Very noobish questions

Well I'm brand new to this so if I may I would like to introduce myself first. I'm Jeatin. Ok now that I'm done introducing myself I have a few questions:

1. Age verification what advantages does it have over having a non age verified account? I seem to be able to enter every zone with no problem... Is there a difference? I'm most likely missing something.

2. I'm a very shy person even if I am sitting behind a computer (Well it seems this is the only place I'm shy actually. Any other place I'm very comfortable) and I really want to meet some people because this is a social place right? And having no one to socialize with is just silly. I ask this because any other place (game) or in real theres always some baddies to team up on or some movies to go see.

3. When I first started out I picked a dragon but then switched to a normal person and slowly customized my character (I'm still tweaking here and there) but when I went to make some awesome clothes I seemed to be very limited on the customization. Do I have to pay to make good stuff or do I have to go out and download add ons etc.?

I'm sure these are pretty noob questions so bear with me. I'm sure I will have more by the morning.

Thanks,
Jeatin

1 - don't really matter right now as it's still in beta

2 - wander around, you'll find places to hang out at. most don't mind quiet types lurking

3 - you'll have to learn to create textures and stuff. then you can upload them to make the better clothing

For the second question, open the search window (the button at the bottom of the screen labelled Search). Go to the Places tab, or go to the All tab and select places. Then type in something that you are interested in. This should be a good way to find people with similar interests.

You can also look at the Events page in Search to find some cool events that you may like. There's a drop down menu on that page to help sort the results too.

For the third question, you can probably find some classes in-world to teach you the basics of clothes making, and that would also put you in contact with a group of people interested in clothes making. You can try looking in the Events search for an education event, or search Places and Classifieds for "clothes" and "class". Personally, I don't know anything about making clothes, but that's the one of the first things I'd try to do to learn.

Welcome to SL & the forum Jeatin.

Asking questions here is a great way of a) getting (mostly) accurate answers and also b) meeting people - as you have obviously overcome your shyness by posting here I'm sure you will soon find some ppl ingame you can relate to.

Hi Jeatin!

1) Age Verification - don't worry about it. Like MortVent said, it's only experimental. I've only seen a few places that use it and of those, I don't think it works in any.

2) Ditto for me on the shyness. There's a thread some where around called: "Lonely secondlifer" Lots of advise on meeting other peoples. Take a look at that thread.

3) Good clothing has to be purchased (or given to you) until you learn to make your own. Most of the good stuff is made using tools outside of SL. Take a look at the stickies at the top of the Texturing Tips Forum. Also look around for Freebies. I've seen a lot of very nice clothing being given away.


Have fun and enjoy!

Welcome to the forum Jeatin. By asking questions, you automatically disqualify yourself from being a noob, and rise to the rank of 'learner'. Unless the the question is 'mak sexi now?'

Question 3 is like the old thing of giving a man a fish or teaching him to fish. Learning how to make clothes may well be expensive in the short term: in time and maybe in upload fees for textures. In the long term it'll give you cheap clothes made exactly as you want them and maybe even a way of making money in SL. In the meantime, visiting the freebie places or buying $10 worth of L$ and going shopping can get you some great stuff.

... Ok in this first line I will try to avoid being predictable... Erm Um...

I'm wondering if all textures cost money to upload. The way it comes across in game is that hueg files have to be paid for but normal files do not. But that's the way I perceive it. Its most likely not the way it works. So far this game is interesting even as a lurker. I thank you for pointing me to the right place now I must ask you. As a second lifer is there anything I absolutely need to know other than read the rules follow them study them etc?

Edit: ERM MAK SEXI NAO? (Sorry I had to... You know I did!)

Most textures are uploaded as a 512 x 512, 72 dpi Targa file, this costs 10 Linden Dollars. You can upload a larger format 1024 x 1024, but 512 x 512 and in other cases smaller files are good enough. All cost 10 Linden Dollars.

After about one month it may be possible for you to use the Beta Grid for testing textures first, on this Grid you get L$5,000 to use to test textures.

No chance mate, at this time of day it's mostly English people on and MAK SEXI NAO is not one of our traditional pastimes

I hope your not getting wooshed or I'm not getting wooshed here but if you read the text I quoted that would most likely explain why I said that !

Just teasing nuffink to worry about

From what I know, most people use PhotoShop or GIMP to make clothing and then upload the textures (pictures) into SL. Each upload costs $10L regardless of the size of the texture.

Chip Midnight, one of the SL residents and content creators, has provided templates to help design clothing for avatars:


You can of course go into "Edit" -> "Appearance" and directly create a new shirt/pants/etc. on your avatar, but it might be difficult to get realistic texturing on the clothing that way. (You will still need to upload the textures for the clothing first, to apply onto the clothing you are creating.)

This is the extent of my knowledge, I've never made clothing so it's all from theory only. Others like Rhaorth Antonelli could probably give you much better and more detailed advice

Hi Jeatin,

You can get lots of clothes and other items for free in SL, so you don't necessarily need to create them yourself. You can just search for the term "Freebie" to find lots of places that offer them, although some offer better quality than others. I recommend Free Dove and The Gnubie Store for a start. Then you can join various fashion groups where designers often give gifts as samples of their work. There are also groups dedicated to finding new freebies.

And then there are also several blogs dedicated to report about newly released or found freebie items. Following these blogs could eat up all of your second life time, if you allow it. (Try a Google search with the terms "freebie blog free style second life" to find many of them.)

