Update log
Full ChilloutVR update
The complete published notes, normalized for clean reading and source attribution.
Repeated intro
Hello there, and thank you so much for checking in!
Extracted changes
- Workshop
- Security
- Server
- Gameplay
Further Scripting Progress - Persistence & More!
A new addition to our Lua Scripting system that has just been released to one of our Nightly branches is Persistence, which allows creators to store data on the user’s local machine and be preserved for later use.
This means that anything from simple toggles, to game save data, can be maintained across instances, worlds, and even play sessions. While the convenience of not having to flip the same settings in your favorite cozy world for every visit is exciting in it’s own right, we also hope it’ll allow creators to build games and similar content with longer-term play in mind. Saving scores and personal bests are a couple of great uses that come to mind, but there are limitless applications that can be realized and expanded upon.
While such use-cases may be obvious enough when it comes to Worlds, keep in mind that Scripting is also available for Props and Avatars as well, all of which may take advantage of the benefits that persistence offers.
So, how does it all work? As noted before, this data is stored on your local machine, but in two different forms: public and private. Public storage is a user-readable/editable JSON file, and can be used for simple preferences and configuration. Private storage is intended for something like game save states, and is an encrypted binary file designed to be secure and inaccessible to the user.
Additionally, we also plan to provide a server-side storage solution for persistent data down the line that will allow for even further security by not being stored on any user’s local machine.
Finally, in a recent Patreon meetup with the community, we were asked about our plans for scripting and what’s to come, so we’d like to share that here as well.
In an early Status Report discussing scripting and its features, we mentioned that additional languages would be added over time. One such language that is under heavily consideration is WASM, or WebAssembly. While plans for this are not necessarily set in stone, we are hoping to begin development on WASM when our current Lua implementation is in a more mature state.
Another new feature that we plan to make available to creators is the Scripting Network. This will allow creators to have more freedom and control over how scripts sync over the network, instead of being bound to spawnable/object sync, tailoring it to their specific needs.
More information to come on these features and more in the future.
If you would like to try out Persistence for yourself, and by extension the in-development Lua Scripting system, more information is available in our Community Discord server.
Deep Links
Recently, we introduced a new feature in the latest Stable release called Deep Links, which allow for interactions via url links such as joining an instance or viewing user/content details page with a link from outside of the game.
This can currently be seen and used by logging into our Hub, and joining a friend in an accessible instance via the 'JOIN - VR MODE' and 'JOIN - DESKTOP MODE' buttons. It is also possible to access the in-game details for users and content via a button on their respective Hub pages.
To enable Deep Links, upon launching the game, you will be prompted to install the necessary requirements. However, if wished, you may opt-out.
Community Documentation
One important bit of feedback that we often receive here at ABI about our relatively insufficient
Source