Teacher: you can shove all the sides back to give you more vision when you build
student: yes, I have most of it gone already
Teacher: even (have you got "show" "web" checked?) you can turn that off while you build too
student: web, and tabs are gone from my screen
Teacher: mmm tabs not such a great idea
Teacher: what if you get a telegram?
student: I only turn it on when I want to go somewhere
student: the operator will tell me, then I'll open it
Teacher: ok
student: I like the more visibility better
Teacher: as you get more grams I guess you may change your mind :o)
student: :-)
Teacher: well looks like you have that all taken care of
Teacher: do u keep the downloads box open?
student: nope, in fact I’ve never had it open
Teacher: I do I have found it very helpful while building
student: ok
student: I have it open now
Teacher: it helps to see if something is loading
student: ahh... ok
Teacher: and if it doesn't you know you've done something wrong
student: lol
student: ok
Teacher: you know all about right click to get an object properties box?
student: yes
Teacher: ok right click on the road where I am standing?
student: after that point, I’m lost
student: ok
student: ok
Teacher: and press INSERT ( on your keyboard ) ONCE
student: ok
Teacher: then use your arrow keys to take it out on to green land at least thirty presses
student: ok
student: about 40 out
Teacher: then when there is no danger of the dreaded message "do not encroach on another’s property" ( namely the original road) close the box
student: ok, I get this
student: Building Inspector: Sorry, you cannot build beyond this point.
Teacher: ahhhh bring it towards u
student: ok
Teacher: the other side of the road is out of the world
student: ahh
student: ok
Teacher: the world is 50 x 50 large we are on the perimeter
student: ahh...
Teacher: here we go!
student: :-)
Teacher: now to change the object
Teacher: right click on your new road
student: ok
student: wow, a tree
Teacher: and delete or backspace the name of the object and any thing else pertaining to the object in the action, description and object lines
student: ok
Teacher: and type in new file name into object line, and I can see you DID read the help
Teacher: lol
student: hehe
student: I peeked
student: at it
Teacher: ok change it to a walk001.rwx
student: ok
Teacher: do u want me to get on with it at this point? Or do u have the time for a few little extra tips?
student: I have time
student: if you got time
Teacher: ok
Teacher: :o)
Teacher: see this walk?
student: yes
Teacher: it has the longer file name the H ( meaning Huge)
student: ok
Teacher: it is 20 x 20 presses ( clicks) big
student: ok
Teacher: the one you made is 16 x 16
student: ahh
student: ok
Teacher: it is a help to know the dimensions because you’ll find it a lot easier to join and avoid overlaps etc if you use walks and walls of even size
student: ok
Teacher: right click on YOUR walk
student: k
Teacher: and press INSERT and then the bottom arrow key ONCE
student: ok
Teacher: then backspace the object name and type in pp01m.rwx
Teacher: close box
student: cool
Teacher: see how your panel is 16 x 8 and fits your walk?
Teacher: but my wall is 20 x 10 and fits mine?
student: ahh...ok
student: neat
Teacher: did you also notice that when u pressed insert (duplication) it jumped away from you one click?
student: nope, I missed that one
Teacher: always press bottom arrow key after insert.....pulls it back into the exact centre of the original
student: I see now
Teacher: then you KNOW that it is 8 clicks either way ( as its 16 wide) to take the wall to the edge
student: the ground, or another wall?
Teacher: the wall (panel) you have
Teacher: bring it 8 presses either away or towards you
Teacher: no insert just use the arrow keys
student: ok
Teacher: that’s it now right click again
Teacher: insert.....bottom arrow key
student: ok
Teacher: and press page up 6 times (90 degrees)
student: ok
Teacher: then press the top arrow 8 times and the right arrow 8 times
student: ok
Teacher: close box
Teacher: the same thing twice more?
student: ok
student: like that
Teacher: and when you have the fourth wall in place we can change it into a doorway
Teacher: great!! now right click on the side where you want your door to be
student: k
Teacher: and ( no insert this time) just backspace the ob name and type in pd01.rwx
Teacher: close box
student: ok
student: neat
Teacher: now it will need to go over FOUR clicks
Teacher: so that it fits snugly in the corner
student: ok
Teacher: that’s it
Teacher: now right click again......
student: k
Teacher: and insert....bottom arrow
student: k
Teacher: over to the right 8 clicks
student: k
Teacher: backspace ob name
Teacher: type in pw01.rwx
Teacher: close box
student: cool a window
Teacher: see how the pp objects have a numbering system?
student: yes
Teacher: pw = panel window etc?
student: yes
student: I saw that
Teacher: the 01 is the texture
student: ahh..
