What do you think about Automated Transport Vehicles on Mainland?

[Prokofy Neva]

I realize you, like others, are clinging to this romantic/nostalgic view of pods being "there when you need them".

But you don't always explore the Mainland every minute -- perhaps you don't even log in. Perhaps you live on an island.

Meanwhile, those of us who log in every day and live and work on the Mainland see them all the time, and they are empty.

There's nothing fun about empty pods constantly crossing the view. This is a subjective, romantic emotion that I wish people would examine more closely.

The idea that if you "had to go to them" this would "diminish their use" is utterly illogical. That's because they are not used. They are empty. No one is in them. Go and look.

"Having to go to them" is merely a matter of going to the next sim and looking for a station that could be standardized and recognizeable. If you really live on the Mainland, you would get to know that the pod station is on such-and-such a sim and go there. It's honestly not rocket science. In fact, if there were stations, and they were recognizable, the pods would get MORE use because instead of hoping to randomly see one on your sim where you are now, you could go and climb on one like a bus.

They spam all day all across the roads based on the mistaken idea that if they provide enough of this spam, when the whim takes someone who is nostalgic for pod adventuring and can't be bothered with the expense of a horse or even getting a 30L Saturday vehicle, why, they will be there. Except they are both "not there" in fact for that whim and there too much for that person who has no whim. It really is the worst of both worlds. No one rationally planning transportation would have this idiocy. It is all based on emotions, nostalgia, posturing to get in with the Lindens, etc. The Lindens need load tests. A tiny number of people need to have nostalgic trips. The rest of us do not need any of this.

 

Edited September 7, 2020 by Dakota Linden
Moderator Edit [Image with Inappropriate Content Removed]

[BJoyful]

52 minutes ago, Prokofy Neva said:

REQUIRED to get from one floor to another, because YOU CANNOT FLY

...yet   ;D

[AlettaMondragon]

1 hour ago, Prokofy Neva said:

The idea that if you "had to go to them" this would "diminish their use" is utterly illogical. That's because they are not used. They are empty. No one is in them. Go and look.

 

Empty? Oh! It's still not something new, you still echo yourself, okay. You introduced a few new words, like romantic, nostalgic, etc, but I realize you still love the word "empty".

So much that you keep coming back daily to bash on others' opinions.

 

1 hour ago, Prokofy Neva said:

"Having to go to them" is merely a matter of going to the next sim and looking for a station that could be standardized and recognizeable. If you really live on the Mainland, you would get to know that the pod station is on such-and-such a sim and go there. It's honestly not rocket science. In fact, if there were stations, and they were recognizable, the pods would get MORE use because instead of hoping to randomly see one on your sim where you are now, you could go and climb on one like a bus.

 

No, they wouldn't get more use, because nobody uses them, according to you. Didn't you just say they are always empty, because nobody uses them?

And there are stations. They are recognizable, when you know what to look for. Let's say you haven't seen a bus in your life, you would have no idea what a bus is when you see it the first time. It works like that for first-timers with the pods. I think we've been through this argument once as well. And I'm still falling for your repetitive provocations.

[BilliJo Aldrin]

8 hours ago, AlettaMondragon said:

 

They can be. They're just not, because it is much extra work and probably too little demand from customers. Most land vehicles use ACS scripts, those don't have an autodrive function. Other, better-scripted vehicles usually don't have one either. It looks like the peak of technology in all of them is cruise control.

To have an autodrive mode, the creator (or anyone else) would have to make accurate waypoint routes everywhere the vehicle should be able to drive on its own, and it would need a waypoint processing system in the vehicle's "engine" to be able to directly control its movement. Eventually, the vehicle would have to be stuffed with route notecards, but in those that can be modified (changed content), people would be able to add and take out those notecards anytime, and it would allow for people that already have such route notecards to use them, if they are in the same format as the script can process as waypoints. It's possible, some creators could do it. I'm not sure if many people would use the function, though. I know that many people would need the function, they just don't realize. They can't drive though, that's for sure.

