Advanced Features Roadmap

OpenVAT is fully-featured as a viable tool for production, but there are a number of improvements planned for the tool, including engine shader implementation improvement and variation, as well as unmatched encoding flexibility options. Here's my shortlist.

• Offset-Based Normals – for high-quality destruction simulations
• Tangent + Normal Encoding via TBN Matrix Quaternion – reconstruct full tangent space per-frame
• Face-Reconstruction VATs – capture face integrity over time for detailed destruction sims
• Chunk-Based Matrix Encoding – matrix per chunk for efficient rigid chunk transforms
• Custom Attribute Swizzling – remap attributes like xyz → rga for shader efficiency
• Multi-Attribute Multiplexing – encode multiple attributes in one texture via time or channel packing
• Float Packing into 8-bit RGBA – maximize compatibility while storing high-precision values
• Alpha Channel Encoding and Handling – support transparency, masking, and dissolve effects
• Sparse VAT Encoding – animate only needed verts for compression/performance
• Mesh Merging + VAT Offset Indexing – enable instancing and VAT reuse across multiple meshes
• Unreal Engine 5.4 Vertex Factory – C++ plugin to sample VATs directly in vertex shader
• Godot Engine Support – shader or GDExtension-based VAT playback integration
• Unity DOTS / HDRP Compute Shader Compatibility – support Unity’s high-performance pipelines
• Engine Example Scenes – production-ready demos for:
  • Destruction (face-reconstruction, chunk-based)
  • Fluid deformation / melting
  • Cloth simulation
  • Text morphing / typographic animation
  • Stylized effects using custom VATs
• SDF/Volume-Aware VAT Encoding – simulate melting/thick deformation using SDF-driven VATs