Newbie Here - Some beginner questions

Hi All,

I am new to Second Life [SL] (infact, been using it less than 24 hours). However, the main thing that has drawn me to this game is the ability to create almost ANYTHING.

I would like to start by producing clothing etc… However, I don’t want to have to pay $10L for every item to test/try it out etc.

Anyway, I’ve created a list of questions that I am going to list in bullet-format, any answers/suggestions would be really appreciated!

General questions:
1) I chose my name as ‘Amnesia Fhang’, is there anyway to change this? Or am I stuck with it for as long as I play the game now?
2) Is it possible to play this game (and enjoy it) without paying $10 per month?

Specific questions:
1) Clothing – I am currently using Photoshop and have downloaded some templates to start designing clothes on. Are there any programs out there that I can preview the clothes before fully uploading them?
2) Making money…. I assume when I come on to sell/trade things, I can build a shop and display my items for people to buy etc?

That is all I can think of right now, I’m at work so had to be quick with the questions…

Any other tips/advice you could provide would also be very helpful!

Thanks for all your help!
Amnesia

First things first. You can't change your name, except in fairly extreme circumstances. You could start a new account, with a new name. If you are fairly new to SL, that might be the best bet if you truly hate the one you have - best do it early before a lot of people get to know you. Then you can forget Amnesia (ha ha!).

You can play SL completely for free. There are dozens of threads on how to get L$ by camping, money trees etc. but most agree the best way is to buy a few thousand L$. You don't have to be a Premium (paying) account to do this. Ten dollars US will buy roughly L$2800, depending on current exchange rates.

If you want a shop, you can rent one (or space for one). You don't have to be Premium to do that, either. You can also buy land, but that does need a Premium account, and also incurs 'tier' - a land tax paid every month to Linden Labs.

You can also sell things via websites like XStreet (formerly SLexchange). They provide a free outlet, but charge a small commission on items sold.

Part the second

Others with more experience will probably have better advice, but check out the builder and texturing forums for more info on designing clothes. One source of advice I know of is http://www.robinwood.com/Catalog/Technical/SL-Tuts/SLTutSet.html

I'm prepared to bet there are programs to test clothing before upload, but sorry, I don't know what they are. AFAIK, you can upload for free to the beta grid. I think some people use that as a test-bed for clothing.

General tips/advice: Don't sink a lot of money or hope into SL expecting to make $$$ fast. Your questions suggest someone very inexperienced with SL, so experiment and learn the ways of the world a little first. Make stuff you enjoy and share it with your friends.

Finally... Welcome to SL!

Thank you for the help, it's been great.

I'm not expecting to make money fast, I just don't want to put time and effort into making friends/learning the game... only to find out I can't actually do anything without ploughing loads of money into it first.

Obviously, if I love and enjoy the game, I will not hesitate to pay monthly fees etc... but it's always nice to be able to "try before you buy" in a true sense rather than a "download the game and walk a square inch before you buy".

Stupid question - if I create a new character, can I use the same email address? Or do I have to delete my account first?

Thanks again,
Amnesia

you do not need to be premium to own land if you in for private estate.

Daz studio is free and will let you preview clothes.

I doubt you will be able to get on the beta grid for a while as they only seem to copy across accounts periodically.

What you could do is run your own local sim.

Use search for answers on all the above

you can use the same email. Dont delete amnesia either, you can have an aged alternate for when you want one later

You definately dont need ot put money into SL to enjoy it or to make enough money to have some fun in SL, or enough for downloading. You best bet is money trees and camping which weill take a while, but money trees can be fun for exploring.

To be honest though even $5 US will be enough in lindens to cover you for uploads for ages.

Mind you I havent put a cent into SL yet and I have no issues with money in world. In fact i took a little bit out the other day which was exciting I have my own store, but to start off getting money I worked as a hostess. You ill need to learn a little more about SL first, but this can be a good way to interac and make some lindens while you are perfecting your clothng creations

The beta grid is gret for testign the uploads of textures before putting them into the normal grid.


Any email adress can have up to 5 accounts attached to it. So no need to delete the one you are using now to create another.

In the texturing tips forum, you will find lots of pinned topics that will be a big help to you. There is a free preview program you can find there as well called SLCP (second life clothing previewer). You can put clothing that you have made onto a 3d model to see how it will look before you upload.

Good luck to you, there is a lot of competition in the fashion field. It will probably take you a little while to produce salable items, don't expect it to happen overnight. Go to the texturing forums, there are lots of great tips there. Another great source of information is Mermaid Diaries (http://www.mermaiddiaries.com/), there are some good tutorials there.

Once your account is old enough to get onto the beta grid, you can test-upload textures there without using real lindens. They copy the main grid over to beta every month or three.

See the downloads page for how to download the beta client.

will answer the best I can, and some answers will be basically the same thing others have already said

1) you can not change your name, however you can create a new account, using the same email address should be fine, no need to delete the existing account (having an alt (alternate account) is actually quite common.

