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Jan 20, 1999, 3:25am

Hi,

I know that Direct3D can be enabled by an unsupported option in the
AWORLD.INI file, at least in a past version of ActiveWorlds.
(if it's no longer supported in current versions).

However, my number 1 desire for ActiveWorlds is official Direct3D
support. Right now, ActiveWorlds 3D severely is becoming more and
more outdated, compared to many of today's newer 3D games such as
Unreal. At the very least, Direct3D (DirectX6) support should be
implemented directly without RenderWare as an intermediary step.
I believe this would vastly improve the framerate in ActiveWorlds
for many users who use fast computers (450 Mhz boxes, as well as
overclocked Celeron boxes) and fast 3D accelerators (such as the
Riva TNT, 3Dfx Banshee, etc).

My number 2 desire for ActiveWorlds is a full-screen-mode toggle,
where I can hit a button and then suddenly get full screen 3D for
browsing. Or a keypress shortcut such as Alt-Enter, like those
used in some Windows video games or DOS boxes, to toggle between
windowed and full screen. This would be great for sightseeing,
or public chat. (Complete chat and building support isn't that
necessary for full screen mode) That is, there won't be a chat or
building interface, but you would be able to see text floating above
other people, and be able to type what you want to say publically
Just like the "T" chat key in Quake 2 - just very basic chat support
during full screen 3D browsing mode.

My number 3 desire is better 1st-person/3rd-person support. While
I can use the Home/End keys relatively easily, I think its behaviour
needs to be changed so that it is easier to set a certain viewpoint.
As it stands now, it's almost impossible go into 3rd person and have
the "camera" hover just a foot or two behind you - it just jumps
at least 20 feet back at the lightest and briefest tap of the
"End" key - making my avatar look as small as surrounding avatars.

- I think that "End" should be a "zoom-out" only key, while
the "Home" key should be a "zoom-in" only key.
- Hitting "End" for the first time would switch the camera instantly
to hover behind your avatar by about 2 or so feet.
- Tapping "End" or holding down "End" will zoom the viewpoint outwards
incrementally (no acceleration - zooming shoudld stop instantly
after releasing "End" key so that you don't overshoot(
- Tapping "Home" or holding down "Home" should zoom the viewpiont
inwards incrementally. (Once you get as close as 2 feet behind
the avatar, it would snap back into 1st person view instead of
3rd person view)

In general, that would give people more control over the 3rd-person
viewpoint, and be more easily able to adjust exactly the distance they
want from the avatar.

_______________________________________________________________________
____
Mark D. Rejhon WinNT.Linux.Win95 \ / mailto:marky at ottawa.com
http://www.marky.com/ C.C++.VB.Shell \/ AlphaWorld Home 10S 15W

"A friend is someone who will be there without asking anything of you.
A friend is someone you know that knows you, and accepts you."
_______________________________________________________________________

Jan 20, 1999, 4:30am

rolu, can we put these three on the list?

BTW, what is the URL again?

Mark Rejhon <me at marky.com> wrote in article
<36A568E7.717F12FF at marky.com>...
> Hi,
>
> I know that Direct3D can be enabled by an unsupported option in the
> AWORLD.INI file, at least in a past version of ActiveWorlds.
> (if it's no longer supported in current versions).
>
> However, my number 1 desire for ActiveWorlds is official Direct3D
> support. Right now, ActiveWorlds 3D severely is becoming more and
> more outdated, compared to many of today's newer 3D games such as
> Unreal. At the very least, Direct3D (DirectX6) support should be
> implemented directly without RenderWare as an intermediary step.
> I believe this would vastly improve the framerate in ActiveWorlds
> for many users who use fast computers (450 Mhz boxes, as well as
> overclocked Celeron boxes) and fast 3D accelerators (such as the
> Riva TNT, 3Dfx Banshee, etc).
>
> My number 2 desire for ActiveWorlds is a full-screen-mode toggle,
> where I can hit a button and then suddenly get full screen 3D for
> browsing. Or a keypress shortcut such as Alt-Enter, like those
> used in some Windows video games or DOS boxes, to toggle between
> windowed and full screen. This would be great for sightseeing,
> or public chat. (Complete chat and building support isn't that
> necessary for full screen mode) That is, there won't be a chat or
> building interface, but you would be able to see text floating above
> other people, and be able to type what you want to say publically
> Just like the "T" chat key in Quake 2 - just very basic chat support
> during full screen 3D browsing mode.
>
> My number 3 desire is better 1st-person/3rd-person support. While
> I can use the Home/End keys relatively easily, I think its behaviour
> needs to be changed so that it is easier to set a certain viewpoint.
> As it stands now, it's almost impossible go into 3rd person and have
> the "camera" hover just a foot or two behind you - it just jumps
> at least 20 feet back at the lightest and briefest tap of the
> "End" key - making my avatar look as small as surrounding avatars.
>
> - I think that "End" should be a "zoom-out" only key, while
> the "Home" key should be a "zoom-in" only key.
> - Hitting "End" for the first time would switch the camera instantly
> to hover behind your avatar by about 2 or so feet.
> - Tapping "End" or holding down "End" will zoom the viewpoint outwards
> incrementally (no acceleration - zooming shoudld stop instantly
> after releasing "End" key so that you don't overshoot(
> - Tapping "Home" or holding down "Home" should zoom the viewpiont
> inwards incrementally. (Once you get as close as 2 feet behind
> the avatar, it would snap back into 1st person view instead of
> 3rd person view)
>
> In general, that would give people more control over the 3rd-person
> viewpoint, and be more easily able to adjust exactly the distance they
> want from the avatar.
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> ____
> Mark D. Rejhon WinNT.Linux.Win95 \ / mailto:marky at ottawa.com
> http://www.marky.com/ C.C++.VB.Shell \/ AlphaWorld Home 10S 15W
>
> "A friend is someone who will be there without asking anything of you.
> A friend is someone you know that knows you, and accepts you."
> _______________________________________________________________________
>

Jan 20, 1999, 4:47am

BTW,

I apologize for posting in the "beta" newsgroup earlier. I tried
to cancel the post when I read the rules in the beta newsgroup.

I'm just a very infrequent visitor and should have read the rules
first before posting in the "beta" newsgroup.

Thanks for understanding,

Mark Rejhon
http://www.marky.com/3d/ - see my ActiveWorlds home here!

Jan 20, 1999, 2:09pm

The URL to the AWFWWL is:

http://home.wxs.nl/~rokilo/AW-FWWL-NEWEST.htm

This is still version 1 of the list. I will release version 2 as soon as the
beta of AW 2.1 is final. In the mean time, send all idea's, votes and
comments to: rolu at bigfoot.com

I will add these three idea's (for as long as they aren't already on v1) to
v2 of the list.

Rolu

[View Quote]

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