Update 0.81

Changes

This was largely an update for bugfixes and expanding player input. Gamepads and keyboards now supported, added in ability to remove VR controllers, map custom controls, virtual hotas, a lot of documentation, and again more optimization. 

Gamepads, HOTAS, Keyboards, and more!

Integrated with Rewired to extend controller support to damn near everything (check full list here)

Custom Control Mappings

Allows the user to create and save control configurations easier that the previous versions.

Audio Controls & Mixing Improvements

Allow user to mix audio levels; now you can turn down my inconsistent audio levels! Hooray!

Full HTML README

Trying to thin out the torrent of messages and emails I get about menial things I have created a REAME.html file in the root of Project Stardust directory that can be a fountain of information about how to setup and use the application.

Virtual HOTAS [preview]

Mapping the hand poses! Exciting announcements this weekend w/a devlog video for release 0.81 this weekend. pic.twitter.com/TNaPTwzKOE
— Project Stardust (@XWingVR) May 23, 2020

NO, unfortunately it doesn't control anything yet... but I think I have the hand pose and interactions working okay. Test it out by toggling it in the main or pause menus.

Hide VR Controllers

Allows user to play "slappers-only" by hiding VR controllers.

Announcements

Up until now this project has been a one-man effort. This has now changed: Please welcome Rogelio Cardona-Rivera to the Project Stardust development team as lead AI developer! Rogelio is an Assistant Professor of AI, Cognitive Science, Interactive Narrative, Game Design, & Virtual Reality at the University of Utah. He will be working on developing the AI movement and command structure for NPC enemies and allies, allowing for more realistic fleet-to-fleet battles. I am very excited to bring Rogelio onboard since he both taught the Virtual Reality class that inspired and started this whole project and he is also one of the biggest Star Wars fans that I know. I am convinced that his expertise is going to catapult this project beyond what was originally envisioned!

Which brings me to my next announcement, when the summer is over (or version 0.93 is reached) I will be donating this project and its' research to the University of Utah's Laboratory for Quantitative Experience Design where it will hopefully be adopted as both a VRS research platform and as virtual reality class curriculum.  I will still retain creative control and also will remain in the position of lead developer to continue improving the project. I am working out what the exact details of this means for all of you who follow and play the game, but my hope is that I will at that point be able to make the code open source. The biggest hurdle to making this open-source right now is intellectual property rights of both the Star Wars franchise and the paid Unity assets that helped me to build the game. I will be pushing hard for this in future iterations since I believe the only way this game will ever achieve its' original intended purposes of VRS research and education is if others beside myself are able to scrutinize and tinker with it.

Timeline

Rough estimate: Subject to change based on my availability: 

• 0.8 - [Completed] - Cumulative update - Post Graduation
• 0.81 - [Completed] - Gamepad, Keyboard, HOTAS Input improvements, bug fix, & documentation
• 0.82 - [In Progress] - Player Input, position reset rotation & height, save player settings across scenes & sessions
• 0.83 - Flight adjustments, assists, & Light Speed transitions between environments
• 0.84 - Enemy / Ally - NPC AI
• 0.85 - Destructible Assets for Enemy / Ally ships
• 0.86 - Survival objectives logic & UI
• 0.87 - Crowd-sourced audio clip integration for scripted NPC interactions
• 0.88 - Survival environment art, scene transitions, and random generation
• 0.89 - Balance, bugfix, & optimize
• 0.90 - Balance, bugfix, optimize, & document

Changelog

• [Added] Created a full html user README for running and configuring the game
• [Added] Controller support & extended HOTAS support with Rewired
• [Added] Default keyboard and gamepad mappings
• [Added] Controller remapping scene on Desktop in main menu
• [Added] Virtual HOTAS in cockpit can now be toggled, grabbed, and rotated with oculus touch controllers (not tested on other systems) control over X-Wing flight with virtual hotas not fully implemented
• [Added] Ability to hide/show virtual HOTAS in cockpit
• [Added] Ability to hide/show controllers in hands
• [Updated] Change WMR controller layout to allow all cockpit actions via directional touch-pad mappings.
• [Updated] Change Dashboard button colliders to be larger and have no overlap to allow for easier use.
• [Updated] New textures for player wings and engines for better fidelity when compressed in release builds
• [Updated] Change compression ratios on larger textures to hopefully prevent the start crashes that seem to happen erratically on some systems. Think this may be a texture memory limitation issue, due to the fact that I pre-load the entire player X-Wing model/textures on startup since they require the most memory in a scene.
• [Updated] Death Star Texture on Stage One & Three
• [Fixed] Shadow near field plane on Ultra settings causes flickering; removed near field plane.
• [Fixed] WMR mapping for roll movement is now not inverted in default mapping
• [Fixed] Set skeleton default mappings for Index finger movements. Not able to test if poses still work while gripping controllers.
• [Fixed] Valve Index recenter action not mapped on controllers
• [Fixed] Auto-targeting gets stuck on some Tie Fighters even when switching out of Auto-aim mode
• [Fixed] Increased timer for allowable "Out of Bounds" travel time.

Bug Triage

I received 16 bug reports from you lovely folks, in version 0.81 I am trying to address 10 of these.

WMR seems to have the most bugs for this release via this HMD distribution of issues received.

Input bugs seem to be the leading issues, as you can see from this bug "Type" distribution.