Hello Flow-ers! 🌀

A new update for Realms of Flow with two new experiences is now live: 'Nature's Calling' (regular CGI) and 'Altered States of Mycelia' (experimental AI).

Moreover I've added a visualization option for the breath holds and made improvements to setting the tempo of the 'Auto' breath mode with ratio presets and a new 'Simple Mode'. In this mode the tempo can now also easily be nudged up and down with a button shortcut.

See below for the full changelog.

🔊 Thanks to the ones of you on Discord who voted for Realms of Flow on Artizen[artizen.fund].
They prolonged the deadline, which will end on the 14th of August. If you haven't voted, please consider to register and spend the ~70 votes you get by filling out your profile. (No wallet needed, they will just ask for a phone number to make more than one vote). The race is very tight, currently RoF is not curated anymore (only top 30%), so I could use your support. ✌️💜

And as always: If you enjoy the app, please leave a review if you haven't. 🙏On Steam an app needs to reach 50 reviews to get a little boost and a correct star rating in Google search.

Thank you very much and happy tripping! 🍄🌿

Marc


// Changelog - Realms of Flow | 1.0.31 - 12.08.2024 //

- Two new experiences: 'Nature's Calling' (regular CGI) and 'Altered States of Mycelia' (experimental AI)
>> Tip: In 'Altered States of Mycelia' try playing with the peripheral instances of the visuals, setting them close to the center for some interesting effects.
- The experimental experiences (using generative AI for the visuals) are now on Home menu page 4

- Added ratio presets (for inhalalation vs. exhalation length) to simplify setting the tempo of the 'Auto' breath mode
- Added an additional 'Simple Mode', which allows setting the 'Auto' tempo using a single slider instead of setting the individual breath phases (for tempo gradient and breath holds use the 'Advanced Mode')
- When using 'Simple Mode', holding the controller button labeled 'Calibrate Breath Tempo' will now allow you to simply nudge the 'Auto' tempo up and down using the triggers. In the 'Advanced Mode' holding the same button will bring up the previously introduced tempo calibration using controller distance to act out the desired tempo incl. breath holds.
- Added an option to visualize the breath hold phases (when set to 2s or longer) to have a better impression of the remaining hold time

- Added a tour to the 'Session Timing Options' as intro for new users

- Added German versions of the menu tooltips (when hovering options), instructions and help sections

- Fixed a bug with the main visuals' distance setting not working as intended, when loading previously saved settings with breath mode 'OFF'

- Plenty of other small tweaks and fixes


>> A little tip for alternative music on Quest (standalone):
The latest system software update now allows you to run other music apps (e.g. Spotify Premium in the Quest browser) parallel to other apps without audio degradation.

An example that I personally enjoy:
RoF experience 'Home Within' combined with 'Sit Around the Fire' (Music: John Hopkins, Narration: Ram Dass - https://open.spotify.com/track/5kdXiiF8MxyLVhRjkVv9jQ?si=qfzjn5JuT1abhOdFZJc8ng)

For that, set the music and narration volume to 0 in the RoF Sound settings.
For some music tracks (which are not in C major scale) I'd recommend to also turn down the volume of other tonal elements (Breath Focus Obj. Noise, Breath Timing Sound, Spatial Sounds, Humming Reference Sound) to avoid disharmony.


- Another hint (Quest standalone): For resetting the view, only use the RoF controller shortcut (B button), since using the Meta system button interchangeably with that will cause unwanted offsets, especially when using Meta's experimental lying down mode. (RoF has that functionality built in already)

Hello Seekers of Calm,

Here comes an update for Realms of Flow with the new experience "Dissolve".
The Hookah (last update's semi-hidden Easter egg) now radiates some life wisdom on long puffs and is joined by an additional relaxing item: The Pan Drum.
Moreover there is now a calibration option for the 'Auto' Breath mode and other improvements. See the change-log for further details.

Teaser: https://youtu.be/7Kr-qqPGI0w

If you enjoy Realms of Flow and haven't done so, please leave a rating/review- it helps!

Happy dissolving!

