Hub upload page edits to link to VAR guides and upcoming VAR Health check tool

[atani]

The in-development VAR Health check tool is going to be very useful to many creators, but the tool can only help creators that know about the tool, and also about the problems of dependency cascades, etc. It's also important to tackle those that do not know about any of these matters.
What I propose is to update the Hub upload page(s) with some links to VAR making guides and later to the VAR Health Check tool when available.

Here is the page when uploading a free scene in this case, the others types are very similar:

The Recommendations list could include a item with links to VAR making guides, for example:

How to create a Var File - Guides -

This is a quick and dirty guide on how to create a .var file in Virt-A-Mate. I created this information for a friend, decided to post it on the hub. Thought It could be helpful for others. Use the red numbers below for locational reference. When...

hub.virtamate.com

Guides - How to package like a pro: a guide on proper VAR building

Intro There is a recurring issue with VAR packaging. No one's to blame, really, as there is no guide on how to make a "good" VAR package. I'll try to remedy to that. In short, this guide is for you: If you’re about to post a resource starting...

hub.virtamate.com

And later on the VAR Health Checker tool.

As a final question, is the "include a scene with your resource..." still a good recommendation or should the recommendation be to have a separate VAR with a demo scene if a scene is only a supporting option?

Thanks.

 

[SlimerJSpud]

If a look only includes an appearance preset, I tend to forget it's there. I like having a simple, basic standing scene included 1) so I'll see it when I'm browsing, and 2) so I can easily load it up and tweak the appearance. I don't really like having a separate demo scene unless the character is actually doing something. For plugins, it make sense to keep them separate, but for looks, why bother? That's just my 2 cents...

 

[atani]

It's more work on the creator side, making 2 VARs, but the benefit is a ton of dependencies are not needed like clothes and plugins.
It's clutter for people who get forced into downloading whatever is on the scene, and for those wanting to use the person in a scene with 3 people that's quite a lot for things you don't need. I think the extra step on the creator side with a optional scene would please those that want the scene and those that don't want the scene.

Anyway, that's why I bring it up for opinions if it should be altered or left as is.

 

[MacGruber]

As a final question, is the "include a scene with your resource..." still a good recommendation or should the recommendation be to have a separate VAR with a demo scene if a scene is only a supporting option?

If the demo scene is a separate VAR, it reduces the amount of dependencies with the main VAR. Also it give you the option to NOT have it installed, reducing clutter in your scene browser. What could help, though: Maybe a better way of displaying multi-VAR it here on the website. The in-game browser handles this much better.

 

[MacGruber]

Other thoughts:

1. Tool could check whether a "Look" actually has an Appearance preset, a Clothing item has a Clothing preset, etc.
2. Check whether the VAR contains duplicate morphs? The number of morphs is the main factor of VaM's performance degeredation when having too many VARs.
3. Section with recommendations somewhere...possibly some definitive tutorial, to please NOT include pose morphs with a baked all-in-one morph. It makes the entire Look useless for scene building. Pose morphs (e.g. a smile expression) should always be seperate and the character should have a neutral expression when no pose/expression is applied.

 

[SlimerJSpud]

Other thoughts:

1. Tool could check whether a "Look" actually has an Appearance preset, a Clothing item has a Clothing preset, etc.
2. Check whether the VAR contains duplicate morphs? The number of morphs is the main factor of VaM's performance degeredation when having too many VARs.
3. Section with recommendations somewhere...possibly some definitive tutorial, to please NOT include pose morphs with a baked all-in-one morph. It makes the entire Look useless for scene building. Pose morphs (e.g. a smile expression) should always be seperate and the character should have a neutral expression when no pose/expression is applied.

It's not just smiles. I've seen a few body morphs that cause one of the hands to close in a grasp, even if you apply the default pose. That's seriously bad if you happen to need that hand for ... something. Duplicate morphs (and hair items) are a major nuisance.

 

[atani]

Guys, here is more for the text shown in the upload pages. Make sure to copy to the VAR Health Check tool thread any points about it that you want to make so that are taken into consideration and not missed:

Official - In Development - "VAR Health Check" Tool

In an effort to get more community input regarding upgrades to the Hub, I will be posting in this forum about current features either in development or in discussion. To start, we are currently developing a tool to allow you to scan and get feedback about your VAR before it is uploaded to the...

hub.virtamate.com

 

[AshAuryn]

Guys, here is more for the text shown in the upload pages. Make sure to copy to the VAR Health Check tool thread any points about it that you want to make so that are taken into consideration and not missed:

Official - In Development - "VAR Health Check" Tool

In an effort to get more community input regarding upgrades to the Hub, I will be posting in this forum about current features either in development or in discussion. To start, we are currently developing a tool to allow you to scan and get feedback about your VAR before it is uploaded to the...

hub.virtamate.com

I have removed the original thread as the desktop app version of the tool has paused development while the online version is fleshed out.

 

[vertigoeighty]

Is there anyway to delete/replace an update with an file upload that I used only to test the VAR health check tool? I never hit save on it so it should still be in "draft" limbo. And it's not live or on the history tab.

Now I can't upload the file again and I'm receiving the error "Invalid Var File...has already been uploaded to the Hub" when I'm trying to do the actual update.

edit: I just rebuilt the VAR to a higher version number and re-uploaded. Sorry about the wasted bandwidth.

 

[AshAuryn]

Is there anyway to delete/replace an update with an file upload that I used only to test the VAR health check tool? I never hit save on it so it should still be in "draft" limbo. And it's not live or on the history tab.

Now I can't upload the file again and I'm receiving the error "Invalid Var File...has already been uploaded to the Hub" when I'm trying to do the actual update.

edit: I just rebuilt the VAR to a higher version number and re-uploaded. Sorry about the wasted bandwidth.

This is a bug that is hopefully fixed by our patch today. The "file has already been uploaded" was not the specific goal of this patch, but might have been fixed anyway. I will be testing.

 

[Psycho Weezle]

I'm trying to upload VAR files but my computers save them as folders. So when uploading to the hub it wont let me select the VAR as a file to upload, rather it acts as a folder to open. Should I select each individual file when uploading, or is there a program to create it into a file (i.e. zip) instead of a folder?

 

[atani]

I'm trying to upload VAR files but my computers save them as folders. So when uploading to the hub it wont let me select the VAR as a file to upload, rather it acts as a folder to open. Should I select each individual file when uploading, or is there a program to create it into a file (i.e. zip) instead of a folder?

How to create a Var File - Guides -

This is a quick and dirty guide on how to create a .var file in Virt-A-Mate. I created this information for a friend, decided to post it on the hub. Thought It could be helpful for others. Use the red numbers below for locational reference. When...

hub.virtamate.com

Your VAR is in the AddonPackages folder, not AddonPackagesBuilder

 

[Psycho Weezle]

How to create a Var File - Guides -

This is a quick and dirty guide on how to create a .var file in Virt-A-Mate. I created this information for a friend, decided to post it on the hub. Thought It could be helpful for others. Use the red numbers below for locational reference. When...

hub.virtamate.com

Your VAR is in the AddonPackages folder, not AddonPackagesBuilder

Thanks. I figured that out. Lol. Appreciate the help!