On Wednesday 18 April 2007 16:22, Peter Amstutz wrote: > On Wed, Apr 18, 2007 at 10:26:34AM +0200, Karsten Otto wrote: > > Most 3D games already have a network of waypoints in their world > > maps, so computer controlled characters can easily navigate them. You > > could use this for text-user navigation too, but this is usually too > > fine grained (allowing for smooth walking around corners etc). > > > > On the other hand, most VR systems already support viewpoints, which > > are on a higher semantic level, and thus seem a good place to attach > > a textual description of what you can see (at least the static > > "scenery" part). Unfortunately, viewpoints usually have no navigation > > links between them. So for what you want to do, you need a > > combination of both. > > Yes, although I'll qualify this by saying that waypoint-based node > networks have a number of drawbacks. On thinking about it a bit more, > pathfinding meshes (where you run your pathfinding on the surface of a > polygon mesh rather than a graph) are more powerful, and solves some of > the problems you bring up belowe because they define areas rather than > just points.
Agreed. > > This requires some work, but VOS is flexible enough to support all this. > > Of course :-) I actually started working on a "VOS MUD" back in the s3 > days... Is any of that code still usable? > > > You see Gonzo(3d) by the entrace to the Pyramid. > > > > > > Gonzo(3d) waves to you. > > > > If this works, you do not only see what happens inside your current > > scope, but also what happens in nearby scopes. You either need some > > AOI management for this to work, or extra grouping information on > > each node, i.e. in the entrance node, you can see the hallway and > > vice versa, but not what is going on in the security room on the > > other side of the one-way mirror :-) Of course, you could again > > separate navigation informatioon (waypoints) from area information > > (viewpoints) again for this to work. > > The reason I put that in there is that I've typically found the > "horizon" on MUDs to be very limiting. You are given very little > awareness of what is going on around you except in the immediate node. > (Sometimes you get "there is a rustling to the south!" even though the > description said "south" is only five meters down a paved street.) > Again I think with the proper spatial representation this kind of > visibility information could be derived automatically based on sector > adjacency and line-of-sight tests. Well, you also have "shouts", for instance, that are designed to reach a certain area around you (or the entire MUD, depending on the implementation). > > A few other text-user commands that may be handy: > > > > follow <user> - move the text-user's avatar to wherever another > > avatar (text or 3d!) is moving to. > > > > face <user> - turn the text-user's avatar to face another one. You > > can also do this automatically if you detect a corresponding speech > > pattern like "kao: are you there?" > > > > approach <user> - like "face", but also move the avatar close to the > > target. > > > > ... and probably more. No need to implement these all at once, better > > have a sort of plug-in system for the text/3d bridge. > > All good suggestions. For me this discussion is mostly idle > speculation, because we're focused on other things, but it's a useful > thought experiment in how semantic attribution of immersive 3D VOS > spaces could work in practice. I'd be very happy if someone else wanted > to pick up and run with this idea, though. I'll see what I can do in that matter... Don't expect much activity, tho. -- Marcos Marado Sonaecom IT _______________________________________________ vos-d mailing list [email protected] http://www.interreality.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/vos-d
