Three meter objects may stay!
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Glaciers Retreat, "Ice Age" Over
Since the time of our last issue, the AlphaWorld server has had serious problems. The overnight popularity of our world and the zealous building of citizens had the server completely bogged down with a giant database of property that was getting very difficult to deliver to people in a timely fashion over the Internet.
The results of this situation manifested mostly as two nasty problems:
- Many new folks couldn't see anything but grass, or their cache built up too slowly to enjoy the AlphaWorld experience.
- Building was almost impossible except during the times of day when hardly anyone was on.
This situation was referred to some of us as the first AlphaWorld Ice Age, in fact the Synergy AlphaWorld page pictured the logo above for a while.
After battling with this problem for weeks on end, the AlphaWorld programmers and server people have managed to get the server humming again! Now that the ice is retreating, the programmers can focus on other much-needed improvements, including the release of a scad of new buildingobjects which must be tested first on another server (this is either already happening or imminent).
CONTENTS
(Note that most of these links won't start working until you load more
of this page.)
- Version .52 released
- Teleport is live, and AlphaWorld is opening up like a flower! Version .52 also introduces object behavior scripting and animations, building enhancements and more.
- New areas available for building
- With teleport live, whole new towns and other areas where you can build are easily accessible.
- New Alphaworld Discussion Center opens on the Worldwide Web
- A much-improved BBS-like web page makes a very strong debut.
- New Gamers' download area opens
- Enigma's new Adrenaline Vault is the latest addition to the Alpha Park project, offering scads of game downloads in a D&D-like atmosphere provided by LittleBull.
- Space Shot is here
- It's still a far cry from interactive gaming, folks, but the Space Shot is something to do...AlphaWorld's first ride opens near the teleport station.
- Under Construction
- Really cool stuff is being built all over the world. See a few of our favorite spots here. This issue we focus on two ends of the spectrum, a super-modern Crystal City and a natural wonderland complete with AlphaWorld's first mountain. Also, a spectacular Temple for Queen Nemesis.
- Classifieds
- Ads from our citizens.
- Dataman Speaks
- Some words from the editor.
VERSION .52 ENHANCES THE ALPHAWORLD EXPERIENCE
TELEPORTATION STATION GOES LIVE
December 22, 1995
Just in time for the holidays and new year, version .52 went live. This is the first significant software upgrade for over a month, with expansion of the programming team finally starting to show some strong results.
With very short notice, the Robocop Team labored all through the night before release and into the morning, readying the Worlds Transit Authority Teleport Station. The teleport station is accessible through a teleport booth just north of Ground Zero, and also from various other spots in AlphaWorld.
A personal note to the builders of the teleport station:
I wish to thank the other members of Robocop Team personally for their efforts
on the station: LittleBull, Desi and Laura, you all deserve more thanks than
I can give you and I hope you all decide to speak to me again in the future! [g]
Look for booths like the one above to take you to the station. The style of some booths has been changed to fit better in various surroundings, but all of the booths are pentagonal with a warp (red) or teleport (blue) gate inside. Walking into any of these gates will take you to the teleport station, and from there you can jump off to a number of locations within AlphaWorld.
Teleports are still being added, so if you know of a site that may be of interest to fellow Alphans send mail to the Robocop team care of Dataman. Don't be shy...but on the other hand realize that it isn't possible to add a teleport for each AlphaWorld citizen. Sometime in the near future we will be able to teleport via a link to web browsers--then you will be able to set up pages of your favorite spots in AlphaWorld and jump to them.
Information about version .52 is still being compiled. Since each issue of the New World Times is static once it is released, we refer you to this document and links from it for further information.
NEW AREAS AVAILABLE FOR BUILDING
TOWNSHIPS AND OTHER AREAS NOW AVAILABLE THROUGH TELEPORT
Now that teleport is live and the Worlds Transit Authority station is open, there is no longer any problem finding space to build. One area you that has now become easily accessible is Lock Haven, a new town built by one of the oldest AlphaWorld citizens, Grover. Other towns are still being readied but there is plenty of room at Lock Haven for builders! Lock Haven can be accessed through a gate in the SouthEast concourse of the teleport station. Just go SE from the center of the hub and when you get to the concourse (glass wing with long lines of blue departure gates and red arrival gates, click on the blue gates on the left to find the departure gate for Lock Haven. If you open Netscape before you walk through the gate, Netscape will automatically navigate to the Lock Haven web page with further information,
Another town that has become accessible is Taurine Township, built by noted AlphaWorld construction master LittleBull. This town is incredible! Visit it to see what construction in AlphaWorld can be. Taurine Township is built to be a more closely controlled community than other areas in AlphaWorld, and needs someone to take over as the mayor (LittleBull would rather build more incredible sites than oversee the town). If you are interested in taking the reins and helping to populate this town in an orderly fashion, contact LittleBull.
