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u/shakamone

r/SteamVR r/oculus r/OculusQuest r/VRGaming r/Quest3 r/Vive r/OculusQuest2 r/sidequest r/PicoXR r/Quest2
Welcome to the future of SideQuest - No more developer mode, no more USB cable required. Hell you don't even need sideloading anymore, who would have thought!
▲ 409 r/OculusQuest

Welcome to the future of SideQuest - No more developer mode, no more USB cable required. Hell you don't even need sideloading anymore, who would have thought!

Ok we have a huge update, probably the biggest update we have had since the very first day of SideQuest. Ever since I built SideQuest, we have always had a cumbersome setup process. We always tried to simplify it, and we managed to get it down to five steps.

This has been our life until now (Yuck!):

* Sign up as a developer
* Create an Organisation
* Enable developer mode in the Meta App (and again every time there was an update)
* Connect a USB Cable
* Probably fiddle with the cable a bunch

Finally connect to SideQuest and enjoy a world of content and tweak your headset settings.

From today onwards, this process has changed forever.

* Sign into your Meta Account
* SideQuest connects over bluetooth and enables Wireless ADB.

That's all!! No painful developer mode, no USB cable, no organisation setup, no entering your credit card or phone number, none of that stuff. You just connect and it installs SideQuest into your headset and that's it. You can do this from Desktop (https://sdq.st/get) or from your phone (https://sdq.st/go or Google Play rolling out now!), super simple.

SideQuest can install apps to your Quest library!

SideQuest in your headset has also changed, it can now add apps to your library in Quest, so you dont need unknown sources anymore! You can have one list of apps you can easily manage all in one place and launch from there! SideQuest has liberated your headset completely.

Install Steam game ports from inside your Quest

Traditionally you have had to install game ports from your PC. We have always tried to make that process as easy as possible, but most people still today find it to be a pain to have to drag and drop files onto your Quest and get the perfect combination of startup process for it to work correctly. We have made this process easier than ever before. Now you can just sign into your steam account from SideQuest in your headset and it will download the steam games for you automatically. To be clear, this will not make any steam game work on your headset, it will make it so that existing game ports that require files on steam can we installed waaaay easier!

You actually dont even need SideLoading any more!

Now with all that said, you really don't even need to sideload SIdeQuest at all anymore, you can just download it on your quest from the browser. You dont need a PC, or a phone or anything. Let me tell you how!

* Open the meta Meta Quest Browser and go to https://sdq.st/go - download the SideQuest apk.
* Open the Files App and find the SideQuest apk in your Downloads/Recent folder, click the three dots and select Open With > Package Installer, install SideQuest and then click Open.

Once you do that SideQuest will ask if you want to add it to your library - say yes.

Thats it! You can now install games and game ports (including steam games) from inside your headset with no sideloading needed. SideQuest without sideloading, who would have thought.

The only thing you cant do with this method is tweak headset settings. To do that, just follow the instructions above and your away!

Checkout a tutorial video on this right now: https://youtu.be/ByWjKGKMUfM

Game ports are coming in hot!

We have all noticed a tonne of new game ports and mods for Quest and PCVR. We have noticed it too and we plan to make it easier than ever to find and install all these game ports on SideQuest. You can also already install game ports from Inside your headset, but we are adding a full PCVR mod manager to SideQuest too so you can install all the latest PCVR mods too! Stay tuned for that!

Edit: I had a bunch of nice images to illustrate all of this, but when I made a tiny edit to fix some spelling mistakes, reddit got rid of them all and now will not allow me to add them all back. Sorry about that! If you want to see the full post as it was intended here it is: https://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/1wz9qnj/comment/peb1zkw/?context=1&screen_view_count=3

u/shakamone — 9 days ago
▲ 243 r/oculus+1 crossposts

Hi, Im Shane from SideQuest and I have some updates for you! We enabled 207 Hz for everyone to play with in any app!

Heyo folks! Howdy from all of us over here at SideQuest. After nearly 8 years we are still here providng great ways to get the most out of your VR and delighted to tell you about some new updates we have.

A brand new SideQuest experience - In and out of VR

https://preview.redd.it/s7o39b1p89oh1.png?width=4800&format=png&auto=webp&s=27848df2e29ea29c4a0011e2384474e2c02c1974

We recently completely revamped our entire app offering, a full rebuild of our desktop and in-VR apps from the ground up with a tonne of new features!

We have unified our desktop and in-VR apps! Bringing all the extra capabilities across both to you in and out of VR.