2)Definately! There are many many folks who play SL (live their SL) without spending any RL money. (other than of course, internet, electricity etc)
There are many places you can get things for free, and many designers put out free samples of their work, so folks can see what the quality is like before they buy any, so explore, look around at what is out there.


1)Clothing...I use a free program called second life clothing previewer (slcp) it basically is a 3d model that you can put the clothing on and see how they look. Avpainter is a program created by a resident, that allows you to paint directly on the 3d model, however it is not a free program. After you are past the 30 day mark, you should be able to access the beta grid, where you can upload stuff without it affecting the real linden balance on your account. (you can find more info about that on the downloads page)

2: Making money...yes you can build a shop. You can also rent a premade shop, or mall space.
When you explore SL, consider this... almost everything you see is resident made (of course linden stuff is out there, ie the linden trees, welcome areas, help island, etc)
so yes, you can most assuredly build your own store to display your wares.
(you would need land of course, and that will lead into a whole new set of questions hehe)

good luck and welcome to SL

oh and if you change your name be sure to return here to let up know what it is !

Beta grid is free with on earning curve
don't get me wrong DAZis great has good power and does alot but for a quick easy veiw uploding texters and anim to beta grind costs nothing and looks just like what it will look in min grid

Forget it . . .

Pep (Unsuccessfuly looking up the meaning of "earning curve"

I'd check out this site: http://www.mermaiddiaries.com , Natalia has a bunch of tutorials on building and creating things, even clothing, with resources you can use. She also has a good tutorial for new players. It helped me out quite a bit when I first started!

Thanks for all the support... I'll be checking out the links/doing more research this evening when I get home from work!

I've just looked at another Alias.... but can't think of any variations I like!! You all seem to have such cool names lol, for now... I'll keep with Amnesia Fhang

Amnesia Fhang is a great name.

--
Aes

Just make sure you remember it.

She will not be able to get on the beta grid yet.

I think it is a great name too. Compared with things like "iwantsex" or Pete1972 i dont think you have anything to be concerned about

I lol'd

Amnesia is a great name! Something like "You can't forget Amnesia Fhang!" would make a great catchphrase for your business when you get to that point.

You can certainly get by without putting money into SL. Many, many hair, skin and clothing designers offer free or low-cost items for newcomers and the library/default avatars have gotten a lot better. (The Free Dove is a great starting point, and there are many groups and blogs that feature designer freebies as well.) Most places and events don't charge admission, though they ask for tips. I have to say, if you do later put money into SL or start making money, it's nice to remember those businesses that helped you out in your early days.

Most building classes are free, and I've learned a lot from them. They're a lot of fun, too. You can camp or search for money trees to pay for texture uploads, or put five or ten dollars in and pay for a LOT of texture uploads. Once your account is old enough to show up on the Beta grid, that's a good place to experiment with uploading and refining textures - you are given something like L$5000 which renews periodically but doesn't transfer to the main grid. In the meantime, there are some free textures available in the library and (I think) at Help Island that you can experiment with. The Gnubie Store has textures available for beginning builders, too.

And do wander around, explore, look at what's been done and what's possible. Get to know people. In my opinion, SL is worth putting money into - but there's plenty of stuff to explore and try while you decide whether it is worth it for you.

I just had a look at the exchange rate, and I have got it totally wrong.

I can get about $500L for something like £2GBP haha... Excellent.

I'm really looking forward to getting started this evening

I have had a thought for a different name, Taylar Bellic ... but seeing as you all think Amnesia Fhang is a decent name, I might just keep that... or change the Fhang bit haha.

I'll be sure to check out the links that have been posted too.. Well, I might see you all on the forums at a later date?

I suggest you make reservations. This is our busy season with the Holidays coming up and all.

Welcome to SL and to the forums, Amnesia!

The others have answered your questions, but I just wanted to chime in and say hi...and add my vote for keeping your name. It's, pardon the expression, memorable.

Do, by all means, create a second account though. You'll need an alt eventually, to do stuff like selling things to yourself to test permissions, etc. And if you DO decide on another name you like better, the sooner you start using that account as your main, the better off you'll be. A lot of stuff is non-transferable...after you spend a lot of time and L$ getting one avatar juuust the way you like, it's a real pain to have to do it all over again with a new account.

If clothing design is your goal, there is one BIG investment you may want to consider: Photoshop CS4. It has some new tools that make designing textures that wrap properly on a 3D mesh (like our avatars) a lot easier. There's a thread about it in the Texturing forum.

Thanks for the welcome

I do like Amnesia, just not too keen on Fhang.. yet, maybe something like Shippe would have been better? I don't know... but with all the fuss I have made about it, maybe I should just keep Fhang, everyone knows it now! Plus, no-one will call me by my last name anyway haha.

I already have Photoshop CS4, I do photography as a hobby and got a great deal with a new DSLR I bought...