Whirligig News

Hi everyone

After the last release and all the work on the browser I received a couple of comments about Whirligig failing to open. I started examining this issue and discovered on the first run of Whirligig, Whirligig would take a very long time to open while being unresponsive giving the impression that it had crashed. Every time after that Whirligig would open much quicker. So down the rabbit hole I went and I've been improving loading times, reducing overheads and fixing issues to make Whirligig faster than ever. I'll go over some of the improvements.

[h3]Rooms[/h3]
Rooms would load into memory at start which slowed things down quite a bit. I've changed this so that Whirligig only loads the room when when you're using it.

I've temporarily removed two rooms (the 3D ones at the end) as I need to determine what overheads these have. I hope to improve all the rooms in the future.

[h3]Controller Models skins[/h3]
I've done the same as the rooms and they will only load in when you choose them.

[h3]UI improvements[/h3]
I've spent a long time reducing all the texture for the UI as many were duplicates. This has reduced resource use and allowed me to standardise a lot of the look of the UI's. This will massively help me in the future when adding new features and improving the UI.

[h3]Added features[/h3]

• Added another page of blank backgrounds so you can add more of your own.
  
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• Two new mapping input options for Rotate. Rotate exists as a projection option and a position options. They work differently but now you can choose either one and they are better labeled.
  
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• Vsync as an option to the quality menu. Some people have experienced black flashes in either the headset or the monitor. Enabling this can remove this issue.
  
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• Reset all has been added to the position menu.
  

[h3]Bug fixes[/h3]
I've also spent a large amount of time fixing issues as I go. Any time I've come across a problem I've address it so hopefully many of the little problems will be ironed out.

I'm not going to list them here as there are a lot of small ones and many of which may have been added during the optimisation process. If you reported a bug and I've addressed or attempted to address the issue I'll post in the respective forum/email to let you know.

[h2]Please let me know of bugs[/h2]
I'm currently replacing a lot of the core code so any issues you have please let me know as I'm in the best position to address them right now. The more bugs reported the more I can fix and I very much appreciate when people let me know there is an issue I can fix :)


Well if you do, let me know with a good review :D Me like many developers thrive on positive feedback and are destroyed by bad reviews, which cut much deeper than a good one helps.

In all seriousness though a positive review really helps me to know that the changes I'm making are improving Whirligig and that I'm still providing something that people want to use. That also goes for feature requests, bug reports and general questions. I'm a lone developer and rely a lot on feedback to make Whirligig better. If there are ways I can make your experience better let me know.

If you are having issues with Whirligig I will understand if you write a negative review and it will make me sad :( I would however appreciate if you let me know what the issue was so I can improve Whirligig for the future :)


Thanks to everyone who enjoys Whirligig, you're support is very much appreciated. I look forward to hearing your suggestions for future updates.

Happy Watching

Phil

[edit] I've had a couple of comments regarding it not loading. I've made some changes including moving the permissions thing for networks so that you'll only be asked if you wish to use the network feature. I've also tried to optimise the startup code as it seems to take a long to to start when started for the first time. I'll continue to look at this over the next few days. The new version is Whirligig 5.11

Hi everyone

I've often had the request for a network location support feature on both Stand alone headsets and PC based headsets. This has been very difficult to implement as I'm not that well versed in network protocols but with the update to the VLC plugin this has opened up the options to include network browsing. It's taken me a while but here is the first release that includes this feature :)

As this has meant a rewrite of the browsing system in Whirligig I've taken the opportunity to improved and optimise the code so it should now run faster and hopefully more stable than before. Here is an example of the new Explorer:



Here is a rundown of the changes:

[Warning, your current shortcuts will be lost, explanation follows]
1 : You'll see that I've added 4 new shortcut options and also had them so they will display the folder name of the shortcut that they are linked two. I've also adjusted the way they are saved in the 'ini' file as they were using a comma as a separator, which is a legal character in folder names. This causes issues if the folder had that character. I've changed this so the conflict won't arise. However this does mean your Shortcuts with be removed on first load as the old system isn't compatible.

2: Local and network browsing has been added. Local will display your local drives (c:\, d;\ etc) and Network will show any Network locations that can be found.

3: With the addition on Network browsing I wanted to find the most space officiant way to improve the browser and also make the browser identical on both standalone and PC. I've removed the direct access to the drives and widened the Folder window. I've also extended address bar to make it easier to see where you are.



LibVLCSharp protocols
To make the network access as future proof as possible I've used the LibVLCSharp network access system to allow the locations to be viewed. This means that Whirligig is using the same system as VLC to browser and playback network located media.

UPnP (Universal Plug and Play), DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) as well as SMB are supported. Basically anything that VLC will find should be found by Whirligig.

Video playback
All video path and image playback will work with network locations. So you should be able to choose your proffered playback engine such as Media Foundation.

[h2]Current Know network browsing issues[/h2]

No Network Password support
This is the first version of the network implementation and as such I've not implemented any password options for shares that require username and passwords. This is, again another difficult implementation and I'll be working on it for up and coming versions. I would like to know how much this is a problem for people as well. In using the VLC network browsing I've noticed it doesn't ask for the username/password. So I'm not sure how much this is expected anyway.

Network shares not being listed or being listed more than once
As I'm using the VLC implementation I'm reliant on the response that it provides. If the plugin doesn't give me the address then I can't show it. I've also noticed that sometimes the same address will appear multiple times.

I am working in checks for these issues, such as checking if the network share has any folders, checking the id doesn't match other locations. These improves will come in over time as I become more aware of them.

Help from you
Basically up until the implementation of this feature I haven't been using a shared network location. Because of this I'm sure I'll miss features that most people want and will need to fix issues for future versions.

If you could tell me what is missing, if you are finding that it's working and any feedback that might help me to improve the feature please let me know :)

[h2]UI interaction and for explorer overhaul[/h2]

Browser
I've rewritten about 80 percent of the code that ran the browser to improve overall speeds, implement the network features, improve the cross support for thumbnail view and list view and open up the ability to add new features and improvements.

I have some features requests such as a search option but are there other things you would also like to see? Also is the new browser causing any problems?

UI interaction
I've also rewritten some of the UI interaction to allow better compatibility and more reliable usage. Previously things like hover over sprite change didn't work and sometimes buttons would get stuck etc. This update should fix a lot of these issues making the overall experience feel more solid and responsive.

As this is a change that effects all interaction in the UI there might be issues that I need to resolve. If you come across anything not working the way you expect please let me know.

[h2]Other updates[/h2]

Improved UI
I've worked on bringing the designs of the UI buttons, toggles and sliders together so that they use the same assets and looks. This should make the whole experience feel more universal and coherent.

Additional updates
I've worked on optimisation to improve overall performance, added link features to the surround sound options, updated plugins, SDK's and the Unity engine version.


This update makes quite a lot of changes that effect the whole of Whirligig. The browser need a complete rethink and UI interaction was broken and needed updating. Because of this please let me know of any issues. I've tested Whirligig extensively during developement of these new features but there are always things that slip through the cracks. It's likely that if something in the UI is no longer working then it will be an easy fix to update for the next version.

Apart from all that. Thank you all again for your support over the years and happy watching :)

Phil

This update should fix the issue with the WMR controllers not mapping properly.

Something I've noticed is that the thumbstick buttons open the SteamVR dashboard and appear to be set to be their default. Because of this I've removed these from mapping in Whirligig and indicated that they open the dashboard in the inputs menu. If this isn't desired please let me know.

Happy watching

Phil

Version 5 is a continuation of the v4 releases. There are multiple updates from the last build with many fixes and a few enhancements.

Current details for this release are available as a news post on steam here:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/451650/view/3891737610868401676?l=english

A full list of changes from the previous default will be released soon. If you have any issues either email me [email protected] or post on the Steam forum.

I hope you enjoy the update and look forward to your feedback.

Happy watch and happy new year :)

Phil

Hi Everyone

I've been working towards a new default version after all the large updates I've been making over the past few months and I'm now almost ready to push that live. This version needs a bit of testing by you, the users so I don't accidentally break it for everyone.

I'm hoping that it won't require too much in the way of confirmation that it's good to release as the majority of the underlying changes are bug fixes and life improvements in an attempt to make it more stable.

[h3]Updates[/h3]

• Half width side by side stereo videos now supported (they were before but to get them working you had to adjust the stretch. This is now no longer the case, with a simple tick box in the depth menu.
  
• Improved NDI support.
  
• Updated timecode settings. You can choose your own ip and port values.
  
• including dialog to show number of subtitle and audio tracks found when video loads.
  
• All plugins and engine versions updated to the latest.
  
• Quest 3 controllers added to the controller selection menu.
  
• Explorer visual updates.
  
• Explorer list by size and size indicated on each media.
  
• Help menu improved and changed to "about". This is partly in preparation for more info in this menu.
  
• Icon design redeveloped.
  

[h3]Preparing for version 5 release and leaving Early Access[/h3]

We are now in the far flung future of 2024 and I think it's about time I move Whirligig out of Early Access and into full release. With this I also intend to move to version 5 (I was running out of numbers in the fours) and have a redesign of the logo and splash screens. Here is the new logo/icon:



and here is the new splash screen:



Now I'm not a liar (most of the time) and I'm not going to start now. This new logo has been made with the help of ChatGPT based on my original pinwheel hand draw logo. I was just experimenting and came up with multiple options, which I couldn't deny looked really nice. I was also keen to get away from the four blade pinwheel design as it could be misconstrued at a passing glance. This is probably my paranoia but it had been niggling me for a while and once you see it it's hard to unsee.

All this new design will slowly be worked into the online store once the update has been released.

[h3]Cross Platform Work[/h3]

PC VR Stores:

• Viveport (this needs fully updating)
  
• Steam
  
• Oculus Store
  
• Pimax Store
  

Standalone Stores:
Pimax Store (Pimax Crystal)
Applabs (Quest 2/3) Quest 1 isn't yet support as I have to work out permissions issues.
Itch.io (Quest 2/3, PicoVR 4, other Pico 6DOF headsets.

My cross platform policy
If you own Whirligig on any of the stores and wish to have it on another store, this includes from PC to standalone and vice versa, then email me which store you want and I will send you a free code [email protected]. I've held this policy from the beginning and have been able to manage the requests. If this changes in the future I might have to re-address this but unless it's get unmanageable I will continue my cross platform purchase support.

Standalone vs PC VR

So there are some fundamental differences between the two versions but I have strived to keep the majority of features the same.

The PC version has full gamepad, mouse, keyboard and VR controller support. The standalone version has VR controller and gamepad support.

The standalone version also includes VLC video path options but replaces the other video paths with Exo Player and Media Player.

Passthrough support has made it to the Quest 2/3 and Pico standalone. Now you have the option to see the outside world while watching your media, also including dimming the passthrough while playing.

Timecode support is currently only available on the PC however if anyone wishes to contact me about standalone support testing I'd be happy to include it in future releases.

[h3]Feedback[/h3]
Whirligig's development has always been very much guided by community feedback. This ranges from bug reports, feature requests to suggestion of new platforms to work on.

I really want to know what you think of the direction of Whirligig. Do you think I should move out of Early Access? Do you like the logo? Are the changes I've made to move to OpenXR been good? Are there blind spots I'm missing with Whirligig? Let me know what you think. It really does help me to know where to focus on and make Whirligig better for everyone.

[h3]Reviews[/h3]
Positive reviews are very important in helping people know the product is still in development and that there are people out there who find it a worthwhile addition to their library. They also help to boost my self esteem which in my estimation works out as 1 bad review is equal to 6 good reviews.

If you have Whirligig on the Oculus store then it would be good to get a few more positive reviews there. It's been a long time since any reviews have been posted and the last couple refer to a much older version of Whirligig.

If you don't want to give a good review and would prefer to give a bad review that is also fine. However please let me know what I need to do to improve it. It's difficult to know what to do with a review which just says "this is crap". I'm already working on making it not crap so knowing where I need to focus my efforts is very useful.

[h3]And Finally[/h3]
I've been working on Whirligig since 2016 and have no plans to stop. I want to be able to continue making a product you all want to use so don't expect to see me slow down on updates after this big release. I have several ideas I want to implement, which I hope you'll appreciate when they are released.

I wish everyone a happy new year. Fingers crossed for all of us that 2024 will be a good year, well hopefully a better year than the last few. The bars been pushed pretty low but we still manage to get under it somehow.

I look forward to hearing all of your feedback.

Happy watching :)

Phil