  • Brand new streaming solution in SideQuest that works across all Quest headsets, super low latency and perfect quality. You can stream one eye or both eyes, tweak the resolution, frame rate and bitrate and save your own presets. It also supports our experimental "Play Space Mover" capability allowing you to take over and move your view in VR from your desktop, with controls directly inside VR coming soon too.
  • Completely new file manager with an overhauled UI, better support for managing and searching files and transferring stuff to and from your headset. You can bookmark folders, preview images and screenshots and even play videos and headset recordings directly inside SideQuest.
  • A brand new installing flow with much more progress information as you install apps and transfer stuff. You can sideload APKs directly from inside VR, install APK, OBB and ZIP files from desktop and see your install queue, progress and installation history.
  • A complete overhaul of how wireless connecting works, much more reliable and automated. SideQuest can remember your wireless devices and reconnect much faster, and it's much easier to jump between USB and wireless connections. We can even enable wireless ADB on supported older devices that don't have the Wireless Debugging option built in.
  • A more reliable connection in VR with the new and improved in-VR app too. You can browse and install SideQuest games and apps directly inside your headset, manage your installed apps and access loads of the same features that were previously only available on desktop.
  • A completely revamped app manager with new list and grid views, making it much easier to see everything you have installed. You can see which apps are currently running and launch, stop, uninstall and manage them right from SideQuest.
  • Loads more options for tweaking your headset settings, including CPU and GPU levels, texture resolution, foveated rendering, chromatic aberration, Guardian, proximity sensor, brightness, screen timeout, keep awake and loads more.
  • Custom profiles and presets so you can save different setups for performance, higher frame rates, battery saving, capture settings or whatever else you want. We also have SideQuest Optimizer coming soon with recommended settings for individual games and ready-made optimization presets.
  • Some pretty crazy experimental performance options too. We've expanded the CPU and GPU controls on supported hardware and we're experimenting with much higher refresh rates on Quest 3. We've already got 207Hz working in testing, and we're playing around with 240Hz too.
  • A bunch of new capture controls available both on desktop and in VR. Change your capture resolution, frame rate and bitrate, choose from built-in presets or make and save your own.
  • Built-in debugging tools including a raw Logcat viewer so you don't need to fire up Android Studio just to see what's going on. We've also added quick ADB commands and you can create and save your own custom commands too.
  • More information about your headset right inside SideQuest, including battery level, charging state, available storage and more.

And because the desktop and in-VR apps are now unified, we can bring new features and improvements to both much more easily going forward!

No sign-up required, ever. Get access to all these great features with or without a SideQuest account, though we do have 4.5 million people who have decided to sign up anyway.

Here's a guide to get you started! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrBa_2cCTj0

AltspaceVR

Many VR platforms have announced they are winding down, RecRoom, Engage, Spatial, Horizon Worlds, A Township Tale and even Altspace itself a little over three years ago. A lot of people clearly love VRChat and so do we but we also long for something different and right now I think there has never been less choice in this space. We want to change that.

Our reveal trailer

My original Altspace avatar nearly a decade ago.

We are re-launching AltspaceVR in around 6/7 weeks 🫲🥴🫱. Incase you have never heard of Altspace:

AltspaceVR is a social platform for virtual reality - a place where people meet inside shared 3D spaces instead of scrolling past each other. Put on a headset or open it on a screen, and you’re in a room with other people: voices around you, avatars turning to look when you speak.

Every night there’s something on. Comedy sets and open mics, meditation circles, talks and screenings, dance floors that run till morning - and a thousand quiet meetups where a few friends just hang out somewhere one of them built.

Groups to belong to, events to show up for, and worlds to stand in.

Join us in Discord where we are already meeting several times a week to discuss upcoming features and gather as much community feedback as possible.

https://discord.gg/altvr

Here is a peek at a cosy campfire world that we are in the early stages of playing with right now.

https://preview.redd.it/kkrs33vvc9oh1.jpg?width=2559&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9508e05357c7e67b96e40bc320c9190122684e4f

https://preview.redd.it/skdvmjkwc9oh1.jpg?width=768&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=39fdc85d2366d17e63dee78ea3c275bab5b706de

We have a brand new website over at https://altvr.app which you can already sign into if you have a SideQuest account. You can claim your custom unique username and already manage your friends and messages as well as create groups, worlds and events or even browse through the tonne that have alreayd been created.

We have a new discord over at https://discord.gg/altvr with over 1400 members in the last 5 weeks which is really special and we have shared some samples of what our built in avatar system might look like with human and robot options for people to choose from.

Join the Quest Beta here: https://sdq.st/altvr

Here is a taste of the avatars we have been working on:

Humans

Here is a smaple of the human avatars, they are far from perfect yet but if you can imagine these with loads of outfits, hairstlyes, colors and more.

https://preview.redd.it/ifsemzrac9oh1.png?width=3840&format=png&auto=webp&s=c9b5a50e0c7dbdbdf4fa4503ec0912a78948c0ce

https://preview.redd.it/btobjzrac9oh1.png?width=3840&format=png&auto=webp&s=0a37b9db130be2793f61b9458ba07b2b10746f42

https://preview.redd.it/39jjgzrac9oh1.png?width=3840&format=png&auto=webp&s=635188d71ccc818342e52a3d0325bb69ff3743d6

https://preview.redd.it/g8jalyrac9oh1.png?width=3840&format=png&auto=webp&s=e65b1cef0e83fec1dd5ddd334bf57c0233d0e922

https://preview.redd.it/6apg62sac9oh1.png?width=3840&format=png&auto=webp&s=02f2d5d0387495d48f287390037feaea32d6bcb1

https://preview.redd.it/yg08zzrac9oh1.png?width=3840&format=png&auto=webp&s=534d5eff8250abe440a8db9c71b9696db72581bf

