3 Emulator, then spawned the object. And it was in my hand and wouldn’t leave. The only way it would leave was using the bool. I was told I “wouldn’t need it” but I wasn’t understanding what the person meant. I felt they weren’t listening to me, when this was the only way (from what I was seeing) that worked. They finally explained it in a language I could understand, and that’s when I finally removed the Bool.
Sure enough the issue stopped happening after reconfiguring the layer to what you see above all of this (and then removing the Bool from my ExpressionMenu and StateParameters).
—
I then did another test using Av3 Emulator (now learning where I go to test gestures), but I couldn’t get Fist to grab ahold of the Contact Receiver. It was clear to me, Av3 Emulator wasn’t going to help me test this time and I would need to actually get into VR to do it. So I did, and it WORKED..ish! I could grab it, but releasing it was bugged a bit. There was a hell of a delay between Grabbed and Ungrabbed, where most of the time it would be stuck in my hand until I did another Fist until it finally let go.
Reported my findings and was told to “disable ‘Has Exit Time'”. Problem is.. it’s already disabled! ..Heh. And then I remembered doing something that I never expected to be causing the issue but it clearly was. For ‘Object Grab ON > Object Grab OFF’, I did the same second condition but set it to False (thinking I needed it). I removed
it, uploaded, and tested again.
Check out the results.

IT WORKS!!! 🥳 I did not need that second condition afterall!
Project completed. I just gotta be careful not to grab that area if I don’t mean to while doing Fist. Though  I’m thinking of putting the ‘grab point’ on the object’s head instead of the back of the neck. I feel like I’ll have more control there. I dunno.
Though the fact I can set this per object/pose is very good. That’s something which would not be possible before. The other thing I need to do is re-readjust where Reset Target
is.
Before (the way the object was attached to my hand by the feet), I felt concerned I would have to literally put my hand to my floor IRL in order to place the object. This is no longer the case, now I can pick it up and put it however I want.

…Yet I ‘wasn’t happy’ yet. And now I’m paying for it. It seems the framework of this project is being held together by duct tape, and I can’t tape it back together.
What happened is I saw these two poses.

And I was thinking if it would be possible to have a second reset point, then swap reset points when only using these two poses. ..But both Av3 Emulator and VRChat hated my brilliant idea.
1. I could no longer move my main avatar when using Av3 Emulator in Play Mode. What was worse is when I spawned an object, I could drag IT instead of my avatar.
2. In VRChat, the object was ‘floating away’ going left, similar to what I saw
when Atherian was testing ideas.
I thought I had bricked the project and it made me very sick to my stomach, but I discovered the problem and undid the entire ‘idea’. It was trying to set a position when I was doing the switching, which was fucking with the object spawning.
…But since then, I ran into two additional problems (which still persist at the time of typing this).
1. The object spawns at world spawn, instead of at me. I read that it’s “going to happen”. My spoiled side says “Make it STOP DOING THAT!!!”
2. The Contact Receiver is now malfunctioning. Instead of the grab point being at the back of the head of the object, it grabs the object at its origin point. This is also affecting the idle pose object.
The second issue, makes. NO. SENSE. I looked up some documentation on the script, and from what I see, it should be working! There is no Root Transform set, and it says “If empty, we use this game object’s transform”. ‘This game object’s transform’ is the Receiver object that’s a child of each object. Ergo, the transform.. THIS thing!

..is what is supposed to be used to grab the object. But instead.. it’s grabbing HERE!!

This is the origin point of the object (aka where the Reset Target is). This is what it’s grabbing, instead of the Transform. When I try to reach for the Transform point, it switches to the origin point!
UGH!!!

DAMN I wish I knew where I fucked up, so I could undo it!! Yet I’ve already undone everything I’ve done before this happened! And the issue is PERSISTING!!
I’ve tried to move the Reset Target out of my left hand and back where it was originally. But that made things WORSE!! It had assumed the ‘hand’ is my avatar instead of my avatar’s hands, and it parents to me instead of my hand!
Why?? Why couldn’t I had just been happy with how things were!? WHY?! …Though I think I ’caused’ the issue anyway when I started setting all the Contact Receivers with the same info as I had Idle Pose set. The framework could be freaking the fuck out in confusion when it’s seeing all of these receivers, and not knowing which to latch onto. But again the VRChat Discord is so fucking dead right now.
God.. why did you give the VRChat Team the intelligence to come up with SDK 3.0?! If it wasn’t for the Drexouium, I would likely be using BTD 3.5 for JeroWorks.
*sighs* I pray I’m able to get the help I require, to finally get every. single. damn bug out of this fucking framework, so I can actually ENJOY the reason why I did this
project.