The other way is the one we mentioned above, where the vehicle would attempt to follow the road prims like SLRR guides. It has several difficulties. The script would have to be able to find the actual road prim, which can be an issue, since road prims are generally named differently on all roads, sometimes only named as Object (especially replacement prims), the prims are often overlaying, there are buffer prims on many crossings to prevent getting stuck in the prims, so not even the distance between identically named prims is the same. Then when the vehicle manages to proceed on the road (or on someone's paved yard if it managed to pick up those prims instead of the road), it should also apply a proper offset from the middle of the prim to drive on the right side (or left) of the road instead of annoying the hell out of everyone by cruising in the middle. It should be designed to work on control inputs too, to be able to easily turn onto another road in an intersection and then continue on its own. If it's combined with the waypoint notecard method, it can work too, it's just even more work to do.

And most car creators can't even script, they just assemble the full perm models they bought, with ACS scripts, so there aren't too many people that would be interested in and be able to make a whole new system to include an autodrive mode in their vehicles. It would be really cool, though.

OIC, its way more complicated than I thought.

I'd use the function, I can't keep a car on the road for more than 5 seconds. 😬

[BilliJo Aldrin]

4 hours ago, Prokofy Neva said:

I realize you, like others, are clinging to this romantic/nostalgic view of pods being "there when you need them".

But you don't always explore the Mainland every minute -- perhaps you don't even log in. Perhaps you live on an island.

Meanwhile, those of us who log in every day and live and work on the Mainland see them all the time, and they are empty.

There's nothing fun about empty pods constantly crossing the view. This is a subjective, romantic emotion that I wish people would examine more closely.

The idea that if you "had to go to them" this would "diminish their use" is utterly illogical. That's because they are not used. They are empty. No one is in them. Go and look.

"Having to go to them" is merely a matter of going to the next sim and looking for a station that could be standardized and recognizeable. If you really live on the Mainland, you would get to know that the pod station is on such-and-such a sim and go there. It's honestly not rocket science. In fact, if there were stations, and they were recognizable, the pods would get MORE use because instead of hoping to randomly see one on your sim where you are now, you could go and climb on one like a bus.

They spam all day all across the roads based on the mistaken idea that if they provide enough of this spam, when the whim takes someone who is nostalgic for pod adventuring and can't be bothered with the expense of a horse or even getting a 30L Saturday vehicle, why, they will be there. Except they are both "not there" in fact for that whim and there too much for that person who has no whim. It really is the worst of both worlds. No one rationally planning transportation would have this idiocy. It is all based on emotions, nostalgia, posturing to get in with the Lindens, etc. The Lindens need load tests. A tiny number of people need to have nostalgic trips. The rest of us do not need any of this.

 

Actually, I live on mainland, (Kama City on Zindra) and log in every day. A pod floats by my front door about once every 10  minutes.

If I want to ride it I have to walk across the road though, because the road is actually on the next sim.

There is also a monorail behind my place, the station is a short walk up a hill. It's a rezz on demand system.

 

 

[animats]

I think teleporting in SL is much too easy. You can teleport from anywhere to almost anywhere. At one time, that wasn't allowed. You could only go from telehub to telehub. And you couldn't even fly without a "flying feather" attachment. That was before my time, although I recently got a flying feather from a dispenser at a dead university sim.

What's the history on that?

[AlettaMondragon]

58 minutes ago, animats said:

I think teleporting in SL is much too easy. You can teleport from anywhere to almost anywhere. At one time, that wasn't allowed. You could only go from telehub to telehub. And you couldn't even fly without a "flying feather" attachment. That was before my time, although I recently got a flying feather from a dispenser at a dead university sim.

What's the history on that?

That flying feather sounds very intriguing. I might want one too. Which dead uni sim was it at?

[Claireschen Hesten]

1 hour ago, animats said:

I think teleporting in SL is much too easy. You can teleport from anywhere to almost anywhere. At one time, that wasn't allowed. You could only go from telehub to telehub. And you couldn't even fly without a "flying feather" attachment. That was before my time, although I recently got a flying feather from a dispenser at a dead university sim.

What's the history on that?

If my memory is right the flying feather attachment was needed to be able to fly above a certain height around 1000m i know it was way below the current 5000m or so max fly and approx 8000/9000m ceiling height if you do gth 99999999999 in Firestorm. I'm sure someone will correct me if i've remembered wrong

[ChinRey]

32 minutes ago, animats said:

I think teleporting in SL is much too easy. You can teleport from anywhere to almost anywhere.

