OpenSimulator is an open source virtual world platform that supports Second Life assets such as objects and scripts. The codebase fuels a number of alternative distributions such as RealXtend and Openlife Grid. Although the platform is only in Alpha, a number of public grids are already online.
I urge anyone who cares about an established Second Life identity to register it on existing public grids. Although your Second Life identity may eventually cross seamlessly between SL and Opensimulator grids, the reported working prototype is only a first step down a long road which may never be completed. Registration is free, so you might as well head off claim jumpers.
I took the additional step this weekend of installing a few of the server and client versions, partially cloning my luscious avatar form (following a Plurk comment from Dandellion Kimban) and stepping into the public Openlife Grid. I'll provide more detail on the process in a future post. If you have any questions that can't wait, feel free to leave them in the comments section.
My fellow Avatarians, the time for emancipation is now. The gated walls of Second Life can no longer contain us. I have tasted the freedom of a foreign Sim and it is sweet...even in semi-Ruthed form.
Botgirl,
ReplyDeleteDid you do it just on the list of Public Grids, or did you do Standalone Sims section as well? Did you do them all? There are so many? Did you have to install the software on your machine in order to do it?
Princess Ivory (who admits to being fascinated with Public Grids, but hasn't a clue how they work, and which one to get involved with)
I've so far signed up for two, and It's funny seeing myself in the same Ruth form that the Linden lab dudes had when they tried linking in. Hopefully we will get to the point where we can seamlessly cross between all of the public grids (such as without logging out of one and logging into the other).
ReplyDeleteprincess: I registered on most of the public grids. There are many, but it only takes a few minutes for each. You can register without installing any software. You can use your existing Second Life client for Opensim grids, but you'll need to make a special shortcut for each one, that includes the IP address.
ReplyDeleteThe first one (Openlife Grid) I signed up for had me use a user id and name that were NOT the same as my avatar, to establish an account. Then it offered me the opportunity to create multiple avatars. Are the other ones like that too? There isn't much info with the signup, so I'm not sure what to do with the rest of them. Do I use my avatar name, or my own login info?
ReplyDeleteDo you have some to recommend that are more well-known than others? Or more likely to succeed? So far, I've just done Openlife Grid, because is was easy to figure out.
Princess Ivory
princess: There is usually a user name that is separate from avatar names. The logins vary from place to place. Beats me as far as which ones will succeed. Anyone else have any ideas?
ReplyDeleteI used the first name of my avatar as the user name, and then when creating my avatar in each site I used my full avatar name. In each grid the name showed the same as my SL name.
ReplyDeleteOf the two I've been, the landscapes look like Second Life but without a lot of the cluttered builds and extensive terraforming. Then again, I didn't stay for very long.
Anyone looking for more detailed instructions on using the OpenSim grids will find information in this post on my blog:
ReplyDeletehttp://dantonsideways.blogspot.com/2008/05/touring-open-source-grids.html
I registered and created my avatar in OpenLife, CentralGrid and OSGrid, which seem to be the big three. (The day I tried DeepGrid there seemed to be a problem with the login process.) And since I live in France I also created an avatar on FrancoGrid.
Note that some of the grids "forget" to put your avatar together when you log in, and you find yourself back to Ruth. On each logon you have to open your inventory and select "wear" to put back on your customized body parts and clothing one by one.
dantan: thanks for the additional info!
ReplyDeleteBotgirl...how did you clone your avatar for use in other grids? Is that a process that a normal human like me can understand?
ReplyDelete