Moloc has been written originally to be run from graphics terminals. The version for graphics workstations has made use of the original basic force fields, but has otherwise been entirely redesigned to make full use of the enhanced graphics and interactivity possibilities. In addition the data structure and the operating concept have been modernized.
The program is developed on the platform of Silicon Graphics, though with a minimum of platform specific features. The most restrictive parts are the graphics and windowing. Two binaries of Moloc exist which differ only in this respect: The executable Moloc employs the graphics library IRIS GL, and thus performs best on older machines for which this is the native graphics. The new executable Molox employs Xlib and OpenGL and thus performs best on newer machines. Furthermore, Molox can be called over the net from X-servers of other platforms provided they support OpenGL (e.g. from Windows NT through the emulation ReflectionX 6.1).
For the RISC/6000 series of IBM we have made successful tests, but at present no running version is maintained.
The full package of Moloc consists of a set of binaries that ought to reside in a single directory. Simple usage just needs to start either Moloc or Molox to get the full interactive capabilities. However, several activities (e.g. batch runs) make use of other binaries which are started independently, and are expected to reside in the same directory as Moloc or Molox.
Installing Moloc from a .tar file produces three parallel directories called bin, dat, and doc. The bin directory contains all binary executables. The dat directory contains a few useful data-files which are not necessary to run Moloc but which contain data to be called on suitable occasions. This directory can be supplemented by any type of data considered of general use. The directory can be addressed from inside Moloc with the symbol $DAT, provided it is still parallel to the bin directory. The doc directory holds documentation material.