Avatar won't turn toward selected object

[AletheiaThrale]

For the last few times I've logged into Second Life, my avatar won't turn toward  a selected object or move in another direction unless I turn it with the arrow keys..  This means I have to use individual steps to turn or to go directly to anyplace I want to stand, using individual steps, rather than turning toward or being able to move the camera around object to assist my movement there.  I've tried changing various setting, but nothing makes any difference.

 

I hadn't changed any settings or tried to do anything unusual before this started, so I'm at a loss to explain why this function suddenly disappeared.  It certainly makes moving around  second life a massive annoyance and impedes my doing things that I would normally do, because I have trouble getting from one place inside an area to another.

Wondered if there are any suggestions about what went wrong, or how to fix it

 

[Rolig Loon]

I'm not quite sure that I understand the situation.  If you use your <-  -> arrow keys without touching the forward <> back ones, your avatar should just turn in place.  You shouldn't need to take extra steps.  Or are you in mouselook, perhaps?  If so, and if your avatar isn't responding to moving the cursor left or right with the mouse, the first thing I would suspect is the mouse itself.  Maybe it has dirty feet?  Or a weak battery?

[DilliDallagio]

Alethia, could there be an invisible prim attached to your screen at a HUD mounting point that perhaps hinders your ability to use your mouse? I have had that happen to me on occasion (usually when I am over-tired and end up attaching a prim instead of rezzing one).

[AletheiaThrale]

Maybe a couple of examples would clarify, many objects have, until yesterday, been clickable by my mouse, when I right- clicked (I thinkk it is)  on them.  So, previously if I wanted to go somewhere, say I'm in a location and i want to go to the upstairs, or own a hill to where everyone is sitting, I could  click my cursor on the railing or the wall nearby where I intended to go  (which would be clickable), and hit ctrl-alt, and my avatar would turn exactly to that place and then I could, say, fusing the nouse to move the camera closer) find a place to sit and click on the chair, eg, and get there by sitting on the object.  Or, if I was outside  a bulding, I could click the cursor on the wall, and use ctrl-alt, to turn the camera (and my avatar, but most importantly the camera) so that it sent through the wall and was showing the inside of the building.  I could then use a similar tactic to jump to the location inside the bulding.  Or it would just turn click on something in a location where I wanted to go, and my avatar would turn to exactly that direction, so I didn't have to push the arrow key multiple times to try to turn my avatar to that spot, - a process which is not only time-comsuming, but very hard to do accurately-- 

 

  Mostly  nothing is clickable, so I have no way of turning toward an object or direction, or desired location over the next hill, or inside a building I'm standing outside, other than the arrow keys, which just take forever and then don't point me ienough n just the right direction.  If I start walking using the forward arrow key, I'm just as likely to end somewhere a lot to the right or left, and have to struggle again and again to adjust  the avatar so where I want to go is pinpointed.

I hope this makes it clearer.  I've had some trouble defining the problem, so as to look for solutions, and as yet have found nothing that helps..

 

thanks,  Aletheia

 

 

[Rolig Loon]

Perhaps this bit of information, buried in the Firestorm wiki, might help:

Mouse Movement

It is also possible to move your avatar using your mouse.

First, you can left click your avatar to guide its direction, while using the arrow keys or WASD to walk.

However, you can also walk using only the mouse: left click your mouse button on your avatar or name tag. Keep the left mouse button pressed down, and then also click the right mouse button. Your avatar will start walking forward. Move your mouse to “pilot” your avatar.

Releasing either mouse button will stop walking.

This method also works while flying.

In Preferences -> Move & View -> Movement, you can enable Single click on land → Move to clicked point. Then if you left click somewhere on the ground, your avatar will immediately start walking to that point.

I am not familiar with the technique that they suggest, but it sounds somewhat like what you are describing.  It sounds a bit awkward to me.

 

Edited November 19, 2019 by Rolig Loon

[Lindal Kidd]

It's awkward at first, but it can grow on you.

[Nalates Urriah]

In Preferences you can set how to move the avatar. In Firestorm the setting is Preferences->Move & View->Movement (tab) then set your single left click type of movement. Generally the idea is for clicking on land. But, it works with any floor. Generally clicking things that are not part of the "Nav Map" doesn't work.

