Newcomer's Dismay

Hi guys, I joined up for SL after trawling the Web for reviews articles etc. I exictedly rushed home from work, powered up the old rig, bypassed normal routine of checking emails, and went straight to SL site to download. Everything installed fine, and then tried to to do something...........................Good Grief!!!

I have just looked over all the threads on the Technical Issues Forum, and am relieved to discover that the abysmal vista that i experienced lastnight on my first log-in to SL isn't how it always is. From what i've read, there seems to be a problem with the latest patch (1.7 i believe).

I was excited at the the thought of entering SL, but after lastnights dismal experience, i was glad i cautiously opted for a free basic account before getting out the plastic. However, after reading this forum, i realise that things are not usually this bad, so i'll stick around and see what occurs.

From the ppl who have been in SL a while, do you realistically see these major problems getting sorted out and a return to a fully functional world?

Well, that depends on what problems you are having. You might do well to reset your settings to a minimum draw distance and particles. I hope you give it a shot. I'm turning one (is it today? I think so) and let me tell you that second life has given me creative freedom aplenty. Let me know if you ever want to hang out and build stuff. I'll try to help.

Welcome to Second Life! It rocks. (they didn't pay me to say that or anything!!) heh

Hi Glossy, thanks for kind offer, will take you up on it . As for the problems i'm having, it's seems to be the same as evryone else,.......scenery not drawing properly, or not at all, no sound, everythings foggy, unless i stand still and don't move a muscle. Just couldn't make head nor tail of where i was.

I was chomping at the bit to get into SL, but when i got there and saw the mayhem, i was sooooooo disappointed

I'll try again tonight and alter some graphic settings. Here's my set-up

P4 2.53 ghz
Gigabyte M/B
1024 ocz ram (2X512 Running in Dual Channel mode)
Crucial Raedon ATI 9700 PRO G/CARD
Seagate 80 gig Sata HD
Soundcard is an external music production card (MOTU 828 MKII, connected by Firewire)
Power Supply 450w Altec

Thanks again

Corlan

I've also been here for more than a year and I can't seem to stay out for long. You mustn't expect high frame rates comparable to WoW or Unreal etc it just won't happen. The whole technology is different. The very nature of SL makes it impossible to optimise the renderer to the extent of other 3D games. You should be ok most of the time and there are a few issues with 1.7 which will be fixed soon enough I expect. You need a machine that conforms to the min specs of at least 1 gig ram, a graphics card with at least 64meg memory and a broadband connection is essential. Lots of memory is essential, less than 1 gig of ram in your machine and it will struggle. My advice is get out of the welcome area as fast as possible ! Fly around for a bit, you'll find performance varies greatly in different areas.

It is likely your initial default settings are too high...
My suggestions would be to

- reduce view distance to 64m to start with, increase it if you get a decent frame rate.
- turn off local lighting for a while ( this can be a killer on some machines
but the effect is great when you see it done properly )

- turn off shadows they don't work anyway atm.

and thoroughly browse the support WIKI ...

The support WIKI


good luck !

[edited cos you posted your specs at the same time I posted ]

Hi there , thanks for all your suggestions, i'll try them out tonight. My rig is set up for mmporgs such as WoW, FFXI etc which it runs no probs. I am just becoming aware from reading the forum that SL doesn't operate in the same way.

Thanks for link to Wiki, i think i'll be spending quite a lot of time there.

Hopefully see you in-world

Thanks again

Corlan Troughton

The really fantastic thing about SL is that it's dynamic - we can build and change things at any time. Consequently, everything has to be sent fresh with no ability to cache loads of static content. Individual computer performances vary wildly as there are infinite combinations of hardware and settings, etc. You will most likely find the best settings for your comp by experimentation, and once you see exactly what's out there in the grid you'll either love it or move on. I bet you'll love it.

Thanks Osprey, i'm sure i'll love SL. Can any1 tell me how to change my in-world performance settings for graphics and sound?

Thanks Very Much

Corlan

Corlan, in the toolbar at the top of the screen. Edit/preferences. That will open a box with many options tabs. Under the different tabs you will find many different settings for audio video and such. Welcome to SL!!