10 debug options you should know about
Thursday, July 26th, 2007 at 4:44 PM by: TorleyWelcome to the first day of the rest of your Second Life!
(Post-processed picture taken using the forthcoming WindLight.)
The Client menu is jam-packed with hidden goodies which can help enhance the usability and enjoyability of your Second Life. If you’ve never heard of it before, or consider yourself non-technical and are feeling kind of intimidated already, don’t worry — I’m going to guide you through the highlights of 10 debug options that’ve enriched my day-to-day activities inworld.
Before we go further, I do have to precaution you that doing what I’m going to describe is at your own risk. We don’t offer any support if something goes wrong — some of what’s in the Client menu has sharp edges, and like the knife drawer, that’s why it’s closed by default. So if you’re willing to experiment, please understand that you run the risk of getting cut, but if you feel comfortable with handling these tools on your way to becoming a master chef of the Client menu, then come along with me. 
A little history…
If you’re wondering why it’s called the “Client menu”, “Client” here refers to the Second Life viewer program you’re running on your side, which accesses Linden Lab’s side, the Servers (also the name of the menu next to it that’s disabled if you’re not a Linden).
The Client menu formerly used to be called the Debug menu, and occasionally, you may still see it referred to as such. The reason for the change coincided with our Open Source initiative early in 2007, when we cleaned up the menus and encouraged community contributors to tap deeper into the secrets of Second Life so our platform can be improved.
Long story short, the general purpose of a Debug menu is to provide programmer-facing features not intended for the general public that assist us in reducing problems in the program (hence, DE-bug). But even we can’t resist including some Easter Eggs, as you’ll see.
How to get started
The Client menu’s just a keystroke away: Ctrl-Alt-D on Windows and Linux, or Cmd-Ctrl-D on a Mac. (Note that some other programs may use this shortcut, like Google Desktop, so you may have to press Ctrl-Alt-Shift-D to enable it.)
To the right of the familiar Help menu, you should see it!
The menu items!
10. Quiet Snapshots to Disk - Are you an avid shutterbug like me? Concerned that passerby will find the frequent whirrrr-click! of your screen captures annoying? Just select this option to enable it (it’ll have an X next to it when it’s on), and you can happily use File menu > Take Snapshot or Snapshot to Disk without the accompanying animation and sound.
9. Debug Permissions - Permissions are a complicated beast. But by turning this on, you can have added foresight into the finer details of who can do what with a particular item. Where do you see this info? Whenever you edit an object inworld or right-click and get Properties on an item in your inventory.
So what do those extra flags mean? Developer Kelly Linden explains more in a forum post, and while I can’t directly link to a Knowledge Base article (sure wish I could!), head for the Support Portal, login, and search for “Debug Permissions”.
8. Rendering > Cheesy Beacon - Ever thought the red locator beacon to locate a place or person looked a bit wimpy and hard to see? By turning this on, you’ll enable an animated shockwave effect with a pulsing core that has the oomph of 100 freakin’ lightsabers.
(picture slightly enhanced for dramatic purposes)
7. World menu > Mouse Moves Sun - Second Life gives you a lot of power. One aspect of that is being able to change your local time of day at will (meaning you can see the changes but no one else does) via World menu > Force Sun. But what if you want finer controls? Enable Mouse Moves Sun, then go into mouselook (press “M” when chat bar is closed, or View menu > Mouselook) and move the mouse around. When you’re satisfied, leave mouselook by pressing Esc. With some luck jiggling, you may even be able to achieve a mythical black sun!
Note that Mouse Moves Sun will be obsoleted when WindLight, our new atmospheric rendering magic with even better controls, comes out.
6. Character > Slow Motion Animations - Ever find yourself frustrated while taking action shots or doing model photography because your subject matter just happened to suddenly change poses, ruining your perfect shot? Fret no more! Enable this, and everyone will look a lot more mellow. Bonus: it stops the default walk and run from looking so spazzy, too.
5. Character > Rebake Textures - Have you ever noticed that your avatar has weird blotches, lines, stripes, or other visual glitches that weren’t there just minutes ago? This is a popular workaround until such time we have a better solution. It won’t cure all avatar texture woes (especially if you actually have a more serious problem like an overheating graphics card), but it’s worth a go.
If rebaking works as desired, your avatar will get blurry for a sec, then crisp up again, sans artifacts. It’s like going to the dry cleaners without taking your clothes off! This will soon get a keyboard shortcut, complements of VWR-353.
