Virtual Journal #3: METAFES 2023
Tag: Virtual Journal »
Summary
Late report about going around in this year’s METAFES!
Content
Hello! I took a walk in this year’s METAFES. From what I understood, it was a virtual market event where you can hang around with other attendees and guests, participate in some talks, and listen to a music showcase.
The event was held for three days in VRChat, which I barely had any experience using. I tried it out a few days after my previous post about NEOKET, so I at least know how to navigate around.
I didn’t get to see everything as I was busy doing other things, but here’s a report for the parts that were interesting to me. (You can find the list of exhibitors here.)
The event has three worlds that you can explore: Day, Night, and Quest. The Day and Night worlds have the same layout, but with different exhibitors in them. The Quest world is more of an open area for events and hanging out, though there’s a few exhibitor booths to be seen around the area’s sides.
There were a few public EN and JP instances for each world when I was looking around, but decided to go make a private instance instead. I was too busy and didn’t have the energy at the time to roam around with lots of people, haha.
(I got to walk around with any custom avatar that I want since it’s a private instance, so that was nice at least.)
The first booth that welcomes you is the one from Kintone, which is…
I honestly don’t remember what they are…
I didn’t look into it that much, but there were lots of book samples with programming stuff in it on display. From my very limited knowledge and understanding on the things inside, it felt like there was some kind of API for VR and/or cloud stuff, and Arduino-like tutorials… but I don’t really know.
I didn’t expect that I would be trying to read code in this world, so I just skimmed through things.
The other memorable thing inside was the Physics Sushi. I was playing on PC, but I’d imagine it would be fun to throw it around people if you were walking around with a VR device. All I could do in PC was shake it around.
Skeb also had their own big booth, showcasing a few artworks from those who use the platform, I assume. There’s a display of two huge pencils at the center of their booth.
One of the areas in the venue was dedicated to promoting VRChat worlds. Some worlds were about showcasing sceneries like resorts or sci-fi locations, some were about trying out various props like weapons and accessories, and some were community-focused worlds, like an LGBTQIA+ focused world or… a sugar-testing world…?
I don’t know if that last one is a role-playing world or an actual world where you test your sugar levels somehow…
How would that work…? Maybe they ask questions inside…
Anyways, I didn’t know if I would be able to stay in a private instance if I entered any of those worlds, so I ended up just looking at their posters.
At the center of the venue is the event stage. Various video clips are continuously shown in the giant screen.
Some video clips were from creators that I recognize, such as the VSinger ViANKiE, or the virtual band LAUTRIV. There’s even some that I’ve seen from the previous events that I reported about.
A creator that I discovered through the event was the Pomeranian idol group Pomeruzu. The short MV for their song, Pretty of Mind Essence, was very cute!
Their group reminded me of Guru Guru Pon-chan. I don’t usually hear about it, but that’s probably the first manga I’ve ever read. We only had the first three volumes of it, so I still don’t know how that ended.
Walking around the event stage, I saw illustrations of varying styles. Surprisingly, most of those that were interesting to me were made by people that I was already following, haha.
I kept going “Oh right, it’s this person!” whenever I checked out the profile links in their booths.
Some of the artists that I found out about through this event were Tsuna/Potechi and Hoshina Toraji.
The event had an area with booths from some of their sponsors. A few of them had 3D characters on display, which I assume were avatar sellers…?
I didn’t look into the booths in here much, but near the end of the area, a display for Hop Step Sing!’s upcoming live caught my attention. A musical live with audience participation in VR sounds fun…!
The site for their live has an English version. It looks like you can still buy tickets to be in the audience, or even be able to watch without one on a few platforms if you just want to see them perform live.
Going up to the second floor of the venue, 3D assets related to VR are showcased, like avatars, accessories, items, or even visual effects. You can try each of them out before purchasing from the provided links in the booth.
One of the exhibitors in here that took my interest was Yuri Ogata, who does illustrations and cute original 3D avatars based on birds…! The one based on the long-tailed tit was displayed. I really liked the theming, color scheme, and the scarf that it wears.
There’s also Uni:Euclace, an original model by obata_n. I. It looks like something that could be from games like Nier. I want it in a video game… (It even has an SD version!)
Etoile by Kotobumi had a good model and was textured wonderfully, alongside the various accessories crafted by Firmiana.
Kuromaru9 also had their own booth! I remember seeing them showcasing Roboco poses and animations back when I was just starting out, trying to learn how to use Unity.
While looking at all the avatars and props, I wondered why the tri counts for them are quite high. Some of the models even have labels like Poor, Excellent, or Good. Is it for the physics stuff? Maybe tri count doesn’t really matter if you’re only walking around with a few people in a location…? Hm…
At the end, after looking at all the 3D things, there’s also a semi-secret third floor which had a mini easter egg. The entrance was a bit hidden, but I, a stairs-sitting enthusiast, will not miss the mascot that was sitting on one that leads to this final floor.
There wasn’t really much in there, but I guess you can look at the event-goers from above and wave at them if you find the place.
I also tried visiting the Quest world of the event in a private instance. It’s obviously empty for me as there’s no people, but exploring the scenery, looking at a few more exhibitors, and finding out what the mascots were doing at every corner was fun.
It felt like there was an upper area in the world, but I couldn’t get past the blockades. Maybe you could if you were in the area using a VR device…? I’m not sure.
That’s it for this event’s report! It was a pretty short walk, but I still enjoyed it.
This event’s dates coincided with one of the only game-related local event near me that I usually go to. That one didn’t have a virtual location, so I couldn’t experience it.
Suddenly finding out about this event, through Misskey even, was pretty timely. Good time!
In any case, thank you for reading!