Jun 4, 2019

Rec Room UPDATE - the "Rainbow Connection" Edition

Rec Room - magglerock

We’re back! This is the first of what we hope are regular weekly updates now that we’re through the bulk of the “make Rec Room work on Quest” work we had to do in the first half of this year. We really appreciate your patience while we did that, and we're super stoked to get back into the swing of things =]

OK here’s what's new in this update...

First we have some Oculus Quest specific stuff:

Quest for the Golden Trophy is now available on the Oculus Quest!
We’ve improved lighting on the Quest… this will especially improve the appearance of neon objects in custom rooms.
Fixed an issue that would make your hands appear jittery… we just had something screwed up, sorry :-/

You can now **purchase Hair Dye directly from the Dorm Room mirror appearance menu**!

The Dorm Room appearance menu allows you to buy the items directly from it by popping the Store page
The menu shows a locked icon for the colors you do not own, and refreshes it once it is purchased
The Watch Store now properly filters permanent hair dyes with the potion filter

Lots of creation work in this update...

We've added 17 new Maker Pen Colors (and corresponding neons)! Just in time for Pride month =] There are now 33 colors total to choose from.
Find them in Maker Pen menu, along with all our original colors We added tooltips to the color palette menu to help disambiguate colors

We found and fixed a color correction bug that was affecting all existing maker pen shapes. So, we fixed it. This may make the colors in your room appear more saturated (and maybe a little darker, depending on circumstances). Sorry for the unexpected change! Many of the new colors are less-saturated options, so you can go back and re-adjust if you need to.

Some other color-related updates...

There’s now a Recolorable Marker available in the palette menu**. This is a whiteboard marker that can be colored using the Recolor tool!
Stage Lights and Beacons can now be colored using the Recolor tool
Please note that we made a change to the Beacon object to align its color palette with other circuit-colored objects (lights, emitters). So they now all react to colors in the same way. This will change the color of your beacons, so you’ll need to re-adjust those too.

We made some updates to the Freeze tool:

There’s now an "Is Grabbable" setting on all objects! This lets you define whether an (unfrozen) object can be picked up by players who are not holding a Maker Pen. You can change it by using the "Configure" tool on any object. This means you no longer have to freeze objects simply because you don’t want players picking them up.
Provided a setting in Maker Pen menu to let you make objects grabbable (or not) by default. (Palette > Settings > Create grabbable objects)

Maker Pen Objects can now be unfrozen using the Select tool by double-selecting the object! Attempting to select a frozen object provides this as feedback.
Added better error messages when trying to connect/disconnect frozen objects. (Note: You are allowed to attach Gizmos to frozen objects)
Fixed bug that allowed you to disconnect wires connected to frozen objects
Fixed bug where trying to select a frozen object would sometimes drop your previous selections

We've also updated the Manipulate and Select tools:

We improved the Select tool to reduce frustrating deselects, and to provide a way to easily select volumes of objects

New Select Sphere - using the Select tool, click and drag to select or deselect objects inside a sphere
The size of the sphere depends on distance (to allow precise selection up close, and big areas far away) You can adjust the size of the sphere in Palette > Settings
** In VR the slider can be set to ‘analog’ to change size based on trigger pressure
To clear a selection, click and hold away from objects, or double click on a single object
Use Undo to get back the cleared selection Double click any object part of a cleared selection to get the last selection back
Basic selection (tap and double tap) now works in the Move, Rotate, and Scale tools.

The Wire tool also got some love!

The Wire tool is now magnetic, making it easier to target pins
We now show an icon to preview what will happen if you complete the current wiring operation:
Circle = you’ll make this connection X = you’ll remove this wire
** Hand = invalid connection (nothing will happen)
You can now multi-select Chips or Objects to create multiple Wires in one operation!

The Wire tool tooltip has been replaced with a quicker info display:
We new show the pin info on both start and end connection. We show the incoming or outgoing values.

