This is the information page for the public server at www.deepmatrix.org
How to get your world permanently on the public server.
Principal new Features in brief:
1. NEW for version 1.03: The
Java application will now close and re-open the
3D viewer Instant
Player to clear memory!
2. Server based persistent storage
for shared events.
3. Lock type shared events so only
one user at a time can control a particular event.
4. Text string delivery from the
Java GUI to the world for commands or messages.
5. Gives both Instant Player and
FreeWRL a capability to play mp3 files.
6. Revamp of Java GUI to give make
navigation user-friendly.
7. Certain number of administrator
features allow the admin to add/remove users/objects/worlds
to the server. These can only be
accessed through a password.
8. Allows an end user the ability
to attempt to put their own world on the server without any prior coding.
9. Allow a user to privatize/limit
access to their world, so only names designated by that user have access.
To try out these features just
select them from the pull-down choice menus on the Java GUI.
The chat client will give instructions
and examples on how to use them if they are implemented or tell you
otherwise.
For in-depth information on the
features/how-tos/bugs of Deep MatrixIP9 please see the
documentation @ wwwdeepmatrix.org:
Read
me
It is also located in the documentation
folder of the Deep MatrixIP9 download.
There is also a forum available:
Deep
Matrix Forum
Note: these features were developed
and tested on a Windows XP and an IMac G5 PowerPc.
Whether they work or not on other
operating systems such as the new Windows 7 is unknown.
Feedback on other operating systems
is welcome!
The worlds listed on the Java client
were included to either demonstrate the virtues and defects of this system.
Worlds A through H were modified
by hand code to install either shared events or deal with bugs.
Worlds listed under I try to use
the "hang a world without prior coding" feature to various degrees of success.
A. The initial "Matrix" world which
you are in now shows off Deep MatrixIP9's interactive features:
1. Basic shared events
2. Shared events that
can be locked into one user's name so it can only be controlled by that
user.
3. A demo of back-pack
objects ala' blaxxun.
4. The back-pack objects
examples (Mobius and Colored Box) can be added and removed from the world.
They can be
moved and rotated to any position and those coordinates and rotations are
saved on the server.
Mobius back-pack
object has locking shared events.
5. Mp3 playing capability
which is demonstrated in the transparent boxes set back from the entrance
viewpoint on the left.
6. Controlling both
the world collision and headlight status of the Java GUI.
B. "Black Sun" world demonstrates
the ability to deliver message text strings from the Java GUI to the world
and have those messages saved
on the server using persistent storage.
C. "Chess" world shows off extensive
shared and lock events as well as persistent storage to record all the
chess
pieces' locactions.
D. "Desert Treasure Hunt" is a
find the treasure game originally written for Cybertown and the old blaxxun
developer's server.
It extensive shared events exploits
persistent storage and both shared and lock events. The rules on how to
both play and set up a new game can be accessed by clicking the "How to
Play" button on the Java GUI.
E. "Seven Emerald Tablets" is a
tarot reading world that loads seven random but shared tarot cards and
has "Grimalkin"
my familiar chat bot. Initial entry
is done by an animated viewpoint and that will be of interest to would-be
developers.
F. "Griff's Castle" by Peter Griffith,
which runs four of the new Sound_Matrix Nodes for mp3 files.
G. "Prime City" by Hermetic Cab
with another animated viewpoint. It turned into an exercise of manipulating
NavigationalInfo to perfect
the end-user's experience.
H. "The Forest" ( aka "Inner Realms"
of Cybertown) by Jeffery Bedrick which looks very different in Instant
Player than Bitmanagement/blaxxun Contact.
I. In this version of Deep Matrix
an effort was made to give the budding world builder an ability to hang
their world without having
to install the special multi-user
protos.
The following worlds show off this
ability for better or worse:
1. "Easter Island"
and "Stonehenge" by Dave Maloney load perfectly without any prior hand
coding.
