Need help making a HUD

[Torrington Garnet]

Ok so I have this idea to make a Battle Card game like Pokémon or Magic that is HUD based and uses listen scripts. The bad thing is I have no idea how to begin. I've never done scripting but I'd like to make this game a reality in SL. If anyone can help me out in learning scripts that can help in this I'd very much appreciate it. I've tried to attend in world classes, but my schedule is so crazy I never make it to the classes. Any help would be great.

[Darkie Minotaur]

It would be helpful to know where you're starting from.

• do you know scripting/programming at all?
• if yes, have yu done anything with LSL)

[Zarkinfrood Miami]

My best advice is either "introduction to linden scripting language for second life" or "scripting your world". Both of these will teach you the basics If you can't attend classes in-world. If you already have the basics down, spend a lot of time at the LSL wiki. Take other peoples scripts apart. look here for scripts that do the kind of thing that you want to do, rip them apart and see how they function. Join in-world scripting groups. Ask questions.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

This is the sub forum where you can post a script you are writing and ask specific questions about it.  You should post your inquiry in the Inworld Employment sub forum under Commerce to find someone to teach you one on one how to script.  Even beginner level scripting is not something that can be taught in just an hour or so.  Learning to script enough to make a game HUD is going to take even longer, more so if you are going to need an outside server to run the game on.  You are asking someone to make a very large time commitment particularly if you have never coded before.

If your goal is only this game, it may be cheaper to find a scripter that will make the scripts for you.  If your goal is learning to script, you should take on simple projects to start with.  You can start at the College of Scripting, Music and Science in world where they have self paced tutoring lessons  you can take whenever you have the time, since a scripting class is inconvenient for you.

[Luca Coeur]

You could have a look at the article on writing HUDs

http://secondview.wordpress.com/2007/12/05/scripting-snippets-7-creating-a-hud/

and

http://secondview.wordpress.com/2007/12/18/script-snippets-8-text-output-for-a-hud/

 

Happy scripting ;-)

[Torrington Garnet]

Thank you all for the feedback. I'll be looking into all your suggestions. I'm mostly wanting to devote time to this game, but I feel I may have to start small and work my way to it. There will be a lot involved, even outside of scripting, to do what I plan to do. Thanks you all once again

[Rolig Loon]

If you have any experience with programmng in other languages, you should be able to get started in LSL very quickly.  The heart of scripting/programming is logic, and that is the same anywhere. The thing that makes LSL tricky at first is its event/state structure.  Once you get used to the fact that all actions in a LSL script are responses to specific environmental triggers, the rest makes sense.  An event is a set of actions that take place when they are triggered by some specific act.  A touch (or touch_start or touch_end) event is triggered by an avatar clicking on the object your script is in.  A listen event is triggered by an incoming message in a chat channel.  A timer event is like an alarm clock, triggered by the passage of time.  Your LSL script is therefore a set of modules, ready to react to different things that may happen around your scripted object.  Take time to work through some of the basic tutorials at http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/LSL_Tutorial and then find simple freebie scripts to dissect and modify.