Rec Room News

We promised it was coming Soon(tm). You waited. You asked on the Discord, you asked on the Reddit, you asked in AMAs. Well, the wait is over because this update brings:
* New **Clubs** feature! Rec Room Clubs allow you to create and manage communities of like-minded players!
* You can create a club for any topic/interest/reason you like (Code of Conduct permitting). Want to create a club for fans of scary horror rooms? You can do that! Want to create a club to discuss your favorite books, movies, games, etc.? You can do that too! We hope to see clubs large and small, public and private, open and invite-only, covering a wide array of topics and interests!
* You can use any room you created as a clubhouse for your club, and club members can choose to spawn in the clubhouse by default (bypassing the Dorm Room).
For a quick overview of how Clubs work, check out this video:
https://youtu.be/Xf6CcPpnM00
* Clubs is a new top-level button in the watch!
https://i.imgur.com/6wEbnBC.png
* NOTE: Clubs is built with a preview of a new UI system we're working on. So when you press the Clubs button you'll be transported to a _strange new world_ where the UI looks different. Lots of work remains to make it polished, so please give us feedback on what you like/don't like about it!
https://i.imgur.com/zUqozy1.png
* Once you're in the Clubs UI, you can browse existing Clubs, or tap "CREATE CLUB" to create your own.
* You can be a member of as many clubs as you want, but you can only create five clubs at any one time. We have limited it because we expect you to actively manage and moderate your club in accordance with the Code of Conduct. If it attracts too many reports you may receive moderation penalties including removal of your club.
* Please note that the new clubs feature replaces the old clubs we experimented with a loooong time ago on rec.net. Old club creators will be notified of the new system and the old clubs will be deprecated in 30 days after this update. Old clubs are not compatible with the new clubs system so creators will need to create them again in the new system. This means the old club name in your bio will disappear. But we are looking to bring that same functionality back soon to show and link to all of the new clubs you create or join! The good news is you can now be in as many clubs as you like and there is no limit on the number of players that can be in a club.
* New clubs don't have rec.net pages yet but we want to get to that work soon!
We can't wait to see the clubs you create, and we hope you find them useful and inspiring. This is a brand new feature, and we have plenty of improvements planned. So please let us know what you like/don't like about clubs and help us make them better!

We've also added another highly experimental new feature: The ^ARRoom! This "room" works using the AR (augmented reality) capabilities of the latest iOS devices to bring the full Rec Room experience into the real world! Check it out:
https://twitter.com/recroom/status/1238896912465448961
* iOS Users can go to Watch > Create > My Rooms > AR Room to enter AR mode. From there you can use the Maker Pen as normal to add props/shapes/etc. Rec Room will scan your room so it knows where the various surfaces are (walls, floor, tables, etc.) and things will bounce off them, etc.
* Players on other platforms can be invited to the "AR Room" by the iOS player. Rec Room will represent the scanned surfaces as colored shapes, so you'll be able to have some idea of what the remote room looks like! It's pretty weird, to be honest, but it's a science experiment and fun to play with =]
* Please note that the "AR Room" cannot be saved.
* iOS players can also play in any room using experimental AR Locomotion. In addition to the on-screen buttons, you can walk around your real-world space to move and aim your device to look.
Please let us know what you think of AR mode!

As always, thanks for playing Rec Room!
Please see here for convenient links to controls, tutorials, comfort options, etc.: https://recroom.com/community
We love to hear your feedback, so please don't hesitate to let us know what you think...

Meetups have been polished up for your convenience!
* There is now an extra dialog when creating a meetup to prevent accidents. Remember that when you're in a meetup, your friends can only get to you by invite or with the meetup code/link!
* Your last successful meetup code is remembered for you.
* You are now notified when you enter a meetup, either when joining or when the private room instance you're in is converted to a meetup.

Additionally:
This update is a _minor_ engine upgrade that should get rid of the "Rec Room Requires Focus" warning on PC. We also hope it will allow us to get rid of the annoying "crash on exit" on PC which has been happening forever, but we haven't quite landed that change yet.

Please note that we still have a _major_ engine upgrade in the works!

