New prim type: Stairs

Just ordinary straight-line stairs... they use up so many prims! People tend to try to save by making each step huge. Ugh.

So with this prim shape, you could stretch out a staircase to the length and angle you want, set the rise height and depth, and texture the faces. (Including no texture if you want the "floating stair" effect, I guess, but I'm more thinking carpet on the treads, wood on the risers.) I think it would be best if the stairs were hollow, rather than being solid below. I.e., viewed from the side, the prim would look like this:

--
..|
..--
....| (imagine blank space where those ... are)

not

--
*|
**--
***| (solid block where the ** are)

I don't know how helpful that description was.... My point is, it's easy to make a big triangular block to put under some stairs, but if you want the "floating stairs", or you want to be able to walk under the stairs, making them a solid prim would make that difficult.

Being able to curve the staircase would be a nice feature, too, and shouldn't be too difficult to implement.

Any other key features I'm missing here?

Neko

cut a cube just right and you can get 2 steps per prim, also if you are short on prims ramps work at least as well if not better that steps



jester

True, I get 2 steps per prim but a staircase is still about 12-14 steps.. so that is 6-7 prims.. per staircase. While that doesn't sound like a lot given the prim count on some items, it is easy to rack up the prims just in stairs.

Living in a little place 6 prims isnt a big deal, but I have a house that is 500m and 3 stories I have a lot more than one staircase. I think a staircase-shape prim would be great!!

Personally, I like the look and feel of a staircase. Granted ramps are 1 prim, but to me they look unfinished. I use some teleporters right now.. simply because it is a nice visual.

If I can stretch a single prim to 10x10, surely a staircase at 8x8 isn't a big deal?

OR... maybe it would be easier to code a tool that would be able to cut the cube or triangle prim into more than just 2 steps. (Wouldn't a jigsaw tool be the living end?)

EITHER WAY, I agree, a staircase prim would be a wonderful thing.

There are scripts that will build staircases to specification. I could dig up one for you. But recommend against it. Staircases and ramps are horribly unfriendly to AVs and this is becomes ever more clear as builders replacing stairs with the teleport hack.

Use stairs for aesthetics if you like, in which case you should probably have the prims to "waste" on a luxury. Use ramps if you must have the walking up gestalt. Use local "teleporters" or open second floors or phantom windows if you want to build for avatars.

Of course, I still have fun with my stairs spawner (aka "Jacob's Ladder" in areas that are no-fly.

But, I'll agree that generally, stairs aren't a wise idea compared to scripted elevators or the teleport "hack."

Well, there are hits, and there are misses. At least people were more positive on my "rounded prims" suggestion.

I'd still like a "stairs" prim, though. I think existing stairs are unfriendly to avatars partly because they are almost never created in the correct scale (which I think is often a side-effect of trying to conserve prims). I have a steep hillside, and I'd like to have some stone step faces to go up part of it. I think it would improve the climbability, actually, especially going down. But I'm on a very strict prim diet with a minimum premium account, and the number of steps I'd need would pretty seriously cut into my entire prim allowance. Somehow, having to teleport around on my land seems kinda silly.

I am suddenly reminded of a line from "If I Were a Rich Man" from Fiddler on the Roof... "...I would have one long staircase just going up and one even longer coming down, and one more leading nowhere, just for show...." Oddly appropriate, given the prim costs of stairs.

neko

The stairs type is a standard "primitive" in the 3D level editors I've used (thred, unrealed, etc.) It would be a welcome addition I think. I could totally use some stairs in my house.