vrchat-jams

[winter ore]

No

[rocky sorrel]

https://tenor.com/view/no-gif-19451148

[rocky sorrel]

i was going to rebut by saying I'll buy gogoloco but then I realized you don't charge people Q.Q

[rocky sorrel]

??

no workies

wait, nm

oh, AFTER the anim

[winter ore]

Do your thing in silence then report after

[rocky sorrel]

flawlessly working, I will start looking at the documentation deeper rather than bothering people who already have such as you, I apologize

it is 4am, I need to stop bothering people in my sleep deprived rampage

[copper vector]

Just got the email with feedback. Left some feedback in the survey as well 🙂

Was gonna add too, was this said at some point during the jam?

[abstract aspen]

I don't know if it was explicitly said, but that's what the old public avatars were for too ^^

[zealous otter]

I can't be satisfied with my submission? 😭

[spiral fulcrum]

Fixed, thanks! 10 should be "Extremely satisfied".

[magic sedge]

The MOST Impressive????

AAAhhhh :D :D :D

Also i'll fix that inconvienence soon :0
I'll probably just rebind "eyes closed" to either a combo or keep it in the menu and just program some auto-blinking

[wanton halo]

Thank you to all participants! We hope you enjoyed the 'Avatars for Everyone' jam.

Our team was extremely impressed by the amount and quality of the avatars submitted. The results speak for themselves, don't they? We wish we could have had more than 10 winners and 74 finalists, but we had to draw the line somewhere. 😉

If you'd like to continue chatting about the avatar jam, please head over to #avatar-general or one of our other #730858156561006713 channels.

Everyone whose submission was judged should have received an email containing our feedback. If you don't see it, check your spam & promotion folders.
The email also contains a short survey. Please tell us what you thought of the jam, and what we can improve.

Feel free to upload minor avatar updates or bug fixes. However, please get in touch with us before making major changes.

See you next time!

[wanton halo]

How's Spookality going?

[wispy falcon]

oops i guess i should unlock this huh

[gentle cedar]

1

[green plover]

2

[austere sparrow]

3

[fading bridge]

4

[wanton halo]

We're had more than 4 submissions so far, haha! Quite a bit more.

[wanton halo]

Read our blog post to learn more about the Spookality jam! Don't skip reading it.
https://hello.vrchat.com/blog/spookality-2023
Don't forget to fill out the description when submitting on VRChat.com! Tell us why it's a good fit for Spookality. If your avatar is based on someone else's content, please provide a license.
This will make your avatar easier for us to review. Thank you!

Please let us know if you have any questions.

[earnest sorrel]

Figured I'd ask here since the requirements are a bit vague, but am I allowed to use the soundtrack from a movie in my submission? I recreated a location from one of my favorite horror films, and it's completely made out of assets that are either royalty free or I created myself. However, the only iffy part is that a piece of the soundtrack plays overhead and, though it really pulls the whole thing together and completes the scene to a T, I'm afraid it would prohibit my world from being selected. Is this the case?

[cunning oriole]

that would be copyright infringement

[earnest sorrel]

Yeah, it wouldn't fit within copyright. However, the requirements say nothing about copyright, yet the criteria is described in a way that sounds similar to copyright but not quite? Which is why I'm a bit confused on what the rules are trying to get at.

I think you're right, though, and it's basically just required that all submissions be 100% copyright free.

Just wanted to ask here in case that's not what it means, and there's some instances in which it's allowed.

[abstract island]

Are we allowed to submit both a world and an avatar to the jam?

I'm working on a world with some friends, but an avatar by myself. Just wanted to make sure that was okay!

[abstract island]

Could anyone on the VRChat team speak on this? I don't want bother people with @ messages, but I also don't want to commit to 2 projects if I can only submit one 😛

Should I be asking this question somewhere else?

[tawny shore]

I believe the avatar and worlds are separate so you can do one of each

The avatar must be public though

Also, will non submitted worlds have a chance on showing up on the row?

[abstract island]

Pretty sure you have to submit your world for it to show up. How else would they know your world if meant for Spookality or not

[tawny shore]

Yeah I under stand that, but was just wondering if they'd do other mentions

[velvet shuttle]

can I make it a med rank for quest or does it have to be good?

[tawny shore]

From what I can see it just says:
"Note that Avatars with a ＂Very Poor＂ rating will not be featured in Spookality this year."

[rocky sorrel]

I did not realize that this year there was an avi jam so I'll save up for next year's, but I'm not doubting that there will be a jack-o-lantern head avi made this or next year ^^

[ember jetty]

Hey I currently have private unpublished world uploaded before 25th september so after I publish it should be available for me to pick here right?

[slate fable]

the vrchat jam has awoken me once again and i've remastered my submission from the 2019 spookality quest avatar contest

[tawny shore]

Yes, after it’s made public it’ll appear there for selection

[leaden thistle]

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/524581501652828170/1159976965835599882/halloween2023.mp4?ex=6532fbbb&is=652086bb&hm=5fbb49638dcd1de8f9ed91af8f6e06060cb0245dfc1b2d346931342ccc599429&

Another Spookality: Another frog to go with it :3

[real bear]

Yea I crashed because I was hanging out with my friends on VRCHAT I got kicked out for no reason they didn't fix yet when is it going to get fixed

[naive forge]

Can I re-submit an avatar I realized I submitted the wrong version with an higher poly count, then attended?

[unique mural]

how can i make flashlights shine without real time lighting? i hear its bad for optimization, but i wanted to add flashlights to my spookality world...

[green plover]

you could just do a transparent cone with a gradient texture

[unique mural]

Would I use a light at all?

My world is very dark (on purpose) and I hope the flashlights were actually functional

[patent trench]

the transparent cone is a brilliant idea, especially if you make the gradient texture emissive, but that alone won't actually illuminate anything, you'd need to add a light to it. BUT it'll look really cool, like the flashlight in luigi's mansion

[slate fable]

super confused why my public avatar is there because i haven't actually updated it since it was submitted

[ember jetty]

i can still update after world submission right?

[abstract island]

Yep you can!

[wanton halo]

Yes, that's OK!
However, keep in mind that we may review your content as soon as it's submitted.

[ember jetty]

Is there specific time in timezone deadline for world submission?

I found it

[late grotto]

Does anyone know who were the winners of Spookality 2022? I found nothing about that, even in the world itself.

[wanton halo]

Check out the Spookality 2022 hub! https://vrchat.com/home/world/wrld_c7816c4f-b994-41c0-a3c2-0d118d6097f0

VRChat tries to highlight the best submissions, but we don't have "winners" that are put on a pedestal (since Spookality 2021. Quote:)

Looking back over the last year: we’ve been running smaller, more frequent World Jams to give more creators an opportunity to have their content featured and highlighted in VRChat.

We’ve seen immense creativity and fun through these Jams, so future Spookalities will be moving to a similar format. We want to focus more on the accessibility, the fun of creation, and highlighting the holiday season, rather than the stress of competing to win prizes.

[late grotto]

What's the point of creating a competition to take out the best out of the community and then go and kill the best out of the community?

[wanton halo]

go and kill the best out of the community?
I sincerely hope that's not what we're literlly doing! 😲

We think our (annual) jams are a great opportunity for newbie and veteran creators alike to create some amazing worlds and avatars.

We used to run these like competitions in the past, but we treat them like jams now.

One of the reasons is that competitions can be very tough to compete in, haha!
In 2021, I actually avoided Spookality because I thought I'd have no chance.

Later, it turned out that I did have a chance! And I really regret not submitting something.

Judging from the submissions we've seen so far this year, "the best out of the community" is still alive and well. 😄
We look forward to sharing it with you!

[late grotto]

Isn't that the whole objective of a competition, to be though to compete in?
Anyway, too bad the competition is over.

[wanton halo]

I think that's a matter of perspective! Many creators enjoy participating in game jams despite there being no ranked list of winners.
And the best submissions will still get a lot of spotlight - both by players who visit it, and by VRChat itself.

[gusty mason]

But how will I get out of silver 3 if it's not competitive. lol.

No yeah, I like jams more than competitions. Trying to be the best is a lot of pressure. Spooky jam is just; "Imma just slap on a witch hat, cloak, staff, and funny particle and call it a day."
Feel like I can work that around my schedule better than trying to win.

[ember jetty]

Agree.

[tawny shore]

Saw that my map was in the background of the Spookality tips video, that's so cool!

[abstract island]

That's very cool! They also used some submitted avatars in their Dev Update, which is also fun!

I look forward to checking out your world!

[dense matrix]

Hey there everyone! 🙂 question about the Spookality event regarding avatars and what is submittable, in the rules it says the submitter must own or otherwise have the right to use the content submitted, with those rule guidelines if I didn't make the vanilla base but made heavy modifications and have the original creators permission to spread and distribute avatars I make using it would it be allowable for submission?

[wanton halo]

That's fine! Just say so in your submission.

[dense matrix]

Got it thanks fax!=) I'm good at shaders, animations, and other things but 3D modeling is my weak spot😅

[gentle cedar]

What date Spookality Row on World Menu start appearing actually?
(as it doesn't say on blog post.)

[wanton halo]

Hmmm, how about I tell you on Monday? Haha.
It usually takes us a few days to review the final submissions, depending on how many worlds and avatars were submitted.
I hope we can get it out on Wednesday! Fingers crossed 🤞

[gentle cedar]

at least now know after submission closed + after review period.
(thank you for info)

[dapper storm]

If we submit a world, are we allowed to include avatar pedestals or should they be removed?

[worthy current]

Hey, I made a world for Spookality but I can't publish it to submit it in time because I just recently finished and published another project that I'd been working on/off for a year. Didn't remember about the 1 week delay between being able to publish worlds to the labs. Any chance y'all can help a homie out so I can be a part of the jams?

[gentle cedar]

as deadline nearby, I mention operator @wanton halo to answer those 2 questions.
(I don't want to see people miss chance so)

[abstract island]

I feel your pain. I did this last year but thankfully there was exactly 1 week before I had to submit...so I was in the clear.

Hopefully they give you a pass!! 🤞

[worthy current]

I'm sure the nice people at VRChat will. wink wink. nudge nudge.

[worthy current]

gotta hand it to the team at VRChat, already been reached out to and had the issue resolved I'll have a submission for Spookality and hopefully it passes for all y'all to try out~

[abstract island]

Yay!! Please share it in here if/when it makes it in!

[ember jetty]

https://cdn.discordapp.com/emojis/668314662059638784.webp?size=48&name=sweat~1&quality=lossless

Have issues need to fix to meet game jam but my udon programmer is sleeping.

[gentle cedar]

This is just reminder,
Spookality Submission close soon.
https://hello.vrchat.com/blog/spookality-2023

Close at <t:1697524226:t> <t:1697524226:R>

[tawny shore]

Dawn of the Final Day :P

[wanton halo]

Good luck, everyone!

[wanton halo]

Tick, tock, everyone.

Tick tock.

[ember jetty]

https://cdn.discordapp.com/emojis/668315744492322837.webp?size=48&name=dead&quality=lossless

4 hours left and I still not done

Actually in worst case ima publish as is

[wanton halo]

Mmmh! If it's any consolation, it's OK to continue fixing your world after the deadline.

Bug fixes are great!

[ember jetty]

Yes

squashing bugs definitely fun

looking forward to bug report due to rushed launch

https://cdn.discordapp.com/emojis/790915444768899102.gif?size=48&name=senkolaugh&quality=lossless

[wanton halo]

Haha that's the nature of jams, I think.

Good luck! We're looking forward to seeing what you've been working on.

[gentle cedar]

See you all worlds soon.

Submission Close by <t:1697524226:t> <t:1697524226:R>

[ember jetty]

I have to say i was shocked by 5 hours originally said there

[gentle cedar]

moment....

[wanton halo]

That time looks correct, doesn't it? 4 hours 30 minutes from now.

Our blog post originally mentioned the 16th instead of the 17th, which may have caused some confusion.

Next time we'll use a time like 11:59 PM 😄

[gentle cedar]

(You can always hover over to check actual time if it not visible.)

Anyway

Close at <t:1697524226:t> <t:1697524226:R>

[wanton halo]

Haha thanks Tony! I like your enthusiasm about announcing things.

[jagged bramble]

Whew, submitted my world around the last 30 minutes. Reminds me of my college classes

[ember jetty]

26 min left

all i need is load and upload

[jagged bramble]

Get it done!

[ember jetty]

3 MIN!

In the end I did it

🤦‍♂️ And I wrote a typo

Stuck

My world may not be scary but Udon bugs will be

[craggy kiln]

oop gonna need to make some minor fixes to my avatar - texture stuff and viewpoint weirdness mostly. is that ok like it was for the earlier avatar jam?

[abstract island]

#vrchat-jams message

Yep they said it was okay!

[craggy kiln]

sweet

[gentle cedar]

I hope most people managed.

[wanton halo]

Thank you for participating! I hope you look forward to seeing the Spookality worlds and avatars later this week.

How do you think it went this year? Did you make something good? 🧛‍♀️

[errant yew]

I have a question about the Spookality thing; the blog post says it closes on the 17th, and I presumed that meant you could submit until the end of day on the 17th. I've been sick for a week and only now have the time to put into doing something... is there any way to make a submission by EOD today? I admit, doubt I have any chance against the big creators, but if I can get something in, it'd be nice. I was rushing last night and this morning to get something by EOD today, and would hate that to be a waste. Thanks.

[wanton halo]

The blog post actually said that it closes on the 16th, initially! This was incorrect and was fixed two days ago.

Sorry that you missed the deadline, and apologies for the confusion. Unfortunately, we are unable to accept late submissions.

[errant yew]

Arg! So it was corrected to a more incorrect thing, which I looked at once I felt better, now it's past.

