Editor's note: this is an update to a post from 2008 that provides basic guidelines to getting into surfing in Second Life. Second Life Surfing 101
Years ago SurfWatch published a beginners guide to Second Life (SL) surfing written by a friend of mine, Socks Clawtooth.
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| Socks Clawtooth - Photo by Colleen Brennan 2010 |
It was a great series and well worth a second read. Buried in the SW archives someplace, if nothing else you will have a blast looking for and reading some
"historical" articles.
As quite a lot has changed in SL surfing since then, the
folks at SurfWatch thought maybe it was time for an "updated" Surfing
101 post and so this would be my attempt to providing new SL surfers a few
pointers and info on how to get started.
Surfing in Second Life is as most everything else in SL that
requires "movement": If you can walk 50 meters, turn around and walk
back.....you can surf :-) While there are a bunch of different surfboards with
different scripts, they all share the same basic movement keys. Walking,
driving, boating, jet-skiing, surfing, whatever, all basically the same.
Scenerio: You just landed at a surf sim having never surfed
and find a "Surfboard Rezzer". Regardless of which type/brand, you
click on it and BOOM! A board appears in the water. A right-click pulls up a
pie-wheel and you simply choose "Go surfing", "Ride",
"Surf" or whatever that particular surfboard has as an option.
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| Various surfboard rezzers in Second Life - Photos by Austin Novaland |
Now then...in most cases you will be sitting (AO OFF!) and just like every other "vehicle" in SL your arrow keys are your new best friends. UP, DOWN, LEFT and RIGHT. (As well as arrows, you can use WASD keys for navigating)
It´s as simple as pointing your board out to sea and using
your UP arrow (or W key) to paddle out. It should be said that paddling out is
best using the "lanes", the lanes being out on the edges of the waves
instead of down the middle of the sim ;-) While most boards do have a dive
option for ducking under the waves if you get caught inside, for now just use
the lanes.
As you approach the wave, get turned (LEFT, RIGHT arrow OR
A, D keys) to get your board lined up parallel to the wave face and.......BAM!
As soon as your board collides with the wave a new set of animations take over.
Once again your arrow keys are used to turn, speed up, slow
down. Just like walking ;-) You just
surfed. Not so tough right? Sure you slipped out of the wave, (got your turn
started a little late) or got slammed into a Mango tree or dragged to Davey´s
locker but......you surfed!
Admit it. It was a BLAST! A few days of this and you will be
searching, begging for and soaking up tips and information from wherever you
can find it. Welcome to SL surfing ;-)
Next time we will talk about some things that will further
feed your new addiction. In the mean time if you have any questions just
holler. I´m always available to help!
/V
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