autopathing vehicles make me laugh

[Byron Mavinelli]

Many times while in SL I see a vehicle autoriding down a road and they make me laugh. They always get stuck and they bounce around trying to get back on the path - struggling and can hardly make it. I can't help thinking jokengly every time who is the drunkard driving this car? I'm not saying this is a problem only that it is funny to see.

[Joseph MacAlpine]

There are several ways to conceive a script for an 'autopathing' vehicle. It looks like the vehicles that you saw were not using the best algorithm...

[Shockwave Yareach]

I've built many such a thing, principly Balloon rides and Innertube rides.  The biggest problems these vehicles have is the sim crossing glitch.  Especially when the builder putting them out hasn't heard about the problems with sim crossing and Mono.

A mono script is faster and can be much larger.  But it thus has to transfer far more data from server to server at a sim crossing.  A vehicle going into a moderately loaded sim may not transfer data in time, or worse find itself only partially transferred, where the prims arrive but the script state does not.  Tada, you have a junked car in the road.  Writing this code in LSL instead of Mono helps as only 1/4 the datasize has to move.  But it doesn't eliminate the problem.

I used to have a balloon ride that circled all the islands in our chain and start over again.  But every day, the balloons would die at a crossing at some point.  And so I had to have a timed generator and mod the vehicles to simply derez when they returned to the launching point.  The sim cross problem is unlikely to be fixed anytime soon, so I limit my installations to single sim runs to avoid the problems simcrossing causes them.

[Marigold Devin]

The driverless vehicles make me laugh too :smileyvery-happy:  Eventually, though, they seem to pile up in a "graveyard"

[TomWCU]

Hello, All.

My name's Tom. I'm working on a project that may benefit from using an autopath, but I can't seem to find any information on the subject. It sounds as though you've all had some experience with it. Could you guys and girls take a minute to help me out?

Here's what's going on:

I have a ghost I want to be able to wander the hallways of a maze. Currently, I have invisible prims that detect collisions with the ghost and tell it when to turn. This works fine, assuming no one bumps into the ghost. If someone bumps into him and knocks him off his path, he'll crash into a wall and just stay there. I hoped I might be able to just make linear and angular deflection impossible, then let people bump into him to no effect. No luck with that - he could still be moved by avatars.

So, is there a better way to make him stick to his path? If so, how should I begin?

[Celestiall Nightfire]

---

Byron Mavinelli wrote:

 I'm not saying this is a problem only that it is funny to see.

---

Well, actually it *is* a problem.  

It means that someone out there is using sim and grid resources.    That affects you, me, and everyone else on the grid. 

So, those who put out auto-vehicles onto the mainland, roads and waterways, are not being considerate of the other SL residents.  Each object, script and avatar takes a toll on the server's ability to function.   I cannot fathom why some on the SL grid think they should be able to use grid-wide resources for their own projects. 

It is equal to being a griefer in my opinion.  Those who put scripted objects into a sim where I own land (and they don't own land or live there) are selfishly using up the sim resources in that sim.   We condemn griefers for this practice, of releasing scripted objects, into sims and parcels not owned by them.     So, I see the auto-vehicle makers that place these objects out onto the grid, as greifers.

I have abandoned several land parcels on the mainland due to the Linden roads that passed through those sim's being inundated with auto-vehicles.  Vehicles that get stuck, look ugly, and have no purpose other than the self-gratification of the creator.  (who was selling the objects) 

 

[Celestiall Nightfire]

---

TomWCU wrote:

Hello, All.

My name's Tom. I'm working on a project that may benefit from using an autopath, but I can't seem to find any information on the subject. It sounds as though you've all had some experience with it. Could you guys and girls take a minute to help me out?

Here's what's going on:

I have a ghost I want to be able to wander the hallways of a maze. Currently, I have invisible prims that detect collisions with the ghost and tell it when to turn. This works fine, assuming no one bumps into the ghost. If someone bumps into him and knocks him off his path, he'll crash into a wall and just stay there. I hoped I might be able to just make linear and angular deflection impossible, then let people bump into him to no effect. No luck with that - he could still be moved by avatars.

