I'm creating a Patreon article on the most innovative virtual worlds in VRChat, but this new one deserves its own post right now:
NeoWorlds, created by "Widget365", is a virtual world created within the virtual world of VRChat -- which looks and plays like a low-res 2.5D virtual world of the early 2000s era. (Think Habbo Hotel, Club Penguin, and so on.)
There's even an old school web-based log-in page for NeoWorlds (cosmetic only), and a log-in experience which starts you in front of an old school, desktop PC and cabled mouse of the era (see video above).
All of which is so on-point visually, it induces nostalgia. Where it really gets mind-boggling is when you "log in" to NeoWorlds, and realize your VRChat avatar has been faithfully converted into a low pixel, 2.5D version of it -- which you still control.
I just tried it myself, and my current VRChat avatar, a tribute to Domo-kun (long story), was suddenly waddling around before me in pixelated form. (See right.)
How did Widget create this? Read on:
Widget created NeoWorlds to evoke those worlds and a lesser-known personal favorite, Spineworld.
"I envisioned what VRChat might look like if it was created in the 2000s," they tell me.
As for how:
"A variety of tricks are at play here, and without getting too much into the intricate details, the main thing probably throwing people for a loop is the change in perspectives. You can do tricks with camera animations to override your first-person view in VRChat; I first discovered this was possible by seeing the trick used in a VKet world, and had been trying to think of clever ways I could implement it ever since.
"I'm also using various cameras to render the player and the game view at a low resolution to achieve the pixelated effect, combined with a handy shader that lowers the amount of colors used and adds an outline to your avatar.
"As for the unique movement animations, you can override a players animations using a VRCStation (which I believe is how MMD worlds allow you to perform various dance moves). The result of all of this is a 3rd person game. I was mainly able to get this working with the help of BobyStar, another creator friend of mine, who had previously created a 3rd person platformer demo in VRChat."
NeoWorlds is VRChat from a whole new perspective. Now published in Community Labs for everyone to enjoy! #NeoWorlds #VRChat pic.twitter.com/gUJorPDilb
— Widget (@Widget365) July 13, 2024
It's been visited over 100,000 times, both in its preview version and since its official launch earlier this month. Widget tells me visits have tapered off since then, but I wonder if that could be because much of VRChat's audience was too young to remember the simple, early 2000s joys of noodling around in Habbo. But it does capture the experience of early virtual worlds for a new generation. I wonder if someone's creating a VRChat version of Habitat from the 80s.
Click here to start exploring NeoWorlds in VRChat.
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