In the words of our not so recently deceased hero, Douglas Adams: DON'T PANIC!
You're in the right place to download the FREE and fabled Viscape 5.1 browser plug-in, which will, in turn, allow you to view the VR Charm virtual reality files appearing on the VRContinuum site (and perhaps other VR files created with Superscape software elsewhere.)
Before you click below to get the file, please read on for a bit, OK? You may feel foolish later if you prefer to skip all this and scroll down to the download link. Not only that - if you have problems and ask us questions, we will definitely ask you if you read the fine print.
Superscape
no longer makes or provides the Viscape 5.1 plug-in
on their site. Superscape pioneered 3D and PC-based
VR, but they later matriculated to the wireless market and became "the world’s
leading games publisher building games to the JSR 184 3D Java Standard for
mobile phones." Their latest 3D product is called Swerve, which is used for
mobile games.
In March, 2008, Superscape was acquired by Glu Mobile Inc.,
a leading global publisher of mobile games -
http://www.glu.com - so it is unlikely that there will be any future
releases of the software we have on this site.
We can only hope that the plug-in version we are offering you will actually work with your particularly peculiar browser and operating system. We downloaded it from Superscape in July 1999, and it's now 2008. As far as we know, 5.1 was the last version of the plug-in. We've heard rumors of another version with a slightly higher release number, but you won't need it for what we are offering on this site.
In 2002, we actually got permission from Superscape (UK) Ltd to provide Viscape 5.1 on this site, thank you very much, but don't contact them for help if you run into problems with it. Superscape made us promise to answer all of your questions. (To do this, email: . Be sure to include "Viscape 5.1" as the subject of yer email or my spam dogs will tear it to pieces.) If you want to ask Superscape (UK) Ltd about their wireless games, that's something else.
Here's a short FAQ to save you the trouble of asking us any of those nagging questions about the fabled Viscape 5.1 browser plug-in (we hope :o)>
The file is 4,370,664 bytes large. Yes, that's over 4 MB, so if that's big to you and you are having your doubts, do think twice, it's all right. (Bob Dylan didn't say that.)
You only need the plug-in if you don't already have it and can't run the Windows VR Charms files we offer on our site. It is not needed for the DOS-based VR Dreams files we also offer here.
If you can already run our Windows VR stuff from another installed version of Viscape, you don't need it. If you do have another version of Viscape on your system and stubbornly insist on downloading and installing this one anyway, we recommend that you uninstall the old version first.
The plug-in installer is an .exe file, but it is clean. It is scanned regularly for viruses with Norton Anti-Virus (at this writing, scanned 05/01/2009 .) Feel free to scan it yourself if you want to be sure.
Viscape 5.1 will work with Windows 95, 98, 2000, Windows XP Home, and Windows XP Pro. We don't know if it will work on Windows NT or Vista (yet) and we never got it to work with Windows ME, but we have a confirmation from a user in the UK that it does work on the Windows 2000 platform with Internet Explorer 6.
If you are running the Linux OS, the Viscape plug-in is reportedly supported by CrossOver Plugin 1.1.2 the last we heard. Find out more here http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/browse/name/?app_id=4259
Viscape was made for Windows 95 and greater, so no, it won't work in Windows 3.11 or earlier. If you are actually still running Windows 3.1 or earlier, try our DOS-based VR Dreams instead. They were made for you, kid! (And, like Douglas Adams said: "The secret is to bang the two rocks together."
Yes, we know Douglas Adams used a Mac, BTW, but that is neither here nor there - nor anywhere, for that matter. R.I.P., Douglas. The movie was pretty good and you know the real secret now, man!
We do not have, nor do we know where to get, Viscape specifically made for non-Windows operating systems. If there ever was a Viscape specifically made for non-Windows operating systems, we don't know nuthin' about it, OK?
For Windows XP only, you may have to run the installer in Windows 95 compatibility mode if it fails the first time. To do this, download and right-click on the Viscape 5.1 file, and then choose Properties, Compatibility: Windows 95. Click Apply. This done, double-click to install the plug-in and it should work.
The plug-in is supposed to work with both Internet Explorer and Netscape browsers, but we can only testify to Internet Explorer, versions 5 or better. Check with mosdev.org about Mozilla and Netscape browser compatibility. (Gotcha, Michael!)
Viscape 5.1 does work with IE 7, and therefore should also work with AOL versions 5 - 10. We can't absolutely promise that though - when it comes to bugs, AOL is pretty scary.
Lotsa cop-outs in this rap, ain't there?
You will be asked to agree to comply with Superscape's licensing terms when you run the installer. If you don't agree, it won't install.
Downloading this file does not give you the right to redistribute it from your own site. If you want to link to us from your site, PLEASE link to this page, not to the file. This will give other folks the chance to read all of this rambling semi-humorous text and decide for themselves if they really need still another 4MB file that may or may not work on their system. As always, we also ask that you take a blood oath to comply with all indicated Copyrights, etc.. It's free. Be nice. We have Italian relatives in New Jersey.
Also as always, we are an irresponsible lot and take no responsibility for anything at all, implied or otherwise. It's your PC. You break it, you fix it.
Parenthetically, if you are reading this in the year 2022 and using Netscape's Internet Explorer 11.13 on a model beta Ford-Wheaton/Sun-Gates operating system with 16TB of bubble chip memory and retro-fitted finger control extensions, we are probably dead and you are really on your own, pal.
Now, if you're finally sure you want to, click here to download Viscape 5.1. The actual file name is ViscapeSVR.exe, and once again, it is over 4 MB so the download will take some time unless you have a high-speed connection. If you get the option, we recommend that you save it to your hard disk rather than install it directly because you'll probably want to reboot your PC after you install it anyway.
Once you have safely stored the file on your own magnificent PC hard drive, double-click it with that little pointy thing and follow still more instructions to install the plug-in. (You can uncheck the Netscape option if you don't have Netscape, but the installer will probably know that, so you really can just go with the default options.)
After you have installed the Viscape 5.1 browser plug-in successfully (and congratulations, by the way) you can use it with any of the VR Charm files on our site. Just click on the link to the file you want to see. Your browser will launch and activate the Viscape 5.1 browser plug-in to bring up the VR world in a separate browser window. The Harsh Realm one is pretty cool. We may actually add more some day, who knows?
This plug-in is not required for our classic VR Dreams series. VR Dreams are REALLY OLD stand-alone programs that run in MS-DOS. See the rap on our main page and accompanying doc files for more info about VR Dreams.
Good luck, and thanks for tuning in.
:o)>FLAtRich
July 2008
You may now return to main VRContinuum page (or not.)