In order to limit violations of the Code of Conduct, we are now launching Rec Room on PC via Easy Anti-Cheat (aka "EAC"):
https://easy.ac/en-us/
EAC may cause certain anti-virus programs to flag Rec Room as suspicious. If you experience this, please check these links for instructions on how to ensure Rec Room is allowed to run on your system:
https://recroom.happyfox.com/kb/article/47-common-error-codes/
https://easy.ac/en-us/support/game/guides/antivirus/
...or use one of the channels listed here to get in touch with us:
https://recroom.com/community
We want to help!

OK, also some bug fixes:
* Fixed bug that broke edit mode when creating on screens. Sorry about that :-/
* Fixed an issue that could cause bad performance on some iOS devices
* Fixed an issue where you couldn't connect chips spawned from inventions
* Fixed LookAt gizmo losing its assigned roles after a room save
* Fixed issue where "View All Creators" button wouldn't always repond
* Animation gizmo - fixed a few issues where it could pop or desynchronize, and one where it didn't undo moving connected objects
* Clamp gizmo - fixed issue where it would jump to random positions (sorry)
* Circuits - fixed an issue where floating point values didn't work with non-US locales
* Lost Skulls - Fixed some visual/lighting issues in Boat and Town levels
* Fix gadget visibility being tied to holding the maker pen
* Fix maker pen laser appearing to "stick" to objects during some operations
* Fix for checkpoint volumes not loading properly

As always, thanks for playing Rec Room!

Please see here for convenient links to controls, tutorials, comfort options, etc.: https://recroom.com/community

As always, we love to hear your feedback, so please don't hesitate to let us know what you think...

This update includes two experimental features (currently available only to PC players) - you can now share your Windows desktop in a private room, and you can now share your Windows audio in a private room. We've been using these features for team meetings, etc. during this time of remote work. They are perfect for meetups like presentations (use your desktop PC to share your slides!) or parties (someone can DJ the party). These features are highly experimental, and are only available to players who've contacted us directly. If you'd like to try them, please email [email protected].

This updates also makes it much easier to get together with friends and colleagues in Rec Room! Now they can easily join you in any private instance of a room via Meetups.

* To create a Meetup, visit the This Room page in your watch and press the Meetup button. From there, just share the Meetup Code or Link with your friends.

* Meetup Codes work on ALL platforms! If you're on iOS you have the added option of using a Meetup Link. Friends on iOS with Rec Room already installed can just click the link to go straight to your private instance. For all platforms, the Meetup Code can be entered from the Play menu in your watch. On iOS you can also enter the Meetup Code during login.

* We've tried hard to make the feature easy to use for both experienced Rec Room players, and people that are totally new. Meetups work great for office meetings, presentations, happy hours, virtual dance parties...you get the idea =]

As part of our ongoing efforts to make sure everyone in Rec Room is a delightful social playmate, we've brought Dancin' and Wavin' to screen platforms (PlayStation or PC with controller, or PC with mouse and keyboard).

[https://i.imgur.com/fkQ8mrC.gifhttps://i.imgur.com/fkQ8mrC.gif]

Be sure to checkout the latest controls help via the Shortcut Menu if you're playing with a controller or mouse and keyboard, because there's a lot of cool new stuff to play with:

[https://i.imgur.com/GKI464e.pnghttps://i.imgur.com/GKI464e.png]

* Note that the Shortcut Menu is now accessed by pressing and holding the Tab key

Speaking of shortcuts:

* The 'neutral' emote (aka "straight face") is back for all players! There are now _two_ pages of emotes in the shortcut menu, so we can fit more dumb faces =]

[https://i.imgur.com/EjfJMDd.gifhttps://i.imgur.com/EjfJMDd.gif]

* Screen players have a new Cheers gesture. It lets you do a thumbs up animation (thumbs down if you wave down) and send cheers by targeting players. Find it in the shortcut menu on the gestures page.

* We've refined dance moves for all screen players including new pointing and conversational sets so you can really talk with your hands. On controller, tap down on the d-pad to access dances and poses. Or use the shortcut menu.

