Rockin'-VR

...brings selfmade 3D to SEGA Saturn!

about

Rockin'-VR is an application for use on the Sega Saturn videogame system. It implements the VRML97 recommendation of the W3C, the so called Virtual Reality Modeling Language. This enables the user to explore 3D worlds on Saturn. Nothing but a Saturn capable of running CD-R's is required. In 2006 I added CD drive access to load .wrl files from CD.

View some screenshots.

It was planned to allow to create and save 3d worlds on Saturn, too, but until today it's only a viewer.

short introduction on VRML

Now let me give you an impression on what VRML really is.

VRML is a descriptive language suited to describe a 3-dimensional world and it also implements interactivity with event routing and script languages like javascript or vrmlscript. Such a world is stored as a text file which can be compressed optionally. Here's a sample:

The objects of the world are structured in a hierarchically tree-like form of nodes. What's also importand is that you can give a node a name and rever to it later. You can set up a world that consists of more than one file. This allows the use of models and worlds like a library.

details

The Rockin'-VR projects is written from scratch and consists of three parts:

The VRML-viewer:

This is the real heart of Rockin'-VR. Through it's evolutionary development, it will support more and more features of VRML. Some may never be possible like movie-textures, others will come when time passes like textures, gouraud-shading, sounds and script language support.

The VRML-editor:

I have already written a very simple commmand-line editor years ago. That's why I have detailed impressions on what's needed and how it can be implemented to quickly develop worlds on Saturn with the joypad.

Implementation has not started yet.

The File Browser:

A file browser has been implemented in the RB library beginning 2005, replacing the original Rockin'-VR filebrowser from 2002.

controls

The in-world controls for navigation:

Note: All movement is accelerated to it's maximum given by NavigationInfo.speed. All rotation is also accelerated to a maximum of 90 degrees per second. Slowdown is twice as fast as acceleration.

WALK:

UP/DOWN - accelerates forward/backward movement(move forward/backward)

LEFT/RIGHT - accelerates left/right rotation around the y-axis(look left/right)

FLY:

UP/DOWN - accelerates left/right rotation around the x-axis(look up/down)

LEFT/RIGHT - accelerates left/right rotation around the y-axis(look left/right)

A/B - accelerates forward/backward movement(move forward/backward)

EXAMINE:

Not yet implemented!