What is the Tween Project? Who is the original author of this project? Are there any papers planned about this project? The documentation is incomplete at this time when can I expect more and better documentation? What is a "Nogard-Class" autonomous object? When did the Tween Project start? What does Tween mean? Are the sources for the autonomous object available? Where can I download the sources from? Where can I download the binaries from? What language is the autonomous object written in? What collaborative environments does the autonomous object run in? What operating systems does the autonomous object run under? What does Tween do out of the box? How is a Nogard-Class autonomous object different from a MAAS-Neotek robot? Tween doesn't do something I want it to do, will you please include this functionality? Tween doesn't run in the collaborative environment I do, will you please support this environment? Are you taking contributions for more environments? Are you taking contributions for more functionality? I think I found a bug in the code, how do I report it? I would like to get involved with the project what should I do? Are there any tools to convert MAAS-Neotek MUD maps into Nogard-Class autonomous object M* maps? Are there any tools to convert MAAS-Neotek player maps into Nogard-Class autonomous object player maps? What is the Tween Project? The Tween Project is a 100% Java open source development effort whose mission is to create autonomous objects that operate in a variety of MUD's, MOO's, MUSHes, and other collaborative environments with minimal changes to the software base. The autonomous object is built around a set of composable services and a flexible plug-in architecture. Together they allow programmers to easily add functionality to the autonomous objects without having to rewrite code from scratch. This allows programmers and researchers to concentrate on the functionality that they are interested in without having to worry about the low-leve details inherent in constructing autonomous objects. [More...] Who is the original author of this project? Thaddeus O. Cooper Are there any papers planned about this project? Yes. There are several papers in development and will be announced on the What's New page as they become available. The documentation is incomplete at this time. When can I expect more and better documentation? The Tween Project is committed to providing the Tween developer community with high quality documentation. We are working on creation of this documentation as quickly as possible. As documentation becomes available it will be announced on the What's New page. What is a "Nogard-Class" autonomous object? A Nogard-Class autonomous object is an autonomous object that is written in 100% Java, is based on a component-based architecture using the Bot Operating System, has a flexible plug-in deisng for easy customization, and is fully open source. When did the Tween Project start? The Tween Project began in 1999, as a testbed for research of, and experimentation into, highly service aware autonomous objects. What does Tween mean? Tween is a reference to animators who create the frames of animation between the key frames. These people are known as Tweener's. Tween is named after these people because he is always betwixt and between places in the MUD. Are the sources for the autonomous object available? Yes. See below. Where can I download the sources from? Sources are available for download at: http://www.tweenproject.org/download/ Where can I download the binaries from? Sources are available for download at: http://www.tweenproject.org/download/ What language is the autonomous object written in? All of the software built for the Tween Project is written in 100% Java. What collaborative environments does the autonomous object run in? At the present time the autonomous object runs in: TinyMUD What operating systems does the autonomous object run under? At the present time the autonomous object runs under any operating system that supports Java 1.2 including: Windows 95/98 Solaris What does Tween do out of the box? Tween is a mapping chatterbot that will map the collaborative environment, players, and objects in the collaborative environment. Tween can then answer questions about the location of objects in rooms, players, and give directions about how to get to rooms in the collaborative environment. Tween can also answer questions about the current time and what's new by using online newspapers. How is a Nogard-Class autonomous object different from a MAAS-Neotek robot? MAAS-Neotek robots are written in the C programming language and are based on a traditional monolithic code base. To extend them far beyond their original intended functionality is both difficult and time-consuming. Nogard-Class robots are written in Java and are based on an extensible component architecture. This allows them to have new and/or different functionality installed very easily. Moreover, the Nogard-Class robots are specifically designed with multiple MUD, MOO, MUSH and other collaborative envirionment support in mind. Adding a new collaborative environment is as easy as writing the plug-ins to support it. Tween doesn't do something I want it to do, will you please include this functionality? Please send email to developers@tweenproject.org to let us know what the functionality is. At the present time we are developing new functionality and we may already be developing what you need. As an alternative you could volunteer to write the functionality and contribute it to the Tween Project. Tween doesn't run in the collaborative environment I do, will you plase support this environment? Please send email to developers@tweenproject.org to let us know what the environment is. At the present time we are developing the necessary support for a number of environments, and we may already be developing what you need. As an alternative you could volunteer to write the support and contribute it to the Tween Project. Are you taking contributions for more environments? Yes. If you are interested in supporting a particular collaborative environment, please send email to developers@tweenproject.org to let us know what environment you are interested in working on. Are you taking contributions for more functionality? Yes. If you are interested in adding particular functionality, please send email to developers@tweenproject.org to let us know what you are interested in working on. I think I found a bug in the code. How do I report it? Bugs should be reported to bugs@tweenproject.org. Please include the version of the software that the bug occurred in, the class file that caused the bug, a description of what circumstances might have caused the bug, and any output that might be useful. I would like to get involved with the project. What should I do? If you would like to become a developer please send an email to developers@tweenproject.org. Include in the email some information about what parts of the project you might be interested in. Are there any tools to convert MAAS-Neotek MUD maps into Nogard-Class autonomous object M* maps? Not at this time. This is a planned enhancement to the general distribution. Are there any tools to convert MAAS-Neotek player maps into Nogard-Class autonomous object player maps? Not at this time. This is a planned enhancement to the general distribution.