Importing Version 4 of VRTK

Now that you have set up your project for VR development, it’s time to bring version 4 of the VRTK Tilia packages into your project. VRTK 4 comprises a repository of several Tilia packages that provide valuable features for developing spatial solutions. These Tilia packages are like the packages you have probably seen available within Unity’s Package Manager and can be found within the Package Manager once imported.

All Tilia packages can be accessed by visiting the following site: www.vrtk.io/tilia.html. The beauty of version 4 of the VRTK is that you can install only the packages that are required for your project.

Note that packages are categorized under several headings on the site—namely, Camera Rigs, Developer Tools, Indicators, Input, Interactions, Locomotors, Mutators, Output, SDK, Trackers, Utilities, and Visuals—as shown in Figure 4-1.

For our purposes, we will install all the packages that will be helpful for working with projects in this book. You can always add a new package by adding its manifest line to your project’s manifest.json file . You are not compelled to install every package listed here, even though you can.

You can look at the packages available in CameraRigs by clicking on the chevron beside the heading. Note that the package lists its current release version, beneath which is a short package description and, following that, a manifest line for each type of camera rig available. You can copy this line using the Copy button to the right of it and paste it into your project’s manifest.json file for all the packages you may require for your project. Below the manifest line are links to the package documentation and GitHub, as shown in Figure 4-2.

To bring Tilia packages into your project, you need to modify your projects manifest.json file, which is available within your project’s “Packages” folder, so that it contains all the manifest lines of the VRTK Tilia packages you need for your project.

As part of this book, you’ve been provided with a modified manifest.json file to download, which will overwrite the manifest.json file that currently exists. Note that you cannot access the manifest.json file directly from the Unity editor; you need to get it using Windows file explorer.

This modified manifest.json file contains all the manifest lines from the Tilia page located at www.vrtk.io/tilia.html, as required for this book’s projects.

Start by downloading the modified version of the manifest.json file to an easily accessible location on your PC. With Unity open, and its Demo scene showing, select the Project tab and then the “Packages” folder. Once you’ve done that, right-click the folder on the shortcut menu that shows up, and then select Show in Explorer, as shown in Figure 4-3.

Doing this will open Windows file explorer externally for you, with the “Packages” folder selected. Now, shut down Unity, ensuring that you have quit the Unity application entirely and only have the Windows file explorer open, with the “Packages” folder highlighted. Then, double-click the “Packages” folder to open it, and you should see the manifest.json file that you need to download to replace the old manifest.json file. In the “Packages” folder, select the existing manifest.json file and delete it. Now copy the modified manifest.json file you downloaded as part of this book and paste it into the “Packages” folder.

Next, open the manifest.json file using a text editor such as Notepad. Scroll through this file, and you’ll notice that several of the manifest lines in Tilia packages that you need are included. Note the entries for the scopedRegistries and dependencies. For any Tilia package you’d like to include in your project, you must copy its manifest line from the Tilia page and paste it somewhere within the dependencies section. Ensure that you don’t duplicate manifest lines in your manifest.json file. A screenshot of the modified manifest.json file is shown in Figure 4-4. Each manifest line shows the version number of its specific Tilia package toward the end of the line. As updates are made to the various Tilia packages, you can update to the latest version using Unity’s Package Manager, as discussed later in this chapter.

Finally, close the manifest.json file. Now, using the Unity hub, launch your VR_Playground project . The Unity Package Manager will immediately begin resolving and importing the various Tilia packages listed within your manifest.json file.

Before Unity’s editor loads, you may be prompted with a warning message, as displayed in Figure 4-5, which says that native platform back ends for the new input system haven’t been enabled in player settings and asks whether you’d like to enable them. This new input system is not relevant to VR development using VRTK 4. The VRTK provides you with a plethora of prefabs for obtaining input from various VR controllers, and you need to click No to proceed.

Unity will now continue the importing process, which may take a while. Once it’s complete, you may get a message requesting that you upgrade spatializer plug-ins. Click to upgrade. You will then be asked to restart Unity. Click to restart. You will be immediately prompted with another dialog box stating that a new scoped registry is now available within Unity’s Package Manager and telling you that VRTK’s Tilia packages are now a part of Unity’s Package Manager. You can close this dialog box now. Unity will now restart, and you will see the warning message shown in Figure 4-5. Click No.

Once Unity’s editor launches, you’ll notice that another dialog box has popped up, which is the Manage Unity Input Manager Axis Definitions dialog . This box states that Tilia would like to add its own input axis definitions to Unity’s Input Manager. All you need to do is click the Add Input Definitions button at the bottom of the dialog to add twenty Tilia input axis definitions to Unity’s Input Manager. Also, within the project settings dialog that is open in Unity’s editor, note that a scopedRegistries npmjs has been added, which has two scopes within it, as shown in the manifest.json file in Figure 4-4. Now close this project settings dialog.

Next, select the console tab and note that the three runtime errors you got in the last chapter have disappeared, as version 4 of the VRTK has been imported into your project. Clear the console of any warning message that may have shown up.

Congratulations! you have now successfully set up VRTK 4 within your project.

You now need to verify that the twenty Tilia input axis definitions have been added to Unity’s Input Manager. To do so, select Edit ➤ Project Settings on the main menu, and from within the pane on the left, select the item Input Manager . From the pane on the right, expand the Axes section and scroll down to the bottom, where you will see that the twenty Tilia input axis definitions have been added. Finally, close the project settings dialog.

Unity’s Package Manager and VRTK 4 Tilia Packages

The advantage of having VRTK 4 Tilia packages as part of the Package Manager is that now, at any time, you can open the Package Manager and select any Tilia package. You can then check if any new update is available for a specific package and update the package by simply clicking the Update button. Let’s see how this can be achieved.

On the main menu, select Window ➤ Package Manager and allow it to load. From the Packages drop-down within the Package Manager dialog box, select the In Project item. All the packages available in your current project will be listed, showing you all the Tilia packages that were imported. Select any Tilia package from the left pane that has an arrow next to its version number, which indicates that a newer version of this Tilia package is available. The pane on the right lists the date that the package was published and gives a brief description of the package. If the package has an update, you will note an Update to x.x.x version button at the bottom of the right pane. Click this button to update to the newer version of the selected package. Once the package has been updated, its item on the left will reflect the latest version number with a checkmark displayed beside it. Figure 4-6 shows the Package Manager with the Tilia packages that were added to it. Finally, close the Package Manager dialog box.

Exploring the “Packages” Folder

Let’s now proceed to look at the “Packages” folder available in the Project tab. To do so, select the Project tab and expand the “Packages” folder within it. Scroll down about halfway, and you will notice all the Tilia packages listed. Select and expand any Tilia package from within the left pane of your project tab. You will notice that every package comprises the same folder structure, as shown in Figure 4-7. Now, expand the “Runtime” folder and select the “Prefabs” folder , your primary area of focus within all Tilia packages. You will see that the right pane contains prefabs of interest, enabling you to create the awesome VR mechanics in later chapters of this book.

Summary

In this chapter, we imported version 4 of the VRTK Tilia packages into our project. We looked at the various Tilia packages that are available for VR development. We used the provided manifest.json file to import several Tilia packages into our project. We then saw how these Tilia packages are reflected within Unity’s Package Manager and how to update them. Lastly, we explored the “Packages” folder, noting how the Tilia packages have been structured, and looked at its “Prefabs” folder that contains prefabs that provide you with the awesome VR mechanics you seek.