1024x1024x1024 mega-sphere

The topic of using really huge domes as fake skies came up in an earlier megaprim debate, and the fact of the matter is that if the mega is used on an ISOLATED private sim, IE one that has no other sims touching it, then a bigger-than-256 Meter mega that extends beyond the sim borders does NOT overlap into nearby sims. So for example, a 1024 x 1024 plane used as a dessert sand floor in a single private sim would not be seen in a sim that had one blank grid space between it and the sim using the mega, even though the measurements say it would extend into that other sim. I am less sure about sims that touch only corner to corner, but some of the people with actual experience using these extra huge megas claimed that if you can't see the other sims, they don't get impacted by mega overhangs from yours. So on a private island, these might work. On the mainland, it would be an instant AR.

The issue of texture is a very valid one, though. Even on a 50 M x 50 M flat megaprim, a 1024 x 1024 texture, which is the max that you can possibly import, begins to look prety coarse, with pixels larger than your hand. A 1024 x 1024 sphere really would look like crap, unless all you wanted was a nearly solid black sky sprinkled with some oversized stars. At the equator of that sphere, each pixel on a 1024 x 1024 texture would be about 4 meters wide. In short, yes, it will look like crap.

When the recent server glitch allowed creation of new megaprims, they were still capped at 100 Meters max in each direction with most of the hacks that allowed them to be created. So probably the only way you can get a 1024 meter sphere is to do it in one of the OpenSim sims, outside of SL, where they allow creation and use of obsenely large megaprims.

I confess to not messing with Debug and might look tonight (irrelevant since atm even 64m is shaky and yes I know I can get lower in Debug but ... not that desperate).

I'm curious re the visiting overhang - unless that was a typo = how?

Right - and it would seem to me that the only point at which you could see the whole of this sphere would be at the dead center of it, with custom graphics settings up to 512m. Once you move to any side, the far edges will disappear, no?

Never minding that all but a few would actually have their draw distance set that high. I do sometimes for photos, but am usually in the 128-256m range; most, I suspect, are lower than I.

Pardon me, but isn't it currently impossible to edit the shape of a megaprim anyway?

Nope. you can change path cut, hollow, shape, etc... just not size.

Actually, if they are using it as a dome (rather than a full sphere), you'd divide the number in half, thus, it'd be 512. I think.

its ok i have found another way (use a giant cube) and texture the inside, the size is 1024x1024x200, doesnt cause any problems

here is the resaulting image



if anyone wants to have a quick visit (there really isn't that much to see.... YET!) then please feel welcome 2

SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Arrakis2/98/165/1121

Will this be a dark RP sim?

OK. I AR'd it, but no response as yet. Photo for those who are interested. I am actually at 210 m high, you can just see me in the left of the picture. That's near enough the top of the 3 signs. Sorry it's such a big photo - /me wanders off to fiddle with that!

The idea is to have PvP combat, and its a sort of Zombie Survival/DarkRP thing yeh, (the zombies arn't dead, just infected with something unworldly, bit like rage)

you could be attacked at any time (and proberly will be)

The city will be devided into 2 sectors, 1 with the humans and the other with the infected humans, if either 1 is cought in the others area they will generally be attacked, best to go in large groups and see who can win.

theres allot to think about tho, first i need to design the city. and i am taking the upmost care and making it look graphicly amazing and adding proper atmospheric effects (such as the sky!)

Exactly. So if you walked from the center towards an edge, then looked around, even at max you would have a dead spot, no? You'd end up at > 512m from center.



Holy crow! What was this guy thinking? Oh wait... I think I know.

So, 'I Am Legend' then?

As usual, pretty cool visual, Chaos. I see that it doesn't matter if the texture is smeary in this design.

You may want to change "jpgim" to "jpg" in the link, so folks can find it easier.

(Oh, and btw, how many of you ARE there? Is *everyone* in SL named "chaos" actually you? And, don't tell me they still let you in at Midian to look at their sky! *grins*)

Let us know when you're done with it.
.

It's bad enough, but he's obviously used an image he's pinched off the internet - if you look closely you can see it says Stock Photo across it. If you're going to do something shitty, at least he should have the decency to do it properly!

Doesn't one cancel out the other?

At any rate, assuming you have already asked the property owner to not do that, AR 'em. Cite the megas for sure. The whole thing will also vilate pretty much anything Jack Linden has said about the upcoming advertising changes.

The sky image is from www.cgtextures.com. infact i can even redirect you to the original image...

http://www.cgtextures.com/texview.php?id=24161&PHPSESSID=92283099c61c7baadd314958dad52015

that site is made for the sole purpose of being able to take/modify/sell in a game or as part of a model/secondlife etc

some of the textures used are ALL mine, and they are all in compressed format to avoid lag, learned that using uncompressed .bmp's seems to choke older PC's, i can gain at least 25fps for using compressed image formats

the reason the image looks a bit stretched is the way the skybox is made, and the way to get around the draw distance problem (you are INSIDE a cube), all tested on medium settings and it draws fine (on multiple viewers)

EDIT: edited out, Joss Noel who were you refering to, was it me?

He wasn't referring to you.

You really should read and understand a post before coming across like you own the tread, you only started it.

Chaos - goodness, no, of course I wasn't referring to you. I'm sorry if it seemed that way, it certainly wasn't my intention. I had quoted Marianne's comment (sorry Mari to drag you in!!) regarding the 60 x 60 for sale signs and stock photo image. At the time I wrote that, I couldn't even see your picture.

thats ok, when you said the image looked stretched, and technicly the skybox image is stretched i put the 2 & 2 together

right anyway for the nay-sayers i have an image that might change your minds



top one is on the low setting (this turns off the sky, wich is very conveniant for people with old PC's, im glad it does this ^ ^)

second one down is medium (this turns off the glow on the sun)

thrid one down is high/ultra (both look exactly the same)

the 4th one is taken from the far bottom corner of the skybox (alt-cammed out), with settings on medium. no probs there, walked all around the sim with settings on medium and there was no clipping due to the way it was designed

edit: the gray you see on low setting is there by default, the sim clock is fixed to sunset, nothing has been changed for the screenshots, all default settings

Marianne is absolutly right. If the x,y center of the object is not within draw distance you don't see a thing.

but if you are inside the object, then it does draw, for example the cube i am in, i can see further than 256m and even 512m, because it is ONE object, and i am standing in the x,y

You can test it with a smaller mega prim - try a 256x256x256 and set your draw to 64. Set the prim in the center of the sim and walk/fly around. Once you get beyond the 64 meters along the x/y plane you will not see a thing.

Wow the Adfarmers are moving from 16m to whole sims now?

Well it's a really cool effect when it works. But there are alot of issues to it. One you have to go into debug and disable fog. The other is that draw distance is definitely a factor. Not only does the origin need to be within your draw distance, but the way SL works it needs to be in your FOV too. Once you have more going on I think this will become more of an issue. Right now the sky prim hangs around in memory unless you fiddle with it, when there's numerous AVs fighting??? I think the sky will be blinking on an off as you turn around.