Advice for Director team

[necromanthus]

I had many requests to add the MouseLook feature for DEUS EX , DOOM and
HERETIC. A less known thing: this routine is already included (for all of
them). Also, I have two excellent FREEWARE Xtras able to set the mouse
position. Both Xtras were scanned using NAV2005 and tested on WinXP-Pro SP2.
Unfortunately, because of MacroMedia's current policy ('Veriunsign','ShockWave
unSafe', 'You have to pay for everything', 'Promote me for nothing' and many
other similar things) I can't publish them ... You MUST include this Xtra in
the future version of Director. This is a MINOR feature and your customers
should NOT pay for it. Besides that, VIRTOOLS did this smart move already ...
And finally: If you're not able to change your attitude, I can't see any future
.... cheers

[Richard]

I second that! I've been pleading for the very same thing recently. If I'm
not allowed to use Xtras for my online projects (usually the case), then a
whole genre of games is removed from my options. Wild Tangent has it built
in too! It's useful for Marble Madness style games as well as FPS.

If it's a security issue they are worried about, then they could still have
the cursor move around the screen normally, but add mouseMovedX mouseMovedY
keywords that could detect absolute mouse movement beyond the edge of the
screen. Combined with turning the cursor 200 this would be enough. (and
would still allow the cursor to operate normally outside the shockwave
window.(so it would be less invasive than actually grabbing cursor control
and locking it to the centre position (which some Xtras seem to do).

Richard

[shockland.com]

hi,

they (the guys at macromedia) don't read the messages written in this
Director 3D forum.
because of this they won't do anything about this "MouseLook" stuff. very
very bad.

4.5 years passed, people said so much about shockwave3d stuff , but nobody
from macromedia listened.
we must get used to this old 3d engine without MouseLook behaviour.

macromedia , please don't let us to wait another 4.5 years !!!!!

best regards
shockland.com

[Richard]

> they (the guys at macromedia) don't read the messages written in this

> Director 3D forum.
> because of this they won't do anything about this "MouseLook" stuff.
> very
> very bad.

I have been chasing this through more direct channels than this forum, but
that doesn't mean they'll listen to me of course.

Cheers

Richard

[necromanthus]

Glad to hear Richard. And let's put it straight: 1) It's simple enough to build
a 'dangerous package' having the 'SW Safe' flag. And talking about Verisign ...
you have to spend a fortune for nothing ! 2) In our days these security
measures are worthless and useless. An Antivirus Software and the default
FireWall of XP-SP2 is more than enough. 3) A simple menu with some warning
message and two buttons (I agree or not) should be enough for a downloaded X32
file. 4) The best method to solve all these annoying things: import Xtra as
CastMember (because we're talking about small files,there's no need to download
them). Now the sad part: - a FreeWare online demo - a FreeWare Xtra - great
promotion for Macromedia It seems that all of these are worthless for THEM !
Originally posted by: Richard I second that! I've been pleading for the very
same thing recently. If I'm <BR>not allowed to use Xtras for my online projects
(usually the case), then a <BR>whole genre of games is removed from my options.

[hondo3000]

i know the setmouseloc xtra that is freeware but not shockwave-safe, you can
find it here:
[url]http://www.director-xtras.com/xtra-move-cursor.html[/url]
this one is shockwave-safe and the user has to click on a ugly button to
accept the installation of this xtra.

Is there a way to set the mouse position for freein shockave web applications?
what is the secret of shockwave-safe and not shockwave-safe positioning of the
mouse-position?

i need this funktion for my FPS game i am working on but at the moment i can
only use the setmouseloc xtra in standalone projektors.

are there xtras i dont know?

[necromanthus]

Hondo, we know all those Xtras. Now about 'ShockWave Safe' ... something
worthless (and stupid) 'SW Safe' is a flag inside of the X32 file (has nothing
to do with the mouse position) 'SW Safe' = 'the Xtra developer is assuring
that the Xtra does not pose a security risk to the end user's system' In other
words: 'My product can't harm your system. I give you my word for that' LOL

[Sean Wilson]

> 'SW Safe' = 'the Xtra developer is assuring

> that the Xtra does not pose a security risk to the end user's system' In other
> words: 'My product can't harm your system. I give you my word for that' LOL

Exactly - that's *why* you have to stump up for the Verisign
certificate. So that some chump who thinks it would be a great idea
doesn't start publishing "unsafe" xtras. At least there's a trail to be
followed with the certification...

