Looking for a supported body like Slink Original Redux.

[Ajay McDowwll]

On a related note, one thing I have discovered while calculating my render times wearing my Maitreya, is that if I have my body alphaed using the alpha cuts, my render time dramatically decreases as opposed to when I just use alpha layers.  So at this point, any time I'm out and about there are really good odds I'm wearing both a custom alpha layer (I'm obsessive about making them) and also have the corresponding slices alphaed out.

I'm also generally hiding the top/back of my skull on my head, as this similarly reduces render time.

Edited May 2, 2022 by Ajay McDowwll
Words are hard.

[Persephone Emerald]

^ If one uses the new Firestorm viewer version 6.5.3, the Improve Graphics Speed window shows how much your mesh body contributes to your fps. It is definitely lower when as much of the body is made invisible as possible with alpha cuts. I haven't compared the difference to using alpha cuts vs. alpha layers. 

[Ajay McDowwll]

31 minutes ago, Persephone Emerald said:

^ If one uses the new Firestorm viewer version 6.5.3, the Improve Graphics Speed window shows how much your mesh body contributes to your fps. It is definitely lower when as much of the body is made invisible as possible with alpha cuts. I haven't compared the difference to using alpha cuts vs. alpha layers. 

From what I can tell, using alpha layers does nothing to decrease rendering time -- i.e., it's the same as a completely non-alphaed avatar -- because the cuts are still there, "exposed" under the baked alpha texture, whereas when you're actually using the alpha hud, those pieces are gone as far as SL is concerned.  Effectively, it makes it so all the individual mesh bits you've hidden via the alpha hud are missing; ergo, fewer alpha cuts, which means faster rendering time.

[Blaise Glendevon]

On 5/1/2022 at 1:38 AM, Anna Nova said:

I am tempted to say 'to hell with being a good citizen, no one else is!' and stick with Maitreya, while lobbying them for an alpha-cut-free version in the next release.  Something like the script that is made to strip them from the Belleza bodies.  I can't think it would be very hard to do, and then they would have the high moral ground with the best support.  Or I could say 'armpits to the lot of you', and just do more RL and save my money.

An alpha-cut free version is undesirable in the extreme. Ugh, having to fiddle with matching alphas when you could just use the hud? Hard pass.

[Ajay McDowwll]

10 hours ago, Blaise Glendevon said:

An alpha-cut free version is undesirable in the extreme. Ugh, having to fiddle with matching alphas when you could just use the hud? Hard pass.

Well, I think most of us are thinking of the alpha-cut free version being offered in addition to the ones with alpha cuts.  There are some outfits where the alpha cuts are useful, like when there's an off-one shoulder top or dress and the alphas on the arms would have to be different, which is impossible with alpha layers.  But for the most part, I use alpha layers (I make my own or use the ones included, which is becoming more common) and the alpha cuts, because the former prevents clipping better, and the latter lowers the complexity of the alpha-cut body.  If I had a body with no alpha cuts, I could wear just the alpha layers the vast majority of the time, which would work for me... and those who preferred the alpha cut bodies could wear those.

Edited May 3, 2022 by Ajay McDowwll
"Difficult" and "different" are not the same thing at all.

[Nalates Urriah]

On 5/1/2022 at 8:06 PM, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Yeah, this.

I love my Slink Physique: it's by far my favourite body for a number of reasons.

But, honestly . . . using it is hard work. Unless a garment is supplied with an alpha layer, making it work without alpha cuts either means creating one's own, which is annoyingly time consuming (and also involves a L$10 uploading fee), or a trial and error application of the alphas that Slink has made available. It's exhausting. The sliders for adjusting alphas are a wonderful idea, but they only help sometimes.

I wish Slink had produced and shipped with their bodies a much more precise and broad range of alphas than they did. Even with the supplements they've added, I still often end up ransacking old outfits for alphas that will do the trick for new garments. The REAL answer, of course, is for clothing creators to start packing alpha layers with their clothing again, which some are now doing for Kupra at least. But I think Maitreya undercut that when they retained their own alpha slices.

