Virtual World Concept Presentation

This is my power point presentation for my virtual world concept:

http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~karechan/hammerdownonline.ppsx

The Tech Virtual

Here is the exact location and a few images of my virtual world concept display at the Tech Virtual in Second Life.

SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/The%20Tech%202/127/184/32/

Research for Virtual World Concept

I found some other virtual worlds that are similar to my concept. Here are several helpful links that review each virtual world. Although the last one isn't a true virtual world, it has many elements similar to my concept and researching it might help.

Trackmania

http://www.trackmania.com/tm/index.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TrackMania

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/driving/trackmania/review.html

http://pc.ign.com/articles/528/528114p1.html

Upshift Strike Racer

http://strikeracer.gpotato.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UpShift_StrikeRacer

http://pc.ign.com/articles/800/800122p1.html

http://www.mpogd.com/news/?ID=3046

Mario Kart Wii

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Kart_Wii#Nintendo_Wi-Fi_Connection

http://www.gamespot.com/wii/driving/mariokart/review.html

Final Project Experiment Plan

This is the updated and finalized experiment plan:

1. Experiment Title – Virtual World Racing

2. Scenario – While operating a vehicle, avatars will interact with other avatars by racing around the tracks in a competition or disrupting the competition.

3. Mechanics – Some of the avatars will be in slower vehicles while other avatars will be in faster ones that are more upgraded. Some of the avatars will play as the rule-abiding players and just race around the track like normal while other avatars will be the trouble makers and try to do anything in their power to disrupt the racing competition. The players will also need to learn how to control their vehicle properly. The winner of the race will receive $250 Linden Dollars.

4. Second Life Location – The first location is a sandbox for everyone to get the required assets for the experiment. Buy the vehicle you are assigned to.

SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Meridian/37/213/23/

After purchasing the vehicle, go to the racetrack where the rest of the experiment will be held.

SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Spike/26/198/621/

5. Roles – Here is a list of several roles the class will take part in:

• Screen Shot Documenter – Take random screen shots during the entire event.
• Video Documenter – Take various video segments during different parts of the event.
• Observer Documenter – Run around or sit on the side of the race track and observe what racers are doing and take brief notes on their interaction.
• Bagel Driver – Take the bagel vehicle to simulate a newbie of the virtual world and race throughout the event for five laps.
• Apple Driver – Take an apple vehicle to simulate a casual player of the virtual world and race throughout the event for five laps.
• Hot Dog Driver – Take the hot dog vehicle to simulate a hardcore player of the virtual world and race throughout the event for five laps.
• Bagel Griefer – Take the bagel vehicle to simulate a newbie that disturbs other players during the event.
• Apple Griefer – Take an apple vehicle to simulate a casual player that disturbs other players during the event.
• Hot Dog Griefer – Take thehot dog vehicle to simulate a hardcore player that disturbs other players during the event.
  

6. Role Assignments – Here are the random role assignments:

• Screen Shot Documenter – Karen, Zachary, Grant
  
• Video Documenter – Zoe
  
• Observer Documenter – Joshua, Martha, Stephen
  
• Bagel Driver – Alisa, Kimberly, I Wuen
  
• Apple Driver – Micah, Tara, Zhen
  
• Hot Dog Driver – Ed, Chris, Brandon
  
• Bagel Griefer – Jane, Laura, Colleen
  
• Apple Griefer – Jade, Delonzo, Danny
  
• Hot Dog Griefer – James, Jose, Steve
  

7. Assets Provided – Here is a list of assets provided:

• Bagel Vehicle – The avatars will choose one of three speed vehicles according to what they are assigned.
• Apple Vehicle – The avatars will choose one of three speed vehicles according to what they are assigned.
• Hot Dog Vehicle – The avatars will choose one of three speed vehicles according to what they are assigned.

8. Participant Preparation – Besides knowing their roles and getting the vehicles, no other preparation is required.

9. Production Plan – I found many different kinds of racetracks and vehicles available in Second Life for this experiment. Perhaps I will need to make some addition assets for the experiment such as the vehicle sculpties and scripties.

Second Life Scripting Exercise

For my first scripted object, I chose to make a simple ball and attached a sound effect to it. I made the ball look techy and added a computer buzzing noise to it upon touch. Originally, the sound was something else, but I changed it to my own sound. At first, it would not work until I researched some more and found out that I needed to drag the sound to the script area.

As for my second script, I wanted to get more advanced so I looked into a script that made an object follow an avatar. After getting it to work, I decided that my object, a UFO, was following too closely so I changed it to be flying in the air above my avatar. I also added a UFO sound effect when the object was only close to my avatar.

Second Life Building Exercise

I used Wings3D for my first sculpty prim and decided to make a hat for my avatar. After uploading it to Second Life, I had some problems because the hat would attach to the head so my avatar would lose her hair. I decided to link the hair prims and my hat prim together for it to attach to my avatar and it worked perfectly after a few tries. It is a large looking hat, though. I decided to add a blue gingham texture to it.


For my in-world multiple linked prim object, I built a simple apple. I first built the root, the red part of the apple. Then I built the stem and the leaf. I linked all of them together after I put them in the right place, making sure I clicked on the red part last so it would be the root of the object. I added textures to make it seem more realistic.


For my last object, I decided to try out flexi path in-world. I picked a simple object, a flag, to test all the controls in the flexi path. It took a lot of trial and error to test what each control did, but I finally got the flag to wave normally in the wind like it would in the real world. I also added a shiny pole and some texture to make the flag look more interesting.

Second Life Cool Features

The first cool feature I found is a way to resurrect objects by typing a command. I saw this feature while exploring race tracks in Second Life and found myself in a Mario Kart Rainbow Road world. To try resurrecting an object, or more specifically the various karts in this place, go to the following location in Second Life.

SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Twilight%20Town/42/196/4015/

When you arrive, head to your left and touch the green pipe to get teleported underground to Rainbow Road. On your left, there should be a sign like the one seen on the screenshot below.


The instructions are all on the screen although it does not show up in the screenshot. Simply type rez and any number from 1 to 16 to get a kart of a certain color. The object will automatically appear before you. Now you can control the kart and race around the rainbow tracks. I thought this feature was cool because it is something I can possibly use in my experiment. This feature makes it simple for avatars to get objects without having to place them on the ground. It can be a space saver for land owners who want to offer features to visitors but don't want their land looking cluttered.


Another cool feature I found in Second Life was to own pets. To get your own pet, you can go to the following location.

SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/We%20Love%20Pets/134/219/25/

Once you get there, browse around to purchase a pet of your choice. I chose a Cocker Pup, which has many free items included with it and lots of controls. There is a note card that comes with every pet which contains a long list of commands you can do with the pet. I only purchased one pet, but it appears that every pet has a different set of commands that comes with it. I thought this feature was interesting because I never once saw a pet in Second Life until I searched for pets. I enjoy having pets so being able to own some pets in Second Life is a good idea.


The last cool feature I found was using textures to make objects transparent. To do this, you can simply edit an object you are building, go to the texture tab, and then click on the square image box above texture. Another window opens up and you should type in the search field "transparent." There will be two transparent textures: one of them is completely transparent and the other is white but still semi-transparent. This feature is useful because I can perhaps use it as glass material for my future experiment if I need to have something transparent.