Hot: coordinate changeover in version 30
August 20, 1995 With the advent of version 29, we gained a lot of new building objects. However, the accompanying asteroid strike left the world completely barren while Protagonist slept off a creative binge. Some citizens were standing around at ground zero wondering if the entire world had been a figment of their imagination!
Right before the asteroid strike, I had been building using the new objects... then everything started to disintegrate as I watched! I never thought VR could be so scary.
Later that day Protagonist woke up, things began reappearing and lots of folks set in to building anew...and now, only a short time later, we have buildings galore again and downtown real estate is getting scarce again.
Will it happen again? Rumors abound. All I can say is that I, for one, did a much better job of building the second time around!
It has been suggested that if the world is to be destroyed again. we could do it ourselves with some heavy artillery. Let's do it with a bang, not a whimper!
This is our first issue, and we have had many heated debates about how best to present the news to our citizens. Please let us know if you have any problems. We have compromised on inline images so that the paper will load in a reasonable amount of time on relatively slow modems.
Almost all of the images in the paper are "clickable," that is, they are pseudo-thumbnail pics that are hyper-linked to larger more detailed images. Almost any picture that you see here can be clicked on to see a much larger graphic. The reason we say "pseudo" is that the smaller images may lead to a larger image that is not just an enlarged version of the "thumbnail."
If you are not using Netscape to view this, we highly recommend that you go get a copy now! The inline images are all interlaced GIFs, which means that when you use Netscape to view to documents you will see text much more quickly as the images load incrementally. It also means that when you view the paper with Netscape some of the images will be "blurry" until they load completely. This is hopefully not a big issue since the images are intended to be "pseudo-thumbnails," that is, placeholders for the larger graphics.
You may also notice that there are no arrow buttons to take you back to previous pages. We assume you have a "Back" button in your Web browser, and that you are intelligent enough to use it.
The format of the paper will change from issue to issue as the editor learns to write HTML. Your feedback is appreciated.
September 5, 1995
In a late breaking story, Queen Nemesis of the Underworld revealed herself to our staff and so to the entire population of Alphaworld.
The queen claims to have been a resident of Alphaworld from the beginning of time. She is looking for "loyal subjects" to whom she says she will reveal her Underworld Kingdom.
The Queen's castle in this world is located at 62S, 4W. It is a monstrous structure, with an entrance featuring two giant spigots flowing water out onto the ground to form a giant "U"...she points out that if viewed from behind, the "U" becomes an "N" for Nemesis.
Look for the Queen near her castle, but be prepared to pledge fealty and accomplish tasks of Creative Building before she reveals the Underworld to you. Also she may ask you to give you the name of one of her subjects, so ask around before you visit!
The Little Red Schoolhouse, conveniently located to your left on entrance to
Alphworld, contains some useful links to web pages about moving around and
building things in Alphaworld. Stop by and pick up some hints. (Look on
the desks for links.)
Just in case you have trouble using Netscape while in Alphaworld... here are the two links built in so far:
How to move around in Alphaworld.
How to build in Alphaworld.
Stay tuned for more helpful hints...if you have a web page devoted to Alphaworld, let us know!
Commercial ad space available here. Eventually we may actually charge for this so get it while it's virtual.
The Bar Over Troubled Waters is open for
business around the clock. If yer friendly bartender (Dataman) is not in, feel
free to partake of our neverending stock of virtual(tm) beer. Every night is
Ladies' Night! Replicators have been ordered for future iterations.
Every night from 10 Eastern until ???? is Karaoke. Come up and perform for your fellow citizens. Tone deaf? No problem, for now at least!
For those who have trouble maneuvering in 3Space, try the Sidewalk Cafe. A word to the wise: the waitresses are triplets, be careful...they don't like getting mistaken for each other.
Coords: 4,8 Dress: come as you are. Please do not drink and fly!
It isn't easy to create art for Alphaworld, but it can be rewarding. You'll get to create new models and see them proliferate throughout the world, and we will pay you for objects you create if we use them.
Here are the requirements:
If you meet these requirements, and you want to help us build a world, please send email to the address below. No promises at this point... we are just trying to find out how many artists are interested and qualified.
We thank you and we look forward to your email.
Send mail to Kalak of Tanagra, head artist of Alphaworld, if you are seriously interested.
Editor's note: Sleepy Hollow willbe featured in an upcoming Under Construction.
We all are finding out just how huge Alphaworld is. There are probably some places you haven't seen yet! Here we list just a few to start you off; if you have built or seen noteworthy sites please let us know so we can list them.
Keep in mind that these buildings may be changed completely by the time you see them, construction is ongoing at all sites.
There are many sites we wanted to show this issue that have been postponed for next issue in order to keep inline images to a reasonable load time. Stay tuned next issue for more images!
Notice that the building is built at an angle, a new feature since version 29.
Confused by the new coordinate scheme in version 30? You're not alone... let's take a look at how to translate the old coordinates so you can find that lost construction project!