Best,
Marc


// Change-log - Realms of Flow | 1.0.29 - 26.05.2024 //

- Added new experience "Dissolve"
- The Hookah (last update's Easter egg) is now officially documented in the controls overview - hold right Trigger for 1s to enable / disable it
- Added Hookah Wisdom: When you take a long puff on the Hookah (and the current experience's narration is not playing or about to start playing) you will hear some selected and hopefully inspiring life wisdom
- Fixed some bugs with the Hookah: Haptics were not working with the left controller and sometimes a bright visual artifact would float mid-air
- Added another hopefully relaxing item for you to play with: The Pan Drum - bring it up by pressing the left trigger for 1s (as documented)
- Added a calibration option for the Auto breath tempo - you can use your controller distance to act out the desired Auto breath tempo, either before experience start (click the stopwatch icon for Time 1 and Time 2 in the Breath Settings sub menu) or during the experience (hold the left controller's upper face button for 1s - as documented in the controls overview)
- Added the ability to set longer breath phases for the Auto breath tempo mode (up to 240s as requested by some users - for training of long breath holds)
- Added slider to set the intensity of the haptic breath tempo indicator
- Added new spatial sound type "Books&Paper"
- Added new style "Spiral" for the main shape of the visual breath focus object
- Added option to use gaze direction to steer the selection pointer, instead of a pointer attached to the controller (can be enabled in the Control Settings sub-menu)
- Fixed: Some frequent crashes that a few users experienced (on Quest standalone) should not occur anymore
- Foveated rendering (Quest standalone) is now adaptive - depending on the processing load, so it will only kick in when needed. Hence it is now also enabled by default on both Quest 2 + 3 and recommended to keep enabled.
- Lots of other small tweaks and fixes

Hello Deep Minds,

Update time!

The latest version of Realms of Flow comes with the new experience "Home Within" as well as some new features like two additional breath modes, a configurable tempo gradient and breath holds for the 'Auto' breath tempo, the ability to select voice-overs and music from other experiences, an updated UI design and more. 🐰

Home Within Teaser: https://youtu.be/wOj9jv5Q8no

For a complete list see the change-log below.

Different from what I had planned, the new experience is not a DLC, but has been added for free.
One of the main reasons (other than some technical challenges) is that Meta AppLab does not support store-listed DLC and I'd like to keep that aspect consistent across platforms. I will reconsider DLC at some point.

If you enjoy Realms of Flow, please leave a review and share the app in your channels or personal VR bubble. 🫧 Thanks to everyone who already did!

You can also leave a tip at buymeacoffee.com/epicscapes if you feel like supporting the further development. 🐖

Flow on! 🌊
Marc

P.S. I've also added an easter-egg 🥚 that some of you might know from DeepStates. Just follow the change - good log! 🤓





// Realms of Flow | Change-Log | 1.0.24 - 28.02.2024 //

- New experience "Home Within"
- Added two new breath tempo control modes:
-> Head | Control the breath tempo with your natural head movement by slightly tilting your head up when inhaling and down when exhaling
-> Sound | Create an audible airflow with your lips while you are exhaling, inhale quitely. Closed headphones and a quiet room are recommended. You may have to adjust the sensitivity in the settings menu to your specific microphone (e.g. lower it on Valve Index).
- Auto breath tempo mode: Added the ability to define a gradual ramp for the breath tempo with start and end time, as well as to add holds, which can be set to change over time as well. The Auto tempo mode is now also the default mode when starting the app, to create a better experience for new users that skip the tutorial.
- Improved responsitivity/accuracy of the Belly breath tempo control mode
- Added sensitivity and speed controls for breath tempo modes Belly, Head and Sound
- Added the ability to mix and match visuals, voice-over and music for even more customisability and replay value. To do so select the library icon next to "Narration" in the Session Timing options. This can only be done before an experience. You will hear audio previews while selecting options.
- Adjusted the Element of Play mechanics so that it is easier to reach the maximum extent of the success-effects, especially when the duration is set relatively short in the Session Timing options. Moreover adjusted the width-extent of the Element of Play controller paths, so the goals are not as much on the periphery of the field of vision
- The new breath control modes Head and Sound work a little bit differently with the Element of Play's controller element, since you are creating the paths and timing of the goals on the fly which makes for an interesting (potentially flow-inducing) challenge. Whereas with the control modes Auto and Controller these paths are still created according to the tempo defined in the Breath Guide settings.
- Updated UI design
- 🐰Added an easter egg that some of you might be familiar with from Deep States. This also introduces a new temporary breath mode when activated. Hint: You might need a second to Trigger it. 🤓
- Added style options for the center particle of the visual breath focus object
- Added sound type options for the Humming Guide reference Omm-sound, some subtle variety to the default Omm-Mix sound, as well as a new style for the Humming visuals.
- Added two new Spatial Sound type categories
- Improved settings menu alignment when resetting the view with Optimized Reclining enabled
- Improved file handling when using a second headset account with App Sharing enabled on Meta Quest standalone - previously only experiences from the first page worked, while the other experiences created a frozen image. Now all experiences are accessible with the second account. However, when using a third, forth etc. account there will be a lock-symbol to indicate that the content has not been found (to avoid freezes).
- Lots of other small tweaks, fixes and improvements

