WHAT IS VRENG ?

VREng (Virtual Reality Engine) is an interactive and distributed 3D application allowing interactions in real-time between avatars and objects and navigation in virtual worlds connected over the Internet.

REQUIREMENTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

To build VREng you need a C++ and a C compiler (for ex. g++, gcc). Furthmore you need the X-Window System X11 (Xorg, X11R6 or Openwin). Your visual must have a color depth of 8, 16, 24 or 32.

The following libraries are required: libjpeg, libgif, libXpm. Other recommended libraries: libpng, libmysqlclient, libz. For more details see md/REQUIREMENTS.md.

Your machine and your network should support IP Multicast, mainly IGMPv2 and Multicast routing protocols to see other avatars in the same scene. If is not the case a Unicast/Multicast Reflector is activated when vreng is launched. VREng detects automatically if your host is on the MBone, if true, VREng switches in Multicast mode, else continues in Unicast mode.

SUPPORTED PLATFORMS

- Linux* (debian, unbutu, fedora, centos, arch,...)
- MacOSX*
- FreeBSD*
- NetBSD*
- Solaris*
- Sunos4.1.*
- HP-UX-B.10.20
- CygWin32

VREng has not been ported on other platforms yet, but any port will be welcome.

DOWNLOADING

The VREng sources are available by: git clone https://github.com/philippedax/vreng.git

COMPILING

If the script "configure" is not present, you need to build it first by: ./build [args...] where args are the same as those of ./configure [args...].

VREng uses an OpenGL library. The configure script will usually figure out which one is installed on your system. There are basically two possibilities: 1 - Your system already has a vendor OpenGL library installed. 2 - If you want to use the Mesa free OpenGL emulation library (http://www.mesa3d.org/).

If your OpenGL library is not visible through the standard paths, you can use the configure option: --with-GL-prefix=DIR.

VREng works with the Ubit toolkit. Since vreng-7.0.0 the Ubit Toolkit is built in VReng by default.

Before compiling VREng check available features with: ./configure --help

To configure and compile VREng with defaults, type: ./configure

and then type: make

To launch VREng type: ./vr or ./vreng

INSTALLING

The vreng binary executable and the vre script-shell will be installed by default in /usr/local/bin. To do this, type: make install or make install-strip

HOW TO NAVIGATE ?

You can alternatively use left button's mouse either arrow keys either menu buttons to navigate in a virtual scene. Arrow keys on your keyboard allow 6 spatial degrees of freedom:

• key_up to go straight on
• key_down to move back
• key_right to turn on your right
• key_left to turn on your left
• key_pageup to look up
• key_pagedown to look down

plus

• key_home to look forward
• key_end to accelerate
• key_insert to rise up
• key_delete to land on the ground

To identify objects, click on the left or right button of the mouse, the name of the pointed object will appear, maybe with a pushdown menu containing buttons to activate an action on this object (for example open/close for a door).

DOCUMENTATION

For more details, the documentation is available at https://web.archive.org/web/20160329013641/http://www.vreng.enst.fr/html/index.html

It is recommended to see also the ChangeLog file md/CHANGELOG.md for more informations. The history of commits are also presents in conf/history

AUTHORS

• Denis Arnaud [email protected]: interface between world mgt and network
• Fabrice Bellard [email protected]: global architecture and 3D rendering
• Stephane Belmon [email protected]: network interface
• Samuel Orzan [email protected]: world management
• Lionel Ulmer [email protected]: the GUI under X11
• Eric Lecolinet [email protected]: new GUI + Ubit toolkit
• Philippe Dax [email protected]: project supervisor

CONTRIBUTORS

• Francois Karr : Windows95 port
• Vincent Haverlant : RTP protocol
• Adrien Felon : aoi object
• Patrick Bellot [email protected]: vrel language
• Ankit Jalote : humanoid
• Yann Renard : face, bone, v3d
• Mathieu Seigneurin : vjs, vjc, vrelet
• Guillaume Brule : bap
• Pierre Gros : transform, lwo, mysql
• Mario Trentini : landmarks, axis
• Julien Desreumaux - Sebastien Piraud : book, sheet
• Romain Piegay : views, 3ds, ase, repeat textures
• Pascal Chambon : x3d, carousel
• Eric Varadaradjou : communication agent, ocaml

MAINTAINER

Philippe Dax [email protected]: project supervisor

CONTACTS

You can send BUG reports and comments via Github.

Have fun!

-- Philippe Dax