Hey Melssj.

I believe PhidgetsUSA have been selling some RFID stuff, including libraries you can download for free.

I'm uncertain whether the software only works with Phidget stuff.
Here's the PhidgetsUSA webpage: http://www.phidgetsusa.com/index.asp

Hope it helps,
-R

The exact download URL is: http://www.misfitcode.com/misfitmodel3d/download.html (<-- Click this)

Other information you'll find on the Misfit3D website. Also, you can try googling for basic 3D modelling instructions. Although the modelling tools vary in features, most of them follow the same basic principles.

-Raven

Hey Rolz, screenshots look great!

I downloaded the latest WebStart version, but unfortunately got an error while launching:

java.lang.IllegalStateException: Display must be created before you can create Keyboard
at org.lwjgl.input.Keyboard.create(Keyboard.java:286)
at t1.ar.a(Unknown Source)
at t1.di.a(Unknown Source)
at t1.di.<init>(Unknown Source)
at techno.client.world3d.Client3D.startVisual(Unknown Source)
at techno.client.world3d.Client3D.main(Unknown Source)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:39)
at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:585)
at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.executeApplication(Launcher.java:1154)
at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.executeMainClass(Launcher.java:1101)
at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.continueLaunch(Launcher.java:944)
at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.handleApplicationDesc(Launcher.java:515)
at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.handleLaunchFile(Launcher.java:218)
at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.run(Launcher.java:165)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:613)


I'm running on Mac OS 10.4.6., java 1.5. Any ideas?
Look forward to testing it.

-Hrafn / Raven

Well... depends, do you want to be able to see the object from multiple perspectives?

I recommend you check out the movement in the jPCT demo files, they should provide you with a sufficient starting point for moving the camera (e.g. use the FPS demo camera controls and turn the gravity off).

If, however, the problem is only that parts of your object seem to be missing, you can set misc. culling params (farplane, maxpolysvisible, etc..) in the Config class. Check out the jPCT javadocs.

-Raven

Hi there.

If I remember correctly you just need to call the setAdditionalColor(java.awt.Color) on the Object3D in question.

-Raven.

Hi there.

I guess it kind of depends on what you want to model, amount of detail, etc.. I've used a program called MM3D (Misfit Model 3D) which was relatively easy to use if you want to create simple models. I recommend you take a look.

See this thread: http://www.jpct.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=328&highlight=mm3d

-Raven

Thanks for the comments, raft and manumoi.

The demo gait/walking pattern provided with the sim is not a very pretty one ;-) I didn't include or write perfect gaits, but if anyone does, I'd like to see them if you want to share.

manumoi: Yeah, the Constructionist A.I. approach upheld at Mindmakers is very interesting and definately promising. I've tried out Psyclone and OpenAIR in a couple of other projects, mainly for integrating speech recognition and synthesis, but now in jPCT too -- it has worked very well so far.

Well. Another project just hit the beta stage. A Hexapod simulation based on the CarDemo that comes with jPCT.

The project was developed as a teaching aid for an Artificial Intelligence class at Reykjavik University. Basically, it's a hexapod (six legged creature) where the user has control over it's legs. If the legs move while touching the ground it propells the hexapod -- in simple lingo: you can make it walk.

The project uses the Constructionist A.I. approach in which the hexapod acts as a module communicating through a publish-subscribe mechanism -- a program called Psyclone that acts as a medium for messages. So you can create a seperate program (a brain) to control the hexapod through messages to the legs (on the same computer, or somewhere else in the world).

The project can be downloaded from http://www.mindmakers.org (under "Projects", called CADIAHexapod, direct link here). It requires Psyclone to run, but Psyclone is very easy to use and I included a simple step-by-step run guide.

Although it's mainly intended as an "A.I. operating system", I recommend Psyclone for anyone doing large scale systems in which it would be easier to maintain if broken down into seperate modules that interact. Currently, modules can be implemented in Java, C# or C++, giving the option of writing your project in many different languages at the same time.

- Hrafn Thorri

Hey rolz.

I agree with Crate -- the game is fun to play already!
Unfortunately I also agree with Crate on the NPC chatter, get's really annoying.

I noticed some additional bugs

* When I ask the corportal guy (supposed to be "corporal"?) in the bunker to train me in using the shotgun, the Skill Point level increases each time. So the first time I asked him it was something like 5 SP, next time 6 SP..etc..

* The mutons often look a lot further away then they actually are, so sometimes they can hit you from 5 meters away.

* Muton heads often aren't grouped together in your inventory, but spreaded around

* I disagree with Crate -- I want more mutons, not less!

Some ideas that would be cool to implement in the future:

* Vehicles: The players walk *really* slow compared to the size of the gamespace. Vehicles would be really cool - like a jeep that can host 1-4 players.

* Hire and control a group of NPC's in a Warcraft type style. E.g. you could select a NPC in your group by clicking, and then click on a muton you want them to kill.

Anyway.
Great work! Look forward to seeing more.

-Hrafn "raven"

If you are building them from commandline, as I assume you are, it doesn't really matter where you put them -- only thing that matters is that you define them in your classpath when building.

For example, if your lib file is in the folder 3D/Stuff/Lib and your app is in /3D you would do:

javac -classpath .:Stuff/Lib/theLib nameOfFile.java

Hope this helps.
-Rav

Congratulations on your progress so far! I really look forward to seeing this go public -- not to mention trying it in a public status.

Keep it up!

-Rav

Thanks a lot. Really appreciate it.

EDIT: If anyone has been following this thread, thanks to EgonOlsen the applet finally works online and can be viewed on my webpage.

Thanks for the help Helge.

-Hrafn Th.

Ugh...

Helge, if you offer still stands on taking a look at this for me, that would be really really great, it's driving me insane. Tried a whole bunch of stuff... but still the error when I don't view it in appletviewer.

-Th

Hey everybody.
Been busy months and haven't really gotten anything done since the last day I posted.... a few months back, so unfortunately no cool screenshots.

Going to try and get started again.
To review what my problem was: I was trying to get an applet that loads images (see screenshots above) to work online (it works on my computer, but gives access error when online).

QuoteCan you provide me with a simple test case that doesn't work for you? I could upload it to my webspace and see if that works.

Thanks a bunch for the offer Helge! I'd really appreciate that if things don't start working soon.

QuoteIf you're using an un-signed applet you need to make sure that the location you specify is *exactly* the same as the codebase of the applet. (Easiest way to do this is to use Applet.getCodeBase() and then append the filename on the end of it.)

Thanks for the tip. I'm going to look up a few examples online, but I have a couple of questions:

(1) What is the 'codebase' exactly? Is it not just the URL of the applet?
(2) I'm storing the images in a separate folder, might this be the problem?

Thanks again everyone.

-Raven

It's been a really long time since I messed with applets, so I don't have any trouble believing the error is on my side  :cry:

But anyway, I tried both accessing the image from a .jar file and by using:

try {
URL imageURL = new URL("http://www.vortex.is/raven/Brain/slices/"+i+".png");
img = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getImage(imageURL);
texMan.addTexture(i + ".png", new Texture(img));
} catch (java.net.MalformedURLException MURLE) {}


But no luck. Same error.
Any ideas?

-Raven