Think ot it this way...until version 30, if you think in
regular Catersian coordinates then X was backwards and Y was OK. For instance,
coordinates 10,20 could be reached by heading straight on entry (North) to
0,20 and then (this is the catch) left to 10,20. With normal cartesian
coordinates you would have turned right.
So a negative first number used to mean West, positive was East. A negative second number meant South, positive was North. Don't get confused by the fact that North and South now occurs first instead of second!
Another tip you should remember is that if you arrive a Ground Zero facing the newsstand you are facing North.
In keeping with the feel of Alphaworld, we are only linking this to
the Submissions Desk at the Alphaworld offices of the Daily Globe.
Go find it and doubleclick! Here's the map:
When I tell people that my son uses virtual reality, the
immediate reaction is usually one of fear; not fear of any specific
outcome, but of the unknown. I'm not afraid of Zachary becoming another
Lawnmower Man, but I do realize that his formative years will be
different from mine. Alpha World will be his virtual hometown.
He will make friends, go to school, have fights, and even fall in love
in virtual reality. Will this make him and other Alpha kids into monsters?
I doubt it. Incorporating technological change and remaining human is what our
species does best.
What does concern me about the next generation's future is the total lack
of a social contract in virtual reality. Alpha World has made a great
step forward with the introduction of private property, but there is
still no notion of privacy or social courtesy. Just as in text-only
chat the temptation to commit social mischief is tremendous.
My son knows how to behave in the real world, but the role models he
is likely to see in cyberspace don't seem to have much impulse control. Spend
some time in an AOL chat room, if you don't know what I mean.
The potential for real problems with Alpha kids will become apparent when
Alphans are allowed to program objects to move independently and perform automated
behaviors. I remember a couple of science experiments I performed as a
child that could have caused serious damage, and the software virus
craze of the Eighties seems to have been born from that same sense of
youthful exploration. It could be that the viruses of the Eighties will seem like toys
compared to some of the virtual reality pranks Alpha kids will dream up.
Will we have virtual roaches or rats swarming through Alpha World,
or will carefully tended virtual gardens suddenly turn into garbage heaps?
And what about virtual graffiti?
The citizens and management of Alpha World should begin to think seriously
about what is acceptable public behavior and how to enforce it. If
we don't encourage a mutual social contract from the beginning, we'll soon
be witnessing the dedication of the first Alpha World Court House.
In the meantime, I'm going to help Zachary learn how to become a
well behaved Alphan, whether he ends up as an Alpha Wizard or a
virtual accountant.
Welcome to our first issue. This publication should grow along with
Alphaworld, which could be the hottest thing ever to happen to Cyberspace!
To make the paper reflect our community here, we need
submissions from you!
Since I don't have any letters to reply to yet, I thought I'd use this space to
share with you some of my hopes and dreams--and fears--about Virtual Reality.
Even before I took this job, Da5id had asked me to be the "Chronicler of
Alphaworld." I am not much of an archivist, more of an activist I think, but
the job certainly needs doing (feel free to chip in an help!). Although there is
no text capture feature in Alphaworld (yet!), I don't need one to
repeat some more of what Da5id said, because it made an impact, and started me
thinking. He said I should chronicle (pretty nearly quoting here now) "the
first wedding, the first funeral, gang wars, cannibalism and so on." For those
of you new to cyberspace this may sound like a joke...and in fact I'm sure it
was to an extent...a small extent. I have been invited to weddings
on Compuserve, a text-only medium! Funerals? Heck I hope my funeral is here.
Gang wars? It's a natural--as soon as we have different avatars to choose from,
the ugly human tendency toward prejudice will rear its head.
As for cannibalism...well that is quite a ways off I'm sure (thank God).
But the things that Da5id didn't mention are what have been going
through my head. Virtual Reality is a dream, a nightmare, something that
will bring to life Jung's theories, Campbell's dissertations...hell, comic
books heros and more.
We are embarking on a journey whose end we cannot see. But VR will let loose
all our fantasies. Ever get a charge from blowing away someone in a video
game? Have you tried it with DOOM yet where the adversary is actually a
person at the other end of a modem line or network cable? It's fun!
Have you noticed (or participated in) the trend toward Cybersex in VR?
It's quite the rage. And this is only the beginning. As VR gets more "real"
we will reenact all of human history, and remake it completely. We will live our
myths, our dreams, our innermost desires.
The time is coming when you will be able to choose whether to be a hero or
a villain--or of course a little of each. Choose carefully, the course of
human events may be affected profoundly.
Wizard or Sorcerer's Apprentice?
by Exbase
Zachary, my seven year old son, was flying out to his property
the other day when he told me he wanted to grow up to be a wizard
in Alpha World. I wasn't too surprised by the news. After only a few weeks
as an Alphan, Zachary is already an accomplished builder. He flies around
clicking on new and interesting objects, and carefully writes down their
names in purple crayon. Then he flies back to his property, lands in a
tree top, and scatters copies of his latest finds around the landscape.
exbase@agseminars.com
Letters and Replies
"Imagination is more important than knowledge."