68
  Mar.+Apr. 2018
  AW News (march + april 2018)
 
* Ugrade to version AW 6.4
 

After the version 6.3 , which was a beta version, only used for testing, Chris the Pegasus has finally released 6.4 for all users of Activeworlds on 22nd February.

Some of the new features are :
* Pausing the sound of a movie with the media command is now possible. Before that, the sound was looping, this bug has been fixed.
* AW Version 6.4 can still be used for Windows Vista users, but for those users, some features ,like the Web command and Media command applications won't work anymore.
 
* Customizable chat balloons :
* The chat balloons above the avatars have now new default colors : white text with lightgrey background.
* But you can change the balloon text color and background , and also font style and text size. This can be modified by going to the Activeworlds folder "Default", then select the file controls.ini.
 
* Tabsheet notepad :
* First feature is a direct access to the AWForum (no login required).
* Second feature is picture sharing.. Here you have the "public" part , where you use the upload button, to add pictures from your computer : for instance, printscreens that you made and that you want to share. When selecting the picture , you can view the picture, or enlarged view, you can copy, cut, paste, resize, crop, rotate, and rename it. You have also a search function, a sort function, and a shortcut list and operation tips.
You can also download the pictures and store them on your computer.
When right-clicking upon an image you can choose "into trash", then the image will be moved to the trash folder , where you can remove the image permanently.
Apart from .jpg-files, you can also use .png-files ,and even sounds (.mp3) . text files (.txt) and documents (pdf). You can also create a folder and give it the name and store the pictures in a specific folder.
* Third feature are the public object paths. These files can only be viewed (which is obvious). At this moment you can view the OP of Alphaworld and Yellow. The others will be added soon.
Chat balloons with other font style (and without background)
 
Picture sharing window
Chat balloon previously : black text with white background.
New (default) chat balloon : white text with grey background.
But the default colours and font styles can be modified now with the controls.ini -file.
The controls.ini -file
Example for balloon-font in Creepy-style.
* AW Forum : new login system
 
* As from april, you can only login to the AWForum via the AW browser. If you try to login in with your citizen number and password on an external web browser (e.g. Google Chrome), then this message appears : Use Activeworlds Browser to login to the forums
* When logging in now into Activeworlds, you will see again the awforum-link in the immigration-message of the chat window. When clicking upon that link, you will be automatically logged into the AWForum. No password required anymore.
* You can also copy and paste the url-link http://forums.activeworlds.com/ into the AW chat window. Then click upon the url-link.
* Now you have also the tabsheet "Notepad" of the F9-tabs-screen. This new feature of AW version 6.4. gives you direct access to the AWForum, no login required.
* One of the purposes of this change is to exclude spammers on the AW Forum.
*EBTS 9 - Building contest "Mars in Alphaworld"
 
There is again the annual EBTS building contest (= the Extreme Builders Talent Show). The EBTS 9 has been announced for being hosted in the world Mars. But finally Mars appeared to be in ....Alphaworld. The EBTS landing zone with the building instructions and useful tools, is located in Alphaworld on position AW 7520S 252E 0a 90
The reason why Mars has finally not been chosen is not because Mars has a weird object path, but mostly because you cannot use any V4-objects in Mars today. (movers, zones, particle emitters,...). And the V4-rights for this world cannot be changed.
Bach Zhaa (#360197) , who hosts the contest, came up with the great idea .....to bring Mars to Alphaworld. The theme for this contest is : "It's on Mars", you can use the space or underground caves or buildings if you want, everything is builder's choice. But everything has to look like as if you were on Mars.
The building lots are huge : 16 x 16 cells, which enough space between the lots to avoid affecting lag to your neighbours.
The contest starts on sunday February 3rd and ends on sunday March 31st , this means 8 weeks of building time.
AW 7520S 252E - Mars in Alphaworld (Community Meeting)
* Easter Egg Hunt
 

This year there is again an Easter Egg Hunt in the AW Landing Zone (7700S 1400E), where the huntbot is located.

