Fixed coordinates: good, bad, indifferent ?

It occurs to me a lot of issues with changing the implementation of teleports, land placement, landmarks and now this new idea for reserving space for islands, are all related to problems caused by a fixed coordinate system ? I realise we need some recognisable way to map SL but surely it can be done better than using fixed coordinates ?

Is SL too focused on the land mass analogy ? Do we want limitless 3D space or are we satisfied with a 2D landmass and a limited 3D area above it ?

There are plenty of ways this can be coded, lets not get into the fineries of coding and implementation but maybe discuss it's desirability ?


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I don't know about landmarks and all that, but there seems to be no good reason (other than internal workings of SL's software) for one region* to be placed on the same coordinate system as another.

* in this usage, a region is just a group of sims that are connected as a physical space rather than by teleport, or an isolated single sim. The mainland continents are one big region, for example.

Putting them on the same map is not really a very good reason, since you can't actually travel from one region to another without teleporting, rendering their relationship to other sims irrelevant.

For the topic at hand, I definitely want to get away from the 2D landmass analogy of a virtual world. I want sky cities, giant cliff towns, caverns, and outer space.

Hm. I like having everything on one grid; you can have a nice map of it all, for a start, it opens up the possibility of people joining islands to each other or travelling between them via void sims, and on a scripting basis it means that every point in the entire universe has a unique set of co-ordinates (though one could retain that with utterly disconnected sims as well). I would like to see void sims everywhere that there is not actually land, though I do understand that that is unlikely to happen any time soon.

Whilst it doesn't in practice produce connectivity between different regions, without the grid there would be no chance at all, and LL would just be a host for random unconnected sims, something I'm not a fan of, just as I'm not a fan of everyone living in their own skybox.

I do think that it won't be long before island sim owners begin to connect up with each other.

I'd certainly like to see an expansion of the land system to allow such things as Dyne mentions rather than the world being basically a relief map, but we can still keep the grid and do that.

I can plug Maxx's latest voice show (http://maxxmonde.livejournal.com) where he talks about the land analogy in SL, so it is a problem that several people discuss.

But honestly, I'm not seeing LL changing anything about the land model or simulators because apparently everything is hardcoded into the server software and changing it would take longer than havok integration.

What you describe, is exactly what's on the main grid at this moment, random disconnected builds with little or no theme or continuity. ( except in a very few rare cases ).

As I suggested in my portal space proposal, I see no reason to change the grid, I'd suggest space management can be made better with additions not replacements.
To give just one simple example, islands should be able to remove land altogether to create space sims.

If I pay $1200 and an ongoing $200 p/m for an island, I'd like to be able to have more control over it's content than I have currently. I certainly DO NOT want neighbours who I didn't choose or didn't choose me and to think that I could because the system isn't implemented well is just, well daft.

Random unconnected sims is what we already have on the mainland. With more control over parcel movement, teleport access and border connection we would see more theme and continuity. Surely that's obvious? Again I'm not suggesting the grid is pulled down or replaced or the mainland is changed at all. I'm fully aware that many people like it as it is. I say more options not less, give more access and placement control to land owners. There's no logical reason, apart from a dubious design motivation to use a fixed 2D coordinate system. Especially when it appears to make it technically difficult to move regions around in the RL world of server land.

As it appears SL is currently undergoing some kind of internal re-write, now maybe a good time to bring our concerns to LL's attention, they don't have to listen but no there's no harm in optimistically discussing things we'd like to see happen.

What a super voice, reminded me of Steve Martin

I AGREE WITH YOU MAXX !!

"imagine the world wide web under the same constraints"


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I believe it's difficult to grasp what the grid will look like in as little as a year or two.

Companies and communities will come into SL, buy a whole load of sims, shape their own vision of things.

huh, mmm, it will be too nice work there !