Hosting multiple sims on a single server would rock!

re: Ananda Sandgrain's suggestion here: /invalid_link.html

This strikes me as a wicked idea! What do you think?

Basically, we could make large multi-sim worlds whilst paying the same amount as a regular island sim. The only restriction would be that the number of prims and avatars would be that of a single sim; which seems entirely reasonable.

I think this would be extremely cool for making largish fantasy game worlds.

What do you think?

Azelda

Isn't this already used on the 'void sims' ?

I agree that it would be cool for private islands though

absolutely hands down i would work even harder to buy an estate server if i could run two or four connected sims on it. same prim and av limits across the space would work fine for me. oh yes yes /waves hands and shouts "i'll test it for you." well not yet. the business isn't up to supporting an estate just yet but i'm working on it.

i wonder though if they'll charge an extra fee? there's really not any more cost involved. still, i imagine they will.

Keep in mind that performance will not be very good. It'll be okay as long as you aren't too active and don't have too many people around. Get some friends together and go to the void sims if you want to see what it's like without any builds.

I'm still hoping for some more info on how the performance compares as well. I seem to get lagged or crash about every 4 void sims I try to cross. I crash after crossing or teleporting in about every 8 regular sims, so it's not entirely out of the question. More data on how well the void sims worked out is needed!

The idea that originally prompted me thinking in this direction is a private terrain park for hosting air races and dogfights - obviously physical performance is a big issue with that.

i really like this idea too. imagine a 3 by 3 grid using 3 servers, with the centre sim being on a single server. one could create an island village or something with surrounding context. i think it could be useful for game developers like darklife to introduce distances between locations. teleporting on the grid removes the some of the illusion of distance
s that the map offers. this idea can be used to reintroduce it into some projects in a sustainable manner (ie - a quarter of the regular cost).

I like it a lot, if the performance hit isn't too bad. For people trying to build an immersive experience around a particular theme, it could really help.

neko

They used to run some of the vehicle sims several to a single machine, and it was absolutely terrible. You could tell whenever you went into one because your vehicle would do that "slow tumble for 5-10 seconds and then snap into place somewhere and sort of bounce in the direction of travel rather than moving straight" thing. Even with every sim on its own computer, the vehicle park can get real ugly when you have a bunch of people racing around in circles, crossing sim borders at regular intervals.

If anyone had any fantasies about actually building stuff in sims like these, just take what I've described here and imagine it several times worse.

I think it is likely do-able but would you want to do it is the question. Unless you can specify a brand new and high performance server to do this, you are likely to end up with multiple poor performing sims. Most folks can't get decent FPS on single islands let alone diluting it across multiple sims but I suppose it needs to be tested to see how bad it impacts performance in actual use.

Carnildo just mentioned the other idea in the Hotline thread that would be even more ideal for purposes of getting large land areas. Vehicles and any associated activity have struggled because of border crossings and the fact that our current sims are just too damned small to host a decent amount of terrain to explore.

Creating a sim where the only change is the amount of area contained would be a much better solution.

a 512x512m sim would work as well for my purpose. i want room to landscape vast, rolling parks and mountains and caves. i don't need additional prims, higher av limits or multiple sets of estate settings. i only need the additional space.

two questions that concern me are additional fees and the ability to connect to other estates. i can see varying sized borders being impossible to link. perhaps a 256x512m or 256x768m sim would solve the problem by giving ll two 256m borders to attach to existing estates.

i hope we get a solid linden response to this.

Yeah, this has been suggested many times before.

The idea isn't so much 'multiple sims' but having a sim of configurable usage.

For example, you can reduce the size and prims to allow for more avatars, or reduce the size to allow for more prims, or reduce the avatars and prims to allow for more size, etc.

This would be useful for a golf course, or for someone who wants a huge landscape with a small house in the middle.

We need more OPEN SPACE!

Why does every m2 have to have something built on it? Every meter of shoreline, every mountain peak, every square centimeter has something on it. (Or if it doesn't have a building on it now, it has an Anche sign on it.) Even on the main continent, why not have some lakes that nobody owns that we can go boating on? Why not a mountian here or there without an ything built on it?

This might be a way to sprinkle open water and empty hilltops here and there. Might be nice. (Water and mountain peaks don't need owners or prims.) How about some "salt flats". Deasert hills. Sand dunes. I don't know, just some places where you can go hiking with your friends.

Buster