They also demonstrate how
avatars and objects are now loaded into a Group Node in world file itself
rather than the original root world file, so they are lit by Directionallights
at the top level of the file. A consiouse effort was made to try to respect
the orignial artistic intent as much as possible in a mult-user system,
rather than have the artistry be sacrificed to the multi-user tech.
2. "Desolation
Outpost" and "Relax" by Bruce (OMind) Lehmann.
"Desolation Outpost" loads perfectly
although the scene graph search replacing relative urls with absolute ones
takes a long time!
You'll know when it is finished
because the orange background texture is the last to load.
"Relax" demonstrates an inherent
bug with the Java EAI EventOutObservers for the position and orientation
of the user.
The world SEEMS to load alright,
but all user movement is ignored. Clicking on "Ghost" to view your avatar
will result in your transference to the world center. See the "world_developer.html"
in documentation for more information.
3. "Hell" and
"Geometrek's Islands" by Dennis Mckenzie. I chose these worlds because
of Mr. Mckenzie's association with Geometrek -the originator of the Deep
Matrix applet and they therefore are of historical interest.
The texture loading problem of
"Geometrek's Islands" that plagued earlier versions has been solved as
of version 1.03!
4. "RimsRook's Sunden"
by Tito was an exercise in optimizing for Instant Player and solving another
texture loading problem.
If absolute urls for inlined files
are used instead of relative ones the world should completely load.
As of version 1.03 the relative
to absolute url conversion should be vastly improved.
How to get
your world permanently on the public server.
1. You first put your world on
temporary display by selecting from the "Worlds" pull down menu
"Add-Remove-World" and follow the
directions that are presented in the chat.
2. Normally if you leave your world
it will disappear from the list.
3. You can keep your room open
by either remaining online or by running a bot in your world
( see the bot_READ_ME.txt file
in the bots folder for information on running a bot )
Running a bot has the advantage
of using far less system resources.
4. Contact me at pyth7@deepmatrix.org
to approve the world as admin, so you won't have to run a bot.
Please note the world has to be
functional for me to approve it!
Acknowledgements, credits and thanks:
All copyrights and thanks for mentioned
VRML worlds and objects used here belong to these individuals:
Steve (lazerousvr) Boyce -for the
Mobius strip model and support and texture advice.
Jeffery K. Bedrick at http://bedrickstudios.com
for the use of his "Forest" world aka "Inner Realms" of Cybertown.
Peter (Griff) Griffith at http://www.3dworlds.ca
for the use of his "The Tower" and "Craig-Y-Ddinas" worlds.
Dave (Guy) Maloney at http://www.avatara.com
for use of "Easter Island" and "Stonehenge" worlds and Grimalkin the gremlin
avatar.
Alana at http://woopwoop.8illusion.net
for
the use of "Dream Time" and "Top of the World".
Hermetic_cab at http://www.cyworx.com
for the use of his "Prime City" world.
Bruce (OMind) Lehmann of http://www.spafon.com
for the use of his "Desolation Outpost" world and resource site vrml-x3d.ning.
An unknown builder for the "Lobby".
Tito at http://www.virtualhl.info
for "RimsRook's Sunden".
Phillip (MrPhillips) Hansel of
http://www.philliphansel.org
for the treasure chest used in the Desert Treasure Hunt game.
Chad (Doctragoz) Sweigert for the
spinning globe prize used in the same Desert Treasure Hunt game.
Dennis Mckenzie for the use of
"Hell" and "Geometrek's Island ".
The tentacle avatar is an old blaxxun
avatar originally created by Lunatic Interactive."
The Sorcerer avatar was made by
"Kiwano" for Geometrek.
Thanks also goes out to:
Steve Guynup -education developer.
Rick Kimball -programmer of Abnet
at http://www.vrmlworld.net
for help and advice.
The programmers behind Instant
Player for fixing bugs quickly.
Steve F White and Jeff Sonstein
for getting the Java multi-user ball rolling over a decade ago with
V-Net.
Gerhard Reitmayr and Geometrek
for the original Deep Matrix client applet and server -the solid foundation
on which this was made.
John Landry for being the admin
and support well after the MS JVM had died.