'What the hell is a wireframe?' (PMS + tutorial!)

Can someone please check out this chick's AO and answer my deep burning question, "What is it called and for the love of God, WHY?"


Don't get me wrong — she's cute. I like her headphones or her earmuffs or whatever those things are, and she's rocking some snazzy red sweatpants. But is there an AO out there called, "Hey, check out my ruby red ass"? I'm currently in the throes of some agonizing PMS, and it only took a few minutes of looking at this girl's butt in this position before I wanted to kick it.

I shot that pic while I was on a hunt. So let's talk about something else that's bugging the crap out of me, and then I'll show you some helpful pics that could turn you into a Hunt Goddess/God. (You might want to skip the bitching and go straight to the Tutorial section.)

Ready?

Step away from the landing point.

You would think with all the annoying gestures out there, someone would make one called, "BITCH, MOVE!" (If there's one that exists, please let me know.)

During this season of 9,000 hunts, I can't tell you how many people I've landed on during the past few days. Nothing bugs me more than TPing into a store and flailing around in the air for a while like a queen dork because someone is standing there zoning out at the landing point. Shauna Skye made me laugh over on her awesome Moonletters blog with her post, "Get off the Landing Point," and accompanying pics. (Although, what the hell? She looks way cooler than I do when she flails.)

When you TP into a location, please take a couple of steps back, front, to the side, whatever works for you, and then you can space out, wander away from your computer, make some nachos, fix a drink, milk a cow, or whatever you may need to do afk all you want. Please. Thank you.

I'll admit, I don't get as passionately angry about this problem as I used to because some of you may recall Halloween, when I crashed and left a half-dressed, creepy-looking ghosted AV at Mynerva's landing point for six hours. I can't imagine how many people landed on me and cursed my name that day.


Photo courtesy of Sophia Harlow, who valiantly went over there with her husband and beat my ghosted AV with big stick in an attempt to get her to go away. Didn't work, but hilarious pics. *shudder*

And as long as we're talking about hunts, can someone please solve a seemingly age-old mystery for me? If a hunt sign says a hunt lasts from, say, "Nov. 26 to Dec. 17," I assume it means we have until the end of Dec. 17 to finish it, not the beginning, yes?? Last night, there was some group discussion— with a couple of snark comments thrown in for good measure — over whether the With Love hunt ended at 11:59 p.m. Dec. 16 or 11:59 p.m. Dec. 17. It was tiring. People who talk as if they know everything when really they know absolutely nothing make me tired. So did that sentence.

For the record, I finished the second half of that hunt this morning (which is Dec. 17, since this damn blog template has no dates), so get out there and spend 880L to finish it today if you're so inclined. (Yes, when you do the math, it's kind of like getting a bucket of ice water thrown in your face, BUT the 10L prizes are worth it. Really, they are.)

OK, the bitching is now officially over. Sorry. Let's move on to . . .

         TUTORIAL, or HERE'S THE PART WHERE I ATTEMPT TO TEACH SOMETHING

Many hunts have some challenging moments that evoke frustrated screams. I was talking with a friend the other day and said, "That [aRAWRa] prize was impossible for some reason — I finally had to break out the wireframe." She said, "What's that? I don't think I have a wireframe."

Oh yes you do, honey! You have it and with a little help from me, you can wield your wires like a Jedi master!

**optional ending** Many people already know this stuff. If so, just stop reading here. **end optional ending**

When a hunt stop leaves you crumpled up in a fetal position and sobbing, you can get all ninja on its ass by using wireframe. Here's how. (Apologies in advance for getting the bright idea to take these how-to pics after I was already IN wireframe.)

1. Pull up your Advanced menu. The latest version of Viewer 2 includes this option in Preferences (Advanced tab). Or, on Mac, hit Ctrl+Option+D. On a PC, press Ctrl+Alt+D.

2. Scroll down and check "Show Develop Menu":



3. In the Develop menu, select "Rendering," then move to the submenu and check "Wireframe":


Congratulations! You've just reduced your world to a bunch of lines! The next time your SLife gets a little heavy or drama-laden, repeat after me: "We're just a bunch of lines. That's all we are. A bunch of lines."

In wireframe, prims will be more densely populated with lines. (I bet there's a more technical term for "lines" too.) And you can still walk around and do everything you usually do in your solid existence. So in this case, we're using wireframe in a desperate attempt to find the Zombie Popcorn3 item at iPoke:


THERE IT IS!

Granted, sometimes you'll need some cam skills to tour your wireframed world. Or you can move from room to room and search wireframe in each one. Whatever works. You can select the item and buy it in wireframe, or turn your world back to normal and run over there like you're a champion in "Chariots of Fire."

Here's the above shot of that hunt item as it looks in SL:


I can upload this pic and frame it for you as a Christmas gift, if you'd like. Just let me know.

Sorry this blog post was so short and sedate.