SL 101 Questions

heyas;

was gonna pester an sl 101 teacher with these, but since its hard to find those classes, might be faster to ask here. just a list of my current unanswered (and possibly unanswerable) questions.


1: why can't vehicles steer well?

okay, maybe its because i only have cheap freebie vehicles, but i can't steer these fool things well enough to stay on the blasted highways. i get to a turn, i tap the left or right key, and careen into the guard rail. tap the other direction to straighten out and career into the opposite side. get on a straightaway and zigzag across the centerline trying to align my vehicle's trajectory with the road. and finally, i shoot right off a cliff or a bridge or something.
i tried mouselook mode, but that was no help. is it just that i have junk, or is this the reason i never see vehicles on the roads!?



2: furries and nudity:

does an anthropomorphic animal avatar need to wear clothes in pg areas, or is 'bare fur' just fine as long as they don't have any anatomical details?




3: weapons and weapons:

when i see a sign/rule against weapons, what definition of 'weapon' are they using in 2l? i mean, isn't a weapon something that is scripted to apply a push and/or damage? so a huge claymore sword strapped to one's back wouldn't actually be a weapon under this definition, just a decoration. and a little black box that pushes someone 3 sims away is a weapon.
well, just i get confused cuz all the no weapon signs usually show people holding guns. and im never quite sure if wearing a sheathed sword or dagger is actually against the 'no weapons' rules or not.



4: falling from a standing start:

okay, this drives me nuts. sometimes i get stuck with some sort of inner ear disorder. i'll be standing perfectly still and then, for no reason, i'll start flailing around as if i'm falling. which wouldn't be so bad if i'd ever fall and reach the ground and stop falling. but no, i just hover over the ground, flailing around. if i move, i stop falling. then stand still and start falling again. if i fly and land, it keeps happening. even if i log out and back in... this doesn't seem to clear it.
any idea what's up with that? and how to cure it?

1. most freebie vehicles are garbage. sadly, many purchased vehicles are also garbage. Cost doesn't seem to be a factor. Vehicles in SL are more or less "for show" 90% of the time. since you can't safely travel across a sim border. there are a few vehicles that can handle this task, but even the best still have about a 30% failure rate.

The main reason you are probably having trouble steering is.. lag. The old cars were programmed for a client that wasn't taxing the CPU and graphics card as hard.. and for a grid with 1/3 as many concurrent logins, particles, etc. Cars in current development can ususally handle steering better.




2. Your hypothesis is correct. cartoon animals are fine in PG areas, so long as they are as anatomically correct as Bugs Bunny. When they have visible genitalia, it's generally considered "mature" mode.




3. Ask the land owners. When in doubt, go without. My avatar has a holstered anime pistol. It's completely unscripted.. and purely a decoration/affectation. But it would set off some ban-happy area moderators. Simultaenously.. if you have a weapon that looks like a cheeseburger, or something invisible on your HUD (for example)... then you'll probably get away with wearing it... but don't fire it.

No weapons signs ususally refer to "using weapons".. but there are many places that want you to "de weaponize" your avatar. This means the swords, daggers, and perhaps even whips.It really depends on the area. (ususally the signs are explicit.. "use of weapons" vs "wearing/displaying weapons"




4. The cheif culprit in this situation is an "Anti-Push Sheild"... if you're wearing one.. that's what's causing this. If you have one.. get rid of it. Period. It's simply useless. Most places have push disabled now anyways, and even if they don't, most weapons now use other techniques that the anti-push sheild isn't that great at defending against. If you're worried about getting shot while in a sandbox.. a chair is a far better defense.

If you're not wearing anything that is "anti-push" related.. the situation may be that you are standing on an unstable prim surface.

If you also begin to float upwards while "falling".. the culprit is most likely what's called a "huge prim". someone, somewhere, rezzed a prim so big that you can't see it.. but you're inside it. and the floating-fall is just the client trying to worm you up to the top of it.

I have a flight feather that causes me to do this sometimes, especially after I TP somewhere. I just detach it and I'm fine again. If it's not an anti-push shield or a flight feather, check to see what other attachments you might be wearing when this happens to you.

I was doing this flailing last night. Doesn't happen often and usually momentarily but last night this one sim just wouldn't let me settle down. I TP-ed away and fine.

I've seen the falling when the sim is laggy. I've always thought it was AO-related but have nothing to back that up...

Same here. Except I always just flat out blamed lag. I thought it was just a case of the fact that the server hasn't had a chance to tell your client that the turkey has landed.

I just always blame the Linden's for wanting me to look silly in front of my boy friend.

Ok, here we go.



You answered this one yourself. Free vehicles are generally not Top of the line where control, and performance is concerned. Consider them Betas. any vehicle you wish to Buy, make sure you can test drive it first, as price is no ironclad Promise of performance.





As long as the Cardinal points of decency are sufficiently obscured, the Furry would be Ok. No Obvious Nipples, or Reproductive Organs distinguishable in the Fur. And remember, for some reason, Mens Nipples are OK, Womens are Not (Still trying to work that one out Myself, but "When in Rome,,,".





If they have not spelled it out, Always assume the property owner means ALL weapons, Functional, or not, Sheathed, Holstered or Brandished. Again, Visibility is the Issue. And if they say No weapons DEFINATELY don't discharge one.




Minor Bug, it happens some places more than others. It May be associated with some attachment you are wearing that contains a Pose or animation. If you have one or more animation, or pose scripted items on, Take them off, and see if the problem persists.

Angel.

ah!

i feel much more enlightened. thank you! :)