What I don't like about teleporting is that it breaks the immersion. Second Life is more of a collection of isolated mini-simulations than a continuous virtual world anyway but tp'ing emphasizes this.

 

2 hours ago, animats said:

And you couldn't even fly without a "flying feather" attachment.

You could always fly in SL. In fact, back in the earliest days of Linden World that was the only way to move around. It took them a little while to sort out the physics well enough to make the ground walkable.

What the flying feather does, is allow you to fly faster and higher. Today there is no known limit to how high you can fly anyway (if you only have patience enough) but I think the feather and other old flight assistant thingies still icnreases your speed a bit.

[Qie Niangao]

Argent Stonecutter's Flight Feather (with a couple other gadgets) can still be found at the original creator's in-world store. It's open source, so you can study the script to figure out what it does.

[Blush Bravin]

I really enjoy jumping on a pod to explore areas in SL. At times when my arthritis is really bothering me, it's really nice to be able to ride passively and not have to guide a vehicle with my mouse. Also, I really like that the pods run every few minutes. I know I can jump out to explore an interesting build because another pod will be along shortly, and I can jump back on to continue my exploring.

I really don't care that the pods or any type of automated transportation might run most of the time empty. The same way I don't really mind that there are empty buildings with for rent signs all over mainland. I wouldn't expect a landlord to derez those empty buildings just because they are currently unrented anymore than I would expect pods to only be available on rez.

 

[Malin Sabra]

Disclaimer: I did not read all the posts here.

 

I personally like the Yavascript PODs. there has been plenty of times when im bored out roaming around one crosses my path and I will hop in it and take a ride hopping out somewhere else.

Sure they aren't occupied all the time but they are definitely being used a lot. Perhaps short rides like I often do.

I think if everyone started to do this it would be a problem. I bought the POD system myself years ago but I don't have any roaming around across multiple sims like Yavanna does.

My thought is its already been done... Let Yavanna run the PODs since its her baby. We don't need 100-1000 more people putting POD or POD type transportation around at least on a big scale like she has set up. You can visit some of her POD depot spots and it has a map showing all the PODs scooting around and even shows when someones sitting in one.

I think on a smaller scale its ok for others to set some up. But not on a giant scale like Yavanna has. Let her do that until she stops doing it.. :P

I used to have PODs set up on a water parcel I was renting, they would go off the the neighboring water parcels 5-6 sims and come back. I had a few people hop in them.

The POD system is fun to play with, I made some little mesh ball robot type things and made them zoom around my parcel just for fun.

[AlettaMondragon]

16 minutes ago, Malin Sabra said:

I think on a smaller scale its ok for others to set some up. But not on a giant scale like Yavanna has. Let her do that until she stops doing it..

I don't know the numbers for other automatic transportation networks like the SLGI ships, but I think those are indeed smaller-scale than the pod service. The thing is, when any idea comes to a gridwide level, it is ought to be large-scale, as the grid has a huge area, let alone Mainland with continuous open-world. I think the two mainland-wide services out there are really enough to cover all areas that other smaller services don't.

[BJoyful]

Working on a roadside wed-o-matic chapel on our land, I was so pleased to catch a gif of a pod-rider passing by.  This was the second pod-rider I saw passing in the space of 40 minutes when I was working roadside.  Although I'm sure there were empty pods in between, I'm glad to know they are being used as often as I suspected and providing a leisurely tour for anyone to hop on and enjoy the ride ♥ 

 

[rasterscan]

Spotted a Yava ballon too out sailing today ..

ps Juicys' rainbow north' EEP

[Polenth Yue]

9 hours ago, BJoyful said:

Working on a roadside wed-o-matic chapel on our land, I was so pleased to catch a gif of a pod-rider passing by.  This was the second pod-rider I saw passing in the space of 40 minutes when I was working roadside.  Although I'm sure there were empty pods in between, I'm glad to know they are being used as often as I suspected and providing a leisurely tour for anyone to hop on and enjoy the ride ♥

I have seen people pass my shop on the pods (and sometimes stop to look at the shop). The empty pods aren't a bother to me really, as they don't do anything other than move along the road.