Robots

We worked with the original designers of teh robots to make something that is both modern and an homage to the original altspace robots avatars. Here is a sample with some cosmetics included. These will have custom colors, face animations and a whole set of cosmetics to boot too.

https://i.redd.it/nde8du7kd9oh1.gif

We are very excited about what is to come and look forward to seeing you all in VR again in Altspace.

Be there, together. Again.

reddit.com
u/shakamone — 1 month ago
▲ 45 r/Quest3

Hi, Im Shane from SideQuest and I have some updates for you! We enabled 207 Hz for everyone to play with in any app!

Heyo folks! Howdy from all of us over here at SideQuest. After nearly 8 years we are still here providng great ways to get the most out of your VR and delighted to tell you about some new updates we have.

A brand new SideQuest experience - In and out of VR

https://preview.redd.it/s7o39b1p89oh1.png?width=4800&format=png&auto=webp&s=27848df2e29ea29c4a0011e2384474e2c02c1974

We recently completely revamped our entire app offering, a full rebuild of our desktop and in-VR apps from the ground up with a tonne of new features!

We have unified our desktop and in-VR apps! Bringing all the extra capabilities across both to you in and out of VR.

  • Brand new streaming solution in SideQuest that works across all Quest headsets, super low latency and perfect quality. You can stream one eye or both eyes, tweak the resolution, frame rate and bitrate and save your own presets. It also supports our experimental "Play Space Mover" capability allowing you to take over and move your view in VR from your desktop, with controls directly inside VR coming soon too.
  • Completely new file manager with an overhauled UI, better support for managing and searching files and transferring stuff to and from your headset. You can bookmark folders, preview images and screenshots and even play videos and headset recordings directly inside SideQuest.
  • A brand new installing flow with much more progress information as you install apps and transfer stuff. You can sideload APKs directly from inside VR, install APK, OBB and ZIP files from desktop and see your install queue, progress and installation history.
  • A complete overhaul of how wireless connecting works, much more reliable and automated. SideQuest can remember your wireless devices and reconnect much faster, and it's much easier to jump between USB and wireless connections. We can even enable wireless ADB on supported older devices that don't have the Wireless Debugging option built in.
  • A more reliable connection in VR with the new and improved in-VR app too. You can browse and install SideQuest games and apps directly inside your headset, manage your installed apps and access loads of the same features that were previously only available on desktop.
  • A completely revamped app manager with new list and grid views, making it much easier to see everything you have installed. You can see which apps are currently running and launch, stop, uninstall and manage them right from SideQuest.
  • Loads more options for tweaking your headset settings, including CPU and GPU levels, texture resolution, foveated rendering, chromatic aberration, Guardian, proximity sensor, brightness, screen timeout, keep awake and loads more.
  • Custom profiles and presets so you can save different setups for performance, higher frame rates, battery saving, capture settings or whatever else you want. We also have SideQuest Optimizer coming soon with recommended settings for individual games and ready-made optimization presets.
  • Some pretty crazy experimental performance options too. We've expanded the CPU and GPU controls on supported hardware and we're experimenting with much higher refresh rates on Quest 3. We've already got 207Hz working in testing, and we're playing around with 240Hz too.
  • A bunch of new capture controls available both on desktop and in VR. Change your capture resolution, frame rate and bitrate, choose from built-in presets or make and save your own.
  • Built-in debugging tools including a raw Logcat viewer so you don't need to fire up Android Studio just to see what's going on. We've also added quick ADB commands and you can create and save your own custom commands too.
  • More information about your headset right inside SideQuest, including battery level, charging state, available storage and more.

And because the desktop and in-VR apps are now unified, we can bring new features and improvements to both much more easily going forward!

No sign-up required, ever. Get access to all these great features with or without a SideQuest account, though we do have 4.5 million people who have decided to sign up anyway.

Here's a guide to get you started! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrBa_2cCTj0

AltspaceVR

Many VR platforms have announced they are winding down, RecRoom, Engage, Spatial, Horizon Worlds, A Township Tale and even Altspace itself a little over three years ago. A lot of people clearly love VRChat and so do we but we also long for something different and right now I think there has never been less choice in this space. We want to change that.

Our reveal trailer

My original Altspace avatar nearly a decade ago.

We are also re-launching AltspaceVR in around 6/7 weeks 🫲🥴🫱.

