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The great thing about Second Life is that users can build things. The problem with Second Life is that users can build things--including inexperienced users who

The great thing about Second Life is that users can build things. The problem with Second Life is that users can build things--including inexperienced users who create highly inefficient objects. (I've read that some creators in SL make a selling point of their high resolution textures that are utterly wasteful given their use.) An SL object or attachment may also have configuration scripts that one might only use just after purchase--but carrying them around with the object has overhead. An SL user whose avatar is named Penny Patton has written extensively about such issues in her blog "The Digital Pasture"; her posts are worth reading.

LaikaF 9y ago
Back when I played it wasn't uncommon for a person to have an animation overrider, and another form multitool. The end result being two objects with a lot of listeners that stacks with each person you're standing next to. I played in the era before sculpted prims were really a thing and everything was made by just stacking a ton together and using texturing tricks. Some of the stuff I built hit the link limit.
michaelbuckbee 9y ago
Here's a common example: jewelry. Things like necklaces, etc. were modeled as you would a real physical necklace, no "cheating". So every chain link in the necklace would be a distinct polygonal object (prim)...that would then have physics enabled. And that's neat, but they'd then be shrunken down to the point where you couldn't see them anyway. But it's what "sold" them, so in many ways it mirrors the bloated web dev we see today.
- mintplant 9y ago
  > So every chain link in the necklace would be a distinct polygonal object (prim)...that would then have physics enabled. Avatar attachments such as jewelry aren't physics-simulated.
BatFastard 9y ago
The thing is, you don't have to have a shitty user experience to build things. But they were a typical SV company in that they knew everything! It's just the the SL premise of "Prims" was not scalable. That and their regions were not scalable in the past, not sure if they have corrected that or not.

LaikaF 9y ago

Back when I played it wasn't uncommon for a person to have an animation overrider, and another form multitool. The end result being two objects with a lot of listeners that stacks with each person you're standing next to. I played in the era before sculpted prims were really a thing and everything was made by just stacking a ton together and using texturing tricks. Some of the stuff I built hit the link limit.

michaelbuckbee 9y ago

Here's a common example: jewelry. Things like necklaces, etc. were modeled as you would a real physical necklace, no "cheating". So every chain link in the necklace would be a distinct polygonal object (prim)...that would then have physics enabled. And that's neat, but they'd then be shrunken down to the point where you couldn't see them anyway. But it's what "sold" them, so in many ways it mirrors the bloated web dev we see today.

mintplant 9y ago
> So every chain link in the necklace would be a distinct polygonal object (prim)...that would then have physics enabled. Avatar attachments such as jewelry aren't physics-simulated.

BatFastard 9y ago

The thing is, you don't have to have a shitty user experience to build things. But they were a typical SV company in that they knew everything! It's just the the SL premise of "Prims" was not scalable. That and their regions were not scalable in the past, not sure if they have corrected that or not.