[wanton halo]

It was corrected to be 24h later than initially announced. (Oct 16 at 12AM -> Oct 17 at 12AM)

However, the timer on the website was unaffected and has been counting down towards Oct 17 at 12AM.

We can see how this might be confusing! Next time, we'll likely choose a time such as

Oct 16 at 11:59 AM.

[errant yew]

"Submissions open up September 25th at 12PM PT and will close on October 17th. Make sure you get yours in before submissions close!" There's no time there, for the close, and the opening time is 12PM... NOON, not midnight.

So yeah, upsetting, but I get it. Might consider being more accurate in posts like this in the future, though.

But reading the blog post could easily infer that the deadline was noon the 17th.

[wanton halo]

Yes, I can see what you mean! I apologize for the confusion.
I hope you still enjoyed creating something for Halloween!

[errant yew]

OK. Hopefully in the future, remember not everyone follows here or twitter. The official blog post should be accurate, which this wasn't. Even if updated recently, it's annoying to trust the official post only to find out it was incorrect (or at least misleading).

Had I KNOWN that was the deadline, I could've had something in last night. 😦

[abstract island]

I alllways enjoy Spookality because it gives me an excuse (And template) to be creative, which is always a plus! Last year I made a world, and this year an avatar!
Im still new to creating avatars, but Im really happy with how Mel The Ghost turned out having been made in a couple weeks! 👻

I typically remove all the "Fun" from Quest-versions of my avatars, but succeeded in making both versions (PCVR and Quest) 99% identical, toggles/accessories and all!

[wanton halo]

Oh, interesting! Good job achieving Quest parity!

From previous jams, we've seen that cross-platform compatibility isn't usually tied to the quality of an avatar. Thanks for proving us right, haha! I'm looking forward to trying your avatar in-game.

[abstract island]

Thank you! I appreciate that

Yeah, its mostly due to my lack of skills in Blender/Unity...but thats slowly changing! Im quick to reach Polygon/Material Slot/Skinned Mesh limits, so I instead of just making things the right way...I just remove stuff. It has nothing to do with VRC and everything to do with my skills 😛

But - As I get better in those tools, I imagine Ill be able to make more complex cross-compatible avatars. In time 🙂

[wanton halo]

Excellent! Yes, it's a skill you gotta learn like any other.

It helps to keep the limitations in mind from the start, and then adjusting your workflow based on that.

[tawny shore]

[wanton halo]

Haha, we're reviewing the submissions as we speak!

[tawny shore]

:3

[wanton halo]

Oh, I remember your world! I was quite impressed by it!

[tawny shore]

Oh nice spooky pfp :D

:O

[wanton halo]

I'm proud of how quickly I solved the puzzles, haha.

[wanton halo]

Thanks! 🧛‍♀️

[ember jetty]

I did not do good but I want to leave it as proof in case one day I make something good people can see how much I progress.

[wanton halo]

That's the spirit!

The only way to make your 2nd step is to make the 1st.

[astral basin]

How do i know when my avatar submission is judged?

[wanton halo]

We're slowly going through all submissions.

You don't get a notification when we take a look! 😄
However, if your submission has been rejected, you should see a rejection message on https://vrchat.com/home/jams.

[astral basin]

I hope they'll enjoy what i've made, mabye even getting featured.

[patent trench]

I had a lot of fun making my spooky jackolantern guy! I put way too much effort into him lol. Really hoping to get featured as I could use the exposure, either way it was fun <3

[tawny shore]

Today's the day :3 !

[velvet shuttle]

what time will the update happen?

[mint tendon]

Hopefully there will be someone else with the judges for some avatars. My submission is only interactive with other people interacting with it, otherwise it doesnt do much. ♥

[gentle cedar]

I saw it

but missing mention I suppose

I thought Fax going to post that annoucement....

[lapis kayak]

Spookality is now live!

Thank you all for your submissions this year!

[gentle cedar]

now something I saw earlier posted again. thank you.

[abstract island]

Great job everyone 🎉 ! Im excited to check out a bunch of your worlds/avatars 👻

[lapis kayak]

i posted it by accident earlier haha; you caught me!

[astral basin]

Why can't i see the avatars?

[abstract island]

Go to the "VRChat Home" world and youll see a whole area dedicated to Spookality! The avatars are in the building

They mention it here - #announcements message

[astral basin]

They are just ghosts for me.

[abstract island]

Strange. I see them.

Not sure!

[astral basin]

@abstract island

[abstract island]

/Shrug

Sorry! I imagine they'll get it fixed in no time

[slate fable]

there she is!!!

[wanton halo]

Congrats!

[wispy bear]

So happy to see my little demon made it too! Awesome work you guys, all of your spooky avatars are so cool! 😁

gotta take a visit to the worlds tomorrow!

[tawny shore]

I think I peaked, I can now move to the mountains and retire

Thank you for separating the worlds~!

[wanton halo]

I am failing so. Hard at this puzzle 😭

[tawny shore]

You have to "retrace the steps" so the image last to the first one

The first one is 4 since it's going backwards c:

[wanton halo]

4 is ||the room I'm in||
3 is ||the long hallway to the bunker (wrong)||
2 is ||at the second station with the stormy weather outside (wrong)||
1 is ||the voice puzzle (wrong)||
0 is ||the color puzzle (wrong)||

Did I get that right?

Ah!! I guessed it.

... 4 out of those were wrong.

The images are so low-res, I mistook them for other locations 😢

[tawny shore]

Yeah the images were hard to use >~<

Congrats :3

[wanton halo]

OK! How about this one? 😄
||The first one had a panel indicating if my code was correct or not. Does this mean I can't solve this one? 🤔||

[tawny shore]

Aha and that's where I got stuck too >~<

[wanton halo]

||There's a tram spouting words.||
||2410||
||Lifeless. Danger. Sunset. Hateful.||

[tawny shore]

Oh is that what it's saying? I couldn't understand it at all ;w;

I thought the last one said ||Acorn|| xD

[wanton halo]

Hahah

||I was thinking it might relate to the colors? But the panel accepts 6 inputs. The voiceover only says 4 or 8.||

OK! I wasn't meant to do that puzzle yet.

[tawny shore]

:O

[wanton halo]

uhh...

||Is it broken..?||

Guess I'll check out Tenebrous II next, haha.

[tawny shore]

Oh no! Every creators greatest fear, bugs

Oh have fun :3

[paper snow]

A huge congratulations to all Creators!
I brought you this world, have fun. 😉
https://youtu.be/ZnsRovTwLKU

[quasi cloud]

Happy Spookality creators and gamers,
We just uploaded our new official trailer for Zombie Survival!
Try not to get bit
https://youtu.be/UQkNUaGNCRg

[stuck pike]

That thumbnail goes hard!! Nice work if that is actually the world! Love it ❤️

[rapid valve]

I noticed website is a bit broken. Text missed in special Jam groups. Somebody forgot to add it or is code build wrong?

Ingame is correct, but not website.

Alsoooooooooo why so few support for Deaf people! Come on, dear creators, add subtitles!

FEARS world missed subtitles, even it has texts but only at big part between < >. So i cannot follow much and just leave the world because no subtitles.

[wanton halo]

Hmmm, sorry to hear that! You're saying the world has subtitles, but some of them are missing?

[rapid valve]

Yeah, some worlds have voice as guide, like FEARS, but as deaf they will miss a lot what is needed, makes go around only more akward and will cost more time to find out what must done....

So i was hoping creators should think about it. Maybe i go make something as free package to help them. I build something for it. If they have problems with it, i want help them with it.

Not all creators have much knowledge for Udon scripting.

[rapid valve]

I have one question: why are old worlds added to Spookality 2023? I thought it's supposed as jam, which means it's build challenge. Or is there no jam actually and it's just showcase to show worlds, no matter which date? The rules are simple, but what is actually meaning behind Spookality 2023? It this truly a challenge event or not? I need understand about the event and why some old worlds are allowed in the event?

It's kinda confusing because on website list, i can read it's jam, a build challenge to make something inside the time period (so between 9-25 and 10-17) but normal site post don't talk much about jam challenge due very simple rules there.
Ok, i read old worlds are accepted if only they are accepted with updated new things. But there is still difference in "jam challenge" between already made 2-year old world and fresh worlds that just made quickly in short time. So i have much more respect for quick made worlds than just refresh old worlds...
Still, a world that exists since 2020 is also in list, is already visited earlier and still added and "flagged" as new world for 2023. For same money, we can literally copy 2022 event here... so where is effort actually? Otherwise we should not call it as "jam" but just showcase event to show everyone some worlds that are interesting to check out.
Some ppl worked hard to make it ready and with old existing world, no hard work is needed because its just refresh work. That is why give the meaning about "jam" should explained better. Jam means a build challenge that must done in short time. This is not really jam event in my eyes.
Please, pay attention what you say there. Thank you. It's only because in past time we have more true jam events and even with prizes. Today is not jam event, everyone is more freely what they want, use old world or make new world. No true challenge here.

Because.... some people might think all worlds are build fast in short time. The chance for misunderstanding is possible. Don't forget the meaning of "Jam".

[rapid valve]

The world https://vrchat.com/home/world/wrld_e0930497-f687-43a6-8aa2-2db04404e47d is in wrong category. It's just chill/hangout world, there is no game or challenge there.

[slate fable]

this is not a 'challenge event' it's a fun thing for world and avatar creators to make fun stuff for halloween there's no prizes

if nobody's competing for anything why should a world that's a year or two old sink to the bottom when it's still working, gives people more stuff to play

[wanton halo]

Hmmm you both make very good points!

We want to encourage and promote new world creation. At the same time, we don't look too closely if a creator remixes or repurposes an old world.

[eager owl]

I mean there are some exploration aspects that if you explore the world you notice. Eg; the staircase, the mirror secret, etc.

[final cobalt]

Used to be prizes. I got a nice coffee mug one year.

Best darned coffee mug I ever did earn! Coffee taste DELICIOUS out of my mug. (My perception of coffee's quality out of a particular mug may be biased)

[slate fable]

same lol, the red one?

[final cobalt]

HELLS YA! everyone in my household knows that's MY MUG!

It was also awesome stepping into the office next day sipping on my mug. Telling all my co-workers about my mug. (Yes I'm THAT GUY at the office)

[slate fable]

i like the current format better because there’s no competing and people can work on their stuff stress free about the deadline or making sure it’s all perfect, but the mug was neat lol

[final cobalt]

Yeah I just... wished the home world had actual portal hubs to different worlds.

It feels more fun to gather with friends, point to one "ooh let's try this one!" And all go into the world together.

Worlds that are away from the break line in the world menu get seriously less traffic than ones lucky enough to be first seen.

[cunning oriole]

the problem is it's not going to be consistent if the portal actually drops everyone in the same instance and it would put you in a public instance

[rapid valve]

Maybe, but world is made as hangout world, so gaming side is very low, just some secret places wont make it as game world. I observe it earlier and it's just walk around and relax world. Nothing special.

[rapid valve]

I have nothing against Spookality events, just explain it in better ways. Jam has own meaning and must not used for old worlds. So instead of it, just say it's showcase event. That means everyone may make something interesting, fun and new challenges for Halloween time. Jam is jam. Otherwise people misunderstood a bit the event.

[wanton halo]

That's fair! Thank you for your feedback.
We've heard similar comments from other users, so we'll work on improving our communication for next year's jam!

[rapid valve]

Thanks!

[rapid valve]

My idea is make 2 ways for next event: jam and showcase event. Then you can use rules for it: jam must not have already world made - and (maybe) add special package you must use in the world. Showcase can about revamping existing worlds or make new world on your ways without special package, as long they are updated for event. The Jam side can have prizes, like free subscription Vrchat Plus. You can then choose good worlds for both ways. 🙂

I like past Jams where special package must used.

[eager owl]

In the future you should probably avoid phrases like “nothing special” lol

Just as an advice when offering criticism

[abstract island]

This. I follow that world creator, Marino, on Twitter and am constantly amazed/inspired by their work. (They are actually the person that got me inspired to research 3D pixel-style modeling/texturing lol)

Their work, and that world, is very special imo

[eager owl]

☝️
They are also the sweetest person imaginable. They worked so hard on that map.
The work they put into not only involved the map, but it shows in the two avis/characters for that map, Vincent and Winry. It extends beyond the map.
Marino is an amazing creator and an even more amazing friend.

Also singling out content creators like that can affect things like motivation and their concept of how appreciated content creators for this game are.
That world blew my mind and I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve jumped through that mirror just hang out in the void.
It’s special when you consider the amount of pixel worlds in vrchat, the effort, and let alone the unity work it takes to make things like an infinite staircase work.

[abstract island]

I dont even know them personally, and totally agree with you. Whenever I need an inspiration boost, Marino is one of the artists I regularly revisit.

Maybe Im too fragile, but ide crumble if that was said about my worlds/avatars (Im still learning, I promise! lol)

[wanton halo]

It can actually OK if some people say they don't like your world or avatar, as long as it's balanced out by positive feedback. (Like it this case!)
VRChat is a big place, and some content just doesn't resonate with certain audiences. If a world or avatar is popular, it'll inevitably attract some negative attention. I don't always agree with how someone phrases feedback, but I'm still happy that they saw my content and cared enough to voice their opinion.

[slate fable]

a lot of the older maps that used to be the top hangout spot for most people weren't objectively the highest quality, still have a lot of fond memories of them but you gotta appreciate world creators, without player made worlds it would kinda blow lol

[paper snow]

I understand the frustration that the worlds that have been made and improved over the years are more sophisticated than those made exclusively for the Jam, and therefore more visited.
My world is made exclusively for the Jam.
(Nightmare of Alice)
It took me 2.5 weeks to complete, so I knew I wouldn't be in competition with people who were submitting old worlds.
But I felt it was a fun challenge, even so. 😉
I could have redone my Jam world from last year (There's a way out), but I wanted to do something different. 😉
That's why I didn't resubmit it.
That was last year, this year it should be different. 😉
It was already in the call for entries that you could enter old worlds, so there was no surprise.

