Note: This update is now Live! VRChat is now on Unity 2019 on our Live branch. Please check out our migration guide to see how to upgrade your projects from 2018 to 2019. If you don’t have any projects to upgrade, well… you’re done! Nice! Good job!
We’re leaving the rest of this post as-is for archival purposes.
We’re excited to take the next steps on the Unity 2019 LTS upgrade; there are a lot of quality-of-life improvements for creators and under-the-hood updates. As mentioned in our last Dev Stream, we’ve been working on this upgrade for some time now, and it’s finally ready for you to try out!
Read the latest docs for upgrading here! They will be updated over the course of the 2019 Open Beta.
If you prefer rapid-fire points, here’s a quick breakdown:
TL;DR
- VRChat is upgrading our Engine to Unity 2019 LTS — and we have an Open Beta that is live now. Scroll down for some steps on how to jump in and try it out!
- This blog post is mostly for world and avatar creators, but it’s open to our Open Beta Testers… which you can join freely in our Discord!
- If you’re a creator: we highly recommend testing your content as soon as you can and start migrating any projects you’re still working on with our upgrade guide.
- SDK: To grab the latest SDKs, head over to #open-beta-announcements on our Discord. Download the supported version of Unity here.
- This version is very close to being ready: we’re aiming to have it fully released by the end of July.
Why the Upgrade?
Unity maintains stable versions of the major engine releases for a couple of years. They fix any major bugs and occasionally back-port features from later versions. Unity 2018 LTS has reached the end of its lifecycle, so this upgrade will ensure we have continued support from Unity on our upcoming projects and features.
In our testing, this has been an extremely stable and painless upgrade. While there are newer versions of Unity, the 2019 LTS release allows us to continue feature development and introduces minimal hitches for creators.
We’ve been testing this version internally for months; it’s been stable throughout our testing and existing content has transitioned well with the upgrade. However (and we cannot stress this enough!), this doesn’t mean all content will upgrade smoothly and this is why we’ll need your help to test.
It’s Open Beta Time!
You can try out your content right now in the VRChat 2021.3.2 Open Beta and we highly recommend that you test your content out. Any information you can provide us with regarding issues will be used to ensure that we have a smooth transition.
To access the Open Beta — Simply right-click on VRChat in your Steam Library → Properties → Betas → Dropdown: Open Beta. Then close the window and Steam will automatically download the new version.
If you want to test on the Oculus Quest or Rift platforms, you can still help out! Join our Discord and check out the #open-beta-info channel for instructions on how to participate in the Open Beta on those platforms.
Please Note:
- Open Beta is NOT network-compatible with Live VRChat, so you won’t be able to join friends on Live when using this build and they will not be able to join you. To avoid confusion, this is a good opportunity to use your Custom Status to inform your friends you’re in the Open Beta!
- If you and your friends are all on the Open Beta build, you‘ll be able to join them as expected.
Find a Bug? Help us squash it.
If you find a bug: report it here! We’ll be cataloging and squashing bugs as fast as we can. We read every bug report and it’s vital that we track down any major issues before the transition.
Please note that if you do submit a bug report, provide us with repro steps, expected vs. actual behavior, and as much information as we’ll need to recreate the issue ourselves. Good bug reports make it a ton easier for us to fix the issues you report!
Should I upgrade my projects now or wait until the full release?
The 2019 update is pretty smooth. All things considered, you probably don’t need to reupload any content, but you probably will want to upgrade projects you’re still working on! We’ve got a whole guide for you in our docs.
While most 2018 content should work properly in the 2019 version of VRChat without a reupload, you should upgrade as soon as you can so that your content is prepared for features that we plan on introducing in the future.
Of course, before anything, back up your content! This is vitally important. Just create a copy of your project and rename it.
If you have old content that you don’t plan on updating in the future, simply make sure that your current content doesn’t break on Open Beta.
What’s the New stuff?
The most immediate upgrade you’ll see are numerous improvements to the Unity Editor and tools.
Here are a few of the most prominent UI ones
- Dark Mode Editor for EVERYONE (finally, my eyes can heal)
- Refined icons, fonts, layout improvements, and better controls for WASD flying through scenes
- Quick Search
- Component Presets
Content and Tool Improvements
- Shader Wizards rejoice: 64 Local Keywords and increased global keyword limit — 384, from 256. Shader wizards, learn about the changes in Unity’s docs! Using local keywords will require a small change to your shader, but will ensure you never run into keyword issues.
- Improved lightmapping! Much better layouts and usage of UV space.
- GPU progressive lightmapper is a TON better in 2019! It’s also hyper-fast. A good warp 9.3, at least.
- Lightmap denoiser support means MUCH faster baking, because something something machine learning.
Under-The-Hood Improvements
- Upgraded Physics systems! A new version of PhysX brings a variety of improvements.
- Incremental Garbage Collection! This means fewer hitches as Unity cleans up unneeded memory and data in a more efficient manner.
- Editor Shader Compilation is now asynchronous. Less shader compile hitching when working in the editor!
- FileSystemWatcher fixed! This was a Unity bug back in 2018. With it fixed, we’ll be able to speed up testing for Worlds and Avatars with our SDK.
What about Shader Graph and Visual Effects Graph?
Unfortunately, VRChat doesn’t support these features. Shader Graph and the Visual Effects Graph were built for Unity’s Scriptable Render Pipeline (SRP), and VRChat uses the Built-In Render Pipeline. Swapping over is not a trivial affair, and involves solving some pretty huge technical problems. This may be possible one day, but that day is not today!
If you’re a fan of node-based shader editors (like the Shader Graph), you might want to take a look at Amplify Shader Editor. It’s fully featured and works well for VRChat!
Unfortunately, there isn’t a Visual Effects Graph equivalent available for the Built-In Render Pipeline.
Next Steps
Just play VRChat, but are too busy to help out with testing stuff? Don’t worry. Just hang tight and we’ll get this update out for you soon.
Do you play VRChat, but want to help out with testing? Awesome! Join our Discord and scroll down to the #open-beta channels. Read through the info, check the announcements, and chat in the discussion channel. Post any bugs you find on our Feedback boards.
Do you have avatar or world content on VRChat? Excellent! You’re ahead of the curve. Join our Discord, hop into the Open Beta and check your content. Test it out and ensure it works. If you find any issues, check the Known Issues section in our patch notes first to see if it’s reported there. If not, try backing up and updating your project so you can re-upload your content. If it still has problems, let us know.
Onward! The VRChat Roadmap
We’re almost there! This engine upgrade allows us to continue development on the major upcoming features.
You can catch up on the details here, but a few of the highlights are Oculus Subs, Avatar Dynamics, New UI, Groups, Creator Economy, and then World Persistence. Woah, exciting stuff!
We know these are highly anticipated features for the VRChat Community, so getting this 2019 upgrade out of the way ASAP will allow us to keep moving on these high-profile projects. We’ll have more to share soon on how things are going with the VRChat roadmap.
Thanks for reading!
