Second Life

1
Second Life

• Overview
• 2008

2
Objectives

• Flavor of Second Life
• Second Life Herald Stories
• SL Basics
• Terms
• Appearance
• Movement in SL
• Communication
• Searching
• Performance Issues
• Social, Political and Economic Issues
• Object Creation
• Scripting

3
Media Coverage

• Second Life Herald
• Founded 2003, covered virtual worlds, primarily
  covers SL
• Creator philosophy professor
• Initially covered SIMS but reporter was
  murdered by EA quote from creator
• Secondary market
• Adverting in the Herald for a fee
• Hire writers
• Link Heres a flavor of life in Second Life
• http//foo.secondlifeherald.com/slh/

4
Media Coverage

• Slang Life
• http//www.slanglife.com/
• Metaverse Messenger
• InWorld Newspaper
• Landmark in Inventory
• Currently under new development
• http//www.gridgrind.com/

5
Second Life Basics

• Owner Linden Labs
• http//lindenlab.com/
• Co-founders
• Corey Ondrejko
• Philip Rosedale
• Definition from Linden Labs
• A 3D Virtual world created entirely by its
  residents

6
Second Life Basics

• Account Creation
• First Basic Account
• Free
• Build and scripting
• Access to events and shopping
• Avatar
• Second Basic account
• 9.95/month
• Known as alt account
• Premium Account
• 9.95 month
• Receive a weekly stipend in Linden Dollars
  300.00
• Can own land
• Buy the land plus pay monthly usage fee
• Can buy private islands too. US 1,675 for 65,536
  square meters

7
Second Life Basics

• www.secondlife.com
• Download client
• Receive confirmation email
• Age Check
• Separate area of SL for people under 18
• Orientation Island
• Must go through and learn the basics before
  participating in the SL world
• Limitations
• Graphics card
• Memory
• Speed

8
Second Life Basics

• Glossary of Terms
• AR Abuse Report
• formal report to Linden Labs
• Avatar
• Animated being representing a SL resident
• Ban
• Act of forbidding a resident back into SL
• Ban Lines
• Floating red letters forbidding entry
• Borked
• Broken

9
Second Life Basics

• Glossary
• Boxhead
• Newbie who attaches a free box to his head
  instead of the gift that is inside
• Build
• Create objects in SL
• Cage
• Trapping an avatar by rezzing an object that
  surrounds them. An AR offense
• Combat Region
• The SL Safe setting has been disabled You can
  be injured or killed

10
Second Life Basics

• Glossary
• Cyber
• Sex
• Day
• Default day is 3 hrs long and night is also 3
  hrs.
• Time is Pacific Time
• First Life
• Real world life
• RL
• Real Life

11
Second Life Basics

• Glossary
• Furry
• Resident with anthropomorphic features
• GIRL
• Guy In Real Life
• God Mode
• Special mode only linden Lab employees possess
• Grid
• Network of servers making up SL
• Griefer
• A resident who harasses and causes problems

12
Second Life Basics

• Glossary
• Help Island
• Place to learn info about SL
• Lag
• Slowdown in SL due to traffic etc.
• Mainland
• Continents managed by Linden Labs
• Mature
• Area that may include profanity and nudity
• Rez
• To create an object
• Ruth
• Initial avatar appearance
• SLURL
• Special type of URL that launched SL and takes
  you to specific place

13
Second life Basics

• Second Life Tutorials
• Second Life Notecards
• Google Search
• Second Life Helpers
• Linden Lab Employees
• Indentifiable in SL
• You tube videos
• Search on Second Life
• Second Life Classes InWorld
• Blogs
• http//kateamdahl.livejournal.com/ Winged Girl
• http//cavorite.hexaflexagon.com/blog/ Royal
  Cavorite
• http//community.livejournal.com/slsomethingelse/
  Something Else
• http//www.secondlifeinsider.com/ Second Life
  Insider

14
Appearance

• Right Click on avatar and choose appearance
• Menu options include body parts and clothing
  accessories
• Some avatars are quite elaborate and require
  special scripting and the purchasing of items
• Many shops in SL sell clothing, skin, hair, and
  other specialty items
• Ruth
• If your avatar looks too much like the original
  SL gave you
• Demo

15
Movement

• Walk
• Run
• Fly
• Watch out for ban lines
• Map
• Highlights pop places, events, land etc.
• Landmarks in Inventory
• Search for people places
• Use coordinate system too or SLURL
• Demo

16
Communication

• Chat
• Distance Related
• IM
• More personal
• Voice
• Very controversial
• Shout
• Annoying at times
• Distance related
• Demo

17
Searching

• Use search button to find
• Places
• Events
• Land for Sale
• Classifieds
• Groups
• Rankings based on number of avatar visits

18
Financial Systems

• Linden Dollars
• Exchange rate approx one dollar 269 Linden
  Dollars exchange rate varies
• Obtain Linden dollars
• PayPal
• Credit Card
• Commerce in SL
• Small sum from Sl when your avatar is created
• Financial Crisis ?
• http//online.wsj.com/article/SB120104351064608025
  .html?modhpp_us_inside_today

19
Financial Systems

• Making money in Second Life
• Make a job
• Interior designer
• Scripter
• Reporter
• Event host
• DJ Good JOB! Must have own music
• Start your own business
• Bar
• Club
• Sell art

