OpenSim questions

[Subway Waverider]

Hi, I want to create a small virtual world on OpenSim, consisting of six sims, interlinked by an underground rail system. This is completely new to me, so thought I'd ask the experts:

1) Can I create six sims on OpenSim?

2) Do I have to leave my computer running all the time for people to access it?

3) When I set it up, does it have default sand/grass and sea surroundings? Or do I have to texture / build them?

4) Can I travel to my Open Sim via SL? ie - go there wearing my SL avatar skin and clothes / name tag? How do I do that, via TP? Can others on SL come?

5) Similarly, can I transport SL items to my Open Sim?

 

[say Moo]

1) yes, you can create infinite regions using opensim (in grid mode). Although how many you can use on one machine depends on the machine, the use of scripts, the use of concurrent av's etc...

2) Yes, better use a dedicated machine for that (e.g. dedidacted server(s), or powerful vps(es)) Bottom line is, it must run 24/7 on the internet, (be sure to config the firewall correctly), so others can use it (either through hypergrid, or through local accounts.

3) yes, the default terrain is there, just as the sky and sea.

4)No you cannot do this, they are two different grids, with their own technology etc. You can however connect to other grids using opensim through hypergrid setup. (if you are allowed to connect to that grid where you want to go to from your grid ofcourse) Note: hypergrid is still under highly development, and can result in loss of assets or other weirdness, use with caution.

5) see 4. (you can ofcourse upload your own created assets, in terms of textures, scripts and the original meshes, to your own grid, from your harddrives. )

 

 

[mikka Luik]

In order (sort of)

 

1) Yes as many as your hosting system can handle (the packaged setups I've seen tend to be 1 4 9 or 16 sims)

2) Yes, if your host machine is off your sims are not there

3) I believe the default is still a flat grass expanse but its easy enough to find an OAR terrain file. It has the appearance of being surrounded by water but the 'sea' is actually void space - you canot enter it beyond the sim edge. To do so would require an adjoining sim set as a water one

4) No. There is no hyper grid from SL (or in for that matter).

5) No - with caveats. If you are the total creator of an object in SL then yes - with limits. If you are for example the creator of sculptmaps and textures you *can* transfer them. If not, if you obtain the original creators absolute permissions they *may* provide you with their original material and be willling to come to an arrangement with you. But they are under no obligation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Marie Kolache]

For the easiest setup, I recommend using the New World Studio. It's great for first-time OpenSim users because it sets everything up for you -- the database, the OpenSim server, the management front end, your first avatar, and then logs you right into the world. It also gives you a nice choice of starting regions -- and you can download a bunch of other free regions (in the form of OAR files) from Linda Kellie, with all content CC-licensed for any use anywhere (including commercial use).

New World Studio: http://newworldstudio.net/

Linda Kellie OARs: http://zadaroo.com/?page_id=1588

If you're running it on a typical home machine, and just accessing it by yourself, you can easily get up to 16 regions on a little mini-grid. Set it up as a megaregion if you don't want border crossings (New World Studio has "megaregions" as an option). When you don't need it, just turn it off. You can have as many of these grids stored on the computer as you have memory. 

There are both free and commercial versions of New World Studio (all the basic OpenSim stuff is free -- with the commercial version you're just paying a little bit for a nice, user-friendly interface). But you can get the free version to do just about anything. Here's my article about it: http://www.hypergridbusiness.com/2013/04/making-new-world-studio-work-for-you/

As Waverider already mentioned, you can't teleport from OpenSim to Second Life. However, if you enable hypergrid on your little minigrid (it's on by default with New World Studio) you can teleport to hundreds of other grids, and people on those grids can teleport in to see you if you give them your address. Up-to-date list of all the active OpenSim grids and their hypergrid addresses is here: http://www.hypergridbusiness.com/statistics/active-grids/

Keep in mind that with a typical home connection you're not going to be able to get more than a couple of visitors at your minigrid without seeing lag. To avoid that -- and to ensure that your regions are always up -- you can rent server space, or hire someone to host your whole little minigrid.

List of hosting vendors is here: http://www.hypergridbusiness.com/opensim-hosting-providers/

Expect to pay $10 to $25 for a low-traffic region, $25 to $50 for a moderate traffic one (SL-comparable) and $50 and up for a high-traffic, high capacity regions. Some vendors offer up to 100,000 prims and up to 100 simultaneous avatars.

 

[Conifer Dada]

Regarding the underground rail system, it wouldn't be usable if buried under the normal ground.  You'd need to build a false ground above the railway, out of prims or mesh.

[Winged Heron]

Is there any sim I can use my SL avatar. I do not have mesh. I have my original Avatar that has been tweaked to be Win. Had it since 2007

[Phil Deakins]

8 minutes ago, Winged Heron said:

Is there any sim I can use my SL avatar. I do not have mesh. I have my original Avatar that has been tweaked to be Win. Had it since 2007

By "sim", I assume you mean a sim/grid that's external to SL, in which case the anser is no. The best you can do is make an avatar in another grid that looks like your SL one.

Edited December 19, 2017 by Phil Deakins

[Winged Heron]

thank you - yes I meant grid

 

 

[mikka Luik]

@Winged Heron you can recreate yourself on other grids (doesn't matter which if its OS based) with the usual caveats. If you have made your shape from scratch then some viewers can export/import as an XML file which does a fairly good job of recreating (usually with a few cleanup tweaks) and if you made your skin its trivial. Same for other clothing assets, for standard avs if you have the original textures then its the same thing.

I have a virtual travel kit which has my shape, custom skins, selection of eyes, accessories and a few basics for dressing etc. Couple of uploads and voila. Now hair is another issue as never quite managed to make any thats not poo so tend to run around bald until can find some =^^=

Basically no, you cannot use your SL avatar but you can make a reasonable facsimile if you are the owner of the bits you want to copy over.