Suggestions/Wishlist as a scene creator

[VAMSOY]

I want to focus on scene packaging and dependency related suggestions in this thread. This is mostly from my perspective as a scene creator, I feel a lot of time/trouble can be saved if this is done right in VAM2.

Dependency usage

Top of my wish list: Better indication of an asset's license status and availability (HUB hosted or not) directly in game

Currently, it's hard to tell if an asset (let's say a clothing) is under CC or NC or PC license when browsing in the Clothing/Hair/Morph tab. Mostly due to the following unique situations:

1) The clothing's license shown in game is not accurate: I've seen PC asset displayed as CC license in game (ex. Yep's paid clothing).
2) Duplicate of clothing asset from multiple var: some popular clothing are used by multiple scenes from different creators. All of them are displayed when browsing the clothing tab, it is very easy to mistakenly select a piece of clothing that is NC license but shown as CC license because it was part of another CC scene. This is mostly due to some creators packaging the asset directly into their look/scene's var (which we are not supposed to).
3) I've run into clothing item that is indeed under CC license, but somehow one of its texture used is from another NC/PC var. This is very HARD to spot when creating a scene, and it's extremely annoying to deal with. Currently, the only way to spot this is via HUB's var health check tool. This is also a result of issue #2 mentioned above.
4) Asset in game is no longer available on the HUB: this is pretty self-explanatory, I wish there is a better indicator in game to check for this.


Now, my suggested solution/wish list (I'm not tech. savvy, so what I have in mind might not be possible):

1) A manual check button in the clothing/hair/morph tabs that: check each asset's licensing info against HUB's database; and check whether assets are still hosted on the HUB.
2) Remove duplicate clothing/hair/morphs: if the same clothing is presented in more than 1 var, find a way to highlight which one is the original var and hide the rest. This is probably very hard to do, but just throwing the idea out there.
3) Add new filters in those tabs: filter by license type + filter by availability on HUB. This way, I can set the filter to display assets that are both CC licensed and hosted on HUB whenever choosing an outfit. This will be SUPER helpful to me. This will also greatly reduce the chance of creator mistakenly use a NC/PC licensed assets in their scenes.
4) Maybe find a way to implement the HUB's var health check tool directly into VAM2.

My ideal workflow is something like this: Set filter to display only CC licensed + hosted on HUB assets > VAM then automatically check each asset's license and availability against HUB's database.
Plugins/scripts are probably more complicated, but I'd also wish there is better indication of license type when adding any plugin to the scene.

Auto Dependency download for users

I'm 99% sure this is being implemented in VAM2, having a built-in auto dependency download function for a particular scene is probably on everyone' list Maybe when loading each scene, a download window pops up automatically if not all dependencies are downloaded.

If the above issues are all optimized, packaging the var itself should be very easy and smooth and we probably won't need the Var health check tool.

Those are my biggest pain points as a creator over the years, hopefully I've provided some helpful perspective to the Dev team.

(*Also, is it possible to have some sort of anti-piracy for paid scene built in? Probably asking to much here, but it would be very cool, I don't mind the HUB charging a fee for this)

Love you all

 

[murn]

( *^-^)ρ(*╯^╰) I feel you.
That little cube in the menu you can mouse over for licenses helps but it could definitely be easier. Being able to sort or filter by license type directly in game would save a ton of time. I’ve seen many items I could swear were listed as CC BY NC or ND on the Hub, but in game they show up as PC.

I think everlaster or hazmhox (can’t remember who) made a plugin... or maybe it was an app that filters out non free use stuff. But I feel creators should update and repack with the correct license if they’re switching from paid to free. It just makes things clearer for everyone. I think I am guilty of this also with my early access models not sure. That said, yeah new filter options would be a nice addition. Probably something we’ll see in VaM 2.

As for auto dependency downloading, it kinda already exists through the in-game Hub. Just hit "Download All". But I would love it if the “check for updates” option let us review the item directly before adding anything we might not actually want.

As for anit-piracy.
I was fully in support of better protection at first. I even started developing an app to help creators protect their work. But it ended up being a hidden user ID tracker because I didn’t want it communicating with VaM directly. So I kind of halted there but my real reason; my first copy of VaM was pirated. MeshedVR never implemented any anti-piracy measures, and that why a lot of people myself included got into VaM... maybe more pirates than paid users. But I’ve stepped back from fully backing anti-piracy moves. I do get why creators are frustrated, especially when folks act entitled to their content. Still, if something’s going to be added for those needing such It’s not hard to add basic protections, I think.
If a system gets added for those who want it, it should be optional, basic. just something to give creators a little peace of mind.

 

[VAMSOY]

Yes, I use that little cube with mouse-over in the menu tab, but it fails to show the correct license type in all 4 situations I listed in my original posts. This is mostly due to creators pack their var incorrectly (myself is also guilty of this). I think it's better to have VAM do the work/checking than relying on individual creators to pack each var perfectly.

As for auto dependency, the in-game hub doesn't support paid scenes hosted on Patreon or other platform. It works very well for free scenes. But I see no reason not having the game auto detect and download missing var (if they are available for free on the HUB) whenever a scene is loaded. Hopefully this will be implemented in VAM2.

I totally agree with you on the anti-piracy take, having some piracy is probably good for the long-term health of the game. It's just very frustrating to see others steal your work and RESELL them, which I don't think it's good for the community at all

I'm very interested in the plugin you mentioned that can filter out non free use stuff, will do more research on it. Thanks for the info!!

Found it!! https://hub.virtamate.com/resources/varlicensefilter.32539/