Twist and Shout: Version 1.5 is Here

By ROXIE MARTEN
SecondLIFE Magazine

Second Life 1.5 has hit the world. Fraught with problems and a bugs it has slowly wobbled unto it’s own two feet.

"Torus is going to be on crack now," said Linden Lab programmer Don Linden.

The new version was plagued by frequent crashes, teleportation problems and dragging lag. Two upgrades later, it now runs more smoothly.

"Never thought being able to teleport was a big deal until it didn't work. It was like loosing a limb or something," Noonian Bard said.

Others said the new version rendered some previously created items unusable

Cubey Terra of Abbots Aerodrome said a feature involving using the cursor to make items rez faster caused some problems with the vendors some merchants used.

"For some reason they changed how mouse clicks work with transparency," he said. "That broke my vendor which uses a transparent surface between the buyer and the vendor model."

"To buy something from my vendor, the buyer would right-click the transparent surface and "Pay". But now When you right-click, it selects the model inside, which doesn't do anything"

Though many have complained about v1.5 and it’s faults, others, like Jamie Oits of The Learning Center, are less concerned.

"I really feel for the Lindens right now. It’s like having a new born baby with teething problems," he said.

From its shaky start, v1.5 has already evolved. It offers some noticeable improvements from v1.4.

New building features may stand out as an improvement to many. The latest version offers more ways to edit a primative and improves other editing features.

Prims may now be twisted a full 360 degrees in either direction.

"Torus is going to be on crack now," said Linden Lab programmer Don Linden.

On top of that a new prim has been added called circle.

Another new feature is "Live Help" from the menu bar. Clicking on it puts you in touch with real-time help for your problem. The Live Help line is staffed by Second Life residents culled from the mentors pool along with other residents who have been in world at least 90 days and have a clean record with the Lindens.

For more information about being a Live Help staffer http://secondlife.com/livehelp.

If you’re landless, a new feature in the Find tool is for you. It will allow you browse for affordable land that is available to anyone who has not owned land before. This replaces the current land for the landless program.

As in the past, parcels of 512 square meters may be bought for 150L.

With new features added some features have left. No more will the Lindens announce events. In it’s place the events calendar has added a notify feature. You may now select which events you want to know about. When the time for the event arrives, it will offer you the ability to teleport to that event.

Private island owners now can sell or transfer their island to another user for a 100L fee. The fee covers costs incurred by the Linden Labs to make the ownership change.

Private island owners also have more expanded controls on their island.