4. Disable Camera Constraints - Simply turn this off, and you’ll find you can move the camera a lot further — try clicking the ground while holding Alt key (Opt key on Mac), and observe how much further you can see. Handy for builders working on epic projects and intrepid explorers in search of new adventures. Just don’t use it to peep on Residents in a private area and say “I’m watching you!”, that’s creepy and harassment is against Community Standards. :p
3. Joystick Flycam - This one’s a whole suite unto its own. Runitai Linden (who also did the cheesy beacon) added this feature, which is tremendously useful for smooth flythroughs of places when making machinima, or other creative purposes.
Read the instructions to learn more. While there isn’t a list of “approved” devices to use it with, most quality USB joysticks should work, and in the spirit of 3D, you may want to check out the SpaceNavigator.
2. Mouse Smoothing - If you enjoy being in 1st-person view, aka mouselook (see above!), this will smooth your view as you move the mouse, which should enhance the feel of being in motion. It also works when clicking and dragging on your avatar in 3rd-person view, aka mouse steering. Best way to understand this one is to try it out — if you’re accustomed to games which use mouse smoothing, chances are you’ll appreciate it, and like many of these options, it’s just a switch away!
1. Debug Settings - You’ve come this far, and what do we have at the end of this journey? A veritable Swiss army knife, a smorgasbord of veritable debug options!
For example:
- PlayTypingAnim - Ever want to disable that typing animation and sound that plays every time you start text-chatting? Setting this to FALSE is your answer.
- UISndObjectCreate - Frustrated by the bass-rumbling ROWWWWL that plays when you rez a prim, even when the the UI sounds are muted in Preferences? Just blank this field and future object creation will be pleasantly silent.
More of my faves are here. Also, before some features are ready for prime-time in the viewer, like “RenderGlow” which will eventually be a standard build option come WindLight, they’re unlockable in Debug Settings. You may find out more about these undocumented features from fellow Residents, so keep your ears open on the virtual street. 
Debug Settings’ dropdown list is very long, but if you know what you’re looking for and start typing, it’ll autocomplete. Each setting has a blurb from our devs about what it does, so you won’t be totally lost, and there’s a handy “Reset to default” button you can click, should something go astray.
(No post-processing here… taken live in SL!)
Hopefully, using the above during the course of your everyday Second Life will make it that much richer. Bon appétit!
These aren’t the only 10 debug options worth knowing about. Got faves I didn’t mention? Leave a comment with your reasons why!
Viva la Second Life!
Torley Linden is a Product Manager & more who regularly contributes to the Official Linden Blog. He/she/it loves seeing you smile. Read Torley’s previous posts.
July 26th, 2007 at 4:57 PM
Sadly, Rebake doesn’t work with VWR-1001 (https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-1001) the bug I’ve been reporting for nearly a year (on PC & Mac platforms) but it is very handy for that pesky “Missing Image” fashion statement. I also use Disable Camera Constraints a lot. It is handy for Security work and for sightseeing when the Lag Monster keeps you pinned.
Thanks for the tips, Torley!
July 26th, 2007 at 5:00 PM
Woot! Bring on reflections and WindLight already! The Sims 2 already has a mod for advanced water-like and wax-like reflections, so where are yours?
July 26th, 2007 at 5:00 PM
A fave of mine is “High-res Snapshot”. It takes your current window size and whenever you take a Snapshots using “Snapshot to Disk” (or ctrl-`), the resulting Snapshot is twice your window size! Which is great if you want to make a real-life print of your Snap or otherwise want high resolution images.
It does have some quirks, it occasionally fails to draw objects that are far away, but for most Snapshots, this is no problem.
July 26th, 2007 at 5:01 PM
@Uccello and Lindens: Yeppers, Disable Camera Constraints helps alot when security work is necessary.
July 26th, 2007 at 5:03 PM
Now this was one of the most informative and useful entries ive read .
As always torley has given us the good oil on features that are hidden away.
Well done
Torley for president
July 26th, 2007 at 5:05 PM
I am really frustrated with the snapshot thing. I have heard about people tkaing snapshots of textures, art, and other proprietary items in SL. I don’t understand why this isn’t something that land owners can limit. Just like disabling camera constraints or allowing someone that has been banned to still interact with objects on the banned parcel.
These are really weird quirks that make SL rife with abuse. I can ban people all I want, but they can still harass me, my visitors and customers, and still take pictures of items on my land. My only saving grace was that at least some people didn’t know about these things. I guess those days are over.
