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Re: Tags

Apr 24, 1998, 6:50pm
Gee, are they still working on it? Seems pretty hopeless...it's almost been 6 months now. Wow. Wee.

[View Quote] > One solution, and I hope this is what the Continuum is working on, is to
> develop independent server software that can be used like a webpage.

Indication: walking against wall

Apr 24, 1998, 11:17pm
Um, moving to a wall? Like sensors? How about a proximity alert system with laden response times and neuroelectrical biofeedback? JUST LEARN HOW TO FREAKIN' NAVIGATE IN 3D BETTER, ZIPPY.

sheesh

[View Quote] > I would like to see an indication in the browser that I cannot move forward
> because I'm moving to a wall. This is not always obvious and when you expect
> slow frames/sec it's not always clear why you don't move.
> Some parts in some worlds are also build with some errors so that on some
> parts you have to 'fly' or use the shift-button to continue in the requested
> direction

Indication: walking against wall

Apr 25, 1998, 2:00am
Good god...a beep! How lame...<walk>...<beep>..."ow"...<beep>..."stop that"...<beep, beep>..."look, you...I've had enough of you!"...<beep, beep>...<grumble>

Um...no. I'm not THAT lame. Noise...FEH! Gimme a friggin' break. What kind of lame "3D shooter" has a noise when you hit the wall? OK, OK, now if it was actually a the sound of hitting the wall, I could accept...hey, go check out Utah if you want to hear things when run into. It takes up a lot of data to add sounds to everything, but it does increase the realism of things. Two problems though:

1. AW pauses very briefly before playing a sound so it makes walking on anything with a "bump noise" difficult...and annoying. This pause is also with "bump sound", "activate noise", and "activate sound" commands. I've told Roland about this and he tells me the whole AW sound system needs redone. :/

2. Cell data limit will fill up fast with all the text required to make objects bumpable (and I like to add "activate noise" too for extra realism). I suggested to Roland to add another tag in RWX files for a sound to be "auto embedded" into an object. The tag could make a call to a WAV file, perhaps listed in the RWX file on a single line in a comment, like:

# ping.wav

or

# tag ping.wav

or

# tag ping

With such a tag, when AW downloaded the object, and saw the tag, it would then make a call for "ping.wav" or "ping.zip". And whenever someone bumped into the object, ping.wav would play. Another tag could be used for "activate", too. These tags would greatly save cell data.

[View Quote] > Eep, he means like a noise... like those you hear sometimes in 3D
> shooters. Yes I agree, he could learn to navigate in VR better, but this
> may be a nice option... but pretty far down The List (tm) :)

Indication: walking against wall

Apr 30, 1998, 10:36pm
[View Quote] > Thank you. My computer is relatively slow, indeed (P133, 32Mb RAM, Matrox
> Mystiqe 220, in Europe) and sometimes it takes a while to know what the
> computer is doing when I can't move anymore. Sometimes is just a slow
> computer, sometimes moving continues after data is received over the modem
> again (I live in Europe) and sometimes it is that I just can't move.
> Not being able to move can usually be seen in advance but can also happen
> because of bugs in the 3D world when something is not aligned properly. Also
> sometimes having 1 frame/sec does not help.

The trick is to decrease the visibility setting and reduce the 3D window. I have an AMD K5-PR133 which runs at only 100MHz (33MHz less than yours) and with the Direct3D driver, AW is even slower as the object/avatar density increases. I also have the 3D window at about quarter resolution of an 800x600 screen. As for living in Europe, many Europeans use AW without the problems you seem to have all the time. Try running traceroutes to auth.activeworlds.com (the AW authorization server) and whatever world server you're in at the time of the "slowdown". Note the longest pauses and contact the appropriate domains and tell 'em to work on it. If it's your ISP's servers, bug 'em.

> I intend to upgrade later this year to get >15 fps all the time but until
> that moment I would need the indicator to navigate through 3D better, thank
> you.

Heh, good luck. You'll be lucky to even get 10fps all the time. The more objects (including avatars) in view, the slower AW gets.

Suggestion: Improve readability of chat buffer

Apr 25, 1998, 3:55am
And what happens to the incoming text while it's "froze"? A chat buffer, like mIRC, is the answer. And more buttons aren't the answer either...that'll just get annoying. AW should just have it built-in like any GOOD program would.

The tab pane needs buffering, as well. It's annoying scrolling through the world list and having it reset, losing your place in the list and not knowing what's been changed since the last update.

