tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167300194475558566.post1565528017043746960..comments2024-03-09T07:42:39.664-08:00Comments on The Digital Pasture: A Critical Look at Second Life - Part 3 "Improving the Content Creation Tools"Penny Pattonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07707742298693174730noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167300194475558566.post-8158812366786849882017-02-18T01:18:06.036-08:002017-02-18T01:18:06.036-08:00ROBLOX is driven by an ever growing membership bas...<b><a href="http://games-mmo.syntaxlinks.com/r/Roblox" rel="nofollow">ROBLOX</a></b> is driven by an ever growing membership base of more than 300,000 creators who provide an infinite variety of highly immersive experiences. <br /><br />These experiences range from 3D multi-player games and contests, to interactive adventures where friends can take on new identities imagining what it would be like to be a dinosaur, a miner working a mine or an astronaut out in space.Bloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07287821785570247118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167300194475558566.post-28229838334086215202012-12-23T05:24:41.596-08:002012-12-23T05:24:41.596-08:00The core problem is that LL relies on programmers ...The core problem is that LL relies on programmers and engineers to the exclusion of all else. <br /><br /> They need someone who specializes in creating content and experiences, not a programmer themselves but one who can provide internal communication and feedback to LL's management who would then be able to make educated decisions on how to assign prioritize to their development teams.<br /><br /> They have a very similar experience gap when it comes to community tools and the new user experience.<br /><br /> LL is unique in this respect. Other companies who develop software used for creative purposes have artists on staff to provide an end user's perspective. Other videogame studios (which is essentially what LL is, even if SL is not a "game" in the literal sense) have art departments.<br /><br /> Until LL recognizes this shortcoming there is really nothing they can do to improve their user retention issues or prevent their eventual slide, already in progress, towards becoming the next Active Worlds or There.Penny Pattonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07707742298693174730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167300194475558566.post-51310872583833863992012-12-22T00:35:44.266-08:002012-12-22T00:35:44.266-08:00It may be a concidence but I have seen sim perform...It may be a concidence but I have seen sim performance fall off significantly since Pathfinding became active. It's not the actual Pathfinding features that seem to have triggered it, but the necessary change to the Havok physics engine. I sometimes see Physics frame rates of less that 1 frame per second, and I am nearly always seeing erratic movement.<br /><br />None of this makes Second Life look good. Some problems may be down to general net traffic, but Second Life does act in ways which give the computers, both the LL servers and the user's, unnecessary work.<br /><br />Since I used to do a lot of fiddling around with CGI, mostly <i>Poser</i>, I've got some clue about the underlying technology. The basic design of the Avatars, both the basic Mesh and the morphs that execute the appearance changes, have weaknesses, and the Mesh Deformer has made some of them very obvious. They are old designs. A big problem for LL is that they don't want to change the UV mapping, and break existing skins and clothing. This seems to have halted any effort to big-fix the Avatars.<br /><br />Example: the upper arm. You're going to get stretching there, as the arm moves from its zero position (horizontal) down to the usual human position beside the body. It cannot be avoided. But the polygon structure and the rigging extend that stretching almost to the elbow. A couple of extra rows of polygons, and revised rigging, would make a huge difference, and could be done without changing the UV-map.<br /><br />Example: Has there ever been a tight sweater which has dropped into the cleavage the way the texture-based clothing does in SL?<br /><br />Example: Why does the Shape data contain the whole body? A significant part of our sense of identity is in our face, yet we have no easy way of preserving that while we apply a body shape designed to go with a particular outfit. (Not just rigged Mesh here, the distortions that come from appearance editor changes, putting zig-zags into straight lines, means that any clothing could need a dedicated body shape.)<br /><br />I don't have the skills to fix these problems but I know enough to spot them. Linden Labs needs somebody with the skills, full time. Qarl might not be the right person, but he's the nearest to fitting that particular gap that I've heard of. And a dedicated AV Art and Engineering Linden might have done a better job of the Mesh Deformer project than Oz Linden has.<br /><br />And, to be honest, while I don't know which programming paradigm they use—SCRUM or Agile or whatever buzzword was fashionable when they organised their system—I see a common thread of interacting with the customer to get a produce the customer wants. Where on earth is the customer that the LL programmers interact with, and does it bear any relation to us?<br /><br />(I'd hoped to be in a better mood this Christmas. I shall go watch <i>Porco Rosso</i>, and for a moment I might believe that a pig can fly.)<br />zhochakahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06653786360841345602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7167300194475558566.post-44419007743355012112012-12-21T19:29:25.462-08:002012-12-21T19:29:25.462-08:00It does my brain in that something basic like prod...It does my brain in that something basic like product knowledge, one of the first prerequisites in what is basically a customer service, is totally off the radar to those at LL.<br />I would bet no one at LL , let alone those dealing with coal face issues even spend 2 mins per work hour inside their offering. It makes me want to cry.Connie in a Sechttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04536588490496248916noreply@blogger.com