Another good place to build is around the teleport station itself. The area is still being readied, but streets have just been laid out in a grid around the station to mark off areas for builders. We'd appreciate it if you keep the trash to a minimum in this area, and also if you would move out from the station a bit before claiming a site. If you are interested in building in the large areas around the station please contact Robocop team care of Dataman, but otherwise just look for an area that is roughly 10 cells by 10 cells, bounded by streets with the names of Star Trek characters.
The "streeted" area around the station extends 100 cells in each direction, and is bounded by the octagonal Euclid Road. If you want to build really Please remember to post a mailbox with your email address at your site as soon as you commence construction, and also cover the entire area you are claiming (try WALK6 for a ground cover) so that others will not be confused and place their objects in your area.
ALPHAWORLD DISCUSSION CENTER EXPANDED
NEW LOOK, FEEL, AND LOCATION FOR THE NEW YEAR
January 1, 1996
A mysterious Alphan known only as AWTALK has taken the reins of the AlphaWorld Discussion Center from a severely overworked Don Braithwaite ("Geek"). The new discussion center, located at http://www.pe.net/~awtalk/, is greatly expanded and incredibly verstatile. Software is provided by AEX Software. The About Discussion Server software is evidently a beta product that offers much of the same functionality you get from a News Group through a web page. It looks to be a very nice product.
Among the sections offered in the Discussion Center are Announcements, Personals, and Tips and Tricks. It's filling up rapidly with vital information and interested chat, stop by and check it out!
Our heartfelt thanks to Geek for starting the Discussion Center off so well and going through all the formative changes that made it happen in the first place. It's great to see some of the load lifted off this hardworking Alphan!
NEW ADRENALINE VAULT OPENS
GAMERS CHOICES AND OVERALL EXPERIENCE GREATLY EXPANDED
Vault entrance is at 8S, 24E
January 2, 1996
Today Enigma formally announced the opening of the new Adrenaline Vault, an area for gamers to download all top games offered on the World Wide Web. The old Vault, located just northeast of Ground Zero, has been closed down in favor of this greatly expanded new location.
The new Vault offers much more, including a subterranean game-like atmosphere, many more downloads, and chat rooms where gamers can meet to discuss their hobby. The Adrenaline Vault concept and basic design of the new area come from Enigma, an Alphan who has been around for quite a while.
The previous version of the Adrenaline Vault grew so popular that Enigma became more and more involved with it. It was expanded several times, and Enigma also enhanced it on the WWW side with a state-of-the-art web page. Finally the confines of the Ground Zero area were just too small, and Enigma talked to the Atlas Team about adding a new Adrenaline Vault to Alpha Park.
After discussing the concept with Enigma, LittleBull decided that even thec current boundaries of Alpha Park weren't large enough to accomodate the new Adrenaline Vault, and the park was expanded to include a large area just for this new project. LittleBull built the new Vault in record time, and animations were added by yours truly (Dataman.) Enigma added all the download links and web pages, mapped the place out, and took care of all the other details.
Originally the Vault was scheduled for a grand opening before the year-end holidays, but just as the opening approached, Enigma's wife gave birth to their first baby! Congratulations, Enigma!
The entrance to the new Vault is above ground at 8S, 24 E. Just enter and walk straight East into the hallway and you'll be whisked away into the cavern-like atmosphere created by LittleBull.
There is a map of the new Vault on the web page--you may want to open Netscape before you enter, and it will automatically navigate to the Vault's home page.
SPACE SHOT RIDE OPENS
ALPHAWORLD'S FIRST RIDE ENHANCES TELEPORT STATION
AlphaWorld's first amusement-park-type ride has opened in conjuction with the Worlds Transit Authority teleport station. It is located at approximately 8073N, 10E. The Space Shot is basically just an overgrown elevator, but with a twist--you hang way up high for a moment and then automatically return to the ground.
This ride may make it apparent why WARP and TELEPORT are "restricted" commands... if anyone could use them there would be tremendous potential for mischief with hidden bump panels placed in high-traffic areas, sending people automatically off the edge of the world into the drink, and into GPF-land.
