Weird prim count glitch

[Eilfie Sugarplum]

Hi everyone I am getting a custom shop built on a parcel the size of 2464 sq.m. I am allowed 986 prims there. My builder ran into a bit of a problem with the prim count while building. The build was linked and also had mesh included in it. When the building was inspected it was only 173 prims however the land objects count panel told us we had used 470 prims already. After a bit of experimentation, the building was unlinked and the prim count went back to normal. Does this mean we cannot keep the build linked? Is there a way to resolve this problem? Thanks http://tinypic.com/r/2m34v7t/5

[Medhue Simoni]

It very much depends on how things are done or used. Sculpties and prims can be much more inefficient than a well made mesh, which is going to add alot of prims to your build. When a prim or sculpty is linked to a mesh, those parts now become part of that mesh and take on all the same properties. This also means the physics. So, if your mesh is set to prim physics and you link prims or mesh to it, then it might also change the physic for the prims and sculpty. Without actually seeing or inspecting the build I can't really say exactly what your problem is.

You first want to establish what mesh you are using and what the physic setting is set to.

[Chosen Few]

This seems to be a really popular question lately.  Here's the reason for the behavior you're describing.

Simply put, the land impact of mesh objects in SL is determined by the amount of real resources the object consumes.  Prims, on the other hand, for historical reasons, are all considered equal in terms of land impact, even though in reality, each prim type consumes a different amount of resources. 

A torus, for example, has many more polygons in it, and a much more complex physics shape, than has a cube.  So, the torus consumes vastly more resources than the cube.  Yet they both have the same land impact, because back in the day, a decision was made that this would be the easiest way to do things.  That decision was short-sighted, as you're now seeing first hand.

That old way of looking at the problem is no longer fully applicable, but to redo the whole thing would mean breaking existing content.  LL will always go to pains not to create that kind of situation.  So, for objects that contain just prims, the old method of counting still applies.

Mesh models are not subject to that old way of doing things.  They can't be.  Every mesh is unique.

When you link a prim to a mesh, the entire linked model is subject to the new, more accurate, way of measuring resource usage.  The old inaccurate method no longer applies.

So, if you want to keep those prims at one land impact point per prim, don't link them to your mesh models. 

 

By the way, if the building doesn't have to move, there's no drect benefit to linking it all as one piece no matter what it's made out of.  I usually link builds in sections, for organizational purposes.  For a simple example, I might have the floor be one linkset, and the walls be another.  That way, I can very easily raise or lower the floor, or retexture it, or whatever, without affecting the walls.  It saves a lot of time over having to select linked parts if it's all one link set.

[ee Oh]

unlinked 80 prims.. linked 240..

??

then add a function like group in maya, so you can move stuff together inside a group without needing to link it..

cause unlinked, try to move a big build inside a sim with stuff around without destroying all that or loosing few prims while moving..

that s nonsense..