Rolling update: Last chance for megaprims?
by Tateru Nino 
May 13th 2008 at 10:00PM
Filed under: Exploits, News items, Second Life
It is not presently clear as to whether the disabling of the megaprim constraints are intentional or not. We've got some third-hand information that Andrew Linden said that the change was not an intentional one, but Linden Lab have remained silent on the topic, so we've got no official answer on the matter.
A rolling update is starting at 7:30PM SLT (US Pacific time) today (Tuesday 13 May), which is rumored to reinstate the constraints among other 'crucial security fixes'. If so, the next couple days could represent your last chance to fabricate custom megaprims for a while.
The first round of updates is to approximately 150 regions, and starts in at 7:30PM SLT. The second round is in the morning (Wednesday) from 5AM - 9AM and will cover half of the grid's simulators.
The rest of the grid's simulators are being updated at 5AM - 9AM SLT Thursday.
We're still hoping to get an answer from Linden Lab, but we're not holding our collective breath on it, and neither should you. If you want to play it safe, grab a custom viewer (or roll your own) and make what you need sooner rather than later.
Users are reminded that the last information we have available is that megaprims are still not permitted for use on mainland simulators and are only allowable on private estates, where the covenant does not specify otherwise.
Update: Andrew Linden has said that the disabling of megaprim constraints was a bug, and is to be fixed. We assume that this particular rollout is that fix, though Linden Lab has yet to make any official statement or to respond to any queries.
Second Update: Linden Lab has responded to our queries.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jacek Antonelli said on 10:37PM 5-13-2008
I certainly hope they don't block megaprim creation again. The main reason megaprims are discouraged is because they were handled poorly by the old Havok 1 servers. We've got Havok4 now, so I can see no good reason to block them.
Megaprims are an incredibly valuable build tool. If you want to see an example of something that's only possible with megaprims, check out my giant octopus sculpture on Flickr (http://flickr.com/photos/10858540@N04/2490100369/) or in-world (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Dynamism/46/127/24).
The response from builders to the discovery of megaprim creation has been overwhelmingly positive; if it's blocked again... well, I don't even want to think about the backlash.
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Able Whitman said on 11:51PM 5-13-2008
Andrew Linden confirms it in his Havok4 office hours:
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/User:Andrew_Linden/Office_Hours/2008_05_10
I understand their concerns, but I think that the usefulness of large prims enormously outweighs their potential detriments. I hope they change their minds, but I don't expect them to.
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Nicholaz Beresford said on 5:37AM 5-14-2008
Pit, but not entirely unexpected. But while it lasted, I like how the community worked together on this ... it was a nice experience in cooperation from all sides.
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Tateru Nino said on 5:42AM 5-14-2008
Well, all sides but one.
Nicholaz Beresford said on 6:28AM 5-14-2008
Well, that side I'm ignoring mostly these days, but OTOH even that side(TM) was acting surprisingly relaxed.
KaraSpengler said on 7:13AM 5-14-2008
Now that is strange. I was rezzing some megas and it went back to .5^3 again. Even when I tried entering the params of ones I had just rezzed a few mins ago (which was fine when I pulled it out of inventory).
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KaraSpengler said on 7:13AM 5-14-2008
Megas are certainly helpfull to do large circles
Sizes I rezzed before it stopped me:
20x20x0.01
20x10x0.01
19.9x19.9x0.01
19.9x10x0.01
19.98x10x0.01
Rezzed as boxes, but as everyone knows the shape can be changed as needed.
Yes, I get annoyed that people seem to think the smallest dimension in a mega needs to be 0.5. :) IM me if you need copies.
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Gaius Goodliffe said on 6:42PM 5-14-2008
Yup, I made a large assortment of 0.01 thick prims for myself. I also made a large assortment of megaprims with no length greater than 40m. The huge prims have a few good uses, but a good 40x20x0.25m prim is more useful by a few orders of magnitude. Using that instead of 8 10x10 prims saves prims and reduces lag.
I'm pushing for them to allow creation of prims up to the size of a linkset. The parcel encroachment problem is no more an issue for a 40m prim than it is for a 40m long linkset (indeed the linkset poses more problems in that regard, since it's easier to move the root location). I understand the need for better tools before allowing larger prims, but at least up to 40m, the problem isn't made any worse by the presence or absence of megaprims up to linkset size.
KaraSpengler said on 8:22AM 5-15-2008
Yes, and I have made a bunch of .01 z's since then (most under 40 in the other directions and none so big they would be unusable). Some are really odd sizes (I think one was 19.06x20x.01) so we would not be constrained by what exists for megas in the future. When everything calms down and assuming they will take this away from us everyone needs to pool what we have. I am sure quite a few megas were rezzed the past few days!
Hopefully your push to allow us to use up to the size of a linkset will work out. As you point out, it would reduce lag (and relieve quite a few builder's headaches)! Whenever someone asks me what megas are good for I do not mention prim savings first as I would just come across as greedy .... rather 'how can you make a 20 m circle?'
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TigroSpottystripes Katsu said on 9:56AM 5-15-2008
what do you mean with the 20 meters circle thing? I know a way to torture a tube (not a howllowed cylinder, a tube), that will give you a circle of aproximatly 20 meters (I never measured it it much accuracy, but I believe it is very close to 20 meters in diameter), I can't remember for sure the exact parameters, but I think it is somthing like making twist begin and end be 90 degrees, the Y hole size (is that the name? the second hole size parameter) be the smallest possible, and have it's dimentions be somthing like 10.0x0.01x10.0 (I always forget if it is the X or the Y axis that is the "vertical" on those shapes), and if you want to get rid of the rays that form on the inside, either tweak by one notch either the X or the Y hole sizes (I think you have to make it so X+Y
Jacek Antonelli said on 12:56AM 5-16-2008
@Tigro, #10: I frequently use the large tube-disc, for example as low-prim sky platforms.
Here's the recipe:
1. Rez a Tube prim.
2. Change both Twist values to 90 degrees.
3. Decrease the "Hole Size" Y as far as it will go (0.05). Leave X as 1.00.
4. Scale the prim up as big as it will go (or set the Y and Z sizes to 10m)
The result is a disc that is precisely 19m in diameter. Enjoy! :D
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