Current goals, was Re: [vos-d] here's another format :-)

2005-10-28 Thread Reed Hedges


One more priority we might consider is an object-editing window that can be used
in terangreal (or other apps).  




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Re: [vos-d] here's another format :-)

2005-10-28 Thread Reed Hedges
On Thu, Oct 27, 2005 at 04:45:28PM -0400, Peter Amstutz wrote:
> Not sure what you mean by "things that arn't files" but you did just get 

A database for example, or querying into some other application to get its 
data. 
So you associate e.g. foo://server:1234 with a "parser" that really loads all
the data available by protocol "foo".  ... Just saying that you can have other
kinds of data sources than just files.


> Goal: Make Ter'Angreal the software that enables the 3D web
> Current challenges:
>can't make 3d worlds by hand & 3d data import sucks -> no content
>interactive apps need to be written in c++ -> no interactivity
>building VOS is a pain in the ass -> scares away developers
> 
> solutions:
>   no content:
>-> text format(s) make it easier to write by hand
>-> xml format(s) make it easier to write exporters from other programs
>-> converter architechture makes it easy to plug in data import and
>   have it work seamlessly (every VOS app immediately gains ability to
>   read that document format)

When Peter adds this, would anyone be interested in using it to write something
to load, like, Quake2 or Doom levels? There's a near endless supply of them on
the net.

>-> maybe finish the vrml geometry importer (reed? :-)

I just made it compile again with openvrml cvs.  I can seperate out the code
that does the initial traversal of the vrml to create vobjects. Still need to 
sort out some issues with transforming the scenegraph into a flat vobject list 
(or make a vobject scenegraph work in csvosa3dl) and maybe add support for a 
few more node types...


> 
>   interactivity:
>-> python bindings are underway (they kind of work?)

They need more testing, and swig generates a zillion warnings that we need to
resolve or decide can be safely ignored.  And not everything is supported yet,
but most of the Vobject API and Property are there.  Should add A3DL to achieve
your Goal.

Reed


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Re: [vos-d] here's another format :-)

2005-10-27 Thread Peter Amstutz

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On Thu, 27 Oct 2005, Reed Hedges wrote:


On Thu, Oct 27, 2005 at 10:02:16AM -0400, Peter Amstutz wrote:

So what the hell, we can support both.  They are structurally identical
(since they represent the same thing) so I may even be able to reuse some
of the code from the XML loader.


We can have any number of such formats! Having seperate parsers and
parse-controllers or whatever will be a great benefit actually, for example
for loading from things that aren't even files.


Not sure what you mean by "things that arn't files" but you did just get 
me thinking about the loader/converter framework I have wanted to do for a 
while for handling non-COD files.  What this would be is a unified 
interface for importing/exporting any relevant supported file format, not 
just VOS-specific ones.  For example, loading ASE or VRML 3D models would 
automatically convert them into A3DL, loading a XHTML document would 
convert it into HyperVOS, and so forth.  This could be very powerful.


Alright, after I finish XOD, I'll add a converter interface.  Then we'll 
be able to move the functionality of a3dlconverter into a library so that 
it can be accessed by any application.


On a side note, we've wandered a bit from my original task, which was to 
rewrite the vosapp configuration implementation to not require flex.  I 
think the tasks we've come up with are valuable, but a little bit of 
discipline might be helpful in setting priorities.  Here's how I see the 
current work fitting together:


Goal: Make Ter'Angreal the software that enables the 3D web
Current challenges:
   can't make 3d worlds by hand & 3d data import sucks -> no content
   interactive apps need to be written in c++ -> no interactivity
   building VOS is a pain in the ass -> scares away developers

solutions:
  no content:
   -> text format(s) make it easier to write by hand
   -> xml format(s) make it easier to write exporters from other programs
   -> converter architechture makes it easy to plug in data import and
  have it work seamlessly (every VOS app immediately gains ability to
  read that document format)
   -> maybe finish the vrml geometry importer (reed? :-)

  interactivity:
   -> python bindings are underway (they kind of work?)
   -> need to provide highlevel API to support highlevel events and
  queries, such as proximity, collision detection, line of sight

  building VOS:
   -> eliminate dependency on flex to generate scanners & replace with
  TinyXML and boost::spirit
   -> take another look at generating Visual Studio project files
  automatically from automake files (currently there is a tool that
  generates nmake files from automake files)

Finally, I'd like to start thinking about a proof-of-concept interactive 
3D application to develop with VOS.  I have a vague idea of maybe doing a 
very simple first person shooter.  Just deathmatch, no bots (unless Kao or 
dmiles want to write one :-), only a few weapons, arenas are just 
arbitrary VOS worlds.  The goal being to test a) the network 
architechture, b) the extensibility of ter'angreal and c) the feasability 
and ease of implementing the all rules on the server in Python.


[   Peter Amstutz   ][ [EMAIL PROTECTED] ][ [EMAIL PROTECTED]  ]
[Lead Programmer][Interreality Project][Virtual Reality for the Internet]
[ VOS: Next Generation Internet Communication][ http://interreality.org ]
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Re: [vos-d] here's another format :-)

2005-10-27 Thread Reed Hedges
On Thu, Oct 27, 2005 at 10:02:16AM -0400, Peter Amstutz wrote:
> So what the hell, we can support both.  They are structurally identical 
> (since they represent the same thing) so I may even be able to reuse some 
> of the code from the XML loader.

We can have any number of such formats! Having seperate parsers and
parse-controllers or whatever will be a great benefit actually, for example 
for loading from things that aren't even files.

> You cut and pasted this twice in your message, leading to some confusion 
> :-)

Oops, sorry.
> 
> I notice here you are using parenthesis instead of curly braces.  Any 
> particular reason?

