It has been a long time since I
wanted to walk all the newbies through the baby steps in Second Life. For few
it’s difficult, but with the following pictorial tutorial, it should be a cup
of tea. This tutorial introduces the first steps in Second Life, the viewer and The Shop. There is something for everyone to learn.
When you visit https://join.secondlife.com/download.php, you will see the following:
Step 1: Choose your avatar
Step 2: Either log in with your Facebook
ID or fill in the simple details. (You may choose to use the same email id for
various avatars.)
You will be asked, if you want to
download the official Second Life viewer. You may either choose to accept or
there are other third party viewers that you may download. Look at the end of
the article for the list of third party viewers. I suggest to use the official
SL viewer, but you always have a choice.
Step 3: Best is to read the Terms and
Conditions and accept them by clicking on the tab.
You will see Step 4 appear on your
viewer. Wait till it loads.
Step 5: Welcome to Second Life. Use arrow
keys to walk.
Step 6: Look for the arrow boards
placed in world and follow the directions.
Page up is used to jump, page down is
to crouch. Upward and downward arrow to move forward and backward respectively;
left and right arrows for turning. Double tap on Page up will make you fly. One
may use W, A ,S and D too.
Once you enter the Invisible swirling teleporter in
Step 7, you will be teleported to the Welcome Island. There will be a number of
new comers and also old avatars to help you out. Type is the local chat bar for
help, and they will be at your assistance.
Before I proceed further, I want to give you a brief
on the main tabs and their functions on the viewer. I am using the Official
Second Life Viewer. The icons on the tabs are the same even if you use any
third party viewer. Look into the picture below to know more.
Now, that we know a little about the viewer, our next
step is to get dressed. Our avatar represents ourselves. I normally like to be
a human. But, you may choose anything you wish. Click on the marketplace link http://marketplace.secondlife.com.
Whenever you buy, remember to use the words “promo,
gift” along with the search item. This helps you to get a list of products that
are free and yet you are not compromised on quality. Remember never to buy the demo product; they
are free to try out before you buy the original products. Demo products either
have a box attached with the product or are textured with “demo” words. All
items bought from the market place are received in the “Received Items” folder.
This can be seen in your inventory. To track the recent purchases, it is best
to click the “Recent” tab.
Second Life is a dream. So, if you want to be a
panda, a horse, a Lilliput or a giant, all is possible. Search the market place
and wear them. However, if you to be a human and want to go shopping in-world.
If you ask around, you will be given landmarks to the Freebies Galaxy and the
Freebies Dungeon. When I was a newbie, I had collected almost all the items at
these places. It took me almost a year to know that I would not use half of the
products. Why? Some, because of lesser quality and others household materials
because they are high on prims. Hence, I suggest go for brand names that have
free to join groups or subscriber kiosks and receive group gifts occassionaly.
To dress up like a human avatar, we need hair for the
head, skin, shape, clothes, shoes and accessories. To get it all at one place,
my most favorite is the JStyle Store.
Click the following link to teleport. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Deepscale/65/163/3202. A one stop shop for both females and males. Once you
get there, click on the rotating pink heart to join the group. In the notifications,
you will see a message appear, click “join” and you will be added as a member. In
the shop, hover your mouse on the big pictures, if they turn from an arrow to a
hand, they are free. Click on them, and click “Keep” in the notification area. Your
folder of bought items will be saved in the Inventory. If the arrow turns to “L$” when you hover on
pictures, it means they can be bought only.
There are many boxes of freebie hair and animation
overriders or Ao. The Ao helps the avatar to move even while standing at a
place. Right click these boxes, kept on the floor, and select “Buy”. Click
“Buy” to buy the items in the boxes. Either they are saved as a folder in your
inventory or under the objects tab.
The other option is to visit other places for each
component. At each of the following store, join their group to receive the
group gifts for lifetime. The groups are free to join. The best
part is quality of the products is good. Look for the words “Join the group”,
click it and join at each store.
