Improving Our Communication
Today, we are starting a new process of doing monthly VaM2 development log posts to better communicate with our Patreon backers. Our original intent was to do regular beta releases of VaM2 every 2-3 months to avoid the need to do development log posts. The thought was to show progress through regular releases rather than show progress through update posts. Our intent is still to target VaM2 releases every 2-3 months as this seems to be an ideal release cadence for both us and the community, but the latest release we are working on (Beta1.2) is obviously taking a lot longer than 2-3 months. In retrospect, we targeted too many items for this release, and also underestimated the amount of work required for many of the items. Estimates are very difficult in software development and this isn't something we can likely improve upon. We can probably do better by having a smaller scope for each release to help achieve the desired 2-3 months per release goal and also adjust as needed by moving items to later releases when we are running over the target development time. Regardless, some releases will just take longer than others, and I don't think we can fix that. Since we can't guarantee any exact release cadence, we have decided to offer the next best thing by posting regular development logs here. These development logs will mostly be text, but will include images, gifs, or short videos if there is something interesting to show. We don't want to spend a lot of time on these log updates since that takes away time from developing VaM2, but we do want to better communicate with all of you. Thank you for your patience and tremendous support! You are making VaM2 possible.In addition to improving ongoing communication, we have also completely overhauled our Patreon pages to make everything easier to find and contain up-to-date information and links. Some previous posts that contained videos have been fixed with new working links to the videos (YouTube banned us!). Other posts have been put into organized collections. We hope you find our new page setup easier to use and more informative.
Overall VaM2 Progress Update
We won't attempt to list everything completed since the last update as that would take too much time, but in the last 2 months, we have completed 7 items on the VaM2 Beta1.2 Release Trello list out of a total of 21 items targeted for that release. 6 items remain to be completed. 4 of these items are already in progress. We posted a link to our VaM2 Trello board the other day, and that post will appear first in the VaM2 Development Log collection going forward, followed by posts like these. Here is that same Trello board link if you wish to follow VaM2 development progress more closely:
https://trello.com/b/KByJdWtA/vam2-public-roadmap
We also recommend connecting to our official Discord server by linking your Patreon account with Discord. I am personally very active in the vam2 channels there, and I do my best to answer questions. You can link your Patreon account to Discord with this link:
If you don't want to link your Patreon account to Discord, here is a direct invite link:
Directly Join Our Discord Server
Some Completed Item Highlights
New Gizmos System
Gizmos are controls and information display elements that work directly in the scene view. In VaM2, gizmos work in both desktop and VR.
Transform Gizmo
Move and rotate objects in more precise ways. Unlike the similar feature in VaM1, this new one also works in VR.
Joint Posing Gizmo
Select joints and manipulate them directly in the scene. This gizmo shows the the minimum and maximum range of the joint, the target rotation, and the current rotation of the joint.
(Note: flickering is due to gif image format)
Light Gizmo
Shows lights and some of their settings, like light type shape. Some settings can be adjusted directly in the scene.
Selection Carousel
The Selection Carousel is a UI element that helps you select items in the scene. When items in the scene are stacked or there are multiple choices for an item, the Selection Carousel shows icons and some text so you can know what you will be selecting. You can cycle forward or backward through the carousel to get to just what you want before selecting. The carousel can be docked onto the toolbar or free floating as shown below.
(Note: flickering is due to gif image format)
Modes and Context Specific Editing
Also new to this release is the Modes System. Modes are the combination of UI and UX (User Interface and User Experience). Unlike VaM1, VaM2 allows completely changing the UI/UX as needed. That is what the Modes System does. It allows VaM2 to operate with many different personalities depending on what you want to do. Creators will even be able to make their own custom Modes for complete takeover of the application or to add new features that require UI/UX components. This release includes a couple of Modes addons we have created, one of which is the Easy Edit Mode. This is a top level mode made up of several sub modes. The sub modes are what enable Context Specific Editing. When you select something with the Selection Carousel in our Easy Edit Mode, it loads a Context Specific sub-Mode, which changes the UI and UX. For Easy Edit Mode, this means it only shows what is relevant to what you have you have selected in the scene and in some cases can change how you interact with the scene.
This may sound complex (and it is behind the scenes!), but ultimately this system makes it easier and faster for you to edit the scene because you can get to what you want in the UI with less clicks. This is best shown in a video demonstration. This was too big for an inline gif, so please click the image below to view the video (Patreon does not support inline videos for 18+ creators).
Closing Remarks
Much more is coming in the upcoming Beta1.2 release! What is shown here is only a few samples of the new features. We are working hard every day to get this release done and into your hands. Thank you again for you amazing support!Meshed and Team