Your world has taken shape. All that's left is uploading.
But you know where everything is. You don't get lost because you know the path. A first-time visitor sees something completely different.
This article walks through ten pre-release checks, doing a real lap as we go.
What You'll Learn
- The three items to always get through
- How to walk in a way that surfaces what you missed
- Checking devices and size
- How far is far enough to release
Read this right before uploading a world.
Three that always have to pass
Sometimes there's no time for all ten. Get through these three.
| Item | If it's broken |
|---|---|
| Spawn point | You arrive inside a wall, in the air, or below the floor |
| Not falling | You drop through a gap and can't get back |
| Collision | You pass through walls, you fall through floors |
These three decide whether the world is playable at all. People will play through rough visuals; nobody returns to a world that drops them below the floor on arrival.
The other seven raise the quality of the experience. Work through them when you have time.
Hands-On: Walk a lap as a first-time visitor
Launch Build & Test and do a lap under constraints. Write down what you notice without fixing it.
1. Look at the moment you arrive
The first second after entering carries the most information.
| Check | Where to look |
|---|---|
| Where you're standing | On the floor? Not embedded in a wall? |
| Which way you face | Is what you most want shown straight ahead? |
| Brightness | Not too dark? Do you wait for your eyes to adjust? |
| What to do | Can you guess which way to go? |
Facing is easy to overlook. Rotating the spawn point object alone changes the first impression. Details in wayfinding and comfort.
2. Walk without turning around
Walk as far as you can without turning around once.
That constraint works. As the builder you subconsciously know "there's something over there," so walking normally means missing things.
| Check | Where to look |
|---|---|
| Is the way forward clear | Do signage, brightness, and the path's shape convey it? |
| Do dead ends confuse | Is the way back clear? |
| Do steps trip you | Can you climb what looks climbable? |
3. Touch everything that looks touchable
Touch everything that "looks touchable," one after another.
| Check | What tends to happen |
|---|---|
| Buttons | Looks pressable, doesn't respond |
| Chairs | Looks sittable, isn't |
| Props | Looks grabbable, isn't |
| Decorations | Turns out to be grabbable, and throwable |
"Looks touchable but isn't" and "shouldn't be touchable but is" are both problems. Making untouchable things look untouchable is the kind approach.
4. Deliberately go somewhere strange
Go break it. Visitors always will.
| What to try | What you'll find |
|---|---|
| Wedge yourself into a wall corner | Places you pass through |
| Jump off a ledge | Places you fall and can't return from |
| Try to get outside the room | Backstage you shouldn't see |
| Climb onto a railing | Places you can climb onto |
If there's even one place you fall and can't return from, fix it or add a recovery mechanism. The mechanism in recovering from falls applies.
5. Check mirrors and sound
These two get placed and forgotten.
| Check | Where to look |
|---|---|
| Is the mirror on by default | Always-on is heavy |
| Is there a way to turn it off | A button that disables it |
| BGM volume | Too loud the moment you enter? |
| Can the volume be changed | Is there a way to lower it? |
Start volume conservative. Being greeted by something too loud is enough to make people leave. See BGM and spatial audio and settings panels that work for everyone.
6. Do a lap with a different avatar
Switch to a small avatar and do another lap.
| Check | What you'll find |
|---|---|
| Can you reach the buttons | Placements that are too high |
| Can you read the signs | Text you have to look up at |
| Can you get through | Steps and gaps that are hard to pass |
Trying a large avatar too reveals low ceilings and beams.
7. Check with two people
Set Number of Clients to 2 in Build & Test.
| Check | Where to look |
|---|---|
| Do the mechanisms line up on both screens | Doors, lighting, chairs |
| Do late joiners get the state | Leave once and re-enter |
| Can you see each other | Including through mirrors |
For synchronization trouble, see understanding ownership.
Check devices and size
After walking it, look at numbers and devices last.
| Check | Where to look |
|---|---|
| Download size | The SDK's build panel |
| How heavy it runs | Stats in the Game view |
| Is there an Android build | The SDK's world list |
| How it looks on a phone | Actually enter from a phone |
If entry feels slow, cut it with the steps in reducing your world's size.
If you're shipping Android too, check everything you checked on PC again on Android. Brightness and shaders especially can turn out to be different things.
How far is far enough to release
Aiming for perfect means never releasing. Here's the standard.
Visitors don't get lost, don't fall, and know what to do.
Pass those three and you can release.
| Still fix it | Fine to release |
|---|---|
| There's a place you fall and can't return from | The furniture placement bugs you slightly |
| The way forward isn't clear | The textures could be better |
| A main mechanism doesn't work | You want to add more effects |
| It's pitch black and you can't see | The audio isn't as good as you hoped |
The right column is fixable after release. And reports from people who visit afterwards are more useful than your own assumptions.
Continue in growing a world after release.
Bonus: Good to Know Up Front
- Note things without fixing them: Starting fixes mid-walk means the lap never finishes. Write it all down, then fix in a batch
- Leave time and lap again: Walking it a day later surfaces places you'd forgotten
- Have someone else do a lap: One friend walking through surfaces things you'd never notice. The trick is having them walk with no explanation
- Upload Private and check: You can upload in a state only you can enter and verify before release. The real load time shows up there too
- Retake the thumbnail: The thumbnail is the first thing people see in the list. Capture the best view you have
Summary
Pre-release checking means walking a lap with a changed viewpoint.
- Always get through spawn point, falling, and collision
- Walk without turning around, touch everything touchable, deliberately go break it
- Check with a different avatar and with two people
- Look at size and devices last
The question to ask before uploading is: "Do they avoid getting lost, avoid falling, and know what to do?" Pass that and you can release.
For the upload procedure, go to uploading a world. For what comes after, go to growing a world after release.