I still remember the other gridwide vehicle system where they'd frequently get stuck, throw particles everywhere and there was a bug that made them duplicate until they were roaming (and getting stuck) in packs. Also, the owner didn't believe us at first, so just shouted at people about it. Then shock surprise, it turned out to be a bug and really was happening. I hadn't minded those vehicles at first, but there were increasing problems with them.

The pods, on the other hand, have been running for years by my place without causing any issues like that. I also liked the ferry in Bellisseria (not sure if that's running at the moment, as I know it's had some issues here and there).

[Ingrid Ingersoll]

It would be neat if they looked good, but they never do. 

[Love Zhaoying]

16 minutes ago, Ingrid Ingersoll said:

It would be neat if they looked good, but they never do. 

The old trolleys (like at Luna) are nice..

[Ardy Lay]

On 8/27/2020 at 2:56 PM, ChinRey said:

It's a similar sotry with those animated plants we see all over SL these days. I've commented on them here before and people may get the impression I'm against plants with wind simulations (one of the more prolific makers of them even got so offended she abnned me from her store ) but I'm not. What I don't like, is when the animations are so overdone they look more like tentacle monsters than plants. It seems others agree with me too, once they see the difference. I'll be including optional animation to most of my plants from now on with five preset levels from barely noticeable to almost but not quite tentacle monster level. I gave some text examples to a friend who has filled up her sims with "regular" animated mesh trees. She started with the heaviest animation option but then she gradually toned it down and ended up with the most subtle one.

I want a Whumping Willow!

[Alexis Crisp]

I know this is an old thread, and already a lot of mixed opinions... but I think the automated transport vehicles are lovely and a great way to explore, whether you're new or old, the landscape changes all the time  It would be nice if LL would update some of them though lol... some are a bit out of date and could use fresh paint, so to speak. 

[Eirynne Sieyes]

I used to hate them. Until I rented a mainland parcel and saw one travelling behind my home and hopped on.  Now I'm a regular and intend on exploring continent by continent.

[Anaimfinity]

I can tell you that at SLGI I monitor everything. SLGI vehicles (trains and ships) have an average ridership of 3.229% as for last year. The reason I made these vehicles is that I was asked to do so. I keep a record of all comments, 83% are positve feedbacks, 11% are negative and 6% are just people asking for more details. The reason these vehicles travel is that people voted so. Each SLGI base has a voting station, where, again, over 80% are voting for the vehicles to run. If votes drop below 50%, they will instantly stop. 

 

In rl, I work on the railway and schedules are my job. So, I insist that a SLGI vehicle will be released every 6 hours and follow its tight schedule. This ensures that vehicles don't overtake sim resources. People asked me to put them more often or make them physical, but I refused. All schedules are public on the SLGI wiki. 

And one last thing: SLGI (or Second Life Geographical Institute) is an independent organization, not affiliated with any land baron or the Lindens. People thought that SLGI is a branch of YavaScript Pods or that I am an alt of AnnMarie Otoole. Those affirmations are also false. I am friend with both Yavanna and AnnMarie, but a completely different person. I am a great admirer of both of them and everyone who ever created automated vehicles. 

[Always Incognito]

I love the pods with a passion 🥹❤️ when Im tired its perfect to take a pod. Also with a friend as its easy to talk as u dont have to drive. Iv discovered a lot of the grid and been shopping a lot on the way too. ❤️ I Also have a pod regularly passing my place on Nautilus. It transforms from a boat to a little pod ball next to my house and its so cute 🥰 Good to wake up a thread like this 😊

[diamond Marchant]

We are ultimately a sandbox game. Residents are supposed to make stuff. Things that pop up in shared public spaces, pods for example, are fine with me if they have good intent and are not griefy.

[Setsuki Takeda]

When I had the town set up here there was a space station above it, I had a scripted shuttle to fly over the town letting people get a look at it and then hit the jump gate up to the station. I love for things to be "walkable" and not use teleports that aren't tied to the landscape extensively. My area was M, and I used experience teleports in the rentals to move people to their own private "bedroom" that has restricted access to do things not allowed in public on M regions, aside from that doorway on the back wall of the rentals any place you went I thought *needed* to allow you to arrive in a realistic manner.