SQUEAK CROQUET TUTORIAL

PEER TO PEER AND AVATARES IN CROQUET

Until now you have downloaded .TEA files, .PR files , images etc. from the web-hoster of DMU. This machine has the SO Windows and the webserver IIS (the equivalent to Apache in many other machines). This files are inside an structure of folders inside the folder webroot of the webserver.If you create a Portal to a DMU space - like in the previous lesson - "virtual clones" will be created inside a simetric structure at your machine, under C:\Croquet/data.

BUT, IF YOU :

1 - have an IP Address fix or something like (your computer needs to have an identification in the Internet like: 200.207.167.55, by example) and
2 - you are logged on

you can be a "server" for any other user having Croquet working.

You need to create a folder under C:\Croquet/data having by name your IP Address, your identification, and put all the files of the space KK (by example) to be linked. The other users, running a "make function" to create a Portal, like we did in the previous lesson for the space SpR8, but using YOUR IP Address, can create, each one, a Portal to your space KK:

makePortalToKK: sp
 
| win winR  tframe p  pR url|

"Creating a portal to  the main  space"  
p := TPortal new.

"Creating a  Remote Portal"
pR := TPortal new.

"Creating a  remote 3D window to have the  Portal to the space KK"
winR := TWindow new.
winR translationX: 0 y: 0  z:3.
"winR rotationAroundY: 135.0."
 
winR contents: pR.

"Importing the remote  SpaceR"
url := 'http://200.207.167.55/TeaLand/spaces/remoteSpKK.tea'. "Use the IP Address of your machine" 
tframe := self loadURL: url. 
tframe addChild: winR. 
 
"Creating a 3D window to be in the main space"	
win := TWindow new.
win translationX: -5 y: 0  z: -8 .
win contents: p. "This window will contain  the portal"
sp addChild: win. "The space sp will be defined at initializeDefaultSpace"

p  linkPortal: pR.

If two users inside this space KK (one can be you) opening the Menu of the space select "Connect"

and do the connection:

they can see, one, the avatar of the other.

IMPORTANT: Unfortunately this is not totaly implemented yet today (NOV 2004).Words of one of the Croquet creators, Mark P. McCahill: "For now, you and your friend need to be on the same LAN. I imagine that if you already had a VPN set up that would also work to make a virtual LAN even if you are not physically on the same LAN. Wide area connections are something that will be coming after we have sorted out the bugs in the current clients and have a long term persistence mechanism in place." The co-habitants of an space can do many things together, included voice chat, using the telephone. We will wait...

WARNING. If you don't have a powerfull computer and a fast communication line it's possible that you will not have a very responsible application. We are doing our tests at a: Notebook DELL Latitude D600 - Intel Pentium M755 2.0 GHZ - Memory: 512 MB - VideoCard ATI Radeon 9000 32MB DDR 4xAGP - Resolution 1400x1050 - Communication: ADSL 256 kbps (Download: 45 kBps, Upload: 14 kBps) - Windows XP Professional SP1

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