Linked Prims Too Limited

Linked Prims Too Limited
Ok, I'm sure I'm not the first person to notice this, but the linked prim system needs real help.

Hierarchial linking needs to be enabled (aka the linking of pre-linked objects together retaining the original linked objects underneath).


The distance allowed between linked prims either needs to be made immaterial or increased significantly.

The method by which prims are linked, needs considerable work: As a builder I should be able to select all the prims I wish to link, and then in a dialog, select the root prim, weed out prims and prelinked objects I did not wish to link, etc.

For editing of linked parts, selection of the whole linked object in the SAME dialog should be allowed, so that the user can easily scroll through, add scripts, remove scripts, edit properties, and delete/unlink individual prims, etc.


These are the changes that should be made. As I listen to the various chats of the groups I'm a member of I am apalled that things which to me would seem so.... easy, are in fact exasperating. Whenever the subject of certain build techniques is brought up, people seem to suggest the need for exhaustive "WORK AROUNDS", rather than a direct solution provided by the client / server software.


For prims it would be very simple.

Lets say we had a database table, which represented a group of linked prims. Say....

Table Linked_Prims

ENTRY_ID GUID
NAME VARCHAR(255)
LINK_ID GUID

Now we have a normal prim table...

Table Prim
ENTRY_ID GUID
MAME VARCHAR(255)
.
.
. PROPERTIES AND SUCH
.
LINK_ID GUID


I mean to me the organizational aspect of hierarchial links seems simple. And given that objects above 31 prims can't have physical properties( a seperate issue, as I believe that phantom and physical prims SHOULD BE ABLE TO BE LINKED INCLUSIVELY), and objects very far away could immediately be set to not being physical (NOT PHANTOM, JUST NOT PHYSICAL) I don't think the additional programming would be all that hard.


I for example, have a non physical ship ( which should be able to be made into a vehicle damn it!)

Its 30 meters long and 5 meters wide, it links, after a hell of a lot more hassle than SHOULD BE NECESSARY. However if I add side sails, or sails to it, it will not link... we're not talking a huge object here, we're talking maybe 30x25 meters (most of which is not used or occupied)...... and really even if it were club sized, why can it not be linked for easy editation, grouping, etc ?


This is a problem a large number of builder's struggle with and should be given attention.

I understand the Lindens have alot of other issues, mainly network issues it would seem, but this is something which may even reduce your overhead slightly, as changes to link tables could be referred to by LINK_ID instead of by the individual prim GUIDs, which may reduce the amount of data that needs to be transmitted for larger projects.

Anyway, I hope something happens soon.

Lorinaard Martinek

I've been asking for a hierarchical linking system for years.

What you are suggesting would be incredible, except no one at LL knows how to do any of that

This is one of the most unique job applications I have seen in years!

Maybe they need to hire people who's experience with modeling isn't based on Lego bricks

Isn't the distance issue dependant on where the center of each linking prim is? I don''t think its edge detectable. I have noticed with the latest releases of the client, the root prim sometimes becomes a ghost. We linked a runway for fashion shows, and one section, the models wall fall through, it was the root prim, so I moved it to one that wouldn't be walked on and it simply moved the problem, not cured it.

I can understand why maybe physical prims might cause a problem in a linked set, but not phantom. To be fair, even simple physical prims like doors, should not present a real issue as they have a fixed axis which remains revelant to the other prims.

Not sure about Havoc 1 but in Havoc 4 about to be rolled out the linking distance is based on biggest distance between 2 bounding spheres (yes spheres not boxes) from the top of my mind the largest distance can't be more then 58 meters.

I cannot for the life of me understand what the big deal is really... i can't even understand why prim distance is limited...

course then i can't understand why there's no "metaverse" either of user connected, and dynamic servers hosted on their own hardware that can "leaf" to the main grid for a nominal charge (meaning WAYYYY less than a $1000 + $165/month tier fee)... really i think it all boils down to money, more creative options means more overhead, sure plenty of people are just fine with having some slex now and then and walking around in custom tailored "threads" but... wheres the real content ? If I could assemble a team of programmers who'd rather make their own virtual universe, rather than reverse engineer a flawed one... i'd be content to dwell there rather than here heh..

i guess as long as people keep paying their tier fees, and buying clothing, and poseballs, linden is happy.. heh

Well, you try running open sim on some hardware you own that costs less than $1000 and can handle 40 client connections without needing $165 / mo. of bandwidth.

Most open sim servers peak out at around 10 users or less.

hey what's wrong with legos? lol, i love legos. but since i've gotten into SL, i prefer building digitally. i did have the computer lego game (been a while, forgot the exact name) but i do remember it was laggier than SL then again it could have been the sh**y computer i was using it on though, that one was my dad's when i still lived at home