#Tower of Babel
9 messages in this thread
Hi Donald,
Impressive message !
It seems that at least one of this bunch of people can speak straightforward
without losing himself in thousands of terms from books and films…..
I started with Compuserve in the middle of December and got totally confused
about trying to follow the Studio City 2000 threads. At first it seemed to me
an interesting project, later I got the impression that most people involved
are more interested in endless philosophical discussions.
I'm really looking forward to your upload and hope the fog starts to lift
Confused
Michael
Michael,
Thanks for the reply!
<<It seems that at least one of this bunch of people can speak straightforward
without losing himself in thousands of terms from books and films…..>>
Actually, I really don't deserve the compliment… Personally, I love to
participate in endless philosophical disscussions… However, I think that
the project also needs to become a lot more accessible to people who would
rather be modelling.
<<I..hope the fog starts to lift>>
Me too!
–Donald
Donald,
<<However, I think that the project also needs to become a lot more accessible
to people who would rather be modelling. >>
People should be/already are/never stopped modelling.
When the political dust settles, and an area for ul'ing mesh files is in place,
the project coordinators will most surely be overwhelmed.
…B.
I think the Studio City project got far out of hand, too.
I'm tempted to offer an alternative: The "city" starts as a grid, twenty-six
square blocks on a side, lettered A-Z, each block is addressed AA, AB, etc.
with AA in the upper left. Each block is 200 feet on a side. Any single
person is free to homestead a block, first come, first served. Any N people
can merge their blocks. No buildings can trespass (overhang or underhang) into
another block. For materials, you can only use the default library from 3DSr4.
Each block is limited to 64K faces.
And I'd like to get everyone to sign a submission form to allow their block to
be included on the next Syndesis 3D-ROM. 🙂 In this way, every block owner
can get a free CDROM copy of the entire city, too.
John,
I really like your approach to virtual city planning/urban design! I think
that these would be good simple guidelines for the "Free Zone" approach to
Studio City. We might have to toss in a few more nasty rules about object
naming and materials, but the whole process could be much simpler.
I like the idea of the city model being "freeware". The Syndesis disk would
be a great way to reach a lot of people–you've got distribution to places that
CompuServe doesn't reach.
…however, I wish that the Syndesis disk was cheaper <g>…
-Donald
Not to mention download times! A "homesteading" approach makes people put up
or shut up. 🙂 You want a "cheaper" Syndesis disc? Argh! I just offered you
a *free* disc!
John,
<< I just offered you a *free* disc!>>
Sorry, I had second thoughts about writing, "I wish it were cheaper" — I am
still trying to sort out issues of "commercialization", "non-profit" and "free"
in my own mind.
Seriously, I think your idea is great! Lets develop it further!
-Donald "looking a gift horse in the mouth" Newlands
There's no such thing as a free lunch. 🙂 Our "free disc" offer comes pretty
close – you do need to make and send us a model we can use on the disc.
Fortunately, that's like falling off a log for anyone within sight of this
message.
John,
We could call the new city "Free Lunch"…<g>
I would be concerned about contributing serious work to a project too closely
linked to a single product or service. That would be like falling off a log,
eating a free lunch and waking up the next morning with a big lump on my
head…<bg>
I like the fact that the Syndesis disk has a wide distribution channel, but I
would rather see the meshes distributed on a very low-cost CD-ROM, and one that
restricted the meshes to personal/non-commercial use.
I like your ideas about city structure much better. I would be much happier
working with the minimal planning guidelines that you proposed than those
currently in the Charter…
Somewhere between chaos and overkill, I believe there are the following
ingredients for a successul, on-line, collaborative city model:
1) a simple grid
2) a face limit
3) a materials library
4) naming standards
–Donald Newlands