But the fact is that the order could be rotated.
Each world could be moved to the front sometimes, so that the world at the bottom of the list gets more attention from time to time.

[quasi cloud]

I cant really speak for other creators but id like to share my thoughts

We already started working on an update to our game (Zombie Survival) months prior the spookality announcements, but had already plans to release it for the jam submissions

Time management wise, we couldnt have done this much within the given timeframe, once the spookality announcement hit, we started testing the update in a small group, while i continued finishing everything and fixing issues testers had reported

To us, this jam was more like a deadline for a big content release

On the final day, I ended up staying up all night, adding the finishing touches and submitted it about 4 hours before submissions closed and ended up oversleeping and missing my classes-

Maybe my point of view may be interesting to this discussion!

[final cobalt]

People said they hate how frustrating my game world is. And I'm like

https://tenor.com/view/let-the-hate-flow-through-you-sidious-palpatine-star-wars-gif-15849844

Mwah ha ha!!

[paper snow]

Teal, I know the situation. 😉
I took a week off to get the world done in time.
I had a weekend in between when my friends were here partying at my place.
They were on the terrace drinking and having fun while I was sitting here at the computer making the world :DDD
I did go down to their house sometimes to make them feel I cared. 😄

I have to give a huge shout out to 'Zombie Survival' because I can see how much work went into it!
It was worth every minute invested!

[mint tendon]

is there a way to see how many people favorite an avatar, like you can see for worlds?? Am curious as to how well received my Edible Gummy Girl avatar was.

[gusty mason]

Nope ;v;

[paper snow]

Can minor improvements be made to the world? Or as long as the 'Spookality' challenge is ongoing, shouldn't it be touched?

[abstract island]

#vrchat-jams message

They said it's okay!

[paper snow]

Drak, thanks for the info. 😉

[tawny shore]

Yeah fixes and touch ups are good to do, I’ve changed the capacity on mine and everything went well :3

[granite jackal]

Were there lots of avatar submissions this year? For Spookality?

[tawny shore]

Don’t know the exact number but they stated they had more than 300 avatars and worlds submitted in total

[wanton halo]

Yep, I think it was about 150 each?

[tiny vapor]

I wonder what VRChat Jam tastes like 🤔

[tawny shore]

Very sweet, I'd bet

[ivory helm]

Make my first avi today

[tawny shore]

Goodbye Spooky tabs, I'll miss you ;w;
Just want to say thanks again for the Jam, it was fun to be apart of it this year :3

[lapis kayak]

thanks for joining!

[mighty drum]

It was a good run, really excited for the next jam! Absolutely loved your world btw 😄 it has been saved as an inspiration world for me

[zealous pelican]

Yo

[narrow escarp]

Can you guys help me with this?

[old sapphire]

reinstall

[fathom smelt]

Check the file integrity on steam

[narrow escarp]

Ty

[ember jetty]

Anyone interested in collabing for upcoming Game Jam?

We only have UdonSharp programmers so anyone who like to be creative are very welcome

[austere sparrow]

[tawny shore]

Todays the day c: 🌙

[abstract island]

I wonder if they will keep it like Spookality and say "Make it Space themed!" or if they will have more strict rules/requirements.

Either way - Im excited and well find out soon

[lapis kayak]

the blog post is now live!
https://hello.vrchat.com/blog/space-jam

[gentle cedar]

👆

[ember jetty]

Space is my thing

[lapis kayak]

i believe as long as you have the rights to use the assets you can submit it, but I will double check with the NSSA

[lapis kayak]

confirmed with the NSSA:

Regarding the requirement for original content, it's not strictly necessary as long as any external assets are used in accordance with their proper licensing.

[timid wraith]

Oh hey the Jam channel is open again, nice ^^

Good luck everyone!

[past elbow]

Will worlds that are only made for the jam be allowed for submission or can any world made before March 1st be submitted?

I know that previous jams allowed any world to be submitted regardless if it was originally made for the jam.

[tawny shore]

I don't think it ever closed o-o
But another one month challenge? I think I can do this c:

[lapis kayak]

i will double check

[subtle talon]

The submission form could really use a text box to let creators provide some context for their world, just to direct evaluation better. Like "You can do THIS in THAT room if you push the button on the wall" that might otherwise get missed.

Also absolutely need to know if existing worlds can be submitted myself.

[wanton halo]

The submission form could really use a text box to let creators provide some context for their world, just to direct evaluation better. Like "You can do THIS in THAT room if you push the button on the wall" that might otherwise get missed.
Hmm, I would encourage creators to try and design their world in a way that's intuitive to understand without additional context!
Though I agree that it can be helpful to provide more context - either through a form, or through the world's description.

If your world can be understood by players who randomly join, that's a great thing!

[subtle talon]

I get what you mean, but I'm speaking from personal experience here with the world I want to submit having instructions AT THE ENTRANCE that always gets overlooked and ignored.

[wanton halo]

Haha that's true as well! Maybe it's a matter of presentation? People do not love reading large walls of text in VR.

On the other hand - even if your instructions look great, players will still skip them.

[subtle talon]

I don't think I could be less subtle, lol.

[wanton halo]

But not all players will skip your instructions!

Well... what if these were prompts that showed up as you used the world?

I know that's not the expectation for most VRChat worlds, and some players might still ignore it - but I assume the judges will be interested in seeing this sort of information!

[subtle talon]

The problem with prompts is it gets in the way of returning visitors. It's not the sort of thing you want in the way EVERY time you visit. I can't really do anything more visual, same reason, and could infer the wrong tone (eg; Seeing a hologram grab a wall and leap away through a vertical door might infer a horror tone)

[wanton halo]

That's true!

I think persistence will help avoid that.

Bleh! Typos.

[subtle talon]

Oh absolutely, and I might play with that in future. More relevantly, having a means to communicate what should be looked at FOR evaluation would benefit world creators greatly. Even if just sharing a quick set of dot points like "Go check out THIS room, down the hall, third on the left", that might otherwise get overlooked even by accident.

[wanton halo]

Hmm, that's a tough one...

[subtle talon]

Sometimes even just INTENT of a world or game could get misunderstood, and having that explained on-hand can help things be seen in a better light.

[wanton halo]

Yes, someone who's not familiar with certain concepts might misinterpret it

I suppose spelling it out for players might help! Nothing wrong with having an obvious text that explains things.

[subtle talon]

Like for mine, as an example, I'd be making note for the evaluation team that it uses a climbing prefab to let you grab and fling yourself in zero-gravity, as well as what some of the rooms and pickup tools are for.

[austere sparrow]

You could have a button on the prompts to disable them all!

[wanton halo]

That seems like something you could definitely explain inside the world!
You could even make it a requirement for participating in the experience.

[subtle talon]

The problem is it's inconveniencing returning visitors. and I can't FORCE it mechanically (eg; starting off in a vertical shaft to climb) because there's a real issue of motion sickness to consider for some visitors (Hence why the player starts in a flat hallway in gravity)

[wanton halo]

If it's an optional part of the experience to avoid motion sickness, perhaps that's the important part to clarify to visitors? 🤔

I.e. allowing them to choose whether they want to be able to use this feature.

This could also be used to draw attention to the feature itself.

... But I understand that that's more effort!

And it's a jam, so I don't think there's an expectation of perfect usability.

[subtle talon]

The whole world is built around zero-gravity traversal, it's not like just A room somewhere is the thing.

I think we're a little off-topic though, in that my point was more the submission form could use a text box for creators in general, to provide some direction and context to help with evaluation.

General visitors are one thing, they'll come-and-go, but for a contest we only get ONE visit through from the evaluation team and as such it needs to be the best experience for them possible. Being able to directly provide some information on the world would greatly benefit that rather than just "This is the world, fingers-crossed they don't miss the cool mechanics/features/art that're actually in it because they didn't find a door or button".

[wanton halo]

Yes, I think that would make sense!

Perhaps that's an idea @lapis kayak can forward to the organizers.
Keep in mind that it might be intentional though!

[austere sparrow]

Will there be a maximum limit on how old the submissions can be?
I'm worried that worlds that have been in development for a really long time will have an unfair advantage like in previous "jams",

[subtle talon]

World age isn't really that big a benefit. Those creators have all the assets and can spin them into something new for a Jam world pretty quickly.

[austere sparrow]

That's a good point, and that would probably make it hard to moderate, but I feel it's a bit contrary to the spirit of what a game-jam usually is.

[subtle talon]

A game jam's often gonna have pre-existing assets, whether self-made or out of asset packs, anyway. If I've gotta build from scratch for this (which would be understandable either way, just saying if I have to), I'm not building from scratch when I've got a full set of assets and udon scripts already good to put togther.

[lapis kayak]

it's the weekend in Australia right now so i may not hear back until Monday, but I'm taking note of questions

so far I have:

• can the jam submission have been uploaded before the start of the Jam / be a pre-existing world
• can we get an additional text box for world context in the jam submission form

[subtle talon]

Awesome, cheers Flare. Also can confirm; It is indeed the weekend here, lol.

[lapis kayak]

also nice to see you again whaddageek!

[austere sparrow]

Do the submissions have to be quest compatible?

[lapis kayak]

the submission form has been updated to include an additional text box!

[lapis kayak]

After speaking with the NSSA, as much as they'd like to include previous worlds, they've decided it needs to be a new world made for the Jam

[lapis kayak]

i will ask!

[subtle talon]

Good to know, cheers @lapis kayak !

[lapis kayak]

[past elbow]

Thanks for asking!

[ember jetty]

oh no Boby is joinign the jam

[lapis kayak]

submissions do NOT need to be Quest compatible

the google form has also been updated accordingly

[fossil tapir]

Do these worlds need to be realistic? Based on reading the description, it sounds like the worlds are meant to be more of an educational experience. It might be fun to create a more fantastical space world, or worlds that are theoretically possible but probably not in a human-reachable location. But I would create a "what-if" scenario how humans might try to survive with technology of today or the near future.

[pine magnet]

<@&397642795457970181>

[main totem]

I'd say the worlds don't have to be realistic nor educational, the focus is on more developing functional, entertaining, or relaxation-focused projects that enhance social interaction and community engagement within VRChat.

So in short go wild.

Check on the form, gives you more of an idea of what is being looked for.

Deliberately removed the educational aspect so people can focus on their own interpretations and focus on making meaningful experiences for themselves and others.

Granted educational experiences are welcome, but keeping it open to any ideas.

[main totem]

@lapis kayak In response to the questions we got, the mission we are tasking people with is to depict the future of human life in space. As for the location, that is completely open-ended. We mention the Artemis missions, which aim to return humans to the moon and establish a sustainable presence, as more of a starting point for people to think of ideas.

[lapis kayak]

thanks for answering!

[restive ermine]

Late reply but I think that wall of text will be ignored by most people. Text info needs to be as short as possible if you want anybody to read it

Show, don't tell. If your world has a climbing system that you want people to notice, make them use it to get past the front door. To really make it obvious you could have an npc climbing the wall with a very short text box next to them. Something like

• Use triggers or left mouse button to climb!
• You can climb every surface in this world.

[wanton halo]

I recommend Xbox's accessibility guidelines for some general tips on how to design/implement clear objectives. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/gaming/accessibility/xbox-accessibility-guidelines/109

[subtle talon]

Nothing survives contact with "Where's my friend in this world, how do I find them". I've been down this road a while, lol.

[ember jetty]

Is there restriction on working on world as a team?

[lapis kayak]

@main totem to confirm, but I don't believe so!

[main totem]

Nope, this is the section on the form that covers it.

"Team Participation Disclaimer: If participating as a team, list all members' information (usernames and other requested details) in relevant sections, separated by commas, for accurate identification and communication throughout the competition."

[ember jetty]

Right just wanting to make sure thank you for confirming it.

[main totem]

No worries, looking forward to seeing what your team makes!

[ember jetty]

actually im solo but been trying hard to recruit

[queen hull]

hi

[lapis kayak]

hi!

[modern umbra]

@lapis kayak hello
Idk why i see vrc shii in my server can u explain somehow ?

[lapis kayak]

i'm not sure if this is the right channel for this
But if you set it up so that your server receives updates from the #announcements channel, then you'll receive published updates

[lapis kayak]

Just a little over a week left to submit your worlds for the jam!

[modern umbra]

Broo
Its in games not announcements

Btw can u help me to get my server done ?
Really need help but other friends r busy

[lapis kayak]

looking forward to it!

[lapis kayak]

Last week to submit to Space Jam! We're closing entries on April 5 at 11:59pm EDT / 8:59pm PDT!

[fossil tapir]

What are the Jam's policies of using / mixing assets from a third party, if they are Creative Commons Licensed?

[austere sparrow]

as long as you have the rights to use them it's allowed afaik

[main totem]

Correct!

[zealous otter]

Hello! I'm just asking about older world submissions again because I was under the impression that older worlds weren't allowed to be submitted for the jam but the most recent VRChat tweet is now saying otherwise 😓
Really hope this isn't the case because it kinda feels like it defeats the point of a jam and making something in a set amount of time :<
https://x.com/VRChat/status/1775206562522595385?s=20

VRChat (@VRChat) on X

REMINDER: Space Jam Submissions close April 5 at 11:59pm EDT/8:59pm PDT!

Don't miss out on your chance for cash prizes or being featured on the VRChat world row!