[View Quote] > Perhaps a simple "freeze chat" button would do here.

Suggestion: Improve readability of chat buffer

Apr 25, 1998, 8:46am
Again, you want to make the user MANUALLY do things. This is poor design. mIRC stops the display of text (while storing it in a buffer) as soon as the scrollbar is moved up at all. The scrollbar will move as more text comes in, but the chat text area will not scroll on its own again until the scrollbar is all the way to the bottom. This is much more intuitive than making the user press a freeze/unfreeze button.

[View Quote] > The incomming text would still be buffered, but would simply not be
> displayed until the freeze button it pressed again. Actually, ICQ already
> has this feature, as do some of the other programs I've used, and it would
> work nicely (and I'm pretty sure would be easy to add) in ActiveWorlds.
> There may be better solutions, but I just wanted to mention this one since
> it would serve the purpose.

Re: Tags

Apr 24, 1998, 11:22pm
They wouldn't need specific action statements like "create tag <name>" to accomplish this. A "simple" scan of the world database files could do it. However, considering AW's database is at least a gig, and is practically constantly being accessed (except for 5 minutes around 3am everyday, I believe), I don't think this would be possible except, unless, the search was performed on the backup database. This would then raise the potentiality for corruption of the backup in case the power went out, say, when performing a search. The alternative is to make a backup of the backup, and do the search on one, while keeping the REAL backup safe. But would that mean AW would be "down" for 10 minutes around 3am everyday or could the other backup be made some other way? Roland'd know.

But it wouldn't need to suck up more object data just to "tag" everything when everything's already "tagged".

[View Quote] > OK well best I clarify then. What I would like is a way to say "create tag
> Jdal" or something like that in the action window then as part of the AW
> program have a search feature that would hunt down "tags" (its becoming a
> pretty common feature in CAD programs)
>
> So for example, a lightning bolt wipes my drive some evening. OH NO I have
> no idea where that big plot of land I was saving for my porno park is
> (( BUT WAIT.... all I have to do is go to the AW search page (or whatever)
> I type in Porno park and VOILA the co-ords for everything with a "create tag
> porno_park" attached magically appear the genius programmers of AW have
> saved the day with this thoughtful inclusion to AW2010.
>
> Well I realize it may have a few problems but you get the idea. really I
> would just like to find a way to search out places by type, builder, name,
> whatever

Re: Faster Turning/Walking

Apr 25, 1998, 3:49am
Yes, I know about high-speed panning, but it sucks, doesn't make things that much "high-speed", and is disabled when the Direct3D driver is being used (which I use).

[View Quote] > High Speed Panning is in the Perfomance tab of Options --> Settings if you
> want to turn it on. As for the idea of adjusting your step size based on

Re: MMX instructions

Apr 25, 1998, 3:57am
Have you bitched to Criterion and Intergraph about it, then, too? Don't settle for crap that don't work, people. You spewed out the money, time, and energy trying to figure out the damn thing; it had better at LEAST do what it advertises...

[View Quote] > Yes he would. It was me. I discussed it with him months ago. But that help
> page says that there may still be crashes, and there are, frequently, but
> only with AW. Not with any other D3D programs.

Chat watch

Apr 25, 1998, 8:32am
mIRC's had all these options (and more) for a while now. AW could learn a lot from mIRC...

