Migration

AltSpaceVR Unity 2020.3.9 Migration

Unity 2020.3.9 Install

If you are on PC you can install the uploader by upgrading and converting your Unity project to 2020.* and then using the Mixed reality tool to find your Unity project path and ticking the AltSpace Uploader. The toolkit will now from 2020.* install and manage the uploader for you. In Unity 2020.* the AltSpace uploader is installed directly from the toolkit.

But, if you are a Mac User….

You will need to import the tarball package which is done in a similar way to Uploader 0.8.8 of requiring manual importation.

2020.3.9 Compatibility

Things you should know before diving into 2020

Deleting the Library folder

* Library (This is a Unity system folder, not an Uploader folder. Delete it anyway, and let it be rebuilt during the upgrade.)

Despite the official advice to delete the folder but in my experience, it makes no difference if this is deleted or not. After speaking to other world builders, they have indicated that you should not delete the folder. This is why it is important to back up your project because sometimes different workflows work the same but may be beneficial in certain cases.

If you have deleted this folder and find that your project hasn’t migrated properly, restore your backup and skip this step. There is no guarantee this will fix the issue, but it’s questionable if it’s best to let Unity deal with this folder itself.

Reload World Kits & Templates / Restart AltSpace after updating

Kit objects/templates won’t show that have been updated until a successful “Reload Kits” “Reset Space” or users restart their client. There is a glitch where reloading world kits at the moment won’t work sometimes even after re-entering a space and the only way to fix it is by restarting AltSpace.

Scene Lighting Changes in Unity 2020

One of the consistent changes people are making to their updated templates is correcting the differences in lighting from Unity 2019. In one example I was helping someone update a kit sword object that had a light on the tip. The light required a further increase in ‘spread’ and a higher intensity of light to achieve the same lighting in 2019.

However, in one of my other projects which I talk about in this post “Slowly updating my templates here’s how I’m going” post I talk about my office complex world having a higher intensity of lighting. Which contradicts the problem that Wally had with his sword.

But I have also seen worlds successfully migrated and use lights that have little or no effect on the updated objects/templates.

Conclusion: Scene lighting / light probes, as well as real and baked lighting, can look different in 2020. I also believe that natively to 2020 objects look better out of the box and utilise better rendering technology. It would make sense that these issues could occur as I also made a comment in the same article about colours and shaders looking visually better.

It really is a hit or miss upgrading your assets and there are just some projects that I won’t be able to bring into AltSpace again without time and effort. Some went okay, some minor issues and of course, some didn’t convert successfully.

AltSpace Featured Assets FAQ

Every attempt has been made to make sure that this list is accurate so expectations are set.