BTW, Gabriele, nice to see you back. You've been missed.

 

2 hours ago, Blaise Glendevon said:

An alpha-cut free version is undesirable in the extreme. Ugh, having to fiddle with matching alphas when you could just use the hud? Hard pass.

@Scylla Rhiadra I have the same problem. I have making a new alpha down to about a 10-minute process...

Running the viewer and image editing at the same time makes it reasonably easy. The most tedious part is waiting for the new textures to load into the alpha layer. Firestorm's ability to use a texture on my computer's drive save time and upload costs. More frustrating now is remembering where I keep the files. I have to make so few I forget where I left them... 🙄

@Blaise Glendevon I disagree. I think bodies with cuts are a disaster and the reason the Lab spent the money to make them unnecessary.  If a dress doesn't conform to the body's alpha cuts, one is pretty much screwed. Back to alpha layers. Then you have the hi-res cost body and still need to find an alpha layer that works.

Because I make alpha layers as I need them, I can make anything work. But I find I am making fewer and fewer alphas as I build up my library of alpha layers.

With an alpha cuts body I have to either make copies of the body for the various outfits, setup an auto-alpha control - which often doesn't ever work right, or manually set the cuts when I change outfits. Slink's no-cuts bodies are render efficient and way low render cost. Belliza and Maitreya even with a bunch or cuts hidden still end up costing more to render.

My outfits are typically a single click change. I may have to change the nail-color as the nails are still applier tech. I suspect you make many more clicks when changing outfits than I do. But... whatever works for you...

 

[Anna Nova]

3 hours ago, Nalates Urriah said:

...

My outfits are typically a single click change. I may have to change the nail-color as the nails are still applier tech. I suspect you make many more clicks when changing outfits than I do. But... whatever works for you...

 

I use CTS Wardrobe, and with that I can automate everything, either Maitreya Autohide Alpha-cuts or putting on an alpha, either add or wear.

The big issue is the making of alpha layers, and I do find I like having two monitors, one in GIMP (I'm on Linux) and one in Firestorm with a body-UV-map skin and the alpha set to use the emerging copy on my drive.  As@Nalates Urriahsays, it's about 10 minutes until you confidently pay your L$10 to upload it.  It's about the same time to make an Autohide Alpha-cut add-on with the Maitreya kit.

So the next issue is a proper naming scheme and filing structure to be able to reuse them...

(and @Blaise GlendevonI wouldn't dream of denying you your lag-o-cuts body, I just want a version without.)

@Karl Herbersuggested the free-to-L$3K Lucybody Atanea which has alpha-cuts, but also a way of adding BoM, and checking them out there are also several rather good L$250 BoM-only bodies ranging from busty thru petite to flat.  Worth a try if you are cash-limited. @Karl Herber

Edited May 3, 2022 by Anna Nova
found the name for the suggestion.

[Blaise Glendevon]

I'm wearing the Maitreya. It just works. I literally do not care enough to fiddle ***** around making self-contained alphas. 

[Gabriele Graves]

Again and again we see same tired trope being rolled out "Alpha cuts are no longer necessary/obsolete" accompanied by the same old flawed reasoning as to why:

#1 Create your own alphas! It's easy and it now only takes me 10 mins to make one (bully for you and presumably only after many, many repetitions).

This completely disregards that many, many users just don't have the skills and will never be capable of developing them.
In addition, when you add up all that time spent making those alphas for all those outfits, it becomes a significant and tedious investment in time even at 10mins a pop that shouldn't even be necessary just to wear one outfit.  It also disregards that it still costs L$10 an upload for many, many textures to cover the endless possible combinations necessary.

#2 Oh well, use vendor supplied alphas then!