Older worlds are also being accepted!

https://t.co/0uocm7SvkL

Twitter · Apr 2, 2024, 5:00 PM

[lapis kayak]

We went back and forth on this, and ultimately we decided that older submissions cannot win prizes but 3 can be selected for the world row. I completely understand that there was a lot of hard work put into new submissions made specifically for the jam, so we didn't want to take away from that. Check the form for more details!

[zealous otter]

Ah alright! Thanks for the clarification!
and good luck to everyone submitting in these last couple days!

[lapis kayak]

I'm really looking forward to seeing your entry, Crazium!! I've seen the tweets...

[junior elm]

a silly question at the 11th hour of the jam 😛 do we get an email confirmation once we submit the form?

[main totem]

You should get a confirmation message.

If not and you are worried feel free to reach out to me and I'll double check if I have received it.

[subtle talon]

Oh, I've got a last-minute question; Are there any particular Tags we should use for consistent visibility of our world?

[tawny shore]

^ This is a good question as I'm about to publish

[main totem]

Nope, no tags in particular. Whatever you deem appropriate.

[main totem]

@tawny shore

[tawny shore]

Thank you :3

My world has been published c:

[ember jetty]

wow

people make really quality space jam

[jagged bramble]

Got mine published last night! Might tweak and make some last minute additions but is there a cutoff for adding stuff? Like if I want to work on it some tonight and add a few extra detailings after midnight is that allowed or nah?

[jagged bramble]

Also I filled out the form but if possible could I double check it got received? I filled it out late last night and don't see a confirmation so just wanna double check

[zealous otter]

Published mine with 15 minutes to spare, super happy with the work we put in :>

[main totem]

Thank you all for submitting such fantastic worlds! You're welcome to update your world as needed. However, please refrain from making updates after 6:30 PM EDT on Saturday until 12 AM EDT on Tuesday. We'll be conducting the judging in waves, and to ensure fairness and accuracy in judging, it's important that no updates are made during this period.

[main totem]

Got it, no worries. Thanks for submitting.

[jagged bramble]

Gotcha thanks a bunch!

Sounds solid, I'll let the world rock as is then and just upload my last couple of tweaks here then. Thanks so much!

[subtle talon]

Cool, I've got some last-second fixes thanks to some generous testing by friends before then. @main totem, could we get a "Pencils down" message at the cutoff time?

[main totem]

I'll try, but if not just stick to the above guidelines.

[jagged bramble]

Uploading my last last build now. Was going around taking pictures and passed through a wall, realizing I never put colliders on some of them lmao

[subtle talon]

Ahh, my favourite game of "Why did my test ball go through the wall?"

[jagged bramble]

Pretty much haha. Was backing up to squeeze against the wall to get as wide of an angle as possible and I just went through it like

oh

[austere sparrow]

So that would be from: <t:1712442600:F>, which is <t:1712442600:R>.
To: <t:1712635200:F>, which is <t:1712635200:R>.

Please correct me if it's wrong!

[main totem]

Yep, avoid making updates from now.

[drowsy jasper]

For updates, does that mean updating the world at all for any reason (Including things like fixing a small shader issue), or just like, no adding extra features

Im assuming the former, but am just wanting to make sure

In my own case I had discovered a shader issue in my world after the deadline, but don't want to accidentally get myself disqualified by uploading the correct shader in

[main totem]

No worries, my main concern is if something is drastically different in the world between judging sessions.

If it is a hot fix or a change like you mentioned I am happy for that to be updated.

[drowsy jasper]

Okay thank you!

[lapis kayak]

centauri do u rest

[drowsy jasper]

Sometimes

[austere sparrow]

Proof?

[worthy bison]

we've pestered her to tone it down

[tawny shore]

And now we wait

[eternal swift]

https://tenor.com/view/searching-looking-around-where-bitch-where-gif-9553729

[sour mortar]

when will the winners be announced

[late grotto]

a mystery, the form said it would be today.

[sour mortar]

what is your favorite?

[late grotto]

mine lol

[drowsy jasper]

Hopefully they announce them soon

[late grotto]

Yeah, hopefully.

[lapis kayak]

should be announced April 12!

[celest hull]

Form said 10th

[drowsy jasper]

[late grotto]

I like how they don't even say where they will be announced. If it's gonna be on twitter, discord, individually through email etc

[lapis kayak]

blog post on the VRChat socials

[lapis kayak]

should have been April 12th to go along with the feature, apologies for the confusion!

[late grotto]

wait, so it will only be announced on the 12th?

[lapis kayak]

correct, the winners announcement via blog post and the VRChat world row feature should both go live on the 12th

[late grotto]

alright, thanks for clarifying.

[celest hull]

https://tenor.com/view/crypto-alien-alone-alienalone-alien-alone-nft-crypto-alien-earthquake-gif-25788132

[rancid saffron]

Appreciate the update and keeping us informed Flare. Though, It probably wouldn't hurt to put out an announcement indicating the confusion as a lot of people were expecting the results today since it was listed in the blog as today being the day.

[lapis kayak]

we'll see what we can do, most likely tomorrow

[main totem]

Just answering a couple questions I got via DM, judging has concluded so feel free to update your worlds as normal. As @lapis kayak mentioned VRChat will make the official announcement via blog post, I will then follow that up with an email detailing the logistics regarding prizes.

[tawny shore]

Todays the day, again

[gray plume]

I nervous

[tawny shore]

Sameee >~<

[gray plume]

[eternal swift]

so what are yall gonna spend your winnings on? Ill probaly get a yacht

https://tenor.com/view/boatin-tub-dolphin-gif-5548825

[sour mortar]

In a pinch, that's what you have

[austere sparrow]

[austere sparrow]

https://hello.vrchat.com/blog/space-jam-winners

[ember jetty]

Congrats

Enjoy

[zealous otter]

Congrats to all the winners! 🎉 🎉 🎉

[austere sparrow]

Congratulations everyone! Ya'll made some amazing worlds

[eternal swift]

https://tenor.com/view/yay-surprise-parks-and-recs-boom-confetti-gif-15533518

[tawny shore]

Congrats 🍰

[junior elm]

First of all I'll apologize for the wall of text 😛

I'm still letting it sink in right now, it's been a wild ride and I'm lucky to have such skilled and wonderful team mates @celest hull who brought his shader magic game and @raw sorrel for making the ships doors and easter egg hunt run at all (so many things kept breaking, and at one point I was slingshot into the worlds suns testing the "gravity settings", Sandra Bullock in Gravity would have been proud LOL) without them the Monarch would have just floated stationary in space and did nothing at all. I am not going to lie I wasn't expecting to be at the top three, since there are so many impressive submissions that came in; Far Citizen made my jaw drop, and my friends and I kept trying to catch each other by flying out from the hangar bay to the spinning habitat's windows (how was this possible??!) and going down the elevator in Generations: project Rama was so beautiful it nearly made me cry, there was so much love, detail and technical expertise put into these worlds, and they deserve the accolades awarded for the beautiful experiences that reminds us what VR is all about: dreams come to life, shared together.

I'm just happy that a world we made managed to participate in a Jam flying the flag of space. Even happier that it is recognized and appreciated so much, for that and to everyone, thank you so much, worlds are just empty spaces without the community exploring them and finding new friends there, thank you so much.

Now if you'll excuse me I need some tissues cause I'm getting all emotional 😭

[raw sorrel]

Well said, Taj.
I am a little speechless myself.

[celest hull]

https://tenor.com/view/bogos-binted-bogos-binted-alien-aphex-twin-gif-20530107

[past elbow]

I am so curious on the number of submissions that used my gravity system to some extent. 80+ downloads is a lot from the last month.

[junior elm]

Quite a few! I saw it everywhere, but for the Monarch I used a lightly modified swim system like the Guarded Heart. Btw your system is awesome I'm planning to use it on a future world

[sour mortar]

@junior elm Congratulation 🥳

[raw sorrel]

Your gravity system is awesome ^_^

[cunning oriole]

congratulations on first place

[main totem]

I thought I’d come in and say thank you again to everyone who competed! We had over 50 entries this year, and it was so much fun going through all of them! Whether it was your first time participating in this type of event or you're a seasoned veteran, the judges enjoyed them all. Most of us are community members just like you, and it was awesome to be able to engage a community we value while being able to apply our space industry backgrounds. Thank you for letting us do that!

I’ll be contacting those in the top 9 worlds via email in the coming days to provide you with details about the prizes and pass over our custom-made 3D asset award, which you can place in your world if you’d like.

[celest hull]

Will there be a list of all submissions? Kind of missing many worlds that participated. While I get that the winners are featured I think there should also be a list of all the worlds somewhere that participated in the Jam. In the end the Jam is all about sharing ideas and inspire. And right now I have a feeling that I missed many worlds that participated and creators left behind that still put many hours of work into it.

[austere sparrow]

Absolutely! Please feature the rest of the submissions

[junior elm]

I agree, its awesome that so many people worked hard and submitted, I'm sure people would love to explore all of them (I definitely would!)

[subtle talon]

Why is Exoplanet Journey in the Jam tab, when it's very much an older world that wasn't made for the Jam during the window?

[tawny shore]

They allowed older worlds to be submitted but they would only be relegated to the "Honorable mentions" section and not be qualified for the prizes

[subtle talon]

But surely that shouldn't put them in the top-11 though?

[celest hull]

I wouldnt call it "Top 11". They didn't split it so we don't even know which ones are in each category and the old worlds shouldnt even be in some kind of row. Would be nice to have a more differentiated list. Like this:

• Top 3/winners, new worlds
• Rest, new worlds
• Honorable mentions, old worlds

[subtle talon]

Id' full agree with that. My issue is a big part of the jam was to showcase worlds specifically made for the Jam within the timeframe and to avoid people rebranding and submitting existing worlds that have been iterated on for months or years. Having one that clearly was not made for the jam listed just because it was broadly space-themed and submitted rings hollow to that.

[winter forge]

My world was also in the Space Jam row.
I'm very happy and honored.
However, it was supposed to have left the Community Lab and entered the public world, but for some reason it was returned to the Community Lab.
Other Space Jam worlds are like that too.
Why is this?

[raw sorrel]

I am guessing it's some kind of bug.

[subtle talon]

It absolutely is, you'll notice they also all have 0 total visitors.

[lapis kayak]

we're looking into this

[narrow escarp]

good job @austere sparrow your map make me dizzy even on desktop :P

[austere sparrow]

[narrow escarp]

I wonder how you made the buttons without VRCInteract?

[austere sparrow]

A lot of pain

Raycasts, sphere overlap non-alloc, on trigger enter

[narrow escarp]

Optimized button :D

maybe one day we will be able to simply toggle off the VRChat highlighting

[austere sparrow]

And have a callback for when it's highlighted!

[main totem]

Alrighty, for those who haven't noticed, we have now showcased all the worlds that made it past round 1 of judging (about 25) on the World Row. I'll be working to release a complete list of all those who submitted on our website as well in the next day. Thanks again to all who submitted. I'm looking forward to seeing how the community enjoys your worlds!

[wanton halo]

Congraulations! Thank you so much for hosting the jam, I really enjoyed it!

It's making me feel inspired about creating my own world about living in space 👀 maybe some day!

[misty oxide]

Hey! we submitted a form and a world and never got an answer. We have since sent multiple emails and got no response. I only fount out about the winners through word of mouth on the platform. What is going on there???

[main totem]

I believe your world is up now, seeing as the team decided to extend it to every single entry that passed quality checks.

Apologies about the emails as well, currently a one man show on the NSSA end.

[tawny shore]

Yeah they came out great c:

[zealous otter]

The trophies look great! 👀

[main totem]

They look awesome! Thanks again to @digital cedar for taking on the commission.

[digital cedar]

[austere sparrow]

[lapis kayak]

cuuuuuuute

i need to do a space jam world hop to see all the winners

[ember jetty]

What did I miss\

Do I get that?

[modern umbra]

@lapis kayak hey uum i wanna bring a discord server to vrc is it alr with yall, its a gift for my bff

[lapis kayak]

the 3 official winners for the jam and 7 for the showcase were emailed a virtual trophy they could put in their worlds to commemorate Space Jam

i'm not even sure what you're asking for, but this is probably the wrong channel! i already replied to you in DM's, I'm surprised you're @ing me here

[lapis kayak]

meant to reply^

[ember jetty]

So top 10 it is

[modern umbra]

Is it a yes or no ?

[lapis kayak]

dm me instead! i need clarification!

[hidden swift]

hi

[cyan latch]

when is the next spacejam?

[lapis kayak]

we're aiming to have another jam in the summer 👀 it won't be Space Jam though!

[drowsy jasper]

@main totem Could you send out an update to all the winners of the space jam, giving us info on the ETA for the rewards to be sent out?

[main totem]

Yep, apologies my bad. Getting smashed with payments we need to process given our major yearly conference is right now. I'll prod our treasurer again but hoping to get the transfers out by early next week.

Physical prizes should go out soon as well.

Just passed on the details to the NASA team.

[drowsy jasper]

Any updates? While you've dm'd about the physical prizes, no one seems to have gotten the monetary prizes yet.

[main totem]

https://tenor.com/view/shrek-puss-in-boots-today-i-repay-my-debt-debt-shrek2-gif-17253464

All prizes have been paid, give it about 1 business day and you should have your payments.

Thanks again!

[lapis kayak]

a sneak peek at the next jam will be in tomorrow's Dev Update!

[ember jetty]

So... The world jam must have AudioLink now

As in good audiolink integration is a big selling point

[rocky sorrel]

something about summer jam avatars?
I saw someone make a partially convincing quest compatible lava-lamp effect by using animated blendshapes and inverted shell normals on an animation to move emissive blobs, along with a texture gradient, pretty cool stuff, hope someone makes use of little tricks like that among other things in the upcoming jam

[gentle cedar]

Time....
https://ask.vrchat.com/t/summer-music-fest-jam-resources/25451

[gentle cedar]

https://hello.vrchat.com/blog/summer-music-jam

info now available.

