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Social VR dev: what should I expect?

polka_panda
Protege
I'm interested in writing a hobby multiplayer app for the Go, to make a "place" to hang out with friends. I've made a basic app for the Go before with Unity 3D and that went fine. I've been reading the threads here about networking and the Avatar platform and it makes me worried; it sounds like I can't test anything without physically having two Gos and two accounts, and nothing will work until my app is in the store (I understand the store is curated, so I don't expect to be let in). Should I just give up?

Specifically, I'd like to know

 * Can I get the avatars to display correctly if I just share the apk with my friend and have them sideload it?
 * Can I get the Oculus networking to work in this same scenario, or should I just roll my own or use Photon?
 * Since coordinated start (starting the game together from Rooms) doesn't work unless the app is already in the store according to the documentation, how can I get my two players to connect in the first place? Is there something better than having them type an IP address into the game?
 * Is there some way to test my app if I only have a single Go? Perhaps a dummy server I can run on a PC that sends looped movements and sounds for the second "player"?
 * I see the "social starter" in the Oculus integration, but the README talks about "click left stick" and the like which make me think this is only for Rift. What should I use as a starting point if coding for the Go?
 * I notice the "social starter" has scripts but no scene. How do I run this sample? The instructions at the top don't make sense: the text talks about a "sphere in the center" but the instructions never say anything about how to place the sphere or what scripts to put in. It feels like some crucial part of the documentation is missing.
2 REPLIES 2

polka_panda
Protege
Here is what I have learned so far:
  • Developing with the Go is difficult. It's much better to use Rift for development most of the time, even when writing a Go app.
  • I cannot have the avatar display correctly if I just share the apk with a friend. Luckily there is another way: make an alpha release channel and add their email to it, so they receive a version of my app.
  • Oculus networking will only work when entitlement passes, so it won't pass in the scenario of sharing apks. One *must* publish to a release channel first.
  • One could normally get two players to connect using the "pick a friend" default flow, except I was not able to get it to work (not even using the sample included in the SDK) and I got no help in this forum. So instead, I switched to a third-party library (Photon) and that works just fine.
  • The social starter has been removed from the more recent version of the Oculus integration download. Presumably it will come back later. I've made my own in the meantime.
I've asked 5 questions in this forum in the past two weeks and received zero replies in total, so I've learned something about what to expect.

Ross_Beaf
Honored Guest
Hey @polka_panda
 - social starter should be in the unity bundle within avatars sdk. Let me know if you can't find it.