Show Updates .. in Debug Menu

Hi ~ i was wondering if i could get an official response to this question because i have been getting mixed member responses. Okay, when you activate this feature and say put on an item with a script .. initially you get a short red burst (i assume this is when the script is being read?) but then you pulsate with a blue aura. However, I have a few items that cause me to pulsate rapidly with a red aura. I was told that this is because there may be an error in the script and it is not being read properly ~ which in turn creates lag for me and for those around me. I have also been told this is not true. I honestly have no idea and have avoided wearing the items that cause the red pulses. But when i turn it on in a group there are many many with the pulsating red light. Soooo, here I am ... can someone "in the know" respond please? Thank ya!

I'm not official, just chiming in with unasked-for comments...

The problem is, "show updates" is sorta nebulous... it shows 'updates' being sent from the server to the client. Different colors mean different things. Red cones are full-prim updates... Meaning something you are wearing is updating something about itself constantly. However, which updates trigger a full-update as oppoed to a terse update (blue cone), I'm not sure of.

It doesn't (nessesarily) mean your script is broken.

Nor does the rate of update beacons necessarily mean your script is broken. Some scripts may need to update very rapidly. This doesn't necessarily affect the sim adversely, either. What does your script do? That may help to determine if it actually needs to be doing what it's doing.

Well its not my script but it is in some objects that are worn (some jewelry) anyway, I was asking because i was messaged at Tringo and told that the pulsating red meant that the script was not being read correctly or something and that it causes lag. I tested out some of my items and many of them do not cause the red light to linger and pulsate. It shows red one time when i put it on but then goes blue. Some of the items remain red and the red light pulsates frequently as i suppose the item is being rendered again and again .. my question is really about what this does in terms of computer performance and lag within SL.

Also along those lines but not specifically the same - how come the prims on the shoes render repeatedly ~ ex. in clubs? I am tired of looking like i have wooden blocks on my feet lol.

Thanks for your response Kelly ~ is there something in the script that can be altered easily so the items won't spam?

Kelly, THANK YOU for finally giving us something official on this!

I had been experiencing lag nightmares. I would come to the point of almost locking up entirely for 5 minutes at a time. It was frustrating for me since it felt as if I would be the only one experiencing it. I also knew my computer was in good working order and well beyond what is needed to run SL. Then one day, while in Tringo, the host politely IMed me and filled me in on the script puffs viewed via Show Updates. She had just heard about it herself, removed some items producing the red puffs and realized it made a difference for her. I was shocked and ran home. LOL! The idea that *I* could be one of the problems horrified me. Well, I went through all of my stuff and removed the culprit that was issuing the red puffs. Amazingly enough, it was a tiny piece of jewelry.. not an overrider.. not anything "heavily scripted" as we would think. After giving myself a "cleaning", so to speak, I went back and found that my lag was gone! WOW..

Since then, I have been testing this out quite a bit. For instance, I was in a Tringo event this week where there were several red and blue puffs around. I positioned myself on the outskirts.. far away from these scripts.. no lag at all. The chat was showing that folks in that area were experiencing horrible lag. A newcomer wandered in and placed themselves next to me. I started to lag so I turned the updates back on. Sure enough, they had the blue puffs going extremely rapidly. I stepped back a bit... back to zero lag.

I want to cry over the loss of some of my favorite items. I won't wear those that emit red puffs anymore. I am also avoiding those that emit rapid blue. I do risk wearing those with a very slow blue.. like once a minute or so.. The change for me has been AMAZING. Basically, what I have noticed fits Kelly's explainations perfectly. It sure is nice to know I wasn't dreaming it all up in my own mind tho!!

Possibly. You haven't actually said what the script does, though.

Animation overrides are the most common example of this. It is possible to write an anim override so it doesn't cause constant updates. Unfortunately, the easy way to write this script is the worst way (constant updates), so you see a lot of them.

Incidentally, you won't see some of the updates on your own avatar, since you're sending them to the server instead of receiving them...

That's very public spirited of you Anjelle, but in the end, as Kelly implied, it comes down to a "viewer lag" not sim lag.

Personally, I have never had this problem noticeably for 99% of the time. But then I have a recent vid card. It could be a sign that you, or "the other person"'s broadband connection is outstripping the video card performance.

I really wouldn't get too upset about the red/blue/green/Debug options unless you are really sure you know what they mean. (ref: the liberal sim performance disinformation spread by half-knowledge).

My 2c

/esc