Running in Second Life is unnaturally complicated. If I really want to run, I break into a trot — I don't ask for permission like a pet of some sort. Currently, you can run either by: (1) selecting World menu > Always Run, or (2) the equivalent shortcut, Ctrl-R.
By itself, this might not seem like a big deal, but after going through the motions a few dozen times, it gets very irksome. Specific example: say you want to get from here *points* to there *points again* and sprint in between. It's several meters and you don't want to fly (that would entail even more complexity). So you either use the Always Run menu or shortcut, and do that. While it doesn't sound convincing as words, it feels stilted. It's kind of like you're a windup toy, and activating run is like twisting the crank a few rotations — and not only that — but having to unwind it after.
And you can't run using one hand, yet you can do all other basic avatar movement (including sitting with the mouse). Odd duck out!
Something I've enjoyed from a lot of video games: tapping the forward direction key/button twice in quick succession will slide you into a run, then after you let go of the key, you stop. Want to walk again? Just push forward once. Want to run again? Push forward twice. This is sometimes referred to as a "double-dash" and I previously noted the makers of Combat: Samurai Island pioneered a similar maneuver in Second Life, as far as I'm aware.
There is double-dash compliant. 
(The longer-term thing is to make analog joystick dreams come true and have a greater variety of velocities for avatars in motion. This would, speculatively and presumably, go hand-in-hand with better "morphing" between animation states, and the footstep sounds I've been dreaming long about too.)
{ 1 trackback }
{ 0 comments… add one now }