July 26th, 2007 at 5:06 PM
Finally the debug menu comes out of the shadows hehe. I stumbled upon it once as a newbie, thinking I had uncovered some secret menu, and discovered many.. interesting features. But I hadn’t tried some of those, thanks!
I’ve also found the following quite useful at times:
Client > Disable Camera Constraints (useful when building)
Client > Rendering > Selected Texture Info (to get face number)
Client > Rendering > Hide Selected (when modifying your av or building)
July 26th, 2007 at 5:07 PM
High-res Snapshot
Will increase the size, detail and clarity of a snapshot to disk by an extraordinary amount. Beware though, the filesize of the BMP could end up quite large as well.
(Mine are 14mb each!)
July 26th, 2007 at 5:16 PM
I hope to be using render glow real quick. Its about time there was a little more poop to lighting. On the same subject, when will the seen color of a light agree with the color set. I was hoping I was making an incandescent (colored) light when I used light orange for a light color, but then I got one of those plain, screaming Secondary YELLOW lamps that used to attract mosquitoes.
July 26th, 2007 at 5:19 PM
I too use disable camera constraints, it is prolly the most used of all debug stuff for me, comes in very handy when building. Now to find a way to not be limited by distance when I am working on this huge tower LOL (it is so big I have to fly around to select prims, but with cam constraints turned off at least I can see it)
is there a way I am not aware of, to turn of the limit on distance to select prims?
July 26th, 2007 at 5:20 PM
As always Torley you have answered the questions we had not even though of yet. Your tutorials are a must and your constant ability to trust the user that little bit further inspires us all.
Your a credit to SL, and long may that continue
July 26th, 2007 at 5:24 PM
The best debug operation is still a linden only one, properly test new patches for bugs before dropping it on the main grid.
July 26th, 2007 at 5:27 PM
For Linux users, the Ctrl+Alt+D key combo is often trapped by the window manager (KDE, Gnome, etc.) as the “Show desktop” command, and so it will simply minimize second life and other windows when you press it. What works for me is to press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+D, which still activates the client menu and isn’t trapped by KDE as the show desktop command.
July 26th, 2007 at 5:33 PM
Torley
I fell into SL when I had a lot of time on my hands.
Can’t really express how important it is to me.
But I just got a Mac. 24″ so should look so good. But I get all that texture slippage stuff. Nightmare.
Please help us!
yours
H13
July 26th, 2007 at 5:33 PM
I like the control+Q shortcut because it makes all the bugs go away.
July 26th, 2007 at 5:37 PM
So will my 8 prim laptop support Windlight? I got the load screen up on it, but that’s it so far…this one has keys that click
Torley, we are proud of ya
July 26th, 2007 at 5:42 PM
I miss the typo.. xD Cheesy Bacon was classic.
Mhmm, didn’t know about the snapshots one–and I use the debug menu regularly!
I’ll definitely do that.
July 26th, 2007 at 5:44 PM
So are we still allowed to use these debug options on things like slingo and zyngo, or are they supposed to not exist anymore now?
July 26th, 2007 at 5:48 PM
Hey Torley!
Not to change subjects, but when can we custom create our own AOs?
I personally think that this is a must have. It would be one of the most used and welcomed additions in SL and I believe a year ago we were told an AO solution was close.
Not complaining, just stating that this is a hugely welcomed feature and I am sick of wearing AOs when I think this should be already built in by now.
Thank for the constant updates though Torley!
July 26th, 2007 at 5:51 PM
Great article, Torley. As always, you rock. ^^ That goes for you -and- your coworkers, btw, no matter what others might say. ^^
And Rhaorth Antonelli.. You could try unchecking the “Limit Select Distance” one, which seems to be selected by default. It helped me when I was building something really huge. I think I could still select things over 100 meters away from me.
July 26th, 2007 at 5:51 PM
Rhaorth, above “Disable Camera Constraints” is “Limit Select Distance”, uncheck that and you should be ok. Note that also you have to have the object within your draw distance to see/select it as well.
Also it should be noted that enabling Glow or Dynamic Reflections screw up Alt+Clicking, by not allowing you to zoom properly around objects so you’ll have to zoom around yourself or the ground as a pivot point.
Character -> Character Tests -> Go Away/AFK When Idle is one of my favorites.
In Debug Settings:
FreezeTime - Setting this to True will “Freeze”/stop avatar attachments, movement (not animations), and particles.
ZoomTime - Determines the speed the camera will “swoop” from one position to the new position. Excellent to use along with FreezeTime for producing slow camera matrix “bullet time” like effects.
