Weekly progress 2/14
Earlier this week, I faced two choices. The first is to try to package an app that can run stably, and the other is to try to package the App in a more stable environment after learning the sample project. But after careful study, the sample project provided by Google has a complex structure that exceeds expectations. These blueprints can be difficult to migrate. So I tried to change the goal to package a stable running app.
But before that, I tested the running effect of this sample app. I successfully connected the computer and the mobile phone. They share an anchor point. However, when I conducted in-depth research, I found that these old versions of UE4 and ARcore plug-ins have been outdated, so there are many restrictions. For example, I cannot introduce Depth API under the current framework and cannot store spatial data in the cloud. These restrictions have had a great impact on my design because it is difficult for me to combine the environment and game content to design innovative gameplay.
Although Google’s documentation does not mention new information. But I found that the latest UE4.26 uses the new ARcore plugin, and I found the cloud anchor service provided by Microsoft MR. This combination looks very attractive because it has many advantages compared to the old solution. For example, I don’t need to compile a special UE4 engine, and I can also get the opportunity to use the depth API. And after in-depth research, I found that Microsoft’s services have more detailed documents than Google to help me realize the basic framework. So I decided to use this new method to avoid the limitations of the old method. I am currently building a framework following the latest documents from Microsoft. Although using the old method I can start to design interactive functions, and I have conceived several solutions. But the old method limits game design and future possibilities.
Google ignored UE4 support, so these outdated documents and sample files created a big obstacle for me. If I get this information from the beginning, I can avoid wasting a lot of debugging and compilation time. I hope to complete the new framework next week and start rethinking this design.