20
Financial Systems

• Stipend Balls
• As a newbie ( usually 30 to 90 days) can receive
  money by touching the blue Stipend Ball at NCI
  North Plaza
• Camping Chairs
• At certain stores sit in chair and receive Linden
  Dollars
• Part of higher rankings in search engine
• Not great way of making money
• Premium Account
• Receive stipend each month
• Money Trees
• Newbies
• Find tree pick apples (5L), Bananas (10L)
  Pineapples (20L)
• Funded through volunteers

21
Financial Systems

• Scams
• Business in Box
• Usually free stuff
• Pyramid schemes
• Look like small pyramids
• Well, they are pyramid schemes
• Stick Ups
• Dying wont hurt you teleport home or off in
  space
• Bank Scams
• Transparent Prim Scam
• Prim over a legitimate sign
• Fake Sales Rep
• Accepts money but no product delivery or free
  content

22
Performance Issues

• Griefers
• Guns
• Orbited
• Shouts scripts
• Emitters
• Grid
• Lag
• http//secondlifegrid.net/resources/service_metric
  sserver_fps

23
Social Issues

• Friendship
• Relationships
• Anonymity
• Cheating
• Gambling
• Pornography
• Mature activities
• Withdrawal from first life
• Positive opps
• Ex Disabled person dancing
• Marriage???

24
Political Issues

• Institutions
• Government
• Anarchy
• Vigilantism
• All powerful Linden Labs
• Terrorism
• Land ownership
• Barons
• Laws ?????

25
Economic

• Exchange
• Scams
• Money controls
• Again intervention, government, laws
• Banking crisis chartered
• Who determines what
• Capitalism ?
• Haves and Have nots
• Real Life Business IBM
• Universities Ohio University

26
Building

• Prim
• Primitive box, sphere, cylinder, etc.
• Primitives linked together form objects
• Everything in Second life comprised of prims
  except your avatar
• Creating Prims
• Must own land, public sandbox
• Dont litter take, delete or wear your prim
• Others may find your prim and give back to you
• Area of land defines max number of prims
• Rez create a prim or pull from your inventory

27
Building

• Sample video
• http//blog.makezine.com/archive/2005/08/making_th
  ings_i.html
• http//downloads.oreilly.com/make/Final_BridgeMaki
  ng.wmv

28
Building
29
Building

• Basic Steps
• Rt Click the ground
• Cursor becomes wand
• Click on the ground and default prim appears
• Rt Click on prim and select edit menu
• Move
• Left click on prim
• Three colored axes click and drag
• Resize
• Control Shift

30
Building

• Resize
• Control Shift
• Max size
• 10m X 10 m X 10 m
• Larger objects are created by linking multiple
  prims
• Rotate
• Control
• Duplicate
• Control D
• Size changes with distance/perspective
• Transparency
• Edit menu fill in transparency textbox up to
  90
• Hollow
• Select object tab
• Choose hollow percentage rotate object to see
  results

31
Building

• Linking
• Shift and left click on multiple prims
• Control L
• Colors change
• Last prim selected is yellow primary prim
• Will now move as one object
• Max number of linked prims 255
• Unlinking
• Control Shift - L

32
Scripting

• LSL Linden Scripting Language
• Similar to JavaScript, PHP and C, but not as full
  featured
• Prim
• Scripts exists inside of a prim
• Rez a prim and then right click to open the edit
  menu
• Select the Content tab
• Click on New Script button
• Window appears with a default script
• Also, go to Inventory, select Scripts folder and
  right click for new script and write/save.

33
Scripting

• Avatars
• Movement such as gestures, walking and dancing
  are not scripts
• Animation override (AO)
• Upload file describing skeletal positions and
  movement
• File format called BVH

34
Scripting

• Default New Script
• Default // This is a state can have multiple
• state_entry() // Event handler-Runs when you
  enter a statellSay(0, "Hello,
  Avatar!") // Predefined functiontouch_start(i
  nteger total_number) // EventllSay(0,
  "Touched.") //Predefined function

35
Scripting

• Summary
• States
• Default
• Others defined by programmer
• Events
• Every object at any given time is in one of the
  states as defined in your script
• Event handlers are called in the current state
• Event touched, sit on, walked past within
  certain distance
• Functions
• Functions within the event handler within the
  state determine what actions will take place

36
Scripting

• // default state
• default
• state_entry()
• llSay(0, "i'm on!") //
• llSetColor(, ALL_SIDES) // sets all
  sides to red
• touch_start(integer total_number)
• state off
• // another state
• state off
• state_entry()
• llSay(0, "i'm off!")
• llSetColor(, ALL_SIDES)
• touch_start(integer total_number)
• state default

37
Scripting

• Variables
• Integer
• Float
• String
• Key
• Special kind of string similar to a pointer
  identify objects
• Vector
• 3d position in space
• Rotation
• List

38
Scripting

• Variables
• Must be declared before use, typed
• Local
• Defined within function temporary
• Global
• Defined outside of a function
• Case sensitive
• Typecasting
• Integer counter
• (string) counter
• No library system
• Mono open source project allows .NET and use of
  other programming languages for scripting
  supported by Linden Labs