Hello Flow-Community!

I've just released a new update for Realms of Flow with 2 new experiences, additional German voice-overs (now for all 12 experiences), selectable spatial sounds types as well as a bunch of other features and improvements.

You can find the full changelog at the bottom.

Upcoming plans:
Encouraged by parts of the community and considering that break-even with the investments for the first 12 experiences is still far on the horizon, it is very likely that further experiences will be made available as purchasable add-ons.

Other potential improvements and additions like more spatial sound categories, new styles for the breath focus object etc. will of course be available for everyone through regular updates.

As soon as the current update has proven itself without bugs (please report if you find any), I'll transition Realms of Flow from Early Access to full release on Steam.

I wish you a contemplative end of the year!


Best,
Marc

PS Your reviews matter, please keep them coming! (ideally when Early Access is over, since reviews on the full release count more) 😊



Realms of Flow 1.0.16 | Changelog - 10.12.2023

- Added two new experiences: "Vivid Flow" and "Edge of Now"
- Added six new German voice-overs (all 12 experiences have an English and German version now) and a German version of the tutorial
- Added selectable spatial sound types (5 categories additional to the respective experience-specific tones as well as a "Mix All" option - more categories will follow)
- Added two new styles for the visual breath focus object and a new breath-timing sound-indicator type
- Quest standalone version: Eliminated the need to download experiences in-app. All content will now automatically be downloaded during installation time. 🎉
- Added a "Mirror" Option to vertically mirror the upper or lower half of the main and/or secondary peripheral visuals. Which half is mirrorred depends on the "Flip" setting.
This gives some very interesting effects in some experiences e.g. the sky being above and beneath you in "Timeless Being".
- The main visuals can now be set closer than before and will also automatically be closer than before with higher "Extra Depth" values. The recommended defaults for "Distance" and "Extra Depth" are marked on the sliders with green dots while using the right thumbstick control.
- Added "Extended Out-Breath" option for the "Auto" breath tempo mode, which makes the out-breath phase twice as long as the in-breath phase. This is very effective in lowering heart rate and increasing heart rate variability (HRV). If coupled with an Auto Tempo of ~10s (= 6 breaths per minute) you are using a calm-inducing breathing technique called "Resonance Breathing".
If you are interested in the science you can read more about it e.g. here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8924557/
- Added "Follow View" option, which makes the scene follow your head's rotation with a smooth lag. Useful e.g. of you are lying in bed and want to able to turn around without having to reset the view manually.
- Added "Opacity" slider for the humming visuals
- Improved comfort with the "Circular" humming visual style by slowing down it's expansion at the periphery
- Improved adaption of the humming rumble effect to different scene-depth/distance settings
- Improved alignment of the triangular breath focus object to the scene with the "Reset includes Roll Axis" option enabled (now called "Optimised Reset for Reclining")
- Improvements to the spatial sound visuals
- Improved the transition out of an experience when "Open-End" is disabled. There is now a 30 sec. cool down, where music, environment sounds and visuals will fade away one after another, before re-entering the Home menu.
- Fixed an issue with spatial sounds occasionally disappearing abruptly
- Fixed an issue with the spatial sound visuals not featuring all available types when set to "Mix"
- Added a short sound preview in the menu when selecting any menu option that is related to choosing a sound type
- Improved initial appearance/timing of the visual breath focus object
- Fixed an occasional black intersection artifact for the main visuals with high settings of "Distance" and "Extra Depth" combined
- Fixed: Tutorial was not working correctly if user previously changed and saved certain settings (e.g. disabled voice-over)
- Improved visibility of the Tutorial button if not yet completed
- Fixed a bug where the volume slider for the voice-over would not work correctly when the volume was previously set to 0 by disabling voice in the Session Timing options
- Fixed particle effects randomly appearing (popping in/out) when starting a further experience
- Fixed (hopefully) occasional white flickering artifacts (strange bug on Quest with some system versions)
- Removed "Resume" option in the Home menu, since it caused too many issues down the line and was not very useful. On Oculus headsets you can still automatically pause and resume an experience anytime by removing the headset and putting back on or by opening/closing the system menu overlay.
- various other tweaks and fixes

