Devlog #3: Tumbling On

I've had several different developments this past week that I think are worth talking about.

Vroid Studio and VRM

I figured out how to add Arkit blendshapes to models created using Vroid Studio. I also managed to successfully import them into Unreal and do facial mocap through my iPhone and have the model's expressions change in real time. The app I used is LiveLink, the app created by EpicGames. 

Additionally, I figured out how to build/ package a project that has a VRM4U plugin added to it!!!! Which is great, because in previous attempts, I was unable to do so. I had to create a separate UE5 project that has the VRM4U plugin installed, then export models from that project as FBX and then import them into my main project. In the process, the textures would break as well as the spring bones on the hair.

Now that I can have VRM4U in my main project, not only do I save time thanks to not having to export and import from project to project, but I also have access to VRM4U's cell shader, spring bones for hair, and clothing physics. Using the plugin will be much, much easier and quicker than trying to apply these things myself.

Granted, I might still need too create my own cell shader, since in my game I will need several different lighting situations, and I'm not sure VRM4U's cell shader will be able to update dynamically the way I want it to.

Houdini- Modeling a Buddhist Temple

I've made progress on the roof of the temple- in fact, I can say I'm almost done, just need to add some finishing touches. I wanted to tackle the roof first because I felt it was the part that would be the hardest. I wanted to build a Houdini Japanese roof generator that can build I'll post a video next week showing my progress so far!

Gameplay

I've run into a bug where the interaction system broke on my NPC characters. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find the cause for the problem yet. I seem to have set up everything properly, and interactions with other objects still work. I think it might be some sort of bug in the Engine that happened because I kept changing the Blueprint's parent class. I think that the best option for me going forward is to just redo the whole NPC blueprints all over again (I've tried it before for one of the blueprints, but the problem inexplicably came back again...so I'm gonna try changing both blueprints this time. Thankfully, I think it should be relatively quickly- the thinking part of coding takes me more time than the coding itself.

Otherwise, I think I'll be  almost done with the core game play loop of NPC knocking on the temple door and entering. I just have to hope that this one weird bug gets resolved.