(June 23, 2009: Updated with Answers). The discussion of the forthcoming Blue Mars virtual world generated significant discussion and audience interest when Jim Sink, Vice President of Business Development, appeared on Metanomics. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time to have all of the questions answered, so we asked Jim if he would stay tuned to this space and see if he could answer some of the unanswered questions.

We may have missed some, so feel free to add them in the comments below.

The Platform and Applications
With Macs the leaders in computer graphics, why isn’t Blue Mars being launched so that it is Mac OS compatible?

A: Avatar Reality would love to offer a Mac version of Blue Mars. Unfortunately, the Cryengine does not run on OS X. If Crytek ever offers a license for an OS X version, we can explore creating a new client for Mac users. In the mean time, Mac users can use Boot Camp to run Blue Mars. In addition, we are aggressively exploring server side rendering technologies like OnLive which promise to bring advanced 3D to virtually every device with a fast internet connection.

Does Blue Mars intend to interoperate with other worlds, like Second Life or Opensim?

A: Although it’s not an open source “standard,” we do support Flash files for GUI elements and in world signage. In addition, we support LUA based scripting, a very popular programming language in the games industry.

Aside from content standards for models, what other standards does Blue Mars use?

What is the physics engine like?

A: We use CryEngine Physics. Here’s a wonderful real time example of the physics engine used to mimic the famous Bravia advertisement: Blue Mars Cryengine sample.

Do you have plans to port it to 3D web if that technology should become available soon?

A: I’m not aware of any browser based rendering technology that comes close to what we’re offering. If it’s out there, we’ll certainly consider it.

Will it work behind a firewall?

A: It depends on the firewall settings. For the most part, if you can run a program like Skype from behind your firewall, Blue Mars will run as well. We use the UDP protocol, so the firewall needs to allow communication through UDP.

What would be the benefit of someone of paying for the platform vs. using an open source and just creating it?

A: I think that you’ll find that Blue Mars offers a unique set of benefits that aren’t available anywhere else. Developers looking to create high fidelity content with rich interactivity that can scale to support many thousands of simultaneous users will probably be frustrated with current open source offerings.

So are we saying Blue Mars is created as 3D world with integration with the social sites and platforms we already use? Can you expand on how Blue Mars will integrate with existing social media.

A: I don’t have any specific features to announce at this point but I can say that we are excited about making Blue Mars an integral part of people’s online social presence. We feel the best way to do that is to embrace the networks our users have already established. In other words, the easier we make it to communicate both into and out of Blue Mars with friends regardless of network they are on, the happier our users will be and the more useful Blue Mars will become.

What is Voice application like? Does Blue Mars support voice?

A: Blue Mars does not currently support platform wide VOIP capabilities. It is on our road map and we hope to integrate it at the platform level as soon as possible. Individual developers can offer VOIP options in their regions through LUA scripted objects.

Are there any game titles planned for Blue Mars?

A: There are quite a few games in development. On a personal note, as a recovering game designer, I’m particularly excited about game development in Blue Mars. We’ve created sample code and asset packs for sports and racing games to give our developers a head start on coding single and multiplayer games, managing camera control, integrating physics, and tracking scoring and player status. We’ll be releasing those samples to the development community throughout the rest of the year. We’ve worked hard to create our own Casual Game API to streamline a lot of the common functions game developers need. Our goal is to make the complexity of 3D game development in Blue Mars comparable to 2D Flash based games. As an example, our Golf game is just a few hundred lines of code. I think we’ve just scratched the surface of gaming in Blue Mars and I can’t wait to see what the community comes up with as the platform expands.

The Business Model
Given the success of web services like YouTube, MySpace, Flicker, etc, where amateurs can easily share their unpolished creations, is Blue Mars possibly going against the current trend of user-generated content?

A: We wholeheartedly embrace user-generated content. All of our tools are free to use and anyone can become a Blue Mars developer. But user generated content on its own won’t make Blue Mars a success. The real trick is to create a system where the very best user generated content can bubble to the top and to provide a platform where developers who create excellent content can be rewarded for their work and can be confident that piracy will be effectively managed. Managing security issues and improving our promotional features like search, ratings, and recommendations will be an ongoing focus of Avatar Reality.

How is Blue Mars positioned against PlayStation Home?

A: Home is an interesting extension of the Playstation experience but I’m not certain how Sony is positioning it beyond gamers on the PS3. As an end user application, we certainly hope to attract gamers to Blue Mars but the platform serves interests outside of games like education and collaboration as well. As a development platform, quite a bit sets us apart. For one, it’s easier and far less expensive to develop for Blue Mars; you don’t have to buy PS3 dev kits. Our dev tools are completely free.

