Through the Star Gate
See
Copyright and Usage Notice
| World Skills | System Requirements | Depth | Building Capability? | Create your own Avatar? | Sound Support? |
| Advanced | Windows 95 | 3D | Yes, add your own VRML worlds! | Yes, build them in VRML | Netscape CoolTalk person-to-person voice is supported |
Minimum Machine:
| Operating System | Computer | Resources | Connection |
| Windows 95, NT, Netscape 3.0 or Internet Explorer 3.01 required | Pentium-based PC, 256-color video supporting VGA | 16MB RAM; up to 30MB free disk space depending on plug-ins loaded; sound card with speakers and microphone for optional voice support | PPP dial up to the Internet at 14.4 kbps; 28.8 kbps recommended |
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Black Sun Passport
Through the Star Gate | |
Captain Digi, our fearless crew, and you, most honored passenger, have become seasoned veterans of virtual space. We have visited many worlds and survived to tell the tale. Along the way, we had heard of great new worlds built by the guild of VRML, the VeRMiLlions. Seeking these worlds, we set course for the great Star Gate to the worlds of the Black Sun. As the Star Gate comes up on our viewing screens, we maneuver the good ship Avatar close to the gate. A strange dark portal glowing with a black light beckons us to look inside. We exclaim, ìMy God, its full of worlds!î as our ship is inexorably drawn in. Join us in our first adventure in the home worlds of the guild of the VeRMiLlions, built by the followers of the Black Sun.
Your Guide to Passport
Black Sun's Passport: Through the Star Gate
Black Sun's Passport: Through the Star Gate
The Passport browser shows the Plaza welcome area.
Click to see larger view
Black Sun Interactive (named after that famous club in Neal Stephenson's novel, Snow Crash) brought us the very first virtual worlds with avatars based on the Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML). Their first world, called PointWorld, was accessible through a program called CyberGate. This chapter will take you on a tour of Black Sun's worlds with their latest software, called Passport, the successor to CyberGate. The preceding figure shows Passport running inside Netscape Navigator 3.x or Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.01, and avatars inside the Plaza world (hey, watch out for that flying cow, you guys!).
On of the greatest features of Black Sun's VRML universe is that you can build your own world and your own avatars in it! This chapter is your passport to adventure in VRML worlds.