Some tweaks, bug fixes, and quality of life improvements for Creators:

* Maker Pen functionality should now be the same across controller, VR, and touch inputs. This includes giving screen players the ability to connect tubes on subsequent draws, and sets us up for more efficient development of new Maker Pen features!
* We've improved the "Make Invention" workflow on screens - after selecting pieces for your invention, you'll get a '…' menu option to "Make Invention"
* Maker Pen - Pivot point now stays when performing split on shapes
* Maker Pen - Pivot point can be recentered on the selected shape(s) via the ... menu
* Maker Pen - All shapes can quickly be selected via the ... menu
* Maker Pen - Pivot point visuals are now correctly rotated with the object
* Animations - New option added to rotate around pivot point to make animation editing easier.
* Animations - Fixed issue where animations would not stop when sending signals.
* Animations - Animation slider now works properly for keyframes with times less than 1 second
* Animations - Undo can be performed on both add and remove of animation keyframes
* Animations - Odd behaviors when editing an animation while sending it 1 in reset solved.
* Animations - Fixed an issue where users couldnt join because of empty animation gizmos (can no longer delete last frame)
* Animations - Start/stop and reset signals that are negative numbers now counts as true.
* Maker Pen - Fix center scaling. It now scales properly from the center without moving the object.
* Maker Pen - Prop menu focuses on last selected props when returning to menu

As always, thanks for playing Rec Room!

Please see here for convenient links to controls, tutorials, comfort options, etc.: https://recroom.com/community

As always, we love to hear your feedback, so please don't hesitate to let us know what you think...

Just a quick patch to fix some things we broke with our last update =]

• Made it harder for screen and touch players to accidentally press buttons.
  
• Fixed a bug where invisible collision was not respecting roles in VR.
  
• Due to irregularities, the tennis ball has been removed from the maker pen. We can all agree it rocked while it lasted though =]
  

Please see here for convenient links to controls, tutorials, comfort options, etc.: https://recroom.com/community

As always, we love to hear your feedback, so please don't hesitate to let us know what you think!

This update introduces *Rec Room Plus*, an optional paid membership program for Rec Room players. Rec Room Plus Membership costs $7.99/month, and includes:

[https://i.imgur.com/QrHDRGB.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/QrHDRGB.jpg)

* You get 6000 tokens (r6000) monthly - a $10 USD value, delivered in installments of r1500 per week
* One four-star box per week
* 10% discount in Rec Room stores that accept tokens
* Exclusive access to the RR+ section of the item store

To become a member:
* Click the Rec Room Plus button from any token store.
* Click the Info button if you want to read more about how it works. For example, due to platform restrictions, you'll need to log in each week to claim your tokens and boxes.
* Click the buy button and confirm, and you're a Rec Room Plus member!

Please note:
Rec Room Plus members must log in each week to claim your token and box rewards (due to platform restrictions, we can only check your membership status when you are logged in).
Rec Room Plus membership and benefits are cross-platform except:
* Oculus platforms do not yet support memberships (but you can sign up on another platform, then keep playing on Oculus)
* If you sign up for RR+ on PlayStation®, you must claim your tokens on PlayStation®.
* If you sign up for RR+ on any other platform, you can't claim your tokens on PlayStation®.

Please visit https://recroom.com/recroomplus for detailed information.

We hope you'll check it out and decide to join the plus club!

This update also introduces *cross-platform inventories*! Items are no longer locked to specific platforms. Many thanks to our platform partners for working with us to make this possible!

This update also includes lots of new emotes in the shortcut menu (and Expresso menu in VR) 😉😬😳😅🤢 and matching emojis in Room Chat.... these are allowing us to express our feelings about the headlines:

At first we were kind of:
[https://i.imgur.com/xopJIBD.gif](https://i.imgur.com/xopJIBD.gif)

Then we were:
[https://i.imgur.com/Hqg9Zay.gif](https://i.imgur.com/Hqg9Zay.gif)

Recently we were:
[https://i.imgur.com/FuRnDsd.gif](https://i.imgur.com/FuRnDsd.gif)

And now we're at full:
[https://i.imgur.com/6x1juI6.gif](https://i.imgur.com/6x1juI6.gif)

BTW, we in no way mean to make light of the coronavirus situation. We're feeling it here in Seattle, and our hearts are with everyone who is sacrificing to mitigate and minimize the impact of this disease. We want to give a special shout out to nurses, the best people. Stay safe out there, everyone, and WASH YOUR HANDS WITH SOAP!