[View Quote] > Here's one I've wanted to see for a long time, but for some reason, have
> never gotten around to asking for or suggesting:
>
> I would like to see a feature where a person could specify a list of
> words to be "watched for" in the chat dialog. For example, a GateKeeper
> might want to include such waord as "help" and "how" and perhaps the word
> "GateKeeper" as well as variations such as "GK" and the separate words
> "Gate" and "Keeper" along with their own name. They may also want to
> include key words from common phrases that clue them in to a person needing
> help, such as "new" which would be seen in statements like "I'm new here"
> for example.
>
> Here's how it would work... If I was in a crowded area, and someone
> asked about me, my name (TechnoZeus) or common variations (i.e. TZ, Zeus,
> Techno, or Z) would be detected be the chat watch routine and highlighted as
> they are displayed. This would make it easier to hold a conversation in
> less than ideal circumstances, but more importantly, would allow a person to
> get my attention without having to resort to telegrams or distract everyone.
>
> This option should be available for both tourists and citizens. While
> not as convenient as telegrams, it would help tourists to find each other.
> By default, your own name (exact spelling.. without the quotes if you're a
> tourist) would be watched for.... This could be toggled with a checkbox to
> avoid having to change what name is watched for each time you change
> identities (although I probably wouldn't notice the difference since I use
> the same name as a tuorist as I do as a citizen) and perhaps a seperate list
> could be kept for citizen or tourist mode.
>
> As for how to highlight the words, or what method to use when searching
> for them, I'll leave that up for discussion. My thought on the subject is
> that searching for each word as a text substring (full or partial word)
> could make a nice default, and that colors (or a color) could be used to
> highlight the words when they are found. Perhaps even allowing multiple
> concurrent lists each containing words to highlight in a different color.
> For example, if I set... TZ Techno Techno ={red} Zeus Z ={purple} look
> help how build ={blue} ... Then if someone said "I'm looking for
> TechnoZeus. Someone said he could help me learn to build." I would notice
> that line right away because my name (TechnoZeus) would be displayed in two
> colors (red and purple) and the words "help" and "build" as well as part of
> the word "looking" would be in blue. Some other possibilities might be to
> have words italicized, or placed in bold or underlined... or any combination
> of style and color changes.

Re: Faster Turning/Walking

Apr 25, 1998, 8:42am
No, the slider sounds annoying. Anything that makes the user have to stop=
and adjust AW is just poor programming. Either do it right or don't do i=
t at all. Look at Tomb Raider...specifically Tomb Raider 2...it has dynam=
ic lighing (flickering, flares, etc), MULTIPLE light sources, collision d=
etection on "avatars" (Lara, enemy humans/animals) up the wazoo, bajillio=
ns of textures, multi-mixed stereo sound (with no pausing before playback=
, mind you), and Lara can even ride a boat and snowmobile. All this and t=
he frame rate is STILL better than AW. Now, granted, AW has to make calls=
to servers, checking avatar positions, etc, but still. TR2 has to have a=
bout as many polygons/verts, and probably many more textures, within visi=
bility as AW does...and it has explicit DirectX support (not just Direct3=
D) as well as specific acceleration patches for certain 3D chips. Smack a=
level editor and network gameplay and here comes another competitor to A=
W. I even suggested these things to Eidos (partial
creators of the TR series). I'd much rather be in the TR environment than=
AW if it went this route. AW could learn a lot from the TR series, too.

[View Quote] > Well, personally, I think the high-speed panning feature is nice... if =
you
> can use it. Of course, if the D3D driver doesn't support it, you're k=
ind
> of out of luck there. Do you think the idea of a slider bar as I ment=
ioned
> earlier might help in your situation? Just a side thought here... suc=
h a
> slider bar could be included on a "movement control" dailog box of some=
type
> that could be alternately accessed by right clicking on the "mouse mode=
"
> button. (just a thought.)

Re: world categories

Apr 25, 1998, 9:05pm
But, gee, finding faults (bugs) is so much more fun! :D

[View Quote] > Thank you, TechnoZeus. I appreciate you offering an alternative rather
> than just ripping my ideas to shreds. Instead of just finding faults
> like some people, you presented a suitable alternative that I can agree
> upon.

Re: Tags

Apr 25, 1998, 11:43pm
Having to add even MORE data to an object's properties will just add to the overall cell data. I'd rather not have to do that JUST to get objects of mine located, for instance. A simple owner search should suffice. You want world content searching? Make the world website (in world options) clickable in the worlds tab, or something...maybe a context menu option to view the world's website or something.

[View Quote] > I don't think that the tag thing would be redundant. It would be more
> secure. It would allow the builder to select what gets searched for
> instead of a random search uncovering some secret hideaway that was
> meant for only the builder and a few friends.
> It would be more secure and people would feel safer if the engine could
> not search for anything that was not tagged.

Closing AW w/Direct3D Driver Pauses

Apr 25, 1998, 11:44pm
I'd like to have AW not pause after every exit. Seems to only happen with the D3D driver...

A few old ideas

Apr 26, 1998, 2:32am
This can already be done through animate commands if the texture files are numbered (tree1.jpg, tree2.jpg, etc). I don't think there's a way to make it switch to different texture names though (tree1 to snow1, for example) though.