This is the let them eat cake option which completely disregards that many vendors do not supply them or if they do, many are very badly done.
It is and always will be a woefully inadequate option or the people in #1 wouldn't have to make any themselves.
This was true in the time before mesh bodies and it is still true now.
We see this with auto-alpha as well but at least being able to manually override them can often make something work where it just wouldn't be possible if the user does not have the skills to make an alpha mask.

It's fantastic to believe in a utopian world where every clothing vendor supplies separate and perfect alpha mask options for all their pieces of clothing such that even clothing combinations are feasible but it is a fantasy that will never eventuate.  Getting *every single* vendor to even put a picture of their product that they already made for their advert in a box seems mind-bogglingly impossible.

Today, HUD alpha cuts fixes these problems for many people.  It is perfect?  No, but it gives a damn sight more options when needed if you cannot gimp/photoshop your own.

#3 You'll eventually gather all the alpha masks you will ever need.

This is a bogus theory unless you keep your clothing options very limited.
Think of just a single size point difference in the length between two shirts or the length of their arms to visualise an example to understand the range of combinations possible.

If it were possible to have a collection of every single alpha mask that would ever be needed by anyone for any clothing, there would already be at least one source available such that no-one would ever have to make any again.

Strangely none are available and I don't believe any will ever be as there are too many combinations necessary.  Even the naming of the many thousands that there would surely be such that a user could easily identify and quickly locate one or two amongst the multitudes just would not be possible.

Wouldn't the body makers have just provided them all anyway if it were that simple and not as time consuming as we all think?
Slink certainly didn't even come close to providing every alpha mask anyone would ever need.
Wouldn't Slink, Maitreya, Belleza or even a third-party at least have provided alpha masks to match each and every alpha cut they had if it were possible?

Anyone who believes that either of these is possible should put their money where their mouth is and provide the one canonical source of alpha masks for all to use such that no-one would *ever* (and I mean ever) need to make any more under any circumstances or at least provide equivalent alpha masks to the alpha cuts for at least Maitreya and Belleza (to be inclusive) such that you can wear all the same combinations as you can use from the HUD and within the limits of the number of worn layers.  Oh and they have to be named such that they can be easily and quickly identified and located to boot.

Problem is then mostly solved right? I mean most of these people must have at least 90% of them swimming about in their inventory by now judging by comments I am reading, right?

I don't think it is even remotely possible.  Prove me wrong.  I challenge anyone to do so. I and many others would love me to be wrong and eternally grateful for me to be wrong.
However, I suspect this challenge will remain open until SL closes or alpha masks become obsolete.

It's interesting that the people who claim alpha cuts are not necessary/required at all today are all, without exception, the ones who have, by their own admission, the capability to develop and have developed the skills necessary to easily make their own alpha masks.  They don't have to 100% rely on others for them so why should people who aren't capable of those skills when there is an alternative tool for them, however crude it may seem?

It's like they don't seem to be capable of empathising at all with those who cannot make their own and therefore will have different needs/wants which will mean using a different tool.
If it were LL's intention to make alpha cuts unnecessary with BoM and alpha masks, they failed hard except for those are capable and happy to make them.

Being able to make a selection from a predefined set of alpha-able areas by clicking on an image of a human body isn't inherently bad.  From a user interaction experience perspective, it's really very good and it's what made mesh bodies bearable for many in the first place.
It's just that the way it is implemented right now could be better.  That doesn't mean we should throw the baby out with the bathwater, we should retain that as an easy-of-use experience for those who need it and improve their efficiency where possible even if they morph into different forms to achieve this (see my earlier post for just one such possible way).

I don't disagree that it would be a wonderful thing for all mesh body makers to provide a whole non-alpha-cut version of their body as well as the alpha-cut version.   I can certainly understand why some may not want to though.
 

