solstyse

Skins change an avatar quite dramatically, actually. It takes me a bit of searching to find that one that's just right. Keep in mind, most of the quality skins have some sort of shading, which makes quite a difference. Try this. Get a shape that typically has a certain feature that's larger or smaller than average. then get a skin that's the opposite, and one that's meant for that shape. The results will be astounding. For example. Oriental shapes tend to have relatively small noses. If they're realistic, the eyes tend to be a bit smaller than usual too. An oriental skin will retain these features. But if you put a skin designed for a black or hispanic character on that same shape, since they tend to have larger noses and eyes, the effect is undone. That's because the shading of the skin makes these features seem to "pop" more. Another way that skins affect an avatar is whether they're shaded thin, muscular, or fat. Some have collarbones, others do not. Some might have rib shading, others may have "6 packs." They all have a subtle, yet dramatic effect. With femal skins, it's even more apparent. Different highlights and shadows can greatly affect form. Then there's different makeup, and of course, all that "anatomically correct" stuff you mentioned.

Teddy Wahwah wrote: For the most part, I will not wear mesh due to my husky kid avatar shape (which I made). Unless mesh some day form fits to shapes without the use of alphas, I will never wear mesh except for hats. Since almost all of of SL uses skinny avatars, there's no real push or need from the masses to have mesh that can form fit to any shape. I think you would actually be surprised how many other people won't buy Mesh for very similar reasons. It's about mroe than just being fat or husky. Petite avatars have the same problem. So do avatars that use "no modify" shapes, and people who have spent time proportioning their avatar just how they like, only to then have those proportions replaced by mesh. Personally, I like a mix. But I have to be extremely cautious about mesh clothes. They're more work bo buy, and sometimes out of laziness I'll just buy the old fashioned "system clothes."

Innula Zenovka wrote: What sort of errors are these that you've seen in point 3 that require a region restart? All I've seen are messages that the Navmesh has pending changes, which anyone with building rights can force the region to commit (or which the region itself commits if you leave it for 10 minutes or so). See this section of the wiki article on Pathfinding Tools in the Second Life Viewer. What icon are you seeing that you interpret as indicating "pathfinding errors"? Everything I've read, you see, leads me to think the ideal state of affairs would be have pathfinding turned on, having first optimised the region for pathfinding. The disadvantage of having pathfinding turned on in a region that's not been optimised is that the pathfinding objects won't work as well as they should but won't, or shouldn't according to Maestro Linden (who normally knows what he's talking about) , cause any noticable hits to sim performance. That's why I'm querying your statement that "most sims I see would probably be best with pathfinding disabled". I would agree with "most sims I see would probably be best with pathfinding optimised" but I really don't there's a huge disadvantage to having it turned on. Someday I will agree with you that optimizing for pathfinding is better than turning it off. Just not yet. Right now, when you're terraforming, you are only moving the land, not the navmesh. When they don't match, that's when you get the error. On firestorm, if you look on top of your screen, the S icon is pathfinding. (really it's a wavy arrow.) That causes an annoying flash, and since pathfinding is basically a "second ground" it's un-needed information if you do not have moving objects on your land. Even still, for pathfinding to serve any purpose whatsoever, it has to be on land that will be used for such a purpose. Many of the private regions do not allow scripted animals at this time. (Many do, so those ones are not the ones I'm referring to.) Maybe in the future, as pathfinding improves, it'll cause those that do not allow scripted animals to change their minds, but until those sims allow those things that'll use pathfinding, it won't help them at all. *edited to add* Does anyone else get the impression that if everybody on here liked Opensim as much as they say they do, it would be easier to find people there?