Incase you have never heard of Altspace:

AltspaceVR is a social platform for virtual reality - a place where people meet inside shared 3D spaces instead of scrolling past each other. Put on a headset or open it on a screen, and you’re in a room with other people: voices around you, avatars turning to look when you speak.

Every night there’s something on. Comedy sets and open mics, meditation circles, talks and screenings, dance floors that run till morning - and a thousand quiet meetups where a few friends just hang out somewhere one of them built.

Groups to belong to, events to show up for, and worlds to stand in.

Join us in Discord where we are already meeting several times a week to discuss upcoming features and gather as much community feedback as possible.

https://discord.gg/altvr

Here is a peek at a cosy campfire world that we are in the early stages of playing with right now.

https://preview.redd.it/kkrs33vvc9oh1.jpg?width=2559&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9508e05357c7e67b96e40bc320c9190122684e4f

https://preview.redd.it/skdvmjkwc9oh1.jpg?width=768&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=39fdc85d2366d17e63dee78ea3c275bab5b706de

We have a brand new website over at https://altvr.app which you can already sign into if you have a SideQuest account. You can claim your custom unique username and already manage your friends and messages as well as create groups, worlds and events or even browse through the tonne that have alreayd been created.

We have a new discord over at https://discord.gg/altvr with over 1400 members in the last 5 weeks which is really special and we have shared some samples of what our built in avatar system might look like with human and robot options for people to choose from.

Join the Quest Beta here: https://sdq.st/altvr

Here is a taste of the avatars we have been working on:

Humans

Here is a smaple of the human avatars, they are far from perfect yet but if you can imagine these with loads of outfits, hairstlyes, colors and more.

https://preview.redd.it/ifsemzrac9oh1.png?width=3840&format=png&auto=webp&s=c9b5a50e0c7dbdbdf4fa4503ec0912a78948c0ce

https://preview.redd.it/btobjzrac9oh1.png?width=3840&format=png&auto=webp&s=0a37b9db130be2793f61b9458ba07b2b10746f42

https://preview.redd.it/39jjgzrac9oh1.png?width=3840&format=png&auto=webp&s=635188d71ccc818342e52a3d0325bb69ff3743d6

https://preview.redd.it/g8jalyrac9oh1.png?width=3840&format=png&auto=webp&s=e65b1cef0e83fec1dd5ddd334bf57c0233d0e922

https://preview.redd.it/6apg62sac9oh1.png?width=3840&format=png&auto=webp&s=02f2d5d0387495d48f287390037feaea32d6bcb1

https://preview.redd.it/yg08zzrac9oh1.png?width=3840&format=png&auto=webp&s=534d5eff8250abe440a8db9c71b9696db72581bf

Robots

We worked with the original designers of teh robots to make something that is both modern and an homage to the original altspace robots avatars. Here is a sample with some cosmetics included. These will have custom colors, face animations and a whole set of cosmetics to boot too.

https://i.redd.it/nde8du7kd9oh1.gif

We are very excited about what is to come and look forward to seeing you all in VR again in Altspace.

Be there, together. Again.

reddit.com
u/shakamone — 1 month ago
▲ 23 r/OculusQuest

AltspaceVR Development Update

Hey all!

We announced AltspaceVR was returning 17 days ago, it's been quite an exciting ride sice then. We have had a lot of things going on over in the community and I wanted to share an update with you!

If you want to get involved you can sign up at https://altvr.app or join in the conversation on discord at https://discord.gg/altvr

https://preview.redd.it/30lp499hyojh1.png?width=2559&format=png&auto=webp&s=89146320bcca32fb9f18abba3476707e612d0fee

Offline Alpha

We've already had a first look at what the Altspace build will look like. We released an early alpha for world builders to get a taste of what it will be like to build. This build lets you try out around 20 worlds that have already been created by some eager world builders.

This build is offline - it does not yet let you join your friends yet. It does however work in and out of VR on both PC and Quest. You can grab it over on https://altvr.app/download or on Meta Quest here: https://www.meta.com/s/7lAdY1YRr

https://preview.redd.it/9f5xthwpuojh1.png?width=1728&format=png&auto=webp&s=3e423d768d1c2ae6613aa73d6f255dce8dbf5052

The brand new wesbite!

You can already sign up, add friends and send messages to your peeps! We took photos submitted by the community and embeded their avatars into the homepage, check it out: https://altvr.app

https://i.redd.it/uyd37o7e5pjh1.gif

Avatars! Avatars! Avatars!

We had two live stage sessions in discord in the first two weeks. The first reached 60 audience members and featured Christian Boe (original designer of the Altspace robots) sketch out avatar designs live with feedback from the community for over 3 hours. The second reached 90 people and we hammered out how avatars should work and what makes them special to users on Altspace.

https://preview.redd.it/1r7qof19xojh1.png?width=2291&format=png&auto=webp&s=97f99237df02703a669f9fd9fdb118b1733f8d79

https://preview.redd.it/jmzdgxlq0pjh1.png?width=742&format=png&auto=webp&s=c4e597d31e91d784626d9eb7e4d18062fb21befc

We also realised we need to prioritise humanoid avatars with the sort of expressive features people have come to expect from Altspace, and we have already begun to work on those! Starting with the eyes as so many people have pointed out int he feedback that how the eyes worked in Altspace was one of their favorite avatars features.

