USEFUL SOFTWARE FOR WORLDBUILDERS
VRealm Builder-This one is at the top of my list for beginner, and intermediate worldbuilders (most pros should own it too until other tools output and editing capabilites get better). Although you can build excellent worlds with it alone (using VRML's primitives), you will probably want to get some modeling software to compliment it. VRealm really shines as an editing tool, and puts out a fairly compact file. I use it for PROTO creation, writing scripts, most of my animations, editing the hierarchial structure of the file, coloring objects, moving things around in the scene, and more! Familiarity with the VRML scenegraph, although not required is reccommended. It will also gzip your files for you. It's not perfect, but still the best thing I've found yet. Guaranteed not to bust, rust, collect dust, or bite the baby.
Price: about $500 although they run occasional promotional deals.
HomeSpaceBuilder-Although not as versitile as VRealm this tool use very easy to use. I found myself creating nice textured space in a matter of a few minutes with it. You will probably want to get a modeling program if you are going to create complex spaces though. Reasonable output size, but some hand editing can be useful. If you don't want to spend a lot to get into VRML this is a good tool.
Price: about $200
3D-Website Builder-This one has limited useability, best for creating architectural spaces, but is extremely easy to learn. It comes with good model and texture libraries, and is a good place to start with VRML and 3D in general. You'll have to put up with a little file bloat, and find another tool to do your animations with, but it is the lowest cost worldbuilding tool on the market to my knowledge.
Price: about $130
VRCreator-A child of the VREAM VR software of the early nineties, this one was still in a buggy beta stage last time I looked (Oct 97). The tools, although not intuitive to my mind, seemed to all be there. It has canned behaviors, although you can also supply your own. Worth another look once it out of beta.
Price: ???
More to come.
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