AutoLogin - Bypass the login screen and SL will attempt to login directly after you launching it (this can actually be annoying if you want to change your login location or see blog updates).
Somewhere in there is also an option that will show you how long you’ve been logged in for the current session, but I forget what it’s called.
July 26th, 2007 at 5:51 PM
Oooh, nice. Thanks for the info!
http://marapets.com/refer.php?id=dollhouse
July 26th, 2007 at 6:00 PM
Thanks Torley, I just crashed ….H A P P Y !
2048 drawing distance is indeed killer LMAO.
I really love the move mouse thinghy…VERY useful.
Seems like all the custom settings in the debug menu stay on there!
Finally got rid of the typing anim!
What would we do without ya!?!?!
July 26th, 2007 at 6:15 PM
Really nice screenshots, coming ever closer to reality!
The one i use most often though is “disable camera constraints” in the above menus, its fast, easy, safe and quite useful to take nice screenshots or discover the surroundings in a wider angle..
July 26th, 2007 at 6:27 PM
Great to have this breakdown Torley! One pter pieve of mine with the Client menu is that disable camera constraints doesn’t stick and I have to reset it every time I log on .. a must for photos for me.
July 26th, 2007 at 6:42 PM
Yeah - my favorite was when you guys rendered the RECENT ITEMS useless without telling us you added the new “Since Logoff”, “Hours” and “Days” options in the FILTERS window (disabled by default). Took me months of Recent Items Tab uselessness to figure that one out.
I’m sure others are still thinking their RECENT ITEMS TAB is useless - so, what you need to do, kiddos, is open inventory and each time you want to use the RECENT ITEMS tab, you must SHOW FILTERS and select either “SINCE LOGOFF” or “Hours” or “Days”. From my experience, this does not carry through logoffs. I’m not even sure these new options stick through opening and closing the inventory window.
You guys need to set this to a default that IS NOT “Random recent items I got in the last 4 years”.
July 26th, 2007 at 6:45 PM
WOW more thing to go wrong with the client! Wohooooooooooooo
July 26th, 2007 at 6:49 PM
Torley, thanks for that Client menu rundown. I think I’ll try out that Rendering>Cheesy Beacon thing, Debug Permissions, and RenderGlow.
July 26th, 2007 at 6:49 PM
Excellent, a wonderful guide. Answers many questions and solves a few problems.
July 26th, 2007 at 6:51 PM
Wow! Thanks so much for posting this. Some I knew..others I didnt!
Yay!
July 26th, 2007 at 6:59 PM
> Just don’t use it to peep on Residents in a private area and say
> “I’m watching you!”, that’s creepy and harassment is against
> Community Standards. :p
Unless you are doing the Linden Police State sanctioned job of spying on your neighbors skyboxes to ensure they are not doing something “broadly offensive.”
Broadly Offensive spying umm vigilante umm police work is very much allowed.
Won’t somebody please think of the pixellated children.
July 26th, 2007 at 6:59 PM
“go away/afk when idle” has long been a favorite of mine, too. My only peeve about it, now, is that while it used to let you remain active when you minimized, it now shows you as “away.” Is there a way to fix this? Sometimes you just want to minimize for a moment, or longer… lol. Which makes the option only partially useful, compared to totally awesome like it used to be.
July 26th, 2007 at 7:02 PM
Gotta agree with Corwin. I hate having to disable camera constraints every time I log in. I turn them off to look around Serenity Woods to make sure no misdeeds are being done.
And to spy on friends in the sandbox from the other side of the sim and give them a “I can see you!” message that leaves them wondering. >3
July 26th, 2007 at 7:04 PM
is there any way to stop the cam from my House?
with the shown settings , u can go over 2 sims to look in bedrooms.
need to stop that.
privacy is that not.
its like : Hey who will look at the escort-skyrooms at 700m
we need to restrict cams from other ppl on our land.
July 26th, 2007 at 7:07 PM
a HUGE helper to builders is turning some of the render types off. These are useful if you are building in the clouds, building with a bunch of trees around or building underwater.
To turn them on and off click: Client/Rendering/Types/
Some of the more useful rendering types I use frequently are:
Trees (works only on linden trees.)
Water (Only clears view from outside of the water. If you move your camera under water level, it will still go dark)
Clouds (Helpful if you are building on the clouds… also helps frame rate in a laggy sim)
Particles. (trying to adjust a waterfall with all kinds of spray and particles? this one works wonderfully)
Please note that you will still select prims that are not rendered, but sometimes getting the view angle or clearing clutter is all that is needed to be able to adjust your view.
