HOTFP: Technical Inquiry

[cbullard@HiWAAY.net (Len Bullard)]

I downloaded some of the MIDI files at Bryan Dongray's
site.  They seem to load fine, but will not play on MidiGate
or Voyetra, that is, the instruments are displayed, the
time appears to be correct, but no sound.  I have
SoundBlaster on the PC.  The other MIDI files that
came with the system play just fine.

Anyone else have this problem?  Any solutions?

Bob Geiger worked out a nice way to start the
MIDI running when one accesses the HOTFP world
prototypes we have built.  I have a .wav of RUTH,
but that is about 3 meg of data.  Event at 8 bit, 11 khz mono,
it still sounds very good (digital AM quality), but the
load time will be long across the net.  The current
page and .wrl files are about 50 kb, the graphics
are quite a bit bigger as we opted for better
quality display over speed.

WebFX just released a new beta for download
concurrent with the Netscape 2.0b3.  Get these.
That will push the licenses into the february timeframe.

While the world is up and running, I am hacking the
files to get better performance.  Wieland kindly sent
us his links to other KateSites, and Netscape has
frames that allow us to run the HTML and VRML
is concurrent windows.  This is very useful as
we can make the page easier to use for those
who are just cruising past in search of sites.

Once the models are posted, they are yours
to do with as you see fit.  We are hoping that
more KateFans will see fit to learn VRML and
create worlds for us to link to.  The initial model
is an example which can be easily bettered.
I can answer questions about the techniques
used for those who want to try their hand at it.

For example: pay attention to the symbols used, 
and point these at each other like signposts (e.g., aim the 
WWWAnchor around the symbol at the
camera position in the next scene with the
same symbol in the camera field). 
That makes hypernavigation
less disjunct without restricting themes.  Simple
rules of thumb like that will make the VRML
experience more interesting.

We'll be posting the HTTP address for the
first world soon.  Although it will be a simple
world, it can get the ball rolling.

best,

len