[lapis kayak]

you beat me to it ;) thank you for posting!

[gentle cedar]

my pleasure

[modern umbra]

@lapis kayak tf is wrong with the groups ? I cant see mines à cant see thir instances

And btw i want to work as a vrc staff

[cunning onyx]

Pondering if I should try my hand at making a world submission

[dim tinsel]

@lapis kayak how would one go about applying for musicians slot?

[lapis kayak]

good luck if you do! Just remember that the only requirements are on the blog post, the rest are recommendations. I've seen a few people intimidated by the resources list we put out, and I don't want to limit anyone's creativity

[lapis kayak]

We encourage you to host your own music events on the Jam worlds in August! If we do end up hosting our own VRChat-official-party in one of the worlds, it'll most likely be developers DJ'ing

[cunning onyx]

thank youuuu

my brain hatched an idea last night

Ima try and pull it off :3

[lapis kayak]

let's gooooo

[olive warren]

So would a summer lake experience qualify? Or is this beaches only?

[wicked saffron]

World creators during world jams:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP3YywgRx5A

[cursive spindle]

@lapis kayak Hello there!

Apologies if I missed it, but I can't seem to find what the prizes are for specifically the avatar portion? In this post -> https://hello.vrchat.com/blog/summer-music-jam

Last year your avatar got added to the public default list, and fallbacks if you were compatible, along with a year of VRChat+.

Is that still the same this year?

Thank you!

[lapis kayak]

summer lake experience sounds great!

[lapis kayak]

hi Nae,
as of right now the only prizes this year is to be featured in a world and avatar row from August 12-Sept 6.

[cursive spindle]

Ah okay! Thank you very much.

That's put me off entering this year, I like seeing my Axelottie running around as a fallback, and the free VRC+ was a nice bonus too.

[lapis kayak]

No problem, thanks for your feedback!

[lapis kayak]

just wanted to update that after conferring with the team, we've decided to add prizes!

Ten world creators and ten avatar creators will receive a year of VRC+ for free, and we'll feature 10 avatars made for the jam in the public avatar row.

Thank you for bringing this up!

The blog post has now been updated.

[cursive spindle]

! HUGE! YAhhoo! Thank yah so much! I best get started and try to win, then! Yippie!

[amber inlet]

how would one go about signing up for musician slots?

[lapis kayak]

the jam is encouraging musicians and DJs to host their own events in the worlds made for the jam!

[small anvil]

not enough swearing at Unity 4/10

[safe ravine]

@lapis kayak I apologize if this ping is out of line, but it seems that it is common in this channel?
For the Avatar jam, I see the avatar has to be medium or better and crossplatform.
For the Quest side of things does it also have to be medium? Or can we submit a medium PC avatar with a very poor quest version?

[lapis kayak]

hihi yes no worries about pinging me for jam questions!

Aim to have your avatar be Medium on both PC and Quest! It is technically okay for the avatar to be PC-Medium and then Quest-Poor/VP but it probably wouldn't be selected for the default home row unless both are Medium. Hope that answers your question!

@safe ravine ^ forgot to tag you!

[safe ravine]

Thank you for the response! I've made a couple of medium quest avatars so they weren't auto-hidden, but the process was a little painful even using decimation modifiers lol. There's still some time left but I'll see what I can do! Thanks for the tip!

[dapper storm]

Is there a quest compatible media player out there that can be used for world submissions?

[gentle cedar]

pro tv?

[dapper storm]

I wasn't sure if it worked on quest or not

[gentle cedar]

protv can set PC and Quest URL separately and maintain really well.

[dapper storm]

Ah, okay. I didn't know that it had that functionality. I'll look into using that

[hushed cairn]

use protv version 3 beta or higher as the older pro tv does aggressive flashing at inconsistent fps

[gentle cedar]

[dapper storm]

I'm still deciding if I wanted to include audio only or the entire video player so I'll keep this in mind

[past elbow]

Most media players are cross platform. ProTV 3.0 is my recommendation but most others work just fine as long as the media itself is accessible on android.

[dapper storm]

What media isn't accessible on android? I've been out of the loop when it comes to video players being cross platform

I think what I'm wondering is if android can resolve urls

The documentation says that it can now

[past elbow]

Media that is accepted are any links that directly link to a video file. Where you open the link and the video is playing with your browser's video player or asking to download the video as a file.

Youtube and Twitch.tv links also work too.

It helps to have an android phone or headset to test this tho. and yes it appears android can currently resolve links from me testing a youtube and twitch link

[dapper storm]

I can test on my phone

android being able to play youtube links is great

[delicate kite]

it's a music jam right?

[lapis kayak]

this is a world and avatar jam actually!

it's based on summer music festivals

[wanton halo]

Ooo, but a world or an avatar focused on original music might be cool, too!

[delicate kite]

Oh okay thanks ill try to apply and make something.

[dusky jacinth]

Hello 👋
I'm working on a map that I will try to submit to the JAM and I'd like to have some NPCs chilling around. Is it a problem if they are rexouiums ? or does it needs to be completely avatar base neutral ?

[lapis kayak]

as long as you have the credits and permission to use those avatars in your world, i see no problem with it

[dusky jacinth]

ok thank you ^^

[dapper storm]

Are we allowed to keep updating our submissions after August 2nd?

I have a lot of ideas for my submission I'm not sure I'll be able to include by then

[lapis kayak]

yes*

*let us know though, in case we've judged it and need to give it another pass.
We'll officially start judging on Aug 5, so if you updated your entry over the weekend before judging, that would be fine.

If you update your submission between Aug 5 - 9, that's in the danger zone of us missing your update.

[dapper storm]

Thank you, I'll be sure to say something in this channel if I make changes during the Aug 5 - 9 period

I'm going to try and get as much as I can done

[winter forge]

A video player is required for this World Jam, but for the past few days, it has been impossible to play YouTube videos using UnityVideoPlayer.
Will VRChat fix this?
If not, will participants need to do anything to make themselves compatible with AVPro?

[lapis kayak]

As you noted, we are currently tracking an issue with UnityVideoPlayer. I don't think the fix will come in time for the Jam submission, so participants may need to use AVPro.

[lapis kayak]

i stand corrected, we just pushed a fix for UnityVideoPlayer that should allow YouTube videos to work now

[past elbow]

is this on live now, or in an upcoming update?

[lapis kayak]

should be on live right now

[gentle cedar]

oh, good to confirm and is canny status update got pushed also?

(I just checked it is, thanks Flare)

[lapis kayak]

yes the Canny was marked as complete a few hours ago when the push happened, I was just waiting for the cache to update:
https://feedback.vrchat.com/bug-reports/p/unity-video-player-cannot-play-youtube-videos-only-avpro-can-load-it

[gentle cedar]

Thank you

yeah, I can see working, nice.

[gentle cedar]

As user number of got issue be wide, could be doing PA be good idea?
What do you think?

[past elbow]

maybe just a nonping announcement?

don't see a reason for a whole ping

[gentle cedar]

yeah

[lapis kayak]

made a non-pinging announcement

[gentle cedar]

ah 360p make sense.

[winter forge]

I have confirmed that it can be played with UnityVideoPlayer.
Thanks!

[viscid acorn]

360p potato quality unityplayer with audio filters, vs 1080p avpro with no filters

pain

[dusky jacinth]

oh and another question, if I submit a world for the JAM now, will it save the current build for review / block the updates or I can continue to update it normally ?

[lapis kayak]

whatever version of your world is live at the moment we judge is the entry we will judge, if that makes sense. so for example, if you push an update after we've judged your entry, we may not see the updates.

but in general the jam entry links to a live version of your world. so any updates you push will also update the jam entry

[dusky jacinth]

ok, thank so much ! ^^

[lapis kayak]

Less than 24 hours to submit for the Summer Music Fest Jam!! I've had a chance to peek at some of the entries and I'm really excited!

[dapper storm]

I'm having a unique issue where ProTV 3.0 works independently on both pc and quest, but for some reason it doesn't sync between platforms. I tried making sure the hierarchy was the same in both uploads. Do you know if there's a way to fix this?

[past elbow]

double check your Network IDs using the Network ID utility. you may need to regenerate it for the PC scene and export that for importing to the Android scene.

[dapper storm]

currently trying that out and seeing how it goes

[dapper storm]

It worked! It was a bit of a pain though

[gentle cedar]

Now, judge in progress.

[lapis kayak]

thank you to everyone who submitted! I can't wait to judge next week!

As a reminder, you can still update your entry until we begin judging Aug 6.
We actually have Monday off, so you have extra time to push updates

it's a shame we're having video player issues around the time of the jam though

[safe ravine]

who can we ping if we update our entry? August 6th at what time? EST?

[lapis kayak]

me, probably
I'm not sure exactly what time we'll start judging but to be safe I'd say 1pm edt Aug 6 should be pencils down

[safe ravine]

Thanks!

[patent trench]

Just found this channel. Excited to hear the results after tomorrow!

[lapis kayak]

we're not announcing winners until August 12 or so! We need some time to judge the entries

[patent trench]

Oh of course, my bad. Thanks for the heads up!

Guess I'm a lil too excited

[half stag]

Can't wait either 🌸

[lapis kayak]

Starting to reach out to avatar creators who had broken submissions / toggles we'd recommend changing on default! If you see a DM from VRChat or me, it's real!

[lapis kayak]

We just finished our first pass at judging the worlds submitted for Summer Music Fest Jam! Keep an eye out for a DM from me or VRChat if something was broken or if we had difficulty judging your world!

[gentle cedar]

[kind patio]

I got a twitter DM about broken things and fixed them thanks for letting me know. It's difficult to test everything on my phone for quest builds.

[dapper storm]

I did reupload my world with a new skybox but I didn't make any drastic changes to my submission

on pc specifically

[patent trench]

I'm so paranoid that I missed something lol. If there's any issues with Cramble's submission feel free to dm this discord. (My discord/VRC name are the same)

[lapis kayak]

that's probably fine

[lapis kayak]

no worries! if you got a DM, something was broken or we suggested changes. Most entries didn't need a follow up!

[patent trench]

Sweet, i appreciate y'all doin that. Id hate for someones hard work to be disqualified over something silly

[lapis kayak]

We're revisiting entries one more time! Jam winners should be announced either later today or tomorrow! We apologize for the hold up

[lapis kayak]

TOMORROW IT IS

[gentle cedar]

[velvet shuttle]

what time?

[lapis kayak]

i'm aiming for 1pm edt! but if you don't hear from us by then, it'll probably be closer to 4pm edt

[balmy stratus]

[dapper storm]

I'm excited

I had another last minute idea for a feature, but I'm going to wait until the results to update the world more

[hollow trail]

How do I cancel a world I've registered up for JAMs?

I registered my world "Hwabon Night" , but I want to unregister it.

[velvet shuttle]

isnt it to late for that? @hollow trail

[hollow trail]

Yesterday, I pushed out an update that removed the video player and the swiming pool, so I wanted to see if there were any issues with that.

[lapis kayak]

Next time just let me know and I can reject it from the Submissions list. I don't think there's a way to unsubmit once you've submitted on your end

[hollow trail]

Thank you for your response. Will there be any penalties for this?

[lapis kayak]

no, no penalties

[hollow trail]

oh ok

Thank you for your kind words.

[velvet shuttle]

so how many submissions were there for world and avatars?

[lapis kayak]

no problem! A jam is meant to be a fun exercise for everyone involved

[lapis kayak]

not counting the submissions we had to reject, there were 64 worlds and 25 avatars! Pretty small jam this time around.

[velvet shuttle]

oh I have a chance of wining then

[lapis kayak]

everyone has a chance of winning 😄 but i hope as long as you had fun, that it was worth it! A lot of people were trying new things for their jams, and it was an honor to judge.

[velvet shuttle]

yea making worlds are hard man. It was my first time making one

[slate fable]

first time messing with anything audiolink for me, but i’m happy with my submission

[lapis kayak]

i'm so glad you had fun!

[lapis kayak]

almost time...

getting all our ducks in a row

🦆

[storm relic]

https://tenor.com/view/flock-of-ducks-in-the-road-viralhog-army-of-ducks-flock-of-ducks-ducks-crossing-the-road-gif-24009635

[olive warren]

[lapis kayak]

it's live!

🌴https://hello.vrchat.com/blog/summer-jam-winners

Congratulations to everyone who won, and those who submitted! Hope you had fun!

[balmy stratus]

Congrats peeps!

[craggy kiln]

congratulations everyone!

[lapis kayak]

I just applied a year of VRC+ to all the winners; feel free to reach out to me directly if you notice your prize is missing!

[craggy kiln]

if you have a current sub, does it switch over when the next payment is due?

[lapis kayak]

i need to double check how it works exaclty. i'm not sure if it picks up on a monthly basis and switches on the new month to the VRChat-gifted sub or not

[merry perch]

For those us of that didn't win, is there any chance we could find out where the judges found our avatars or worlds fell short?

[storm relic]

yeah i would like to know aswell

[merry perch]

Getting good feedback & critique is still a win in my book :>

[fossil sparrow]

it does, vrc+ has been added to my account in the past and it just auto-switches to the free time and then resumes payment once the free time is up

assuming you're subbed through steam, at least. idk about other methods

[craggy kiln]

thanks! Worst comes to it I can keep an eye on it. And ty too, big!

[lapis kayak]

i believe we'll be going through all the submissions one final time with feedback this week!
In general though, judging was quite hard. There were a lot of amazing entries!

i dont remember if the feedback is sent through the vrchat website or to your email
will followup

[merry perch]

Alright, awesome, I'm looking forward to that!

