Frequently Asked Questions

CyberGate 1.0 Beta 3

When will there be a MAC, WIN 3.X, UNIX version of CyberGate?
How come there is never anyone in the worlds when I am there?
Does CyberGate work with WWW Browsers other than Netscape 2.*?
I get a "Connection Broken" message whenever I try to follow any URL.
Will there be an update of CyberGate 1.0 Beta 3?
Can I build my own world and turn it into a multiuser environent?
I have problems downloading CyberGate.
I am confused about navigation within PointWorld.
I am tired of my current avatar.
Can I build and use my own customized avatar?

When will there be a MAC, WIN 3.X, UNIX version of CyberGate?

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CyberGate is now in beta release for Windows95 and Windows NT. Ports to other platforms are planned for the VRML 2.0 version of CyberGate. We want to support VRML 2.0 as quickly as possible, therefore we will make a wider range of ports available for the upcoming VRML 2.0 release. We will post release dates on our web site as soon as they become available.

How come there is never anyone in the worlds when I am there?

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Most likely it is because you are behind a firewall, if this is not the case and you still can not see other avatars, please let us know.

CyberGate and CyberHub use UDP as network protocol for multi-user interaction, many firewalls do not allow UDP packets to go through. The system administrator of your firewall machine can open access for you. The port numbers used by CyberHub are 2000, 2001 and 2002, it currently runs on a machine called blacksun.lycos.com.

Does CyberGate work with WWW Browsers other than Netscape 2.*?

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CyberGate 1.0 Beta 2 and 3 work with Netscape 2.0 and Microsoft Internet Explorer. CyberGate 1.0 Beta 1 only works with Netscape 2.*.

I get a "Connection Broken" message whenever I try to follow any URL.

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CyberGate expects the 32Bit TCPIP software to be loaded when it tries to connect to the internet. Some internet dialers actually start the connection with the 16Bit TCPIP software. Please use the built in WIN 95 dialer whenever possible.

Will there be an update of CyberGate 1.0 Beta 3?

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Beta 3 was released on April 19.

New features for Beta 3 include:

- Ability to use your own Avatars
- Ability to ignore Avatars
- Larger Chat Area
- Purge of ChatLog Files

Can I build my own world and turn it into a multiuser environent?

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Black Sun is currently providing free support for multi-user chat and information exchange in existing VRML scene(s) conforming to the VRML 1.0 standard.

Here's all it takes to make your VRML world a multi-user chat space:

1. Send an Email with the URL you want us to support to:

myworld@blacksun.com

If you don't have a webserver to host your world, but you think it's a great site and the world ought to see it, send us the source file. If we like it too, we'll see if we can find a spot for it on one of our servers.

2. We will check out how your world will look to CyberGate users (e.g. dimensions, colors, lighting, text & textures). If anything looks wrong, we'll help you get it sorted out. When all is OK, we'll give you a single short string to insert in your VRML file that will tell any CyberGate browser that your scene is being supported by one of our CyberHub servers.

3. Download and install CyberGate from http://www.blacksun.com (either standalone or as a Netscape 2.0 plugin), and of course, tell all your online friends to do the same!

That's it -- anyone accessing your world with a CyberGate browser will now be able to see and interact with other CyberGate users. To insure that your world is not an island, we are building a kind of VRML "town square" at www.blacksun.com, which people will be able to use as a way of getting from one world to another. If your world contains links to other worlds supported by Black Sun, they all become part of a single seamless stretch of cyberspace.

I am confused about navigation within PointWorld.

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There are navigation instructions within the pull down help text of the CyberGate browser. We will be updating the help text for the next release, so we welcome any useful feedback on navigation hints.

I am tired of my current avatar.

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You can choose a new avatar at the start of a new CyberGate session. From the initial entry world, enter the "Avatar Gallery" and double click on a new avatar. This will be your avatar for the new session.

Can I build and use my own customized avatar?

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Beta 3 allows the use of custom build private avatars, in order to use one you'll have to do the following.

1. Build your avatar, it must be syntactically correct VRML (Version 1.0). Keep total file size (including inlines) less than 48K, use gzip compression if possible. Use Orientation to define "frontward". Put the Avatar's origin point (0,0,0) inside its "head", i.e. where you want others to "look you in the eye"
2. Put your avatar up at a website from where it can be accessed by the WWW. Make sure the mimetype x-world/x-vrml for file extension "wrl" is set correctly in the configuration file of the WWW server you use. If you use gzip compression the content encoding option must be enabled for compression type gzip and file extension "wrl.gz" in the configuration of the WWW server as well.
3. Enter the URL of your avatar in options/preferences/general/Own Avatar.

In order to find out more about tools that allow to create VRML files check at the VRML Repository.