OK... awkward segue back to ship notes:

* There is also a new AFK animation 😴
* iOS now supports AR facial expressions! When taking a selfie or dancing, use the TrueDepth camera (on the iPhone X and newer) to control your character's face. Improved AR tracking in both contexts.
Access the facial expressions via Expresso (VR), the Shortcut Menu (iOS and now...)

We've added/updated the *Shortcut Menu* for Screens and iOS players!

[https://i.imgur.com/iKtREKK.gif](https://i.imgur.com/iKtREKK.gif)

Shortcut menu features include:
* Swift access to room chat, tool menus, your camera, the maker pen, and more
* Quickly toggle your Mic Mute setting at any time, or use the shortcut menu for Push To Talk
* Maker Pen: Common Maker Pen actions like Move, Rotate, Scale, Clone, Undo, and more are readily available at your fingertips. And for iOS players, you now have even more Maker Pen shortcuts than before! We hope this makes creating awesome content even easier.
* Emotes: Whether you want to laugh at a funny joke, or shed a tear over a sad story, we've got a variety of facial expressions available.
* Gestures: Need to point at something? Want to quickly high five your teammates after a close victory? It's all here.
* Inventory: Much like the old inventory menu, screens players can access their holstered items on this page.

Accessing the Shortcut Menu replaces the old inventory radial menu on screens:
* Controller: Press and hold Triangle (PS4) or Y (Xbox controller)
* Keyboard: Press and hold the Tilde key

On iOS, the shortcut menu is always available along the top of the screen. The shortcut menu bar at the top has gotten a fresh coat of paint, and now supports paging to different sets of shortcuts!
Screens players will notice that we've removed the "quick comms" shortcuts (d-pad on controller, 1-4 on keyboard). We hope the Shortcut Menu is an even easier way to access those actions. And we've got plans coming for those buttons we've freed up!

Are there any other actions you wish you had shortcuts for? Let us know!

But wait... there's more...

For creators:

* We added 40 new props and 3 new materials to the palette for you to use in your rooms, *including the Whip from CBM!* Yes you can finally stop asking @gribbly about it!
* There are new *Creator Feedback Buttons* in the Maker Pen Palette
* The buttons are equivalent to tapping "Subscribe" or "Cheer" in the watch, but they are physical buttons you can integrate into your room design. Note that the first placement of the buttons doesn't cost ink (subsequent placements do)
* Find them in Maker Pen Palette > Props > Dynamic
* Buttons are now set to "Environment" by default (so they won't drop to the ground when you spawn them)
* Doors and holotar are also "Environment" by default now.


Players can now send each other *friend links in iOS*. Clicking one of these links on iOS will automatically launch Rec Room, add each other as friends, and bring you to the same room so you can start playing together right away.

There's a new *Referral* tab in the Profile page of the watch. You should *only use this page when we announce a referral event is going on!* Then you can refer players to Rec Room using your @username and earn rewards. Look out for the first event in the in game announcements or on our social channels: recroom.com/community

Plus bug fixes/tweaks:

* Players on Oculus platforms can use their grip trigger to grab bowstrings again
* Fixed a bunch of objects that didn't have proper hover highlight feedback.
* Tweaked object previews in the Maker Pen Palette to give a better view of the object.
* Fixed a bug causing the Sun Light to cost less ink than it is supposed to. It will cost slightly more now.
* Fixed some visual bugs in the Sunset Cinema map.
* Opened a path on the Red side of the Sunset Cinema map from the Cinema area to behind the screen (matches the blue side now).
* Made it easier to get into the diner through the windows in the Sunset Cinema map.
* Fixed the grenade visual not matching the damage radius. Changes should reflect the proper damage radius game-wide.
* Fixed bug where one hand would twitch when you closed the other hand

Please see here for convenient links to controls, tutorials, comfort options, etc.: https://recroom.com/community

As always, we love to hear your feedback, so please don't hesitate to let us know what you think!