sgthale

Beginning Ragdoll Editor part 1

I managed to start on the ragdoll editor tools. This will be used to allow the user to specify what part of their custom model is the legs, arms, head, etc of the ragdoll. The system looks like this so far:

Upon importing a model, you will need to bind the ragdoll limbs to the model's bones. The menu tries to automatically bind them when you first start but many models have different bone names...

Continuing Runtime FBX importer Part 2

I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving break. I made lots of progress with model importing framework for the new character system.

As I said before, we are going to be using fbx files instead of viva cards because they are much faster to decompress, easier to work with, and allow for full customization. Also, many MMD models can be converted to fbx from pmx files.

As a test I downloaded a Hestia model and began hacking away at the AutoDesk fbx documentation to understand how to read ...

The Future of Viva (v0.9)

First a word on the release of v0.8:

SteamVR has caused many issues throughout the development of the game. COVID has imposed an injunction on the development between Steam and Unity making both APIs have difficulty communicating with each other. If you are having issues with your hands in VR, do note that it is not just you but that it is random and there are users who CAN and also CANT press buttons or track their hands. Please try to use the latest SteamVR BETA drivers by going into ...

Viva Project v0.8 Public Release!

The stable release for this game is now live! Changelog:

I will be on high alert for important hotfixes. I polished the physics one last time to prevent insane spazzing. I also added some small tutorial bubbles where you spawn. I also placed a clothing customizer and character selector in the onsen so you can select characters and swap them out with loli cards.

Be aware that the original ...

Beta Pre-Release v0.8k

Code: banana split

This version includes a number of bugfixes and improvements. Namely:

• Horseback riding is now smooth and works properly now. You can command 1 loli to ride with you.
• Follow behaviors were improved to allow getting up close easier.
• There is now a 2nd clothing menu in the onsen. You can change the clothing of multiple lolis at once by selecting any ...
  2020-11-09 08:35:48 +0000 UTC View Post

Continuing Wrap Up Part 8

I was supposed to write a devpost 2 days ago but I was hung up on the US election. Anyways I've been hammering away with the other new developer trying to fix and improve the feel of ragdolls and other behaviors.

Horseback riding is now smoother than it was before and will now feature a quick animation as the loli gets off the horse.

There were some funny glitches happening while I was fi...

RELEASE DATE DELAYED. Continuing Wrap Up part 8

The release date for v0.8 has been delayed by 2 weeks. The new release date window will be 11/14/20. It's the first delay I've ever had to do but the game just needs a bit more time to iron out some features.

The last beta pre-release had a personally disappointing level of bugs despite still being able to test out the new things. This prompted a rewrite of certain backend things that will require a bit of time to improve. I've been doing lots of polishing and improvements to ensure tha...

Beta v0.8j Pre-Release

Code: scary

Sorry I needed an extra day to release this. This beta will be for testing the new sleeping, poker hand games, and scary easter egg features.

Sleeping: Simply select a group of lolis and point to a bed. They will sleep until morning or for a while.

Poker hand games: There is a deck of cards at the reception desk (for now). Select a group of lolis and offer them this deck...

Continuing Wrap Up Part 7

I finished 2 big things in the past few days. Sleeping and the Halloween easter egg.

Sleeping works like before where you tell them to sleep and they will wake up in the morning. There are sleeping variations so they don't all sleep the same way:

Poking and headpatting are also back in while sleeping.

2020-10-19 08:45:15 +0000 UTC View Post

Continuing Wrap Up Part 6

I am halfway through adding sleeping mechanics back in. I also worked on the special Halloween part of the October release. I will not show that part of the update in this devpost to keep it a surprise. Expect scary noises, spooky ghosts, a mini-game, and blood.

The sleeping mechanics are going well thus far. There were quite a few things I had to do to get it working with the latest logic pipeline. The first problem was handling the animations. The Viva engine has over 350 animations f...

Continuing Wrap Up Part 5

I've completed 95% of the poker logic to be compatible with physics and multiple characters. There are a few changes and improvements to the card game.

Before starting the game, the player must select an area that is open enough for multiple characters to play.

After this the lolis will take turns picking up their respective hand cards.

After ...

Continuing Wrap up Part 4

I am continuing to add more and more of the original behaviors and making them compatible with physics and multiple lolis.

To start simple, idle animations are back. If you played the most recent beta, you will notice that the lolis felt stiff because they didn't animate very much. This has been fixed as the idle animations have been made compatible with the newest logic pipeline.

Current...

Beta v0.8i Pre-Release

Code: trailer features

This Beta is the same as the last one except it has a decent amount of bugfixes and new features. It is just a polished version of the trailer that you saw in the YouTube video. The next beta after this will include several behaviors being added back in (poker, sleeping, horse, etc.). I added fireworks in the onsen so you can use them for demo purposes.

Again, to ma...

Viva Project v0.8 Trailer

Beta was delayed to push this trailer out. Next beta in 1~2 days.

Stay tuned!

Continuing Wrap up Part 3

I am continuing to add back in and polish previously removed behaviors to work with the new logic pipeline as well as with multiple characters. Most of the work I did in the past few days was mainly prioritized for the YouTube update video.