If the viewer or computer crashes it can corrupt your settings file. Viewers often crash silently on exit. So, you may not notice the crash. Depending on how badly damaged the file is the viewer may write a new 'settings file' using the default settings.

Many of us Mouse-Steer for movement in SL. Left click and hold on the avatar, press up-arrow or 'w' key or hold the right mouse down button to move forward then drag left or right to turn.

[AletheiaThrale]

I'm not familiar with this way of steering, but would you then, to get to the upstairs of a building, have to  locate the stairs, locomote over to them and then climb them stair by stair, making the correct turn and taking the exact right number of steps? 

Or if you come to an area and are looking for where people are, how do you go about scanning the area, looking around for the avatars? 

I'm unable to do this at the moment, except by using the map, I guess, and trying to walk toward where they seem to be (which is often not workable) or maybe transporting if they're far enough away?

 

thanks again for your help.

[Lindal Kidd]

1 hour ago, AletheiaThrale said:

I'm not familiar with this way of steering, but would you then, to get to the upstairs of a building, have to  locate the stairs, locomote over to them and then climb them stair by stair, making the correct turn and taking the exact right number of steps? 

Or if you come to an area and are looking for where people are, how do you go about scanning the area, looking around for the avatars? 

I'm unable to do this at the moment, except by using the map, I guess, and trying to walk toward where they seem to be (which is often not workable) or maybe transporting if they're far enough away?

You may get a better idea of the different ways of traveling if you just experiment with them!  Here are some options:

• Use the optional movement palette.  Put this on screen with Avatar > Move Controls.  There is a second palette available for Camera Controls.
• Use the arrow keys on your keyboard.
• Use the W, A, S, D keys in place of the arrow keys.  Use Preferences > Move&View > Movement to set both the arrow key and the letter key options with check boxes.
• Use mouselook.  Zoom your camera in until your avatar vanishes.  Put your mouse cursor over where you want to go, and hold the Up arrow key to walk there.  If you want to steer while doing this, keep your finger on the Up arrow (or W key) and move the mouse left or right to steer.  Many Mouselook options can be set in Preferences > Move&View > Mouselook.
• Use "walk to the point clicked".  This option is set in Me > Preferences > Move&View tab > Movement sub-tab (in the Firestorm viewer).  Set single click to "Move to clicked point".
• Use "teleport to the point clicked".  This is set in the same place, but choose "teleport to clicked point".  I prefer the teleport option because simply walking to a designated target can fail if there is an object in the way.

The fastest way I know to get to another avatar is (using the Firestorm viewer): Leave the People/Nearby window open.  Double click their name in this window to move your camera to them.  Put your mouse on the ground near them and double click to teleport there.  The "teleport to point clicked" option must be enabled, and it won't work if the land owner has limited teleports to an arrival point.

[AletheiaThrale]

This way of getting around seems quite awkward so far, but I probably don't entirely get how to coordinate the button-pushing etc.  and am not used to it.  It does seem to work--- which is a great advantage over what I've been doing for past few days.

 

  I'm sure I'll be referring back to these pages until I get all the suggestions down.    I greatly appreciate everyone who's taken the time to answer my question.     

[animats]

On 11/19/2019 at 10:28 AM, AletheiaThrale said:

I'm not familiar with this way of steering, but would you then, to get to the upstairs of a building, have to  locate the stairs, locomote over to them and then climb them stair by stair, making the correct turn and taking the exact right number of steps?

Walking in SL does not really use foot placement. Stairs are really ramps with a picture of stairs on top of them, your avatar is really a cylinder with rounded end caps, and leg, arm, and body animations don't really affect the world or even line up with it. And there is no Santa Claus. Sorry.

[Nalates Urriah]

On 11/20/2019 at 5:07 PM, animats said:

Walking in SL does not really use foot placement. Stairs are really ramps with a picture of stairs on top of them, your avatar is really a cylinder with rounded end caps, and leg, arm, and body animations don't really affect the world or even line up with it. And there is no Santa Claus. Sorry.

I'VE SAT IN SANTA's LAP! 😛

@AletheiaThrale There are videos to show how mouse-steering works. Search "Second Life" Mouse steering.

To make mouse-steering easier and possibly SL life in general, adjust your camera. See Camera Position Tips.

Experiment. You'll find what is easy for you.