Question About Scripts

[Airway]

Occasionally I would get a high script warning upon entering a location. A friend gave me a script counter to help me figure out what was so high. I got naked and used trial and error. The warnings said I was running over 200 scripts. I discovered one pair of boots I have is 97 and one hair is 130. I have a few questions.

First, what are scripts?
What is considered an acceptable amount to wear?
Is there any way to know the script count of an item BEFORE I buy it?

Thank you.

[Kelli May]

Scripts are computer programs that run within certain objects to allow certain functions or behaviours not normally exhibited by prims. In clothing and hair, these are often resize and colour-change scripts, but they can perform almost any function... clocks, vehicles, weapons, doors etc. Almost anything that isn't just an inert lump in SL is scripted.

How many should you run? Hard to answer. As few as you can get away, really, but how much lag a script will cause depends on how busy the local sim is, if the script is active, how often it is called and how efficiently the script actually functions. Just because someone is wearing a lot of scripted items, doesn't mean they are causing a lot of script lag.

Some merchants might list the number of scripts, but I've not seen it often. If an item has any built-in functions as mentioned before, it will almost certainly have *some* scripts.

If an item has re-sizing scripts, you can set it to the size you want, then remove the script (the item menu will probably have a 'delete' function, or you might be able to edit the object and manually delete the script). Be sure to make a back-up copy of the original scripted object in case you need it to resize it later.

[Airway]

Thank you for the explanation. That helps. I discovered the hair I mentioned came with a notecard with resizing directions which also indicated the script could be deleted. Are scripts one of the main causes of lag? I've been playing for months without paying any attention to this simply because I didn't know about it. I wonder if many others are in the same situation.

[Kelli May]

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Airway wrote:

Thank you for the explanation. That helps. I discovered the hair I mentioned came with a notecard with resizing directions which also indicated the script could be deleted. Are scripts one of the main causes of lag? I've been playing for months without paying any attention to this simply because I didn't know about it. I wonder if many others are in the same situation.

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Lag is a tricky subject, because all kinds of things can cause it. It can be very roughly broken down to client-side (stuff on the user's computer - not enough RAM, too slow a CPU/GPU, other stuff running), server-side (issues on the SL side like scripts, physics, lots of avatars in a region) and network (everything inbetween).

Scripts can cause a region to lag, affecting any avatars in the region. Typically this manifests in scripted actions being slow to start and respond. Large numbers of scripts won't affect your computer directly - they run on the SL simulator, not your home machine.

People are steadily becoming more aware of script lag issues, and it seems to be the fasionable thing to complain about, with script monitors at landing points in many regions. A couple of years ago it was ARC (avatar rendering cost) that had everyone in a flap. Creators are steadily moving to more efficient scripts, although the older ones are still around.

[Penny Patton]

It's amazing that it took so long to get tools to track script memory use. Even now there's a lot of misinformation and confusion about script use out there.

To answer the question about "an acceptable amount to wear" you really want to look at script memory, rather than just the number of scripts. Generally there's no reason to ever be over 2MB of script memory but given how inefficient most script work in SL is, sim owners tend to be more lenient and suggest a cap of around 4-7MB of script memory.

The reality is, I've seen really efficient scripters take all the features your average SL user enjoys in their avatar content and reduce it down to well under 1MB. Like, half that. Hopefully that kind of efficiency will become more of a customer expectation among residents.

[Airway]

Thank you for all the helpful information. I noticed last time I checked my script count that a certain number was listed as inactive. I don't think I've seen that before. Can someone explain? Thank you.