> about the applet vs. application thing: anyway the user will have to
> download something. the problem is that if we do an application each user
> will have to download the 'oudeis ship' _and_ the java Virtual Machine. if
> we do an applet (or a group of them), the user will be able to use it from
> the browser, but then we have the speed problem. my big doubt here is that
> i'm starting to think an application will _not_ be so much faster, and the
> applet would be much easier to use (just a URL and you're done!). opinions?
As Juli explains somewhere, Surf n Turf is an applet. You are right that there
is some downloading, but in the case of a Java applet the dload is between
machines. Some people, even some on the oudeis team, are a little nervous about
dloading -- like zip files, software, and such. Java will handle it for them.
The code is on the server; the interpreter is on the client machine. If you
check your jdk, there are some demos. Even some limited graphics can be built
into .class files. Wire frames are given as Wavefront (.obj) files separate
from the Java classes. And animation is a *series* of GIFs, not one compressed
GIF. I have no idea what would be required to build-in Shockwave compatibility.
Surf n Turf will allow you to see a VRML 2.0 file if you have a vrml plug-in on
your netscape or other java-enabled browser. I have an object in Athemoo (@go
cyberhut) called VRML and another called RealAudio. If you go there with Surf n
Turf and 'view vrml' or 'view realaudio' they should work for you. They do for
me as long as I don't have a lot of other work multi-tasking in the BG. You can
also @show these objects with Pueblo and click on the URL given in the
description. In either case, you are using three separate pieces of software to
do this work and it ain't fast.
But a free-standing app would require skills that many users just don't have.
You don't have to be able to multiply fractions to see the movies; why should
you have to dload software to view Oudeis.
-- Jim Terral South Slocan, BC http://www.netidea.com/~jterral/ http://moo.hawaii.edu/athemoo/WebMOO.html