Custom charactor headache

[Lexxe]

Hi I am having real problems customising this toon why its so complicated I have no idea it would had been far better had it been designed with some thought a liltle like sims ...

First and sorry in advance if this atffends any one but My toom walks like he  is completly camp you know the village people look :(  I hate that walk is it to do with toon style if so have no issues deleting him and makina another as there is  I will not walk like im gay.

Second he has glasses I can not see any way to remove them

third I want to make im shaven headed like me but im stuck with a pre set toon  with a handbag thing slung over his sholder with ginger short hair and glasses

I want my toon to reflect myself that is the idea right :)

 

[Freya Mokusei]

Many people in SL have this issue. I'm afraid making a well-designed, super-cool looking toon (SL residents tend to call them 'avatars') can take a very long time, and require hunting through dozens of stores. Most people understand that it is a process, and many people go out of their way to help new users get their look right.

 

Your walk will be caused by an AO (animation overrider, it replaces the SL standard avatar animations with custom ones). You may need a new one, or if you don't have one already, you may want to get one. =]

 

Your glasses should detach by right-clicking them and hitting 'Detach' on the menu.

 

I hope that helps with a couple of the niggles, and while it can take a while, try not to get too disheartened. The reason it's NOT built like the Sims is to allow for an incredible variety of looks, all made with objects made by other users.

 

This Flickr set has some lovely pics of what other users have done, given ample time:-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/second/clusters/life-sl-secondlife/

[Venus Petrov]

Do not worry!  You can get your avatar to look just the way you prefer with a bit of effort.  Do a search on 'freebies' and you may find many items that suit you for free (skins, hair, clothing, etc).  You may wish to spend lindens to look even better.  You can do that by purchasing lindens using a credit card or earning lindens inworld.  The latter will take some time as most 'jobs' pay little and require some effort to even get one.

Check out this great informative post from Pussycat Catnap that will give you an idea how much things may cost to get an avatar 'look' that satisfies you.

http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Your-Avatar/Skin-and-Faces/m-p/912227#M5841

[Lexxe]

Cool thanx guys

[Freya Mokusei]

Good luck!

As a bit of history, I started SL in 2006, but didn't settle on a 'look' until February 2008. It took a lot of work (nearly 3 months!) before I had my avatar as I'd invisioned.

Since then I've made some alterations (and I don't know if I've worn the same outfit twice yet), but I view it as a constant cycle of change, as my vision of 'Freya' becomes clearer in my mind. Lemme see if I can Google hunt some pics

 

 This one was taken in maybe early-2009, by a smart little lady called Gita Rau. I wish I had more pics, but I'm at work right now IRL. >.>

 

I'm making another big change soon, and I've got butterflies. =]

[Luc Starsider]

Just in case; If you can only find some premade avatars, and no inventory, you will have to enable 'Advanced' mode. On the login screen, select 'Advanced' from the drop down menu next to the login button.

Creating an avatar you feel comfortable with is quite a job. For me, it took me about a year before I started to feel I was on the right track. Take your time, try out demos, learn how to tweek things that are not fitting properly. Experiment! 

As the other have mentioned, there are a lot of freebies around, which can be a lot of fun, and a good way to get going on personalizing your avatar. 

Other ways to get cool stuff is to join groups for stores you like. Many of them cost nothing to join, and often you get pretty good things as group gifts.

You could also follow fashion blogs on the net, of which there are plenty, which show you where to find nice things, both free and payed for. They often blog about skins, hair and and other things. Many of the things they blog about are mens items. Some blogs are exclusively for men - like this one: http://www.second-man.com/ - and also link to other blogs for mens fashion.

Good luck!

- Luc -

[Pussycat Catnap]

If you stop by my newbie help location I've got a notecard with landmarks to a lot of handy places for new users:

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Isabel/109/148/81

And I -might- have some good shopping help in my getting started guide, though its more about getting to the point where you're ready to go shopping:

http://catnapkitty.wordpress.com/2010/08/08/getting-started-in-second-life/

 

But what you need is basically an AO, a skin, hair, shoes, and 5 outfits to get looking good in SL. I just put a short blog post together on that, but have yet to fix it up with more than a few landmarks:

http://catnapkitty.wordpress.com/2011/06/05/second-life-on-the-cheap-getting-kitted-out-for-as-little-as-possible/

- The idea here is to get a great and ready to go looking avatar for about $10 USA.

(It can be done for less on freebies, but I think its better to just jump in and buy good stuff).

 

Another tip: When I was new I would ask people I saw where they got things, all the time. Or I would inspect them - click on the item they're wearing and view its properties, get the name of the creator, and search for that person - look for their shop in their Picks, and go.

When asked, some people will be rude and all "this is my look so bug off ya noob." Most will answer with the name of the maker and maybe shop landmarks. Some will go nuts like me and give you all kinds of tips and sometimes when not busy even offer to go shopping with you.

(I always find it fun to run around with a noobie who's actually willing to go buy stuff for themselves. And I know several people who are just like me in this regard, albeit lacking my other flaws ).

 

[LoveAngeL Lyre]

Hello Lexxe. I see that you joined in SL today? Is it right? Welcome to Second Life! *smiles*

Noone is happy with the his avatar when just he joined in SL. As already mentioned you will spend long time and maybe months until to feel completely satisfied with your appearance. It took me about 6 months. You can't change everything in 1 day or in 1 week but gradually you can improve your appearance.

Many but many times you will feel really happy after a change in your avatar but after a while is very possible to find something you like more and to desire to change again. I look sometimes older pics of me and i wonder. Is she me? No way. But i try to explain that when i had this avatar, thought that i am really beautiful and that i would never change shape, skin or hairstyle. I was wrong.

You get great advices from the other participants. For me no reason to spend money in your first steps in SL for a skin or a shape. You can find in world and at Marketplace several free ones. About shapes if they are modified, try to play with them and don't worry if you destroy them. You have always the choice "Save as" with which you save your changes in a new shape keeping the original one.

About the way you walk now, you need an AO, there are some free ones but i am not sure if they are good ones. Maybe it is the only reason for me for which required to spend lindens if you really want a good AO. Of course don't buy something if at first you haven't try a demo. For AO's is necessary.

In conclusion, don't be hurry, slowly you will learn and will find all and enjoy your Second Life. For any additional help you need, don't hesitate to ask.

[Melita Magic]

That's just the newbie avatar you chose when you signed up. You can get all new stuff.

The walk is determined by the AO. You probably have the default 'pigeon walk' at this point. I don't know.

You can get a free male AO at Heaven's Gate Neo, and also a male AO for 1 Linden at Vista. Just look for the single panel next to the regular AO stuff there. My advice: Go to the smaller satellite store instead of the huge Vista store. You will be able to see things much quicker.

Don't worry, you will soon be however you want to look, and you can even do that for free.

[dayz Short]

The noob blues?  You will hear alot of war stories about finding the look and getting it right and about how long it takes to do...and it's true...but it's also a fun journey and your idea of who you want your avatar to be or to represent will change as you go along...

If you can afford to buy lindens I suggest doing so. Then you can proceed to buy the starter look you want and a walking AO...hair..etc...

(side note)  in edit appearence is a tab that will bald you...also, right click your hair for now and choose detach from the menu)

If you cannot afford to buy linden you can earn some very easily. Search for camping, jobs, survey for lindens, and freebie money trees.  I strongly recommend the freebie directory to any and all ...omg...and they pay you to skip from sim to sim ...all day...

http://community.secondlife.com/t5/image/gallerypage/user-id/101132/image-id/26477iF2157268E815C308

 

good luck on your journey and welcome to SL !!