The easter eggs are located within a distance of 200 meters from the huntbot, and the hunt contest lasts from march 24th until april 1st. There are prizes for the winners.
Each hunt had a special feature , we already have had the long distance sniper shot eggs, and we already have had pumpkins inside tree-tops. This hunt's special feature is that the eggs only become visible within a range of 30 meters from the avatar, this is possible by adding a radius to the action command :
create name heff, texture ceiling, color tint pink, visible no radius=30
For the scores, you type: /hunt leaderboard, then you see the top 10 players as well as the webpage link of awportals.com, where you can view the entire scoreboard of all players..
* AW Landing Zone (AW Expo) will be renewed
 
The AW Landing Zone as we know today on position AW 7700S 1400E has been built for the 23rd anniversary of Activeworlds, but will be renewed ...there are several reasons for it, one of them is to make the landing zone less laggy.
This is expected to be done with the AW anniversary in June. Big changes are expected : All non-essential builds will be removed from the center, which will become a park gate. Meandering paths wil make up the center area, with rooms to chat and dance. The paths will draw you naturally away from the center, with the purpose to explore more.
There will be a school area, this is a general tutorial area (for newbies) with all kinds of examples.
There will be a community area : calendars , ads, bulletins , teleports to other worlds.
There will be zones with sounds (ambient sounds or music )
The beach will be a lot larger , with a beach cliff and a cave
There will be a small town area and a small farm
Teleports signs and other information will be moved into the ring building.
The current landing zone will be moved to another location in Alphaworld and will be replaced by the new one.
You can read more about it on the AWForum : AWExpo Past and Future.
* New worlds :
 
Alextown :
no info yet
Cabins :
no info yet
Retreat :
This p40-world was online in 2016 , and came back online this year.
 
Agape / Psalms :
These 2 worlds are owned by Pasterbob (#326851), who already had those worlds a few years ago, he even had a seperate universe : Agapeworldfellowship.
Now those worlds are back online here and it is waiting until all the ancient textures have been recovered , before we can see the 3d scenes.
 
Sandals :
This new world is owned by Darkbeauty (#430380).
 
Schmitz :
This new world is owned by Basshunterfan123xxx (#418550) who came back to AW after several years.
Fountain in the world Sandals.
* Useful Tips :
 
Using Skyboxes :

 

With the EBTS 9 with the theme "Mars in Alphaworld", you can use a special feature by creating a sky that look extra-terrestral. The sky in Alphaworld is blue with cloud layers, in each world, the sky is different. You can change this in the world settings ,but this is for world owners only. They can use another skybox , they can use different colors and they can make them brighter or darker.
But as a builder, you can build a skybox , which will be like a dome , that covers your building area. Skyboxes are part of the AW object path, and there are multiple skyboxes to choose from. You can view the examples in the object yard(s). (for instance , in Tart Sugar's object yard AW 27430S 12595E )
How to build a skybox ?
An example can be found at the EBTS9 landing zone, this is in AW 7520S 251E.
There you will find 2 poles sticking out from the ground. (pole1m.rwx)
The first pole has the action command with the triggers : enter zone and exit zone :
enter zone mars1, tag mars1 on ; exit zone mars1on , tag mars1 no
The second pole has the timer command , which makes appear the skybox in 3 seconds:
create timer sky1 3000 ; at tm sky1 2999, tag mars1 on
When right-clicking you see a zone object (Z), there you determine the dimensions of the zone (covering your building lot), the tag name (=mars1), the zone color , the fog range,....
When right-clicking, you also see a particle emitter (P), here you also need to enter several options. Type: model , Asset list ( enter here the skybox of your choice), tag name (=mars1), Color start , Color end , Dimensions, ...etc
You can also select the 4 objects ( the 2 poles and the 2 V4-objects) and save them as an object group (=AWG-file), and give this AWG-file a name, then you go to your building lot, and there you load this AWG-file.

 

Examples of skyboxes. By using a Particle Emitter, you can enlarge the size of the skybox, so that it covers the entire building lot.