Beebo Brink

That's why I'm asking for clarification about the content creation process. The example quoted in the article puts the process of registering to be a content creator on Avatar Reality's doorstep, not on individual cities. So is the article wrong, or is AR really going to require registration from anyone who wants to make something, even for themselves? Or is this "registration" merely the formality of getting a developer kit, which was as easy as registering for a forum?

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Vialli Rossini

I think the majority of posters here have a genuine interest in Blue Mars and are looking to see how their cloth could be cut to suit this new vw. Some are more sceptical than others but I don't see anyone actually wishing it to fail (I may be wrong). But so limited is the information and actual platform experience at the moment, it is VERY hard to get a handle on it.

Granted it is in open beta and this can excuse some opacity, but most of the arguments are centered around "what is coming" and "what it will be" aided and abetted by the envangelists and the "nay sayers" who are already extoling it's mass appeal/lack of appeal and wondrous accessibility/inacessibility.

Before anyone can really assess the potential of this virtual world in respect of their own needs or in a more general sense, HARD facts and figures are needed. These are sadly lacking currently and no amount of eulogising is going to paint over that. The longer that continues the more the seeds of doubt will take root.

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Cincia Singh

In fact I sincerely wish for Blue Mars to succeed famously! But like Beebo I have to take a "wait and see" attitude because it's not currently a social platform.

Aside from content creation I wonder about the way Blue Mars is installed and rendered from my machine; i.e. currently the cities are part of the install which is HUGE compared to SL. Is it the intention of Blue Mars to continue to include the cities in the install as it expands, and if so how does anyone plan ahead for Blue Mars? Would Blue Mars send updates free as cities are added to the landscape? In the long-term view/plan would someone who wants to "play" Blue Mars have to dedicate a HDD in a RAID just to accommodate Blue Mars and it's cities if it grows to the size of SL, i.e. 30k "cities?"

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Atashi Yue

As of right now, you have to register with Avatar Reality to get access to the Blue Mars editor downloads. These are the same tools as the CryEngine2 Sandbox2 which comes with Crysis.

So yes, it's as easy as registering for a forum.

Beebo Brink

Even if Blue Mars turns out to be a platfrom I don't use myself, I want there to be more virtual worlds, more options. I want the concept to succeed because in the end, that means even if LL finally runs SL into the ground, it's not the death of the idea, just one implementation of the idea.

Atashi Yue

Have to say it, even with the lack of avatar customization right now, Blue Mars is going to appeal to the sex industry, a lot. The avatars are so much more realistic than in SL.

I can imagine highly detailed matching dongs in the near future.

Argent Stonecutter

They're all human, though. No ferrets. I has a sad.

Atashi Yue

Not for long, cities are opening up and content creators will be working overtime to add all things furry I'm sure.

Lordfly Digeridoo

Only if it's profitable.

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Vialli Rossini

Part 2 of the Pixels & Policy "Corporate Monopoly" Blogpost

Argent Stonecutter

See, Rock, I'm a moderate.

Atashi Yue

Are you implying that SL is profitable?

Atashi Yue

That post is funny. No way do you need those high end tools to create content....but it makes better drama to say you do.

As far as the city owners having "a heavy hand in what their city looks like, who has the right to own land within it, and what can be sold there. For any content to be sold, it must first find a shop. These shops are given space by City Developers. It's ultimately up to either the shop owners or the city developers what is sold in their space..." seems to me this sounds like, oh I dunno, hundreds of SL sims maybe? How about Caledon??

Lordfly Digeridoo

For some, you betcha.

It certainly is for Linden Lab.

Atashi Yue

I'd have to say that for the majority of content creators, SL is NOT profitable, yet they still pump out the content.

Vialli Rossini

looks like they are not going to let go of this particular bone
The Anti-Content Creation History of Avatar Reality's Henk Rogers

whyroc

This is reading like the National Enquirer!!

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Come visit our new City on Blue Mars, now open for preview:

http://gridrock.com/

Rock

Yes.

Rock

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Chapter & Metaverse Blog: Chapter & Metaverse
Blue Mars forum: Life On Mars - Home

Rock

All content creators have to be registered.
There is no 'approval' process, and no-one (to my knowledge) has been refused.
At present, only City owners, block owners or store owners can upload into Blue Mars.
Renting a store from a Block owner is easy, and costs nothing in some Cities (but a % of sales instead), or has a fixed rent in others (with no % of sales).
AR have stated in an interview that residents will also be able to upload their own created content into their homes, eventually.

I don't consider registering (1 minute) to be a content creator as jumping through hoops.

Rock

Argent Stonecutter

So if I write a script and I want to test it in the real BM, not my sandbox, what will I have to do? Sell it to myself? What's the process for getting new content INTO a shop? What, in short, does this do to the development process?

Rock

Well they are not going to get any more hits from me to drive up their web stats by constantly pushing out this sort of biassed drivel.

Rock

Rock

The whole point of the Sandbox though is that it is a WYSIWYG environment. If it works in the Sandbox, it will work in Blue Mars, so there is no need for any further testing in world. However, if you really want to, you can. Just upload it from the Store Editor, sell it to yourself for 0$BLU, then use it (I am imagining a scripted vehicle here, and you are driving it all over a City to test it and find any bugs).

I can't answer about the actual process of getting new content into a shop, using the Shop Editor, at present, as the devs at AR are currently still working on the manual for this. You can see what manuals are currently available, and check the progress of others here, at the Blue Mars wiki pages.

One of the benefits of joining the beta is that you get to give your feedback, and your suggestions, and wishlists to the BM devs, who are 100% in receive mode right now.

Rock

Argent Stonecutter

You're not a software developer, are you?

I joined the beta, but I can't afford to rebuild my computer to the point where I can actually download and run it yet.

Rock

No, not really, my only two offerings were Simscape (for Second Life) and Osiris (for Opensim). But I do know many people that are software developers, and I trust what they tell me. Perhaps you would like to go over to the CryMod forums where all the Lua scripters and C++ writers hang out, and sound them out about the Sandbox 2.

You need to rebuild your computer just to download a file? It is biggish, at 1.3Gb, granted, but I had no trouble downloading and running it successfully on my old laptop, and on my desktop which is a tired Pentium 4.

One chap in the forums has posted a config file with the settings for Blue Mars all optimised for folks with low-end computers.

Rock

Gigs

You're just mad he didn't use a nicer picture of you.

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