Here are a few landmarks you can teleport to:
For hair visit the Diva Main store Isle (2nd
floor) for females
For skin
visit mojo skins body boutique for females http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/MOJO/130/128/21
For skin visit Lara Hurley for females http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Magic%20Valley/210/213/23
For clothes for both men and women visit
Other stores you may visit are Ydea, GB etc. Search the
store name in the search bar within the viewer to teleport.
Few items when bought are delivered to you in objects.
These objects are saved in Inventory under the “objects” folder. To open the
items in the objects, search for a “rez zone” or a “sandbox” in the search
window within the viewer. Click “teleport” in one of the search results. Once
you are teleported, left click the object in the inventory and drag it out to
the ground near you. When you see the box on the ground, right click on the box
and click “open”. A new small window will appear, click “save to inventory”.
All the items in the object, i.e, a box will be transferred to your inventory
in a folder. To wear the items in your inventory, simply open the folders and
right click, then select “add” or “wear”. In case, you still have problems, ask
someone near you. The residents in Second Life are always willing to help
unless they are busy.
With the advent of mesh, few of the newbies and even the
existing avatars, look for mesh clothes and mesh avatars. When you enter Second
Life, you will find yourself in a mesh avatar. Mesh gives a more realistic view
to your avatar and can be best seen in mesh enabled viewers. Almost all the
latest viewers are mesh enabled. The
avatar that you have as a newbie is fitted mesh, i.e., you can scale them in
the appearance according to your liking. Mesh is best when worn with an alpha.
Alpha is an invisible layer that hides the original avatar. Even for other avatars, non –human, few are
available with alpha. Right click on the alpha layer and click “add”.
To get the latest mesh body for free, The Shops are the
best option at the moment in Second Life. However, they are only available for
female human. Click here to visit the Shops mesh body project free body for
females
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Shops/127/128/4. The market place links are:
·
http://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/148682 the shops
·
http://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/154692 mesh project
The following picture tutorial will help you to buy at
The Shops, as it is a little complicated process.
Step 1: Click on the picture
you see on the wall to teleport to The Mesh Project.
Step 2: When you arrive at
the landmark, you will receive a folder. Open the folder in your inventory.
Always click the “recent” tab as it is easier to locate the folder. Right click
“The Shops! Shopping Hud” and select “add”.
Step 3: Click on “THE SHOPS”
that you see on the bottom left corner. A new window of the hud appears within
the viewer. Select your language and agree to the terms of service of The
Shops. Click Continue.
Step 4: Click on the white
mesh body on the wall of the shop. In the hud, select the last small white mesh
body to the right, it is for 0L$, and select buy.
Step 5 and 6: Keep the
folder in your inventory. Open and add the body, feet and hands (left and
right). Also add the alpha of body, hands, feet and hands.
Step 7, 8 and 9: Next add
the “StyleMode Hud” and click Style from the bottom right of the screen. In the
new window below edit, click “Styles”; then click one of the objects you are
wearing from the white options below in the screen. Click the color button and
select the skin color that matches your head. Note that the head is non mesh.
You may choose to buy the mesh head in future. To buy the donated pink mesh
dress and shoes at The Shops, right click on them while wearing the Shopping
Hud, and select buy. Pay 1L$ each, wear them and repeat the process to use different
textures.
Note that the Shopping Hud
and the StyleMode Hud does not work if you are not at The Shops.
In the above picture, the
bodies are mesh. Apart from the original mesh avatar, the heads of the other
two are non-mesh. You may see that there is not much of a difference for
starters. The problem with mesh bodies is that not all the clothes can be worn
for them. Each mesh body has to wear a specific set designer clothes only. I am
wearing the JStyle Store clothes and avatar mixed and matched. Hair is from the
Diva Store. Well, once set and ready, it
is time for you to explore. Click on the
“Destination” tab at the bottom or the “Search” tab at the left of the viewer. There
are lots to do in Second Life. You will be amazed at the potential. Have fun
exploring.
*Note: This was originally written by me for SL Enquirer.
*Note: This was originally written by me for SL Enquirer.
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