WebFX Plugin
for Netscape Navigator 3.0 Beta 4 & 5

Paper Software, Inc.
January 10th, 1996

What's in this ReadMe


NOTE:
A copy of this document was shipped with WebFX.
See WebFX.htm in your WebFX directory.


Thank You For Choosing WebFX!

Thanks for choosing WebFX, the fastest VRML viewer on the internet and the first to work as a plugin for Netscape Navigator. We realize you have a choice in VRML viewers and we will continue to do our absolute best to provide you with distinctive advantages in design, performance, and quality.

The WebFX Plugin lets you fly through inter-connected three dimensional worlds on the internet complete with all the safety and comforts of Navigator. WebFX provides full VRML 1.0 compliance, progressive rendering, physics based navigation, collision detection, animated viewpoints, gzip support, level of detail, GIF, JPG, RGB, PNG, and BMP textures, multiply nested inlines, 3D text, sprites, image backgrounds, and support for common Open Inventor nodes so you can view as many 3D files on the internet as possible.

Check Our Website For The Latest Release of WebFX!


IMPORTANT! Netscape Navigator 2.0 Caveats

This version of WebFX is configured for Netscape 2.0 Beta 4/5. Because WebFX is tightly integrated with Navigator, you may have difficulty using this release of WebFX with earlier or later versions of Netscape Navigator. It is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED that you download the latest Netscape Navigator 2.0 release along with the latest WebFX release.

Netscape Navigator is in beta. Netscape's Java is in beta. WebFX is in beta. Are you starting to get the idea that things may be a little less than perfect? Don't worry. Things are not all that bad. Here are the main issues you need to be aware of:


Notes About This Beta Release

Requirements:

New features:

Improvements:

Known bugs and unimplemented features in this beta:


Installation

If you have an earlier version of WebFX...

You should either delete your current WebFX directory or install WebFX within a brand new directory.

Installing WebFX

Make sure Netscape is not running when installing WebFX.

After you have unzipped the WebFX self-extracting zip file, run the resulting setup program to install WebFX. You'll be happy to know that no changes will be made to your autoexec.bat, config.sys, or system.ini files and no files will be copied to your Windows system directory. The setup program may ask you to identify the location of Netscape 2.0 if it cannot find the program during installation. Be sure you enter the correct directory.

Just so you know what we're doing to your system, here are the registry modifications our 32bit setup program will make to Windows 95 or Windows NT:

Registry Modifications: The 32bit WebFX Setup install program modifies some Netscape Windows 95 (or Windows NT) Registry entries.
- HKEY_USERS:
.Default\Software\Netscape\Netscape Navigator
Viewers		x-world/x-vrml          browser-handle-promptuser
Suffixes        x-world/x-vrml          wrl,wrx

Running WebFX

Once installed, WebFX is completely transparent until you load a VRML file. To try this, start Netscape, select "Open File..." from the File menu, look in the VRML directory included with WebFX, and double click on a wrl file. After a short delay (we're working on this), you should see the WebFX window appear within the browser window. To popup the WebFX main menu, right click anywhere within the 3D viewing window. (Dragging the right mouse button is also great for spinning the scene around).


WebFX Extensions

This release of WebFX supports the following VRML extensions:


Cool Content

You'll want to check out two HTML pages in particular when running WebFX: Welcome.htm and Coolwrls.htm. Try our Welcome.htm page to get a nice summary of using WebFX as well as an example of embedded VRML. Also, try our Coolwrls.htm document to see a bunch of really cool VRML files locally and on the net. Both HTML documents are in the WebFX directory and are installed in your Windows 95 Start Menu.

Cool worlds you'll find in the webfx\vrml directory:


Configuring WebFX for Optimum Performance

There are a number of options you can select which will effect WebFX performance. All of them are found on the WebFX main menu:


WebFX Navigation

There are three navigation modes in WebFX: walk, fly, and point. To switch between modes, use the toolbar or right click to popup the WebFX main menu. You can use either the keyboard or mouse to navigate in each mode. If you're like us and you've racked up alot of mileage playing Doom or Descent, you'll be familiar with WebFX navigation. The Doom model is used when walking or authoring while the Descent model is used when flying.


Technical Support

Please check our home page for a running list of known bugs. If you find anything we don't know about (especially crashes), it would be great if you could drop us a note. Thanks in advance.

Please DO NOT POST PROBLEM REPORTS ON THE VRML MAILING LIST. Not only will this embarass us, it will also create unnecessary noise on an otherwise productive mailing list. If you must get an answer to a technical support question immediately, you can call our labs at 914-679-2440. We're there most of the time but we're busy working on your next beta drop so please, keep your questions concise.



Paper Software, Inc.
4 Deming Street
Woodstock, NY, 12498
914-679-2440 (voice)
914-679-4123 (fax)