[half stag]

This is so cool 💐🌺💖 Thanks for your hard work on this

I'm a little confused that a few of the runner-up worlds were uploaded before the jam began, was that not a requirement for the jam?

[lapis kayak]

it sounds like these will be emailed!

[merry perch]

Ok thanks! I guess to the email we attached to our VRC accounts?

[lapis kayak]

yes it should be!

[lapis kayak]

runner-ups are more like honorable mentions that we think fit the theme, no prizes are given aside from the world row feature.
we tried to avoid giving spotlight to older worlds but a few were really stand out! for future jams, only submissions made during the jam period will be considered.

i was very fond of your entry okgold, thank you for entering!

[safe ravine]

thank you so much for hosting!!!!!!!!! it was really stressful with our schedules, but i had a lot of fun and learned a lot in the process!! im exciting to see the public avis and the home world updated! i cant wait to check out everyone else's submission!!!

[lapis kayak]

so glad you had fun! Sunny was one of my favorite avatars

[dapper storm]

I had a lot of fun making Royal White Inn!

Congratulations to all the winners

[velvet shuttle]

I dont see glowing palms or sunset drifters on the summer fest list in game @lapis kayak

[lapis kayak]

you're right, i don't see them either! Fixing

fixed! They were still in Labs

[eager owl]

Congrats to everyone who won! 🖤
I can't believe my little Nana made it 😭

[lapis kayak]

congratulations! 🐠

[lapis kayak]

Just a reminder for event-runners, as noted in the original blog post:

We’ll be highlighting events in numerous ways, likely through both social and through an in-game article highlighting a schedule of events as they’re going on.

I'm not sure if we can get a schedule going (There's a lot of events!) but if you have an event you'd like us to promote on social media that's hosted on a winning or runner up world, feel free to send me a DM with the tweet and we can RT it.

[plucky carbon]

Hey thanks for liking my world VAPORWAVE BEACH (all caps just for the people in the back lol) I’m surprised to see my world do so well against some really talented and creative people here

https://tenor.com/view/k-on-heart-ritsu-sushi-anime-gif-8426672670969821619

But yes thank you guys for the experience!!

[wicked trout]

Oh hey, I'm just getting off work and seeing this! First time actually winning one of these, is pretty exciting!

[calm rain]

Thank you for picking Sunny!! I'm so happy everyone can get a chance to try her 🥹❤️

[wicked trout]

So, if it's okay to ask:

Promotion (from us!) for as many of the events using said worlds as possible.
We have an event coming up at the end of the month for our group. So if this means we can have our event promoted, I'd like to get whatever I need to in soon. 😅

[patent trench]

I just checked all the featured worlds and avatars out. Everyone did such a good job!! I wanna tell everyone what I liked but idk where to start lol

[dapper storm]

will the new public row avatars stay featured after summer music fest is over?

[mild nymph]

Wooo woo

Congrats gang

[lapis kayak]

yep just ping me here or send me a DM with your event info (preferably a tweet already made on your account) so I can RT it!

[lapis kayak]

the new avatars added to the public avatar row will stay in the public avatar row! But we may change the way they're featured in the home world so that it goes back to shuffling the order of public avatars

[lapis kayak]

great job on your entry! Our judges couldn't stop whacking each other with pool noodles...

[mild nymph]

i expect nothing less

used as intended

[lapis kayak]

a lot of people don't have emails set to their VRChat account

[gentle cedar]

[narrow escarp]

what's that

[urban yew]

Sadly my orca didn't win, but regardless i had fun making her for the jam. Congrats to all the winners! I'm looking forward to the next jam!

[lapis kayak]

i'm glad you had fun!

We'll be sending out feedback either this week or the next.

[lapis kayak]

i extended everyone's vrchat+ for a year or granted a year's sub if they didn't have one! so now it should actually extend

[patent trench]

I hope you guys don't mind, but I had so much fun yesterday with the new avatars, and worlds. I really wanted to share all my positive feedback with ya'll :)

So I wrote up a few things for some of the entries

idk who all did what, or if everyone in the jam is even in this chat but here's my positive thoughts some winning avatars:
Loved the audiolink mask on Neri's legs, (the one by Graelyth) also really impressive design overall! Feels polished
it really really impressed me.

I also loved the design of Asteria. I thought it was super clever having speakers in her "hair tentacles". It reminds me of a more mature splatoon, which is a HUGE compliment because their designs are incredible (edit, just noticed this was by @craggy kiln, I shoulda mentioned, killer Audiolink as well)

Beachball boy's Audiolink was super cool how he inflated to the beat. Clever use of vertex displacement! Definitely giving me ideas now that I have Amplify haha

I also HAD to mention how appealing Selena the Orca's design is, Great execution. @urban yew (actually one of my favorite submissions, it's so cute)
And Tia the dragonfly had my personal favorite audiolink, those dragonfly wings are soo coool, very befitting of a rave. AND WHEN I FOUND THE JELLYFISH. Those were soo cool. Tia would fit in sooo well in any irl rave/edm show I've ever been too.

Here's some fun experiences I wanted to share about the worlds:
There were so many beaches BUT they were all so different and unique!

Loved the grungy vibe on hidden beach. Made me feel like a teenager again, "having fun getting into trouble". Good environmental storytelling

Paradise party has a WIPEOUT STYLE OBSTACLE COURSE?! That was wild, way harder than it looks on TV. Impressive level design for such a short challenge.

The pixel art on Royal white inn was so cool and retro, good sound design as well! I appreciated having the banjo & kazooie style collecting game :D

One of my favorites was Dawn Island. By far the coolest thing is all the parked jetskis. It really told a fun story of "how the party arrived to the island"
(Although I do wish they were higher detail, they were quite low rez. If you see this PLEASE dm me. No joke, I'd love to find/make you a better jetski model). Regardless of level-of-detail, the jetskis are also very good environmental storytelling

I wanted to mention it was really impressive seeing a working drumkit in "summer drum reflection".

Maybe as a Scalie I'm biased, but Lazy Lizard waterpark might be my new favorite jam world. SOO much fun to explore, and float around. I feel like you combined splash mountain with space mountain. I can't tell you how overjoyed I was to go inside the cave with crystals and everything flashing to the music. AND THE GECKO SHAPED POOL, it was so clever making the gecko toes into little seats. Still can't get over that. I hung out in that crystal cave for way longer than I planned to. P.S. It's genuinely got me planning to make a cave world of my own.

I enjoyed many things about everyones worlds/avatars that I saw, please don't take it personally if I didn't mention you. After all I'm just some schmuck that can't resist sharing their art opinions. That said, if anyone is seeking growth via 3D modeling or texturing feedback, I don't reply quickly, but my DMs are always open. (just mention you were in the VRC Jam so I know it's not a rando)

I hope ya'll liked my "bubba clubbins" half as much as I enjoyed everyone else's stuff. Because it was an honor participating/competing with all of you. Hope to do it again soon <3

[mild nymph]

bubba is aawesome

[cunning oriole]

I'm glad you had a good time at the lazy lizard water park it was made by some friends of mine and I hope your cave goes well

[lapis kayak]

Feedback emails have been sent out!

[lapis kayak]

I just wanted to thank everyone for joining Summer Music Fest Jam. Candidly, this was my first time running a jam and I was VERY nervous, and it was also our first time running this type of jam. If it goes well, we might end up doing this on a yearly basis!

Feedback emails also had a participation survey. If you didn't participate in Summer Music Fest Jam and have feedback, feel free to DM me!

[abstract schooner]

I already said this in the survey but just to say it directly, thanks Flare for being so active here and answering all the questions, it was really reassuring to see, and it doesn't go unnoticed
||(Also sorry to whoever has to read my essay, I had a lot to say)||

[lapis kayak]

gosh maybe i should have seen if i could have upped the response cc!

[plucky carbon]

Yes thank you for the opportunity again! Just submitted the feedback

[lapis kayak]

Our next jam is Spookality! We're aiming to have blog post details about that in mid- to late-September.
Also thank you to everyone who's submitted feedback so far! There's a lot of learnings to be had, and I appreciate the honesty many of you shared.

[olive warren]

While it may be fun to do next year, when you start to have reliably repeated themes in Jams, it allows some seasoned worldbuilders to pour months of work ahead of time into the predicted jam, blowing competition out of the water (pun intended), discouraging any newer worldbuilders. This is ok for a jam that there are no winners, just people who meet the bar, like Spookality.

But if it's a contest with limited winners, giving players the ability to make the world before the Jam period sorta defeats the 'Jam' ethos that nearly all other Code Jams/Game Jams have: 'Start from scratch and build a new thing in the time allotted.'

[lapis kayak]

yes, this is one of the concerns that came up from the feedback!
I'd prefer if people submitted for the fun of the Jam. That's the spirit of it after all! But it's also tricky to account for all the hard work poured into the VRChat worlds and avatars when there's no official prizes. It sounds like some people would have skipped out on the jam entirely without the prizes involved, because it wouldn't have been worth the effort.

Happy to hear your additional thoughts if you have any (and this is open to everyone!)

We may host a different type of jam next year that isn't Summer Music Fest themed just so people can't plan ahead for it

[olive warren]

Maybe just have a change in semantics, like instead of calling every event a 'Jam' call some things like a 'Spotlight' event, or themed 'Features'

[lapis kayak]

just to clarify, that would still ask people to make content within a certain amount of time, like a Jam right?

[olive warren]

Not really, like, if it's not gonna be locked to the amount of time, then avoid calling it a Jam. I'm just getting picky about the semantics of the word 'Jam' 😛

[lapis kayak]

Ohhh I see, like allow older worlds / bigger projects that were made outside of the 1 month deadline

more of a Spotlight feature on certain themes

i think i see what you're saying now

[olive warren]

I really do understand the want to both spotlight worlds and to build some hype to create new ones. But putting some of those multi-month projects alongside a 4 week one, really skews the expectations for a world built within a jam's time limitation. It probably skews the expectations from judges too. And that can have the opposite effect of what a jam should do: discouraging new worldbuilders and seasoned worldbuilders.

[lapis kayak]

so in other words:
IF we host jam we should only accept projects made within the month. The tricky part is determining who fits in that criteria, as people can hold projects for a long time and not upload until during the jam period. This is easier if we don't announce the theme ahead of time. Judges would just have to eyeball it and discern whether it was truly made within the jam period, which might cause some friction.

[olive warren]

Yeah, that can be alleviated by having a unique enough theme.

There were a few ones released for the summer jam that I was like Doubt on it actually being made in the timeframe, thinking that it was likely being created already just because it was summer, and the Jam was just serendipity.

Dang the more I think about this the more complex it gets,..... welp good luck! XD

[lapis kayak]

hahaha we'll try to work it out!

thank you again for your feedback

[past elbow]

Something that's really common on itch.io jams is to announce there will be a X long jam and then announce the theme on the day the jam starts. This allows creators to prep for time before the jam but the brainstorm process and development can only really be done once they know the theme.

That is what i feel really hit's the "Jam" title. GMTK does a yearly jam around the same time and only announces the theme in a premiere/live video so everyone can only really start creating at the same time.

[lapis kayak]

maybe we can do something like this for next year! A premiere video is a neat idea to announce the jam theme... i wonder if that would get more people excited

[past elbow]

Would def make it more hype since now there's tension on what the theme might be.
Could be a simple theme or something really unique? Who knows?
You'll just have to wait for the premiere!

The Spookality Jam is something everyone already knows the theme and is hard to prevent others from working over a whole year. However, you can provide a sub theme that creators can push towards in their world/avatar. All are accepted but those who implement the specific Mystery Spooky Theme (only announced when the jam starts) get bonus points/are applicable for earning a prize.

[lapis kayak]

a sub-theme huh...

interesting idea!

[past elbow]

This would allow people who find the fun of creating a big experience over the year for Spookality to stick around but for creators who implement the Mystery Theme will be able to earn prizes.
Just make sure the Mystery Spooky Theme is specific and unique enough that would be core to how the world/avatar needs to be designed.
ie Don't do a "Jack-0-Lantern" or "silly-scary" theme but something specific like ... well i can't come up with one now 😅 but i think you got the idea.

[lapis kayak]

putting my thinking cap on

[past elbow]

how itch.io handles sub-themes is just a checkbox upon submission saying "I implemented both themes into my project" tho this must be approved by a reviewer. It's just a "Hey yea i did both themes!" not a confirmation that they did.

[lapis kayak]

we may not have enough time to implement something like the sub-genre for this year's Spookality, it will probably just be the usual "submit related to the Spookality theme and we'll feature you!"

[past elbow]

ye, this is stuff to plan months in advance lol! so maybe next year's Spookality (or some other jam next year).

[patent trench]

yeah, a jam feels more like a "game jam" or a "48 hr film project" with limited timing, theme requirements and an option for collaboration. Lots of jams have prizes/places, but the restrictions are what make it a fulfilling creative exercise.

tbh, my biggest issue was that it seemed like no one knew about the Jam (probably because it's a new one?)
seemed like the only peeps who were aware were new players that hadn't changed their "home world" yet

this is less of an issue with worlds cause they're right there in the menu with their own tab

a buddy of mine made an excellent suggestion the other day: what if there was a dedicated official avatar world?
or some other way to promote avatars, like an official tag where you can try em out right from the menu?

but yea, back to making it a "more fair competition"
similar to ya'lls ideas, in 48 hr film projects, in order to keep it fair so no one gets a head start, the required "motifs/elements" are announced at the starting hour. And those MUST be included to be accepted.

Maybe ya'll can still have jams with low/lesser prizes, and no required elements, these will be less "fair" but more "fun". but then you could also have more contest like competitions using this method where fairness matters more.

Just some ideas

I agree if you're gonna have a contest with a BIG prize, it'd be best if it felt as fair as possible.