Innula Zenovka wrote: solstyse wrote: For now, most sims I see would probably be best with pathfinding disabled. Why? What criteria are you using? I'm not saying you're mistaken; it's just I certainly wouldn't know how to reach such a diagnosis. What figures should I be looking at, and what should lead me to say "this is the problem and the way to improve things is probably to turn pathfinding off, rather than to do something else"? ETA -- the advantage of pathfinding, from the scripting point of view, isn't that it lowers the script count (though it probably does) but that it performs some tasks considerably economically than the methods we've had to use before. The sim is having to do a lot less work to acheive the same result, and it's also got dedicated resources for that task, so it's not cutting into the script time available for other tasks. That's the bonus rather than the amount of memory you're using or not. Well, my criteria is actually very simple. 1. Regions where objects are moving around, from what I've seen, are rare. Since this is what pathfinding enables, there is no harm in turning it off. 2. As more animals, etc. are created with pathfinding in mind, turning it back on would be simple, and when you're equipped to use it would be a better time to enable it. 3. I've seen many pathfinding errors on land, particularly after terraforming, that require a region reset. If you want to tweak your land, and don't use animals, maybe you can simplify things for yourself by not using it. 4. LL has a habit of rolling out features months before they're perfected. I expect no different from pathfinding. By waiting until later to enable it in your region, you can skip the "public beta testing" phase. If you're looking for actual numbers, sorry, but I don't have any. And I'm not saying pathfinding is a bad thing either. But it is a feature that does things that not all sims need, and those that do probably aren't seeing the performance from it that they will 6 months from now.

Gadget Portal wrote: What I get from this forum thread is "I can't think of a way to use Pathfinding and I don't like products that do, so it's a useless feature! MY feature requests are FAR more important!" I have to disagree slightly. What I get from this thread is "Once again, LL rolled out a feature before it was perfected and failed to convince me that it's worth more than things I know people have been asking for." Pathfinding has a long way to go. Most npc's that I see are pitiful. And land featuring boxes that move is a terrible way to sell something to a customer. It may please a focus group, since they are looking for a sort of prototype. But by the time something reaches the end consumer (us) it should be a finished, polished product. Often, what LL gives us is not. Often, once 90 percent of the bugs we first see are worked out, 90 percent of us finally embrace their new ideas. Good npc's that move well are basically what I think it would take for pathfinding to gain widespread acceptance. The people wwith animals that see it as a way to lower their script count really are kind of a niche. For now, most sims I see would probably be best with pathfinding disabled.

That's actually a simple concept, and it's much more efficient than sorting. The way it basicaly works is that the computer takes inventory of each shelf, which is assigned an aplhanumeric number. When picking happens, then the computer simply goes in alphanumeric order to fulfill the order. And since quantity on hand is presumably checked each time an item is put into storage, it is much easier to verify the accuracy of the database. Really, the only thing more chaotic about it than a sort system is the appearance. Even still, I imagine when this was first thought of, that the person who came up with the concept didn't find it easy to convince his supervisor to give it a try.

I have a lot of respect for people who can make good shapes. And I've seen a whole range from horrid to awesome on the marketplace. Those who got great at it CAN make good money, and deserve to. Here's my experience playing with the sliders. "Okay, body looks good, proportional, and not cartoon curvy. Time for the face." "Looks good from the front... Now the side. YIKES! I need to fix that!" "Okay. Side looks good... Let's see how it affected the front.... WHY!? It used to look so much better!" "Okay. I got that mainly back to how I want. Better check the side profile before I destroy that again. ... Good. Just a little more tweaking...." "something's off. Hmmm. Oh, I see. It's the mouth. Let me just fix that...." "Oh no, now I don't like the nose anymore." "Got the nose, but now the eyes need to be closer or further or something. And I need to adjust the mouth again." Then, after hours upon hours of this..... "This asian shape that I bought from _________ and this hispanic skin I bought from __________ makes my avatar look like a caucasion who spent a LOT of time in the sun! It's like they were made for eachother! This is exactly the look I wanted! Except bald. Now onto the hair!" My point is thta if you make beautiful shapes, you really DO have skill, and you should give yourself the credit you deserve

Am I the only person who finds it more than a little sad that after four years we still haven't made it past "skin deep" with our president? Why haven't we gone any deeper and looked into the issues? Personally, I feel that the US cannot sustain itself without a bit more financial restraint. Obama has shown the opposite of such restraint. Of course, so did Bush. So now, how are the dems and reps so different? Obama was president when all the banks were bailed out. Ironic, since the republicans are usualy the party of "big business." It doesn't get any bigger than banks. when was the last time the gop was capable of putting a minority or a woman on the ballot without getting the ridicule of the democrats? The truth is that the democrats wish to "own" that vote. They wish to "own" that demographic. Anybody who considers ANY skin color to be a problem, is in fact, the person with the problem. The real problem here is that we all get hung up on the petty distractions, instead of paying attention to what matters. Ballooning deficits are bad for us all. Inflation is bad for us all. Unemployment is bad for us all, and sending our troops all over the world is bad for us all. The problem is: Nomatter how you slice the demographics, this is what has happened both under Obama and under our previous republican president. It's what both parties are all about right now. Let's just wait 4 years, paint a libertarian purple, then elect the super-minority.

