Inventory Transfer:

Since opening up the Caerleon sims on ReactionGrid, I have had a lot of questions about exporting content from Second Life to reactionGrid. This post is not so much a how to, than a list of links to how to pages. (there is plenty of stuff out there already) One important thing to consider though, is that the content you are exporting should either have been made by you, or the original creator has provided permission for the content to be exported and used on another grid (as per the TOS for ReactionGrid)

There is a ReactionGrid knowledge base article about content importing at http://metaverseheroes.helpserve.com/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=33

Maxping has an article (with video) on using meerkat to export and import builds: http://maxping.org/business/news/meerkat-may-impact-second-inventory-market-share.aspx and also one on transferring your avatars appearance over: http://maxping.org/technology/platforms/open-simulator/transfer-your-sl-avatar-appearance-to-opensim.aspx

Second Inventory have their own tutorials at: http://www.secondinventory.com/files/start.php

** ReactionGrid ask if you are going to be bringing over a large amount of items at once using SecondInventory you give then a courtesy warning as it can be quite heavy on the servers @ http://metaverseheroes.com

building efficiency:

I will Quote Chris Hart of Reaction Grid with some tips here:

”
Take care with physics – OpenSim has the ODE engine, not Havok
When doing a big unlink, or when deleting a lot of prims, take your time and wait for the prims to be unlinked or deleted. This can take longer than you might think, as the code here takes a while to run through the objects in the database and update them all.
Go slower when terraforming with brushes – let the server catch up with you. Again, this is heavy I/O work on the server, so go slow but enjoy it
”

Scripting:

* A few initial hints and tips from RG knowlegebase – http://metaverseheroes.helpserve.com/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=34#

* OpenSim has a more extensive range of scripting languages available than SL and also a whole set of functions (OSL-functions) that are native to OpenSim, see: http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Scripting_Documentation

* Our sims have C# scripting enables, so scripts should have their first lines either as

//lsl

or

//cs

(avoid starting the script with any other commented lines to avoid compiler confusion)

One Final Thing:

try and get into the habbit of renaming all objects from the default ‘primitive’ then if stuff goes wrong and a database deletion is needed it is easy to find the right object..

This will utilize the inbuilt database and allow you to test and build stuff on a local computer – which you could then export to a live grid such as SL or ReactionGrid…

_____________

tested (most recently) on OSX 10.6.2 and  OSgrid OpenSimulator 0.6.8.96be5e5

These instructions work for me.. It might be a good idea to do a time machine backup before ferreting around in the terminal…just in case)

1.    install mono: mono is the underlying framework that OpenSim runs on – the code that runs the code that runs openSim http://www.mono-project.com (to install you pretty much just double click and accept and put in password)
2.    download the prebuilt version of openSim from OsGrid webpage: http://www.osgrid.org/elgg/pg/utilities/software
3.    unpack and move the ‘bin’ folder to a new folder called opensim in your root user directory (ie: the folder with the little house picture and your user name)
4.    open the ‘bin’ folder by double clicking (there are LOTS of files in here be careful with the next two instructions to choose the right ones)
5.    rename the file opensim.ini to opensim.ini.osgrid
6.    rename opensim.ini.example to opensim.ini
7.    open a terminal window (applications –> utilities –> terminal)
8.    move to the right directory in the terminal by typing “cd ~/opensim/bin” (no quote marks)
9.    then type  “mono OpenSim.exe” (without the quote marks)
10.    lots of text will scrawl past then you need to add some details… The fields –> ‘new region name’ , ‘ master avatar first name’ , ‘master avatar last name’ and ‘master avatar sandbox password’ all need your attention.. The rest you can hit enter (which chooses the default)
11.    more text will scroll and it might take a minute or so, but you will end up with a command prompt saying Region (myRegionName) #
12.    login using meerkat (download from http://meerkatviewer.org/ )–> start meerkat –> choose ‘local’ in the pull down grid menu –> login using the credentials you specified above
13.    you should appear as ‘ruth’ on a small island in the middle of a large expanse of water
14.    to shutdown OpenSim go back to the terminal window and type ‘shutdown’
15.    now got to http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Server_Commands and read up on all the other stuff you can do with your local install..

** if you mess something up in step 10, the easiest thing to do is delete the file userName/opensim/bin/Regions/regions.ini and then start again at step 7.