Teacher: try changing one into 02
student: ok
student: whoa
Teacher: 03 04 05 etc
student: that’s diff Teacher: now this numbering system doesn't hold true for all the objects student: k
Teacher: because these are the objects from the original world from when the technology first started
Teacher: and it was trial and error at first
student: ahh... ok
student: just wondering
student: but
Teacher: but basically it helps to know that system , it is the best objects :o)
Teacher: yes?
student: do they have a list of some of these objects somewhere?
Teacher: yup
student: where can I locate the list?
Teacher: there are objects yards in here and all over alpha world
student: ok
Teacher: and there are lists on the web of the file names
student: ok
Teacher: I can give you two, you can choose which you like
student: ok
Teacher: http://www.geocities.com/PicketFence/1258/ and click on the objects gif
student: ok
Teacher: (for a shorthand list of the objects sorted into textures)
Teacher: http://aw.mpl.net/aw/models/ (alphabetical list of AWobjects)
student: ok
student: here's another question
Teacher: yup?
student: say I wanted to make something slanted, like going in a slope
student: how would I do that?
Teacher: you would need a slanted object
student: ahh... ok
Teacher: at this point in time you cant turn these objects on anything but the one axis
Teacher: with page up and down
student: ok
Teacher: they are working on it thou
student: hehe ok
Teacher: now here is another tip
student: ok
Teacher: you can use the shift key to move it in 1/10 shifts
Teacher: shift is good for moving furniture around its not much for building walls and roofs it throws out your count
Teacher: so try not to use in on walls etc
student: ok
Teacher: because it can lead to OVERLAPS
Teacher: overlaps = bad
student: got ya
Teacher: see here?
student: ya
student: I see
Teacher: see where they join?
Teacher: the flashing?
student: yes
Teacher: its called z buffering
student: ok
Teacher: and what it is, is the puter doesn’t know which texture to show
student: odd name
student: ahh... ok
Teacher: so its trying to show both
Teacher: and too many overlaps really slows down your frame rate
student: ok
Teacher: as your puter struggles with the extra work load
student: so, hopefully no overlaps, hehe
Teacher: well if the effect is worth it, yes
Teacher: but try to avoid it
student: ok
Teacher: ok now
Teacher: to do roofs ......that scares a lot of people
student: lol
student: why would that be?
Teacher: but it’s basically the same as walls
Teacher: you just have to think 8x8
student: ok
Teacher: click on this wall?
student: k
Teacher: and press insert......bottom arrow
student: got ya
Teacher: and then 8 presses of the + key ( far right side of keyboard)
Teacher: close box
student: ok
student: k
Teacher: ( the reason I ask u to close box is so I can check your progress) I cant see it until you do
student: ok
Teacher: now right click on the top wall panel
student: k
Teacher: and ( no insert) just back space ob name and type in roof21m.rwx
Teacher: close box
Teacher: ok
student: ok
Teacher: now 6 presses of page down or up
Teacher: and four presses of the arrow key required to bring it into line
student: ok
Teacher: now right click again
Teacher: insert bottom arrow key
student: k
Teacher: 12 clicks of page up ( 180 degrees)
student: k
Teacher: and move it the amount( either four or eight clicks) needed to bring it in line with the opposite wall
student: ;-)
Teacher: now
Teacher: right click on your door
student: k
Teacher: and insert bottom arrow key
Teacher: + key 8 times
Teacher: backspace ob name
student: oops
student: wrong button
Teacher: type in p45s21.rwx
Teacher: (waiting for you to catch up, no problems)
student: ok
Teacher: ok and guess what you do next?
student: move it up
student: and build another one
Teacher: you duplicate that panel, flip it 180 degrees and move it over 8 clicks
Teacher: same as you did for the roof
Teacher: don’t forget that bottom arrow key after insert
Teacher: gad you are good!
student: just learn quick
Teacher: I LOVE people that read the help files!
student: here
student: makes it easier I bet
student: also, another reason why I might learn fast
Teacher: it sure does , for you and me
student: I work with 3d models all day
Teacher: ah
student: I’m a graphics artist
Teacher: coo-el
Teacher: no wonder this program got you in
student: but this is neat building on the net
Teacher: you will be making these objects in a few months
student: hehe
student: got a house now
Teacher: all you need is the program to do it and a world to access
student: hehe
Teacher: well that’s the basics
student: well thanks
Teacher: there are lots more commands and stuff
student: hehe I bet
Teacher: I can run through some quickly if you have time?
student: sure thing
student: if you would please
student: I’m staying up all night tonight
student: so I got allot of time
Teacher: ok you can build a picture from a web site
student: ok
Teacher: all you need is a snowy screened object
student: I got a picture I know of
Teacher: and a jpg, gif or png URL
student: ok
student: what about a bmp?
