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Re: AV98 (Wishlist)
Re: AV98 // Wishlist
Nov 24, 1998, 7:30pm
Thanks Mauz: )
icey
[View Quote]
[View Quote]> icey wrote in message <36582117.7E5D249A at altavista.net>...
>
> (cross-posting to Wishlist)
>
> Well, since nobody else is answering, I'll give you my
> (very heavily edited) version of Roland's presentation:
>
> "
> Immigration Officer: ALL: Roland will be giving a talk on the brief history
> of the development of AW and features developed and to be developed..
> BIGBOARD NOW
> so I don't really have a formal presenation prepared for this...I've been to
> busy watching the Star Wars preview again and again...
> and again...
> but here's what I'd like to do
> I'd like to start out with a brief history of the development of Active
> Worlds
> this should be a fun review for those of you who have been around since the
> beginning
> and interesting for those of you who are more new to online VR :)
> then I want to give my brief opininon of where we currently are, and where
> we are going
> and then open it up to a general discussion about the AW technology,
> inclyuding Q&A
> so let's start with the histry of AW...I'll try o cover this as quickly as
> possible
> development on AW first started in early 1995 at Worlds Inc
> for the first six months or so all work was done by a single programmer, Ron
> Britvich
> aka Protagonist
> I joined Worlds Inc. in September of 1995 and started working on AW with Ron
> shortly there after
> By then Ron was already up to build 38
> so I don't know much about the builds befor then :)
> so I'm not sure how many people remember build 38, but it was a...tad...bit
> less sophisticated than what we have now :)
> basically we had a three dee window and a field for entering chat text
> there was only one avatar, the immortal Cy
> there was only one world, AlphaWOrld
> you could build
> most of the time :)
> to become a citizen, you had to immigrate via a web page
> the system emailed you back an "immigration number" that you had to enter in
> order to be come a citizen
> it was an ingenious way to keep people from creating a zilliion
> ciitzenships, since you could only have one citizen account per email
> address
> the first thing I added to AW was the first "action" commands...
> teleport, bump, visible on/off, etc...
> this allowed people to add a little bit of behavior to their buildings
> it was very primitive, but a big step forward nonetheless...
> most of those action commands are still with us today...amazingly enough
> they are starting to show their age I would say :)
> yes they work ;)
> however I also fear they may be a little bit much for some new users to
> grasp...someday I'd like to see something a bit more user friendly...
> but anyway :)
> Moving on to around February 1996
> that was when AW first became a 32-bit app
> back then of course most of us were still on Win 3.1
> but this new beast Windows 95 was starting to make the scene
> so going to 32-bits was the first step to movingover to Windows 95
> completely...
> also at that time, the amzing concept of "dynamic downloading" was
> introduced :)
> if y'all remember, the early AW browsers were shipped with all the art
> included, all textures, sounds,everything
> the install was 4 megs...in 1995
> with most people on 14.4 modems still...that was a hefty dowload
> anyway we added the ability for the browser to download the art files on the
> fly, from a web site
> removing the requirement that all art be shipped with the browser
> to this day that was probably one of the most difficult-to-implement
> features I ever added...it was surprisingly complex
> anyway...that feature allowed us to move quickly to April 1996
> when we first introduced the amazing concept of...more than one world!
> wow
> it's not just AlphaWorld anymore...
> at the time, we first called them "zones", but over time that term was
> dropped in favor of the less-techy sounding "worlds"
> Version 1.0 of AW was released in summer of 1996
> for that we also managed to add....multiple avatars!
> wow
> not just Cy anymore...
> and also, I believe at more or less the samem time we added avatar
> animations
> something we pretty much take for granted now...but once upon a time
> everyone was looking pretty...stiff
> now for some reason my records of 1996 are sketchy...I don't recall exactly
> what was added when
> but fall 1996 saw he first best version of version 1.1
> build 133 I believe
> that was when we introduced the integrated web browser
> which was a huge step forward for integrating 2D and 3D content seemlessly
> well, for people that had IE anyway :)
> we also added the amazing "picture" command :)
> something else I'm sure we all take for granted now :)
> but there was a time when you were limited only to the textures on the
> object path, nothing else
> the picture comman allowed people to customize their buildings and creations
> to a degree never before possible
> we also added linking to WAVs and MIDIs anywhere on the web at the same time
> version 1.1 also allowed textures on avatars...
