1.17.5 Beta Release is Out!

Note: This is a Beta release, meaning it did not get the usual amount of testing and it might have more bugs than usual. 

Important: to get this update, you must have the latest version of the updater and choose a new beta opt-in checkbox. You can run the existing updater used to download 1.17 and it should immediately prompt you that a new version of the updater is available. Update it and you should be presented with a new option along bottom that says, "Beta Opt In". If you click this checkbox, you should see option to update to 1.17.5.0.  If you do not see this beta opt-in checkbox, it is possible you are running older version of updater that cannot self-update. Get the latest one HERE. Once you have the self-updating updater, there should be no more need to download a zip.

I managed to address several of the things I listed earlier:

• Created new version of the target cycle functionality that still uses SteamVR binding so no loss of functionality for Vive controllers.
• Completed Oculus Touch bindings for SteamVR, and fixed several bugs that were introduced to regular Oculus mode during the input overhaul.
• Added back Oculus-mode finger bend, although it is a bit different than the old bend. Still needs some tweaking.

In addition I found and fixed a few other issues today including a hard crash that was occurring when pulling open SteamVR dashboard.

What did not get done:

• New clothing, textures, and atom material work done by my art developer was not added. There was extensive work here, and I need to properly review it all and put into proper bundles for release. Due to the amount here, this will not be completed until 1.18 release.
• Windows Mixed Reality default bindings were not created. I was unable to test WMR because apparently my current dev workstation does not have bluetooth 4.0 which is required for the controllers. I didn't have time to sync the build to another computer to bind and test. Users could easily make bindings in SteamVR input settings manager though, so hopefully this isn't a huge deal.
• Leap Motion finger tracking port to new unified system was not completed. Leap Motion still works, but is on old system, meaning you cannot control Person fingers with it yet. I looked at it for a bit, and realized it was many hours of work to complete. So this will be deferred to future1.17.X or 1.18 release.

Release Notes

Features:

• Added mouth/teeth/tongue material control
• Presets now support thumbnails
• Physics rate system redone. New default is “Auto” which picks a physics rate that best matches the headset's current refresh rate. Added 60hz and 72hz physics rates. Note 90hz is the highest because running physics higher than this is not realistic in such a physics-heavy game. I found 120Hz refresh with Index on my system works a lot better than 90Hz, because physics can run at 60Hz and be less demanding overall, and reprojection at 60Hz also works great for more complex scenes. 60Hz may be the ideal physics rate overall for Index users.
• SteamVR Plugin update
• SteamVR Input overhaul. Completely redone to use SteamVR binding system, which allows easy customization of controls using SteamVR tool. To customize, open up dashboard while in game (system button), click the Settings Button. Then click Input Bindings Button. There are tutorials online for this as this is a common input binding system used in many new games
• SteamVR finger tracking. Works with ALL controllers including ones from Oculus, but works best with Index controllers.
• New Person finger pose options: Morphs (current), new per finger JSON params, or Remote. Binds in with new SteamVR finger tracking for fine-finger control during possess or via remote. Works best with Index controllers.
• Push/pull of remotely-grabbed nodes. Requires SteamVR input system. Note Oculus Touch users can simply run VaM in OpenVR mode using included .bat file if they would like to have more controller flexibility and bind this functionality to the thumbsticks.
• Added option to show controllers in SteamVR mode. Works with all headsets to show accurate representation of the controllers. If used with new SteamVR gloves hands option and choose controller hand pose in the VR user preferences, you will see accurate hand on controller representation.
• Added new VR Hands model: SteamVR gloves (currently no collision)
• Vive Tracker support updates. Now support up to 8 Trackers. Trackers need to be assigned roles (Left Foot, Chest, etc.) to work in VaM now. Ignore the role names as any Tracker can be bound to anything inside VaM. To set Trackers roles, click the Tracker icon in SteamVR and click Manage Trackers.
• New Possess options: Unpossess specific possessed node, 2-stage possess without clearing existing posess, and clear head possess only

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed issue with complex scenes loading incorrectly when joints set to Comply
• Fixed issue where preset load would sometimes hang on waiting for character load
• Scene Animation was incorrectly using time scale when not set to 1

Tweaks:

• Preset file browse no longer shows sub-directories as those cannot be used and were just causing clutter
• Improved preset rename and delete
• Screenshot after save now restores UI back to last state
• Reduced Long+Straight default tessellation parameters to 12+12 from 24+24 for much better performance without much loss of quality
• Improved hand possess location for SteamVR. Now uses SteamVR estimated hand positions and orientation for better alignment.

Enjoy!

Meshed