Signals are now displayed for the user:
Quick pulse on the connection line As an outgoing value that stays displayed for a few frames

Plus a BUNCH of optimizations and bug fixes across all platforms, including:

Streamlined boot sequence!
You can now opt to show your password as you type while logging in
Improvements to LOD system (improves appearance of custom rooms - especially on PS4 and Quest)
Tweaked new lighting system to reduce lighting artifacts
Fixed facial features clipping in share cam pictures
We did a general clean up of the Maker Pen palette settings menu (just making it a little more sane)
You can now equip two gloves of the same type but different colors!
Share cam filters no longer show up in the preview (they were showing up wrongly previously), only in the captured picture
Fixed bug where screen players would see a revive teammate prompt before the teammate could be revived
Fixed bug where event creators were unable to instant kick other players from their event
Fixed bug where the "Disable Auto Mic Muting" room setting wasn't working properly
Fixed bug where holotars were facing the wrong direction
Fixed bug where samplers weren't playing correctly
Fixed bug where players would sometimes not see a HUD when they were supposed to
Screens - Fixed bug where screen players could get stuck in the sprinting animation
PS4 screens - Fixed a bug where keyboard wouldn’t close when attempting to log into an existing Rec Room account
Dodgeball - Fixed bug where dodgeballs would appear to fly in weird paths for players not on court
Fixed a bug where sandbox buttons could become unresponsive if an item was dropped on it and then removed without touching the button
Fixed bug where gizmo-connected maker pen objects would sometimes shift for multiple players
Added setting to update an object's rotation when using object respawner
Fixed a bug that made Maker Pen colors affect Trigger Volume visibility and brightness (oops)

Please see here for convenient links to controls, tutorials, comfort options, etc.: https://www.againstgrav.com/community/

Thanks for playing Rec Room! As always, don't hesitate to give us your feedback =]

Apr 23, 2019

Rec Room UPDATE - the "Let There Be Lights!" Edition

Rec Room - gribbly

It's good to be back! We've spent the past few weeks undergoing a pretty massive update to our lighting and rendering tech, so expect some fresh paint! We hope you enjoy the updates, and let us know if you run into anything... weird =]

Trailer:

https://youtu.be/hkRrEWel_1o

These are from ^LightsTutorial by Meriesa, where you can learn how to use the lights, attach them to gizmos, control them with circuits, etc.

Speaking of game changers, we're excited to introduce our headline feature - new Dynamic Light Gadgets! More details below, but first check out the before/after comparison shots below for a preview:

^DarkCrowsNest by Mr Legolas

^TheGiant by Jay and Infinity

^TacoWinterLodge by AfewGoodTacos

Photo credit to Mr Legolas

Not too shabby, eh? Give 'em a go yourself with the new Point Light gadget!

The Point Light is a single light that shines in all directions (like a light bulb).
It can be shining at all times, or turned on and off with a circuit signal.
It can be customized in 3 ways:
- Color: The color of the light can be modified with either the Maker Pen Recolor tool, or with a circuit signal.
- Intensity: The brightness of the light. Can be modified with either the Maker Pen Configure tool, or with a circuit signal.
- Range: The area the light covers. Can be modified with either the Maker Pen Configure tool, or with a circuit signal.
* Find it in the Maker Pen Palette, under Gadgets -> Other.

And don't miss the new Spotlight!

The Spotlight is a cone of light that shines forward from the bulb (like a flashlight).
It can be customized in the same way as the point light, with one additional setting:
- Angle: In Spotlight terms, the range is how far the light goes and the angle is how wide it is (in degrees). Can be modified with either the Maker Pen Configure tool, or with a circuit signal.
Find it in the Maker Pen Palette, under Gadgets -> Other

In addition to the general sprucing, we also underwent some pretty substantial performance optimizations:

Everything should be running smoother now, especially on PS4!
We've re-tuned the various quality settings, so Fastest should now run even faster (at the expense of certain visual effects). EDIT: Actually we removed "Fastest" completely, and re-tuned the others...

