Qwaq Forums
From SC Education
Contents |
Current Version We're Using
Version 1.1.31 (http://qwaq.com/downloads/)
Adding Your Content
Uploading your content into the forum is very easy as long as you are trying to upload something that is one of the supported file types. To bring something into the forum all you have to do is drag the file from wherever you have it saved on your computer into the forum while you are in the area you'd like it to be displayed.
Once your content is imported you can move it, and adjust it's size on the screen. If you see a green box surrounding an object you can adjust it's size by clicking and dragging from any of the corners. Hovering along the edge of the green box will bring up a guide which you can rotate the object along. Clicking in the center of the object allows you to move it freely throughout the area.
If the green box doesn't appear around something you can get it by going to the Tools menu and selecting Inspector. Find the object you'd like to edit in the Inspector window, right click on it, and select 3D Editor. For most objects you can also click a blue box located in the upper left hand corner (most of the time) and check Allow Moving, Allow Resizing, and Allow Turning to accomplish the same thing as you do through the inspector window. When you go this route the green box won't appear, but you'll notice that you can move things by clicking at the bottom of the object and dragging it to where you'd like it or clicking at a corner on the bottom and rotating or resizing.
The inspector window gives you access to remove, and modify anything in an area with a lot more precision than you can by just clicking and dragging though, so it's worth looking into if something isn't lining up the way you'd like it to be.
Creating a Portal to Another Space
Portals can exist in one of two ways. You can have either a dorway that leads into another area, or you can have a portal, which you step into that leads into that area. The 3D portal (as we've seen it so far) exists as a three dimensional model of the area you will be visiting.
The type of portal you create is entirely dependent on how you place it into the forum. If you simply place a portal into the forum it will be a doorway, however if you place it on a pedestal it will be three dimensional.
2D Portals
If there is a portal that isn't linked to anyplace in the forum you are creating a portal to, the empty portal will be your doorway back. This is the easiest way to create something that resembles a doorway you can travel back and forth through.
If you need to create an unlinked portal:
- In the Objects menu select Croquet and then Portal Gate.
To create a 2D portal:
- Navigate to the Forums window by selecting Forums from the Tools menu.
- Select the forum you'd like to create a portal to and drag it to the place you want your doorway to appear.
If you've already created the linked portal and now you need to make the returning door you can do this by following these steps:
- Click the blue rectangle in the upper left hand corner of the door you've already set up and select Copy Address to Inventory in the menu that pops up.
- Travel through the door into the area you want to create a return portal.
- Place an unlinked portal where you want it in that area.
- Drag the link that was placed in your inventory onto the portal.
3D Portals
3D Portals sit on top of a pedestal. In order to create a 3D portal:
- If you need a pedestal to place the portal on, select Pedestal from the Objects menu.
- If the forums aren't already displayed display them by selecting Forums from the Tools menu.
- Drag the forum you want to link to onto the pedestal.
The main difference between 2D and 3D portals is that 3D portals aren't a link to a specific place within a forum. You are dropped into the linked forum as if you've walked in from the place you entered the 3D model. Because of this there isn't two way travel. If you want to have 3D portals between two areas you'd need to create each portal separately.
Supported File Types
3D Models
- Google SketchUp models exported as KMZ files for Google Earth 4 (http://sketchup.google.com/) with .kmz extension
- VRML 97 (VRML2.0) files with .wrl extension. (http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/VRML/)
- 3ds-Max ASE (ASCII Scene Export) files with .ase extension.
Images
- JPG – Preferred for photographic images (images with broad color gradations)
- PNG – Good for most textures; PNG supports a full alpha channel.
- GIF – Best (fastest) choice for graphics images (text, line drawings, and so forth)
- BMP – Supported but not recommended, because the files are large and slow to transfer
Documents
- Microsoft Word .DOC and RTF, Open Office ODT files
- Microsoft XLS and Open Office ODS files
- Microsoft PPT and Open Office ODP files
- TXT files produced with any of various text editors
- PDF files
Movies
- MPEG-2 movies and associated audio
