Second Life Forums Archive - Downloading World Data

Pat Murphy

The Wandering Wizard

Join date: 2 Dec 2002

Posts: 142

03-05-2003 14:05

One of the biggest slow downs in SL is bandwidth. Because the world is dynamic, and completely stored on the server end, whenever you see an object or texture, or hear a sound, it has to be transmitted to your computer from the server. It would be nice if we could download all that data, out of world, from different server, so that it wouldn't effect game play, and we wouldn't have to download so much data whenever we walk into a new area.

I suggest creating a snapshot of the world each time a new version is release (or, after go-live, every couple weeks). Different size downloads could be created, one for each of the chache size settings (although they would obviously be very compressed). These files would only include a portion of the world data, perhaps the most frequently downloaded. The files would be downloaded from the web, off-world, and loaded up into your SL client. That way new users don't have to start with no data.

This would reduce the load on the servers, and speed up the game play when you first login or enter an previously unexplored area.

I'd really like to hear what the Lindens think about this.

----------------------
Note:
I came up with this idea in conjunction with Jack Miller (who'd have thought a minor could come up with good ideas) and I feel that the credit should be noted, since he is no longer a part of the community.
----------------------

-Pat Murphy

_____________________

That's how they showed their respect for Paddy Murphy
That's how they showed their honour and their pride;
They said it was a sin and shame and they winked at one another
And every drink in the place was full the night Pat Murphy died.
-Great Big Sea

Yegor Crash

Domo-Kun

Join date: 31 Dec 2002

Posts: 70

03-05-2003 15:32

If they did that, the world wouldn't be dynamic anymore. If you say downlaod the the land, and somebody decides to build a mountain, there would be a conflict. If you download objects, new ones could be dropped at any time. If you download textures, they could be deleted once the objects are taken back/destoyed.

_____________________

Planet Boredom Corp.

Pat Murphy

The Wandering Wizard

Join date: 2 Dec 2002

Posts: 142

03-05-2003 19:21

this download would simply be put into cache, just like textures and sounds are now, when you see them. When there is something new or different in the world, it simply overwrites or is added to the cache, everything would still be dynamic, you just get to start with a cache instead of slowly aquiring it as you explore the world.

_____________________

That's how they showed their respect for Paddy Murphy
That's how they showed their honour and their pride;
They said it was a sin and shame and they winked at one another
And every drink in the place was full the night Pat Murphy died.
-Great Big Sea

Vandy Fats

Registered User

Join date: 3 Mar 2003

Posts: 7

03-10-2003 08:02

I agree 100% that would be a slick idea, but think of it this way... Even if you were allowed to DL the entire "cache" files of a particular area, even one area at a time, what would happen to SL's bandwidth bill when you have everyone in SL setting a windows scheduled task for every 2 weeks to download all cache files, for areas they may or may not even go to. Not to mention the files you downloaded last night might be out of date 12 hours later, meaning more redundant bandwidth usage. Multiply that x1000+ users when SL goes gold. No?

blaze Spinnaker

1/2 Serious

Join date: 12 Aug 2004

Posts: 5,898

01-02-2005 13:23

Hopefully something like this will be in place for things like project SL Unreal.

It would be nice if you could just download the entire SL Unreal sims and then enter without having to worry about lag or anything. It would also be nice to know that the client has a full copy of the SIM so you don't have to worry about them walking through walls.

More intelligent caching is extremely important, if not the most important, thing SL needs to do in order to improve performance.

_____________________

Taken from The last paragraph on pg. 16 of Cory Ondrejka's paper "Changing Realities: User Creation, Communication, and Innovation in Digital Worlds :

"User-created content takes the idea of leveraging player opinions a step further by allowing them to effectively prototype new ideas and features. Developers can then measure which new concepts most improve the products and incorporate them into the game in future patches."

Torley Linden

Enlightenment!

Join date: 15 Sep 2004

Posts: 16,530

01-02-2005 13:28

YES. Even a manual preload button or a way to "lock" areas once you're done constructing them, so that is THAT and it doesn't need to be streamed anymore until you "unfreeze" it to mod prims or whatever.

We could have the best of both worlds, conceivably?

_____________________

Eggy Lippmann

Wiktator

Join date: 1 May 2003

Posts: 7,939

01-02-2005 14:32

I want linked object instancing!

_____________________

Help us document Second Life history at http://slhistory.org!

Lordfly Digeridoo

Prim Orchestrator

Join date: 21 Jul 2003

Posts: 3,628

01-03-2005 09:01

By the time you're done downloading the several hundred megs of data from a Sim, the data will have changed, necessitating another download.

Physics, scripts, avatars, everything changes dynamically. You can't "freeze" a piece of SL and download it for safekeeping.

LF

_____________________

----
http://www.lordfly.com/
http://www.twitter.com/lordfly
http://www.plurk.com/lordfly

Kurt Zidane

Just Human

Join date: 1 Apr 2004

Posts: 636

01-03-2005 17:30

instances and texture that are cashed on a world wide basis is rpoable the cloest they can get to that. what the unreal sl project?