. @ the OP. Promoting Intolerance would definitely be a no no. But role-playing an intolerant person would be a fine line call. I've seen a few groups too that tread on the edge here. I have seen rp involving hate/intolerance before. The way it worked out without any hurt feelings was with an IM disclaimer before the scene began that explained that the intolerant character is merely a work of fiction and does not reflect the views of the person behind the avatar. I have also seen picks in profiles that stated "My character is prejudiced against.... but I am not." As long as all people involved understand that the prejudice is on the part of the character, and not of the poster, then all is well. but it does absolutely require IC/OOC seperation to work.

I just think there are some things we're not realy meant to know.

If you don't mind buying instead of building, takea look at PrimPossible.

Personally, I think .png is easiest. No worries about creating alpha layers or anything. Just set background to transparent, and done. If you are using he erase tool, then you must have a very steady hand, and have a habit of zooming in and out all the time. This can work, but I find it easier to make a workpath, then use that to create a vector mask. Anything I need to do outside of that mask you can then put on another layer, either above or behind the masked layer. Also, it's not necessary, but if you want to avoid texture "overhang" then you can use the wand on the outside of he template, select the inverse, and create a layer mask. the full texture will remain until you apply the mask, but then you won't have the overhang that you're concerned about.This doesn't make a difference in the finished product though. The vector mask seems like the real solution to your bikini "granny panties." While the layer mask will only make working on the texture easier on your eyes, the vector mask is what will affect the finished product. See, anything on the inside of the template that you see will render when you upload. Anything outside of the template shape will not. I hope, since you're not quite happy with what you're making yet, that you're using the "temp upload" feature. $10L isn't much, but when you're not going to keep an item, or you have to keep going back and forth between your viewer and your image editing software, it adds up too quickly. Another trick that I read on one of many, many tutorials is to leave the uv map there for the temp uploads, so that if you don't like the way something looks, you have a quick and easy point of reference to use when changing your anchor points. Hope this was helpful.

Pierre, fog is actually what inspired me to write that. A light fog in sl is a beautiful thing, and I would hate to miss it. So is heavy fog for peole who have a better computer than I do. For me, it's paralysing. I've literally gone to places and thought, "This is beautiful. But I literally can't move." . And I'd personally prefer not to have to change those settings all the time. I don't have problems with people griefing me. But I have noticed that when I'm visiting multiple areas, I'll notice differences in performance from one area to the next far more than most of the people in sl that I'm teleporting around with. And I traced it all back to those things that are placed on sims to make them more attractive just being more than my laptop can handle. Something that prioritizes between performance and visual effects automatically and adjusts for it would be really, really nice for those of us who are in any situation where they find themselves in situations where graphical effects and details change suddenly whether it is caused by griefers like the OP is concerned about, or by finding yourself in an area with more eye candy thanyour computer can chew, like I do far too often The only downside that I see is that it would probably be very, very tricky to make something like that.

I haven't even gotten into trying to work with prims yet. I'm an experienced shopper who always reads the fine print, but an absolute noob at creating. lol. If you could post some links with more info about these tools, I would be very, very grateful.

It does kind of pique your curiosity whether an item exists that will just do that... Block the griefing without counter griefing. Doesn't it? And if you had such a thing, imagine how satisfying it would feel to know that there is someone trying, but you have protection. lol just imagine the griefer, "Why can't I make this other avi move? Why an't I cage it?" You wouldn't actively be fighting back, but they would get themselves sooo frustrated! Not just for griefers, but for everyday use in sl, wouldn't it be wonderful if there was something that would prevent crazy graphic effects from overpowering your viewer or your hardware? Sure, griefers like particles, but so do some legit people and items. So, something that would automatically block you from noticing the particles if they reach a certain threshold. And prevent you from seeing other people's bling if you just check an option box. Maybe even automatically turn down your graphics settings, with a prompt that it is doing so, whenever you enter a very vendor heavy area. A spam filter for your inventory that says, "You already have this notecard/landmark/object.... Accept anyway?"

