Adding Scenes

To connect a scene via MetaStart, you must first add the scene to the Unity project and then to the MongoDB database.

Add Scene in Unity

Create a new Scene

• Place your scenes in a folder of your own project, e.g. Assets/Scenes, not inside Assets/Lab.
• The easiest start is a copy of the Example sample scene (see Special Scenes). It already contains the Social Network Scene prefab for networking.
• Don't add a player or camera: the player comes from MetaStart.
• Add a GameObject for each spawn point and name it like the role's spawnPosition (e.g. DefaultSpawn).
• Add the scene to the build profile (File > Build Profiles > Scene List), after MetaStart.

Debug Scene without MetaStart

To test a scene on its own, temporarily add the prefabs MetaPlayer2.0 and AvatarSdkManagerStyle2Meta (from the Meta Avatars Sample Scenes, folder Common/Prefabs/AvatarSdkManager/Recommended), as MetaStart does. Rename the manager to AvatarSdkManagerMeta: the avatar scripts look it up by that name. Remove both again before building.

Add Scene to the Database

The Scene must be added to the database to be accessible via MetaStart. There are two ways to do this:

• Via the Database API (recommended). The Database API now has endpoints for creating scenes, roles, levels and their locales, so you don't need direct database access - just an API key. Start there; the walkthrough builds exactly the structure documented below, one call at a time.
• Directly in MongoDB. As a student, ask your corresponding supervisor to add the scene for you. Scenes are stored in the scenarios collection, in the structure below.

This is the structure of a scene, as GET /scene returns it and as the client reads it (ApiScene in Assets/Lab/Core/Runtime/Scripts/SceneManagement/SceneManagerTypes.cs):

Field	Meaning
name, shortName	Name in the scene selector, and a short version where space is limited
author	Author of the scenario
internalName	Name of the Unity scene
enabled	Visible in MetaStart
roles	Roles by identifier (your own key, e.g. interviewee)
roles.<id>.mode	player or spectator (webcam exists but is not used by the client yet)
roles.<id>.spawnPosition	Name of the GameObject in the scene the role spawns at
roles.<id>.maxCount	Maximum number of players with this role
roles.<id>.admin	The admin starts and ends the levels
roles.<id>.restrictions	Restrictions of the role, e.g. blur
roles.<id>.locales.<lang>	name and description of the role per language (EN, DE)
levels	The stages of the scenario, in order
levels[].delay	Stops the level after n minutes (null: no limit)
levels[].roleDescriptions.<id>.locales.<lang>	What the role does in this level

The example below defines the InterView sample scene: an interviewee in VR who starts and ends the level, and an optional spectator. The spawn points DefaultSpawn and spectator exist in that scene.

Example Scene Entry

{
  "name": "InterView Sample",
  "shortName": "InterView",
  "author": "Jane Doe",
  "internalName": "InterView",
  "enabled": true,
  "roles": {
    "interviewee": {
      "mode": "player",
      "spawnPosition": "DefaultSpawn",
      "maxCount": 1,
      "admin": true,
      "restrictions": [],
      "locales": {
        "EN": { "name": "Interviewee", "description": ["Answer the interviewer's questions."] },
        "DE": { "name": "Befragte Person", "description": ["Beantworte die Fragen der interviewenden Person."] }
      }
    },
    "spectator": {
      "mode": "spectator",
      "spawnPosition": "spectator",
      "maxCount": 1,
      "admin": false,
      "restrictions": [],
      "locales": {
        "EN": { "name": "Spectator", "description": ["Watch the interview."] },
        "DE": { "name": "Beobachtung", "description": ["Beobachte das Interview."] }
      }
    }
  },
  "levels": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "delay": null,
      "roleDescriptions": {
        "interviewee": { "locales": { "EN": { "description": ["Interview"] }, "DE": { "description": ["Interview"] } } },
        "spectator": { "locales": { "EN": { "description": ["Observe"] }, "DE": { "description": ["Beobachten"] } } }
      }
    }
  ]
}