> it was all flat-shaded polygons before that :)
> MP3! yeah :) I want that too... hehe
> anyway...we managed to release version 1.1 in December 1996
> just in time, because...
> in January 1997, Worlds Inc., unable until even the very end to understand
> the value of what they had...
> cancelled AW and laid everyone on the project off...
> fortunately for us, however, instead of just tossing it in the trash, they
> put it up for sale...
> so certain other individuals who DID perceive AW 's value worked their butts
> off for two months in order to acquire AW from Worlds
> by the way, I wasn't one of those people...I took a two month vacataion :)
> but by March 1997, Circle of Fire had full rights to the AW technology...and
> work resumed!
> first day of official operations I believe was March 8, 1997
> By May 1997 we had version 1.2 out
> version 1.2 introduced the concept of tourists for the first time...we added
> this because it was becoming apparent that we needed a way to get poeple
> into AW quicker
> the immigration process, although simple, was confusing enough people that
> we felt we needed an easier way for people to see it
> somewhere around then we also introduced the amazing"sign" command :)
> allowing people to customize their work even more...
> actually I 'remember exactly when we added the sign command...but it was
> sometime around then
> sorry, I mean, I can't remember...anyway
> version1.2 also introduced the object password...since object theft was
> becoming a rapant problem
> rampant
> it allowed people to protect their hard work with a password so others
> couldn't just take their models and use them elsewhere
> an ability, interestingly enough, till completely missing from the web today
> still
> also summer 1997 saw the first introduction of a new product...the uniserver
> for the first time, someone (with a a lot of money :) could run their own AW
> universe separate from COF's
> this is still an emerging concept...but now there are at least half a dozen
> different AW universes that I know of
> more on that later :)
> August 1997 saw the release of 1.3
> in my opinion, probably the most significant new version of 1.3 to date
> it introduced most of the new features that shape AW as we know it today
> including...
> the worlds list'
> the contacts list
> telegrams
> joining
> eject
> privilege paswords
> and fully integrated HTML hel
> yes Q&A later :)
> those were just the biggest chnges:)
> and then, with build 177, in September 1997, something shocking and
> terrifying appeared...
> the registratinscreen :)
> oops
> registration screen
> since this is a technical presentaation I don't want to go into the details
> of why that was added :)
> suffice to say, it kept us busy for a good month getting it in :)
> and on October 8. 1997. registration was first switched on
> and AW citizenship was no longer free...ah well
> then work started on version 2.0
> in some ways, less of a major version feature-wise, but behind the scenes
> 2.0 involved an ambitious re-implementation of much of the underlying
> client/server architecture
> AW was growing fast, and it had outgrown some of the limitations present in
> 1.3
> among other things, the avatar limit was raised from 12 to 50
> making discussions like this one possible :)
> multiple objet selection was added, a nice tool for builders
> and everyone's favorite new feature, the VRT clock :)
> we also raised the infamous cell data limit
> keeping the hated building inspector at bay for a little while longer :)
> more on the techy side, we dropped the use of an internet protocol known as
> UDP
> UDP had been used since the beginning to implenent the chat and avatars
> it was a great solution in theory, unfortunately in practice it didn't work
> for too many different people
> so it was dropped...and th reliability of AW went up quite a bit
> also 2.0 introduced message sets for the first time
> allowing the creation of non-english versions of the browser for the first
> time
> this summer saw the release of the beta of the new SDK
> this is a powerful new tool for developers to add new behaviors to worlds
> like weve never seen before
> some of you may have witnessed the first ever SOCCER GAME we had in AW just
> a few days ago
> thanks to the SDK and the hard work of several determined AW citizens :)
> okay..almost done
> now we're working on versino 2.1
> which will bring us whispering, and bot support
> and file transfer
> among other things
> okay...that brings up up to now :)
> so where are we going?
