We post this here because we want some extra characters to format our final report message, this post will be quoted in our last grant update 
We leave some tech details, feel free to ask anything
1 · Project Vision
We set out to deliver two fully open-source Decentraland explorers, built on a shared SDK-7 runtime but optimised for different audiences:
| Technology | Focus | Primary Targets |
|---|---|---|
| Bevy | Rapid-iteration desktop client for creators, modders, and power users. Ships experimental features first. | Windows • macOS • Linux |
| Godot | Production-grade explorer for mobile and VR with a strong emphasis on performance, store compliance, and UX parity with the official app. | iOS • Android • Quest • Desktop VR |
The grant funded six months of engineering, tooling, and release work. Below you will find the full April update followed by a curated timeline of the most meaningful accomplishments from the entire period.
2 · April 2025 — Monthly Report
2.1 Bevy (Desktop)
| Category | Delivered in April |
|---|---|
| Rendering & World View | • Depth-of-field distant imposters: seamlessly blends baked imposters with live parcels. • Imposters optional ZIP bundling and hot-download support. • Configurable GPU bytes-per-frame + antialias defaults. |
| Camera & Visual Tools | • TextureCamera + CameraLayer routing finalised.• Scenes can now render “live security cams”, mirrors, and picture-in-picture UI. |
| System-UI APIs | • New runtime calls: reloadUI, hideUI, listScenes, getHome, setHome, getRealmProvider, systemActionStream, chatSend/Receive. |
| Scene-UI Modules | • Emote-wheel merged with animation-loop metadata support. • Backpack Search & Filter live. • Outfits feature-complete (load/equip) — PR opened for review. • Scene-info card/sidebar polished; likes, favs, rating, photos. |
| Input & UX | • Browser-spec onMouseLeave/Exit behaviour, editable input profiles, extended gamepad bindings. |
| Fixes & Polish | 30+ bug-fixes (permission dialogs, nametag distortion, drag-out, Steam Deck quirks, video flicker, minimap realm check, etc.). |
2.2 Godot (Mobile & VR)
| Category | Delivered in April |
|---|---|
| Engine Upgrade | Rolled Godot 4.4.1 to all platforms; automated artifact pipeline (GitHub Actions + hashed buckets). |
| Performance | Enabled Metal on iOS/macOS and introduced a 3.5 GB “High-Memory” flag → Genesis Plaza now holds ~45 FPS on an iPhone 14 Pro. |
| Satellite Map MVP | • Low-res tile rendering, pinch-zoom, one-finger pan, parcel tap-select. • POIs, category bar, places-API, hot-scenes, search. • Responsive layout (portrait / landscape) and clearer plot markers. |
| VR Track | • Jet-pack showcase world demo built with new input rig. • Fixed controller ray jitter, UI focus issues, and several Quest-specific crashes. |
| Publishing | New iOS & Android builds pushed to TestFlight / Internal testing, including Metal and asset-pipeline optimisations. |
3 · Six-Month Retrospective (Nov 2024 → Apr 2025)
| Month | Milestone Highlights |
|---|---|
| Nov ’24 | Kick-off — imposters prototype, desktop UI proof-of-concept, first asset-pipeline diagrams, sign-in overhaul for mobile. |
| Dec ’24 | Imposters v1 released (live parcel mip-mapping, CLI/ingame baking). Asset-pipeline v1 doubles load-speed on phones. |
| Jan ’25 | Render-to-texture & pointer-drag protocol land; Scene-UI photos/events panel online. Portrait/Landscape UI groundwork on Godot. |
| Feb ’25 | Bridged to new Foundation comms, introduced cache system, large Backpack UI push. Asset-optimisation pipeline finished; Godot fork binaries for every OS. |
| Mar ’25 | Server-side imposter generation (ZIP bundles), revamped Bevy UI API, gamepad binding overhaul. Worlds asset-optimisation live. |
| Apr ’25 | (See full April report above) — depth-of-field imposters, System-UI API suite, Emote-wheel merge, Godot 4.4.1 rollout, Satellite Map MVP, new VR demo. |
Cumulative Wins
- World-scale viewing — high-fidelity imposters let explorers render *all 90 k parcels * without exploding draw calls.
- Creator toolset — TextureCamera, CameraLayers, action streams, chat hooks, pointer-drag events, and live UI reload unlock richer SDK-7 experiences.
- Mobile viability — asset-pipeline + Metal rendering slashed load times and lifted FPS on iOS/Android, getting the parity with desktop closer.
- One-click builds — cross-platform GitHub Actions now spit out Godot & FFMPEG artifacts for five OSes in ~15 min.
- VR footing — first complete scene running on Quest with a jet-pack traversal demo and headset-friendly UI.
4 · What’s Next (Just Post-Grant Roadmap)
- Merge Backpack → Outfits with Catalyst persistence.
- Satellite Map 1.1 — multi-res tiles, clustering, and larger info cards.
- VR Beta — polish jet-pack demo, Quest store submission, performance profiling.
- Photo/Share Panel and additional system-UI APIs (permissions, notifications).
- Continue upstreaming fixes to Bevy & Godot, and cultivating external contributors.
All code, build scripts, and discussions remain open and active; the grant may end, but the explorer ecosystem it powered is only getting started.
5 · Resources
| Resource | Link |
|---|---|
| Discord (dev chat) | https://discord.com/invite/6mGqPnjujT |
| Clients links | https://dclexplorer.com/ |
| Roadmap board | https://github.com/orgs/decentraland/projects/43 |
| Bevy Explorer repo | https://github.com/decentraland/bevy-explorer/ |
| Godot Explorer repo | https://github.com/decentraland/godot-explorer/ |
| Scene-UI (Bevy) repo | https://github.com/dclexplorer/bevy-ui-scene/ |
| Updates / X account | https://twitter.com/DclDaoExplorers/ |
Thank you for funding and following the journey.