Joining groups will also help you a lot with meeting people. You should see the heaps of people instantly gathering at a newly found freebie place that has been announced in one of such groups. And it can also lead you to some amazing sims that you might miss otherwise.

Also: events. Live music, especially, but search events - chances are, there will be people there!

A lot of people from the forums can also be found at the the Forum Cartel Hangout in-world. I'd give you a SLurl, but my employers are for some reason disinclined to let me have SL access at work...it should come up in search though. There's also a group attached, where you can pop on to chat or ask questions wherever you may be on the grid.

Create a profile, as I have pointed out in the lonely secondlifer thread it is the gateway to your avie. If you don't know what to say, then keep it simple "Let me be the first to say HI" you likely will receive a response. People do read profiles. I also suggest reading others for ideas to put in yours. And say hi to those folks as well. Caution, though ask before you offer friendship. Some don't particularly care to be offered friendship if not formally have been introduced.

Yes, you may receive some grief about being a new citizen. Let it roll right off your back and not let it discourage you. Everyone at one time has been new. Though, some do forget that at times LOL.

As mentioned earlier search is a great place to find places to go. Also at the groups tag, type in something that interests you and see if the groups appear. If you see one you may be interested in just join. You can join up to 25 groups. I am a member of SL-Events, they send out notices all the time about different happenings around sl. When I get home from work, I can send you an invite if you like.

Welcome Jeatin!

You already have the answer on age verification. It's useless right now, so don't worry about it. Who knows what will happen long-term. There's a lot of controversy over it. I would personally like to see it quietly go away forever.

As for meeting people, a lot of that depends on what you want to get out of Second Life. It's not like Facebook or MySpace or anything. Second Life is different. My advice is to just find somewhere to hang out and make friends with the people you meet there. Pick something you like and do a search for it. Explore lots of places - even if you don't meet anyone, you will see some really cool things that people have made and maybe get some inspiration for something you would like to make.

Check NCI, The Shelter andThe Ivory Tower of Prims. They all have classes they offer and the first two have other types of events that are a lot of fun and directed towards new folks. You can learn to make clothes and meet new people.

As for making clothes, go get a box of free textures at some freebie place. Use those textures to make clothes. You will make some of the ugliest clothes EVER, but you will get a feel for how to adjust the sliders, how the textures wrap, etc. Go down to the content creation portion of these forums and ask questions in there. download Robin Sojourner's templates and just have fun and take your time. It will be frustrating if you try to learn it all at once.

Good luck and welcome to SL!

Hi, Jeatin!

This is a good place to work on becoming not-shy. Both SL, and the forums.

Clothes:

Clothing consists of two parts. Clothing "layers"...the shirt, jacket, pants, etc. that you see in the Appearance menu...and prim additions. Clothing layers are "worn". Prim objects are "attached" to one of about 30 attachment points on your avatar.

Anything that fits your body very closely is most likely a clothing layer. Things like poofy sleeves and long, flowing skirts (or cute short skirts), or bell bottoms, or belts, are made out of prims (geometric primitives, basic shapes like boxes and spheres).

Prim parts are made with the Build tools. For a great set of tutorials on building, visit The Ivory Tower Library of Prims.

Clothing layers are mostly made in Photoshop, or any paint program that supports layers. You can download clothing templates from this website (see the Downloads link on the main page). The templates are flat (or you couldn't use them in a paint program. When completed, they are wrapped around your avatar. Getting seams and details to line up is a trial and error process, and something of an art form. You can find some basic tutorials, and links to others, in the Texturing forum. In addition, there are some clothes-making classes offered in world by organizations like NCI.

Designers who can make original, realistic-looking clothing are always in demand

Hi Jeatin

Aside from all the other excellent information above, visit www.mermaiddiaries.com. Natalia has a load of easy to follow tutorials on how to make just about anything. I made a pair of flip flops. They were really crap, and I decided on the spot that shoe making wasn't for me, but I made them all myself!! There are also loads of links to other sites and where to get stuff.

Welcome, Jeatin!

Search on the Map for Caledon, and pick one of Desmond's lovely sims. Feel free to wander around - we're very friendly there and we love tourists.

Other hints to looking good for free (besides looking for freebies):

1. Many of the good designer clothing shops have a few freebies in their shops as an enticement for coming in. These freebies aren't necessarily with the ones you find at the newbie/freebie sites, and can be of very high quality. It's worth going around to the shops, even if you don't want to buy, because you'll run into high quality freebies.

2. Many of the good designer clothing shops also have prizes of free good items. The most common is the Lucky Chair. (It works like this- the chair has a letter on it. If your first name begins with that letter, you sit on the chair and win a prize. The letter cycles to a new letter after someone wins, or after a pre-determined amount of time if no one wins.)

3. Go to an online store like SLExchange.com. It is there mostly to sell items, but it has freebies too. There's even an easy filter option so that you can just view the freebies.

Making your own stuff can be a fun endeavor, but to make anything you like is going to require a time commitment in learning how to do it. It's not as easy as watching a tutorial and then making whatever you want; it takes a ton of practice. So don't go that route if the only thing that really interests you in Second Life is the socializing.

Personally, even though I know how to make clothes in Second Life, and I already have some good graphic tools to do it, the time involved isn't worth it to me. Being able to do it doesn't necessarily mean it's your best use of time.

Now, if being a fashion designer has its own independent appeal to you, by all means pursue it. You may find that you have a lot of fun doing it.