[View Quote] > This is the command enhancement I would like most to see added: Trigger
> delay timers.
> After any trigger, a number in parenthese could be interpreted as a delay
> count... for example:
> Try this...
> animate a tree01.rwx object with flame...
> then have it wait a short time and change to water...
> then have it wait a short time and change to snow...
> all without having any other object to control it... just the tree.
> the way ActiveWorlds presently works, as far as I know you just can't.
> But with the delay parameters it would be this simple...
> create animate me flame 1 1 0; create(10000) animate me water 1 1 0;
> create(20000) animate me snow 1 1 0

Actually, this would probable me "create animate me flame 1 1 0,animate me water 1 1 10000,animate me snow 1 1 20000" to save redundancy and make things more "smooth" to type.

> activate visible off, solid off, visible d1 on, solid d1 on; activate(15000)
> visible on, solid on, visible d1 off, solid d1 off; bump visible off, solid
> off, visible d1 on, solid d1 on; bump(7000) visible on, solid on, visible d1
> off, solid d1 off

In addition to what I mentioned above, killing spaces after commas (,) and semi-colons (;), as well as using "no" instead of "off" will save data here, too.

A few old ideas

Apr 26, 1998, 2:32am
Suggested this one to Roland months ago.

[View Quote] > Here's another nice one... combining triggers...
> Ya know.. Like when someone wants to make a teleport to GZ, so they use...
> activate teleport 0n 0w; bump teleport 0n 0w
> Maybe they could use something like...
> activate/bump teleport 0n 0w
> Using this type of trigger combining (to mean something like "bump or
> activate") along with trigger delay timers, the following simple command

A few old ideas

Apr 26, 1998, 2:33am
You can do this now with a texture name that doesn't exist, like ".", "_", "-", etc. I use one character to use as little data as possible. I've been using it for months.

[View Quote] > Another idea... a way to shut an animation off so that the object would lose
> the applied texture. For example,
> astop off
> might be used to turn a tree01.rwx back to it's original color combination
> of green with a brown stem.

A few old ideas

Apr 26, 1998, 2:35am
Or just be able to create an object "out of nothing", without needing a "starter" object.

[View Quote] > A "Bring ojbect with" checkbox in the Teleport dialog (for teleporting your
> avatar) which would be availible if you have an object selected, and when
> checked, would cause the object to be moved with your avatar.... or
> alternatively, a "carry object" option in the object properties that would
> let you walk around or teleport while holding the object, and would keep the
> object in the same position relative to your avatar.

A few old ideas

Apr 26, 1998, 2:40am
Heh...interesting names. I suggested wireframe and pointcloud (just vertices) modes to Roland months ago, too. There should also be options for faceted lightsampling, Gourard (gradiated) lightsampling, unfiltered textures (bilinear texture filtering does reduce performance slightly), z-buffering, dithering, perspective correction, and triple-buffering. Most 3D games have ways of disabling/enabling most of these options.

[View Quote] > Vision enhancements: Normal Vision = Like it is now; Techno Vision =
> Wireframe Vision (or Textureless Vision) with added viewing distance or
> improved framerate; Kronos Vision = Normal for closer objects + Wireframe
> for more distant objects.

A few old ideas

Apr 26, 1998, 2:43am
Guess you never heard about some of the bots in AW in the past. Supposedly there was one in a bar near AW GZ that responded when typed to. Another time there were supposedly a flock of birdes "flying" around. And still another time there was supposedly an object that you could actually push around by bumping into it. These all occurred before last summer cuz I've never seen 'em. Hamfon is working on a bot program currently that is supposed to allow text interaction, as well as avatar automation. I plan to use it for rolling tumbleweeds in Utah when he ever releases it...

[View Quote] > Wildlife. It has been brought to my attention that some people would like to
> see such things as deer, horses, geese, squirrels, foxes, bears, ducks,
> swans, gerbils, etc. roaming around the realm of Alpha World. This could
> possibly be accomplished with a limited number of "bots" which would be
> visually repeated at regular intervals... for example, every kilometer.
> While not for every world and I would expect, not a priority, it has been
> suggested that some worlds would be enhanced by the presence of computerized
> life forms other than the people who visit the worlds. This is perhaps one
> way such a possibility could be realized.

A few old ideas

Apr 26, 1998, 2:45am
Now that's what I call Miracle Grow™.

[View Quote] > A "Mutate" command. Example: create Mutate me 3 10000 seed plant tree
> bigtree, astop
> This example would change the object displayed to seed.rwx after 10 seconds,
> plant.rwx after 20 seconds, tree.rwx after 30 seconds, and bigtree.rwx after
> 40 seconds although the name of the object file (in the Object Properties)
> would not change.