Downloading World Data
Pat Murphy The Wandering Wizard Join date: 2 Dec 2002 Posts: 142	03-05-2003 14:05 One of the biggest slow downs in SL is bandwidth. Because the world is dynamic, and completely stored on the server end, whenever you see an object or texture, or hear a sound, it has to be transmitted to your computer from the server. It would be nice if we could download all that data, out of world, from different server, so that it wouldn't effect game play, and we wouldn't have to download so much data whenever we walk into a new area. I suggest creating a snapshot of the world each time a new version is release (or, after go-live, every couple weeks). Different size downloads could be created, one for each of the chache size settings (although they would obviously be very compressed). These files would only include a portion of the world data, perhaps the most frequently downloaded. The files would be downloaded from the web, off-world, and loaded up into your SL client. That way new users don't have to start with no data. This would reduce the load on the servers, and speed up the game play when you first login or enter an previously unexplored area. I'd really like to hear what the Lindens think about this. ---------------------- Note: I came up with this idea in conjunction with Jack Miller (who'd have thought a minor could come up with good ideas) and I feel that the credit should be noted, since he is no longer a part of the community. ---------------------- -Pat Murphy _____________________ That's how they showed their respect for Paddy Murphy That's how they showed their honour and their pride; They said it was a sin and shame and they winked at one another And every drink in the place was full the night Pat Murphy died. -Great Big Sea
Yegor Crash Domo-Kun Join date: 31 Dec 2002 Posts: 70	03-05-2003 15:32 If they did that, the world wouldn't be dynamic anymore. If you say downlaod the the land, and somebody decides to build a mountain, there would be a conflict. If you download objects, new ones could be dropped at any time. If you download textures, they could be deleted once the objects are taken back/destoyed. _____________________ Planet Boredom Corp.
Pat Murphy The Wandering Wizard Join date: 2 Dec 2002 Posts: 142	03-05-2003 19:21 this download would simply be put into cache, just like textures and sounds are now, when you see them. When there is something new or different in the world, it simply overwrites or is added to the cache, everything would still be dynamic, you just get to start with a cache instead of slowly aquiring it as you explore the world. _____________________ That's how they showed their respect for Paddy Murphy That's how they showed their honour and their pride; They said it was a sin and shame and they winked at one another And every drink in the place was full the night Pat Murphy died. -Great Big Sea
Vandy Fats Registered User Join date: 3 Mar 2003 Posts: 7	03-10-2003 08:02 I agree 100% that would be a slick idea, but think of it this way... Even if you were allowed to DL the entire "cache" files of a particular area, even one area at a time, what would happen to SL's bandwidth bill when you have everyone in SL setting a windows scheduled task for every 2 weeks to download all cache files, for areas they may or may not even go to. Not to mention the files you downloaded last night might be out of date 12 hours later, meaning more redundant bandwidth usage. Multiply that x1000+ users when SL goes gold. No?
blaze Spinnaker 1/2 Serious Join date: 12 Aug 2004 Posts: 5,898	01-02-2005 13:23 Hopefully something like this will be in place for things like project SL Unreal. It would be nice if you could just download the entire SL Unreal sims and then enter without having to worry about lag or anything. It would also be nice to know that the client has a full copy of the SIM so you don't have to worry about them walking through walls. More intelligent caching is extremely important, if not the most important, thing SL needs to do in order to improve performance. _____________________ Taken from The last paragraph on pg. 16 of Cory Ondrejka's paper "Changing Realities: User Creation, Communication, and Innovation in Digital Worlds : "User-created content takes the idea of leveraging player opinions a step further by allowing them to effectively prototype new ideas and features. Developers can then measure which new concepts most improve the products and incorporate them into the game in future patches."
Torley Linden Enlightenment! Join date: 15 Sep 2004 Posts: 16,530	01-02-2005 13:28 YES. Even a manual preload button or a way to "lock" areas once you're done constructing them, so that is THAT and it doesn't need to be streamed anymore until you "unfreeze" it to mod prims or whatever. We could have the best of both worlds, conceivably? _____________________
Eggy Lippmann Wiktator Join date: 1 May 2003 Posts: 7,939	01-02-2005 14:32 I want linked object instancing! _____________________ Help us document Second Life history at http://slhistory.org!
Lordfly Digeridoo Prim Orchestrator Join date: 21 Jul 2003 Posts: 3,628	01-03-2005 09:01 By the time you're done downloading the several hundred megs of data from a Sim, the data will have changed, necessitating another download. Physics, scripts, avatars, everything changes dynamically. You can't "freeze" a piece of SL and download it for safekeeping. LF _____________________ ---- http://www.lordfly.com/ http://www.twitter.com/lordfly http://www.plurk.com/lordfly
Kurt Zidane Just Human Join date: 1 Apr 2004 Posts: 636	01-03-2005 17:30 instances and texture that are cashed on a world wide basis is rpoable the cloest they can get to that. what the unreal sl project?

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