We will roll out the latest beta release this Thursday between 3:00 - 6:00 pm PST.

Note: There is a protocol change in this version.

What's New!

• Drag and Drop Wearables: You can easily add a wearable by dragging and dropping the wearable's JSON file directly onto your avatar.

• Asset Transfer API: The client-side Asset Transfer API is active! With it, users can disperse and give HFC without being present. Be paid for doing good stuff! To see details on some things you can do, check out the documentation HERE: https://docs.highfidelity.com/high-fidelity-commerce/commerce-apis

• New login screen: The new login screen looks the same across all platforms, and lets users retain their login credentials between sessions. Your content will not load until you either log in or dismiss the login screen.

• Project Materials onto Surfaces: Adds the ability to generate texture coordinates in 3D space. Technical details here.

• New Documentation has been added:
  
  
  • Transfer Money and Assets Using the Commerce API: Learn how to use the new Asset Transfer API
  • Add Your 3D Model: Replaces "Get Your Item's Assets" and clarifies the process to create a JSON file for your model so that it can be uploaded to the Marketplace
  • Marketplace Fee Structure: Documented our fees when selling Marketplace items
  • Assignment Client Scripts: Added documentation for AC scripts

In addition, the first part of our overlay migration work is in this build. There are no user-facing changes at the moment.

For more specific details on what's included in this release, see below.

Technical Details

Improvements

• Added ability to disable teleport (Settings > Controls > Teleporting)

• Added ability to change the input method for the virtual keyboard and tablet. Choose between mallets, lasers, or a stylus (go to Settings > General > User Interface)

• Fine-tuned the activation of the mini tablet:
  
  
  • Increased the time of display so it won't activate as soon as in the previous build.
  • Adjusted the degree of your wrist turns to activate the tablet so it's not as touchy.

• Improved usability of the Create Tools:
  
  
  • Columns in the Entity List can now be re-ordered by clicking and dragging them.

• Removed the highlighting from entities that are grabbed.

• Improved stability and fixed network freezes experienced during FUTVRE LANDS with new optimizations to server protocols and data structures.

• Improved start-up times on low-end machines by compiling shaders with the splash start screen in Interface.

• Removed at-rest detection for hands in HMD, so that the hands are always where the controllers are unless you lose tracking.

• Removed some QML TabletHome warnings that were noisy in the logs.

• Added steps to run interface in Ubuntu.

• Not saving all soft-attachment data, namely joint rotations and positions, when Bookmarking avatar as that was contributing to too much data.

Fixes

Avatars

• Your handshake now looks normal when shaking hands in desktop mode. Previously, your arm could be shaking side by side and the hand looked mangled.

• Handshake particles now disappear instead of sticking around after the shake!

• Fixed memory leaks in the Avatar Mixer.

Create Tools

• Far grabbing an entity won't accidentally grab the tablet when using the Shapes or Create App.
  
  
  • Tablet is not grabbed if you're editing an entity using either app and your hand nears the tablet.
  • Tablet is also not highlighted when your hand nears the tablet while editing an entity.

• Corrected the labels for the Key Light Horizontal Angle and Key Light Vertical Angle as they were reversed.
  
  
  • The Lifetime field in the Create properties window is now a regular input field.

• Added missing tool-tips to start, end and finish properties.

• Fixed presentation of Particle and Material entity property pages. The affected fields are Size, Alpha, Spin, and Constraints.

• Fixed a lag delay in when using the Entity property sliders in the Create tools.

• Fixed the bug where you would be able to accidentally drag and drop files onto the Create window. Now you'll see a warning that you can't do that.

Other

Domain paths in your domain settings are no longer case sensitive.

• /Apple /apple /APPle are all the same path.

• We make the assumption that if that is the case the user has entered a duplicate for convenience because of this bug and returning the first match will be correct.

Displaying the warning "Changing the domain ID for a Cloud Domain may result in an incorrect status for the domain on your Cloud Domains page." when a user attempts to manually changed the domain ID of a cloud domain manually through the UI.

Calibrating Vive trackers work correctly now.

Crash Fixes

• Fixed an Interface crash that was caused when using actionData on Entity Properties in a .js script.

• Cleaned up shutdown code to fix crash on close.

• Fixed a memory leak that was happening when Interface was minimized.

• Fixed a crash that occurred intermittently when switching between Desktop and HMD mode.