Edited May 3, 2022 by Gabriele Graves

[Psyche Starling]

12 hours ago, Ajay McDowwll said:

Well, I think most of us are thinking of the alpha-cut free version being offered in addition to the ones with alpha cuts.  There are some outfits where the alpha cuts are useful, like when there's an off-one shoulder top or dress and the alphas on the arms would have to be different, which is impossible with alpha layers.  But for the most part, I use alpha layers (I make my own or use the ones included, which is becoming more common) and the alpha cuts, because the former prevents clipping better, and the latter lowers the complexity of the alpha-cut body.  If I had a body with no alpha cuts, I could wear just the alpha layers the vast majority of the time, which would work for me... and those who preferred the alpha cut bodies could wear those.

Yep. I prefer BOM alpha layers 99% of the time, because I can just have them there in the saved outfit and never even have to open the body HUD. I got a box of alphas a while back that can handle...well, almost anything. And of course some clothes still come with their own, which always makes me happy. But some outfits just won't work with any alphas I've ever found, so I'm glad to have the cuts as an option too.

[Ayashe Ninetails]

I wouldn't be against Maitreya adding a no-alpha cuts version in a future update for those who want it. For me, the only time I ever run into alpha issues is when I try and toss her into clothing made for male bodies (some pants and partially unbuttoned shirts don't quite work out the way I'd like them to). Outside of that, everything I buy for Maitreya seems to just work and I barely ever need to fiddle with the alpha portion of the HUD. Maybe if my AO causes clipping once in a blue moon I'll open it. 

As for making alphas, well, the people I've helped with makeovers/shopping/getting dressed barely had the patience to work out the absolute basics. Some newbies got super annoyed with the head buying/wearing process (why's my head red, why are my eyes red, why are my ears gray, why don't I look like the ad, why do I look like this, what even is this HUD, what shape do I use, I hate these eyebrows, why don't these skins match) and logged out in frustration. Some didn't understand how to purchase a skin at all (some people don't really get the whole head and body skin sold separately thing - especially if the body skins come from a whole different store). Some who aren't new still struggle with Evo vs. Evo X, applier vs. BOM, finding piercings/buying ears/positioning and color matching, needing to find whole new body tattoos because their heads are now Evo X, creating body shapes, fixing neck seams, shaping their newly bought faces, etc.

My friends often recruit me to help their friends with their makeovers since I make new avatars so often and I'm super patient, but man, it's not easy to help people because so few want to stick with it (not that I blame them). I really, really, really don't think those same people are going to want to fiddle with making their own alphas from scratch in external image-editing software if/when they get to the clothing stage. As for the oldbies I know who have avatar customization and shopping down to a science by now - many of them have no patience for that either. They'd sooner just trash the demo and buy something that fits right out the box.

[Anna Nova]

1 hour ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

I wouldn't be against Maitreya adding a no-alpha cuts version...

Well it takes all sorts.  One thing SL, like RL, teaches you is that if you expect everyone to think the same way you are out of luck.

Even Slink ships the alpha-cut body with the Redux, so no one is left out.

[ShelbyBeu]

I'm in a similar position to the OP, outside of that my reasons for loving my Slink Physique Redux body aren't about its low resource use.  I just really like the look.  If designers hadn't stopped supporting it nothing could get me to change.  The last I'd known, Blueberry was still supporting it, though Addams, where even more of my clothes had come from, had stopped, as had most of the other places I liked to shop, and I went a few months without clothes shopping.  Then I got a shock as Blueberry had their 10th anniversary sale, the last I'd known they were supporting it, and I was sadly shocked to see that they no longer did.

My avatar actually has very big breasts (which from other posts is a problem people find with other bodies, based on other posts in this thread), going back to when I first started with it, where I wanted moderately big breasts so I set breast size to about 72 and figured on a 0-100 scale that's still fairly moderate though they looked big, but when I did it I was thinking I wanted above average and so anything below 70 would be more in the average range, rather than somewhat above.  I trusted the numbers over my eyes.  I came to realize that they're very big, but my avatar attracts positive attention by many who like it, definitely including the breast size in the positives, and to those who know me in game I wouldn't be "me" without them; so a body that the breasts tend to be big is okay.