Dillon asked " Why use anti-push? If you're being pushed on purpose either back up so you won't be, or leave." Well, the simple answer is for the same reason that people use pop-up blockers on the internet, and spam filters in their email. It's so that when this kind of thing does go on, it can't affect you. It makes it a little easier to ignore and get on with what you came here for. Personally, I like the old fashioned ban. But that's an option that you have to either be an admin on the sim for, or know the admin on staff. And I imagine that the original poster spends his sl time on much more public lands than i do. *edited to add, Leia, don't you think it would be best to keep the disagreement we had on the other thread in that thread instead of spreading it all over the forums?

Determining customer's prices does seem to be stretching things a bit. Not only does it seem like an odd decision tor a maker of tools, but it also limits the appeal of what you're making. I would not buy a tool that tole me I HAD to make money on it. Maybe that's because I'm just starting to create, and I'm not really sure if something should be sold or given away when someone asks where to get it. Here is a product I DID buy. https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/str8-Female-Shading-Highlighting-System/1818536 The agreement that this tool creator had is that customers can only check two of the three permission boxes, and that the item can only be used as a tool, not resold as-is. Since i plan to learn as I go, this is perfectly okay with me. If I don't want lindens for what I make, then I can still give items to friends, or maybe eventually as freebies when i feel I have enough to start a store. In other words, I won't be forced to "waste" my practice pieces. In case you don't feel like clicking the link, here's the copyright info. © str8, All Rights Reserved Buying this product you agree with the following terms: These templates are only for private use and for Second Life content-creation only. You may NOT print, copy, redistribute or give them away as PSD files, textures or creations with full permissions under any circumstances. You are authorized to use them only in order to create and sell/give away your own clothes (mod, copy, no trans or no copy, mod, trans) The violation of this agreement at any way means a copyright infringement that could set under the risk of a prosecution and a DMCA take down notice. This was right in the description, for me to see and agree to before I hit the buy button. The terms seemed reasonable, so I did go ahead and buy. Consequences of violating the terms of use are also clearly defined. So if you are right in your terms, and they are being vioilated, maye you can look into the same procedures as the person who wrote this copyright.

I saw that other thread too, but this one seems more populated. I think that what the original poster has moved on to now, is whether there is anything to prevent those attacks from affecting him. In other words, defense only, without counter-attacks. A quick search on the mp wil show quite a few results, from mainly novelty items, to the al-out griefing hud that the thread was started about. If I'm reading correctly, all that was wanted in the first place was something that would prevent griefing attacks from even being noticed. I know there are anti-push mechanisms, etc, out there, but I can't direct the original poster to any specific item. Maybe someone else can?

the best way to get a good answer is to list things that you want to do, and see if any of us can guide you where in sl to find them.

You're actually right. para-post, para-rp.... It means sims where the encouraged method or writing is to type a descriptive paragraph. Something which shows your character's actions as well as telling what they say. Often, there is a hint of what your charcater is thinking. Usually, it's written with the /me command. The main idea is that the posts are treated like they all add up to a story, and everybody there is a contributing author. A good example of a parapost would be.... /me hears a slighrtly familiar voice behind her, but it's not until she turns around to see that she recognizes _________. "Oh, ______ what are yyou doing here?" she asks, undure whether to consider seeing him right at this moment a good thing or a bad thing. Her eyes deflect slightly away, hinting at a feeling of guilt." Teh _______ in the example would be the name of the person who had just presumably posted about approaching the female characer.. When his turn in post order comes up, he would then respond to that post with one of his own responding to the guilty look, and using the thoughts described to imagine what the inflection of her voice would be. His post would then go something like this.... /me can't help but notice the guilty look in her eyes, and the slight wavering in her vioce. "What?" He asks, "I can't come here, but ya can? Without even tellin' me? Whatcha up to?" He glares suspiciously. In this example, the guy would be writing his posts in a way to indicate an accent. The spelling is proper with the exception of what he says, which is spelled more phoenetically. I hope this explains it. If not, you can ask me anything

