Wiki Article 01. Base UI Breakdown

Base UI

The “Base UI” is the primary panel used to interface with Virt-a-mate. By Default the Base UI opens in Play Mode when first starting the game.

“Play Mode” Hides the adding and editing atom functions.



“Edit Mode” displays all of VaM’s editing features in both the Base UI and the Main UI.
“Edit Mode” is where a content creator will spend most of their time while building scenes. “Play Mode” is used for experiencing completed scenes.


Base UI Icon breakdown



Play Mode Options

“Open Main UI” This toggle open and closes the Main UI Menu.


“Open Top Menu” Takes you to the Start up Screen.


“Open Scene” is a shortcut to the “Main Menu/File (Open/save)/Load” dialog. Opening a scene with this option opens the file in “Play” mode.


“Open Scene For Edit” is a shortcut to the “Main Menu/File (Open/save)/Load” dialog. Opening a scene with this option opens the file with the Base UI in “Edit” mode.


“All Scenes Browser” is a shortcut to the Scenes Browser dialog.


“All Templates Browser” is a shortcut to the “Template Browser” dialog.


“Save Scene” is a shortcut to the “Main Menu/File (Open/save)/Load” dialog.


”Screenshot Mode” Goes into Screenshot mode.


“Online Browse” Opens an in game web browser.


“Hub Browse” Opens an in game browser to The VaMHub


“Open Package Manager” is a shortcut to the “Package Manager” dialog.


“Open Package Builder” is a shortcut to the Package Builder” dialog.


"Open Package Downloader" Opens the Package Downloader dialog.


”Open Error Log” Opens the Error Log


”Open Message Log” Opens the Message Log


“Posses And Align Head” initializes possession. VR Only, not recommended for desktop play.


“Stop Possess.” Stops the possession, your view is not reset to where you were when you started.


“Toggle Show VR Hands” Toggles “Left Enabled” and “Right Enabled” VR Hands. This function relates directly to the VR2 tab in User Preferences.


“Toggle VR Hands Collision” Toggles VR Hands “Use Collision”. This function relates directly to the VR2 tab in User Preferences.


“Toggle Leap Motion Hands” Toggles “Left Enabled” and “Right Enabled” Leap Motion. This function relates directly to the VR2 tab in User Preferences.


Edit Mode Specific Options

“Open Add Atom Menu To Add Person Atom" Opens the Add Atom menu with the Person Atom add option already selected.


“Open Add Atom Menu To Add CustomUnityAsset Atom" Opens the Add Atom menu with the CustomUnityAsset Atom add option already selected.


“Open Add Atom Menu To Add Subscene Atom" Opens the Add Atom menu with the Subscene Atom add option already selected.
"How to use Subscenes" a guide created by ZRSX.

“Open Add Atom Menu" Opens the Add Atom menu.


Plays or Pauses the current Scene Animation.


Resets the Scene Animation back to the start of the clip.


“Show Inactive Targets” Toggles the display of Person Atom Nodes that are set to “Off” in the control menu.









“Select” is a shortcut to the “Main Menu/Select” dialog.


“Cycle Select Person Atoms” Immediately Selects and then cycles through the root of any person atom loaded into the scene.


“Show Selected UI” Opens the UI dialog for the currently selected atom.


“Exit” Closes the program. This is the same function as In File(Open/Save).

“Quick Close panel” Closes the Base UI and connected dialogs. Can be reopened with “U”, or VR menu shortcut.


“Freeze Motion/Sound” stops animations and audio from playing in scenes. This works for Animation patterns, motion capture, Sync and cycle forces as well as scene and atom audio. Some plugins that drive morph targets or animation are not affected by this.


“Click for more Options” swaps the Base UI panel with Navigation options.



Mousing or moving your VR pointer off of the panel swaps back to the Base UI.


“World Scale” changes your VR scale within the environment. This is very useful while playing in VR, scaling you much larger or smaller than the assets in your scene. It defaults at 1 scale which is 1 to 1 with the VaM atoms. You can shrink to .1 or grow to 40X using the slider. The effect is not as noticeable while working on the desktop and appears to be the same function as “Player Height Adj”. If you are primarily a desktop creator It is recommended to keep it default to avoid confusion when publishing so it does not affect a VR player. As of V1.22 World scale was changed so that the player's eye center position will now always remain constant. Meaning that the point of view is exactly the same appearing as if everything gets bigger/smaller and further/closer as scale changes. This change can be reverted to the legacy version within the User Preferences/Miscellaneous Tab. The World Scale slider can also be found in Scene Misc in the Main Menu.


“Player Height Adjust” changes your relative height within the workspace. This does not change your personal scale at all and simply moves you up and down the Y axis. Works the same in both VR and desktop. This setting is also in the Main Menu Navigation tab.



“Time Scale” scales the speed that Virt-a-mate runs the game engine. This includes any animations, particle generation, and physics solutions. Default is running at 1.




“Navigate lock Height” only works in VR, locking you to your current “Player height Adjust” setting. This has no affect while playing on the desktop. This setting is also in the Main Menu Navigation tab.