wt - a portable 3D game engine, version 0.04
Release 0.05

Copyright (C) 1994 by Chris Laurel

Please see the LICENSE file for further details.  You may not distribute
this project without this file (README) and the LICENSE file included.

The file gifload.c is covered by a separate license and warranty than the
rest of this project.  Details can be found at the beginning of the file.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------


This release of wt took me a lot longer to complete than previous ones--partly
  because of a lack of time, and partly because there are a bunch of new
  features.  Adding the features was not as hard as organizing them nicely
  so that the code did not become a tangled.


* Here are the main new features since version 0.04:

  * A world editor.  Thomas Malik's world editor has been available for some
    time now, but this is the first time it has been part of a wt release.

  * Tcl support.  This is optional--you can still run wt without Tcl.
    If you compile wt with Tcl support, you can trigger Tcl events with
    keystrokes, affect objects, and modify the world.

  * Support for true color framebuffers.  This is a compile time option. 
    I've not tried using a true color frame buffer with a true color capable
    graphics device.  Instead, I've relied on dithering to approximate the
    extra colors on an 8 bit device.  It slows wt down considerably, but looks
    much, much better.

  * Blocky pixel mode.  If you have a 1280x1024 display, a 320x200 window will
    look pretty small.  By specifying '-b' on the wt command line, you can
    cause wt to quadruple the size of the view window.  This slows wt down
    but not as much as actually rendering at the higher resolution would.
    Blocky pixel mode can be used in combination with true color mode.

  * Objects.  These aren't too interesting yet, as the object you can do
    much with is the viewer.  There is a very basic physics model for use
    with objects so, for example, a jump is modeled by an instantaneous
    upward force acting on an object rather than directly manipulating the
    object's distance from the ground.

  * Other changes are described in the CHANGES file.


* Installing:

  If you have xmkmf (you should if you are using X windows):
    - edit the Imakefile and enable the options you want
    - type 'xmkmf'
    - type 'make'

  If you don't have xmkmf, or if it fails to generate a working makefile:
    - copy Makefile.orig to Makefile
    - edit the Makefile and select options
    - type 'make'

  This distribution of wt supports two output devices:  X11 and direct
    full-screen VGA under Linux.  If you want to use VGA, you *must* use
    Makefile.orig.

  If you have something other than X11 or Linux/VGA, you will not be able
    to use this distribution without modifying some source files.  You
    can obtain binaries and source for other platforms from one of the
    ftp sites listed in the Resources section.


* Running the demo:

  * Type 'xwt' followed by the name of a world file.  If you are using the Tcl
    version of wt, use world files with a .tcl extension; otherwise, use
    the world files with a .world extension.

  * For xwt, just type 'xwt castle.world'  The keys are:
      forward - up arrow
      backward - down arrow
      turn left - left arrow
      turn right - right arrow
      strafe - slash
      run - shift
      jump - space
      quit - q

      Alt or Meta should also be useable as strafe keys, but my
        version of X distributions as the Alt key mapped to something
        else.  
	 
      To run wt in full-screen mode for Linux (using svgalib), you need
        to be root (or make it setuid root first.)
        As root, type 'wt castle.world'  The keys are the same as for the
	X version, except that the slash does not work for strafing.

      In the Tcl version of wt, the numeric keys 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are bound
        to Tcl actions.  Look in the file 'wt-init.tcl' to see what they do.


* Editing world files

  The editor requires that you have Tcl and Tk installed on your system.
  The details of installing and using the editor are found in a separate
  README file for the editor.


* Resources:

  There are now two wt ftp sites:
    magoo.uwsuper.edu:/pub/wt
    linuxftp.caltech.edu:/dloads/wt

  For the very latest wt patches and utilities, check the incoming directory
    on magoo.

  If you are intersted in participating in or monitoring the development of
    wt, you can subscribe to the wt mailing list.  Send your request to:
    wtm-request@magoo.uwsuper.edu


* Future directions:

  I'm primarily interested in creating a networked graphical MUD type game.
    Other people on the wt mailing list have expressed interest in using the wt
    engine for more arcade-action oriented games.  I'm deliberately keeping
    the rendering engine of wt mostly independent from the rest of the
    program because I want people to be able to use it for a variety of
    projects.


* Me:

	send any comments, ideas, bug reports, etc. to:

	Chris Laurel
	claurel@mr.net
	snailmail: 5700 W Lake St, #208
                   St. Louis Park, MN  55416
	phone: (612) 929-9183