Great article torley. Keep em’ coming.
July 26th, 2007 at 7:09 PM
Torley, you truly rock! I so look forward to your weekly blog. Is wonderful to have good news and useful information all neatly and entertainingly written up. If you weren’t so far away, I’d send you a crate of watermelons!
July 26th, 2007 at 7:09 PM
2 sims?
July 26th, 2007 at 7:11 PM
people actually print snapshots from the game offline?…….hmmm
July 26th, 2007 at 7:21 PM
ahh you left out the best one! Client > Debug settings > XferThrottle is the cure for slow inventory loads. Combine with PurgeCacheOnStartup for a much smoother running SL.
LimitDragDistance FALSE is great for large builds.
And of course the various UiSnd and UiImg options that allow to customize the sounds and textures of the viewer ^^
July 26th, 2007 at 7:40 PM
Glad to hear that “Rebake Textures” will get a keyboard shortcut soon
I need it quite often.
July 26th, 2007 at 7:41 PM
Is this where we complain about settings not staying set for next login?
and…. where in debug (if in debug) is the setting to un-anchor windows so i can drag various widows (i.e. communicate window) to another monitor?
July 26th, 2007 at 7:43 PM
Mirrors are still possible in SL as well:
Client > Debug Settings > RenderDynamicReflections
It still looks great!
July 26th, 2007 at 7:47 PM
@#20, thanks! I thought the recent items thing was just broken. Good to know theres a fix.
My favorite in debug is disable camera constraints. Its good for just about anything, especially when building large things and doing security.
July 26th, 2007 at 7:50 PM
wow am I reading this right? I can use my Logitech joystick to fly my aircraft with instead of the arrows?
Can you clarify this please.
I hope so. Thats will be great
July 26th, 2007 at 7:50 PM
Slarti….!!!! thank you sooo much for that tip…will be passing it on…just did it & loged back..NO RECENT AT ALL…ur a star x
July 26th, 2007 at 8:03 PM
I think the use of disable camera constraints is a very valuable tool for building or looking around your land and would hate to lose it. One must always assume that you are being watched and there is no privacy in sl.
July 26th, 2007 at 8:07 PM
Disable camera is great for finding lost prims that disappear underground or between walls when rezzing and lost land flatteners too low….found half of someones tower under my land before i figured the return item menu wasn’t activated.
July 26th, 2007 at 8:08 PM
It would be nice if these options were system-stored toggles. Every time I log in I have to re-click DISABLE CAMERA CONSTRAINTS and other such options. Would love to see these menu items as continual toggles, remembered the next time we log in so we don’t have to keep re-clicking them every time we go in-world.
July 26th, 2007 at 8:19 PM
Where is the debug option to permanently save debug settings?
July 26th, 2007 at 8:23 PM
I always have Show LookAt enabled.
July 26th, 2007 at 8:39 PM
@31: THANKS!!!
three more Client menu favs:
Rendering > Types > Simple (Ctrl-Alt-Shift-1):
makes the world UGGGGGGGLLYYY but you can at least control the thing and get out of a laggy place.
Rendering > Types > Particles (Ctrl-Alt-Shift-=):
Dancing with a lot of poofers around? Just use this one and all particles dissappear!
Rendering > Features > UI (Ctrl-Alt-1):
Turns off everything but the world. Awesome for projections (used it in a concert about a month ago) or showing people stuff around.
wish / question: is there a way to force one texture on an object’s face to (re)load, instead of standing there for ten minutes waiting and hoping that it will?
ps: i support the motion… Torley for president!!!
July 26th, 2007 at 8:47 PM
theres one hidden in there that is a god send for people who have to do alot outside SL (like make profile photos or edit snapshots on the drive) its in the char menu > char tests > Untoggle the Afk/away when Idle, and never Ever go into the sleeping like afk state ever again.
July 26th, 2007 at 8:58 PM
That is so Cool Torley!
Thanks for the Great Info!
It is always helpful to have new tools to make SL better!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nokithecat_writer/
July 26th, 2007 at 9:13 PM
WOW! Thanks Torley! Your debug setting prefs just revolutionised my picture taking ability!
July 26th, 2007 at 9:21 PM
Thank you Torley for this great info and your wonderful instructional videos on YouTube. You are definately here for the people to try to make this world the best it can be!
Vote: Torley for President of Linden Labs!
Another thanks also to Slartibartfast Magicthise who also knows what hints and fixes we really need badly quickly, like the recent tab on inventory fix!
