Hi all, it's been a while!
We're excited to finally release this big update that's been in the works for the majority of 2025. Because of some of the infrastructural changes, we initially had it in beta for the past couple of months as we worked out the issues you reported. The 2 major new additions are modding support, and a new 2D/flat-screen mode on PC. The app has also gone through an engine upgrade to Unreal Engine 5, though you should ideally not notice much of a difference - in fact you might notice some of our performance optimizations. The engine upgrade will make it easier for us to keep updating the app with the latest XR platform features moving forward.
We also have a new release of the PD Song Creator/Companion App with some feature and quality of life updates: https://github.com/emretanirgan/ParadiddleUtilities/releases/latest
As always, you can switch back to the earlier version of the app if you run into any issues. To roll back to the previous version, right click Paradiddle -> Betas -> Select "previous" on Steam, or click the "..." icon on the app in your app library, go to Settings -> Release Channels and select "Previous Version" on Quest.
Modding Support
This has been a big task we've been working on for a while: we're excited to announce that mods are now supported both on Quest and Steam! You can drop them into sdcard/Paradiddle/Mods on Quest, or Documents/Paradiddle/Mods on PC.
You can make custom environments, drums, hook into core app events such as notes being played in songs or drums being hit, make UIs for your mod that users can interact with.
You'll need the Paradiddle Mod Kit to make mods using Unreal Engine 5.4. You can find the mod kit and instructions here: https://github.com/kasapoli/ParadiddleWorkshop. Keep in mind that we're still updating the documentation and will be clarifying more details as we take your questions about the process.
Here's a 'backrooms' inspired map that one of our community members, Moth, has been working on:
We're currently uploading some video content walking you through modding basics, and will be updating this post, as well as posting them on our Discord, as soon as they're up.
(Beta) 2D Mode
This has been another major undertaking that's now in beta state: when you launch the app, you can now select the "Launch Paradiddle in 2D Mode" option to launch into flat screen mode.
You should be able to launch songs, play with any of the app or song settings, and change drum settings by clicking on a drum on your kit. Midi input automatically will be enabled on all your drums, so if you have an e-kit all you need to do is to select your drum kit under Options -> Midi.
You can also use keyboard controls to trigger the different drums in the standard set, and play the app like a rhythm game just with your keyboard.
We're still working through some positioning and usability issues in 2D mode, and trying to get a better sense of what you'd like to see improved or fixed first. Feel free to give us your feedback on the #suggestions and #bug-reports forum channels on our Discord!
You can see an overview and list of known issues here that we're working through: https://discord.com/channels/354847842612936705/428143763068682242/1423560614508363776
DLC UX/UI Updates
We've added new DLC specific song pages with info about our song packs, where you can now purchase the packs directly in the app on Quest.
The DLC songs will now display in their dedicated menu tabs after the download is finished.
We've also made DLC downloads more reliable overall on Quest, and added a % download progress bar in the dedicated DLC page.
MIDI Input Over Network on Quest
The latest version of the companion app can send midi messages from your PC to your Quest. This should let you do things like connect your e-drum kit or other midi instrument to your PC, and send the midi messages to your Quest over the network without having to plug it in directly to your Quest.
PD Song Creator + Companion App Updates
The latest release of the song creator now has a song display feature that can show you what your raw midi notes look like, and what the result of the conversion will look like.
You can now select a preview audio track for your converted song.
Made quality of life improvements to make it easier to catch conversion issues before they happen, such as showing the number of midi notes in your selected midi file and track, as well as how many notes will be present in the converted song file.
The companion app will now let you know if there's a newer version available.
We're also considering making a web version of the song converter, so let us know if you'd find this useful or if you have any suggestions.
Unreal Engine 5 Upgrade
The app now supports OpenXR by default, which should in theory make it easier to support different types of headsets and controllers on Steam. Let us know if you notice any different/broken behavior on your headsets that you hadn't notice before, and we'll take a look.
Performance Optimizations
We've made several GPU & CPU optimizations across the board. Some of this work was offset by our upgrade to UE5, as certain cheaper to use engine features have been deprecated, however you should still see a net performance gain compared to the previous version of the app.
Decreased default CPU usage by about 20-30% in all scenes of the app.
Enabled dynamic resolution on Quest. This might give you better resolution than before in some cases, and will also help with temporary frame rate dips, especially in more complex songs.
Other Fixes
Fixed a bug where you couldn't grab and move the note highway in the Galaxy map.
Fixed a bug where the midi learn buttons on drums were listening to any midi event, rather than filtering by midi 'note on' events.
Fixed the recenter button not working on PC and brought it back to the toolbar under the menu.
Fixed an issue where some custom song album art would appear with wrong colors, or with a color tint.
Known Issues
If you play the new version, and switch back to the prev_version branch on Steam, there is a chance the older version won't be able to properly recognize your save file due to the engine upgrade. If you run into any unexpected behavior, you can try deleting your Saved folder under C:/User//AppData/Local/Paradiddle/Saved.
-Emre
Join us on Discord!: https://discord.gg/paradiddle
Official Paradiddle website: http://paradiddleapp.com