Dunno what's best for the community personally tho

but as an example, summer themes could be "crabs", "summer sports"
Specific enough so that you can't just shoehorn in something last second. (your project has to be designed around the prompt that way).

But vague enough that you could do a LOT with it.

personally I thought the "music" theme would have been an excellent "required motif"

[lapis kayak]

i tried to be noisy about it on socials and we had an quick menu banner up advertising the jam for awhile, but it's hard to find ways to reach people! If you have any suggestions on how we could have marketed better, we're all ears... we want to showcase everyone's work and make sure people know about the jam too!

[lapis kayak]

there are some people who have been playing VRChat for years but don't know about Spookality :( i'm not sure how we could be more upfront than the quick menu banners without getting intrusive!

[gentle cedar]

Tricky subject.
Let me bring up last year's post at least.
https://hello.vrchat.com/blog/spookality-2023

[kind patio]

Spookality my beloved

Big agree though on a specific mystery theme. I find the challenge of world in a month really fun.

[safe ravine]

I feel like this would be difficult. A lot of creators have projects that they never "finished" just sitting around that have never been uploaded.

I think determining the "goal" of the "jam" before hand is important. Is the point of the jam to encourage people to start learning how to build worlds and avatars? If so, the prizes should reflect it. I.e. asset packs, 3d modeling classes, unity classes, etc. If the prize is to be featured in the VRC Home world, well, that may attract seasoned avatar and world builders looking to increase their clout by landing the prestigious spot.

[lapis kayak]

i agree, it's difficult to figure out whether a project has really been worked on within the jam period or not...
and ideally we'd like to encourage people to have fun during the jam and try new things rather than chase for exposure, but I understand that the exposure and prizes can mean a lot.

I like the idea of giving out asset packs/modeling classes/unity classes as a prize! I can look into this.

[kind patio]

Tbh you know what would be a great idea for a Jam too is a community asset pack for people to get started with for worlds. The avatars for everyone jam was really nice for a similar reason.

Have like an atlas of flat colors/swatches you give out so they're all sharing the same textures for flat colors. Cube project others so folks can use their own materials

It would be a great help for folks who need a helping hand to start making worlds without using those 300k poly couches from sketchfab

It's a more niche jam but one that would have a major impact on world creation accessibility

[safe ravine]

ooooooo!! That'd be interesting! placing limits/rules on how the avatrs can be used! Like, the themes that were talked about earlier, but instead of only choosing a theme for avatars and worlds, give out technical themes. I.e. at atlas/texture has to be used in some day. Or a shader feature must be used, Or it has to have exactly this many bones. I like this all sharing a texture thing. Anything pre-built is gonna have to work around sharing the texture. You can make it a requirement that the world/model needs to have 10%/50% or something of the visible meshes using the texture. Or you can say that 25% of at atlas needs to incorporate the jam texture or something. That way people will have to come up with new ideas instead of rehash old ones! People can then explain how the used their texture in the submission!

[lapis kayak]

I don't know if we have the time to come up with an asset like that for this year's Spookality...

[kind patio]

Oh no not for spookality

[lapis kayak]

but i'm interested in keeping this in mind for future jams, maybe for next summer?

yeah! Just wanted to set expectations haha

[kind patio]

I just think having a non world jam to start a repository of well built vrchat world assets/models folks can use for free would be a great boon to the community.

I'm more end goal rather than how to get interaction with that idea tho. Nagia has the right idea on that end

[safe ravine]

I think to encourage new people, the learning curve to making models needs to be lowered. there is no "from scratch vrchat avatar making class" so it's unreasonable to think that anyone entering doesn't already have a decent amount of experience. After all I'm sure a lot of people feel they are "not good enough" to enter a vrchat contest.

[safe ravine]

That's a very interesting idea! Make an asset/avatar base jam to create a reposity of items that can be used as "bases" for future jams. I.e. an avatar jam needs to use "this base's mesh" (that was sourced from the asset jam). Maybe users are allowed to manipulate the base as much as they want but they can't remove or add polygons to it or something.

Same for worlds. A world will have to incorporate 10-20 items from the "jam asset repository" or something!

[safe ravine]

Ye! next summer or something! Spookality is coming too soon lol

[lapis kayak]

what would you recommend to lower the learning curve?

I like the idea of us providing a base / something that creators can work with!

[safe ravine]

Isn't the "vrchat home world" the dedicated official avatar world? At least that's how it feels in my eyes Also, VRChat has the "public" avatars tab right in the menu! Is that different than what you were thinking?

[kind patio]

Lowering the learning curve for avatars I think starts with getting people more comfortable with blender. That's why I was suggesting the world furniture/asset jam first. I think anyone can make a lamp in blender with some basic instructions.

Maybe not rig an avatar though for babies first blend.

I do realize worlds will never be as popular as avatars though so I get the push for those more.

Providing a base is a good start for avatars. Maybe providing a starting land mesh for worlds as well

[safe ravine]

Unfortunately I can't think of things that are cheap or simple, but in my mind, ideally, we'd have the following tutorial for avatar creation:

1. Build and rig an ultra simple stick person in blender. Compete with Eyes, mouth (3 basic shapekeys to visemes via CATS), fingers, at least one strand of hair, maybe a multibone tail. Show how to UVmap the model to some simple solid colors atlas/texture (maybe the color palette texture that was briefly mentioned earlier). Oh and most importantly understand what materials, polygons, and bones are because they play a huge role in meeting the VRC performance ranks. Aim to make this a 15-20 min tutorial
2. Export from blender, show how to setup unity for both windows and android using VCC, import fbx, setup rig, setup materials using the VRC supplied shaders and the VRC color palette texture, setup VRC avatar descriptor script, test with gesture manager and upload. Aim for a 15 min video or less.
3. Setup avatar interactions. I'm going to advocate for vrcfury here since it cuts down on a massive amount of time and headache (i.e. no syncing parameters between parameters file, menu file, controller file, dealing with layer weights, and transitions, etc). This video would setup physbones and physbone colliders with curves, gestures and toggles to be handled and demonstrated with VRC Fury. Aim for 10 min or less.

Ideally in a few videos totaling less than an hour, simple referenceable videos could be used to put together and setup avatars from someone with zero starting knowledge on things.

[kind patio]

Honestly though with this learning focus maybe jam is the wrong name for it all. You gotta blend so maybe it's a shake not a Jam.

[safe ravine]

vrc shake! I like it!

[lapis kayak]

Shake! Shake! Shake!

this sounds like a project @wanton halo might enjoy, if we have scope

[lapis kayak]

i feel like this would be really useful for an updated set of Learning Channel videos...

[safe ravine]

I feel like it wouldl help bring in a lot of new people if there was an updated, slightly more professionally done set of tutorials for avatar creation. Anyone that knows "3d modeling" might be able to make an avatar, but almost no one with the skillset to build a decent looking anime girl has optimization or performance in mind.

A lot of avatar kitbashing videos on youtube right now advocate for CATS and their methods have never worked for me. The reason I still use CATS for some things is because I'm unaware of better solutions for tasks I need done, probably because I lack the vocabulary to search for the "proper way". CATS (as advocated by the old videos) is no longer supported in any current version of blender, and it's replacement is pretty significantly different compared to what it once was.

Same for worlds. I just started learning how to build a world and I'm watching a tutorial that's 3 years old. It also has a few mistakes and goes a bit fast in some places that make me rewatch it. It's certainly extremely helpful, but like, these are resources I've had to go out and find myself or get recommended to me by friends.

Now that there's an official VRC wiki, maybe there could be a section linking to creator resources to help people get started with whatever resources are out there already. Like link all of Sippbox's videos in that section or something at least.

[lapis kayak]

i think we have updating the Learning Channel videos on our to-do list but it hasnt been a priority lately... maybe we can revisit

[safe ravine]

Certainly if Learning channel videos were updated a month or so before a jam was announced, it would probably timed well together!

[safe ravine]

Avatars have a lot of things setup for them already. Physics and physics interactions just "exist" with physbones, vs in worlds you have to roll your own. If you had an idea for a game world, contacts don't exist. You have to roll your own with colliders and actual scripting in udon. And even if you can figure out udon, you then have to deal with the problem of network syncing!

Sure we have VRC Object Sync but anything more complex than that and you're on your own!

World creators get the short end of the stick when it comes to support. Sure there's a ton of community suport out there, but because of how "generic" things can be, it can be very difficult for someone new to get started and make a vrchat world that "does something" other than throwing a bunch of prefabs in a world and calling it a day. Just judging by the amount of vrc worlds I visit that dont even seem to have baked lighting makes me feel that there really isn't a good or popular step by step guide to setting up a word "properly" imo lol. Actually.. even things like occlusion baking... worlds that look simple but cause a quest 2 and quest pro to crash when you look in the direction of things There's a lot you need to "just know" that it feels like most people don't. Even existing VRC world creators.

I feel proper tutorials for world building are best done by VRC itself, as current options are significantly more sparse than avatar options.

[cunning oriole]

yeah poking around like the Summer Jam like the lazy lizard water parks only one that did interactive things that's not just here's a pool table and connect 4

[safe ravine]

I feel like film and game projects are very different an avatar or world. Films and games tell a story, or have an objective. It's hard to take something pre-existing and shape it's story around a theme/motif/element. But an avatar and world? For a "summer" theme, just throw on a swimsuit on an avatar you've created. Or add some sand and palm trees to a world. Neither tell stories. Stories are told through them by the people wearing the avatars or in the world lobbies. Avatars and worlds are more like "tools" or writing implements, rather than stories in themselves, which makes them more general purpose and able to fit required "motif/elements" with some simple changes.

[kind patio]

If you do ever decide to do something that involves teaching the community about worlds/jams for learning/teaching projects I would absolutely be interested in helping out if you need some extra hands. I'm self taught and have relied on the kindness of strangers to get where I am now so it's good to give back to the community.

[safe ravine]

I feel like you'd have to put some hard defined creative limitations on things.
For "crabs" would an avatar with a crab shaped hat be okay? Would a red crab colored clothes be okay? Would a crab motif on a clothing texture meet the requirements?
For "summer sports" Lets say it's for worlds. Would swimming be considered a summer sport? If someone found a swimming prefab and included that in their world, would that be good enough?

[austere sparrow]

I agree that there could (and should) be a lot more "dynamic bones like" prefabs made by VRC available to world creators like there is for avatar creators.
But some aspects of world creation (such as sync) are unfortunately just inherently complex.
And with the barrier to entry for world creation being so low, a lot of worlds end up with bad sync or no sync at all.

Net-code is a very large subject, and can't simply be compressed into guides or documentation.

Pretty much the most we can do is point people in the right direction when they're ready for it.

[patent trench]

I guess so? It's the "official avatar world" more than any other world. IMO it's more of a default hangout world.
The "Public" avatars tab is exactly what I'm thinking! Except after Jams it would be nice to host avatars there as well.

[patent trench]

I would argue well made characters/environments DO tell a story. Especially environment art, "environmental storytelling"

but you're totally right that it's really easy to adapt anything into a "theme" with a few elements. Hard to have a theme that requires 100% original work

I also love the thought that the stories are told by people using our art, out of our control

[patent trench]

idk, I feel like there is a line that could easily be drawn. The "theme" or "motif" has to be a major element to be counted. Clothing with a picture of a crab is not sufficient. But a claw hand, or crab legs, or a crab shaped hat would be perfect.

If the sport theme is summer sports, and someone just puts a swimming prefab with a pool, that probably wont win. It's not the "sport" of swimming.

Not saying this is clear black and white, just that it's not impossible to judge an artistic goal based on required themes.

[lapis kayak]

Spookality details coming on Sept 23!!

[narrow scaffold]

🥵 I crave the jam

[gentle cedar]

Hey, who is hyping and waiting?
It's date.
Will see you later.

[median latch]

Been waiting all day for the announcement :D

[gentle cedar]

I expect to see 20-30 worlds get released just after annoucements.
so I can hop this weeked basically.

[mild nymph]

when

[gentle cedar]

(If Smile Room2 released, I may....need to prioritize that as it may takes few hours only that alone)

[lapis kayak]

i'm waiting for Tupper to get out of a meeting and then we can push the blog post! so maybe within the next hour? 🙏

[mild nymph]

https://tenor.com/view/dog-smile-beanie-propeller-funny-gif-11563526

i await

[lapis kayak]

love that dog

[mild nymph]

the dog also awaits information

[median latch]

I'm gonna enter in the avatar jam, I already have an idea of what I want to do, but I've been waiting until today to start working on anything

[lapis kayak]

excited to see what everyone makes! Blog post is being built right now as we speak...

[gentle cedar]

momo seems want to PA first.

[mild nymph]

https://tenor.com/view/dog-doggy-jump-bark-bite-gif-69554481949113999

https://hello.vrchat.com/blog/spookality-2024-arrives-october-1

[lapis kayak]

beat me to it!

[mild nymph]

😋

ive never seen the avatar scaling stuff used

does anyone know any examples? 🤔

[zealous otter]

Wasn't initially going to participate in spookality this year but the addition of a sub theme is making me reconsider 👀
I really like the theme chosen for worlds, its super unique and I think could play into some interesting worlds to be made, looking forward to seeing the submissions!

[mild nymph]

i dont like the prospect of essentially having to make two avatars to be on theme 😩

[lapis kayak]

we'd love to have you!

[lapis kayak]

I'll see if I can get you one that won last year!

[median latch]

oh this theme is very different from what i originally planned.. hmm i wonder if i can modify the idea i had to work with the theme?

