Welcome to Looking Glass

Looking Glass is a programming environment for ages 10 and up. With Looking Glass, you can create and share animated stories, simple games, and even virtual pets.

Looking Glass is developed by the Looking Glass Team and Research Group at Washington University in St. Louis.

Getting Started

1. Install Java SE Development Kit 8

Looking Glass is known to have problems with OpenJDK, we recommend using the official JDK/JRE from Oracle. The minumum required JRE/JDK version is 8u60. http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/

2. Developing with Looking Glass

Looking Glass is built using Maven. You can build Looking Glass using an IDE or at the command line.

• Command Line - Install Maven

  This option is not well supported on Windows.

  1. Install Maven.

  2. Compile Looking Glass

  mvn compile

  3. Launch Looking Glass

  ./lookingglass.sh

• IDE - Install Eclipse IDE for Java Developers

  Supported on all platforms (Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux).

  1. Install Eclipse IDE for Java Developers.

  2. Install the required plugins.

  Within Eclipse, File > Import..., Install > Install Software Items from File, Then import the eclipse-install.p2f file.

  3. Import all projects in the repository into eclipse.

  This process is made easier if you first turn off automatic building (Project > Build Automatically). Then select File > Import..., General > Existing Projects into Workspace. Import all of the projects into your workspace.

  4. Synchronize with Maven

  Select all projects within the Java Perspective and right click, then select Maven > Update Project.... Select OK.

  5. Compile with Maven (first time only)

  On the first build, Maven has to download a lot of resources for Looking Glass and sometimes Eclipse has trouble with this. To bypass this problem on your first build, from the menu, select Run > Run Configurations..., Maven Build > Maven compile, Run. Once the first build is done, turn back on automatic building (Project > Build Automatically).

  6. Launch Looking Glass

  From the menu, select Run > Run Configurations..., Java Application > Looking Glass - Production, Run.

Packaging Looking Glass

Below you will find how to build a release package for Windows, Mac and Linux. All builds require that you download and install the latest version of the JDK. If you plan to build both 64-bit and 32-bit releases you will need to install at a minimum a 32-bit and 64-bit JRE.

You may build a release in Eclipse or at the command line. To build in Eclipse install the prerequisites below and then select a Release launcher from the run configurations. (Run > Run Configurations..., Maven Build > Release - RELEASE_PLATFORM). To build at the command line, install the prerequisites instructions below and then run:

mvn clean package -Ddistribution.package=RELEASE_PLATFORM.

• Where RELEASE_PLATFORM is one of the following:
  • linux-amd64-deb
  • linux-amd64-rpm
  • linux-amd64-tar
  • mac-dmg
  • win32-exe
  • win32-zip
  • win64-exe
  • win64-zip

The packaged released is located in distribution/target.

Prerequisites for Building a Release:

• Windows

  1. Install the latest JRE (32-bit, 64-bit or both).
  2. Install Inno Setup Unicode QuickStart Pack.

• Mac OS X

  1. Install the latest JDK (64-bit only).

• Linux

  Note: 32-bit builds are no longer supported for Linux.

  For RPM package, you must build on RPM supported platform like Redhat or Fedora. For DEB package or TAR.GZ you may build on any Linux platform.

  1. Download the latest JRE TAR.GZ and place it in your Downloads folder.

Differences between Open Source and Proprietary (Official) Looking Glass

The open source version of Looking Glass does not contain The Sims 2 assets. This means that projects created with the proprietary version of Looking Glass that contain Sims characters or models cannot be opened in the open source version. However, as long as no Sims assets are used in a project, that project can be opened in both the open source and proprietary versions.

FAQ

1. How can I help localize/translate Looking Glass?

Help us localize/translate Looking Glass by visiting our Zanata site: https://translate.zanata.org/zanata/project/view/lookingglass

2. Do you accept contributions?

Email the Looking Glass Team if you are interested in contributing to our research project. [email protected]

3. Is the Looking Glass Community (website) source code also available?

The Looking Glass Community website source code is proprietary.

4. My project that was created in the Official Looking Glass won't open in the open source version that I compiled here. Why won't it open?

Your project probably contains Sims assets. You will need to remove them in order to open your project in the open source version.

5. Can I create my own 3D models?

Looking Glass is based on Alice 3, which uses it's own proprietary model format. If you are interested in creating your own 3D models that you can use in Looking Glass, you should contact the Alice 3 team.