NewWorld3D is an ActiveX control that will allow the viewer to interact in real-time with a virtual world. Like the technology used in games such as Doom and Duke Nukem 3D, NewWorld3D uses a custom 3D software engine to achieve real-time speed. The control will run effectively on a 75MHz Pentium system allowing a much broader audience than systems requiring high speed processors or expensive 3D accelerator cards.
The Construction Kit is the complete development system for the NewWorld3D ActiveX control. When you create a product (such as a simulation, adventure, game, educational program, etc.), only the control itself needs to be shipped with your final application. The Construction Kit includes a Map Editor, a Creature Compiler, and numerous other tools and documents to help you construct new worlds.
Once the Construction Kit is installed on your computer system, the control is accessible by any ActiveX container environment. In Visual Basic or Visual C++, this means checking the box next to the NewWorld3D control in the Components dialog box. In a VBA system such as Excel or PowerPoint, after turning on the Control Toolbox toolbar, clicking the Additional Controls icon in the bottom of the box will display a list of control from which you can choose the NewWorld control.
For use in web pages, you'll need to use the HTML object tag and type the ClassID of the NewWorld control. We recommend that you use a utility such as the free ActiveX Control Pad (www.microsoft.com/sitebuilder) or a commericial tool such as Visual Interdev where ActiveX controls appear in a list and the programs enter the ClassID into the HTML file.
The Map Editor allows you to layout the map of your world including the positions of creatures and objects, placement of walls and doors, and the appearance of walls and ceilings. Once the map has been been created, saving it off as a MAP fie allows loading into the control. The images for walls, ceilings, creatures, objects, and doors are stored in files with the SHP extension. The SHP files are created with the SHP Compiler program. The images that make up the SHP files can be edited in any graphic editor such as Adobe Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro
Using a traditional image or bitmap editor. All creatures must be created to show eight different angles. If the creature is created in a 3D program (such as Electric Image or Strata Studio Pro), generating these angles is simple. This method also allows easy use of real images (using a digital camera, just take the shots at eight different angles) or cartoon characters can be created.
Each creature may feature any number of actions (i.e. walking, jumping, flying, swimming, etc.) that may be displayed instantly. All of the images related to a creature are compiled into a single SHP file for easy of storage and fast loading.
Yes. The ChangeMap function allows instant switching of the shown map. Maps load so fast that the map can be switched between frames. Proximity detectors can be added to a world so the program can sense the user's movement and teleport, link, or jump the user into a new world.
Currently, only through DirectX acceleration. In the future, acceleration will be supported through the Direct3D drivers.
No, although NewWorld3D will use DirectX routines only if the DirectX property is set to True. However, tremendous performance advantages are gained if DirectX is used.
Creatures may be controlled either through direct code (using the MoveCreature functions) or through NewWorld Basic code.
Yes. However, the current version of NewWorld3D will not load world files (such as Creatures or Maps) over the Internet. These files must be located on the local hard drive.
User interactivity is left to discretion of the programming environment. Therefore, anything from joysticks to datagloves can be used if supported in your development environment. The first code sample demonstrates using the keyboard to move around a NewWorld in Visual Basic. We will post examples in the future such as those using the DirectInput APIs.
There are programming functions for open and close doors, shooting, touching walls, and collision detection. For example, the shooting function will return the line of sight collision directly in front of the user. If designing a game, the programmer might display a weapon firing and detect whether the shot hit a creature. When designing an educational program, this function could be used to select the creature the user wishes to interact with. The same function could also be used to select a particular object in the room or picture on the wall.
No. The VRML standard was created to enable a modeling environment, hence the name Virtual Reality Modeling Language. Currently the specification does not provide robust abilities to create interactive worlds, the cornerstone of the NewWorld3D control. The VRML community is strong and very interested in making VRML a viable technology in the future. If VRML gains more popularity, VRML compatibility will be considered.