BluWizard

Heya, BluWizard here! Just wanna hop in to give you a scoop on Poiyomi 9.2, a major update to the shader!

While most of the features haven't changed, this update has introduced native support for VRC Light Volumes, an excellent voxel-based Light Probes replacement for VRChat Worlds. Alongside that, are various amount of bug fixes and improvements! See the Changelog Blog for all the details.

VRC Light Volumes​

What's so special about VRC Light Volumes is that it allows for more natural lighting to show on your Avatar, making for stellar appearances in photos. Here are just two examples of what this can look like on Sacred's Avatar...

Notice that in these images above, the light tubes are able to emit very evenly across the Body. Compared to before, it was only able to be an approximate.

Here's a comparison on DrBlackRat's Avatar. Pay attention to the differences between Poiyomi 9.2 (latest) vs. Poiyomi 9.1 (older version)...

As you can see, the results can be very obvious! The Material appears more evenly illuminated from the environment compared to previously.

Since VRC Light Volumes was created since earlier this year, you should begin to notice more and more Worlds adopt this system. Adding support for VRC Light Probes can make the shader future-proof to newer Worlds that plan to take advantage of this new lighting system.

The best part of all this? You don't have to do anything to your Materials! It's automatically enabled in the back-end. All you need to do is make sure to update to the latest version of Poiyomi Shaders and just simply set your Materials to use the latest version.

Vertex Options Reorganized​

Let's quickly talk about another significant change introduced in 9.2. Those who have used Vertex Options, Vertex Glitching, and Vertex Colors should read this!

In the latest version, you may have noticed that those sections have gone missing from the Color & Normals category. This is intentional! We have reorganized them into a brand new category in the shader UI, under Vertex Options. It is located in-between AudioLink and Global Modifiers & Data section.

Underneath this area, we have renamed those sections into simply, Basics & Fun, Glitching, and Vertex Colors respectfully. If you have used these features under the old names before, don't worry! All your existing configurations should transition over seamlessly when updating your Materials.

Why did we do this? Well, this is to make way for another upcoming vertex-based feature called LookAt, which is right now being tested in the Pro version of the shader. We'll talk about that sometime in the future.

Conclusion​

We hope you enjoy these new improvements to Poiyomi Shaders! As always, feel free to shoot us a message in our Discord Server for any questions or comments. Also if you have any pictures of your Avatars using the newest version, we invite you to share them there in our #showcase and #in-game-pics channels!

Click here to see the Patch Notes

Greetings! My name is BluWizard. I've been one of the recent active contributors to the Poiyomi Shaders Documentation, bringing everything up-to-date with 9.0 and finishing up some areas that needed attention.

I would like to talk about some of the major updates that I'm bringing to the Documentation. These overhauls will help bring it more in line with our goals with the Poiyomi Shaders Documentation, as well as bring it more in-line with how similar Documentations organize their pages and helpful resources. We hope these updates will encourage more frequent usage of the Documentation, rather than just trying to search Discord for an answer.

Let's start of with the big one... A brand new Home Page!​

Instead of providing just completion status, I made the Home Page look more presentable and professional. Not only it introduces what known features you can do with the Shader, but has two new Buttons that will redirect you where to Download & Install the shader, as well as a link to Join the Discord Server.

I have appended some of the relevant information back to the Introduction page, which will now act as the Docs Hub. It talks about how to navigate the Documentation, as well as our Completion Status. As for links to Download the Shader, it has been moved into an entirely dedicated page.

Speaking of, let's talk about the new Download & Install page!​

This is going to be your new one-stop shop to learn how to Download, Install, and Update Poiyomi Shaders. Since we both maintain a classic Manual Unity Package version and a VCC Version, we now detail instructions on how to use either one. We list both Method 1. and Method 2. as the instructions.

We prefer that the users choose which method they wish to use when downloading and installing the Shader. While Method 1. Manual Unity Package is preferred, a growing number of users may have a better experience using Method 2. Creator Companion to install the Shader due to it's ease-of-use.

Regardless, whichever method you use is up to you, but keep in mind that the latest version of the Shader will always be available first via Discord before it's distributed on both GitHub, BOOTH, and in the VCC Repo. If you are a Poiyomi Pro user, they will exclusively be available via Discord as always. This is also mentioned on the page.

There are even more changes, down to the small details. Let's break down all the notable visual changes:​

• Overhauled the Home Page.
  • A more professional, presentable Home Page that gets right to the point and contains relevant information.
  • Added a new Logo.
  • Added Buttons that redirect to Download & Install and as the Discord Server.
• Added Download & Install Page.
  • Two Methods with Instructions on how to install Poiyomi Shaders, either as a Unity Package or through the Creator Companion.
  • Download Links.
  • Info on the Pro Shader.
• Improved SEO on various pages.
  • I have given many pages more descriptions and keywords for SEO (Search Engine Optimization), so that the Documentation and the website as a whole can appear clearly on Search Engines.
• Fixed a lot of Image and Video Sizing to be more consistent.
  • For a while, this Documentation was not very mobile-friendly. I've implemented some changes to React JS that makes the embedded videos have more responsive width, regardless of display size. This eliminates an issue where the embedded videos would extend far beyond the width constrains on a Mobile Web Browser. By default, all Images and Videos will now be automatically responsive based on your browser's width, with some exceptions on certain Documentation entries.
• Upgraded Docusaurus to v3.3.2.
  • Docusaurus v3.3.2 introduces major improvements, bug fixes, and new features for us to use in the near future.
  • React, MDX, and Node.js have been updated as a result of the Docusaurus v3 Upgrade.
  • The Light and Dark Theme will now automatically match the user's client by default.
• Removed irrelevant information and old pages in favor of the new Download & Install page.
  • The Poiyomi VCC Repo Page is no longer necessary, as I've implemented a button in the Download & Install page for the VCC Version that directly opens the Creator Companion App, adding the Repository.
  • Redirects added to the website configuration to handle old links.

Conclusion​

We are continuously working on improving the Documentation with as much information as possible in an easy-to-understand fashion. If you have any feedback, feel free to drop us a line in the Discord Server. Other than that, we hope you enjoy these new updates!