This week we are approaching the update for Unity 2020 using the new render pipeline. this has certainly been one of the most controversial updates in recent times for AltSpace and as a result, there have been divided opinions on the subject.
I know personally since beginning to learn Unity at starter year it has been a real challenge adapting to the ever-growing changes and updates. this being said I do feel like we have been able to come back from these challenges as a community and it’s safe to say that we will do it again.
The new render pipeline brings a whole list of benefits to game developers I’m not a game developer myself so I can’t speak to the benefits but knowing that as technology grows we always try and make things better and there are critical points with technology where things break because we have to move on and leave the old technology behind. One example is our old 2G mobiles and 3G is on its way out and most Western countries, although we may consider 3G to be reasonably new technology it is obsolete already and the challenges that as a needs change the platform must change.
This Unity 2020 update is not just an update that is affecting old space but is also affecting lots of other game platforms and developers are being impacted by this in other game industries.
If you haven’t already, you must upgrade by the 15th or your worlds will not be accessible until you update.
You MUST “Upgrade” by September 15, 2021. Your worlds will not be accessible after this date.
You can test your worlds after updating them to Unity 2020 by downloading the beta client and check that your worlds have successfully migrated across.
The URP preview links have been updated to include everything from the recent general update.
Altspace 4.2.40 URP for Rift: https://aka.ms/AvrUrpOculus
Altspace 4.2.40 URP for SteamVR: https://aka.ms/AvrUrpSteam
Altspace 4.2.40 URP for WinMR: https://aka.ms/AvrUrpWinmr
Altspace 4.2.40 URP for Quest: https://aka.ms/AvrUrpQuest
Altspace 4.2.40 URP for Mac: https://aka.ms/AvrUrpMac
Status Quo in converting worlds
I have been converting projects over slowly and been talking to members in the community ranging from different skillsets and talents with world-building and I have swapped notes, tips and experiences and the main problem that affects the majority of the world is the use of custom shaders. Custom shaders from 2019 are not compatible with 2020 and this can make certain objects and terrain come up as pink. This requires the texture and the shader to be remapped to the object and this can be a huge time-consuming problem.
The reality of this problem is that it also would also be occurring for other game developers across multiple platforms who are wanting to migrate their games to a later Unity platform. They would also experience the same issues with shaders not being compatible and having to tweak lighting and sound to make them compatible.