Well since I love avatar interactions and that was something that was planned for my original idea, i'm going to try and think of something involving that

[lapis kayak]

here's an example, try it out on VRChat!
https://vrchat.com/home/avatar/avtr_a41adf94-49ce-498d-8dca-9ed9ababd98e

[mild nymph]

im checking it out now

Avatar scaling not being a smooth transition kind of makes it just feel janky

If there was a "press this button to grow/shrink" mechanic on avatars, would make the feature atleast demo'able :-/

[lapis kayak]

We'll have a section in the Spookality version of the Home World that changes your scaling! I hope this helps.
That will go live Oct 1

[mild nymph]

Thats a good compromise atleast, not fond of having avatar features be reliant on specific worlds :-(

[lapis kayak]

We appreciate your feedback as always ^^ I was a little nervous about trying to integrate sub-themes for Spookality given the timeframe, but I'm hoping people can come up with some neat things!

[median latch]

is there any way to tell the size of other avatars?

i doubt there is actually

for avatars, not for worlds

[mild nymph]

I think themes are a great idea for spookality, starting with a technical theme just rubs my not technical brain the wrong way 😭

and a technical theme that doesnt really have proper tooling for avatar creators*

[median latch]

yeah it is a little challenging because i feel like aside from having to understand how to use the scaling parameters, there's not a lot of stuff to do outside of "x looks different as you change size"

i think I might have an idea that incorporate size differences in avatar interactions, but I don't think there's a way to really get that info from other avatars

[lapis kayak]

fax mentioned this too. we dont have a walkthrough

[median latch]

so i might go with that but it'll only work if both people are wearing the avatar

[lapis kayak]

maybe we'll be able to come up with some additional materials before oct 1

we'll see what we can do

[mild nymph]

I think a walkthrough might be nice, my main issue is theres no intuitive way to do scaling in a way thats fun or engaging

scaling your avatar just snaps to the height for other users, essentially making any mechanic a toggle

[median latch]

yes i wish there was an option to make it a little more dynamic

[mild nymph]

its like using a button with a more obtuse input method

[median latch]

I'm thinking you could make a way to scale but smoothly but it would require constraints on every humanoid bone 😬

so that you could separate the avatar visually from the humanoid bones

[mild nymph]

Smooth scaling from one point to another would be very NICE

allowing people to grow smooooov

anyway, i have concepts of a plan. ill give it a go!

[median latch]

if you use a ghost rig with rotation constraints you could probably use float smoothing to make the transition smooth

[median latch]

actually that might not work the best since it's fps dependent, maybe just detecting a change in avatar height and then smoothing the scale with an animation transition

you'd set the hips on the deform bone to scale based on the height change (basically cancelling out the effect) then transition to the default scale?

actually i have some ideas i want to test out

[zealous otter]

One small question about the world theme wording, is it preferred to have one player have a different goal than others? or can we have two separate groups (whether even or unequal) of players have a separate goal? (Ex. a group of 3 players having the same goal, while a group of 7 have a different objective compared to 1 vs 9) 🤔

[lapis kayak]

i think having separate groups is fine! as long as at least one person has a different goal from the others

[median latch]

With how this Spookality's Avatar theme is placing importance on the use of scaling to change features, I want to bring attention to the fact that avatar scaling parameters do not change whilst scaling, only after the scale has been confirmed. I feel that this would make a lot of the features that visibly change the avatar by scale will feel clunky because they are difficult to preview. Could this maybe be changed? I'm not sure if this is intentional or not, but I have made a canny post as a bug report as well: https://feedback.vrchat.com/bug-reports/p/scaling-parameters-dont-update-while-scaling

[mint tendon]

Could also be non read only. Would that break anything? Was this already mentioned? I dunno. I came here lookin for ideas and really just saw my own reservations reflected. Still love the idea of themed spookalities.

[merry perch]

I've had a world idea & prototype kicking around for a while and it fits the spookality theme pretty much dead on. Only problem is that it's a shooter game, I don't have a phone fast enough to run VRChat, are there any worlds that pull off a shooter well on mobile?

Also, as a side note, supporting gyro-aim would make stuff this massively better https://feedback.vrchat.com/mobile-beta/p/need-gyroscope-camera-control

[mild nymph]

this is what i was saying

[mild nymph]

i dont think avatar scaling is testable in unity, is it?

[median latch]

You can use gesture manager

I'm talking about the use of the avatars, not the scaling

Like for example, say you're wearing that avatar that makes your head get bigger as you get smaller. If you're standing in front of a mirror and start changing your height, your avatar changes height, yes. But you head will not change because the parameters seem to be temporarily frozen..

[mild nymph]

Yeah i know, my second message was several hours later and unrelated to your post

I didnt know gesture manager had scaling, cool!

[inner isle]

Darn, I've got no ideas for the theme. I could do something with my almost finished avatar from last year, but that feels unfair. Oh well, maybe next year

[dark swallow]

Worlds - Spookality Showcase question i got a horror world i wand to submit its an pc only world is that ok for that ?

[lapis kayak]

that's okay! Only the Fractured Realm and Avatars section are cross-platform mandatory this year

[dark swallow]

ok thx 🙂

[merry perch]

If I make a world for Fractured Realms and it ends up broken on Android (I still haven't figured out what was wrong with the normal maps on my Summer Jam submission 😅), would it still be considered for the Spookality Showcase?

[lapis kayak]

you'd have to submit it to both categories! But you will only be picked for one.

[merry perch]

Okay, thanks, that's what I was hoping to hear

[inner isle]

How creative should the use of scaling be? Like, if I made the avatar change from cartoony child-like proportions to realistic adult proportions as you scale up, would that be good enough, if it has other creative elements?
Or does scaling have to be the main gimmick?

[visual ivy]

Does it matter when we upload words ? I didn’t read anything and I wanted to test but I’m unsure

[median latch]

submitted content has to be uploaded on/after the submission date, but I see no reason why you cant make a test for something during the time before

Basically just make sure the ID that's submitted for the jam was first uploaded on/after submissions opening

[lapis kayak]

that's enough! go wild with your ideas, it's a jam!

[inner isle]

Okay, thanks

And do you guys think it's unfair if I use my previous spookality avatar that I never submitted.
It was practically finished, and I'm just adding the scaling feature, but I still feel bad

[median latch]

As far as I'm aware you can submit things created partially before the jam, but it's not encouraged. The fun of it is supposed to be that you're making it for the jam.

Not to say you have to make everything from scratch within that time window, but it's probably better that you make most of it within the duration of the jam. I drew up a design about a month ago and came up with some concepts, but I didn't start any of the modeling or unity work until the jam was announced

[inner isle]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. It's not really in the spirit of the jam. Thanks

[mint tendon]

So I am making a world, but the last thing on my mind are 5 polygon models for mobile users. If I finish this map in time, I may look in to cross platform possibilities, but if I can't. Will I at least be allowed to have my world added to the jam, without being eligible for judging? Just so its on the list for people to enjoy?

[mint tendon]

Nevermind, realize now thre is a judge submission and just a normal showcase

[warped plover]

does the cross-platform requirement for the Spookality 2024 judging criteria include iOS too or are only PC and Quest builds required?

[lapis kayak]

i believe it's only PC + Quest/Android necessary. We recognize not everyone has access to iOS and can't test how their work looks on that yet.

[warped plover]

thanks!

[south vine]

Hey does anyone know what time EST the update is coming out

[gentle cedar]

Is this answer your question?

basically it's on website

[south vine]

Is that 2 minutes m?

[gentle cedar]

dd:hh:mm:ss format

[south vine]

I appreciate that

[gentle cedar]

np

[south vine]

I’ve been waiting to the TEE for this update I’m excited😭😭

[gentle cedar]

will be

[coral lantern]

submission buttons up yet for jams?

Its UP!

[lapis kayak]

glad the automated system is up!
For anyone lurking, yes submissions are now OPEN for all three Spookality categories!
https://vrchat.com/home/jams

[lapis kayak]

confirmed, iOS is not a requirement for Cross-Platform. It wouldn't be fair!

But if you have a world and want to try uploading to iOS that would be nice :D

[coral lantern]

so is that literally for playing vrc on your cellphone????

[median latch]

yes, you already can on android if your phone has good enough specs

[lapis kayak]

someone asked if we'll have a winter jam! if this is something more people are interested in, we may be able to host

[cunning onyx]

pleas

Comfy and cozy vibes

Snowyyyyy

We need more snowy worlds honest

[viscid acorn]

Pocket Storm my beloved

[cunning onyx]

reahl;j

[patent trench]

This is REALLY good to know. Ive been working on my submission (focused head in the sand) and haven't tested scaling yet. I was expecting it to be smooth

kinda dissapointing, I was hoping users would be able to SEE the transformation/morph real time

[median latch]

I came up with a way to kinda smooth it out with AAPs and scale constraints. You can always use AAPs to create float smoothing for your effect, but if you want to smooth the scaling itself you can first make an empty with a scale constraint, then set the target to the armature and enable "freeze to world". Then the scale of this will always be the same. Then give it an empty child and add a scale constraint to the hips with the child empty as the source. Now the avatar will stay the same height no matter what (although the scale will be centered on the current eye height, so for example if you make the scale smaller, the legs clip into the floor, and if you make it larger the legs float). From here you can animate the child empty's scale in order to animate the avatar's scale

I used this along with float smoothing to make the transition smoother

[patent trench]

wow, that sounds nifty, but super complicated

ngl, this avatar challenge is really difficult, because I basically have to make 2 avatars from scratch in 14 days

not even mentioning the new technical requirement that I've never touched before (sounds cool tho, very creative prompt)

[median latch]

if you don't mind the scaling not being smooth, you can ignore the scale constraint thing and just smooth the effect that's based on the scale via smooth floating

[patent trench]

yeah, I think I have to focus on having something to submit at all before I can experiment with your suggestion

[median latch]

https://vrc.school/docs/Other/Advanced-BlendTrees#460ada1c048a4e618e8370a52b175634
https://vrc.school/docs/Other/AAPs

here's some documentation on it in case you or anyone else needs it

[patent trench]

definitely was expecting it to just automatically be smooth tho. so good to know not to expect that

[median latch]

it is smooth in the mirror previews btw

[abstract island]

Yeah im glad I also noticed this early on because I originally envisioned my avatar to have a more fluid scaling feature, but I instead went with a more "State Toggle" approach to support how its currently implement.

[median latch]

that's the only place it is smooth

if you're in front of a mirror while changing height there's a preview that changes with the scale live

[patent trench]

yeah, hoping I have time to learn the new things. Hopefully it's as simple as creating an animation driven by a correctly spelled parameter

[median latch]

pretty much, you're just using blendtrees to blend between setting the value of a parameter to itself and setting it to the input parameter

[patent trench]

ooh wait what? . . . Then it is smooth for most intents and purposes

not a huge deal if you can't see your hands /body change in real time since you can barely see those anyways

er wait, is it smooth for other people who can see you?

[median latch]

oh wait no i forgot it isn't smooth..

[past elbow]

It's only like this locally for yourself!

[median latch]

it's smooth for the scaling

but the parameter doesn't change 🥲

that's the issue i had with it

[patent trench]

Right ok ok back to the original issue

nvm then, still dissapointing/good to know 🤣

[median latch]

so like while you're scaling the avatar you can see the scale changing smoothly but not anything affected by it

also it's only local yeah

[patent trench]

yeah, also, I just realized scaling is never gradual for others.. Peeps just snap to the new height

[median latch]

i'm adding the smoothing effect to mine for both local and remote users (but each side will be toggleable for preference's sake)

that way after you set the scale it'll smoothly transition for both sides

[past elbow]

Even with udon, remote players only update their scale ever so often. Not even smooth there 💀

[patent trench]

fair

dang

sigh, I should get back to work. I've still got 2 avatars to make in 7 days 🤣
wish me luck

[abstract island]

You got this!!

[median latch]

yeah i gotta work on comms and school assigments and i'm still trying to get something in for spookality

i'm also hoping to have outlines on quest while still having a bunch of toggleable outfits, hairs, props, for customization

going for that low poly look 😎

i gotta make it under 7.5k polys before outline

i'm also considering doing 2D eye tracking..

maybe..

idk yet if i'm going to model the eyes or keep them drawn on

[patent trench]

for real tho. I feel bad, My que is all backed up because I'm doing spookality.
I thought this one was gonna be quick/easy, so naieve lol

I gotta remember how busy Sept/Oct/Nov get with everything

[patent trench]

yea we got this, lets gooo

[median latch]

yess good luck to everyone!! 🥳

[ember jetty]

where do i ask question about issues regarding assets from example central in spookality examples?

[abstract island]

If it's regarding the Spookality jam, you can ask in this channel and someone from VRChat will get back to you!

[stiff sundial]

I have a question revolving around a glitch for my upload. Its Excellent on Pc and Good on Quest even other player see the same thing when they view the avatar, however on the website it saids Poor on Quest. I tried so hard to keep it optimized but I hope this doesn't effect my upload. if there is anyway to fix this let me know.

[lapis kayak]

👀

[lapis kayak]

can you link your avatar?

you can link your uploaded avatar from the VRChat website under "Avatars", example:
https://vrchat.com/home/avatar/avtr_3d7f1ae3-1bdd-4bae-ab6f-52bfdea26dc6

[stiff sundial]

https://vrchat.com/home/avatar/avtr_1e370202-fcd1-41bd-baca-82b8c390cc88

[lapis kayak]

checking! ty

[lapis kayak]

looks like this is being investigated actually: https://feedback.vrchat.com/bug-reports/p/when-security-check-icon-shows-performance-rank-and-why-its-different-from-norma

We'll be testing avatars IN VRCHAT to verify their performance ranking, so you should be okay!

[stiff sundial]

ahh Thank you so so much 🙏

[spiral fulcrum]

Each example has a "Docs" page which leads to a forum post, that's the best place to ask about any example.

[gentle cedar]

Spookality Submission end in almost 2 days, be mind.
https://hello.vrchat.com/blog/spookality-2024-arrives-october-1