Plus a bunch of updates, including:

You may start encountering some Oculus Quest players... please make them feel welcome!
We've added neon Maker Pen colors! We hope you enjoy them as much as have been =]
We also added an Outer Space mood to the Maker Room:

https://imgur.com/GlYGPFN

Various weapon animations were added back in!
You can now shoot through the separations in ladders.
It's spring again, and somebody closed the Rec Center window =P
Added Charades Pen to Maker Pen palette (Props -> Creative)
Added BeeDM (Radio Edit) to the Radio
Object-Player Mapping chip's "Last Held Player" output has changed. Instead of changing current player output when an object is picked up, it now outputs the previous holder's ID until the object changes hands.
Updated Stage Light colors to match the order of other circuit-colored objects (Emitter, Lights, Beacon). This means the default color is red, and circuit signals are now assigned in the same order as other objects (0 = red, 1 = orange and so on). If you're using Stage Lights, you'll probably need to go adjust your object's color after this ship. Sorry about that!

And some bug fixes, including:

Improved precision of Maker Pen shape positions.
Fixed issue with Delay and Timer chips losing data when players leave the room.
Fixed a bug that prevented circuit-driven color objects (Emitter, Lights, Beacon) from rendering in black, the last value in the color palette. Now you can! The corresponding circuit signal is '15'.
Fixed a bug in Clear Cut where you could see through rock meshes by getting really close to them (especially near the blue side flag).

Mar 14, 2019

Rec Room UPDATE - the “Gifting” Edition!

Rec Room - magglerock

It's good to be back! Thank you all for your patience while we worked out the kinks in this update; there's a ton of new stuff, and we can't wait to share it with y'all... so let's get to it!

You can now send Gifts to your friends! This has a been a much-requested feature, so we’re excited to get it out there!

The important details:

Anything you can buy with tokens, you can now send as a gift (if you are over level 15)!
Navigate to Watch > Store and find the item you would like send as a gift. Choose "Give as Gift" and select the friend you would like to send it to! They’ll receive a nicely gift-wrapped box.
You can choose to make your gift anonymous if you like
You also cannot give someone something they already own!

A few updates for Screen Mode:

Revised login and registration flow for Screen Mode players. Much cleaner and more sane (we hope).
Loading screen tips between rooms - all kinds of helpful info here. This is something we plan to bring to VR as soon as possible, but for now if you’d like to see the loading tips you’ll need to boot the game in Screen Mode. Which is now easier, because...
Launching in Screen Mode is now supported natively on Oculus. In your Oculus Library, click on the “...” and choose “Start in Desktop Mode”

This update is also includes a bunch of new stuff for Creators. We are really excited about this…

As we’ve mentioned a few times in various AMAs and forum posts, a bunch of the AG team (including most of the art team) is very hard at work optimizing Rec Room for some exciting new platforms. This means that we’re currently limited in our ability to do things like “make another JumboTron” or “update Rec Royale”. Thanks for being patient with us here, we know the updates are little slower during this phase =]

So, with the art team otherwise occupied, we got creative with the Creation tools!

Basically we went all in on having our AG designers have build a #community room! The magnificent @ry-guy and the wonderful @meriesa teamed up to build ^CapturePoint, a new PVP-style room where three teams battle to control the Capture Point in the corridors and catwalks of faraway Star Station.

This was a really fun and interesting exercise for us. ^CapturePoint is built using only tools that are available to you - yes YOU! It’s also copyable, so you are welcome to remix it, learn from it, improve it, etc. We’re also sharing a bunch of the stuff that got built as inventions that you can bring into existing rooms.

Now, we did cheat a little bit. As @ry-guy and @meriesa were building, we also added a bunch of new Creation tools… based partly on what was needed for ^CapturePoint, and partly addressing some long-standing requests from creators.

Here’s an overview of the new Creation tools in this update. Ready? Strap in because it’s a long list:

First, we've added a new Games Rules chip!