To start, the merchant behavior now has a couple more basic actions. Whenever a potential custom approaches the stand, they will signal to you to come over.

...

Continuing Wrap up Part 2

I added a few final necessary improvements for managing lots of lolis.

For starters I added name tags which will appear on their shirt if they are part of a profession. If they are employees of the onsen, the following name tag will appear:

Additionally I added speech bubbles which telegraph the reason as to why they will or won't accept your command. This was necessary for letting the pl...

Beginning Wrap up Part 1

I did a lot to fix and improve the existing loli mechanics in the past few days. Also, I started adding existing behaviors that were previously temporarily removed.

To start, I received some complaints that the lolis would often fight for opening doors. This has now been fixed with some basic crowd control code. Characters will now take turns and wait for others to open the door:

Additionally there is a new gesture...

Beta v0.8h Pre-Release

code: onsen banana

This Beta you can test out the onsen with 4 lolis. This beta is strictly only for testing the new onsen location. Please do not go into the town to try other stuff (that is still under construction). That said you can do the following to test it out:

1.) Walk into the onsen (you will have to slide the doors with your hands)

2.) Ring the bell a...

Continuing Onsen Part 10

Devpost arrived a day later than usual due to Labor Day in the USA.

At last. Actual footage of the characters swimming in the pool. There were quite a few things I've been working on to get ready for this weekend's Beta.

To start, I had to figure out a way to make the lolis move around the pool in an organic way. I wanted to make sure that they could move around the pool and swim to different locations. This was an interesting problem because the shape of the pool is not uniform. ...

Continuing Onsen Part 9

There's a bunch of fun stuff I completed in the past 3 days.

To start, I needed to make sure that the fusuma sliding doors did not act as obstacles for the lolis. As a result, lolis are now smart enough to open sliding doors. This was a great addition to their growing logic:

This was an interesting problem because the entire world is now simulated with physics. The character had to intera...

Continuing Onsen Part 8

The past few days I modeled a new clothing piece and implemented more onsen behavior logic.

The new clothing piece that will be customizable is the towel wrap. This is a simple towel that will be used by the characters when they are in the onsen. Like other game mechanics in the game, the player can point to the changing room to tell the loli to go to do something in particular. However there was an issue with telling which loli to do what. As a result I implemented a character selectio...

Continuing Onsen Part 7

The new logic rewrite is done and it is very efficient and robust. It was used to create the reception desk character job. This will employ lolis to attend clients at the front desk and help them around the onsen if it's their first time.

So, what does this new behavior system do? Well as I've said before it makes it VERY easy to manage branching logic and handle interruptions. The reception desk job does the following:

2020-08-26 09:00:33 +0000 UTC View Post

Continuing Onsen Part 6

I hope you tried out the latest Beta. It is downloadable via the viva launcher.  If you did you will notice that the functional reception bell will make Shinobu face you and bow to greet you. This has prompted some code rewrites to make it easier to work with behaviors.

Viva Project's codebase has big changes every version to accommodate new features. Usually the design conforms to what is simplest, and most future proof to write. This, like most growing projects, however does not ...

Beta v0.8g Pre-Release

Code: onsen preview

This Beta is a preview of the onsen facility. I have disabled the majority of the lolis and made this release only for exploring the new area behind the town. There is a core logic rewrite that I am doing that I will talk about in the next devpost.

Go up the stone stairs and look around. Also try changing the day night cycle mode to night time to see h...

Continuing Onsen Part 5

The Onsen is complete! Before I get into the new pictures, I'd like to show some new small details that have been added to the stone path leading to the place.

The bamboo forest now has falling leaves.

To be extra performant, the particle system that spawns each falling leaf will follow the player when he is within the forest. This helped reduce the number of leaves needed to have leaves ...

Continuing Onsen Part 4

Thanks to having a highly optimized pipeline for asset creation, I am roughly 90% done with all onsen models, textures, and materials. For the modeling side I hooked up UV Packmaster with Substance Painter. I get blazing fast lookdev iterations for textures and for quick and easy changes. Painting models has also been very fun to do.

So where did I leave off last time? Ah yes, the bamboo path. The way to the onsen is behind the town in a spooky sort of mountainous region. I took great i...

Continuing Onsen Part 3

Before I get into today's devpost, here are the results of the latest VR headset poll:

According to this, the majority of patrons of this project use a VR headset with a majority using Oculus devices. This looks very similar to the last Steam Hardware survey.

Now, the onsen. The past few days I optimized and began placing the building into the world map. I had a lot of issues cutting down...

VR Headset Semi-Annual Poll

In order to find out what VR headsets should be catered to, please select what headset you primarily use. 

Beta Pre-Release v0.8f

Apologies game launcher is still going through some issues. Please use this Google drive 0.8f link to download the game and manually unpack. Password is "fire sky".

This beta includes VR and physics fixes as well as the new fireworks. This game now comes with Oculus, Vive, ...

Continuing Onsen Part 2

I finished all onsen main interior and exterior props and began texturing and making materials for the pieces.

The Japanese employ cedar for various wooden parts of their traditional buildings. They also use soft and delicate materials like cloth for fusuma. Fusuma are the sliding doors. They frequently paint landscapes on them:

2020-07-25 07:41:13 +0000 UTC View Post