Vote: Slartibartfast Magicthise for Vice President of Linden Labs!
July 26th, 2007 at 9:27 PM
Wish there was command line options for them, like:
/991rebake
/991cloudsoff
/991cameradisable
‘cos I’m sooo bored with having to menu-menu-menu-menu stuff for things I have to do like 20 times a day
July 26th, 2007 at 9:39 PM
For Tip #9 - Debug Permissions… Torley writes:
“…while I can’t directly link to a Knowledge Base article (sure wish I could!)…”
If you log in to the Support Portal, you can then type (or copy/paste) this URL to get directly to the article:
https://support.secondlife.com/ics/support/KBAnswer.asp?questionID=4107
(In case anyone’s having trouble finding it)
July 26th, 2007 at 9:44 PM
I just posted up an article on my website with more detailed information about some Debug Options.
Some very interesting ones here.
http://slmidgar.110mb.com/readarticle.php?article_id=22
July 26th, 2007 at 9:45 PM
In trying to enable this menu, I realised for the first time that the SL client ignores my Mac’s Dvorak keyboard layout setting. I kept seeing “hippos!” and getting teleported home and enabling chat history, because I was typing ‘D’ but it understood ‘H’.
Also, I had to type ‘cmd-option-shift-D’, not whatever Torley said.
July 26th, 2007 at 9:51 PM
Let me heap on the praise for Disable Camera Constraints. My all time fave. Lots of other fun things in the debug menu, like changing the background color of the pie menu…thanks so much for the rundown Torley.
That said, the RenderGlow feature, like Windlight, seems like it could use a little more work before hitting primetime, esp. with regard to how it treats fullbright objects.
Finally, I’d drop down and weep for a debug setting that would let us toggle the ability to select LL’s trees by surrounding them with a select box instead of clicking one by one.
Thanks again!
July 26th, 2007 at 9:54 PM
Hi Torley Linden,
Great blog post!
Since we are on the topic of debugging, please debug the banner on the secondlife.com website where I see:
“Your World. Your Imagination.”
It is a lie and should not be there.
Thank you.
July 26th, 2007 at 9:57 PM
Thanks! These are really helpful. It’s nice to see helping messages instead of the typical new things we can’t do or new screw ups. XD
July 26th, 2007 at 10:00 PM
Thanks Torley and Slartibartfast, the recent irems not clearing has been so annoying, had no idea why it had stopped emptyingor , how to fix it.
July 26th, 2007 at 10:22 PM
I LOVE playing with the debug menu! Torley just let loose one of my favorite “secrets” = Camera Constraints.
I use it alot when I’m building high above my shop & someone enters below. Just move the camera down & see who it is.
July 26th, 2007 at 10:46 PM
Please, Windlight? Pretty please?
July 26th, 2007 at 10:56 PM
someone mentioned show lookat. That doesn’t come up in the debug menu, though /
What’s the proper name for it ?
July 26th, 2007 at 11:06 PM
Thank you,. Torley, Your tips/tutorials have always been quite satisfying to me. Huggs!
July 26th, 2007 at 11:33 PM
nevermind. Found show lookat.
July 26th, 2007 at 11:36 PM
8 Rhaorth Antonelli Says:
is there a way I am not aware of, to turn of the limit on distance to select prims?
yep, in the debug menu, unclick limit select distance.
July 26th, 2007 at 11:37 PM
Torley,
Your comment: “Before we go further, I do have to precaution you that doing what I’m going to describe is at your own risk”
How does this make smething more usable? I’m sorry but none of the SL staff have the needed credentials to state something being more usable without having it tested by a neutral 3rd party. Get a real PhD on staff with HCI and Industrial Design background. Until then SL will be what it has been. Buggy and full of warts.
How will enginerring implement Windlight when they cant even resolve te spaghetti code that is compromised with each new build?
July 26th, 2007 at 11:52 PM
Thanks Torley for a wonderfully informative post (as always). Ive been using some of these for ages, but its a great introduction for newcommers.
My favourite debug setting is LSLHelpURL which allows me to choose the source of Wiki Help for LSL scripting - not that the official LSL portal isnt great, but rather that I just prefer a different site for my scripting reference.
July 26th, 2007 at 11:59 PM
If you don`t know what occuring in the client menu debug……… :/
July 27th, 2007 at 12:22 AM
Go back to sleep Dirk.
Your comment:I’m sorry but none of the SL staff have the needed credentials to state something being more usable without having it tested by a neutral 3rd party.
