VaM Hub coming soon, 1.20 plans, and 2.X plans! (Patreon)
Content
VaM Hub
The VaM community has grown significantly over the life of this project, and with that growth, a new way to connect and share VaM content is clearly needed. At project launch we used Reddit as a way for the community to connect and share. Reddit was never ideal, but it was better than nothing. More recently, the official Discord server was added, and this worked a bit better allowing content to be put in different channels, but Discord has its own issues for content sharing. Content is still externally hosted on other share sites, and it is hard to find popular or well rated content. Older content quickly gets lost in an endless backscroll.
With that, we are happy to announce VaM Hub, coming soon! We have taken the last month to work on VaM Hub, a new site that will be the central place to share and find content and connect with the community. We offered early access to the Hub to many VaM content creators to try out, give feedback, and seed the site with some content. A key feature of the VaM Hub is a dedicated section called Resources. This resource section will allow upload of content by creators and distribution of that content through a global CDN for fast downloads. Each resource has an overview page, an updates page, a reviews page, and a dedicated discussion thread. The Hub will also have an extensive forum section for connecting with the community. Some other Hub features: media gallery, guides, and Q&A forums.
The VaM Hub will not replace the official Discord server, as Discord offers real-time interaction and a unique way to connect and share with others. We are looking at ways to connect the Hub and the Discord server so they can work together in beneficial ways.
We will officially launch VaM Hub to the public before the end of May.
1.20 Plans
The plan is to release 1.20 before the end of June, but please treat this date as a goal, not an absolute! Some of the planned features:
- Hub Integration - browse and get content from within VaM itself
- Auto-download system - the new var package system introduced dependencies. This system should allow getting those dependencies automatically if they are publicly accessible (either on Hub or via registered link).
- Improved new user experience - VaM is intimidating to new users (and often to experienced users!). We're aiming to make this better.
- Scene wizard - this system will allow making new scenes quickly using a mix & match approach.
- Many other tweaks
2.X Plans
2.X will get nearly full attention after 1.20 is released, as mentioned in previous updates. 2.X is a near entire rewrite of 1.X featuring a completely new version of Unity, a new rendering system (HDRP), and a new fast physics system that will allow more detailed and accurate interaction while also improving performance. Some of the 2.X rewrite is already complete, but there is much more to do before an initial release. Early alphas of 2.X will be released when feasible, and it is planned to release multiple alphas in 2020. We can't provide exact details yet since getting the first alpha out will require months of dedicated work due to the huge scope of work required. We are taking everything learned in 1.X, including valuable community feedback, and applying that to make 2.X a much better platform. During the time of 2.X development, 1.X releases will be more sparse due to the need to dedicate most of our energy to the next generation. We will post regular updates as we go to keep you in the loop. Thank you for your understanding and support in this manner.
Meshed and Team