Back to scripting

I have to admit it. I haven't been scripting in SL for awhile...other than a nyotaimori table which I had to make poses for in December, but which didn't need any scripting at all.

I mean, it wasn't a biggie...there was no devil on my shoulder urging me to put source code to viewer, or bemoaning my lack of drive when it came to making new items for the store. I had many other things to occupy my mind, most of which gave me just as much pleasure.

But I have to admit there is a certain satisfaction that I get deep inside when I wave my virtual hands and presto changeo I make something come alive in Second Life - something that just moments before was a simple inanimate object, but which now can actually do things.

When my girl Linda mentioned last week that her new motorcycle club the Savage Saints needed some games for a rally that they would be holding next month, I took it as a challenge and dived immediately into the coding for two items that Linda and Ron (ronron57)/Papi (Papillon Chatnoir) Casson created.

The first is a circular covered torus called by the ominous name "The Cage of Death", which is hollow inside and made of gridwork. A bike rider would go in and start zooming around the cage, hitting a red bar with each revolution. The biker who hit the red bar most within 60 seconds would be the winner. A large scoreboard would show the top 5 riders during the game.

The second item is a long steel beam only a few centimeters across, bounded on its two ends by ramps. The goal for a rider is to make it from one end of the beam to the other without falling off. I scripted the beam in such a way that cones with the rider's name highlighted on top are rezzed where each rider falls off the beam, in order for the judges of the contest to see how far each person had managed to ride. The rare few who will manage to get to the other side are timed and the top five riders will be listed on a large scoreboard.

I finished both in about 2-3 days. I worked hard at it, and I was happy with the results. I created something that I knew people would use and derive happiness from, and I learned a lot in the doing of it. You can't ask for anything more than that.