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First Technical Look at the Second Life Client

Posted by Zonk on from the go-make-it-better dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Second Life is a virtual world, maintained through a combination of client software and hosting servers. It has the unusual quality that nearly all of the content is user-provided. It is also unusual in that Linden Labs recently announced the release of its client software as open source. This is something that is rarely, if ever, done in commercial MMO apps. This article introduces the client (or "viewer" in Linden terminology) and explores the Second Life development environment."

4 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Payola by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I mean, seriously, why so much attention for a game where the first two things that happen when you login are some loser wanting you to go offline with them to engage in "sex chat" for cash and someone trying to sell you random crap?
    You mean like the Internet?

    SL isn't much of a game in that sense, but it's a neat Internet-based platform for many different types of content. It's basically a big chatroom in a user-generated 3D environment. Like any chat platform, if you're not looking for the lowest common denominator, you have to actively seek out something that pertains to your own interests.
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    Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
  2. Why wouldn't they open up the client? by TubeSteak · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It is also unusual in that Linden Labs recently announced the release of its client software as open source. This is something that is rarely, if ever, done in commercial MMO apps.
    All their money is made server side.
    Why wouldn't they open up the client?

    The only reason I can imagine involves the prevention of IP (skins, etc) theft.
    But, that is an arms race that they've already lost.
    --
    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!
    1. Re:Why wouldn't they open up the client? by Rei · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Perhaps some contributors to the client, now that it's open source, can make the rendering engine not look late-90s. I'm not talking poly counts or texture detail, which would be constrained by bandwidth. I'm talking about how flat everything is. I don't know what their lighting and texturing models are, but they need first aid. :P

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      How come things that happen to stupid people keep happening to me?
  3. Re:Payola by daeg · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think it's because the Slashdot crowd likes the idea more than the game itself. Not necessarily the advertising and sex chat (well, maybe...) aspects, but the idea that a user-generated world opens a new avenue of the expression of information.

    I think the overall problem with Second Life is that the largely negative, undesired crowds got into it first, and that society in general isn't quite ready, nor are computers. As an example, I know that the furries exist, but on the regular Internet, I can avoid them easily just by never searching for them. In Second Life, though, you can't just avoid their island or whatever they have. They are, well, everywhere. Same with everyone else--flying penises included. Don't want to see X-rate content? Too bad. The community has far too big of an ego, too.

    Well, that an Linden seems to only want to make a buck, and they'll sell whatever they can to do it. Maybe sometime in the future.