I think you're going to get different answers and opinions from everyone. I consider a noob to be anyone inexperienced at whatever they are being called a noob for. And really, I don't think of it in as derogatory of a way as many others do. I mean, we've all dealt with the annoying kind, but I also interact with plenty of really fun self-proclaimed noobs. And to be perfectly honest, I found more people who consider themselves to be noob that I would never have guessed based on how they write. but then again, this might be because I make it a point to reach out to them. here's how I see it. If someone wants to walk and talk at the same time, I'll Im them, "watch your radar. if you go more than 20 meters away, I'll have no idea what you said." If someone is getting ignored on a parapost sim, then I'll say either, "Take a look at how everyone is talking around you. They're more likely to respond if you post like that. What they really want is a descriptive post." or, if the post was descriptive, but had no reason for me to respond, I'll IM, "Nice post! Just want you to know I saw it, but my avatar wouldn't really see that as something to respond to.If you say something that would affect my character or talk directly to her, I'll be glad to post back!" The responses I got when I gave this kind of advice to someone i caught doing noobish things has almost always been positive. Usually, they IM'ed back some form of gratitude for helping them get their start. Then they stuck around and got good at what they do then there are the people who call themselves noobs, but actually would fit right in if they didn't go around saying it. To those peoeple I just say, "I won't tell if YOU don't tell." lol. Admittedly, I am a noob creator. A couple of builders I know are always willing to answer my questions, thankfully. I've made one outfit so far, and I don't quite like it enough to sell it. And I never would have started if they weren't around to teach me first, that it's fun enough to be worth learning, and two, how to do it! So, to all noobs, find yourselves a couple of friendly residents, and pass on whatever they teach you to other noobs! That's what makes sl a happy place for me. (That, and the roleplay, and the sim, and now creating, and........)

"WE resemble but are legally distinct from the lollypop guild!" Does anyone remember that episode of Futurama? It was funny and educational! But all jokes and quotes aside. It seems that the best thing Star Trek fans can do right now is to try to create content that is similar enough to things from that TV show that they love to pay homage to it, while simultaneously being different that CBS can't do anything to them for it. Telling a Star Trek roleplayer to do something creative doesn't really work. Their sims, their everything is based on their love of a tv show that they wish to emulate. It's a sign that the show is successful. The fans are loyal, and the whole reason why rp even starts with any theme is that people want to imagine themselves in that situation or environment, or as one of it's characters. To start something original would not be a way for star trek fans to make those fantasies interactive. I can look at this from both sides. CBS may very well be thinking "give an inch, they'll take a mile" while the devoted star trek rp'ers and creators within sl are probably correct that what they are doing is costing cbs money. But copyright laws can be frustrating on both sides. That might be why some of these posts are so heated. But while I'm sure that very few would be 100% happy with the advice I gave in this post, I see it as the only way for Star Trek roleplayers to keep doing what they do, and enjoying sl the way they do.

Last time I logged into Sl on Firestorm, i got a notification that TextureDiscardLevel was set to 3 and should be set to 0. I thought it was a one time thing, so I just left it alone. Today when i logged on, I got the same message, so i went into debug settings and changed the value to 0. The result was an immediate and very noticable improvement in performance. Camera and movement controls are better than they have been for a solid month before I got the popup for the first time! Memory usage is down, and cpu usage spends less time spiked at 100% (I know, the first answer is buy a better computer, but that's not my concern for now.) So, this made me curious about a couple of things. What is TextureDiscardLevel to begin with? Why did changing one value help me so much? And since it clearly was wrong for a while, why did it take Firestorm so long to prompt me to fix it? Most importantly, if this was such a help, and camera debug settings were such a help when I messed with those, what else can i do in debug to optimize my viewer?

Your outside editing program is going to need a template for you to work with. So while you're on google, search for either Robin Woods or Robyn Woods (I forgot how to spell her name. sorry.) Her templates are free,and have some color coded lines for you to work with, as well as a great tutorial.

1. I got started because I thought of several looks that I just can't achieve with what's out there for sale. I was actually surprised that there are actually things that past creators never made! 2. I actually just started. I use Photoshop, with some brushes and templates I purchased on the marketplace. 3. I make clothes strictly for sl. So far, I only have 1 outfit made, and a second one started, but I'm going for a more "primitive or homemade" look than anything I'd wear out in public. 4. Oops, I kind of answered two questions in one. It's primitive stuff, that uses multiple layers. So I guess both underwear and outerwear. 5. Not yet. I'll often wear the little bit that I made when i'm on my home sim. Otherwise, like when I go shopping, I choose to wear more conventional avatar clothes. This'll change when I feel I've had enough practice at creating.