A few old ideas

Apr 26, 1998, 2:53am
It will be much easier if people learned how to create their own objects and then allow people to use non-world objects in any world by having a "null"-type object, then entering, say in its name field, its URL ("site.com/1.rwx", for example; "http://" is assumed in front, but other protocols could be used like "ftp://", "https://", etc.). But all these new commands you're suggesting are just going to add to the cell data limit, and even with the huge limit in 2.0, that data limit would easily be reached. Either AW has to be able to organize its data better, either through the use of checkboxes, pull-down lists, radio buttons, etc in the object properties box, or some other way, or that cell data limit will always be a problem.

[View Quote] > Tint command. This command would cause the surface colors and textures of
> the effected object to be blended with the RGB color specified by the first
> three numeric parameters using the last number to determine the extent of
> the effect. I'm not sure if (or how) this command could be implemented, but
> if so it would give builders a great deal of added control over the look of
> their creations.

A few old ideas

Apr 26, 1998, 2:54am
How about "move"?

[View Quote] > speed and direction of your avatar's present movement. Perhaps an easier
> word to spell would be a better choice... maybe a Walk or Fly command?

A few old ideas

Apr 26, 1998, 2:57am
Suggested this months ago, as well. Roland said he didn't want to go redoing command names since he wants to redo the whole command structure anyway. Problem is, he never has (and who knows if he ever will). He just doesn't have time to do all these things and COF doesn't have the money to hire another programmer. It's really a lame situation and AW's development (and the users' enjoyment of using it) is the price.

[View Quote] > Here's one I would REALLY like to see: Command abreviations. For example,

A few old ideas

Apr 26, 1998, 2:59am
This has been discussed before. The first thing to happen would probably be allowing people to use their own avatar objects from outside the world (i.e. a URL). This was supposedly rumored for 2.0, but who knows when it'll be implemented, if ever. Specific avatar customization within AW will probably be even farther off...

[View Quote] > Avatar Customization flyout menu to let the user select clothing color
> variations and/or skin tone for a personalized version of the selected
> avatar. This one may be difficult or impossible, but here it is anyway if
> anyone is interested.

A few old ideas

Apr 26, 1998, 3:06am
Suggested this months ago, too. I think Roland said the entire world cell structure would have to be redone. Cells aren't 10m³ cubes, but 10m x 65535m x 10m--2D, since the y-axis is the buildable distance . It should've been 3D in the first place but lots of corners were cut, as Roland keeps telling me when explaining off why things weren't done better. Until AW has TRUE 3D object manipulation, it won't entirely be a TRUE 3D application, in my view. Visibility distance is also only 2D, since AW's setting only applies on the x-z plane.

[View Quote] > Ability to rotate an object vertically. (That is, through the x-z or y-z
> plane.) Even if only in specific "large" increments within a limited range.

A few old ideas

Apr 26, 1998, 3:09am
I suggested to Roland something similar, except that the object would move flush next to itself automatically (and could be continued if moved further). He said they had considered doing something like that before but, as usual, it never got done.

[View Quote] > An option to move in object size steps when one object is selected (for
> example, a walk001h.rwx could be made to move ten meters per click while
> CTRL is held down... not sure how you would handle that with multiple
> objects selected.

A few old ideas

Apr 26, 1998, 5:05am
No, you can have textures with the same name (different end #) change at set intervals. Read up more on the animate command and you'll see.

[View Quote] > Actually, if you look more carefully, you will see that what this does is
> not possible with the animate command unless you encorporate several objects
> each with a portion of the action desired.

A few old ideas

Apr 26, 1998, 5:06am
Of course, silly; otherwise I wouldn't've suggested it. :)

[View Quote] > Same here. Last year in fact. Didn't see it in the newsgroup yet though,
> so I added it in case someone who hasn't seen it might be interested. The
> list I've just posted is just a few of the suggestions I've made, and
> although some of my best ones are included, there are also some that were
> not so good, and many of the good ones got left out simple because I haven't
> kept track of them of kept them in any kind of list or folder. Anyway, I
> take it you aprove of this idea... seeing as you've also found it worthy of
> suggesting. Am I correct in this assumption?

A few old ideas

Apr 26, 1998, 5:08am
Just use the name or # of the original texture.

[View Quote] > Not what I meant. That strips the texture altogether. What I am
> suggesting here is a way to return the object to the textures it has built
> in.

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