MikkTSpace generation algorithm, Vive Cosmos support, Cross Universe Tournament
Hello, and welcome back to the weekly update!
This week we have a couple new things to talk about, with our new inclusion of the MikkTSpace algorithm for calculating tangents and the Vive Cosmos support! We’re also introducing a new easter egg perk for our Patreon supporters.
The Japanese community has also held a Cross Universe Tournament in Neos, check it out below in community highlights!
[h2]MikkTSpace Algorithm[/h2]
We’ve implemented this ubiquitous algorithm which is utilized in Blender, Substance Painter, Marmoset Unity, Unreal Engine and many other creative tools, so that your designs in these programs will look the same when uploaded into Neos.
Prior to this, we were using a much simpler algorithm to calculate tangents, resulting in some normal maps and height maps looking incorrect in Neos, particularly on a more complex geometry.
This algorithm produces a lot more robust results and ensures consistency for generated tangents across different tools and as such it has become the de facto industry standard. For this reason, it’s integrated natively into Neos itself.
It is automatically applied on imported 3D models, but you can also recalculate tangents of any existing model through the inspector, by clicking on the “Recalculate Tangents (Mikktspace)”. The original simpler algorithm is available in this manner as well.
Because we couldn’t find any existing library to utilize this algorithm from C#, we have created our own and made it open source (MIT) for anyone to use! Since Neos greatly benefits from many open source projects, we are happy to have found a small opportunity to contribute ourselves.
You can find the repository for Mikktspace.NET with both native and C# code here on GitHub, with scripts for compiling for Windows, Linux and Android (ARMv7) as well as precompiled binaries. The algorithm itself has been designed by Morten S. Mikkelsen and you can read more about its benefits here.
[h2]Vive Cosmos Support[/h2]
Until now, due to a lack of high demand, Vive Cosmos controller support has not been implemented, causing Cosmos players to not be able to use Neos in VR. We’ve heard of a few new players having this trouble, so we’ve decided to fix this so they too can enjoy Neos.
For now, the Cosmos support might not be without bugs, so for our Cosmos users, we need your feedback in the bugs-feedback channel or on the GitHub! It’ll really help speed along the debugging process for your system, since we do not have the hardware for our own testing.
We want to support as much hardware as possible, so even if you feel you may be in the hardware minority, let us know what you’re using and we’ll act if we get enough demand for the product.
[h2]Put your permanent mark into Neos through a custom exit message[/h2]
As many of you have already noticed, with our new Radiant UI, Neos now features a small easter egg on the exit screen - random exit messages, that range from various quotes, references to some in-jokes.
Every time you exit Neos there is a random chance to get any of those messages for any user. We’ve had fun adding more of those each build, so we thought, why not share some of the fun with you?
Starting now, if you’re a Patreon supporter starting at the Neuromancer level, you can submit your own custom message that will have a chance to appear for any of the users. If you have a message you’d like to add, let a team member (ideally Shifty) know through our official Discord channel.
The messages need to be fairly short (maximum 2-3 sentences) and appropriate for the general public, but other than that they can be generally anything. However we reserve the right to deny or remove any potentially controversial messages. If you’re a higher Patreon tier you can submit multiple (check the Patreon tiers for details).
The location and/or presentation of this easter egg might change in the future as well (and it doesn’t show up at all when using the Neos Pro license), but we do want to keep it around for fun permanently, so there’s a good chance your message will still be popping up years into the future (it will stay even if you’re no longer a Patreon)!
[h2]Community Highlights[/h2]
[h3]Cross Universe World Championship 2020[/h3]
The Cross Universe World Championship was held last night and streamed by Nexulan! We had many contestants from across the globe competing to win, and we have the whole thing archived down below, so check it out!
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]Rukio’s Twitch Streams[/h3]
Rukio has been streaming Neos for quite some time now, and is quite the talented world designer. He’s a very gracious host who streams Neos and other games, so go check him out!
[h3]Vigilabo On The Keyboard[/h3]
This clip was from one of Rukio’s streams, showing Vigilabo creating and playing some loops on his keyboard! It’s quite a catchy tune, definitely well worth the listen!
[h3]Rhenium is making a texture painting system[/h3]
This system seems quite interesting! Rhenium is making a tool that allows one to paint a projection onto an image with some new custom tools.
[h2]What’s Next?[/h2]
This week has been a bit quieter on updates, as we’ve focused on some smaller things and taking a bit of a break on the development, so our goals remain pretty much the same. We’ll be continuing the UI overhaul, by recreating the world switcher as a Facet and then adding ability to place Facets on the avatar.
After this, reworking the World browsing UI is going to be the main priority, which will involve integrating it with session joining, to make finding populated worlds much easier, particularly for new users.
On the side, we’re also investigating switching to the official libVLC Unity bindings for video playback, as the current solution (UMP) is the source of majority of crash reports and hasn’t received any new updates in well over a year. Hopefully the switch will be relatively smooth and help improve stability and control.
