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Second Life Basics Website: http://etc.usf.edu/te/ What is Second Life? do not have to know how to build Second Life is an online 3D virtual objects from prims to enjoy Second world. While Second Life has the look Life. Many objects are already and feel of a video game, it is not a included in your Library when you game. There are no winners or losers, join and you can also locate many free nor points to obtain or levels to objects made available by other achieve in Second Life. Instead, residents. Second Life is a loosely structured online community where residents are How do I get started? free to communicate and interact with In order to access Second Life, you each other with few restrictions. must sign up for an account at the Second Life website. There are two Second Life runs on servers owned by types of accounts in Second Life: a company called Linden Lab that is basic accounts and premium based in San Francisco, California. accounts. Linden Lab also develops and maintains the software that makes Your first basic account can be Second Life possible. While Linden obtained free of charge. Premium Lab owns the Second Life platform, accounts and additional basic the objects created in Second Life are accounts require you to pay a small owned by its residents. This has fee. The primary benefit of a premium made it possible for the virtual world to account is that it will allow you to own develop its own in-world economy land in Second Life. However, land where objects are bought and sold. ownership does require that you pay Second Life even has its own land taxes which will vary with the currency, the Linden dollar, which can amount of land you own. used to buy and sell the objects created within the world. Linden To sign up for a new account: dollars can be acquired in-world or 1. Go to http://secondlife.com and they can be purchased with real world click on Get Started! currency. 2. Choose your Second Life name. You have some choice for your in- The Second Life world is divided into world first name, but you must several areas that consist of inter- choose your in-world last name linked regions made up of virtual land, from a list of pre-existing names. water and sky. Each region can 3. Enter the required personal support 15,000 prims, which are the information such as your birthdate basic 3D geometrical shapes that and email address and click on make up the virtual objects in Second Continue. You must enter a valid Life (such as buildings, trees, etc). email address in order to access Using Linden Scripting Language an account activation link. (LSL) these objects can be animated 4. Click on one of the radio buttons to and made interactive, bringing them to select an Avatar and click on life in the virtual world. However, you “Choose this avatar”. This will Second Life Basics Created by Luis Perez Page 1 of 12 Last Updated: 1/6/09 determine your initial appearance Getting Around in Second Life in Second Life. When you first log into Second Life 5. On the next screen, enter your real you can go through a brief tutorial in name, gender, and country of Orientation Island to help you become residence. familiar with the controls needed to 6. In the Password section, enter a move around in the virtual world: password and select a security • Up arrow: moves your question. The answer to this avatar forward. question will be used to verify your • Down arrow: moves identity if you forget your user your avatar back. name or password. • Right arrow: turns your avatar to the 7. Scroll down on the page and enter right. the code from the image in the • Left arrow: turns your avatar to the ReCaptcha field. left. 8. Check the box to indicate that you • Shift + Right arrow: moves your agree to the Terms of Service and avatar right. click on Submit. • Shift + Left arrow: moves your 9. Click on “Skip this step” to sign up avatar left. for a basic account. • Page Up: makes your avatar jump. An email with the activation link will be • Page Down: makes your sent to the email address you avatar crouch down. provided. Click on the activation link to finish setting up your account. You are not limited to keyboard commands for moving in Second Life. Once you've signed up for an account, You can also turn on the Movement you will have to download a client Controls in the View menu. These program to access Second Life. Client controls are shown below: programs are available for Windows, Move Jump the Mac and Linux. Before you download the client, you should visit the system requirements page available at: http://secondlife.com/corporate/ sysreqs.php Look Another way to move around in The information on this page will help Second Life is by turning on Fly Mode. you determine if your computer meets This allows you to use the arrow keys the specifications required to run the on your keyboard to fly around in the Second Life client. In general, you will virtual word. To turn on Fly get the best performance from Second mode, click the Home key on Life if you have a fast connection your keyboard (or hold down (broadband) and a fairly fast graphics the Page Up key until your avatar is card. flying). Once you are in Fly mode, you Second Life Basics Created by Luis Perez Page 2 of 12 Last Update: 1/6/09 can go up and down by using the pointer changes to a small square. To Page Up and Page Down keys. The exit Mouselook, scroll back out until arrow keys work the same way in Fly you see your avatar. Using Mouselook mode as when you’re on the ground. can be helpful when you are in Fly To exit Fly mode, click on the Home mode, as you can quickly move in any key once again. If you do this while direction by aiming the pointer and you’re just a few feet off the ground, pressing the Up Arrow to move your avatar will land safely on his or forward. her feet. If you do it while you’re flying higher up, your avatar will have a Using the Camera much rougher landing, but this will not When you are in the default third cause any damage to him or her. person view, you can click on your avatar and drag with the mouse to Mouselook have your avatar and the camera look The default view in Second Life is to in the same direction. The camera have the camera slightly behind and controls can help you get a better view on top of your avatar. In this view, the of the objects in the virtual world. camera’s focus is indicated by the These controls are shown below: white dot in front of your avatar. If you Move Camera left-click on your avatar and drag with Left/Right the mouse, you will change the camera’s focus and the direction your avatar is facing at the same time. If you don’t like the default view, you can switch the view so that you are in Orbit Camera first person mode, looking through Zoom In/Out your avatar’s eyes. This is known as Mouselook. To turn on Mouselook, If you would rather use the keyboard select View > Mouselook or press the shortcuts, they are as follows (Mac M key on your keyboard. You will see users should use Command instead of a small square pointer in the middle of Control and Option instead of Alt): the screen. You can use the mouse to • Alt-click: sets the focus for the turn in any direction and to look up camera (the point around which it and down, and the arrow keys to will move/rotate). move forward/back and side to side. • Alt-click and move the mouse left/ Note that the menus are not available right (or Alt-click and use the left/ in Mouselook. To exit Mouselook and right arrow keys): moves the camera bring back the menus, press the left and right. Escape key on your keyboard. • Alt-click and move the mouse forward/back (or Alt-click and use Another way to enter and exit the up/down arrow keys): zooms in/ Mouselook is by using the scroll wheel out. on a mouse. To enter Mouselook with • Alt+Page Up/Page Down: moves the the scroll wheel, scroll up until you camera up/down zoom past your avatar’s head and the Second Life Basics Created by Luis Perez Page 3 of 12 Last Update: 1/6/09 • Alt+Control-click: orbits the camera you can return to your favorite around the camera focus point. locations. • Double-click on avatar: resets the camera. To create a landmark, select World > Create Landmark here. This will add You can also zoom in and out without the landmark to your Inventory in a turning on the camera controls by Landmarks folder. To go back to a using Control + 0 to zoom in and location in Second Life using a Control +8 to zoom out. Control + 9 landmark, open your Inventory by resets the zoom. clicking on the Inventory button in the lower right corner of the screen (or Teleporting and Landmarks use the keyboard shortcut Command/ While you can explore a lot of the Control + I), then find the landmarks Second Life world just by walking and folder (under My Inventory) and flying around, when you need to get to double-click on a landmark.
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