VRML Curation

This guide will show you how to curate VRML content using Flashpoint Core.

Before You Start

This tutorial will assume you've read the standard Curation Tutorial, which is highly recommended to go through. Try curating a Flash game before moving on to other platforms like VRML.

How to recognize a VRML application

• 1. VRML is usually mentioned somewhere on site (sometimes in title of an application).
• 2. After looking there sometimes clickling on things like links or screenshots, you will get the .wrl file.

How to curate a VRML application

Things before start:

• You can only use MAD4FP if you are using Core 9 or higher. If you get "directory contains no data", manually check in browser if file is still on site.
• Error 304 in logs is normal.
• No matter the type of VRML application i.e. (model, static or animated) , which user can interact, curate it as game.
• Sites contains a lot of small models should be curated as miscrosite. When you doing this, add word "Microsite" after title, e. g. "JASON VRML Microsite" where "JASON VRML" is original title from site and use models titles and Alternate Title in your curation.
• Sometimes in .wrl file you can find informations about developer and original release date.

There are two major versions of VRML: VRML 1.0 and VRML 2.0 aka VRML97 (this document does not discuss X3D, which can be considered version 3+ of VRML).

VRML files are plain text or gzipped plain text. If you try to open a VRML file and it looks like gibberish, pack it to the archive by e.g. 7-zip and now click to open.

To tell if a VRML file is 1.0 or 2.0, it's sufficient to look at the first line of the file.

A VRML 1.0 file's first line looks like this: #VRML V1.0 ascii Use Live3D (FPSoftware\startLive3D.bat) or CosmoPlayer (FPSoftware\startCosmo211.bat).

A VRML 2.0 file's first line looks like this: #VRML V2.0 utf8 Use CosmoPlayer (FPSoftware\startCosmo211.bat) or Blaxxun (FPSoftware\startBlaxxun44.bat).

Cores options for a VRML Curation shown below:

Example of a Launch Command: http://cgg.mff.cuni.cz/~jaroslav/projects/celts/world/kelti.wrl

If working well in both, choose CosmoPlayer. If you can't open file to get this information, run application by all three and choose best viewer based on the: application performance, comfort of playing and whether all assets (sounds and textures) are loaded.

Troubleshooting

VRML is mostly multiassets stuff from the beginning of the Internet. If some assets of application you are currently curating are lost, always check Wayback Machine. Rarely, but it happens that if you have couple of applications contains in one series, developers may used the same texture files for all. If you have missing asset in one application, but another contains file with identical name as this missing, you can copy this asset to application without it, but write about where comes this file in Notes is mandatory. After it, change Status from Playable to Hacked.

.wrl.gz

Blaxxun can handle with these files, but Cosmo and Live3D not. When you have .wrl.gz and you using one of Netscape viewers, create a new text file, put AddType x-world/x-vrml .gz in it, save as .htaccess and put in content/CurationFolder.

Blaxxun issues

- If textures of your application in Blaxxun are broken.

Left click and change High Speed to Hardware (last four options). To save this: left click -> Settings -> Preferences -> Direct3D -> Direct3D Driver -> Hardware -> OK.

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- If camera movement is very slow, change viewer to CosmoPlayer or Live3D.

Sometimes is mentioned on site, which viewer is the best for your application. In this situation:

- If Flashpoint supports the recommended viewer, use that viewer. - If mentioned viewer doesn't supported by flashpoint - note the recommended viewer in Notes (this is mandatory) and choose another with are working best. Also, please write about it (with link to this site/viewer) on #vrml-chat on Flashpoint Discord Server.

.wrz file - if you not using Blaxxun in that curation, just change extension to .wrl, add both files and described it in Notes.

If you still have troubles, ask for help on #plugin-chat on Flashpoint Discord Server. Currently Flashpoint doesn't support Cortona3D. It will be (hopefully) added in the future. For now sorry for the inconvenience.