Chaco Ships Free Pueblo Internet Game System CUPERTINO, California. (August 14, 1995) -- Chaco Communications, Inc. today publicly released a beta version of its Pueblo 3D multimedia Internet game client. Pueblo helps role-playing game authors create a friendly multimedia interface on the Internet. The Pueblo client is being distributed free from Chaco's web server at http://www.chaco.com/pueblo/. "Releasing Pueblo free will help the online community move to the next level of interactive multiuser games," said Glenn Crocker, Engineering Vice-President at Chaco. "We have created a framework which allows world builders to implement their dreams, from multiuser puzzles to multiuser action games. The Pueblo system is a strong foundation for a variety of online games." Chaco's built-in 3D graphics system, based on VRML (Virtual Reality Modelling Language), rivals those of competitors in speed, functionality, and intuitive navigation. According to Mark Pesce, VRML founder and evangelist, "Pueblo kicks butt up and down the net. This is what I had in mind when I started VRML." Multiuser Dimensions Pueblo supports a new kind of network game: a hypermedia MUD. A MUD, or "multiuser dimension," is a server-based virtual space. Players connect to it through the Internet using a client program. Players interact with other players and "non-player characters," such as computerized monsters, auctioneers, or roving psychologists. They can chat, band together to solve a puzzle, battle a common foe, or create collaborative works of art and fiction. MUDs are the most widespread form of virtual world in existence. Players in many MUDs have spontaneously created virtual governments to legislate conduct and settle disputes. Advanced players can use virtual bricks and mortar to build their own creations in a MUD. Text-MUDs describe scenes and events solely through text. A player interacts with the game by typing commands. For example, a user might type "go north" to move to another part of the world. The MUD then prints a text description of the new location, its contents, and the events happening there. MUDs are widely used. A popular MUD typically has hundreds of players logged in during its peak hours. Tens of thousands of people are using MUDs at any time during the day. MUDs are used for role-playing games, education, and collaboration. Hypermedia MUDs are More Fun Pueblo is a MUD client that works with text-MUDs or hypermedia MUDs. When it starts, players see a hierarchy of existing worlds in a hypertext window. Users can select from over 300 games in various categories. At present, most are text-MUDs. But when a player selects a Pueblo-enabled world, the screen changes to show a hypertext window, a command window, and a graphics window. Through Pueblo's hypermedia interface, world builders can add high-quality images and sound to a text-MUD. With 2D and 3D animated graphics, players can see a wood dresser in a corner or look more closely at papers behind a door. Music sets the tone for these virtual worlds, with bouncy disco for a virtual high-tech bar, or an ominous dirge for a crypt outside town. Sound effects add a realistic clang to a sword fight, and a creak to a door. Users simply click on the direction they want to travel, or the object they want to use. In a Pueblo-enhanced world, the graphics window might show the image of a path leading to a small house, smoke puffing from the chimney. Music begins playing. A text description of the scene appears. The player clicks on the door of the house, hears it creak on its aging hinges, and enters a wood-panelled room containing tables, chairs, and a crackling fire in the fireplace. The hypertext window indicates that a player named "Coyote" is also present. The player types, "Hello, Coyote. Is this your house, or can players own things in this world?" Coyote nods and says, "Are you new here? If you'd like, I can show you how to make a home of your own...." Virtual world builders can extend the media capabilities of Pueblo by downloading new functionality into the client, through licensing arrangements with Chaco. These could include a graphical chess board with a timer, an MPEG video viewer, etc. Downloaded programs call a C++ interface to interact with Pueblo. Existing natively-written games can be easily adapted to Chaco's client-server system. The Business of Internet Hypermedia Chaco sees its role as an enabler and publisher of network multimedia titles, but does not want to generate media itself. "We excel at software engineering and we appreciate compelling art. So we used our skills to give authors, artists and musicians a new expressive medium," said Dr. Dan Greening, president and CEO of Chaco. "We help creative people produce virtual worlds. The market for online games, education, and commerce will expand exponentially for many years. Producers who start building Internet games now will succeed tremendously." He sees the Internet as a positive force for society and commerce. "The Internet connects people from diverse cultures throughout the world. But standard applications don't give them much opportunity to interact in real time. Pueblo-based applications can help people solve problems together, teach each other, and negotiate the exchange of goods efficiently. Friendly virtual environments will help create friendlier relationships in the real world." The free beta release of Pueblo runs on Windows 95 and Windows NT. A non-3D version is available for Windows 3.1. Pueblo is designed for Internet connection speeds of 14.4 kilobits/ second and greater. Chaco Communications, Inc. was founded in 1994 to develop software that brings people together. It is privately held. For more information, see http://www.chaco.com/ on the World Wide Web. The company, based in Cupertino, California, is establishing media, reseller, advertising, marketing and engineering partnerships, and licensing its technologies. Contact: Dr. Dan Greening info@chaco.com Chaco Communications, Inc. 10164 Parkwood Dr, Suite 8 Cupertino, CA 95014 408-996-1115