I can't seem to drive vehicles...

HELP! I'm a noob, and I can't seem to drive any vehicles. I got the free vehicles (a broom, a hoverboard, etc.) that are available at hubs, and a few other ones, a motorcycle, a helicopter, a floating cushion. When I use (sit, drive, whatever) them, and press any of the controls, either nothing happens, or my AV starts the walking animation. Is there something I'm missing here? Any help would be appreciated!

- Rick

Hi Rick,

Welcome to SL! I can't offer any help because after 4 months I still can't drive a vehicle..lol. However, I know it can be done, so help is soon on the way. I just wanted to welcome you.

Huggerz,
MJ

Hi Rick. Welcome to Second Life.

From your description, it's not clear to me what's happening, but here are some steps you can follow that will get you going in a vehicle.

1. Find a good spot to "rez" your vehicle. I suggest going to the Oak Grove telehub and rezzing your vehicle between the tall white posts just beside the parking lot. Drag your vehicle from your Inventory to the ground. It will appear ("rez" at that spot. (DON'T drag it onto your avatar.)

2. Right-click it and choose "Ride" or "Drive" or "Fly" or whatever action is in the pie menu. Your avatar will kind of pop into place on the vehicle.

3. Wait a second or two and use the keys thAT normally move your avatar. Vehicles have various control setups, but they always use the W, A, S, D, E, and C keys (with the chat line closed). You can also use the numeric keypad while Num Lock is off.

That should work, Rick. Have fun!

I've been rezzing my vehicle on my land, either on the ground, or on a prim that I'm using as a floor. I will try where you suggest.


No prob here, this works fine.


Now this is where I'm having the prolem. I have been using the arrow keys. I had no idea that the WASD keys or the numeric keypad might work for vehicles when the arrow keys don't! I will certainly give this a try when I get home tonight.

BTW, I'm using your "basic plane" - thanks for making this, and making it "open source" as it were, it's just the thing a newbie like me can experiment on.

Thanks for the welcome!

Hi Rick,

A suggestion and a clarification:

1> Before you ride or 'fly' or 'pilot' anything do you have a 'Release Keys' button at the bottom of the screen? If so you've got a flight enhance item or an anim replacer or something you're wearing. Try Right-clicking yourself then click Take off> then Detatch All or hitting the Release Keys button. Perhaps it's a misbehaved attachment?

2> (with the chat line closed) = hit the Esc key once or twice to get rid of the white chat bar at the bottom of the screen. Many of us get so used to saying and doing these things that we forget what being new is like (Hiya Cubey! /waves)

As far as which keys work both the, arrow keys and num-pad keys work great for me but I've heard some horror stories if you're using an international keyboard or version of Windoze. SL isn't very cooperative with them.

One other question: What speed is your connection? Do you have lots of lag just walking or chatting?

Harmon

OK, that sounds fine. Rezzing vehicles on the ground is absolutely safest, though, because if you rez it on a prim, part of the vehicle might intersect with the prim. When that happens, then SL won't enable physics on the vehicle and it won't be able to move.



Arrow keys will work fine. Same thing. But if you use the arrow keys, you'll also need to use Page Up and Page Down. What those controls do depends on who made the vehicle.



The basic plane is a slightly modified version of the Linden airplane script that's posted in the Script Library forum. For that one, I believe Page Up is the forward throttle. After you rez the plane on the ground, try pressing Page Up to make it start moving forward.

Also, since the script is editable, open it and make sure that it's actually running. Sometimes scripts inexplicably stop running. Edit the vehicle, go to the Content tab, double-click the script. Look for the "Running" checkbox and make sure it's selected. If that doesn't help, it wouldn't hurt to try add a space at the top of the script and click Save and Compile.

Good luck.

/waves back

Hi Harmon!

Welcome to SL Rick!

I've been here over a year and still can't drive myself. hehe.. So listen to these other guys who know better.

Ahhh, really good advice, guys! Yes, I was wearing a "walk replacement" bracelet, so maybe that's why I'm walking in place instead of flying/driving? heh heh, it makes sense that the walk bracelet is grabbing the controls instead of the plane/motorcycle/helicopter. Now I can't wait to get home and try some real driving and flying!

And I'll be saving up my $L to try one of those bi-planes Cubey, wow do they look GREAT!

Ah... heya Rick... ahhh so you had an Animation Overrider thing on? That happened to me too. I was so puzzled. Glad to hear you figured it out. Enjoy the rides, take care at the sim crossings... LOL

I can't seem to navigate anything! It's just me though.