Linden Lab Releases a Major Update to Sansar and Announces a New Contest!

Yesterday, Linden Lab released a major update to the Sansar software! Nicknamed the “Express Yourself” release, this release has many new features:

The biggest new feature is that creators can now make custom avatars, like you already can in High Fidelity and VRChat:

Express yourself! Custom Avatars are here in Sansar, as a complete makeover for your avatar. Much like using Marvelous Designer for clothes, simply pull in the Sansar default skeleton (male or female) into your preferred modelling program, create your Custom Avatar as a .fbx and upload it to your Lookbook or to the Store.

And for those of you already alt-tabbing out to start modelling, the Triangle cap is 40,000 tris.

Custom Avatars will not be able to equip wearables however, as a Custom Avatar is essentially a single piece wearable.

There’s a new HTTP (i.e. webpage) scripting API:

Scripters: On your mark, get set, GET CREATIVE!

This is a big API to open up to our scripter community and we are so excited to see what you’re going to do with it. With this API you’ll be able to pull in web-data where you can get it, into your C# scripts.

There’s also a whole new set of simple scripts to control objects:

Let’s break down some examples of what you could do with these scripts:

• SimpleInteraction – The workhorse script to enable anything to be interactable. This one lets you press buttons, hit switches, etc.
• SimpleSound – This is a simple script to trigger sound effects.
  • Combine this with SimpleInteraction in an object and choose a sound to play when you press a button. Ding!
• SimpleMover – Perhaps the most flexible of the new SimpleScripts, enabling moving platforms, doors that open and close, and other complex movement. Objects can move between their initial position and a specified position and/or orientation.
  • Use this in conjunction with `SimpleInteraction` to make a door that opens when you press a button.

Here’s a list of the other highlights of this release:

• You can now adjust your VR “comfort zone”. When someone gets too close to you in VR, they will disappear from your field of view. Now you can adjust that distance to your preference.
• You can now add a Sansar Events to “My Calendar” as well as adding them to 3rd party calendars (i.e. your Google Calendar). You’ll never miss an event again!
  • Events also have the option to “Host Again”
• When searching for users, you can now search by Avatar name or Avatar ID, and you can also search with just a part of their name (instead of typing their whole name).
• You can now choose your Audio Input/Output in the Settings menu
• You can use the hotkey CTRL+T to open the Chat Window
• Several improvements to physics and the network model will mean better responsiveness with dynamic objects. For example, throwing and catching a ball

Sansar Studios has released four new human avatar outfits to your Lookbook inventory, here’s a sneak peek at two of them (please click each picture to see it in a larger size):

The complete, detailed list of all the new features in this release is available here.

Second Life and Sansar blogger Inara Pey has done her usual excellent job of summarizing and illustrating all the newest features in this release, so be sure to check out her coverage.

And to celebrate the new ability to create custom avatars in Sansar, Linden Lab is holding a Custom Avatar contest, with in-world judging to be held on August 10th. Five thousand Sansar Dollars (estimated value US$50) will be awarded to the winner of each in the following categories:

• Best Looking Avatar
• Funniest Avatar
• Most Surreal Avatar
• Most Innovative Avatar
• Best Original Design

Here’s a complete list of contest details and other legalese.

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