One of the common misconceptions about Sansar is that is designed only for users in virtual reality headsets such as Oculus Rift or HTC Vive. Nothing could be further from the truth. Linden Lab has drawn up a very complete list of keyboard shortcuts for users in desktop (non-VR) mode. I’m going to mention just a few of them here, and I hope that they will be helpful to those users who may be feeling frustrated in navigating Sansar on the computer desktop.
Moving your avatar around on the desktop (non-VR):
- Arrow keys: Move your avatar forward, backward, left, and right.
- WASD: Move your avatar forward, backward, left, and right.
- F3: Toggle between first person and third person view (Note: you might have to press your F Lock key, usually located next to your F12 key on your keyboard, before you can use F3. It took me literally weeks to figure this out!)
- Hold the CTRL button: Select a teleport destination. A blue circle will appear.
- Click the left mouse button while holding CTRL: Teleports your avatar to the selected location.
- Scroll the middle mouse button while holding CTRL (prior to teleporting): Choose the direction your avatar faces upon completing the teleport.
Moving your camera (viewpoint) around on the desktop (non-VR):
- Hold the right mouse button + drag: Rotate the camera to look around the environment.
- F4: Enter free camera mode when not using a VR headset (Note: you might have to press your F Lock key, usually located next to your F12 key on your keyboard, before you can use F4. Like I said, it took me weeks to figure this out!)
- Arrow keys: Move camera forward, backward, left, and right (free-camera mode).
- WASD: Move camera forward, backward, left, and right (free-camera mode).
- E, C: Move camera up and down (very handy!)
- + (Plus Sign) on the NUMERIC keypad: Increase the camera movement speed.
- – (Minus Sign) on the NUMERIC keypad: Decrease the camera movement speed.
- F3: Exit free camera mode.
And an Extra Tip:
- Hold down the right mouse button to smooth out the camera motion while walking using the arrow keys or WASD (this tip came courtesy of Sansar user Sin). If you are holding down the right mouse button while you use the up arrow key (or the W key) to move forward, you can then use the mouse to turn your avatar much more gently than the default snap 45-degree turns.
Strawberry Singh (who herself is a desktop, non-VR user of Sansar) has made a very useful short video tutorial on the available desktop avatar and camera controls. The video I included below is just one part of an extremely comprehensive introduction to Sansar which I can heartily recommend to newbies. This six-minute video is probably the most painless introduction to Sansar desktop commands you can find anywhere:
