Friday, February 2, 2007

LoopRez idea hodgepodge

Just collecting some random thoughts here about future things to play with (sort of a public journal of silly ideas).

  • Right now, LoopRez duplicates a single object repeatedly in the path of an ellipse. Although each panel is at a different location with a different rotation, each object is otherwise identical.

    But, there's no reason why this has to be the case! It should be possible to send each panel a distinct, separate instruction that varies, for example: length (to form those dresses with a "V"-shaped cut-out in front, or high on one side + low on the other), color (maybe a gradient of a hue, from light to dark). In fact, this is exactly how the "BackAngle" adjustment works to increase the "poof", just in the back of a skirt.

    The only problem is that it would pretty much need a custom script written each time. The script wouldn't be complicated (I could see it being just a dozen lines long, and mostly the same each time), but would put it out of reach for most users.

  • when a dress is in progress, each panel contains an active script (that's what the little green asterisks are signifying); when the dress is completed, the scripts delete themselves.

    Here's an idea that might cause horrendous lag, or might be fine (e.g., touch-activated + link messages): leaving some scripts in place. What might that be useful for?
    • saving different sizes (S / M / L / XL), or lengths (mini-skirt through ankle length), triggered by user commands
    • user-selected colors / tints
    • a brief change in parameters, maybe even combined with an Animation or Gesture? I've always thought it'd be cute to have a Marilyn Monroe gust of wind effect. How might that be implemented? Perhaps a 1 or 2 second change in the flex prim gravity to negative JUST in the side panels, and then returning it to normal, combined with that famous pose of hers :) Anyone want to design a Monroe skirt and animation for me to play with?


  • I really don't like the kludginess of the DropScript. I think perhaps actually editing a panel already in place (using Edit Linked Parts), and having the change propagate through the rest of the skirt, would be far more intuitive. This is probably #1 on my list of things to do.
It's also time for me to take on something new to learn about, in LSL scripting. Perhaps I will try my hand at writing a multi-tool. My idea is for it to have "modules" that can be dropped into it, so you only install what you want. It should also be possible to activate / deactivate modules that are present, to minimize lag.

Too many things to play with, too little time.

On the other hand, I've FINALLY bought some clothes in SL. Yes, after nearly 2 months, I actually bought a pair of shoes, and a sweater or two. I'm not much of a fashionista, am I? :)