Tuesday 29 January 2008
Friday 25 January 2008
One Year in SL
A lot of people will post on their blog each year and do a "year in review" kind of thing. I could do that, but then this post would just be "I swung a sword around". Ok, I could probably write something more interesting than that, but I prefer to talk about technology and cool toys than my life, so instead I'm going to review the past year in SL in terms of new features.
Voice Chat
When LL announced this feature, there was a lot of criticism about it. People liked that they could keep real life completely separate from Second Life, and voice chat was somehow going to change that. Reading all this criticism, I thought it would really only be used for business/education and maybe at the SL clubs where people might be using SL to find people in real life. So I was fairly surprised at how many people in C:SI use it. I always have it on and listen (I really haven't noticed that it causes more lag as a lot of people who leave it off say), but almost never talk. It's not that I'm shy about people in SL hearing me talking, it's that I'm awkward about my roommates hearing me talking to myself in my room all the time (and also they are often asleep during the times I play SL).
Sculpted Prims
I remember one of my first reactions to SL was, "Why are the framerates so low even though it looks like a game from 5 years ago?" When I first saw the screenshots of the photorealistic fruit using sculpted prims, I was optimistic that these would vastly improve the look of the world. It turns out that after all this time (8 months?), they aren't really that prevalent. Sure, you see them around, and those Straylight trees look amazing, but it hasn't had the effect I had hoped for. I think the main problem is that it's so hard to create them. You need external software, most of it costing money, that takes time to learn to use. Also, it's not just the model for the sculpted prim that makes it look good, but also the texture. If LL adds some capability to create sculpted prims in-world, I think we'll see a lot more usage of them.
Let me take a little interlude here to mention something I've noticed about the builds around SL. I don't claim to be the best builder, or even a very good one, but when I do build there are two things I pay close attention to that very few other people seem to. Let me say that I'm mainly talking about buildings and architecture here, not prim clothing and accessories and such. First, I always make sure my texture repeats are adjusted. I have seen too many buildings where there is a long beam or pillar and a texture has just been dropped onto it, turning it into just streaks of color. Also, if I have adjacent prims with the same texture, I tend to adjust the texture offsets so that there isn't a visible seam. This brings me to the second point, which is placement of prims next to each other. I always position them exactly so they do not overlap. I hate that look when you have two prims overlapping and there's that flickering when you move the camera around. I see that all over the place, along with stretched textures, and it gives things a really unpolished look. Anyway, I'm done with my little rant.
Windlight
Ok, this isn't officially released yet, but there's been preview viewers out for months now, and I think it's getting close to being released (even thought the last update turned my Wave into airport landing lights). I think Windlight is fantastic, and I can't wait to see what they do with it after the initial release. My reaction to the first release way back in the summer (?) was, "It looks very nice, but it's so slow!" However, it looks pretty and seems faster. I have been running the Windlight viewers exclusively since they started releasing them again, and I've been pleased with the stability and quality (although other people seem to have had much worse experiences, so I guess I'm lucky). I'm really hoping for realistic shadows soon.
There were some other features released in the past year, such as the new search (I really like being able to browse what's for sale before I teleport there), and there's probably some others I'm forgetting. The three I wrote about though were definitely the most significant. LL has pledged to move away from new features and focus on stability, so I don't know how many features we'll see in the coming year. Havok4 is getting close, and it looks like Mono might be on its way as well. There are definitely a lot of cool things they can start adding onto Windlight and Havok4 once those are released, but who knows how much of that we'll see. While I like stability and not crashing, I'm also a little disappointed that we're probably not going to see as many features coming out once the ones in the pipe are finished.
There was one minor feature I kind of like that was there for about two days back in November, I think, and then disappeared without explanation. For those two days, friends on the minimap were shown in yellow instead of green. I kind of want to put this feature on a milk carton: "If you have seen this feature, please call 555-2419. Last seen November, 2007".
And finally, if you read my previous post then you can probably infer that my computer is now back to normal working order :D
Voice Chat
When LL announced this feature, there was a lot of criticism about it. People liked that they could keep real life completely separate from Second Life, and voice chat was somehow going to change that. Reading all this criticism, I thought it would really only be used for business/education and maybe at the SL clubs where people might be using SL to find people in real life. So I was fairly surprised at how many people in C:SI use it. I always have it on and listen (I really haven't noticed that it causes more lag as a lot of people who leave it off say), but almost never talk. It's not that I'm shy about people in SL hearing me talking, it's that I'm awkward about my roommates hearing me talking to myself in my room all the time (and also they are often asleep during the times I play SL).
