Recap of June's Open Source Developer Discussion

Want to contribute to High Fidelity's open source code base? The Open Source Developer Discussion is a great place for developers to bring their ideas to High Fidelity's leadership team.

Here is a recap of submitted PRs and proposals that were discussed and merged.

Approved Pull Requests (PRs)

Unity Avatar Exporter Improvements

Submitted by @SaracenOne

An ongoing collection of commits to fix bugs and add new features to the Unity avatar exporter. This PR was recently approved by @shanzzam and @ZappoMan.

Open Source Project Proposals

(Pitch) -EntityFilterScript Improvements

Submitted by @Menithal
Feedback: @ZappoMan needs clarity about the type of applications that would require this sort of advanced filter.

This proposal is based on the desire to have an administrative panel that doesn’t require coding skills to configure entity filter scripts. A persistent ownership model could be introduced and individual object features could be more easily controlled, such as changing the simple physics of a bouncing ball in-world.

Open Source Modkit

Submitted by Revo Fire
Greenlit by @ZappoMan

The key idea here is to make open source projects more accessible to the community. An open source SDK concept would be the “bridge” — a built-in component that would follow standard architecture and enable simple extensions to be used. There would be a master control valve that could be off by default, and if it was on, external modkit plugins would be enabled.

Bring back the built-in Script Editor

Submitted by @HumbleTim
Greenlit by @ZappoMan

Dependent on the open source modkit proposal, the script editor makes it easy to create, load, and work on simple Client scripts without having to leave Interface. @HumbleTim proposes to package this and contribute it as an optional and externally-maintained application extension under the modkit framework. 

Light bulb demo

Submitted by Billmar
Feedback: @ZappoMan explains we could create a new repository that is separate from our main core codebase, and it would be focused on open source plugins, tutorials, and scripts. We’re considering doing so.

This proposal would control a light bulb/LED device with an embedded IP device from in-world by flipping a switch. Billmar details how he built a .DLL and @ZappoMan notes how this dovetails a bit into the open source modkit idea.

Audio monitor demo

Submitted by Billmar
Feedback: @ZappoMan is going to chat with our team, and notes we could adjust the plugin API.

BIllmar would like to use the audio mixer to do voice integrations with, for instance, an Alexa device. It would be programmed through javascript and one could have an audio-only conversation in-world.

Refactor edit.js and related building code so community can improve build tools

Submitted by Raz
Greenlit by @ZappoMan

This proposal would be a way to opt into an alternative edit.js file and would help the open source community develop its own sandbox building tools. @ZappoMan explains there is a command line option you can pass to Interface that will specify an alternative directory and load scripts from it.

Password based domain access

Submitted by @GeorgeDeac
Greenlit by @ZappoMan

When a company or user wants to create an event, it can be difficult to manage user access, and it would be easier to send invitations with an access password included. It is important to have proper authentication implemented. @ZappoMan explains there is some code in the domain server that could be modified to support this feature.

New Ideas

Persistent bulk related to entity parenting that causes avatars to flicker

Since the old overlay system is deprecated, one can notice flickering on tablets if they move fast enough. @ZappoMan notes it’s deep in the engine, and has to do with us supporting time-boxing. Avatar and entities are simulated, and can be interrupted in simulation frames, causing slight flickering. 

Our Core Engine team is going to do a brown bag “Deep dive on High Fidelity’s engine” Q&A learning session for external developers, and it is scheduled for August 7 from 3-4 p.m. PDT / 10-11 p.m. UTC.

Improvements to stereoscopic mirrors

@SaracenOne has done some work on this, although not submitted it as a PR yet. We think this is great! @ZappoMan says @SamCake has a branch with some work on this, although it was not shipped.

Sub-worlds: a path system where a single domain server can host multiple worlds; they'd share a single coordinate system

Lyuma wants to gauge interest in this before working on it, and @ZappoMan says it is an interesting idea. We definitely want it to be easier to spin up worlds, and this approach could help, although may be a pretty big project.

Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed! High Fidelity's next Open Source Developer Discussion will be on July 10, 2019 from 3-4 p.m. PDT / 10-11 p.m. UTC. We look forward to reviewing and discussing the submitted PRs and proposals.