Existent v0.1.0 Release Notes

Change Log:

New Features

• New Wizard for Setup

  • Introduced a setup wizard that can help users to set up a new project by going through a number of steps to define Tracking system, Game Mode & Map, player skeletal mesh, Body Mappings, Animation Blueprint,etc.

• License Validation & Management

  • Users will now need to enter a valid Existent license key & validate it before being able to use Existent Plugin. Features are restricted based on license type (Starter or Indie). See https://existent.com/signup/ for more information and to get a license key.

    • Starter: Allows you to use Existent features to develop applications, with the following limitations:

      • You may only create levels with a maximum of 2 Existent Players, 2 Spaces, 1 Vehicle, and 1 tracked object.

      • Experiences you build can only be played through the Unreal editor (packaging executable files is not allowed).

    • Indie: Allows unrestricted use of all Existent features, as well as the ability to package builds.

    • No License: You won't be able to Play in Editor or Package builds.

• Mixamo Skeleton Support

  • Full body Mixamo skeleton support.

  • Added 3-point and 5-point animation blueprints for Mixamo skeleton.

  • Default animation poses for Mixamo skeleton.

• New UI and User Experience Enhancements

  • New UI style for Existent Control Panel for a more intuitive and visually appealing interface.

• Session Recorder Tool Improvements

  • Display number of seconds passed in currently playing recording (in inspection panel).

• Tracking System Improvements

  • Added new Manual Drift Compensation tool through Existent Control Panel.

  • A Vive tracker can now be used to set custom origin.

• Vehicle and Debugging Enhancements

  • Pausing Vehicles mid-drive is now possible.

• ExistentTrackedObject

  • A new base convenience class for setting up tracked objects that automatically includes a static mesh and tracker component.

Bug fixes & Improvements

• Tracking System Enhancements

  • Fixed grips breaking after switching body tracking mode.

  • Moved vehicle state update code to UpdateVehicleState() function to decrease the size of the Vehicle's Tick function.

  • Updated tracking system properties editing before asset creation.

• Documentation and Developer Tools

  • Added comments for better BP Nodes documentation.

  • Added several delegates for better control to third-party developers:

    • ExistentVehicle::OnReverseDirection

    • ExistentTrackerComponent::OnCurrentSpaceChanged

    • ExistentGripComponent::OnPlayerObjectPickup

    • ExistentGripComponent::OnPlayerObjectDrop

    • Added events for tracking lost/resumed in ExistentTrackerComponent.

• Skeletal Mesh and Solver Improvements

  • Fixed skeletal mesh orientation issues, improved visual representation, and corrected bone mappings.

  • Fixed crouching and tilting pelvis issues.

  • Removed auto-fill body bone mappings log.

  • Fixed various solver issues (leg, arm, hand) including automatic bone mapping assignments and exposure to blueprints.

  • Fixed crash issues related to incompatible skeleton mappings and improved error message readability.

  • Fixed some issues with arms appearing stretched when space is scaled down and potential issues with leg scaling.

• Error Handling and Validation

  • Added error handling for pose generation issues, notifying users when wrist bones cannot be found due to incorrect hand bone mappings.

  • Enhanced error messages in the tracking step to notify users when no tracking class is selected.

  • Improved license validation error messages and deactivation options for maxed-out machines.

Known Issues

• Crouching and Tilting Pelvis: Crouching and tilting the pelvis may not work properly unless the pelvis bone's forward axis points in the direction of the spine.

• Hand Solver Poses and Debug Categories: Hand solver poses and debug categories might not be ordered correctly.

• Hand Solver Reference Poses: The hand solver may not throw errors when reference poses are missing, potentially causing runtime crashes.

• Tracker Mappings Error Messages: Tracker mappings can stack error messages in the viewport, making them unreadable.

• Typos and Error Messages: Some typos and error messages when pose generation cannot find wrist bones due to wrongly set up hand bone mappings.