> well..beyond 2.1...is 2.2, or 3.0, or whatever you want to call it
> as usual, there are a million things I'd like to see in that version, and
> we'll only get to a fraction of them
> but some of the things high on the wish list include...
> custom avatars
> improved bulding interface...
> I still think building is too hard :)
> including the use of objects from anwhere...not just the one object path
> the browser needs to have better support for multiple universes
> or, any support :)
> better 3D hardware support would be nice too :)
> that's tough though...the only way I see that happening is with a native
> Direct3D port of AW
> i.e. no more RenderWare
> that's a big one...
> also an issue I would really like to see addressed is...
> easier world hosting
> the original vision of AW was one of fewer, larger worlds that people spread
> out through...
> but the reality has been one more of many, small worlds
> people like to have their own, small private worlds...that they can control
> completely
> which makes sense
> it's like having your own web page...same thing
> but the hosting problem prevents a lot of people from having their own
> worlds up 24/7
> I have some plans for something I call a "macro sever"...a single server
> that can easily host hundreds or thousands of worlds at once
> it's actually not that hard...I would like to see that happen in 1999
> well, that's some of the big stuff anyway :)
> I see I've overshot my time...dang....
> but I don't have anywhere I need to be, so if you want to stick around I
> don't mind having a discussion now
> okay...
> so...not sure how to handle this :)
> hmmm..gravity....what about it?
> gravity ...as I recall...that was total spur-of-the-moment
> I added it one night when I was fooling around with collision detection
> we liked it so much we decided to keep it :)
> a history of outgoing telegrams...yes, that would be nice
> the whole telegram mechanism could stand for some substantial improvement
> well "when" is the question I can never really answer :)
> the best I can say is that I like the idea and I would like to see it happen
> well one thing about telegrams was, we didn't want to wind up just
> re-implementing email all over again :)
> since we already have email :)
> and it works pretty good :)
> the idea was to provide a light-weight way of quickly getting in touch with
> others
> yes...ignore for telegrams falls under the category of "improved privacy"
> which includes a variety of features...
> including the infamous green checkmark...
> my idea there right now is to make contact lists more reciprocal...
> in other words, you can choose to only expose information to the people who
> are on your contact list
> hmm I don't know, I don't see a whitebaord happening soon
> it's a nice idea but there's so much other stuff that is more important
> offline building....welll
> another nice feature to have
> however building is so tightly integrated with the server, it's really not
> possible to build without a server
> however, that said
> the ability to run a world server on your PC, and build in it without being
> connected to the net...now that's possible
> that is something I've wanted to do for a while
> [Kasper Voyager: And how would you make sure that 2 ppl don't build in the
> same place then]
> well Kasper that is the problem...that is why you need a server
> hmmm Zeke the world server may be doing more that you think :)_
> mirror universe servers...another nice thing to have...difficult to
> implement though
> I do think about that one though
> so far my experience with internet voice has been pretty negative
> it works okay for one-on-one, sometimes...
> but I don't see anyway we could have a group discussion like this with
> voice...
> not with this many people,. not with the current technologyu
> since so much of AW is about group chat...voice doesn't seem like it would
> help
> okay...object rotation...hehe :)
> maybe someday :)
> "
>
> By the way, earlier I heard some interesting comments by E N Z O:
>
> "
> I spoke with them [Truespace people] yesterday
> they are very excited
> perhaps a special AW bundling deal
> and a building tool
> along with the LF people
> who need avs
> maybee
> i will tell you more when i know
> "
>
> And:
>
> "
> we are writing the code for Custom avs in AW
> then everyone can have whatever they like... inside a few parameters
> and world owners can dictate the use
> There is a plugin being written for Truespace
> they will have a low priced AW bundle that outputs into RWX
> probly around 30 bucks
> and Lifeforms is working with them to provide an animation plugin
> was on the phone with both Seng from Credo and Terry from TS
> there is also an av maker from cof
> hopefully we can release it soon
> roland is working on MP3
> welllll... there will be implementation of direct 3d soon
> (meaning in a year or so...)
> and that would allow a better mixer
> direct sound
> "
>
> --
> Mauz
> http://tnlc.com/mauz/
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