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Version 2

Version 2 of 4D Blocks lets you fly around and look at a set of stationary blocks, in either 3D or 4D. The blocks are displayed correctly, and you can't fly through them. However, the blocks don't move and there is no physics involved.

How to play:

  1. Install Java if you don't already have it.
  2. Download the file blocks-v2.zip.
  3. Unzip into a folder somewhere.
  4. Get a command prompt and set the current directory to the "out" folder.
  5. Type the command "java Maze" and get familiar with the controls for the maze game. The blocks program uses the same navigation controls. Be sure to learn the slide controls, they're very useful for blocks. (You can find them in the Options screen on Keys tab # 3.)
  6. When you're ready, use the menu command "Load Geom" and pick the file "scene" in the "data" folder. The initial scene is a simple 3D one with three blocks. You can press 0-9 to change how the blocks are drawn.
  7. You can edit the scene file to comment / uncomment different blocks that are already in there, or you can add new blocks of your own. See Scene Language for details about the scripting language. When you switch to 4D you'll want to hit "0" so you can see the correct block outlines.
  8. If you get ambitious you can define your own block types using the same scripting language. See Kinds of Blocks if you're looking for ideas.
Notes and limitations:

  1. The blue grid is a mat that the objects sit on. You can't go below the plane of the mat.
  2. Please don't use the "Save" command in geom mode, I have no idea what it will do.
  3. The clipping algorithm runs well for small numbers of blocks. However, it's not optimized, and the time required grows as the number of blocks squared. Proceed with caution!
  4. If you get the error "unable to find separator", probably it means you're trying to make two blocks occupy the same space. In rare cases you could be hitting a limitation of the clipping algorithm.