(hope these steps are useful – but remember if any of it is unfamiliar to you to do a backup first)

Nonnatus can be seen here testing the new sims by slowing filling one of them with a tower of 45,000 cubes…

btw… at the recent Electrofringe OpenSim workshop, there were a number of educators interested in OpenSim as a platform.. I can really recommend ReactionGrid which has a strong virtual-world / education leaning..

openSim itself:
main page: http://opensimulator.org/

grids:
osGrid: http://www.osgrid.org/ (host your own sim)
reaction Grid: http://reactiongrid.com/ (doing really interesting stuff – more to say on this soon)

resources:
maxPing: http://maxping.org/ (many great articles)
adam frisby: http://www.adamfrisby.com/ (core developer)

viewers:
meerkat: http://meerkatviewer.org/ (* i recommend this one)
hippo: http://mjm-labs.com/viewer/
snowglobe: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Snowglobe (the “official” Linden Lab sponsored openSource viewer project)
realXtend viewer: http://www.realxtend.org/ (if only for the ease of exporting and importing an avatars appearance.)

libOpenMetaverse: http://lib.openmetaverse.org/ (text only command line ‘bot’ client)

mono:
mono: http://www.mono-project.com/

cheap remote servers:
a whole server: http://cari.net (from $50/month – have run 6 regions with light loads or one heavier region)
a VPS: (virtual private server: a part of a server that acts like a whole server – each could host a light region – though sometimes a little sluggish, in particular if more than a few avatars are there at once)
$15 option: http://www.tektonic.net/
$10 option: http://fsckvps.com/

(more workshop notes soon, please subscribe to the rss feed or twitter for updates.)

1. Export a RAW terrain file from SecondLife. You need to be estate owner or ask the estate owner to do this.. (Region/estate menu –> terrain –> Download RAW terrain)
2. Open the RAW file in PhotoShop using the following import settings: 256×256, no header, 13 interleaved channels.
3. turn off all but red channel (should look like a greyscale version of the sim from the air)
4. select all and cut and past into a new file so you only have this grayscale channel as a single layer
5. save out as a Targa file, 24 bit
6. follow the instructions on the following page, starting at the heading–> “Create grid and add the image as texture”: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Blender_3D:_Noob_to_Pro/Making_Landscapes_with_heightmaps BUT I recommend ‘unwrapping’ the mesh when it is a flat grid for UV texturing later (so unwrap and create UV image before you start to click the noise button)
7. texture by painting the UV or using the technique outlined here: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Blender_3D:_Noob_to_Pro/Landscape_Modeling_II:_Texture_Stenciling (which will allow you to replicate SL style land texturing by painting areas where different textures will blend across the terrain surface

next: try comparing scripts running in C# and lsl

http://opensimulator.org/ is the obvious place to start and to return to when/if things get stuck

HOSTING:

advice on choosing a server: http://chapter-and-metaverse2.blogspot.com/2008/11/hosting-sim.html

the vps (Virtual Private Server) solution I chose:  http://tektonic.net/vps.php

(there is a lot of stuff out there about why/why not use a vps solution over a full server to run opensim, it seems to boil down to resources and RAM, which the tektonic US$15/month package is certainly at the lower end of BUT this is very much about finding an economical and accessible way to run a sim. Which in the end might mean some things don’t quite run at their full potential or the server falls over every now and then, but hey… this lets think about it romantically and call it issues with the new frontier.)

from paying my inital $15 through paypal to getting the email saying all was good and ready to go took all of 10 minutes. I chose a debian system with mysql, php and phpMyAdmin pre installed. (though in hindsight I have a feeling Ubuntu would have been an easier install path)

INSTALL:

All of the folowing resources were helpful in one way or other to getting opensim installed

http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Debian_4_Build_Instructions
(I used ‘apt-get’ in place of ‘aptitute’ in these instruction and all went well)

http://www.virtualwhite.com/?m=200808
(this link provides some of the configuration info missing in the previous link)

LOGGING IN:

http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Connecting

USING YOUR SIM IN HYPERGRID MODE:

http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Hypergrid (despite the security issues this is one of the most exciting reasons to get a stanalonde sim up and running. Teleporting and exploring the (hopefully expanding in size) hypergrid.)

and finally

INTER-GRID IM COMMUNICATION:

The Parralel Selves Message Bridge: http://justincc.wordpress.com/2009/02/04/the-parallel-selves-message-bridge/ (makes it possible to be working in your opensim and communicate via IM with people logged in the Linden Grid.)

The object ‘branch’ in Second Life has offered you inventory.
Log in to accept to decline this inventory.

= branch is owned by Nonnatus Korhonen
= http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caerleon%20Isle/97/0/21

.