Sony proudly announces the first VRML 2.0 based Internet Browser in the world;
Community Place version 2 Beta 2. This new version is available for public
download beginning 27th June 1996. Release will be via the Internet.
This new technology is one in a series of development activities at Sony for
the VRML community. Since October 1995, Sony has disclosed several key
technologies to the VRML standard including event-driven behavior (at
Telecom '95 show in Geneva) and Multi-useri, shared behaviors which server is
located at the Internet World Exposition '96.
Release Contents
Since this release is beta status, some parts of the "Moving Worlds"
specifications are still under development. The functional mapping charts
between this version of Community Place and the latest version of the
"Moving Worlds" VRML 2.0 (Draft#3) are given as
Technical Notes.
In addition, Sony provides some extended JAVA classes to provide a higher
level API set in addition to the standard Moving Worlds, and we are proposing
this for the standard activity. All JAVA classes which Community Place is supporting
in this alpha version is described at JAVA Class .
System Requirements
The required configurations for this version 2 alpha of
Community Place
is the same as previous versions.
In case you are not sure, please check the following table before stepping into the
actual download processes.
VRML Browser Community Place
| Minimum Environment | Recommended Environment (Multi User Environment) | |
|---|---|---|
| Hardware | PC running Windows 95 or Windows NT 3.51 | |
| CPU | 486DX2 66MHz | Pentium 90MHz or more |
| Memory | 12MB | 16MB or more |
| Hard Disk Drive | IDE | SCSI |
| Disk space for downloading | 7MB (26MB for the installation) or more | |
| Disk space for playing | 15MB or more | |
| Display size | 640 x 480 pixels | 800 x 600 pixels or more |
| Display color | 256 colors | 65,536 colors or more |
| Sound | - | Sound device for Windows * |
| Network environment | - | Connect to the Internet (speed:14,400bps or more) |
| Software | Netscape Navigator for Windows (ver2.0 or later) | |
*** About sound capability ***
For Windows95 users:- You can set Direct-X automatically installed to your computer while installing
Community Place.
For WindowsNT users:
- Direct-X sound capability is expected to be
available with Microsoft's NT 4.0.
Let's Prepare to Download
You can download the version 2 alpha of Community Place from this U.S. Mirror Site for Virtual Society free of charge.
Release package
- Program
- Multi user environments
- Circus Park for Alpha version
There are three types of packages:
If you are not sure which one is the best for you, just follow the instructions in the next section to resolve it.In addition to the Moving Worlds capability, Community Place still provides SE-VRML based multi user models when you download multi-user worlds separately.
On downloading, save the file in the same directory as your Community Place is being installed, then, you will be able to invoke it from the Release Note (HTML) file in the release package. Caution: If you save Circus Park in a different directory, this will not work.
Find the download type
- Follow the instruction to find your favorite type: You can
skip here if you know what you want.
1) Is the 7MB+ file size too big for your Internet environment?
Yes -> GOTO 2)
No -> type-C
Not sure -> GOTO 2)
2) Have you already installed Community Place (version1) beta4?
Yes -> type-B
No -> GOTO 3)
3) Do you want to enjoy MOD sound even if it might take longer for downloading?
Yes -> type-A
No -> type-B
Download types
- Type-A
- Type-B
- Type-C
- Circus Park
- NT 3.5 is no longer supported by Community Place.
- NT 3.51 requires Community Place to be started before loading a world file from Netscape.
- Discontinuous Sound may occur when you use a lower speed CPU.
- On opening a file, Community Place keeps waiting for reply when:
- a network error occurs
- you type a non-existant URL
- Mis-navigation may occur when you use camera switch by scripts.
Unsupported function:
- Scale Node
- Inlined Texture
- File Open for shortcut
Following operations may cause fatal error:
- Cancel while loading file
If you are still not sure which type below is yours, please try
previous section before proceeding.
including Direct-X
(You can enjoy MOD sound with Direct-X. However, if Direct-X is already installed on your computer, no need to install it again. Try the smaller Type-B!)
File name: cp2b2x.exe (self extracting; 6103456 bytes)
If you want this from Sony, click here.
When you finish, you can get the multi user model. Click here if you want it.
- without Direct-X
(You can not enjoy MOD sounds unless your computer is already configured with Direct-X.)
File name: cp2a1.exe (self extracting; 4399219 bytes)
If you want this from Sony, click here.
When you finish, you can get the multi user model. Click here if you want it.
6 separated files
File names:
-
cp2a1xs.exe (self extracting; 756850 bytes)
data.1 (1047753 bytes)
data.2 (1045134 bytes)
data.3 (1046959 bytes)
data.4 (610881 bytes)
directx.z (1740513 bytes)
When you select this option, whether or not to install Direct-X is up to you. If you download all six files (including directx.z), Community Place will automatically install it after you double click the first file (cp2a1xs.exe). Otherwise, Direct-X will not be installed.
Caution: All six (or five) files must be downloaded to the same directory.
Links to each download file are listed below:
When you finish, you can get the multi user model. Click here if you want it.
Circus Park (multi user model)
File name: circusu.exe (self extracting; 1918240 bytes)
This is a multi user model written in SE-VRML format. In this world, you can connect to the Community Place Bureau multi user server located at Sony Pictures Imageworks in Culver City, CA. When you enter this virtual world, you can enjoy interacting with other people by using chat and your favorite avatars. You can even change the color of your avatar, and let it display body language by using the action buttons.
Click here to download. When you finish downloading, extract the file contents by double clicking on the filename. It is important that you name the directory where your Community Place is installed when installing the Circus Park world file. Then you can enter the world using the Circus Park link on the Community Place Release Notes (HTML) page found in your installation directory.