What is the incentive of a resident to give a percent of sales to Blue Mars? They are already paying land use fees, right?

A: We looked carefully at virtually every hosting and digital distribution business model out there. For example, Sony, Microsoft, Google, Apple, and Yahoo all have revenue share programs for their application or game stores. In addition to the revenue sharing, some charge bandwidth fees and listing fees while others require expensive development kits. Most developers that we’ve spoken with understand the rev share model and how it aligns our interests with theirs. In other words, under a rev share model, the more money a developer makes, the more money we make. With that in mind, it’s in our best interest to do everything we can to help our developers profit. On the other hand, many developers are not driven by profit. We needed a viable business model that would also allow us to serve those developers as well. Depending exclusively on revenue sharing would have made that very difficult. After considering the options and speaking with developers, we chose hybrid model that balances hosting fees with revenue share.

Will there be private spaces for corporations available?

A: Regions developers can restrict who has access to their content.

What’s do you feel is actually NEW in Blue Mars that you can’t get elsewhere, apart from better graphics?

A: From a certain perspective, Blue Mars is an evolutionary product. Better graphics, deeper interactivity, greater scale, more flexible development environment, and stronger security. What’s really going to make Blue Mars stand apart is the incredible work our developers are already doing. In short order, you’ll see very innovative applications and experiences that just weren’t feasible with other virtual world platforms. From massive music venues to niche MMOs to “serious games” with real world connections, Blue Mars as a platform offers an enormous number of opportunities for developers to create NEW experiences.

What kind of consumer analytics are you going to be able to give your corp. customers?

A: Blue Mars is compatible with StreamBase Complex Event Processing. We can track player behaviors and click actions based on different conditions. We will work with corporate customers to craft a tracking system that meets their individual needs.

Are you going to take on SL? OpenSim? Flat web based VWs? Who is your competition?

A: Since Blue Mars was first conceived, the company has focused on creating new opportunities. While there is some overlap between our platform and the ones you mention, Blue Mars is a unique offering that will bring new developers and users into virtual worlds rather than just pull them away from existing networks.

Content Creation and Developers
You talked about third-party developer tools such as 3DS Max and Blender. But you also talked about ‘content tools’ that you are launching to the developer community. Can you explain what tools you are developing specifically for Blue Mars?

A: Avatar Reality is working on a library of tools to help developers bring their content into Blue Mars. Each tool is focused on a particular type of content or function and built to work alongside mainstream content creation tools like 3DSMax. Throughout the summer, we will release our City Editor for developers creating and managing large dedicated regions, our Block Editor for developers building custom areas in existing cities, a Shop Editor, an Item Editor for static objects, a Cloth Editor, and an Animation Editor. Additional tools will be announced later this year. Developers who preregistered at bluemarsdev.com have already begun to receive registration links to download the Item Editor. We are opening registration to everyone in the next few weeks.

What is the criteria for becoming a content creator?

A: Content Creators need to register at Bluemarsdev.com with their email address and contact information. Registration is free and everyone is welcome to sign up. We are currently in limited beta but we’ll be opening the doors to everyone in the next few weeks.

Will Blue Mars support nurbs models? Direct polygons?

A: We don’t support NURBS models.

Can I use my templates from SL for making clothes in Blue Mars?

A: If you can bring your template into 3D Max or Maya, then you can use it.

Is all content bound to the ground, like house on land, or can developers build anywhere within their space, like way up in the sky? A: Developers can suspend objects in the air.

How do I register to become a developer?

A: You can register to become a developer at https://www.bluemarsonline.com/VAC/registration.html

Can you take part in collaborative building projects, or is everything done offline?

A: Developers can certainly collaborate on projects but it works more like traditional game or media development. Although content creation doesn’t happen live in world, developers can share assets and update a common working environment.

If you lose the original models that you have uploaded into Blue Mars, is it possible to download them FROM BM?

A: Not at this time.

The User Experience

Second Life is currently ‘zoning’ all regions in as Adult, Mature, and PG areas, with all the Adult regions being grouped separately into an Adult Continent. How will Blue Mars handle adult v. family-friendly areas? Does Blue Mars intend to have zoning of any kind?

A: As a function of how our network is constructed, each city in Blue Mars is its own region. If they choose to, city developers can restrict the type of content they want to have available in their region. As far as our specific policies surrounding adult content, I don’t have anything to announce at this time. I can say that Avatar Reality wants to create a virtual world where users can make informed choices on the content that they want to be exposed to while at the same time avoiding undue constraints on developers’ creative freedom.

Will we be able to stream live music?

A: Yes.

Will the average person will be able to afford a space in Blue Mars?

A: Yes.

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