I have just released a new version of Pixel! Here's a brief overview of the changes that come with the 1.1 update:

New movement system!

In the original version, the on-twos animation would cause Pixel to teleport around in a jittery way when walking. This is alright given the aesthetic, but I thought it could look better, so I added a "smooth movement" mode where Pixel won't jump forward while walking, but will still move all body parts at the lower framerate. This will make it hopefully less jarring to walk around while wearing the avatar, and make the effect look a bit more like an animation and less like horrendous lag. However, for those of you who prefer the old movement system, I've got you covered! The movement style is now just on a radial menu toggle!

Here is the new movement compared to the old movement:

New (wow hes so fast look at him go)

Old (jeez is that guy running vrc on potato batteries or something?)

Better shaders!

Before, I was using an older version of Poiyomi for the body, and a shader by Trosty for the body outline. I have updated the materials to all use Poiyomi 9.0.57, including the outline, so less importing is needed on your end!

The biggest bonus is that with the new version of Poiyomi, I have now fixed the issue where the white parts of the avatar would appear as grey in darker environments, which in my opinion took away from the sketchbook aesthetic. As well as this, I have added a partial outline mask to the hands, so that the hand outline is less overpowering. Here is a ~~before and after~~ after and before:

New (ooh yes very clean and shiny)

Old (very icky, no good)

If you still prefer the old materials, don't worry! I have included all of the old materials in the updated unity package in a separate folder for legacy materials. (However, I have not included the original outline shader to avoid import errors since importing Trosty's shader is no longer required. The old unity package is still available for download if you need that one)

New head chop script chops your head off!

Tired of seeing the inside of your own head while in the on-twos version of the avatar? Worry no longer! VRChat recently added a "Head Chop" script, which allows creators to specify parts of the avatar which should be made invisible to the person using the avatar. This means you will no longer be able to see inside your own head, just like any other avatar! Everyone else will still be able to see your big cheesy grin just like normal, though :D

New radial menu options!

The radial menu now includes:

Toggle for smooth movement mode
Slider for outline wobble speed (how fast the outline changes shape)
Slider for outline wobble intensity (how drastic you want the outline wobble variation to be)

What's coming in the future? (and some closing notes)

It has made me so so so happy to see how much people have been enjoying the avatar, so I wanna do what I can to keep the updates coming to improve everyone's experience even more in return! VRChat is currently working on its own constraint system, which will be more performant than the default Unity constraints, and will also be quest compatible! The feature is currently in beta testing, so very soon when this feature releases, you can expect an updated version of the avatar to use the new constraints, which means quest compatibility for the 12FPS mode! Yippee!!

I am also in the early stages of designing my next avatar, and I want to continue with the theme of leaning hard into a unique style. This next one will not be a sketchbook avatar, though if you are looking for more, let me know! You can reach out to me via my support server on Discord, which is linked on Pixel's store page. I will likely post a progress update for the new avi on my Gumroad page as I get closer to completion, so feel free to follow my page if you are interested.

Finally, if you are enjoying the avatar, and want to support my work, please consider leaving a review if you haven't already! It helps a ton :)

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