[vos-d] development

[S Mattison]

> The goals for the UI prototype is to explore how to present a highly
> configurable user interface based around vobjects, to consider the kinds
> of tasks and workflow a user might perform in the GUI, and to confront
> cross-platform issues (in compiling, in the operation of the GUI and in
> distributing binary packages) up front, so that development "stays
> honest" and as OS-neutral as possible.

Wait, so, you mean, you're rendering the UI widgets in 3d now? (It
sounds more and more like Blender each day.)

> Both academically and professionally, Reed and I have a great deal of
> background in agent-based simulation.  It gives us a focus that is a bit
> more specific than simply "build a game engine", and looking at it from
> a the standpoint of formal simulation design lets us apply a little more
> rigor than goes into the average game or entertainment-oriented virtual
> environment.

Certain elements common to game engines might be helpful for more than
just making games, but I can see where you're coming from.

> By developing the UI first, I'm also taking a more top-down design
> strategy.  In the past, developing the backend first has led to the UI
> and the sample 3D worlds being an afterthought, which of course didn't
> impress most users.  To avoid making that mistake again, I'm going to
> focus on UI and content creation up front, to make good presentation and
> usability (and usefulness) a priority, and only then develop the backend
> to support those requirements.

With Usability as a focus, you could attempt to allow users to create
their own content, which I think should be the aim of a
community-oriented project such as this one. More content means more
popularity means more content, etc, etc.

> (It also helps that I'm getting more comfortable with modeling in
> Blender, and can produce programmer art that is at least marginally
> better than colored boxes).

Extrude. Rotate. Subsurface. ;)

> I'm hoping to have something for you all to see (UI prototype, with no
> network capability) in two to three weeks.

Looking forward to it!
-Steve