There's something about Slink Physique's bone structure that when I was first trying mesh bodies, looked good to me.  I plan to keep using the clothes I have and wearing the Slink Physique body with them.  I like clothes shopping, but would hate to start from scratch.  However, I'd also hate to be stuck without being able to get any newer releases- so I need another body to wear them on,

That means, though, that if I don't want to look ultra-radically different depending on which body I'm best not just trying the demos and eyeballing what looks good to me, which is what got me started on Slink Physique, because it also matters that it won't look too different from Slink Physique, if I'm going to be switching back and forth depending on how new the clothes I'm wearing are.

So, again not trusting my eyeballs alone, I'm asking of the well supported bodies (and not Maitreya;  I don't care for its look, really didn't back when I chose Slink, something intangible about it) which should I try demos of, that are similar for a "fit" look, outside of the breasts moderate in curves, in that my body is quite slim overall outside of the breasts,  I want a kind of fit, athletic look overall.

The reason I'm asking rather than just demoing is that I'm guessing there are some more familiar with the newer set of bodies than I am, and would know what would be more similar to an updated, supported Slink Physique relative to others, narrowing the list of bodies I ought to check out.

[Ayashe Ninetails]

Well-supported + athletic + not Maitreya = Legacy.

That's about the closest you're going to get on that as the majority of female bodies cater to curvier shapes. Belleza Isis (or Venus? I forget which) could be made thinner, but I rarely ever see clothing fitted for either of those. 

Kalhene Erika can do more athletic shapes (well, athletic + curves), but now you're falling out of well-supported territory. Stuff is around, but nowhere near the level of Maitreya/Legacy.

[bateliii]

After searching for hourglass body shape or just a natural looking body myself, Maitreya is the best one. Second option is Legacy Perky.
Reborn mesh body is very close to them but the thighs are very thick. I checked Maitreya outfits on Reborn but the lower part is way too big to match it.
In my opinion it is not worth buying another body when Maitreya  is the best mesh body out there, without any bugs or problems with clothes.
I doubt anyone will release a new body similar to our expectations when curvy shapes are popular at the moment.
But personally I prefer to wait just in case.

[ShelbyBeu]

What's funny is that you don't need a specifically curvy body type to have a curvy body.  My avatar with Slink Physique is very big in the breasts, kind of an accident that people who like my sl body like so much I'll always continue with, and if I chose to make her hips and butt bigger she could be quite curvy with Slink Physique.  I choose for her only big curve to be her big breast, but it wouldn't have to be.  I know a lot of Slink users like it even curvier I guess, which is why Hourglass outsells Physique, and thus why everyone still makes Slink Hourglass clothes and not Physique.

I'm putting it off some, but eventually I'll try the two Legacy ones, I guess:  Legacy and the Legacy Perky variation,  One of my closer sl friends went through a lot of bodies and really, really likes Legacy.  I hope I do, as it seems to be my only choice, one of their two variants, if I don't want to go Maitreya.

I really wish I didn't have to give up Slink Physique though, but the clothing makers are forcing my hand unless I wanted to go without any new releases.  I know I'll keep using the Slink body with the clothes I have with it now.  The majority of my clothes were made before Legacy was even a "thing" so don't even have Legacy versions, and I won't stop wearing those clothes.  I'll need a Legacy body for newer models, though.  I just hope I like it.  I think there's some sort of difference between how the arms hang in Slink Physique compared to Maitreya that I really don't like MaItreya's look very much,.  I hope Legacy's look works for me, in terms of my liking it, since I know Maitreya's doesn't.

