The folks at Metanaut VR have been busy at work making everybody’s favorite dominoes sandbox just a little better, the PCVR version has seen some dramatic changes, but the Quest version has also gotten some love!
Apparently, the Gadgeteers have been pulling some allnighters! They’ve unified the codebase for all versions of Gadgeteer so that future updates will be easier to pull off, and while they’re at it they’ve managed some incredible optimizations! According to them, this means that now they’ll be able to “sync up all improvements and updates across multiple device platforms. The biggest benefit of this can be seen in the significant optimizations made for the Quest build that is now available for all PCVR versions of the game.”
Here are some optimization stats:
GPU
- Graphical batches: Reduced by 80%
- SetPass calls: Reduced by 75-90%
- Draw calls: Reduced by 75-80%
CPU
- Per-frame computations went from ~10ms to ~2ms. That’s a whopping ~80% reduction in CPU load!
Admit it, you’re kind of impressed! Metanaut promises that with these improvements, players will be able to build bigger and more complex chain reaction machines. Just what we need while we’re practicing social distancing in VR (Kidding aside, make sure you’re taking all precautions necessary, if you’re not old enough to be worried about Covid-19, think of those around you that are)!
Here’s what’s new in the latest update (V.0.4.0) for the Quest version of Gadgeteer:
Features:
- Updated gadget freeze visuals to make frozen and unfrozen gadgets more distinct. Frozen gadgets now appear to be iced over.
- Improved gadget texture quality and grid visual quality. Go to Puzzle mode to see all changes.
- Changed the icon for the gadget library tab on the panel so it is easier to understand.
- Added build version number in the Drafting Room.
Fixes:
- Fixed flat domino’s visuals to match with its colliders.
Refinements:
- Enhanced determinism for better physics. No more “Poltergeist” dominoes!
- Optimized performance for gadgets rendering.
- Optimized performance for apartment rendering.
In case you don’t remember, we reviewed Gadgeteer a while back, and Doc Neale gave it some big thumbs up! High praise from a man who was also partially responsible for the death of the game’s virtual canine!