Sculpted Prims
I remember one of my first reactions to SL was, "Why are the framerates so low even though it looks like a game from 5 years ago?" When I first saw the screenshots of the photorealistic fruit using sculpted prims, I was optimistic that these would vastly improve the look of the world. It turns out that after all this time (8 months?), they aren't really that prevalent. Sure, you see them around, and those Straylight trees look amazing, but it hasn't had the effect I had hoped for. I think the main problem is that it's so hard to create them. You need external software, most of it costing money, that takes time to learn to use. Also, it's not just the model for the sculpted prim that makes it look good, but also the texture. If LL adds some capability to create sculpted prims in-world, I think we'll see a lot more usage of them.
Let me take a little interlude here to mention something I've noticed about the builds around SL. I don't claim to be the best builder, or even a very good one, but when I do build there are two things I pay close attention to that very few other people seem to. Let me say that I'm mainly talking about buildings and architecture here, not prim clothing and accessories and such. First, I always make sure my texture repeats are adjusted. I have seen too many buildings where there is a long beam or pillar and a texture has just been dropped onto it, turning it into just streaks of color. Also, if I have adjacent prims with the same texture, I tend to adjust the texture offsets so that there isn't a visible seam. This brings me to the second point, which is placement of prims next to each other. I always position them exactly so they do not overlap. I hate that look when you have two prims overlapping and there's that flickering when you move the camera around. I see that all over the place, along with stretched textures, and it gives things a really unpolished look. Anyway, I'm done with my little rant.
Windlight
Ok, this isn't officially released yet, but there's been preview viewers out for months now, and I think it's getting close to being released (even thought the last update turned my Wave into airport landing lights). I think Windlight is fantastic, and I can't wait to see what they do with it after the initial release. My reaction to the first release way back in the summer (?) was, "It looks very nice, but it's so slow!" However, it looks pretty and seems faster. I have been running the Windlight viewers exclusively since they started releasing them again, and I've been pleased with the stability and quality (although other people seem to have had much worse experiences, so I guess I'm lucky). I'm really hoping for realistic shadows soon.
There were some other features released in the past year, such as the new search (I really like being able to browse what's for sale before I teleport there), and there's probably some others I'm forgetting. The three I wrote about though were definitely the most significant. LL has pledged to move away from new features and focus on stability, so I don't know how many features we'll see in the coming year. Havok4 is getting close, and it looks like Mono might be on its way as well. There are definitely a lot of cool things they can start adding onto Windlight and Havok4 once those are released, but who knows how much of that we'll see. While I like stability and not crashing, I'm also a little disappointed that we're probably not going to see as many features coming out once the ones in the pipe are finished.
There was one minor feature I kind of like that was there for about two days back in November, I think, and then disappeared without explanation. For those two days, friends on the minimap were shown in yellow instead of green. I kind of want to put this feature on a milk carton: "If you have seen this feature, please call 555-2419. Last seen November, 2007".
And finally, if you read my previous post then you can probably infer that my computer is now back to normal working order :D
We Need More Power, Cap'n!
Well, today is my first Rezday. I was thinking of inviting people to my house for a party or something, but my computer hasn't been fully functional this past week so I wasn't on SL to send out notices and things. I may still log in tonight and see if I can get something impromptu going.
So here is the story of my computer problems (which I realize is the topic of a depressingly large percentage of posts on this blog). I previously mentioned getting a new graphics card, but that I needed to get a more powerful power supply before I could use it. I got the power supply last week, but found when I got home that it didn't have the right type of connectors. All my drives (2 hard drives and 1 DVD drive) have SATA connectors, but this power supply only had 1. So I ordered some adapters that convert the more common 4-pin connector into a SATA one. They were supposed to arrive yesterday, but now look like they might not come until Monday.
At this point, I haven't said anything about why my computer isn't working right now. I can just leave the old power supply and graphics card in until I get my connectors. Yes, that is what I should have done. Being impatient, however, I decided I didn't want to wait to play with my new graphics card. The new power supply has one SATA connector, so I can plug in the hard drive with Windows and go without Linux and a DVD drive until my adapters arrive. So I begin the process of removing the old power supply. My computer is a Dell, and while they've made it really convenient and easy to add new PCI cards and drives, they obviously never expected someone to replace the power supply. Some of the cords went underneath the massive CPU fan, and turned out to be hard to remove. I first just tried pulling them through, but the plugs were too big. I had two choices at this point: remove the CPU fan to get the cords out, or cut the cords. I didn't want to risk damaging my CPU or fan, so I decided to cut the cords. This decision is why I now have computer problems ;) Ok, so I remove the old power supply and put in the new one, hook up my Windows hard drive, turn it on, and...nothing. I get a flashing cursor on a blank screen. Then I realize because I dual-boot, the boot data is probably on my Linux drive. So I unplug the Windows drive, plug in the Linux drive, turn it on, and...GRUB error. I guess I need both drives plugged in to boot, which isn't possible right now. And guess what? I can't put my old power supply back because I destroyed it XD
But wait! I can plug in my DVD drive. What can you do with a DVD drive and no hard drives? Linux Live CD! While it's annoying because I have to download and install it each time I boot, I've actually managed to play Second Life using this method. I keep finding more and more reasons why I love Linux.