Edited May 15, 2022 by ShelbyBeu

[Nalates Urriah]

5 hours ago, ShelbyBeu said:

What's funny is that you don't need a specifically curvy body type to have a curvy body.  My avatar with Slink Physique is very big in the breasts, kind of an accident that people who like my sl body like so much I'll always continue with, and if I chose to make her hips and butt bigger she could be quite curvy with Slink Physique.  I choose for her only big curve to be her big breast, but it wouldn't have to be.  I know a lot of Slink users like it even curvier I guess, which is why Hourglass outsells Physique, and thus why everyone still makes Slink Hourglass clothes and not Physique.

I'm putting it off some, but eventually I'll try the two Legacy ones, I guess:  Legacy and the Legacy Perky variation,  One of my closer sl friends went through a lot of bodies and really, really likes Legacy.  I hope I do, as it seems to be my only choice, one of their two variants, if I don't want to go Maitreya.

I really wish I didn't have to give up Slink Physique though, but the clothing makers are forcing my hand unless I wanted to go without any new releases.  I know I'll keep using the Slink body with the clothes I have with it now.  The majority of my clothes were made before Legacy was even a "thing" so don't even have Legacy versions, and I won't stop wearing those clothes.  I'll need a Legacy body for newer models, though.  I just hope I like it.  I think there's some sort of difference between how the arms hang in Slink Physique compared to Maitreya that I really don't like MaItreya's look very much,.  I hope Legacy's look works for me, in terms of my liking it, since I know Maitreya's doesn't.

...and Slink has two new bodies, Cinnamon & Chai.

[Sparkle Bunny]

3 hours ago, Nalates Urriah said:

...and Slink has two new bodies, Cinnamon & Chai.

...which are also not picking up any meaningful support in terms of clothing, so unlikely to be an option for the OP.

[ShelbyBeu]

2 hours ago, Sparkle Bunny said:

...which are also not picking up any meaningful support in terms of clothing, so unlikely to be an option for the OP.

 

Slink needs better publicists or whatever you'd call someone who'd try to convince vendors to support their bodies, because Physique is very good.

Physique Redux lacks Alpha cut on the HUD, which after rereading the thread I see is an issue for many, and the Alpha BoM layers Slink provides aren't much good at all (maybe part of Slink's decline?); but if you'd rather forego BoM for Alpha cuts instead you don't have to use Redux and can still have the Alpha cut hud, though what works for me is something that's called something like Alpha 911 and one can pick Alphas on it like an Alpha cut hud, and it has a wide variety of Alpha cuts one can add to a BoM body: it works great for Slink Physique, and I imagine would work with any.  Every time, the 911 hud has the alpha cuts I need without covering up areas I need to leave visible.

You "wear" them and then you can save the alpha layers as part of the outfit if you use the Outfits system from Firestorm, and then they'll be there every time you put it on.  You don't keep the Alpha layer open and use script memory once you've added the Alpha cuts.  Once you set it up you detach the 911 hud.  That solved it well for me.  Before that I was using the old alpha cuts hud system, and that had some issues with matching colors with hands and feet.

Edited May 15, 2022 by ShelbyBeu

[Anna Nova]

15 hours ago, Nalates Urriah said:

...and Slink has two new bodies, Cinnamon & Chai.

ya, and I spent 4 hours trying, unsuccessfully, to make them look right.  Designed for booby-bum people, I guess.  If you try to get the boobs to a natural, non-sillycone look, anyway.

They are horrible compared to Physique. (IMO, of course)

[Nalates Urriah]

On 5/16/2022 at 12:04 AM, Anna Nova said:

ya, and I spent 4 hours trying, unsuccessfully, to make them look right.  Designed for booby-bum people, I guess.  If you try to get the boobs to a natural, non-sillycone look, anyway.