• Fixed a crash that could occur when reloading all running scripts.

We are about to roll out a hotfix, however, there are no protocol changes.

This only includes minor housekeeping and documentation changes.

There is no update for Android.

Tuesday, Dec 18th | 2:00pm - 3:00pm (PST)
Location: hifi://Maker

This will be a introductory class on using shaders within High Fidelity. Snail will walk users through the process of implementing shaders and demonstrate how to use them.

Please note this event is not organized by High Fidelity Staff.

New to High Fidelity's VR platform? Welcome!
Create a free account here
Download High Fidelity here.

See our full events calendar here.

Saturday, Dec. 15th | 2:00 - 3:00 PM (PST)
Location: hifi://improv
REGISTER HERE.

This theater experience showcases the humor, drama, and intrigue that makes improv great. With help from the audience, performers will create a unique theater piece that will entertain, delight, and engage you -- all in VR! When characters come to life based on suggestions from the crowd, ANYTHING can happen!

Alive in Plasticland works with performers and artists across practices through immersive technologies including virtual reality. Professional improv actors and teachers in the NYC theater scene create this VR Improv Troupe, the first of its kind in the VR industry.

There is a $5 suggested donation for this performance. It can be paid directly to the acting company using High Fidelity Coin - stable cryptocurrency - from your wallet at the event.

Special thanks to sponsor VRBAR, Brooklyn's First Virtual Reality Arcade, for hosting the performers.


Step 1: Download app HERE, install, and run High Fidelity. You can also run directly from STEAM. Don’t have a VR Headset? You can join from your desktop or Daydream-enabled device.

Step 2: Once inside the app, login and go through the tutorial -- you’ll learn how to find events, change your avatar, and interact with your surroundings.

Step 3: Join the event HERE or select “GOTO” from your menu bar or tablet and select Alive in Plasticland: Live Improv Performance.


Find out if your device can support High Fidelity HERE.

Need help? Find it in-world or by email.

Introduce yourself. All the other avatars are real people -- interact, ask questions, and make new connections just like in the real world.

REGISTER HERE.

We are about to roll out a hotfix, however, there are no protocol changes. Here are the details:


Improve startup times by pre-compiling shaders with the splash screen. View on Github


Adhere to default settings in Oculus App when High Fidelity is launched from there or the Oculus App is open. View on Github

Fixed an issue where resetting the HMD view from the Oculus Universal Menu would not restart the High Fidelity app properly. View on GitHub

Note: We are not publishing the v0.76.1 Android apk as none of the changes noted above are included in the build.

Thu Dec 13th 2:00pm - 3:00pm (PST)
Location: hifi://zaru

Join our weekly Town Hall meeting to learn about the latest happenings with High Fidelity from our leadership team. This is a great opportunity to share your feedback, ask questions, meet other community members, and hang out.

To attend this meetup, you must first install High Fidelity, which you can get at highfidelity.com/download. Check the minimum system requirements here.

Check out our events calendar for more info.

See you there!

BINGO EXTREMO
Thurs, Dec. 13 | 3:00 PM PST
Register on Eventbrite

The classic game of BINGO is getting a reboot in virtual reality. We’ve gotten rid of the stuffy bingo hall and added amazing prizes, music, and a celebrity streamer for a host - all inside a fun social environment. That's BINGO EXTREMO!

One day only - join us for this is a very special WIN BIG edition of the game. Every round we’re giving away HUGE prizes like VR Headsets and cash! Our host will be celebrity streamer Kaceytron.

The jackpots get bigger the more avatars play. There’s no betting, only winning! How BIG can you win? Prizes start at $350, but every round could go up to $1,200*. There will also be an opportunity to win a brand new HTC Vive Pro VR System in the third round of BINGO.

*cash prizes paid in High Fidelity Coin


Step 1: Download app HERE, install, and run High Fidelity. You can also run directly from STEAM. Don’t have a VR Headset? You can join from your desktop or Daydream-enabled device.

Step 2: Once inside the app, login and go through the tutorial -- you’ll learn how to find events, change your avatar, and interact with your surroundings.

Step 3: Join the event HERE or select “GOTO” from your menu bar or tablet and select bingo.

REGISTER HERE.

Wed Dec 19th 2:00pm - 3:00pm (PST)
Location: hifi://TheSpot

If you have an existing avatar that won't work in High Fidelity, it may simply need replacement rigging.