And as usual, thank you again for reading this weekly update and for supporting Neos!
This week we have a couple new things to talk about, with our new inclusion of the MikkTSpace algorithm for calculating tangents and the Vive Cosmos support! We’re also introducing a new easter egg perk for our Patreon supporters.
The Japanese community has also held a Cross Universe Tournament in Neos, check it out below in community highlights!
[h2]MikkTSpace Algorithm[/h2]
We’ve implemented this ubiquitous algorithm which is utilized in Blender, Substance Painter, Marmoset Unity, Unreal Engine and many other creative tools, so that your designs in these programs will look the same when uploaded into Neos.
Prior to this, we were using a much simpler algorithm to calculate tangents, resulting in some normal maps and height maps looking incorrect in Neos, particularly on a more complex geometry.
This algorithm produces a lot more robust results and ensures consistency for generated tangents across different tools and as such it has become the de facto industry standard. For this reason, it’s integrated natively into Neos itself.
It is automatically applied on imported 3D models, but you can also recalculate tangents of any existing model through the inspector, by clicking on the “Recalculate Tangents (Mikktspace)”. The original simpler algorithm is available in this manner as well.
Because we couldn’t find any existing library to utilize this algorithm from C#, we have created our own and made it open source (MIT) for anyone to use! Since Neos greatly benefits from many open source projects, we are happy to have found a small opportunity to contribute ourselves.
You can find the repository for Mikktspace.NET with both native and C# code here on GitHub, with scripts for compiling for Windows, Linux and Android (ARMv7) as well as precompiled binaries. The algorithm itself has been designed by Morten S. Mikkelsen and you can read more about its benefits here.
[h2]Vive Cosmos Support[/h2]
Until now, due to a lack of high demand, Vive Cosmos controller support has not been implemented, causing Cosmos players to not be able to use Neos in VR. We’ve heard of a few new players having this trouble, so we’ve decided to fix this so they too can enjoy Neos.
For now, the Cosmos support might not be without bugs, so for our Cosmos users, we need your feedback in the bugs-feedback channel or on the GitHub! It’ll really help speed along the debugging process for your system, since we do not have the hardware for our own testing.
We want to support as much hardware as possible, so even if you feel you may be in the hardware minority, let us know what you’re using and we’ll act if we get enough demand for the product.
[h2]Put your permanent mark into Neos through a custom exit message[/h2]
As many of you have already noticed, with our new Radiant UI, Neos now features a small easter egg on the exit screen - random exit messages, that range from various quotes, references to some in-jokes.
Every time you exit Neos there is a random chance to get any of those messages for any user. We’ve had fun adding more of those each build, so we thought, why not share some of the fun with you?
Starting now, if you’re a Patreon supporter starting at the Neuromancer level, you can submit your own custom message that will have a chance to appear for any of the users. If you have a message you’d like to add, let a team member (ideally Shifty) know through our official Discord channel.
The messages need to be fairly short (maximum 2-3 sentences) and appropriate for the general public, but other than that they can be generally anything. However we reserve the right to deny or remove any potentially controversial messages. If you’re a higher Patreon tier you can submit multiple (check the Patreon tiers for details).
The location and/or presentation of this easter egg might change in the future as well (and it doesn’t show up at all when using the Neos Pro license), but we do want to keep it around for fun permanently, so there’s a good chance your message will still be popping up years into the future (it will stay even if you’re no longer a Patreon)!
[h2]Community Highlights[/h2]
[h3]Cross Universe World Championship 2020[/h3]
The Cross Universe World Championship was held last night and streamed by Nexulan! We had many contestants from across the globe competing to win, and we have the whole thing archived down below, so check it out!
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]Rukio’s Twitch Streams[/h3]
Rukio has been streaming Neos for quite some time now, and is quite the talented world designer. He’s a very gracious host who streams Neos and other games, so go check him out!
[h3]Vigilabo On The Keyboard[/h3]
This clip was from one of Rukio’s streams, showing Vigilabo creating and playing some loops on his keyboard! It’s quite a catchy tune, definitely well worth the listen!
[h3]Rhenium is making a texture painting system[/h3]
This system seems quite interesting! Rhenium is making a tool that allows one to paint a projection onto an image with some new custom tools.
[h2]What’s Next?[/h2]
This week has been a bit quieter on updates, as we’ve focused on some smaller things and taking a bit of a break on the development, so our goals remain pretty much the same. We’ll be continuing the UI overhaul, by recreating the world switcher as a Facet and then adding ability to place Facets on the avatar.
After this, reworking the World browsing UI is going to be the main priority, which will involve integrating it with session joining, to make finding populated worlds much easier, particularly for new users.
On the side, we’re also investigating switching to the official libVLC Unity bindings for video playback, as the current solution (UMP) is the source of majority of crash reports and hasn’t received any new updates in well over a year. Hopefully the switch will be relatively smooth and help improve stability and control.
And as usual, thank you again for reading this weekly update and for supporting Neos!