Much more ambitious rides are in the works for Alpha Park, this is just a taste of what can be done with the new warp capability.
CLASSIFIED ADS
Commercial ad space available here. Eventually we may actually charge for this so get it while it's virtual.
GET LOOSE WITH LOUIE AT LOUIE'S BAR AND GRILL
ALPHAWORLD'S FIRST PET STORE
The Pet Gourmet - AlphaWorld's first pet store! We sell puppies, kittens, pet food and supplies. Located at 1S 152W, stop by for a look or to play with our puppies.
Good Scents Company: Under Construction
The Good Scents Company, located at 627N, 2W has completed its construction of a Fragrance Resource Center. Databases on the GSC's WWW pages have been delayed until proper CGI scripts can be obtained. Instead for now we have added data pages on Women and Men fragrances with the name, date of appearance and description (12 pages; 175kb). We have added Essential Oil data pages with Name and description (12 pages; 110kb). Herbs and Spices have been dropped from our listing for now, but by the time this is published the "under construction" sign should be gone and data on Fragrances, Flavors and Aromatherapy will be available. Information is added almost daily. Our goal is to provide the most comprehensive source of information available for the world of perfumery.
Bill Luebke, Perfumer
The Good Scents Company
CALL FOR STANDUPS
Hello, I'm building an outdoor comedy emporium at 59n, 216e in the Loch Ness area. I'm putting in some web humor links, have built a stage and environs; and hope to offer open-mike comedy for a hour or so on a Friday or Saturday night. I'd emcee. To make it work I'll need some volunteers for the first show or two. Hopefully it would generate its own wannabee comics from the audience and word of mouth after a couple of shows. Two or three minutes of any sort of material, original or borrowed, will be all that is required.
No stage fright, just drag your little avatar down there and type out a few gags-- you could even disappear if you had to, call it magic. Kind of a mixture of Karaoke and ventriloquism. No off-color stuff of course, the audience being of indeterminate age and gender. Lots of potential for topical humor and fun: from Prophetess, "Take my avatar . . . please!," and from Toast, "How many avatars does it take to screw in a lightbulb." So if you have the urge, the whim, and the guts--or if you can drink a couple of glasses of wine and still type in your jokes--please e-mail me. These avatars look like they could use a laugh. E-mail Flatline.
TROPIC COMICS: ALPHAWORLD'S FIRST COMIC STORE
Tropic Comics is your online comic superstore! We are in the process of constructing a store in AlphaWorld at 5S, 5W and have just opened a web site. We carry a very large selection of Silver and Golden Age comics, and other collectibles including cards, magazines, models and more!
Stop by our web site or drop us an email us with your wishlist. If anyone can fill it, we can!
Forest H. Stroud
http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~neuroses
The Consummate Winsock Apps List
http://cwsapps.texas.net
Email to: Forrest H. Stroud
DATAMAN SPEAKS
I thank you all for the feedback you sent to Worlds about the relative importance of frame rate vs. the richness of textures in our world. I had gotten a lot of email on this subject personally, and I wanted to make sure that others at Worlds got the message as strongly as I had.
It appears now that the 3-meter objects which were slated for mass disintegration are going to stay around. This means that a lot of people who have invested their time and creativity in AlphaWorld will get to see their creations stand for a lot longer.
To make things even better, it looks as if the object changeover we have been waiting on for such a long time is going to happen soon. Included in this changeover will be the introduction of scads of new objects for construction.
Let's all remember that this is pre-release software, folks. We have to be patient with it. If it doesn't perform like a hot video game, that's understandable. Heck it may never perform like a hot video game, but that's because it isn't one. It's a virtual reality that works over the Internet, with spectacular rendering in very real 3D with extraordinary depth and texture. in fact, I am surprised that it performs as well as it does!
Within any group of people, there are always those who cannot see past the surface of things. They cannot appreciate potential, they have have limited vision and imagination. AlphaWorld is no exception, we have these folks too. I think they rarely venture beyond the square at Ground Zero, and they like to complain that the frame rate of AlphaWorld is too slow, or that it can't compare to this or that software, although the software they refer to is nothing like AlphaWorld.
These folks are certainly welcome, but it would be a shame if they were allowed to ruin the quality of our world by being the only ones to send feedback to Worlds. I'm just really happy to say that this will not be the case. Once again, thanks to all who sent their feedback about what our real priorities should be.
AlphaWorld is a trademark of Worlds, Inc. The opinions and other content of this paper do not necessarily reflect those of Worlds, and belong only to Dataman.
