Showcasing the power of scripting in the new client. James3D shows an example of having pets follow you and sitting on command. He also shows the IK system and how we hope to utilize it in the new client. Enjoy!

Describes a few software components we currently have working and showcases a couple new scenes:

- Goes through Head Customization options.

- Some simple scripts.

- Upper Class Theatre.

- Train Station.

Throughout the video he will be highlighting some neat features.

Leave any comments, feedback and questions. We will try and answer them in our next vlog.

This is just a quick video demonstrating a few different weather effects that are currently possible in the new engine.

The system generates weather procedurally based on a set of parameters provided by a script, it allows control over every aspect of the atmosphere and can simulate a full day/night cycle. The effects shown in the video only touch the surface of what is possible with Unity.

It can simulate anything from a peaceful summer night to a stormy day including some truly alien skies. Fancy a region that mimics Titan with fuzzy orange clouds and an atmosphere made hazy by yellow fog? No problem.

All of this will be accessible through the JavaScript system mentioned here in a previous post, this will let you create regions with ever-changing weather; it could even be made to pull weather information from an online service such as Google Weather and display a user's local weather around them in the 3d World.

Hey there folks,

As I talked about in my previous post, one of the things we're implementing will be a JavaScript engine that will run both client-side and server-side. And we're really excited for what it's going to let us do. For those of you not really in the know of what a "scripting engine" means or why we're excited, let me take a little bit to explain what sorts of interesting things it will let you do.

Right now, any time you as a user want a new way to interact with a room (let's say a door that swings open), you need to rely on the world creator to make it available to you. Not only does that mean it might be shelved for a while, but even when finally make it has to go through a whole patch cycle (which means even more waiting time). Worse, many of the scripts don't really line up right between different users (I'm looking at you "Move Within Bounded Box").

So let's put the tools to make these scripts in the hands of the people who want to see it happen the most. Let's give you the tools to make a door that swings open, a pet that follows people around the room, a maze with moving walls, or a bot that can greet people when they come into the room. And if you want to make something complicated, you should be able to benefit from it by having it available on the marketplace for others to use - at the price you set.

But it's bigger than just moving objects in a room. Sure, those are a few nice simple ways you can make your regions more lively than they are right now. We want to give you more tools than just that. You walk into a room and the room has the ability to give you new pieces of interface to fiddle with. It might show you a listing of the DJ's library or it might show you a chess board. Scripts in rooms will be able to give the people who visit the room the interfaces they need to interact. Let's take a quick example:

As a user, you might run a matchmaking room where people can come and hook up. When someone arrives in the room, they get a small survey to fill out about their taste in other people. They complete it, click a button to send it back to the room, and now the server's script can compare their results to who else is in the room and suggest matches for them. It could even remember who else has been there today and let you know about possible missed connections. It could soon be the sexiest little hookup spot online - and it'd be all in the hands of the users to create it, maintain it, and (ahem) service it.

Share your ideas for what you think would be great ideas you'd like to see ...

Hey Everyone,

The Client Development team has been hard at work planning and working on a whole ton of new technology and ideas that we're going to use to make our virtual worlds more interesting and interactive. The biggest change is going to be putting the power of building in your hands in ways we've never done before. Driving all of it will be a scripting engine known the world over as being reliable, fast, and a game-changer when it comes to what you'll be able to do with the whole experience, from game world to your screen. We're using Google's JavaScript V8 engine to give everyone the tools to change the world in new and interesting ways.

JavaScript was an obvious choice for us because it is proven technology and a well-known language used by millions of developers worldwide. Rather than forcing everyone to use the same user interface and the same scripts on props, users will be able to customize rooms, props and the tools they use to access the world in ways that we never would have been able to do before. Scripters will have access to a wide range of functionality through easy-to-use functions that will let them develop AIs for bots, game systems that spawn one or more rooms, and custom user interface that could show anything from a scoreboard to a map of their game world.

Oh, and please forgive the developer art.