Hello Seekers,

The new experience "Bliss of the Quest" and three new German voice-overs (experiences 4-6) have been added.

Enjoy your questing and flowing! 🪷
Marc


Full Changelog 0.9.10.11 | 17.09.2023

- New Experience "Bliss of the Quest"
- German voice-overs for experiences 4-6
- Big dedicated Start button
- Added: new option to include "Roll Axis" on Reset View, useful for correct view alignment when resetting view while lying down completely; off by default to have the horizon stay horizontal as default Reset View behaviour
- Fixed: Home menu page navigation would sometimes jump too fast
- Fixed: German "Capacity" voice-over also had the music included
- various smaller tweaks and fixes

Hello Flowees,

The new experience Light of Life has been added as well as German voice-overs for the first three experiences.

Enjoy! ːsteamhappyː

Hello Serene Minds!

A new update for Realms of Flow is now live with two new experiences: "Pulse of Life" and "Reflect".
I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. 💫

Moreover you can now save all of your favorite sub-menu settings additionally to the Session Timing presets, as well as enable auto-loading for both.

There are two slots for savings the menu settings: General and Experience. The Experience Slot has a higher priority when Auto-Load is enabled.
If Auto-Load is also enabled for a Session Timing preset, it's settings will overwrite any timing settings contained in an existing General or Experience slot.

The General Slot is useful if you'd like to change certain settings for all experiences.
There are a few experience-specific settings (like e.g. the style of the Breath Visual Focus Object) which are not stored in this slot, since they are different for every experience.

You can however use the Experience Slot to overwrite all settings including the experience-specific ones. This slot has to be created for every experience separately.

A convenient workflow would be to save your favorite settings in the General Slot and then modify the settings for each individual experience on the basis of the loaded General Slot to save time. There is also a help button on the Save menu which explains this concept.

For a more complete list of the changes see the changelog below.

Let me know what you think and please keep the reviews coming. 🌊 Having at least 10 validated reviews on Steam is essential for discoverability. Only one is missing. ☄️

Lot's of love 💚
Marc



/// Changelog | 0.9.8.6 - 16.07.2023 ///

- 2 new experiences "Pulse of Life" and "Reflect"
- Humming visuals on mobile now closer to PC-VR visuals to use increased performance from Meta Quest v55 update
- added: Ability to save/load and auto-load sub-menu settings
- added: Auto-Load checkoxes for custom Session Timing presets
- added: Indication on the respective sub-menu page when a guide feature is currently not activated by the session timing
- added: Settings Menu Button to Home for easier first contact for new users
- added: option to automatically end a session after the defined session time, default setting is Open-End
- added: Visual Breath Focus Object now has an opacity slider for Main Shape
- added: New Visual Breath Focus Object type for Main Shape
- added: 2 new Breath Timing Indicator Sound types: Hang, Timpani
- changed: Breath Focus Object now appears from the front instead of from behind to make the experience start feel as smooth as possible and avoid irritation
- fixed: Occlusion culling issue (visual pops) on Meta Quest with certain menu settings
- fixed: Spatial Sound movement bug with type "Surround", where the sounds would get stuck at the poles
- fixed: Gong Sound when starting an experience would be cut off introducing a slight audible crackle
- fixed: Voice-Over start time would unintentionally reset when resetting sound sub menu settings
- fixed: Occasional unintended visual artefact at app-start
- fixed: Resuming an experience would reset the floating particle speed to a wrong value
- fixed: Invisible boundary prevented pointer reaching the settings menu on rare occasions
- Timeline and current time more visible in Session Timing options
- Reset view info now earlier in the tutorial when the recommendation to stay centered is mentioned
- Hands/Controllers visibility will now auto-save