sim-on-a-stick faqs – what’s important? at i live in science land

sim-on-a-stick faqs – what’s important?

continuing onto a third day of striving to make sim-on-a-stick easier, it’s becoming clear that a set of frequently asked questions might be good. the link to sim-on-a-stick blog posts was kind of intended for that but that collection is becoming large and is arranged chronologically and not by “importance”. some topics are way beyond n00b (and way beyond me, like networking it to become a classroom server!)

Graham and ELQ made an outstanding suggestion about the region chooser with ELQ recounting helping others step through SoaS. ELQ suggests that n00bs start off with a single region because then they can’t build across region borders and it alleviates things like terrain textures

considering the age of OpenSim and the steady flow of feature additions and fixes, many in this community are n00bs in certain areas. take me for example, the way i mostly use OpenSim is similar to Second Life. our OpenSim sits on a server and i rarely do anything with it (i copy backups a few times a week and do updates and a reboot once a month). i just log in via the viewer just like hitting Second Life

derr, my own foray into a region on OSGrid ended with a region that no one, including me, could TP to! =p

running sim-on-a-stick is a bit of a black box experience and has enough uncertainty to turn some people off from even trying it. reducing that uncertainty is just as important a goal as is trying to make SoaS run smoothly across as many Windows configurations as possible

a set of concise, and hierarchical, faqs might help lower that threshold of the unknown and get more people excited about the possibilities – w00t!

your suggestions will be key to developing a set of faqs that encourages others to discover what OpenSim can be (in that respect, SoaS can act as a gateway drug to a full-blown OpenSim experience!) =D

what is OpenSim?
what is sim-on-a-stick?
what do i need to be able to use this? (hardware, patience, enthusiasm)
does it install anything permanent on my computer or change my registry?
do you track any information? (muahaha – Mera logs in wearing a tank top in a cold room – $29.95/month - http://perkymera.se) o_O
what’s my first step? (download it!)
where do i unzip this to? does it have to be a stick?
how do i start it up?
how do i access my virtual world? (to see if they know what a viewer is)
what viewer should i use? (this is to stress localhost with port 9100)
how do i log in?
do i have to be a girl avatar? (why wouldn’t you want to be the best?!?) =p
how do i change my name?
how do i change the way i look? (brief mention about creating and attaching new parts to modify)
how do i make stuff? (read this blog and the blogs in the sidebar!)
where can i get stuff? (read online!)
how can i get rich doing this? (i dunno, tell me when you find out)
how do i save my stuff or move it to other places?
how do i close or exit sim-on-a-stick?
are you really that awesome? (why yes, yes i am) =D

if you have other entry-level topics let me know – this won’t be a guide to OpenSim, just enough to get someone to give it a shot – once they get hooked, they’ll learn quickly!

thanks! =)

I screwed up. Now what?

Sarge Misfit

30 May 12 at 7:35 pm

lol!!! that would be a good one and so would the mind reading answer

*jots down “contact Sarge”*

Ener Hax

30 May 12 at 9:06 pm

Well, you want frequently asked questions :-) and that one sure does get asked frequently *laughs* And you didn’t say that we should provide the answers. This one being “Delete and start over” :-D

30 May 12 at 9:28 pm

Totally ossum! I can´t think of anything to add, maybee #5 should have a stalker warning label. Dont tell them how to do that!! As im in fact often logs in like that (white ribbed cotton today) :}

I would like to have a sim on a stick. I have shut down my OsGrid region for the summer now as i cant bring the server with me this summer. But ill sure be back after summer. I only have a sim in Kitely left :)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mera

31 May 12 at 1:57 am

Actually, this is even far more in-depth than it needs to be at the download/install point. You might consider some of these as titles of tutorials, rather than FAQ questions, though. Examples of this might be numbers 13, 14, 15, and 18. Also, while 10 is a very broad subject and certainly tutorial-worthy, it can actually be answered FAQ-style with a short list and a link to Sarge’s awesome viewer review so they can bookmark it for later. People don’t need to know the 100 viewers possible right now. The hardest thing on projects such as this is finding the point where too much information is confusing and detrimental and avoiding it.

ELQ

31 May 12 at 4:29 am

that is my approach too Sarge! that and once i have it unzipped, i just keep copying that same build for other projects

*/me thinks Mera is part of the one percent* where are you going my meatball? a summer home? dang! =)

excellent ELQ! exactly what i want – just faqs, not tutorials! they just need to be able to take that first step in-world and then the rest will follow =)

31 May 12 at 8:40 am

It may be an idea to add a section of how to back it all up (you know PC’s never fail, LOL) and what to do when an upgrade / update happens so people can keep their content and continue using newer releases.

I’m very very busy in Real Life Grid right now but if I get a chance, I’ll experiment with something to help automate & simplify update & upgrade & backups.

WhiteStar

31 May 12 at 8:50 am

great one to add WhiteStar! i do have a post on the SoaS page

http://iliveisl.com/sim-on-a-stick-posts/

that talks about the update function:

http://iliveisl.com/divas-update-function-for-sim-on-a-stick-0-7-1-1-to-0-7-2/

but . . . there are so many posts on that page, it’s hard to find!

the faq would be a good place to put this =)

31 May 12 at 10:07 am

There should be a question for the total n00b:
0: What is a virtual world?

There will be people who stumble across the site, either directed by friends or just random browsing. It would be good to give some preamble about what a virtual world is, what they can be used for and why they should be excited about them.

A good way I use to describe this to people is: to think of the virtual world as their garden. They can landscape the garden, add in features, have a tool shed or invite friends over for a party.

All these are activities that most people will know and can be done in virtual worlds (and more). It is that virtual worlds can allow these activities, even if your friends are across the other side of the world (and you don’t have to worry about the weather either).

I would recommend a small blurb about VW for this but give them the option to expand it to cover more detail if they want (this should really apply for all questions in the FAQ).