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The first public version of MétEX, my Paris Métro virtual tour, is now live!

MétEX Version 1.0

This version is almost exactly the same as the version I submitted to my university tutors. This is just a conversion, I have not added or improved any features. I also do not intend to add any more features to this version. If there is enough interest, I will commence working on Version 2.0.

Changes Made From Version 0.5
- ASP.net scripts converted to PHP.
- Access database converted to MySQL.
- Database and script character sets changed to UTF-8.
- Descriptions for Lines 6, 10 and 12 rewritten.

Lines Currently Covered By MétEX Version 1.0
- Paris Métro Lines 3, 3bis, 6, 7bis, 10, 12, 14.

Below is a list of known issues and bugs. Please do not contact me about them! If however, you do find a bug not listed here, please leave a comment on this post, or send me an email at metex (at) sblorgh (dot) org. If there is enough interest, I will start a public discussion forum to make commenting easier.

Known Issues and Bugs
* Flash Tour
- Ambient sounds may not automatically play. Press the play button to make them start.
- Station dropbox does not automatically update if the Previous/Next buttons are used.
- Lines of text which include accents are displayed in a different font.

* Flash Map
- Zoom feature may not re-centre properly.
- Some areas of the map may appear off-screen.

* Flash Journey
- When selecting a new journey after having finished one, previous slides may appear momentarily.
- Lines of text which include accents are displayed in a different font.

* Places Of Interest
- The entire feature is currently incomplete. I added it after my tutors suggested that the project should have a commercial stance. However, RATP permission for the project came on the condition that it remain non-commercial. Therefore, all Places Of Interest data is either missing or consists of dummy text for testing purposes.

* Text Tour
- There are no Previous/Next Station links.

* I-Mode Site
- The entire feature is currently broken. Emoji seem to differ between Japanese and European models, and accents similarly do not appear to work. There is also very little navigation.

That's about it. I started this project back in 2004, and I only just got around to releasing it to the public. I really hope you enjoy it and will want me to keep working on it in the future! All comments and criticisms are welcome!

Now that MétEX has been graded by the tutors at the University of Kent, it is now no longer my final-year project and I will therefore commence work on a public version.

The FYP version, Version 0.5, is accessible at the following address: http://www.ee.kent.ac.uk/student/rw5/. I do not know how long the site will remain online, as my email and computer accounts will be deleted soon on account of me graduating.

The first public version, Version 1.0, and all further versions for the forseeable future will be hosted at the following address: http://metex.sblorgh.org/.

This Development Blog will serve to track updates, changes and new features implemented in the site. If you have an RSS reader, you can subscribe to the feed by clicking on the RSS button on the home page of this blog. Comments and Trackbacks will be activated only for certain posts - usually major updates, or requests for feedback. All other comments should be sent to metex(at)sblorgh(dot)org.

WHAT IS CURRENTLY BEING WORKED ON: The original site was written in ASP.net using an Access database. This was imposed by the University. Therefore the first task is to convert the database to MySQL and the data retrieval scripts to PHP. The second task will be to update the Flash movies to retrieve data from the new scripts. The first public version of the site will then go live and work on new features, improvements and bugfixes will commence.