This chip exposes a bunch of the internal Rec Room game systems for use in your rooms.
This includes stuff like health/damage, HUDs, reviving rules, spawning with/without various kinds of equipment, team radios, etc - in all there are 19 pages (!) of settings for you to tweak! Check out the details here!
Note you can have multiple Game Mode chips in your room. Each one will appear as a mode on the scoreboard. The mode selected on the scoreboard will correspond to the active Game Mode chip.
You can find the Game Rules chip in Maker Pen > Palette > Gadgets > Other Gadgets (and use the Maker Pen "Configure" tool to access the settings).
Note that existing rooms will automatically have a Game Rules chip added to it, as that’s how the system works now. The Game Rules chip will be near the spawn point for the room. If you have trouble finding it, or run into any trouble with the Game Rules chip, please email support@againstgrav.com and include “Custom Room Issue” in the subject line. We’ll get back to you as quick as we can. You’re also welcome to ping us on Discord/Reddit/wherever. We want to help!

Next, we're stoked to introduce the State Machine chip!

This chip makes it really easy to manage any kind of state behavior - whether it's as simple as "door open/door closed", or as complex as managing the states for a custom game mode.
Find it in Maker Pen > Palette > Gadgets > Other Chips. The basic flow for using the State Machine is to place the State Machine chip, then add States. Use the Wire tool to set the default state, and to define which states connect to which other states. You can also use the wire tool to connect things like buttons or trigger volumes to the state transitions. Basically, use the Wire tool to connect everything together.
The State Machine chip is extremely powerful; we recommend anyone interested in implementing custom behaviors check it out!

We've also added the ability to pack your circuits into Circuit Boards!

This makes large, unruly collections of wired-together chips into a single neat Circuit Board object.
You can pack/unpack circuits using the same "Edit/Done Editing" flow as editing Maker Pen shapes.
Circuit Boards also let you protect your circuits when sharing them as an Invention - if you include a Circuit Board in a "Use Only" Invention, other players aren't able to unpack it.
To create a Circuit Board, use your Maker Pen to Select several Chips, click [...] to open the context menu and select "Create Circuit Board"!

But wait, there's more! We've updated the shape bevels (i.e., what the edges look like when you're drawing shapes)!

Shape bevels are now "smart" - they are not simply scaled with the shape. The net result is that large shapes now have sharper edges, a much requested adjustment.
This will not affect existing rooms, but newly-created shapes will have the new bevel behavior

And we've upgraded the Audio Sampler:

You can now specify start and end offsets for much tighter control over your sounds.
You can also specify which channel it will play through (SFX, music, voice, ambient).
Screens players can now record audio samplers and holotars using the context action button.

Whew, almost there! We also tweaked and added a bunch of other creation stuff, including:

There's a new Beacon object, perfect for highlighting objectives in your games! Place and scale it like any prop, then you can use circuit inputs to dynamically control the height, color and visibility of the beacon.
SFX chip now has a volume setting in its Config menu.
There's a new "Player Revive" chip. It works like the Player Hit chip - it sends a circuit signal (including player ID) whenever a player is revived.
Breakable objects (like plates, bottles, jugs) now respawn by default (if you want them to break forever, tweak that setting in the new Game Rules chip).
Laser weapons are now the PvP-tweaked Laser Tag variants (rather than the Jumbotron variants). This won't affect existing placements, but new placements will use the new variants.
Trigger volumes are now player role-aware.
Teleport distance and walking jump height are now configurable in room roles.

Plus a bunch of bug fixes, including:

You can now cleanly exit the app! No more force close =]
Fixed issue where there could be messy graphical glitches on photos.
Fixed bug with weapon reloaders getting "stuck" inside trigger volumes.
VR players can directly unequip avatar items in the dorm again (sorry about that).
Screens players can directly equip/unequip costumes using the context action button.
Screens players can record holotars/samplers using the context action button.
Audio samplers now correctly support 0 volume when circuit-connected.
Fixed maker pen targeting for audio samplers and object respawners.
Respawn point object default to landing directly on it, with configuration option to smart auto-choose within an area.
Added tooltips for connection tool in screen mode.
Removed "flicker" behavior from looping holotars.
Added Shield to Player Stat chips.
And more!

Whew, this is a big one. We’ve done an unusually large amount of testing (for us) to make sure existing rooms aren’t negatively affected by these changes, but if you do run into any issues, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. Please email support@againstgrav.com and include “Custom Room Issue” in the subject line. You’re also welcome to ping us directly on Discord, Reddit, etc. We want to help!

Please see here for convenient links to controls, tutorials, comfort options, etc.: https://www.againstgrav.com/community/

Thanks for playing Rec Room! As always, don't hesitate to give us your feedback =]

Feb 7, 2019

Rec Room UPDATE - the “Published Inventions” Edition!

Rec Room - magglerock

This is a super exciting update for us - check out what's new:

You can now publish your Inventions to share with other players!

There's a new Inventions tab in the store, where you can find Inventions published by other players and download them to your Maker Pen palette!
When you publish an Invention, you can choose what permissions it has (giving you control over how other players can use it). The permissions are:
Publish (the default): Other players can make major changes to this Invention, then publish the result as a new Invention. Choose this permission if you’re cool with variations of your Invention being published in the store.
Use Only: Other players can’t make major changes to this Invention. They also can’t create a new Invention that contains any part of it. Choose this permission if you want don’t want people copying/modifying your Invention.
Edit and Save: Other players can make major changes to this Invention, but they can’t create a new Invention that contains any part of it. Use this permission if you don’t mind people adapting your Invention for your needs, but you don’t want them to republish the changes.
You can also set permissions on an Invention without publishing it first - find this in the Invention's Setup menu!

Screen mode creation has had a major revision to make it easier and more fun to create with! We'd love to hear feedback on it!

You now use the Maker Pen in first person and have access to the majority of the building tools and options (there are some missing pieces yet, we'll clean them up soon...)
Follow the onscreen prompts for the various buttons and options!
Like in VR mode, if you fly while holding the maker pen you can clip through objects. This makes building much easier!

Plus a few other fun creation updates:

We're excited to share the new self-scaling tool! This is experimental and only in VR so far, but we're excited to hear what you think! You can toggle this mode on in the Maker Pen Palette > Settings menu, and use the grip triggers on Oculus/Vive, and upper outer buttons on PSVR (left hand square, right hand triangle)!
The Maker Pen tubes got some major updates! Set the number of sides, the roundness and the width of your drawings. Keep connecting to the end of tubes for precise creations and use the manipulate tool to move control points around for that final tweak.

But wait, there's more! Screen mode players can now fly!

Access to flying is configured exactly the same as for VR players (i.e., it's a Room permission).
To start or stop flying, double tap the jump button.
If you want to try it out, here's the incredibly intuitive and easy process to enable flying in your Dorm Room: Open your Watch, tap This Room > Setup > Roles, then tap the gear icon for "Dorm Room". In the Shared settings, tap Override on the "Can Fly" option, then move the slider to "Yes". You may want to save the room after doing this so you don't have to do it again! Could this flow be made simpler? Nope. This is fine.
*We now have to keep updating this flow, it's totally fine

And that's not all!

All quests are now in first person mode for screens players!
The Report Player screen got an ease of use update - there are now dropdowns with canned report categories!
The Code of Conduct got a spruce =]
Melee weapons in Isle of the Lost Skulls now automatically lock to your hands

Plus a bunch of bug fixes, including:

A bunch of PS4 crash mitigations! Let us know if you continue to experience performance problems on PS4.
Fixed issue that would cause all room saves in a room session to spin indefinitely
Added back snapping and shape preview for trigger volumes
Fixed some bugs with the layout of dorm dresser items