So here are a few things we have already decided together as a community.

  • We will have both robots and humanoids, hopefully both at launch.
  • We may also have pets/maascots - small buddies in VR that can serve multiple purposes.
  • You will earn XP the more you interact with Altspace and earn new cosmetics for your avatars.
  • At level 50 you will earn a signle custom avatar slot to be able to use your own custom avatar.

The main feedback that came out of the last stage was that people wanted to identify with their avatars, to feel a personal attached connection espeically with the built in robot/humanoid avatars. A lot of users also wanted the option to use custom avatars.

We will also release the source files for our own humanoids and robot avatars too up front - we wnat to encourage people to use these as a base to create their custom avatars when they reach level 50.

So what does all of this mean for avatars?

Everyone will start out with our built-in robot and humanoid avatars. As you spend time in Altspace, take part in the community and earn XP, you'll level up and unlock more cosmetics, accessories and other rewards along the way.

When you reach Level 50, you'll unlock a single custom avatar slot. You'll be able to import your own custom avatar, or download the source files for our built-in robots and humanoids and use those as a starting point to create something that's completely yours.

We also heard pretty clearly that not everyone wants custom avatars everywhere, so we're building that choice into the system too. Worlds will be able to choose whether custom avatars are enabled, and events can temporarily override that setting. On top of that, you get to decide what you personally see - follow the world setting, always see built-in avatars, or always see custom avatars.

The important bit is that your choice only affects you. Turning custom avatars on doesn't force anyone else to see them, and turning them off doesn't stop anyone else from enjoying them. Hopefully that means we can keep the familiar Altspace identity people are attached to, while also giving people who want more freedom a way to really express themselves.

We are super excited about this, and we hope you are too!

World Building

We will have world building of course! It will work in several ways, but here is some highlights:

  • Unity worlds will be built with URP.
  • We already have a Unity Uplaoder and it works really well on Windows and Mac.
  • A built-in world builder enabling in-game building is also already in the works.

We already have great results on Quest and WIndows with postprocesing on all platforms, performance is already looking good and the community is already testing it out. Our in-game builder already has a huge number of kit objects built in, over 9500 objects for you to play with and place in your worlds. Within the next week we will have a beta that includes in-game world building but here's an early shot of what the builder already looks like (some of you may recognise it):

https://preview.redd.it/6l2c3yi41pjh1.png?width=1371&format=png&auto=webp&s=5e2eab1885734b9242c4619060a6ed97a4b64128

2D Mode/Pancake Mode/Non-VR Mode

We teamed up with one of the original staff members gfodor to integrate an awesome new project he has been working on which greatly enhances the presense people get while using Altspace outside of VR. PortalVR extends the capabilities of desktop VR applications to include motion controllers, hand and head tracking, and 3D display/AR support, and we're going to include those features in the 2D version of the AltspaceVR beta to see what the community thinks. Though not all of them are inegrated with Altspace yet, we hope to get them all implemented in the near future.

  • Support for VR controllers in 2d mode, Quest 1/2/3, PICO 3/4, Galaxy XR (Vive and Index controllers aren't working yet with the standalone runtime version)
  • Joy-Con 1 + 2 tracking on webcam or iPhone
  • Smartphone controller (iPhone or Android app that turns the phone into a 6dof controller)
  • Head/Face/Hand tracking
  • Support for Odyssey 3D and other leia 3d displays, VITURE and XREAL AR glasses, and general SBS mode. also anaglyph trioviz glasses

Run AltspaceVR 2D Mode.exe in the windows build for these extra features.

A huge thanks to gfodor for all his work over the years tirelesly working to make Altspace great and now for bringing this free enhancement to make non-vr users more present in the world with you.

https://preview.redd.it/40js1xq87pjh1.png?width=2074&format=png&auto=webp&s=21d796bb0582b0c67564db20fc29287c231e8ed7

That's all for now folks! Remember to get involved you can sign up at https://altvr.app or join in the conversation on discord at https://discord.gg/altvr

Thank you all for being part of this journey!

Be there, together. Again.

AltspaceVR Team

reddit.com
u/shakamone — 2 months ago
▲ 1 r/sidequest

AltspaceVR Development Update!

Hey all!

We announced AltspaceVR was returning 17 days ago, it's been quite an exciting ride sice then. We have had a lot of things going on over in the community and I wanted to share an update with you!

If you want to get involved you can sign up at https://altvr.app or join in the conversation on discord at https://discord.gg/altvr

https://preview.redd.it/30lp499hyojh1.png?width=2559&format=png&auto=webp&s=89146320bcca32fb9f18abba3476707e612d0fee

Offline Alpha

We've already had a first look at what the Altspace build will look like. We released an early alpha for world builders to get a taste of what it will be like to build. This build lets you try out around 20 worlds that have already been created by some eager world builders.