They are horrible compared to Physique. (IMO, of course)

They seem a bit strange when it comes to adjusting shape for Cinn & Chai. I had problems until I used the included shapes as a starting place. They seem to be designed for those that want big butt & boobs. However I was able to tweak Chai to a smaller, curvy shape I like. (My Hourglass shape - not Chai - Still using the demo but similar)

Siddean has designed her bodies to be easy to build for with minimum effort. She does put out the  information to devs and posts it. I learned how to build for HG and adapt that item to Original. I am experimenting with moving from design for Hourglass to Original, and then to Cinn and then Chai. All 4 are in her Dev Kit. Then I'll decide how easy it is to build for all 4. With some thinking the tweak from HG to Org only takes a few minutes. So, I do not understand why more HG designers don't make a copy for Org. That would seem like gravy once HG is built.

We will see if her idea to make a better UVMap for the Cinn & Chai bodies works out. Seems people are having problems with Evo and Evo-X and not understanding what the UVMaps are. Evo went there and it seems to be catching on. People are sot of figuring it out. While everyone has complained about the weak UVMaps SL started with, it is the one avatar attributes that has not changed in all the time I have been here. So, we'll see if all the complaints were from people that make the change to a new UVMap.

[Anna Nova]

12 hours ago, Nalates Urriah said:

They seem a bit strange when it comes to adjusting shape for Cinn & Chai. I had problems until I used the included shapes as a starting place. They seem to be designed for those that want big butt & boobs. However I was able to tweak Chai to a smaller, curvy shape I like. (My Hourglass shape - not Chai - Still using the demo but similar)

Siddean has designed her bodies to be easy to build for with minimum effort. She does put out the  information to devs and posts it. I learned how to build for HG and adapt that item to Original. I am experimenting with moving from design for Hourglass to Original, and then to Cinn and then Chai. All 4 are in her Dev Kit. Then I'll decide how easy it is to build for all 4. With some thinking the tweak from HG to Org only takes a few minutes. So, I do not understand why more HG designers don't make a copy for Org. That would seem like gravy once HG is built.

We will see if her idea to make a better UVMap for the Cinn & Chai bodies works out. Seems people are having problems with Evo and Evo-X and not understanding what the UVMaps are. Evo went there and it seems to be catching on. People are sot of figuring it out. While everyone has complained about the weak UVMaps SL started with, it is the one avatar attributes that has not changed in all the time I have been here. So, we'll see if all the complaints were from people that make the change to a new UVMap.

I quite agree about UV maps, the one-arm-ness and one-hand/one-foot-ness in particular.  I'll try the Cinn & Chai again and start with their shapes - I had to do that when I moved to LeLutka.

...and some people think Philip Rosedale coming back is good....  (it's all HIS fault )

[SueWorthly]

Back in 2012 and for a few years thereafter, every mesh outfit you purchased for the classic avatar included an alpha layer. That was the norm.
Now I'm seeing alphas being packed again in the new outfit boxes to support Kupra.
In 2021 Kupra was the 3rd most popular female body after Maitreya and Legacy. See also Lucia Nightfire's stats:

Slink popularity was waning since a while when BOM came out in 2019, only few brands were still supporting Physique (I still use it, though): Maitreya Lara became and remained super dominant in the market and Physique was competing in the same product range. Same happened to Belleza Isis and Venus. Slink Hourglass and Freya, instead, lasted a little longer because they were in a different product range: the curvier bodies.

Also SLink still kept the alpha-cuts version available. Considering that and that Kupra bloomed instead, is likely their problem is elsewhere: for Legacy there has been a serious marketing campaign, someone also likes the anatomy of that body better than Slink HG and Legacy has options to wear Maitreya outfits too; Kupra may be liked better if you want a super curvy body, and so on. Then, as new curvy bodies have been made and became more popular, the support for HG has been dropped, same it is happening to Belleza Freya now. It was everything Maitreya, Belleza and SLink for ages.
It looks like BOM helped other brands to emerge.

Of course everyone is different, with different tastes, nothing is perfect and there are pros and cons.