And further more: Get a real PhD on staff with HCI and Industrial Design background. Until then SL will be what it has been. Buggy and full of warts.
Now wheres the fun in that?
We’re are debugging the future here, and I’m part of it.
July 27th, 2007 at 12:52 AM
RenderFarClip is a gas, I’ve been looking for that for so long!
Is there a way to render Avatars and small objects over this distance (same sim) ?
July 27th, 2007 at 1:00 AM
mmmmmm cheesy bacon
no wait! it’s beacon, not bacon
awww
July 27th, 2007 at 1:12 AM
Great post Torley, I have used the cheesy beacon for quite a considerable time now and find it always amusing and invaluable.
In point 6 about slow motion animations you say at the end “Bonus: it stops the default walk and run from looking so spazzy, too.
”
What exactly is “spazzy” and if it is a slang for “spastic” I think you should reconsider your choice of words.
July 27th, 2007 at 1:23 AM
oh, and here’s a Slide Show about turning off SurfacePatch rendering when looking for objects underground:-
http://slidtuts.wordpress.com/2007/06/25/how-to-find-sunken-objects/
July 27th, 2007 at 1:30 AM
Boo boo. Yes, it should be Cmd-Ctrl-D on a Mac, but it isn’t, it’s Ctrl-Opt-D (aka Ctrl-Alt-D) just like on a Windoze box. You fixed most of the commands to follow Mac standards (and stop overriding system defaults) but not that one…
July 27th, 2007 at 1:30 AM
afk/idle dos not work here animore after version 17 am i the only one ore ??
used to work great before now when i min window i am away
July 27th, 2007 at 1:34 AM
Still waiting eagerly for Windlight… any idea when?
Broccoli
July 27th, 2007 at 1:48 AM
yes. I stumbled across the option to change the first name. tried and applied, but nothing happened. why?
July 27th, 2007 at 2:09 AM
Torley chan lots of info and stuff to play with. Client has been so stable recently that I dare try some of these. Thanks - you couldn’t do this twice a week could you? Gaining a lot of fans out here…
July 27th, 2007 at 2:19 AM
If you feel inspired by this wonderful blog from Torley, you might wanna try the NCI FREE class in Photography at 7am on Fridays. (Totally free education, NOT commercial, so I hope this post is allowed to stay )
If you combine the Client menu settings with advanced graphics Preferences, and make choices in the snapshot preview menu, the permutations for stunning photographs are endless!
It’s a two hour class, so we have time to look at artistic composition as well! AND what to do with your pics after you’ve taken them! PHEW! That’s a lot!
So the invitation to drop by NCI Beach and learn more is there for everybody
Rose
July 27th, 2007 at 2:24 AM
yay! way to show people who don’t understand how badly debug settings can mess up a client where most of the settings are!
heads up support team!
July 27th, 2007 at 2:53 AM
Nice post , but what about the problem, that is not direct related with it , but happened on the day of the power outage:
I am a nice girl , and i was clothed ( bikini , top and bottom piece ) on my pc, and topless on the pc’s of my friends.
Not a big problem on the mature sim that i was on , but what if this happens on a PG sim , and i get banned ???
July 27th, 2007 at 3:03 AM
“(picture slightly enhanced for dramatic purposes)”
Hehehehe. I heart you muchly, Torley!
My fave Debug feature is to turn off Rendering> Ground to get rid of that fugly gap on the horizon. Turning off footshadows makes your shoes look better too! Wheeeeeeee!
Debugarama!
July 27th, 2007 at 3:08 AM
Texture - Wireframe is worth a look (CTRL-SHIFT-R). It can give the effect of a free hand pencil sketch!
RenderDynamicReflections in the debug options is also a good one to switch on as it makes shiney surfaces look better. Unfortunately this isn’t true reflections as seen briefly in the Firstlook viewers earlier this year.
RenderGlow is a mixed blessing - the effect itself is good but at present it works off the existing bright setting. There are however too many existing objects in SL which have this set which shouldn’t glow, with the result that many places and objects just look awful when you have this on. Hopefully if it does make it into the mainstream it will work off a new option on prims (e.g. glow) otherwise there will be a lot of complaints!
Matthew
July 27th, 2007 at 3:11 AM
Ohhh, wow, I’ve been waiting for some kind of word that the bizarro spacenavigator knob thing works in SL. Just joystick flycam, or configgable to control the av, too?
July 27th, 2007 at 3:23 AM
Thanks Torley! (so one blog post each week that’s worth reading)
“10. Quiet Snapshots to Disk - Are you an avid shutterbug like me? Concerned that passerby will find the frequent whirrrr-click! of your screen captures annoying?”
