News for Second Life aviators: Following up on numerous requests, I have painted the Stearman PT-17 with a civilian paint scheme. The new plane is on display next to the US Army Stearman.
TCS 2.5 is done — get your copy today
Terra Combat System 2.5 is now finished. Vehicle makers, get your copy on the top floor of Abbotts Aerodrome or from SL Exchange (link).
TCS is the combat system that works like laser tag for vehicle-to-vehicle combat. Instead of shooting bullets, it uses sensors to track hits, so bystanders don’t get hurt. It works in any script-enabled area, and even works in no-build areas. If you build planes, tanks, or any other vehicle, you can use this kit to add TCS capability.
As always, the TCS developer’s kit is free.
Terra Combat System 2.5 coming soon
This one is for makers of Second Life combat vehicles. I am presently updating Terra Combat System (TCS) with a handful of oft-requested features. For those of you who aren’t familiar with TCS, it’s a free sensor-based combat system that’s safe to use outside of damage-enabled combat sims. Because it uses sensors (no bullets), it’s completely harmless against anyone who isn’t a participant in combat. This lets you engage in dogfights over any script-enabled sim.
TCS 2.5 introduces the following changes since the last public version, TCS 2.1:
- TCS now works even if the pilot is not the vehicle’s owner.
- TCS now uses llSay instead of llOwnerSay because the pilot may or may not be the owner.
- TCS no longer attempts to rename the sensor’s prim to include the owner’s name. This means that it’s up to you, the developers, to ensure that the gun’s name includes the pilot’s name.
- New “tc ctrl” link message. TCS no longer uses the link messages “tc fire” or “tc cease fire”. This means better control over the gun and continuous fire while the button is held down.
- The TCS2.5 particle emitter script now responds to “tc ctrl” link messages instead of “tc fire”.
- TCS no longer turns on/off physics. I made this decision because I really don’t know how you, the vehicle maker, want your vehicle to react to being “destroyed”.
- Smoke particles and explosion sound are now in a separate, full-permission script, so you can alter the appearance and sound of a TCS death.
Those are the release notes so far. I’ll add to it as things come up. When it’s released, it will be available free from the top floor of Abbotts Aerodrome.
SL ate my SkyLife instructions!
I have just discovered that Second Life mangled my illustrated assembly instructions for Noir SkyLife sky home kits. Many images appear in the wrong place, and some images have been replaced by a question mark. In some places, the image is replaced by a landmark, which is especially confusing because clicking that inexplicably sends the hapless home builder to Abbotts. This could take hours to fix.
UPDATE: I have posted the SkyLife assembly instructions on my support page (click here).
Stearman, redux
What’s special about a Stearman biplane? It’s one of the most used biplanes in history. They have been used as trainers, scouts, crop dusters, and stunt planes, among other uses. Between 1930 and 1945, Boeing built around ten thousand of the things, and there are still about a thousand air-worthy Stearmans today.
When I was still new to Second Life, one of my more popular planes was a biplane that looked vaguely like a Stearman. Eventually, I had to take it off the market. I had created it using a kind of hack that let me build a high-prim, physical model, and that hack apparently had the ability to crash a sim on occasion. Oops.
Now, about three and a half years later, I’m revisiting the Stearman with everything I’ve learned about making virtual vehicles. This high-prim, two-seat replica has taken many hours, but I’m close to the finish now.
Give me another week, and you too can take to the skies in this icon of flight history.
Stearman links:
Warbird Alley: Boeing / Stearman PT-17 “Kaydet”
Wikipedia: Boeing Stearman