So while I was writing this, I got a call that the adapters arrived, so hopefully I will have my computer fully functional soon. Now that I've been on SL for a year, I want to write a post about the new features that have been released since I started. First though, I want to get my computer working again. So the next post will either be "A Year in SL" or "How I Ended Up Completely Destroying My Computer Installing 2 Adapters".
So here is the story of my computer problems (which I realize is the topic of a depressingly large percentage of posts on this blog). I previously mentioned getting a new graphics card, but that I needed to get a more powerful power supply before I could use it. I got the power supply last week, but found when I got home that it didn't have the right type of connectors. All my drives (2 hard drives and 1 DVD drive) have SATA connectors, but this power supply only had 1. So I ordered some adapters that convert the more common 4-pin connector into a SATA one. They were supposed to arrive yesterday, but now look like they might not come until Monday.
At this point, I haven't said anything about why my computer isn't working right now. I can just leave the old power supply and graphics card in until I get my connectors. Yes, that is what I should have done. Being impatient, however, I decided I didn't want to wait to play with my new graphics card. The new power supply has one SATA connector, so I can plug in the hard drive with Windows and go without Linux and a DVD drive until my adapters arrive. So I begin the process of removing the old power supply. My computer is a Dell, and while they've made it really convenient and easy to add new PCI cards and drives, they obviously never expected someone to replace the power supply. Some of the cords went underneath the massive CPU fan, and turned out to be hard to remove. I first just tried pulling them through, but the plugs were too big. I had two choices at this point: remove the CPU fan to get the cords out, or cut the cords. I didn't want to risk damaging my CPU or fan, so I decided to cut the cords. This decision is why I now have computer problems ;) Ok, so I remove the old power supply and put in the new one, hook up my Windows hard drive, turn it on, and...nothing. I get a flashing cursor on a blank screen. Then I realize because I dual-boot, the boot data is probably on my Linux drive. So I unplug the Windows drive, plug in the Linux drive, turn it on, and...GRUB error. I guess I need both drives plugged in to boot, which isn't possible right now. And guess what? I can't put my old power supply back because I destroyed it XD
But wait! I can plug in my DVD drive. What can you do with a DVD drive and no hard drives? Linux Live CD! While it's annoying because I have to download and install it each time I boot, I've actually managed to play Second Life using this method. I keep finding more and more reasons why I love Linux.
So while I was writing this, I got a call that the adapters arrived, so hopefully I will have my computer fully functional soon. Now that I've been on SL for a year, I want to write a post about the new features that have been released since I started. First though, I want to get my computer working again. So the next post will either be "A Year in SL" or "How I Ended Up Completely Destroying My Computer Installing 2 Adapters".
Wednesday 16 January 2008
Ravenous Moths Decimate Gorean Markets
WWW.PRIMTIME.INFO NEWS SERVICE -- Latest Headlines
DATELINE: Tue Jan 15 12:34:02 2008
"Gorean slaves are being forced to borrow burlap burkahs from the Al-Andalus sim following an invasion of moths devastating silk stocks. The future of Gorean culture is uncertain.
"I'm not worried," says Master Overlord Magnitude, who asked to remain anonymous: 'The hoes can wear Darth Vader outfits as far as I'm concerned. I'm not in it for the fashion, I'm in it for being a dick.' Overlord Magnitude couldn't comment further because dinner was ready."
I bought an Nvidia 8800 GT graphics card today so that I can shoot Windlight directly into my veins. After installing it, I turned on my computer and heard a deafening high-pitched whine. From looking on the internet, it is most likely because my power supply is not providing enough power. I will hopefully fix that tomorrow.
Tuesday 8 January 2008
Raft
I am going to try to start doing more building/scripting. Today I built a raft and was able to get it semi-functional as a vehicle. Click the pics for bigger versions.
Sunday 6 January 2008
Congratulations
Congratulations to the winners of the first Tokugawa Kumite! The tournament was divided into four sections based on rank. The first place winners were:
Novice: Kiky Lusch
Intermediate: Rae Giggan
Master: Meludo Anatine
Ancient: Hibiki Osumi
Novice: Kiky Lusch
Intermediate: Rae Giggan
Master: Meludo Anatine
Ancient: Hibiki Osumi
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