Second Life Guide for Beginners Part 1 : Firestorm
FYI these post will not be in any particular order honestly. Very random.
Sorry for the lateness.
Firestorm is a Viewer used to access the Second Life grid and is one of the most common viewer for SL.
Click Hoe to download Firestorm. Click on your operating system and follow their instructions.
PART I In-world
Movement Controls
You can move using the arrows keys on your keyboard. Up and down arrows moves back and forth. And the Left and right arrows rotates. For whatever reason you want to Jump you would use the Page Up button.
Toolbar
(Customizable as well)
1. Nearby Chat & Chat Bar – This is for chatting with people. You click on nearby chat and a dialogue box would appear and you can see what people write to you and you can also chat with other.
2. Conversation – This button allows you to open and close the chat box. Also allows you to see private messages people send.
3. The microphone – the microphone always you to speak to people with people instead of typing if you prefer. Only works if you have a microphone on laptop/ webcam or if you have headphones with a microphone attached to it. I would suggest headphones with a mic because the person listening to you won’t hear an echo.
4. The headphone button – This is for seeing who around you talking and also allows you to edit the volume on mics as well as your own. Also lets you mute peoples mute so you don’t have to listen to them, but they can still hear you if you’re speaking on mic.
5. The Eye button – This button lets you see from different views. I personally allows have this button on because it good for taking pictures. It is also self explanatory just click on the different views to see how they look. Now the object view which is the 4th button, this allows you to zoom in. you can also bring up this view without clicking it by pressing the alt on your keyboard and click around (idk what it is on Mac I say Google it. LOL). If you happen to click on Mouselook view and don’t know how to get out just press the ESC button on your keyboard.
6. The Moving Controls – you can also move with this button but its easier for you to move with arrows. It’s also self explanatory click through the buttons. You can also fly.
7. The Pose stand button – This is for editing your Avatar whatever (facial, body, etc). Instead of having an AO (will explain later) it would temporarily disable it to have it pose in whatever pose you choose. Posing balls are also useful.
8. People button – This button has 6 categories: Nearby, Friends, Groups, Recent, Block, and Contact Sets. Nearby tab lets you know the people in the same area as you. The Friends tab is a list of people who you added or added you. To add someone you can open their profile by right clicking on their Avi and click on “Add Friend” or go to the nearby tab, right click on their name and click “add friend”. Groups tab is to see what groups you have been invited to or just joined. Many creators have groups that they create to let users know of new release, gift and etc (they usually have signs in-world that you simply click and you join their group). You can also create group by clicking the + sign.
9. The Appearance Buttons – This button allows you know the things your avatar is currently wearing, making outfits, and editing what you currently have on. This also allows you to edit your facial feature and also body. Mostly everyone on SL uses Mesh Body/Head (will explain further). You can edit body/ face by clicking on avatar click on Appearance>Edit Shape. You can make an outfit by clicking on the Wearing tab go down and click on Save As. That you can save a favorite outfit and put it on whenever you please.
10. Search – This button allows you to search anything you want. You can search anything from people, places, events, creator’s stores, groups and etc. Also pretty self explanatory.
11. World Map – Also pretty self explanatory and also similar to the nearby tab in the People button. Read the Legend it will help. I only use to copy the Landmark of a place for blogging or teleporting.
12. Mini Map – Smaller version of the World Map. I personally do not use.
13. Snapshot – This button allows you take pictures and save you a folder of your choosing. You can save it to different places such as Disk (which would same to a folder of your choosing), To inventory (which will appear in Photo Album and will charge you 10L), Facebook, Twitter and etc. After you choose where you want to save it follow the instructions they give. When saving on Disk, you can choose the dimension of the picture depending on the resolution of your computer. If your dimensions are too high for your computer to handle, Firestorm will crash! So check your computer specs.
14. Inventory – Okay so this buttons is where all of the things you receive or buy will be stored. Your animation, clothes, body shapes, Landmarks, and etc. There are 3 tabs in the Inventory window: Inventory, Recent and Worn. Inventory is everything and some are already categorized. I suggest making folders for the items you buy (such as Top, Bottoms, Hair, Shoes and etc) because it will keep you inventory more organized. Recent tabs is allows you to easily find the things you have recently brought. They usually disappear from recent tab after time but can still be found using the search bar in the window (click on Inventory tab first then search). Worn tab basically lets you know what you currently have on your avatar. You can also take off an item by double clicking on the folder with the name of the items (keep clicking until you reach bold lettering). Then right on the bold lettering, a small list should appear click “detach from yourself.” Another way you can right click on the folder and choose “Remove from Current Outfit” and this removes everything from the folder that your currently have on, off.
15. AO – AO also know as Animation Overrider which basically overrides how your avatar stands, sits, walks and etc. You can make your own AO and also buy your own from creators who make Animations. You can also customize it to your liking from pose packs you buy.
Now if theres a button you would like on your toolbar that isn’t there you simply right click on toolbar and click on “Toolbar buttons”. Choose the button you want and drag onto the toolbar.
Lindens
Second Life has its own economy and a virtual token referred to as Linden Dollars. Lindens allow you to buy everything from Backdrops to a hairstyle. You must purchase Lindens with real Dollars in order to purchase anything in-world. You can also exchange your lindens for actual money!
As of right now the lowest amount of lindens you can purchase is $2.50 USD which is 622ls. There are 2 ways to purchase lindens.
Before you are allowed to buy lindens you must have a Debit/ Credit card or PayPal linked to the account.
To link one a payment option first you go to Secondlife.com.
Account > Billing Information > Click the payment option of your choosing.
Disclaimer: Please don’t use someone else’s payment option without their permission. Also do not commit fraud because if Linden Labs finds out you can lose your account and/or become banned from using Second Life at all.
How to Purchase Lindens
1. A. Way One
· Load Second life Home page (secondlife.com)
· Look for Linden exchange then click Buy L$
· Then it will take you to the buy page. You can either buy a certain amount of Lindens or buy a certain money worth of lindens.
· After you decide that you click place order and it will ask for Password to reassure it’s you on your account. So enter Password and pressing continue.
· Choose you payment (Paypal or Debit/Credit)
· Press the button and you should receive your money right away
2. B. On the Viewer
· Top Right on the Firestorm Viewer where it says BUY L$. Choose amount and Click Buy Now.
Well that’s enough for today. If you have any questions or concern, please don’t hesitate to message me. I answer any and all questions.
Besos ;}