Edition 31, Week 41: Full Steam Ahead!

Did you notice the logo for Asobi changed a bit? What do you think, do you like it?

Either way, welcome to another edition of the Sunday Report! Edition 31!!!

It's going to be an exciting week with loads of updates coming in. So let's chat about development first, before I elaborate on what's coming!

Development

Performance Overlay 2.0

As announced yesterday, Performance Overlay 2.0 is coming soon which will share quite a lot more info compared to the previous version, all because I unlocked host statistics as well. This way it'll get even easier to find out what the bottleneck is of your setup. More on this soon and what you can expect, in the meantime I'm using it to improve performance in general for Asobi. I expect great things from this!

Virtual Controller 2.0

Virtual Controller is close to finished, and I finally feel that this is close to where it should be of what I originally had in mind back when I was developing Asobi 1.0 for Apple.

When it launches you'll all be able to create per game controller profiles which will sync and work across all devices. You'll even be able to publish your designs, share them with others, rate designs and use the designs of others to improve them.

The biggest part of this is that it'll work cross platform as well. What you design on your iPhone will function on your Android device as well!

Super excited about it and can't wait for you to play with it! (although the experimental version is available already 👀)

Lens mode

Last week I previewed a new feature for those with an AYN Thor. Like most owners I love my AYN Thor and found time to give it some extra love. Not only do I have an update ready for it for next week, with on-device haptics and putting the PS home button on the physical back button, I've also made the 2nd screen more useful by creating "Lens mode", which will let you zoom in on parts of the main screen and show it on the bottom screen of your Thor.

From showing your mini-map from GTA V and Cyberpunk, to your healthbar and such on Marvel Invasion, the options are endless and is a great way to show you what Asobi is all about.

I've said it before and I'll say it again now, Asobi is focused on bringing the most out of your device, even devices like the AYN Thor.

There's still some work to be done but you'll be able to play with it from next week!

4K Remote Play

Well, I've got news. As I've told you before: it exists. The PS5 has support for 2K and 4K streaming, but this isn't just like flipping a switch to activate, there's much more to it than just that. Trust me I've tried 😬😬😬.

There's some technical hurdles to overcome, but I believe with time I'll get it done. Just like with a lot of other features I brought to you first, this is one I'll try to get done for you as soon as possible as well.

Spatial Infill

Some time ago I showed off a feature I've been working on called Spatial infill, which is a method to create on the fly extensions of the screen to get rid of those pesky black borders. Now with the release of the iPhone 18 Pro I'll be testing it out and see if I can make some more progression on this. Who knows, it might even perform well enough to allow for it to be released as an experimental version.

The updates;

Asobi for Apple

You might be wondering why the latest update hasn't dropped yet. Well, I've been hard at work on bringing some really nice quality of life updates and performance improvements and it's been a bit trickier than expected.

Main focus has been to bring the Virtual Controller 2.0 out of its experimental phase (which is close to done)

But also fixing some annoying bugs like background streaming, which has finally been fixed! Even when completely locking your iPhone. So happy about this!

Downside is that I really like experimenting (see iPhone Duo), and mostly do that on the Apple devices. Rest assured, I'm close to done and it'll be great!

Version 1.5.1 is planned for week 41.

Asobi for Steam

Build 15 is coming later tonight, which will hopefully fix quite some issues for those using Intel graphics cards. In the meantime I'll be working on pushing the last couple of changes so I can release the store version at the end of the week.

The plan is to release the base version of Asobi for Steam version 1.0 on either October 8th or 9th.

Asobi for Steam will support SteamOS (Linux) and Windows on launch, with support coming to the Steam Frame whenever I get my hands on it (I'm still in the reservation queue)

For those who want extra features, the Asobi Premium one-time-purchase will be $9.99 with an extra launch discount of 10%.

The unlock will cover access to Asobi Premium to SteamOS (Linux), Windows and in the future Steam Frame as well.

After that's all good and done, work will continue to bring even more updates to Asobi for Steam. I still have quite some ideas for the foreseeable future, from user interface updates to platform specific features and performance updates. It's not like this will end anytime soon!

I just hope you'll love what I plan to bring to Asobi for Steam and you'll keep that feedback coming!

Asobi for Android

As some of you may know I'm very close to releasing Version 1.1.2, which will bring Lens mode to the AYN Thor, real-time 2D->3D conversion, much improved Gyro support, Virtual Controller 2.0 updates and On-device haptics for those with devices like the Logitech GCloud, AYN Thor, Retroid Pocket Neo and even telescope controllers like the Gamesir 8+: It feels great!

Real-time 2D to 3D conversion works great on those devices that support it and works especially great for those with SBS Glasses like the XReal and RayNeo. Compared to those devices, real-time conversion on Asobi isn't limited to 1080p30fps, it runs at the full 1080p60fpsHDR.

I also have some surprises left with the coming update, but I'll announce that later this week.

I also didn't forget about those who are highly anticipating the Android TV release, it's coming soon, most likely by the end of the month! Hopefully sooner..

Also, considering how big the update is, it might end up being version 1.2.0

More later this week!

Asobi for Meta Quest

I've found a couple of small bugs still, which means I'll drop one last PlayTest update before the full release. Plan is to release Asobi for Meta version 1.0 this month!

If you have any more wishes or feedback, then please let me know.

Also, I've been looking into adding support for using Meta Quest controller input and had some ideas, hopefully they work out in practice.

One more thing: I expect Asobi to be Meta VR Glasses ready for when it releases next year!

Midori for Apple

The release of the next update now just hangs on finishing up Virtual Controller version 2.0 on Asobi. I've become convinced that after using it a lot on Asobi, it's one of the most important features to bring to Midori and is a must to be a part of the next update. Good news is that I'm close to finishing it and to drop it on Asobi in the next couple of days and then get started on migrating it asap to Midori. It's worth the wait, it brings that much for on the move pick up and play gaming accessibility.

After this update drops, which incidentally should bring all the features that Midori was missing still from Asobi, I'll start work on bringing Midori to Android!

More soon!

In closing

We're getting close to Asobi's 1-year anniversary, and to mark it I want to make something special: a video celebrating you, the players. So I've got a big ask. I'd love to build a video of people actually playing on Asobi, which means I need clips from you. If you've got one, or can make one, please send it over so I can make it part of the anniversary video, a celebration of you.

If you're willing to share, send your clip to [email protected] and I'll make it great!