<nettime> How to move through the exhibition space at Odyssey fun

[Alan Sondheim <sondheim@panix.com>]

How to move through the exhibition space at Odyssey fun


This presumes you have downloaded the software, which installs itself
automatically; after that, use the URL below and then read on.

If you go to http://slurl.com/secondlife/Odyssey/48/12/22 to view the
Odyssey exhibition, try tuning the interface; it works best if you set the
time at midnight through the Environment Settings in the World directory
of the menu. If you use the environmental editor, you can set the
atmosphere/image at Pirate and increase the mist. If you use ctl-alt-t,
you can see invisible objects (perhaps). If you begin the video, and it
ends as you move through the space, start it again; there is different
video in different parts of the space, and the same goes for the audio -
except for the 12 small invisible audio cubes. If it's running slow, open
the menu, go to Edit/Preferences/Graphics and lower the Quality and
Performance. You may also check Custom, then check Atmospheric Shaders.
When you enter the space, try flying through objects; they will move
out of the way for the most part, for between 10 and 30 seconds. Fly and
turn around and you'll see you've cleared a space. If you see a sphere,
you may touch it with a left-hand mouse click; a sphere above takes you
below, and vice versa. The spheres don't move out of the way. If you walk
through the space, try going between the stairs into the water below, or
fall through the well, or go over the wall bounding the island. You may
not be able to take your avatar there; click on View and then on Camera
Controls; you'll see a small panel open. The controls on the right slide
your viewpoint left or right, up or down; the middle slides it in or out,
and the left turns it about various axes. You can use this to look beneath
the surface of the water where the avatar won't go, or to slide into the
space in order to see the objects without having them disappear in the
presence of the avatar. You can zoom in on the objects or enter into the
particle streams and watch them fill the screen with objects and color.
You can go through the floorboards with the Camera Control and see the
objects that have disappeared from the surface. If you go to the right of
the building wall, you'll notice dark figures disappearing on occasion
into the distance - these are avatar emanations from the objects and
appear every once in the while, perhaps 10 to 20 seconds themselves. You
may sit on some of the objects by right-clicking the mouse button on them,
then clicking on Sit Here - sometimes it's possible, and sometimes not.
You may be able to sit on a moving object which gives you a local ride. If
you type 'm' or use the menu, you may active the Mouselook function which
allows you to see the world 'through' the avatar's eyes, and this is fine
for a ride or exploration. You don't have access to Camera Control in
Mouselook. With some moving objects, you may be able to go beneath them
when they rise; they might push you down through the floor to the water
below, where you will use the sphere to return. You may also be cast into
the air or find yourself tripping or you may find yourself pushed out of
the way. If other people, avatars, are in the space, you may talk and chat
with them; if you rise above the space, you can watch them as objects
disappear in their vicinity, and space is cleared for them and for your
view from above. You may want to look for a moment at the site at dawn or
dusk, which adds lovely reds or pinks, and you can activate these through
the Environment editor as well; midday is the least interesting. If you
want to take a digital image or photograph of the scene, you can use the
Snapshot function at the bottom of the screen, or Take Snapshot,
ctl-shift-s, under the File menu; the advantage of the latter is that you
can tune the direction your avatar is looking by moving the panel around
on the screen before taking the shot. You may use ctl-r to run through the
space, which takes objects out faster. You may find it difficult to enter
or leave the space - there are invisible barriers built into the gamespace
itself, and it is easiest to enter to the right of the announcement sign;
if you have difficulty navigating you can always fly into the space and
then walk around or continue flying. If you have the talk function enabled
on the lower right of your screen, and a microphone, you can talk to other
avatars or make noise, and if you have speakers you can of course listen
to other avatars talking as well. Chances are you will be alone or with
one or two people at a time in the environment, but this allows you to
explore the objects fully without having them disappear as the result of
other avatars' movements. Below are some images from the current state of
the installation, which is at a kind of 'plateau,' and won't change for
the next few days.

http://www.alansondheim.org/ filled jpegs


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