Using a humanoid avatar as the example, Ben will show the process of replacement rigging for an existing avatar using Blender so that its skeletal structure is compatible with High Fidelity.

Workshop Instructor: Ben Aitolda - Support and Engagement Associate

Check out our event calendar for more:
https://tockify.com/hifieventscalendar/detail/392/1544652000000

Here's What's New!

Inventory App: When you open the Inventory app, you have immediate access to your purchased items, recent Marketplace and Commerce activity, and your wallet. Use this app to:

• Change avatars, put on wearables, and install/update apps
  
• View your recent purchases, sales, and gifts
  
• Send HFC to your friends or anyone nearby
  
• 3D Keyboard: Our native 3D keyboard lets you type with both hands while in HMD.

Teleport Animations: When other users teleport, you will see them move smoothly between their locations.

Steam Login for Android Users: Android users can now use Steam to login to High Fidelity.

Flow Support for Single Bones: Our flow.js script now supports adding flow movement to single bonechains. If you have an MMD or other avatars with single bones, you no longer need to manually edit them to add extra joints.

New Documentation has been added:

• Create an Avatar with Flow
  
• Uploading Your Avatar and Environment to the Marketplace
  
• Avatar Scripts
  
• We now collapse the sub-books of the table of contents so that you can more easily navigate to the topics that matter to you.

Technical Details
Note : There is a protocol change in this version.

For more specific details on what’s included in this release, see below.

• Added option to set your start-up location. You can now choose to start at your Home location or your Last location. (Navigate > Start-Up Location)
  
• Added option to turn the mini tablet on or off (Settings > General > “Use mini tablet”)
  
• Moved security settings into its own dialog (Settings > Security)
  
• Improved usability of the Create Tools:
  
• Columns in the Entity list can be resized. Select the columns you want to view by clicking on the ▼ arrow next to the column headings.
  
• New Toggle in the Entity list will change certain properties to display global or local values.
  
• Number fields in the Entity Properties window now have slider entries. Mouse over the value you want to change, then click and drag until you reach the right value. You can still input numbers by clicking on the field once.
  
• Android AEC now defaults to “On”
  
• Modified the textures on the default avatar (Woody) to get rid of the UV seams
  
• Removed logging of all reference to URLs
  
• Important Note Regarding a Known Issue: The “Keep me Logged in” checkbox on the main log-in page has intermittent bugs. We will track this down and fix it in the next release. In the meantime: If you have issues remaining logged in, use the “Keep Me Logged In” checkbox from the Menu > Settings > Security screen.

Fixes
Avatars

• Large avatars that are scaled down to regular size no longer appear underground.
  
• Soft Entities with bones that don’t match the AV skeleton are now set correctly.
  
• Avatar wearables are now correctly saved in the Avatar app. Duplicate wearables no longer occur by opening and canceling the wearables dialog multiple times.
  
• Using a custom animation.json in the Avatar UI correctly persist between sessions.
  
• Interface no longer crashes when entering custom animation URLs into the Avatar app.
  
• Avatar entities cannot appear to be deleted except by its owner. Previously, Avatar entities may be temporarily deleted in the perspective of a different user.
  
• If an avatar is fading, its shadow will also now fade.

Create

• Interface no longer crashes when importing modified JSON files into Create app.

Other

• In HMD, the current keyboard will appear and disappear when switching between Properties tabs in the Create App.
  
• In Desktop mode, the handshake action will now clear if an App or dialogue is clicked on during the handshake.
  
• Some fixes on collisionless entities when attempting to far grab them.
  
• Make collisionless entities able to be far grabbed.
  
• Keep collisionless property on collisionless entity after it’s far grabbed.
  
• Fix HMD mouse pointer displaying at depth behind collisionless entities.
  
• Fix desktop mouse highlights collisionless, grabbable entities.
  
• Fix collisionless entities not able to be selected with lasers in Create app in HMD mode.
  
• Tablet page indicators are clickable to scroll tablet pages.
  
• Fixed minor UI bugs in gift- and money-sending.

When: Wed Nov 14th 2:00pm - 3:00pm (PST)
Where: hifi://help

Description: This advanced workshop will cover more advanced ways to customize an avatar, including creating flow, blend shapes, and using advanced materials like PBR.