This build is offline - it does not yet let you join your friends yet. It does however work in and out of VR on both PC and Quest. You can grab it over on https://altvr.app/download or on Meta Quest here: https://www.meta.com/s/7lAdY1YRr

https://preview.redd.it/9f5xthwpuojh1.png?width=1728&format=png&auto=webp&s=3e423d768d1c2ae6613aa73d6f255dce8dbf5052

The brand new wesbite!

You can already sign up, add friends and send messages to your peeps! We took photos submitted by the community and embeded their avatars into the homepage, check it out: https://altvr.app

https://i.redd.it/uyd37o7e5pjh1.gif

Avatars! Avatars! Avatars!

We had two live stage sessions in discord in the first two weeks. The first reached 60 audience members and featured Christian Boe (original designer of the Altspace robots) sketch out avatar designs live with feedback from the community for over 3 hours. The second reached 90 people and we hammered out how avatars should work and what makes them special to users on Altspace.

https://preview.redd.it/1r7qof19xojh1.png?width=2291&format=png&auto=webp&s=97f99237df02703a669f9fd9fdb118b1733f8d79

https://preview.redd.it/jmzdgxlq0pjh1.png?width=742&format=png&auto=webp&s=c4e597d31e91d784626d9eb7e4d18062fb21befc

We also realised we need to prioritise humanoid avatars with the sort of expressive features people have come to expect from Altspace, and we have already begun to work on those! Starting with the eyes as so many people have pointed out int he feedback that how the eyes worked in Altspace was one of their favorite avatars features.

So here are a few things we have already decided together as a community.

  • We will have both robots and humanoids, hopefully both at launch.
  • We may also have pets/maascots - small buddies in VR that can serve multiple purposes.
  • You will earn XP the more you interact with Altspace and earn new cosmetics for your avatars.
  • At level 50 you will earn a signle custom avatar slot to be able to use your own custom avatar.

The main feedback that came out of the last stage was that people wanted to identify with their avatars, to feel a personal attached connection espeically with the built in robot/humanoid avatars. A lot of users also wanted the option to use custom avatars.

We will also release the source files for our own humanoids and robot avatars too up front - we wnat to encourage people to use these as a base to create their custom avatars when they reach level 50.

So what does all of this mean for avatars?

Everyone will start out with our built-in robot and humanoid avatars. As you spend time in Altspace, take part in the community and earn XP, you'll level up and unlock more cosmetics, accessories and other rewards along the way.

When you reach Level 50, you'll unlock a single custom avatar slot. You'll be able to import your own custom avatar, or download the source files for our built-in robots and humanoids and use those as a starting point to create something that's completely yours.

We also heard pretty clearly that not everyone wants custom avatars everywhere, so we're building that choice into the system too. Worlds will be able to choose whether custom avatars are enabled, and events can temporarily override that setting. On top of that, you get to decide what you personally see - follow the world setting, always see built-in avatars, or always see custom avatars.

The important bit is that your choice only affects you. Turning custom avatars on doesn't force anyone else to see them, and turning them off doesn't stop anyone else from enjoying them. Hopefully that means we can keep the familiar Altspace identity people are attached to, while also giving people who want more freedom a way to really express themselves.

We are super excited about this, and we hope you are too!

World Building

We will have world building of course! It will work in several ways, but here is some highlights:

  • Unity worlds will be built with URP.
  • We already have a Unity Uplaoder and it works really well on Windows and Mac.
  • A built-in world builder enabling in-game building is also already in the works.

We already have great results on Quest and WIndows with postprocesing on all platforms, performance is already looking good and the community is already testing it out. Our in-game builder already has a huge number of kit objects built in, over 9500 objects for you to play with and place in your worlds. Within the next week we will have a beta that includes in-game world building but here's an early shot of what the builder already looks like (some of you may recognise it):

https://preview.redd.it/tg4v0cwe2rjh1.png?width=1371&format=png&auto=webp&s=e6e526816a708b45e9a7c6998b063f4424c8a8dc

2D Mode/Pancake Mode/Non-VR Mode

We teamed up with one of the original staff members gfodor to integrate an awesome new project he has been working on which greatly enhances the presense people get while using Altspace outside of VR. PortalVR extends the capabilities of desktop VR applications to include motion controllers, hand and head tracking, and 3D display/AR support, and we're going to include those features in the 2D version of the AltspaceVR beta to see what the community thinks. Though not all of them are inegrated with Altspace yet, we hope to get them all implemented in the near future.

