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Getting Started

This guide will help you get DDDBrowser up and running so you can start exploring 3D virtual worlds.

Installation​

DDDBrowser is a Windows 10/11 (x64) desktop application. Linux/macOS are not supported for public releases.

Release artifacts​

Release CI stages a Windows export tree such as:

  • exports/DDDBrowser_Windows_Release/ (or a published zip of that tree)
  • Matching SHA256SUMS.txt beside the staged payload when published

The repo VERSION file (currently 0.0.0.1) is the product version stamp used by packaging/release metadata; prefer the release tag / artifact name from the download source over guessing.

Install steps​

  1. Download the latest Windows release payload and the matching SHA256SUMS.txt
  2. Verify checksums (e.g. Get-FileHash on PowerShell / sha256sum on Unix tools) against SHA256SUMS.txt
  3. Extract/copy the browser payload to a folder of your choice
  4. Run DDDBrowser.exe

Settings, cache, scene history (history.json), and logs live under %LOCALAPPDATA%\DDDBrowser\ (telemetry, when enabled, under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Blazium\logs\). History stores full scene URLs locally so you can reopen recent scenes from the top-bar Recent list; it is not a content catalog. Default logs redact URL paths (scheme + host only).

Building from source is optional for contributors; see the project README. Public users should install the Windows release artifacts above.

Running the Application​

After installation, launch DDDBrowser. You should see:

  • A black screen with a white XZ grid (Y=0 plane)
  • A top bar with:
    • URL input field
    • Load button
    • Recent dropdown (local visit history)
    • Progress indicator
    • Leave Instance button

This is the default "idle" state when no scene is loaded.

Loading Your First Scene​

To load a scene:

  1. Enter a URL in the URL input field at the top

    • The URL should point to an HTML page that contains scene metadata
    • Example: https://blazium-engine.github.io/DDDBrowserExamples/index.html

  2. Click the Load button or press Enter

  3. Wait for loading - DDDBrowser will:

    • Download the HTML page
    • Discover the scene definition
    • Validate the scene JSON
    • Download all assets (models, textures, etc.)
    • Render the scene

  4. Once loaded, you'll see the 3D scene and can start exploring!

Basic Navigation​

Once a scene is loaded, you can navigate using:

  • WASD keys: Move forward, backward, left, right
  • Mouse: Look around (first-person camera)
  • Space: Jump (if enabled in the scene)
  • Shift: Sprint (if enabled)
  • E or F: Interact with objects

The exact controls depend on the scene's gameType setting:

  • FPS: First-person shooter style movement
  • NONE: WASD fly-cam exploration (no FPS physics)

Understanding the UI​

Top Bar​

The top bar provides quick access to:

  • URL Input: Enter scene URLs to load
  • Load Button: Start loading the scene
  • Progress Indicator: Shows download/loading progress
  • Leave Instance: Return to the idle state (unload current scene)

Settings​

Press Esc → Settings:

  • Audio: Volume levels and audio device
  • Graphics: Occlusion culling, shadows
  • Network Policy: Script HTTP third-party hosts
  • Script origins: Hosts allowed for remote .luau
  • Keybindings: Customize input controls
  • Quit confirmation: Don't-ask-again preference

Configuration​

DDDBrowser stores settings in:

  • Settings: %LOCALAPPDATA%\DDDBrowser\settings.json
  • Keybindings: %LOCALAPPDATA%\DDDBrowser\keybindings.json
  • Cache: %LOCALAPPDATA%\DDDBrowser\cache\<md5-hash>\

The cache directory stores downloaded assets to speed up subsequent loads of the same scenes. Each cached network asset has a sibling .meta file with etag / lastModified validators. On reuse, DDDBrowser revalidates with the origin (If-None-Match / If-Modified-Since): HTTP 304 keeps the file; a new 200 replaces it; a failed revalidation fails the scene load (fail closed — unrevalidated disk bytes are not used for scripts or other assets).

Privacy​

Default application logs redact http(s) URLs to scheme://host/***. Telemetry is off by default; when enabled, string payload fields are redacted the same way unless full-URL debug logging is explicitly enabled.

Authoring your own scenes​

Public authoring is JSON-only: hand-write (or generate) scene JSON, host OBJ/MTL/LDR/WAV/Luau over HTTPS, and point the URL bar at your discovery HTML.

There is no finished Level Builder in the shipped browser. The separate tools/level_editor binary is experimental and unsupported.

Next Steps​

Now that you have DDDBrowser running: