City of Nidus: Part Two

Updated the format for this section. Now availible from the right side panel are links for VR5 Online, Metaverse Download, Active Worlds Help, Games Folder, and our Radio Station (including the automated request feature).

The banner on the top of the page is new also, though not representative of the actual city in 3D (I can't even imagine the bandwidth a city like that would need).

Working on an updated version of the AIML page where you talk with our bot, Serena. Not really our priority (but users talking to her is a priority so we can gather AIML Datasets). Also in the works is the new website format, codenamed: NeXtin (NeXt Internet OS) which will be the upgrade for our current EVO Desktop format.

For those who love to pick stuff apart... it's not really an operating system. It's a desktop gui for a website, but will have working programs in flash, java and activex.

Been actively talking with professional 3D design companies for content and custom work, getting some prices together, window shopping accordingly. A photorealistic 3D Internet doesn't come cheap, ya know? Found some interesting high-def models with textures, contacted the creators to work out some of the details... for one, high definition usually comes in a large zip file. One of the avatars we have been looking at is about 11Mb in size, so we are looking into ways of getting the filesize down to a respectable 2mb or less for Internet users without turning it into frankenstein...

Rest assured, we are still working the kinks out, but have every intention of introducing more photorealistic objects in world to replace the low res "placeholders". Generally that's the entire plan. We built the first version of the city layout fully expecting to delete and replace the buildings with high resolution versions - so when you see the same tree for the thousandth time, remember it's just a placeholder till we get our hands on the photoreal versions. The same thing goes for the vast majority of the world... it's all just placeholders for optimized and photoreal versions.

And one other thing... there is a good chance that this page will be unavailible for about an hour today between 7pm and 8pm PST -ish... no worries, it's a planned outage.

Phototextures and AIML?

While normally these two things do not go together, in this aspect they do indeed make a great pairing.

We have started to do some photorealistic stuff for the city (starting with the roads) as well as began the public beta for the AIML bot in AW. While many of you may understand the part about the textures, the AIML may throw most of you for a loop.

Serena, our resident Xelgot Bot, is a conduit for an AIML chatterbot system that can hold a conversation. So instead of a standard bot in the client that can usually just say hello and whatnot, by clicking the sign above her head you get an AIML bot online that we are maintaining by which you will be able to hold a conversation with. As more people talk to her, the more we can teach her system and the smarter she gets.

A leap ahead for the AW community :) Right now she is in complete beta. This means that she is kind of intelligent, but there is always room for improvement. As our visitors talk with her, we will check and update her systems and allow her to learn answers to your questions.

How's that for an automated caretaker?

This is just a basic setup for now, as is our blog format for updates and news for the city - but we felt a few things should be let out of the bag ahead of schedule.

As for the phototextures? We are stockpiling media, objects and textures to update the world with over the next few months. Some things you will see in world immediately, but most are on the servers waiting for the big day :) We can't give everything away, now can we?

Look forward to the changes in the coming months...

Welcome to the City of Nidus!

Welcome, to the new addition for the City of Nidus :)

If you are new to this place, or are accessing this web log from a standard internet browser, you are probably wondering what you have just wandered into.

This is the new format for our 3D City Information page... yes we chose a truly digital format - the blog. When any changes or updates happen for the city or the software running it, this stuff will be posted here as we do it. No more signs at ground zero hogging space and certainly no more common web pages that can easily be outdated.

Whenever something important happens (or even mildly interesting) in our city - this is the place to look :)

Now, for the tourists to our city:

Welcome! Nidus is a self proclaimed city of the future - a fully three dimensional community where you can chat, build, play games and even shop. And not just alone, either! Here you will find a diversity all it's own, as you are presented with literally hundreds of worlds to explore with multitudes of people to interact with.

This isn't a game - though we have plenty of them in here (we call these arcades too), and the environment is as open ended as the wikipedia...

Have a look around, enjoy yourself :) Soon we will be updating this information source to include useful links to online sources (help files), downloads and even our radio station :)

Please keep in mind that the City of Nidus is officially "unrated". There is no censorship in here other than a person's ability to right click and mute offensive persons. By entering this city, just like a real city, you understand that anything goes and we will not be held responsible for content you are exposed to during your journey.

Nidus is a virtual city run by VR5 Online, LLC and is free to the public. Questions, comment and suggestions can be submitted to wburns@vr5-online.com