It's hard to tell the difference on the laptop screen I was using (in the dark)
at the time :)

Reed



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Re: [vos-d] here's another format :-)

2005-10-27 Thread Peter Amstutz

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On Thu, 27 Oct 2005, Benjamin Mesing wrote:


Hello,



Try writing something in this syntax that could be a Terangreal config file and
see if it would make some sense to users who are not vos experts...

Ok, I think here my opinion is needed :-)


Your opinion is very much appreciated!


config (
avatar is misc:avatar, a3dl:object3d (

What does this mean? Is an avatar defined as being a combination of a
misc:avatar and an a3dl:object3d?


Yes.  This kind of "multiple inheritance" or "multiple interfaces" is very 
common in VOS.



misc:nick = "reed"
misc:realname = "Reed Hedges"
a3dl:model = /home/reed/models/treefrog.md2
a3dl:material is a3dl:material (
a3dl:image = /home/reed/models/treefrog.png
)

Obvious. Though I am not sure about the qualification. E.g. misc.nick -
does this refer to misc:avatar.nick? -- See I don't know anything about
the VOS internals...


I'm glad that you find it pretty obvious, that's actually very 
encouraging.


The prefixes "misc:" and "a3dl:" are namespace qualifiers.  For all 
vobject types in the "misc:" namespace, the property "misc:nick" should 
mean the same thing (the nickname of the avatar, in this case).  Same 
thing for the "a3dl:" namespace.  For example, "a3dl:position" means the 
same thing regardless of whether it is attached to a light, a camera, a 3d 
object, etc.  However, a property named "misc:position" could mean 
something totally different, because it is in the "misc:" namespace.


In fact these are actually conventions that arn't (currently) enforced by 
the code, but by following them we should be able to avoid a lot of 
confusion and conflict over common property names.



)
viewmode = "thirdperson"

I think I understand this one.


Btw. was there a reason for putting the config twice?


I think that was a cut and paste error :-)  That actually wouldn't be 
legal, because you can't have two vobjects with the same name at the root 
(site) level.


[   Peter Amstutz   ][ [EMAIL PROTECTED] ][ [EMAIL PROTECTED]  ]
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Re: [vos-d] here's another format :-)

2005-10-27 Thread Peter Amstutz

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On Wed, 26 Oct 2005, Reed Hedges wrote:

I like this one too I think.  In one part of the example you forgot to 
write "is", I wonder if that could be optional... ? :)


What part?  I don't see where I dropped the "is".  The "is" will probably 
be required.


Ok, the vibe I'm getting here seems to be that people really want both. 
An XML format seems to be a good idea for practical/political reasons, but 
the 2nd format we're discussing here certainly has its advantages.


So what the hell, we can support both.  They are structurally identical 
(since they represent the same thing) so I may even be able to reuse some 
of the code from the XML loader.



Try writing something in this syntax that could be a Terangreal config file and
see if it would make some sense to users who are not vos experts...

config (
   avatar is misc:avatar, a3dl:object3d (
   misc:nick = "reed"
   misc:realname = "Reed Hedges"
   a3dl:model = /home/reed/models/treefrog.md2
   a3dl:material is a3dl:material (
   a3dl:image = /home/reed/models/treefrog.png
   )
   )
   viewmode = "thirdperson"
)


You cut and pasted this twice in your message, leading to some confusion 
:-)


I notice here you are using parenthesis instead of curly braces.  Any 
particular reason?  In the format I had in mind, parenthesis would be used 
to note the datatype of a property, and curly braces would hold vobject 
descriptions.


[   Peter Amstutz   ][ [EMAIL PROTECTED] ][ [EMAIL PROTECTED]  ]
[Lead Programmer][Interreality Project][Virtual Reality for the Internet]
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Re: [vos-d] here's another format :-)

2005-10-27 Thread Benjamin Mesing
Hello,


> Try writing something in this syntax that could be a Terangreal config file 
> and
> see if it would make some sense to users who are not vos experts...
Ok, I think here my opinion is needed :-)


> config (
> avatar is misc:avatar, a3dl:object3d (
What does this mean? Is an avatar defined as being a combination of a
misc:avatar and an a3dl:object3d?

> misc:nick = "reed"
> misc:realname = "Reed Hedges"
> a3dl:model = /home/reed/models/treefrog.md2
> a3dl:material is a3dl:material (
> a3dl:image = /home/reed/models/treefrog.png
> )
Obvious. Though I am not sure about the qualification. E.g. misc.nick -
does this refer to misc:avatar.nick? -- See I don't know anything about
the VOS internals...

> )
> viewmode = "thirdperson"
I think I understand this one.


Btw. was there a reason for putting the config twice?

Best regards Ben


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Re: [vos-d] here's another format :-)

2005-10-26 Thread Reed Hedges
I like this one too I think.  In one part of the example you forgot to write
"is", I wonder if that could be optional... ? :)

Try writing something in this syntax that could be a Terangreal config file and
see if it would make some sense to users who are not vos experts...

config (
avatar is misc:avatar, a3dl:object3d (
misc:nick = "reed"
misc:realname = "Reed Hedges"
a3dl:model = /home/reed/models/treefrog.md2
a3dl:material is a3dl:material (
a3dl:image = /home/reed/models/treefrog.png
)
)
viewmode = "thirdperson"
)

config (
avatar is misc:avatar, a3dl:object3d (
misc:nick = "reed"
misc:realname = "Reed Hedges"
a3dl:model = /home/reed/models/treefrog.md2
a3dl:material is a3dl:material (
a3dl:image = /home/reed/models/treefrog.png
)
)
viewmode = "thirdperson"
)


reed


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