There are many advantages with BOM and alphas that other people covered already. I'm happy to not have to fiddle with the many cuts in the HUDs, nor cuts that cannot be saved in your outfits or to make extra copies of my body as a workaround, or auto-alpha scripts that sometimes fail when you switch to another saved outfit.
Another advantage is for creators: with alpha layers you aren't limited to the specific cuts: you can draw the alpha however you like and so make your outfits. More freedom and creativity.

The situation isn't the same for every body.

#1. If you have a body that is meant to be without alpha cuts since the very beginning (e.g. Kupra) then the clothes for it are made with that in mind: they are either made to fit without alphas or the alpha layer is provided already when you buy the clothing. Unless the provided alpha layer isn't well made, usually you won't have too many issues here.
Same if including an alpha layer in the boxes would become the norm again (I'm not counting on it, but it would be nice).

But what about those peculiar cases when having alpha cuts would help? You can have them, with this:

 

#2. If you have a body that was meant to use alpha-cuts, then outfits for it were likely made with alpha cuts in mind instead.
You can still use alpha layers and mostly forget about alpha-cuts, but you can expect some caveat here.

I personally no longer use alpha-cuts and I never uploaded any alpha so far even if I have literally hundreds of outfits, including those meant for alpha-cuts, but: except for a few extra alphas provided by SLink, I had a load of alphas already from the old days - they don't have to be so precise: covering the parts that would glitch is fine, e.g. just the elbows - also my inventory is well organized (e.g. my capri pants are in the pants / capri sub-folder, same for open jackets, etc), so I know where to look at. Else it would be less easy. Still, sometimes it can be a little complicated (e.g. you need to add 2-3 alphas together). When the alpha is provided it's easier, but in general it's pretty doable.

There are only a few edge cases that require alpha-cuts, but for those there are the old versions of the bodies.

I'd gladly welcome an optional BOM-ready Maitreya Lara without alpha-cuts.

I think is the costumer who should decide what's good for themselves, not the merchant to impose anything: if you have all the options available it's better.

~ o ~

As for the alternatives, it's difficult to compete with Maitreya Lara directly, so there isn't so much around AFAIK. However, RuthToo RC3 is somewhat compatible with Maitreya (set the bum size between 28-30 and boobs to 50 for better results, also change the alpha mode to masking). It's free, mod and very lightweight.
MP: https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/RuthTooRC3-Bakes-On-Mesh-Female-Body/18174055
Inworld: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Blumfield/106/167/27
(there are extras there too).
There is also a v4, that looks a little more polished, but it's less compatible.

It's not the ideal, though, and it's better if you are okay with editing (so you can set the materials too), but I use Ruth sometimes when the outfit is covering enough parts of the body anyway and you would hardly notice that it's not Maitreya. And if the only visible thing is the neck and little more around it, I use just the torso (you can unlink if from the body).

[Nalates Urriah]

Sue just mentioned the HUD's name sort of in passing... BOM Alpha HUD. I missed it first read through. I added the link.

[steeljane42]

On 5/17/2022 at 10:03 PM, Nalates Urriah said:

We will see if her idea to make a better UVMap for the Cinn & Chai bodies works out.

Only if any big names will use it. Otherwise can't compare it to the EvoX. Lelutka already had the heads market with their Evolution line when they introduced EvoX UV, while Slink and especially that new body of hers... well, got pretty much zero support from the skin and clothing creators. Yes, there's a bit of stuff for it on the MP, but mostly either retextured templates or very small creators. Not sure I've seen anything on any top tier shopping events with its sizes.

So while idea is the same as Lelutka's, just for the bodies, and I'm all for having better/more detailed skins and ditching an inefficient UVs, it won't happen unless "the big 3 body brands" gonna follow. And chances are - they won't, because it doesn't make any sense to follow any ideas from niche creators.

If it ever happens it will be yet another UV and hyped by either of those brands as their original idea and how revolutionary it is. Maitreya is pretty quiet on social media, but if it would be reborn or legacy creators, then it will be all other flickr and fashion blogs for months, creating hype and generating sales.