  • Support for VR controllers in 2d mode, Quest 1/2/3, PICO 3/4, Galaxy XR (Vive and Index controllers aren't working yet with the standalone runtime version)
  • Joy-Con 1 + 2 tracking on webcam or iPhone
  • Smartphone controller (iPhone or Android app that turns the phone into a 6dof controller)
  • Head/Face/Hand tracking
  • Support for Odyssey 3D and other leia 3d displays, VITURE and XREAL AR glasses, and general SBS mode. also anaglyph trioviz glasses

Run AltspaceVR 2D Mode.exe in the windows build for these extra features.

A huge thanks to gfodor for all his work over the years tirelesly working to make Altspace great and now for bringing this free enhancement to make non-vr users more present in the world with you.

https://preview.redd.it/ur7oivch2rjh1.png?width=2074&format=png&auto=webp&s=a4534e2f3b9bda9fefd01aa32a494c2e913fd192

That's all for now folks! Remember to get involved you can sign up at https://altvr.app or join in the conversation on discord at https://discord.gg/altvr

Thank you all for being part of this journey!

Be there, together. Again.

AltspaceVR Team

reddit.com
u/shakamone — 2 months ago
▲ 3 r/Quest3

AltspaceVR Development Update!

Hey all!

We announced AltspaceVR was returning 17 days ago, it's been quite an exciting ride sice then. We have had a lot of things going on over in the community and I wanted to share an update with you!

If you want to get involved you can sign up at https://altvr.app or join in the conversation on discord at https://discord.gg/altvr

https://preview.redd.it/30lp499hyojh1.png?width=2559&format=png&auto=webp&s=89146320bcca32fb9f18abba3476707e612d0fee

Offline Alpha

We've already had a first look at what the Altspace build will look like. We released an early alpha for world builders to get a taste of what it will be like to build. This build lets you try out around 20 worlds that have already been created by some eager world builders.

This build is offline - it does not yet let you join your friends yet. It does however work in and out of VR on both PC and Quest. You can grab it over on https://altvr.app/download or on Meta Quest here: https://www.meta.com/s/7lAdY1YRr

https://preview.redd.it/9f5xthwpuojh1.png?width=1728&format=png&auto=webp&s=3e423d768d1c2ae6613aa73d6f255dce8dbf5052

The brand new wesbite!

You can already sign up, add friends and send messages to your peeps! We took photos submitted by the community and embeded their avatars into the homepage, check it out: https://altvr.app

https://i.redd.it/uyd37o7e5pjh1.gif

Avatars! Avatars! Avatars!

We had two live stage sessions in discord in the first two weeks. The first reached 60 audience members and featured Christian Boe (original designer of the Altspace robots) sketch out avatar designs live with feedback from the community for over 3 hours. The second reached 90 people and we hammered out how avatars should work and what makes them special to users on Altspace.

https://preview.redd.it/1r7qof19xojh1.png?width=2291&format=png&auto=webp&s=97f99237df02703a669f9fd9fdb118b1733f8d79

https://preview.redd.it/jmzdgxlq0pjh1.png?width=742&format=png&auto=webp&s=c4e597d31e91d784626d9eb7e4d18062fb21befc

We also realised we need to prioritise humanoid avatars with the sort of expressive features people have come to expect from Altspace, and we have already begun to work on those! Starting with the eyes as so many people have pointed out int he feedback that how the eyes worked in Altspace was one of their favorite avatars features.

So here are a few things we have already decided together as a community.

  • We will have both robots and humanoids, hopefully both at launch.
  • We may also have pets/maascots - small buddies in VR that can serve multiple purposes.
  • You will earn XP the more you interact with Altspace and earn new cosmetics for your avatars.
  • At level 50 you will earn a signle custom avatar slot to be able to use your own custom avatar.

The main feedback that came out of the last stage was that people wanted to identify with their avatars, to feel a personal attached connection espeically with the built in robot/humanoid avatars. A lot of users also wanted the option to use custom avatars.

We will also release the source files for our own humanoids and robot avatars too up front - we wnat to encourage people to use these as a base to create their custom avatars when they reach level 50.

So what does all of this mean for avatars?

Everyone will start out with our built-in robot and humanoid avatars. As you spend time in Altspace, take part in the community and earn XP, you'll level up and unlock more cosmetics, accessories and other rewards along the way.

When you reach Level 50, you'll unlock a single custom avatar slot. You'll be able to import your own custom avatar, or download the source files for our built-in robots and humanoids and use those as a starting point to create something that's completely yours.

We also heard pretty clearly that not everyone wants custom avatars everywhere, so we're building that choice into the system too. Worlds will be able to choose whether custom avatars are enabled, and events can temporarily override that setting. On top of that, you get to decide what you personally see - follow the world setting, always see built-in avatars, or always see custom avatars.

The important bit is that your choice only affects you. Turning custom avatars on doesn't force anyone else to see them, and turning them off doesn't stop anyone else from enjoying them. Hopefully that means we can keep the familiar Altspace identity people are attached to, while also giving people who want more freedom a way to really express themselves.

We are super excited about this, and we hope you are too!