[necromanthus]

Wrong dear ghost ! A simple installer signed by the site owner is enough for
that. You can give your word without paying a bunch of bucks ... Originally
posted by: Macromedia Ghost Exactly - that's *why* you have to stump up for the
Verisign <BR>certificate. So that some chump who thinks it would be a great
idea <BR>doesn't start publishing 'unsafe' xtras. At least there's a trail to
be <BR>followed with the certification...<BR>

[Sean Wilson]

> Wrong dear ghost ! A simple installer signed by the site owner is enough for

> that. You can give your word without paying a bunch of bucks ...

What, and site owners never move on? You're dreaming...

[Orry71]

Hello,

I agree with you, that macromedia completly neglect his 3D-developers,
inegrating an MouseXtra or better support and integration possibilities for
FreeXtras is one point. Second point, we are all waiting for an update of the
3D-engine, why do macromedia give away his leading position in web3D ????????
Another topic I can?t understand, why can?t the installation of the shockwave
player can`t be so simple as the flashplayer installation. Why asking, if the
user is older or younger then 13, why integrating the yahoo-Toolbar.
The smaller downloadsize for the player is one step in the right direction,
but thats not enough....

On Tip for a MouseControl Xtra:
[url]http://www.director-xtras.com/xtra-mouse_control.html#[/url]

Greetings to all

Markus

[necromanthus]

Has nothing to do with that ! A simple installer with two buttons and some
info: the author of the Xtra (X32 file) and his message : 'I am a good guy and
I don't wanna hurt your feelings. This Xtra is safe for all my friends,but pay
attention: your OS may have unidentified bugs, and for this reason may harm
your system. ' Also keep in mind: using any AntiVirus and FireWall you can see
if the author of that Xtra is a liar or not. And finally, talking about
worthless protections: just think about the 'protect from import' option for
SWF files ... LOL Originally posted by: Sean Wilson What, and site owners
never move on? You're dreaming...

[mauricio@tabuleiro.com]

> Has nothing to do with that ! A simple installer with two buttons and
some

> info: the author of the Xtra (X32 file) and his message : 'I am a

good guy and

> I don't wanna hurt your feelings. This Xtra is safe for all my

friends,but pay

> attention: your OS may have unidentified bugs, and for this reason

may harm

> your system. ' Also keep in mind: using any AntiVirus and FireWall

you can see

> if the author of that Xtra is a liar or not. And finally, talking

about

> worthless protections: just think about the 'protect from import'

option for

> SWF files ... LOL

Think about it: suppose I make a spyware Xtra, one that collects your
personal info and forwards it to my address. Now suppose I put this on
a domain I registered with a fake id (and a stolen credit card.) Now
suppose I put the following text on my Xtra download message:

"This Xtra was made by Necromanthus. I guarantee it is ok to use it."

The problem is: who guarantees that I am really Necromanthus? If your
solution was valid I could even say that my spyware Xtra was made by
Macromedia. Can you see the flaw in your argument? The whole point of
the verisign dialog is accountability: this is just a process that
certifies that your business is real and that the contact information
is not fake.

You are right that this does not solve the problem of Xtras that are
really not safe and could still harm the system, but it solves the
problem of people trying to pass malicious content around without
proper identification: the end user KNOWS the identity of the company
that installed the malicious component. Notice that a similar process
(signing ActiveX controls) has not stopped Gator from distributing
their spyware all over the world, but at least you can not sue
Microsoft.

Just for the record, I am not a fan of the Xtras signing process, and I
definately have several issues against Verisign. Paying the U$ 400
annual fee to this company to sign our Xtras is an extorsion imo. One
thing MM could consider (and this has been suggested before) is that MM
itself would charge 3rd party developers to sign Xtras and allow them
to be downloaded without warnings. I would be glad to give U$1,000 each
year to MM to have my Xtras auto download without warnings and not
having to deal with Verisign. Or at leat they could accept alternative
certificate authorities, ending the verisign monopoly.
Regards,
Mauricio
Tabuleiro