I had thought of transferring what I’ve learned here to Project ‘Emeriss’ (and make an upgraded version of it).. but the fact I keep having issues with the framework of the current project here (when I thought I was DONE), I dunno if it’s worth it.
Plus, who’s to say it won’t just break AGAIN after I get help?! I am clearly asking way too much out of 3.0. That, and/or not having the smarts to make the correct repairs to the framework (where I wouldn’t need to keep asking, and explain what I want to do over, and over, and over again).
My patience is starting to wane for 3.0.

To you folks.. and the VRChat Discord. For tomorrow is another day (of hopeful fixes that will likely break later on when it’s my turn to do the rest and I end up getting ideas).
I almost wonder if this is purgatory for my sins against Jero. ..Never ever
getting JeroWorks 3.0 fully done (to a point I’m fine with it).

Can’t believe it’s been a week since I started messing with this. Today was a
bit.. interesting (and one time it got a bit scary), and then we had a bit of a “this is
why 3.0 is so much better than 2.0. Benie you don’t know what you’re talking about”. But I am SO CLOSE to getting this project done!! I can taste the completion.
This day, I went back asking why (and how) the Parent Constraint OFF animation isn’t actually.. well, doing its fucking JOB. I also installed this thing that I once heard about literally in this chat, that you can use to solve most “works fine in Unity but not
in VRChat” issues. In my case, this issue was happening both in Unity and in VRChat.

It’s a tad bit clunky (especially when I had to self-learn certain things), but it does its job. I can’t exactly say “I want to see if (Gesture Here) is working” (don’t really see how to go about doing that). The closest thing I can use to test, is this;

This showed me ‘Parent Constraint OFF’ is trying to fire, but it’s not actually disabling the constraint. Like.. what?!
And when I went to ask why and also said “Av3 Emulator showed me this was going
on”, the person’s like “wait, you use that? I heard it messes up your toggles. I stopped using it. …I hope you made a backup.” Feeling a bit fearful I may had just fucked up a week’s worth of work, I tried uninstalling the program hoping by getting rid of it, it would get rid of any fuckups. The person said “no, they’ll still happen even without. You’re screwed now.”
…I didn’t want to believe it. Then the realization of “no, YOU hold up there! This issue was happening even before I installed this! There’s NO WAY this program would had caused the problem” came over me. The person stopped talking after that.
I continued to wait for help, occasionally having the fear if I did actually fuck up this thing as I made changes using it. I kept trying to suppress it, but everytime I asked I kept feeling it.
–
Around midnight (during a total lunar eclipse), the person who helped me before showed up. I decided to DM them, hoping they’ll be able to help me. Thankfully they did, and now I will reveal the ‘hilarious’ point of the title.
“Err. That layer doesn’t have its weight set” they said. I looked and… oh. my. god. Are
you SERIOUS?! I set the Weight to 1, did some testing.. and it works. After all of that, I forgot to set the damn weight to 1 in that Layer. Also they said Av3 Emulator isn’t dangerous to use, and the one that told me this “doesn’t know how software works”.
Now I have 100% proof that program didn’t do anything to the toggles.
—
…So, there is one last thing I want, that will tie this project with a neat little bow.
I want to have a toggle (a Bool) that I can turn off this thing, where I won’t accidentally grab the object. After I bit I got.. well, half-ass (probably tired) help.
I was told to try something like this (that I don’t know if I did it right)..

But how to link it is where the half-ass comes in. The person said to “link Disable to ‘Grab enable’ and ‘Grabbed'”.. WHAT?! There is no ‘Grab Disable’ or ‘Grabbed’ state listed anywhere! And when I asked him “so like this?”, no response. No help afterward. All of the helpers are asleep or doing whatever.
This sucks.

It was getting close to bedtime when a helper finally showed up. And holy fuck did they get swarmed by askers (like me). They tried their best to help me, suggesting I try this instead.

What’s better than one Object Grab Disable? Two Object Grab Disables! ..Even though I wasn’t really getting the point of this. Infact I felt this ‘help’ was giving me a splitting headache.. not something I need when it’s bedtime.
It became 5:30am. I could feel my body and head feeling..

Ugh.. fuck this. I’ve waited all day. It isn’t worth losing sleep. Told him I appreciate them trying to help me but I really need to get to bed, and that’s the only thing I said. My body was about to collapse.
I’ll deal with this mess tomorrow… right now, must sleep.