World Building

We will have world building of course! It will work in several ways, but here is some highlights:

  • Unity worlds will be built with URP.
  • We already have a Unity Uplaoder and it works really well on Windows and Mac.
  • A built-in world builder enabling in-game building is also already in the works.

We already have great results on Quest and WIndows with postprocesing on all platforms, performance is already looking good and the community is already testing it out. Our in-game builder already has a huge number of kit objects built in, over 9500 objects for you to play with and place in your worlds. Within the next week we will have a beta that includes in-game world building but here's an early shot of what the builder already looks like (some of you may recognise it):

https://preview.redd.it/tg4v0cwe2rjh1.png?width=1371&format=png&auto=webp&s=e6e526816a708b45e9a7c6998b063f4424c8a8dc

2D Mode/Pancake Mode/Non-VR Mode

We teamed up with one of the original staff members gfodor to integrate an awesome new project he has been working on which greatly enhances the presense people get while using Altspace outside of VR. PortalVR extends the capabilities of desktop VR applications to include motion controllers, hand and head tracking, and 3D display/AR support, and we're going to include those features in the 2D version of the AltspaceVR beta to see what the community thinks. Though not all of them are inegrated with Altspace yet, we hope to get them all implemented in the near future.

  • Support for VR controllers in 2d mode, Quest 1/2/3, PICO 3/4, Galaxy XR (Vive and Index controllers aren't working yet with the standalone runtime version)
  • Joy-Con 1 + 2 tracking on webcam or iPhone
  • Smartphone controller (iPhone or Android app that turns the phone into a 6dof controller)
  • Head/Face/Hand tracking
  • Support for Odyssey 3D and other leia 3d displays, VITURE and XREAL AR glasses, and general SBS mode. also anaglyph trioviz glasses

Run AltspaceVR 2D Mode.exe in the windows build for these extra features.

A huge thanks to gfodor for all his work over the years tirelesly working to make Altspace great and now for bringing this free enhancement to make non-vr users more present in the world with you.

https://preview.redd.it/ur7oivch2rjh1.png?width=2074&format=png&auto=webp&s=a4534e2f3b9bda9fefd01aa32a494c2e913fd192

That's all for now folks! Remember to get involved you can sign up at https://altvr.app or join in the conversation on discord at https://discord.gg/altvr

Thank you all for being part of this journey!

Be there, together. Again.

AltspaceVR Team

reddit.com
u/shakamone — 2 months ago
▲ 213 r/sidequest+4 crossposts

AltspaceVR is returning this fall, this time for real!

Hey Folks,

So this isn't news for some of you, but Altspace is coming back this year. You may have seen other posts about this in the last 12 months, but this one is a real guarantee and will happen. In the coming weeks and months you will see more regular updates, developer reels, speed run videos of the design process and the juicy details of what's to come.

Who am i?

My name is Shane, and I'm the CEO of SideQuest. We recently acquired the rights to the Altspace name and we have the motivation, experience and backing to bring it back in all it's glory. This will be a brand new Altspace, but it will truly be a spiritual successor to the Altspace we know and love and capture what made it great. Let's dive in to how I will pull this off.

Here's whats happening:

Later this year we will re-launch Altspace with a lot of the features and functionality that it had around 2016-2017. I have assembled an elite team of previous Altspace staffers as well as some of the most prolific OG players and we are already hard at work figuring out all the important stuff like how it will work, what we will prioritise and understanding what needs to happen to make it great.

Bring back the robots!

I have been working for several weeks now with the original concept designer behind the original robots in Altspace, Christian Boe - https://christianboe.com/portfolio/altspace-vr/ and together we have been working on creating a brand new set of Altspace robots, they have a modern spin but still pay homage to the OG Altspace robots. I will be sharing more behind the scenes footage and concepts in the coming weeks. We will have variations, accessories and even support for creating your own custom avatars too.

AMA

Please ask me anything you want to know about how this is going to work, we don't have all the answers yet but I am eager to get as much feedback as I can from the community to help shape the future of Altspace.

My Origin Story: Why this matters to Me.

Many moons ago I was just hanging out in VR, and I found Altspace. I was into web based development so I was amazed to find out how building worked, using tools like three.js and aframe.js. I spent a few months making spaces for myself, for some other groups in the community and eventually I built the ultimate tool - a space making interface called "Shane's Editor. It was popular, and in a few short weeks there was hundreds of user making thousands of spaces.

Altspace was evolving, and part of that involved moving away from the web based development. This meant Shane's Editor no longer had a home, I decided to spin it out into my own app. I originally submitted this app to Meta for approval on the Quest 1 for store release and they said no, so I built SideQuest so other developers like me could release their apps and reach VR users. Now nearly 7 years, millions of users and millions of dollars later, I have come full circle. We are re-launching Altspace for a modern audience, while keeping it authentic to what Altspace was in its prime. We are turning back the clock, bringing back the robots and making Altspace like it was supposed to be.

u/shakamone — 3 months ago