So, is there a better way to make him stick to his path? If so, how should I begin?

---

1) Why is the ghost able to have collisions?  A ghost should be a phantom object.

2)  Script a travel path, and make your ghost phantom. 

 

ETA:  

http://lslwiki.net/lslwiki/wakka.php?wakka=position

http://lslwiki.net/lslwiki/wakka.php?wakka=movement

 

[Innula Zenovka]

---

TomWCU wrote:

Hello, All.

My name's Tom. I'm working on a project that may benefit from using an autopath, but I can't seem to find any information on the subject. It sounds as though you've all had some experience with it. Could you guys and girls take a minute to help me out?

Here's what's going on:

I have a ghost I want to be able to wander the hallways of a maze. Currently, I have invisible prims that detect collisions with the ghost and tell it when to turn. This works fine, assuming no one bumps into the ghost. If someone bumps into him and knocks him off his path, he'll crash into a wall and just stay there. I hoped I might be able to just make linear and angular deflection impossible, then let people bump into him to no effect. No luck with that - he could still be moved by avatars.

So, is there a better way to make him stick to his path? If so, how should I begin?

---

Your ghost could use the new llCastRay to see if he's going to run into something.    Or he could use a sensor to look for the waypoints.  Or if you want to stick with the present system, I'd play around with setting llVolumeDetect(TRUE) and then have him use llDetectedType()  to check if he's collided with an avatar or one of your prims.   Though you have to be careful, of course, making physics enabled objects, in effect, phantom or they go through the floor.

[Celestiall Nightfire]

---

Innula Zenovka wrote:

---

TomWCU wrote:

Hello, All.

My name's Tom. I'm working on a project that may benefit from using an autopath, but I can't seem to find any information on the subject. It sounds as though you've all had some experience with it. Could you guys and girls take a minute to help me out?

Here's what's going on:

I have a ghost I want to be able to wander the hallways of a maze. Currently, I have invisible prims that detect collisions with the ghost and tell it when to turn. This works fine, assuming no one bumps into the ghost. If someone bumps into him and knocks him off his path, he'll crash into a wall and just stay there. I hoped I might be able to just make linear and angular deflection impossible, then let people bump into him to no effect. No luck with that - he could still be moved by avatars.

So, is there a better way to make him stick to his path? If so, how should I begin?

---

Your ghost could use the new

llCastRay

 to see if he's going to run into something.    Or he could use a sensor to look for the waypoints.  Or if you want to stick with the present system, I'd play around with setting

llVolumeDetect(TRUE

) and then have him use

llDetectedType() 

 to check if he's collided with an avatar or one of your prims.   Though you have to be careful, of course, making physics enabled objects, in effect, phantom or they go through the floor.

---

Innula, the things you've suggested would be good for something more complex, but are complete overkill for the needs of a ghost traveling a given path in maze.  

There's no need to add extras like sensors, except for maybe a senor to tell when someone is present, and activate the ghost then.  

A maze has a given path, turns, etc.   The ghost can move on a preset path, this is not unknown terrain it''s navigating. The ghost will not be traversing the Linden Roads, or doing combat with avatars, etc. 

For the OPs needs, just a simple movement path is all that's needed.   One should never over-script, when the same thing can be done with a much cleaner, simpler method.

[Void Singer]

but one should use general solutions when the criteria may change or the tailored solution uses ridiculous amounts of code. a general solution using either llVolumeDetect, or llCastRay doesn't need to be very complex

[Celestiall Nightfire]

---

Void Singer wrote:

but one should use general solutions when the criteria may change or the tailored solution uses ridiculous amounts of code. a general solution using either llVolumeDetect, or llCastRay doesn't need to be very complex

---

 

What I suggested is a general solution.  Also, a simple travel path like I suggested, does not use ridiculous amounts of code. 

[Void Singer]

that depends entirely on the size and complexity of the path (and the users ability to correctly enter it). a general solution is one that works without having to change anything for different details of the same problem. my point was not that your proposed solution was any worse or better, but what situations each is best suited for.