Comments on: Crescendo architects virtually

By: OpenSim to have mesh soon after Second Life – Hypergrid Business

OpenSim to have mesh soon after Second Life – Hypergrid Business — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 17:49:07 +0000

[...] where most OpenSim users start out. There are no public grids running on the platform. It has been getting some use from architects, however, who can use it to import their building designs from their architectural modeling [...]

By: Jules Vos

Jules Vos — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 07:48:28 +0000

@Ari

It is never a good idea to sound abrasive, particularly so when you're mostly wrong. The article is correct as Second Life "does not support mesh objects". Albeit a little off on terminology (so in that you are right), any fool will understand what the writer actually means.

I agree that primitives are also called "meshes" because technically you can call all 3d geometry a mesh. However Second Life does not support the importat of foreign meshes, which means that you cannot *add* mesh objects to Second Life, only use its current toolset. The article describes this difference very well, and programs like realXtend and world in the SketchWorlds universe do support mesh imports which is a major step forward for open VW platforms.

By: Ari Blackthorne

Ari Blackthorne — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:08:53 +0000

"These objects — known as “mesh” objects, as opposed to the prim-based objects used in OpenSim and Second Life"

Poorly written. Very poorly written. Shame. On. You.

"Prim objects" *ARE* "mesh objects". Prim is shorthand for PRIMITIVE as in primitive SHAPES. (Yes, you do know them: cube, cone, cylinder, etcetera.) As for mesh-level control the best Linden Lab offers natively is that archaic "sculptie" system.

I agree that *mesh control* would be nice. Hell, NURBs would be better and spline-curves even better still. But you forget: Second Life is, for basic intents and purposes an MMORPG that is being *repurposed* for things like education, architecture experimentation and all the rest.

It was designed on a "gaming platform" base. Might as well do your stuff in World of Warcraft.

Stick with 3DS or Maya or whatever your preferred poison is. Second Life is what it is. But please at least write a bit more responsibly and clarify your statements. Because though many will take you at your word, those with any experience will just read and laugh.

Sorry to sound so abrasive, not so much my intent to sound abrasive. But I prefer to just call a Duck a "Duck".

By: Evgeni Sergeev

Evgeni Sergeev — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 01:25:10 +0000

Whatever is the rationale behind the NO-MESH policy of Second Life, I think that it is SL's biggest flaw. Eventually SL will either have to accept mesh import or die. That is a shame, because I have invested heavily into the prim-based business. So let us hope that SL with NO-MESH prevails for as long as possible. Still, with these sunrise technologies, the dominant market leader can change within a few months – technology and early design decisions are what makes the difference.

With regards to Windows, most users worldwide are Windows users, so a Windows-only virtual platform can become the dominant one without the help of Mac and Linux users. Those can continue happily with SL/OS.

I like the shadows. There are no shadows in the SL Viewer, aren't there? They are a big deal. If it can be done in games, it can be done in sims to.

By: Steve Nelson

Steve Nelson — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:54:08 +0000

Another serious limitation of RealXtend is that it runs on Windows only, whereas OpenSim and Second Life also run on Macintosh and Linux, much more in line with the platform-neutral Web.