Forget passersby! Can one hope that in a future viewer version the default is ‘off’? I’ve ranted on the subject of sound-effects before, but these ‘involuntary’ ones are a pain! Sometimes in the quieter passages of a concert all you can hear is ‘whirrr-click’,'whirrr-click’!
I’ve even done it myself ;-( It’s all to easy to just press ‘Snapshot’ and forget the fact that you are littering everyone else’s aural space.
July 27th, 2007 at 3:45 AM
Torley, this is, together with some of the informative comments, the most useful Posting EVER. More please…..
July 27th, 2007 at 3:45 AM
A little note from the other end of the scale for all us non-filthy-rich non-geeks who do not have octo-core 128 gig RAM machines (go ahead and laugh, I bet you it’ll be the minimum requirement to run SL in less than 3 years): with the debug settings you can dial your draw distance *down* below the 64 meter minimum too!
RenderFarClip allows you to set your draw distance arbitrarily low, which can be really really helpful when you tp into a sluggish sim and you don’t want to wait 5 minutes for the chair right next to you to rez while all the irrelevant stuff in a 64-meter radius insists on rezzing first. I don’t recommend setting it to zero though (mind those sharp knife edges!
July 27th, 2007 at 4:03 AM
Nice Options, at least for a programmer. A big Part of the Options won’t say that much for gamers inworld, at least not for older Gamers.
When will Windlight be available? Or a First Look?
That’s a thing i’d appreciate much more than the clumsy voice client.
An d, at least, when will thies disgusting communication Window in the Voice First Look disappear? It makes the Client unusable.
Raban
July 27th, 2007 at 4:06 AM
Talk about coincidence. Last night I pulled up this menu and was playing with camera constraints… VERY cool.
I dont’ recommend this for the faint of heart (sharp knives etc.) or new avs, but if you are comfortable withthe client and want to play around go for it, it’s interesting to camera over two sims!
But Torley, this is a tease - can we have a better set of instructions on what is possible for more advanced users?
July 27th, 2007 at 4:30 AM
Great post, Torley, thanks for all this info.
One request as some have stated above, can we get the “Recent Items” to be defaulted to it’s state prior to the changes?
My partner and I, also have thought for a couple of months now that the “Recent Items” tab had been scraped. Just read this and will now log in this afternoon and hopefully be able to use it again. It has been sorely missed.
Again, thanks for the informative post! And glad Windlight is good to go.
July 27th, 2007 at 4:34 AM
Maybe I’ve missed it but the Debug option I really want is AutoMouseLook, preferably defaulting to off. When scanning large spaces in the middle of chat it is annoying to have to hit ESC twice to exit mouselook then click on Chat then click on History. SL Chat on steroids - no, the mouse keeps eating the steroids!
July 27th, 2007 at 4:44 AM
the Afk/away when Idle <==== this does NOT work since 1.1.7. even will make me waway eventhough while i am chatting with other Residents..anyone else having the same problem?
July 27th, 2007 at 4:48 AM
Thanks for the tip on getting around other programs “owning” the Ctrl-Alt-D sequence by using Ctrl-Alt-Shift-D! I had run into that issue last week, when I was online and someone recommended I rebake. I didn’t know how, and they said I had to do it through the Client menu, which I couldn’t get to. Now I can!
July 27th, 2007 at 5:45 AM
Anyone to help me ? When I try to log on, SL keeps telling me “Waiting for region handshake” and then fails to connect. Am I the only one ? What should I do ?
July 27th, 2007 at 5:46 AM
Wow… now that was a great (and helpful) blog… i knew of a few of those but some i hadnt even thought of
Thanks!
July 27th, 2007 at 5:57 AM
no matter How much Suger coat it you do ! YOU STILL SUCK GIVE US BACK OUR GAMES !
July 27th, 2007 at 5:59 AM
I’ve been using the client menu from day 1 thanks to a techy friend. Uccello after you’ve rebaked textures you need to then go and edit appearance and close it, no need to actually edit anything. and then it will work. Just one of those curious bugs I spose like when you see people as the generic female AV, gust change group tags and watch the people pop back to their normal selves lol.
Nice post Torley
July 27th, 2007 at 6:19 AM
hehe , never Land has been that cheap.
16k sqm for 6k l$
its a shame, dear lindens to destroy the game that way
btw i heard there was a new law that online-games in usa must be allowed…. search for usa vs. antigu