Help with walking, New

[Madelaine McMasters]

Welcome to Second Life, SnoCrystal!

It is funny, and endearing. We've all done it and remember our early days here fondly. Don't worry about walking into walls. I've a friend who's been here 10 years and still walks into things. I love to get dressed up in a beautiful ball gown and then wade into a canal.

It's more important to keep your sense of humor than to learn to walk gracefully. Eventually you'll accidentally strip yourself naked in public, fall to your death, type something exceedingly private into a public chat window and... you get the idea.

It's all good.

[Madelaine McMasters]

Welcome to Second Life, SnoCrystal!

It is funny, and endearing. We've all done it and remember our early days here fondly. Don't worry about walking into walls. I've a friend who's been here 10 years and still walks into things. I love to get dressed up in a beautiful ball gown and then wade into a canal.

It's more important to keep your sense of humor than to learn to walk gracefully. Eventually you'll accidentally strip yourself naked in public, fall to your death, type something exceedingly private into a public chat window and... you get the idea.

It's all good.

[Syo Emerald]

Why are you scared? Nothing bad can happen to your avatar. You can not get damaged or die.

[Lindal Kidd]

Walking in water is safe, and lots of people do it.  Your clothes are drip-dry and your avatar can breathe underwater!  In fact, walking on the seabed is actually easier than swimming, which requires a special animation.

Walking into walls is embarrassing, but easily avoided.  First, do NOT use the "click to walk to a targeted point" option in your viewer preferences.  If there's something between you and your destination, you'll get hung up.

Second, I, and most people I know, prefer to use either the keyboard arrow keys or the W,A,S,D keys for walking.  This is easier to master than using the on-screen movement controls, and you can close that palette to save a bit of screen real estate.  Remember to hit ESC a couple of times to be sure your main window "has the focus" or hitting a key will type text instead of moving you.

Third, you don't have to walk everywhere.  Many times, it's easier to just move your point of view, your "camera" rather than positioning your avatar.  See this blog post: http://acrossthegridwithlindal.blogspot.com/2012/06/camming.html

You might also want to visit Caledon Oxbridge University and explore the College of Avatar Motion there...and the other tutorial sections as well.  They will give you lots of basic information about Second Life, from moving around to customizing your avatar and getting along with others!