Teacher: nope
student: ash...
student: ok
Teacher: only jpgs, gifs, and pngs work in aw
student: a lot of my work is done in bmp
student: guess I’ll have to convert
Teacher: yup
Teacher: ok look behind you
student: ok
Teacher: that is a snowy screen
student: ok
Teacher: any object like that will take a URL command
student: ok
Teacher: it means the object is tagged ( 200) so that it can take it
Teacher: you have a URL for me?
student: hmm...
student: lets try
student: http://www.dragon.com/images/main.jpg
student: may not work
student: but it's worth a try
Teacher: all u do is use the command "create picture" (right click and see)
student: k
Teacher: and then add the url
Teacher: see your downloads box?
Teacher: did it load?
student: hmm... nope
student: let me make sure I got that image there
student: lol
Teacher: then either the URL is no good somehow
student: one second
Teacher: or you have typed it wrong
student: let me check my site
Teacher: k
student: ok
student: try this
student: www.dragon.com/images/djchem.jpg
Teacher: you try it :o)))
student: ok
student: hehe
Teacher: duplicate my picture and try it
Teacher: ahhhh see it loading?
student: ahh
student: there it is
student: yes
Teacher: that’s why it’s handy to have your downloads box up
student: I see now
student: hehe
Teacher: ok and you can do signs
student: ok
Teacher: see here?
student: yes
Teacher: same thing
Teacher: object with create sign command
Teacher: but in this case you have two options
student: ok
Teacher: you can insert text in the description line
student: cool
Teacher: or in the action line like that
Teacher: you can change colors
student: how?
Teacher: with the bcolor=ffffff and color= 000000 command
Teacher: as you can see it uses HTML colors
student: ahh... HTML color codes?
student: hehe
Teacher: yup
Teacher: activeworlds also has a few colors built in for us idiots that cant remember HTML colors
student: LOL
student: hehe
Teacher: now if you don’t type in a color correctly it will go black
student: ahh
student: ok
Teacher: see how I cheated and just wrote b
student: yes
Teacher: I could have just as easily wrote x
Teacher: and it would still be black
Teacher: see?
student: OOPS
student: lol
student: ahhh ok
student: hehe
student: neat
Teacher: the reason you try to reduce the amount of chars in the objects description and action lines
Teacher: is because each area or "cell" has a data limit
student: k
Teacher: An area or cell (data limit of 1500 bytes) measures 10 by 10 meters
student: ok
Teacher: so u always try to use the larger object to do the same job instead of two smaller ones
student: k
Teacher: and try not to have any thing you don’t need in the description and action lines
student: k
student: say I wanted to add a sign with texture ?
Teacher: to bring that sign down to ground level use your right click and - key
student: same thing as with the image type sign
student: ahh
student: ok
Teacher: see my sign?
student: yes
Teacher: I have added the create animate me command
student: what’s that do?
Teacher: when two commands (in this case create sign and create animate me) are used you separate them with a comma
student: ok
Teacher: and you don’t need the trigger CREATE twice
student: ok
Teacher: BUT
Teacher: if you use a different TRIGGER (there are three create bump and activate)
student: ok
Teacher: then u separate them with a semi colon
student: ok
Teacher: what’s your email?
student: webmast@dragon.com
Teacher: with show web checked left click that sign
Teacher: see the semi colon between the create commands and the activate command that bought up the email program?
student: ok
student: yes
Teacher: ok and you can multi select things too
student: ok, this should be interesting
Teacher: To select more than one object at time, simply hold down the SHIFT key as you right-click on objects. You will see a yellow box around each object you have selected.
student: ahh
Teacher: When multiple objects are selected, you can hit "delete" to delete all at once, or you can use any combination of the arrow, +/-, and PgUp/PgDn keys to move them all simultaneously.
student: ok
student: ok
Teacher: You can select all the objects in an entire cell (10 x 10 meter area) by holding down CTRL and right-clicking on any object within that cell
student: neat
Teacher: You can use CTRL and SHIFT together to quickly select all of the objects in a large area.
student: cool
Teacher: we have to delete your little house as this is just for practice, this world
student: ok
Teacher: so lets try the ctrl - shift - delete out
student: here s a question
student: ok
Teacher: yup?
student: I went to one world
student: and said I couldn’t build within 250 meters, how do I find out where I am?
Teacher: go to "show"
student: k
Teacher: click "position"
student: I have it checked, but don’t see it anywhere on my screen
Teacher: it will put your coords at the top there
student: oh...
student: I see
student: lol
Teacher: (under your downloads box?)
student: ok
student: I see it...
Teacher: :o)
student: in the actual window
student: well, thanks for all your help...
Teacher: not a problem
student: think I’ll go check out the sites you told me
Teacher: actually its handy to have all those options checked
Teacher: and just use tabs and web as you need them
student: hehe
student: ok Teacher
Teacher: good luck you are going to be teaching me in six months :o)
student: well, thanks a lot Teacher


Lesson Plans
Lesson Example 1